Lyric looked a bit sheepish. “When I lent you the B.P.S., I also kind of slipped a Snitch Stitch into your pocket. I overheard you describing stained glass windows and I heard the arrival of the Royalists. That’s how I was able to warn everyone in time. I’m sorry!” she added quickly as Claire reached into her cloak pocket and pulled out a thin red string. “I know you’re not supposed to eavesdrop, but you just disappeared last time, and I wanted to make sure I could find you again!”

Next to her, Sophie made a muffled sound somewhere between a snort and laugh. Claire shot her sister a look and Sophie pulled herself together. “That’s all right, Lyric,” she said. “I’m sure Claire understands. But where is Nadia now? We need to talk to her right away!”

“She was planning to ride out of Starscrape to look for the two of you,” Nett replied, worry in his eyes.

“No!” Claire gasped and dumped the crown into Zuli’s arms to pull out her spyglass again. She half-ran, half-stumbled to a narrow window. With an expert click, she slid open the instrument and held it up to her eye, searching for any flash of chimera that might have been sent out on a search mission. Meanwhile, she heard Sophie telling the others what had just happened—and what was coming for them.

“But if sunlight doesn’t work, we’re utterly defenseless!” Nett cried. “Nothing we have will protect us. Fighting wraiths like that will be like trying to fight a hurricane, punch a tornado, or hug a wildfire: Futile. Deadly. The elements will always win. The most we can hope for is to survive—to just survive one more day and the next and the next! It’ll be an unending storm!”

“But magic is always stronger surrounded by other magic,” Sena, always stubborn, pointed out. “With all the guilds together—and the crown!—maybe we’ll be all right.”

At that moment, Claire spotted Nadia, and relief rushed through her. She was still on the Wall. She was still safe. But that’s where Claire’s relief ended.

Because as she turned the spyglass beyond Starscrape Mountain, she could see dark clouds roiling across the land: wraiths. They were closer than they had been only a few minutes ago. Much, much closer. The wraiths were swarming toward Constellation Range and Starscrape Citadel, where they still thought they might find their queen.

She snapped the spyglass shut and whirled around just as Thorn spoke.

“But there’s just not enough magic left in Arden to face them,” he said softly. “We need unicorns.”

Sophie lifted her chin, and as she did, the four moontears at her throat winked. Claire wished that the unicorn had managed to wake them with his horn before he’d left, and she could feel her heart breaking.

“We still need to try,” Sophie said.