Akeylah studied her opponent. Then she extended a hand, slowly. “Once I perform the Blood Ceremony, you let Ren and Zofi walk free.”

“And you, Akeylah. You forgot yourself.” Audrina clasped her hand. “Agreed. I get the throne, you get your family.”

Akeylah tightened her grip, hard enough to hurt. “We have a deal.”

28

Zofi

She woke to the rattling of chains. It echoed through her skull, pounded against her temples. Zofi groaned and rolled over, only to find herself squinting through iron slats at a puddle of her own sick beneath her. Her hand went immediately to her waist. Found her belt empty, her blades missing. Even the last two boosts she’d stored in her pockets were gone. She felt the empty pockets where they used to be, and panic clawed at her throat.

She was unarmed. Helpless.

“Welcome back to the land of the living,” Ren called from somewhere in the distance, and Zofi forced herself to forget self-pity.

She squinted at the familiar surroundings instead. Dank, moist walls, a hard-packed earth floor, the wrought-iron bench on which she lay. And on the far side of the narrow enclosure, metal bars, floor to ceiling.

The dungeons.

“What happened?” Her voice came out in a croak. She cleared her throat, hard, and the cough nearly made her retch again.

“Phantasm darts.” Ren’s voice drifted over again, near at hand, though she couldn’t see her sister through the gloom. She squinted at the bars, and spotted a thin hand gesturing at her.

Ren was in the next cell over.

Zofi rolled off the bench, hit the floor hard on hands and knees, and sucked a breath through gritted teeth. When she tried to move, she found herself dragging a chain, connected to her left ankle, bound to cast-iron hook in the wall. “I feel like I’ve been run over by a truck.”

“That’s generally the point of phantasm venom, I think,” Ren replied.

Zofi squinted. The only light source flickered, which meant it must be a lantern or a torch, not natural sunlight. “How long have we been down here?” Last time, when the Talons darted her and dragged her to Kolonya City, this stuff knocked her out for three days solid.

“About a day, as far as I can tell. The guards don’t talk much, but I’ve got a fast metabolism. I woke up in time for dinner last night.” Ren’s voice soured. “Trust me, you didn’t miss much.”

Zofi crawled to the bars and wrapped her hands around them. The chain on the bed extended just far enough to let her lean against the cell door. She bent forward as far as she could to peer around. The hall outside the cells looked empty. Somewhere in the distance, she caught the low hum of conversation. Guards, chatting away. “So the Blood Ceremony…”