“I don’t understand. You are saying…I am responsible for the mist…for all monsters?”

“Indirectly,” she replied.

“Why would I…?”

“Before Adrian was chosen as Dis’s incarnate, she had chosen you. She fed these spells to you,” said Ana. “You were to bring balance to the world, but of course, men got in the way.”

“Dis hates me,” I said.

“She hates you because she loves Adrian,” said Ana.

“Then why did she allow me to incarnate again?”

“To keep him on her side,” said Ana. “Though I think you know it is too late for that. That is why she takes control of him, to remind him that he is a pawn.”

“And instead of destroying Dis, you wish to destroy Adrian?”

“There is no other way, Isolde,” she said.

“I don’t believe you.”

“Isolde—”

“There has to be another way!” I screamed, my pain and anger tearing from my chest.

“Adrian is Dis upon this earth, and when we were powerful—when witches ruled the earth—we could keep the power in check, but too many of us are asleep.”

“Then let’s wake them up, Ana!”

She shook her head. “Look at you, one of the most powerful witches of our time, and you can barely wake up. You are so terrified.”

“You do not want anyone more powerful than you,” I snapped.

She shook her head. “You love him too much to see the truth.”

“The only truth I see at the moment is how you betrayed me.”

“One day, you will understand,” she said. “And then we can work together to bring balance to this world.”

“Is your idea of balance siphoning magic from the bones of High Coven?” I asked. “That does not seem like balance to me.”

“Oh, but it is,” she said. “I did not siphon magic from your bones for myself, Isolde. I used your bones to create the one monster who could destroy Adrian—Asha’s incarnate.”

No. I ground my teeth and charged for her, but I was hit with a blast of energy and thrown into the great hall once again. I landed on my back near Nadia, my breath knocked out of me. A horrible shattering sound filled the hall, and I rolled onto my side, covering my head as pieces of mirror rained down.

When it was done, I rose to my feet and stared at the ruined hall.

“Isolde!”

My eyes shifted to the open doors where Adrian stood, fierce and angry and beautiful. An ache filled my chest beyond anything I had ever felt before in my life. I wanted to tell him so many things, but all I could manage was a desperate sob, and just when my knees gave out, he caught me and held me to his chest.

I carried your child, I wanted to say. We were going to have a child.