Shouts broke out from behind me. A scuffle, the clang of blades, before the soldiers abruptly stilled as though turned to stone. I swung around to find Wugang bound by glowing bands of ice, Wenzhi pressing his sword to the back of his neck. Ever quick to grasp an opportunity, he must have seized Wugang amid the earlier chaos. The soldiers stared blankly at Wenzhi and their master, whom they obeyed like puppets whose strings he tugged.

I reached Prince Yanming, falling to my knees beside him, clutching his hand. Stiff and so cold, a shiver coursed through me. His youthful glow was fading fast, like the dying embers of a flame.

My heart clenched so tight I thought it might fracture. “Why? How?” I did not know to whom I spoke, or what answer I sought … just that this was so brutally unfair, so very wrong. That I would give anything to set it right again.

“The soldiers separated us.” Prince Yanxi’s face crumpled as he spoke. “I should not have fought them; we should have run. Yanming should have been the only one that mattered.”

I could find no words of solace, my own guilt driving deep. Wugang had come for us—Prince Yanming was innocent, simply caught in the fray. They had only fled here because of the turmoil we caused in the Southern Sea. They had even tried to help us … and a part of me wished they had not. Nothing was worth this price.

Bodies crowded around, yet I could no longer distinguish friend from foe. All I saw was a small face as pale as the moon, blue eyes darkening to night. A mouth that trembled as he tried to speak.

I bent my ear lower, catching the wisp of warmth in his frail breath.

“We … did not betray you. They found us. Don’t be angry.”

His words wracked me to my core. “I know.” I tried to smile but my lips were trembling. “I’m not angry. I’ll never be angry at you.”

My fingers wrapped tight around his as I grasped my energy, unsure of what I intended. A cut, a burn—such injuries I could tackle. Not this deathlike frost that bloomed from within, sapping the life from his veins.

Someone touched my shoulder, the warmth startling in the cold that shrouded me. Liwei knelt down, folding Prince Yanming’s hand in his.

Hope flared. Liwei’s Life magic was strong, far stronger than mine. “Help him,” I pleaded, though he had already gathered his power.

“Be careful, Liwei.” The Celestial Empress’s voice sounded like it came from far away. “Don’t exhaust yourself.”

I wanted to silence her, as much as I wanted to repeat her warning. I did not want to trade one life for another—I just wanted to save Prince Yanming.