“You want to talk about being a menace?” I said, my blood boiling with anger. “You serve a person who has no regard for life, not even for the darkbringers who believe in him. He sends children to fight his battles. Do you think when the veil finally comes down, he’ll ever stop? He’ll never be satisfied.”

“Enough of this talk!” Captain Nulan’s eyes darkened as gold and silver fairy magic spread around her.

I threw up a shield of god symbols, but not before the fairy dust hit me. I staggered back, dazed and more than a little confused. I tried to brush it off my clothes, but my arms fell slack at my sides.

“As I told you before, my lord needs you alive,” Nulan said.

I hadn’t seen this coming. Nulan was an aziza, and like Eleni, she could use her magic to control others. This was her plan all along—how could I let her trick me? I wanted to ask why the Lord of Shadows needed me, but I thought I already knew the answer. Oshun was right. He wouldn’t stop once he had control of earth. Not when he could travel the entirety of the universe, across multiple worlds in moments . . . with a little help.

“Maya Janine Abeola,” Captain Nulan said. I hated the sound of my name coming from her. I hated what she was about to do, and I hated that I couldn’t stop her. “You will serve the Lord of Shadows faithfully for the rest of your life.”

Her magic twisted around my mind like a rope, making me forget why I was here and what I was fighting for. I couldn’t serve the Lord of Shadows, but I had to, didn’t I? It was my duty. No, it was my privilege. That wasn’t right. He was the bad guy—wasn’t he? Eleni once said that fairy magic was about suggestions, that someone with a disciplined mind could break free. But Nulan’s magic was stronger than anything I had ever felt from Eleni, and it was quickly unraveling my will to resist.

I clenched my teeth as I looked to Frankie, who was still on the ground. Seeing my friend unconscious only fueled my anger. The Lord of Shadows said that I was dangerous—more dangerous than him. I had destroyed dozens of stars by pulling one thread. I hadn’t meant it, but intentions and results weren’t the same things. I pushed against Nulan’s magic so forcefully that my nose started to bleed. But the more I fought, the stronger her magic became. I fell to my knees under the weight of it.

Nulan stood over me. “Tell me, Maya, who do you serve?”