Taking another step back from the advancing soldier, Lina bumped into the pedestal where her crown sat. In desperation, she whirled, grabbing the bronze crown and swinging it. Its deadly spikes stabbed into her attacker’s arm. Bri gaped at the viciousness of the clawed weapon as Lina pulled back and swung the crown again, piercing it into the soldier’s neck. Blood bubbled as he clutched the weeping wound and he fell to his knees.

“My duty is done,” a shaking voice sounded from behind Bri.

She spun, finding Tem’s pallid face. He held the purple flower from his jacket pocket, twirling the bruised stem in his bloodied hands.

Bri’s brow furrowed. “What?”

He lifted the flower and sniffed it, his eyes rolling back for a moment before he blinked and then stared at her again. A soft grin covered his face, one so familiar. The kindest fae, that’s what she had thought he was, a lovesick puppy, harmless. He rested his head back against the stone wall. As he breathed in the sweet-scented flower once more, his eyes flitted past Bri and he said, “I won.”

Bri followed the direction of his gaze to where Lina stood, holding the crown in her good hand, waiting for the last attacker to approach.

When Bri spotted it, her heart stopped—the soapy film along the inner rim of the crown, easily misinterpreted as being dulled from wear. The same sheen as on the cutlery in Cole’s office and the blade of the scout in Silver Sands. Her heart leapt into her throat as she screamed, darting forward.

Lina’s pupils dilated until the dark brown of her irises disappeared. Her face was vacant, utterly hollow apart from her pinched brows. Bri vaulted over the piles of dead bodies, dashing to Lina and seizing the crown from her grasp. The crown clattered across the floor, the sound too loud in the now quiet room.

Lina’s legs crumpled under her as Bri darted out, grabbing her just before she fell. The tiles were too slick and Bri’s boots slipped so she landed with her legs stretched out and Lina’s head cushioned against her thigh.

She held her trembling, bloody hands to Lina’s cheeks. “Lina.” Her voice cracked, watching those dark pupils scanning the ceiling as if the Gods were beckoning her skyward.

Lina’s eyes flitted to Bri’s face. “You came after me,” she whispered, the pained sound shredding Bri in two.

“I never should have let you go.” Bri’s eyes welled as she nodded. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Lina. I should have fought for us. I was too much of a coward to tell you.” Her bloodied thumbs swept crimson streaks across Lina’s cheeks. “I love you.”

“But the East?” A trickle of black blood trailed from Lina’s ear and her lips parted on a gasp.