Little lines of black spread over Bane’s features, a truly gruesome sight. We’re losing, and Aveline is winning.

Tears welled as Nola met Bane’s gaze. “I’m sorry,” she mouthed. Weakness marched through her, gaining new ground by the minute.

“I’m sorry,” he mouthed back, and her injured heart squeezed.

What are you doing? Giving up? You are a queen! A leader of dragons, your word is law. You are mighty. Go save your mansel in distress.

Yes. Yes! She wasn’t dead. Bane wasn’t dead, either, but he would be—soon. Unless she acted. A battle plan formed, courtesy of the hive mind. Actually, courtesy of one queen in particular. Jayne... Nola’s ancestor. They were related. Some of Jayne’s descendants had survived.

What Jayne wanted her to do...it was a risky, terrible, awful, devastating, utterly insane plan. Nola wanted to cry and vomit and spend a few thousand years thinking about every aspect first. If anything went wrong...

Don’t let anything go wrong.

Fighting past the deluge of pain—her specialty—she crawled closer to Bane. She had to leave the blade embedded in her chest, lest she bleed out before she completed her mission. Almost there...

Aveline laughed. “You can’t stop me, girl.”

No wonder Bane had hated queens. The arrogance. The smugness. The hunger for power that ate away at Aveline’s humanity.

A fiery dagger lay in the circle of flames, next to Bane’s feet. Nola knew she’d have only one shot at this. Hoping to distract Aveline with her words, keeping the other woman’s attention off her actions, she said, “I’m going to—” sneakily clasp the hilt of the dagger “—kill...”

Still laughing, Aveline flittered to the side, out of Nola’s strike zone, without releasing her hold on Bane. “You’re going to kill me? When you can’t even reach me? Tsk-tsk. But go ahead. Please try. This will be fun—for me.”

Nola looked to Bane. His gaze remained on her. Black lines forked his eyes. He was dying.

“Love you,” he mouthed this time.

He loves me! The confession gave Nola the strength she needed to struggle to her knees.

Took everything she had to remain upright. “Forgive me,” she whispered—and plunged the dagger into his heart.

He threw back his head and roared, the flames spreading through him, visible beneath the surface of his skin. His fell over, face-first, hitting the ground with a heavy thud, his eyes staring at nothing.

Nola whimpered. Her beautiful golden god was dead. Killed by her hand. Just as Zion had predicted. The blade she held? Soaked with her lover’s blood.

Aveline took another step to the side, putting more distance between them. She wasn’t laughing anymore. “Why?” she demanded.

Nola allowed a smile. “Don’t worry. You’ll never remember this happened.”