He tilts his head, bringing his pierced, green-glimmering mouth a fraction closer to mine. “I’ve...thought about kissing you on more than one occasion.”

“Does this mean you’ll say yes?”

Trystan gives me the most emotional smile I’ve ever seen on his face, and joy overtakes me. I can feel the yes in that smile. And in the way his magic eddies toward mine.

“Mage Gardner.”

His name booms out from across the terrace and we both turn, a contingent of four soldiers striding toward us with grim, determined expressions.

Defensive lightning sparks in both Trystan and myself.

The straight-backed soldier in the lead halts directly before Trystan, her gaze locked on him, both of our smiles whisked away as I sense their urgency.

The soldier’s gaze sharpens on Trystan. “You’re wanted in Ung Li’s chambers. Immediately.”

Trystan

“Your sister, Elloren Gardner, is the Black Witch.”

My water power shudders then stills, suspended in my center as I stare, dumbfounded, at Commander Ung Li. Clarity avalanches in, and I understand fully, in that moment, why we’re standing in Ung Li’s private tower, surrounded by soldiers. Why they confiscated my wand before we entered.

And why Elloren’s journey here has taken so long.

Lightning slashes across the inky sky outside, momentarily brightening the sapphire hues of the lantern-lit room. Thunder rumbles to the west.

“That can’t be,” I protest, desperate to strike down their horrifying misconception. Knowing what it could mean for my sister. “Elloren has no power. She’s a Level One Mage—”

“She’s not.” Commander Ung Li’s gaze is pierced with iron-hard import. “She’s been wandtested by our forces.”

Confusion rips through me. “I don’t understand.”

“Your sister was never truly wandtested. Until our forces tested her. She’s more powerful than your grandmother ever was.”

The certainty in Ung Li’s words ignites a jolt of lightning through my internal magic. “Where is she?” I ask as the ramifications of this for Elloren shear through my mind. They’ve been telling me for weeks that she’s en route here. Under Vu Trin protection.

There’s a beat of hesitation as Ung Li’s brow creases, triggering another frisson of alarm.

Because Ung Li rarely hesitates with anything.

“She’s likely dead,” Ung Li states, devastatingly firm.

My magic comes untethered as pain clenches my center. I double over, my hands clutching my abdomen as it tightens against the blow of her words.

“Your sister was caught in the cross fire when our Western forces attacked the Mage Council.”

I lift my unfocused gaze to hers, desperate for the unsure edge to her statement to be true. “But you don’t know for a fact that she’s dead?”