Annika nods. “There’s been a lot of activity in the palace since that stunt you and Theo pulled, especially in the council room. We know where the guards will be posted during the Night of the Falling Star—twelve of them will be here.” She points to the hidden chamber. “Standing guard in front of a door far away from the festivities, guarding something behind these walls. Something the guards have referred to quite freely as the Queen’s Heart.”

I gape at the image, my breath held tight. “We really have a chance to take back Infinity.”

“You do—at the Night of the Falling Star,” she corrects.

I look up. “You still want me there?”

“The prince trusts you—certainly enough to let his guard down when you need him to most.” Annika looks at me, hands folded over the table. “On the night of the festival, there will be a moment when the queen and all four princes will host the main ceremony in the throne room. Every Resident in the palace will be there to watch the procession—all except the guards looking after the Orb. That’s your moment. If we take out the guards and destroy the Orb, we have Infinity.”

I feel my confidence failing me. “I’m not a caster. How am I supposed to take on twelve Legion Guards?” And then it dawns on me. The weapon. They want me to use it.

Annika waves her hand silently over the hologram until an image of a metal cuff appears. “Ahmet’s been working on this for a long time. It’s called a Reaper.”

It looks different than it did in the hatch, like it’s seen a fair share of upgrades. The shape is less clunky, more refined. More easily hidden.

“It can temporarily disable a Resident’s consciousness,” she continues. Vallis appears in my mind. “And it scrambles their memories so that when they wake up, they won’t remember what happened to them.”

Ahmet didn’t just make a weapon—he made the weapon.

The blue light from the hologram stings my eyes; I look away, blinking. I wanted to be a part of the Resistance without hurting anyone.

But I guess sometimes we can’t have what we want.

“It lasts only a handful of minutes at best, but it’s enough time for you to get into the chamber and destroy the Orb.” She watches the metal cuff spin slowly between us. “They won’t even know you’re using it. You just keep it on your wrist, and when you’re ready, you choose which Residents you want to disable.”

“What, like point and shoot? It’s that simple?”

“You use your consciousness, Nami. You think, and the weapon reacts,” she explains. “But you need to be close. No more than ten feet away.”

No human could get that close to twelve Resident guards without being attacked. No human except for me.