I shrugged and held up my hand to show him. “I got my color back.”

Zeran began to pace in circles until he stopped in front of a pile of Oya: Warrior Goddess comics. He picked up the latest edition and frowned. He’d read some of the older editions that I let him borrow. “I hope I get to read the rest. Oya reminds me a little of you. Brave, fierce, a little unpredictable.”

Was he blushing? Tell me he wasn’t blushing. “Um, thanks.”

Zeran glanced up from the comic book. “So . . .”

It was time to come clean about Tisha Thomas’s vision. It wasn’t right to keep it a secret, even if I had my doubts. “Tisha said that you would betray me to save your brother,” I blurted out.

Zeran stared at me, then let out a sharp laugh. “I know.”

“What?” I said, surprised.

“Do you think you were the only person she told?”

“I guess.” I frowned. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I thought you would ask me if it was true, so I waited,” he said. “When you never did, I figured you believed her.”

I glanced away. “She saw it in a vision.”

“I don’t care what she saw, Maya.” Zeran crossed his arms. “I don’t betray my friends.”

I blew out a deep breath. “Glad to hear it.”

Zeran worked his lower jaw back and forth. “Tisha was right about one thing . . . I am going to save my brother.”

“You’re going back to the Dark?”

“No, he’s not there . . . not anymore,” Zeran admitted. “Eleni was right. The Lord of Shadows has been quietly gathering support from the magical creatures in the human world. Billu was assigned to one of the squads tasked with recruiting.”

“How do you know this?”

Zeran dropped his arms to his side. He looked relieved to have someone to talk to. “Several key Resistance leaders have come over to the human world, too. They hope to undermine the Lord of Shadows before it’s too late. I’ve been meeting with them to get information about Billu’s whereabouts.”

“Why didn’t the Resistance contact the celestials?” I asked. “They should be working together to stop the Lord of Shadows.”

“The Resistance doesn’t trust the celestials . . . especially your father. He caused a lot of suffering when he created the veil.”

My face burned with shame. Papa had never forgiven himself for the harm that he caused the darkbringers. “I know, but we have to work together if we want to stop a war from happening.”

“I agree,” Zeran said. “But they’re not convinced.”

“Where’s your brother?”

Zeran grimaced, and his shoulders tensed. “I don’t know yet . . . I’m supposed to meet someone this afternoon at that abandoned factory on Ashland. They’ll tell me where Billu is in exchange for . . . you.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “You said you don’t betray your friends.”