The urge to get my heart back gnawed at me in Nightsinger’s forest. But it was nothing like this. Back then, I didn’t remember anything of what my heart held. As the years passed, I got more and more numb to the idea of it—yes, I wanted my heart, but almost entirely for the freedom. I couldn’t remember what memories were inside or how dear they were to me.

But now they sing.

“No—no!” I grab Varia’s wrist, shrieking. “Put it back! Put it back!”

The princess wrenches out of my grip with a breathless laugh, sweat dripping down her temples and a cold gleam in her eyes as she relights her finger, the firelight dancing. “You’re right, Zera. There’s no reason for you to trust my word. But you will do this for me. You will teach this valkerax how to Weep, or you will never see your heart again.”

I pant, wildly searching for my heart in her palm. There—between her fingers! I can see the pinkness of it.

“You came to Vetris for your heart.” Varia breathes raggedly. “All Heartless want their hearts. But you’re not all Heartless, are you, Zera? In the clearing, I saw the way my brother looked at you. And I saw how you looked at him, too.”

She gently tosses my heart from one hand to the other, like a juggling ball. Like it means nothing to her. I lunge for it, but my body stops me before I can reach her—the command to stay away absolute.

“He will go to war to protect his people. He will be the target of every witch assassin in the kingdom.” Concern, genuine and fearful, creeps into her eyes. “But if I stop the war, if I find the Bone Tree and control all the valkerax, I could bring war in Cavanos to a standstill forever. He will be safe.”

Safe. Lucien could be safe—Fione and Malachite, too. Everyone in Cavanos will be safe; Crav and Peligli and Nightsinger and Y’shennria—all of them, safe from another devastating human-witch war like the Sunless War. A whine escapes my lips, bestial and pathetic and not of my own control. I can’t trust her. But what choice do I have? My heart is so close—it’s right there. The only thing between my humanity and me is the valkerax behind that gate. Not a lonely prince who must be seduced and deceived but a valkerax who must be taught.

I don’t have to hurt anyone. I just have to teach. It’s easier than anything Nightsinger ever asked of me. I’m not betraying or lying. I would be whole again; I could stop the war I promised to, without breaking anyone in the process.

Mother’s voice—it’s fading so quickly. Father’s smile—

“All right,” I spit. “I’ll do it.”