“How long have you been here?” Serina asked, wondering how many fights Ember had seen. How many she’d won. The woman’s face and body bore a map of scars, some faint, others thick silvery ridges. Ember was a force, and Serina couldn’t deny she was still vastly afraid of her.

“I don’t know how long,” Ember said, her strong legs taking giant strides down the path. Serina struggled to keep up. “After the second year, I stopped keeping track. I’ve won in the ring six times.”

“Six…” Serina breathed in disbelief. Sometimes it hit her all over again how many women had died here. For every one of Ember’s victories, four other women had died. Twenty-four women, just in those six fights. Eleven women in the fights since Serina had come to Mount Ruin. The numbers were staggering.

“Oracle was here longer. She was the first person I met on Mount Ruin.” Ember’s voice thickened slightly, but her stony expression never changed. “She won ten fights. One of them was for me. I was sick on the day of my fight—bad boar or something—and she volunteered to fight in my place. She wasn’t leader yet, back then. Afterward, she spent three days nursing me back to health, hoarding my portion of the rations so I would have something to eat when I felt better.”

It was the most Ember had ever said to Serina. And it broke her apart. By the time Serina had come to Mount Ruin, Oracle had been hard, all iron and barbed wire. But she obviously hadn’t started that way. And maybe she’d never been as ruthless as she’d seemed. She’d yielded when Petrel had made a similar request to help Serina. She’d told Serina of her history as a Grace. Oracle had kept so many of the women here alive. She’d saved Serina’s life.

She’d deserved to escape more than any of them. Oracle should not have died on Mount Ruin.

“You and Oracle saved my life,” Serina said softly, those final moments playing over in her mind. “You made all of this possible.”

Ember shifted her shoulders uncomfortably. “I told Oracle we should fight. I convinced her. And then she died.”

All the air left Serina’s lungs.

“I thought maybe she and I could be free of all of this. I dreamed of escaping together.” Ember slowed as they approached the cliffs above the pier. She looked out over the water, and her voice bottomed out. “Now I’m not sure I want to leave.” She turned to Serina. “If I don’t die here, if my body doesn’t get committed to the volcano, do you think Oracle and I will be able to find each other?”

Serina felt Ember’s agony like a sword to her chest. “Yes, yes I do” was all she could say.