“We’d be directly responsible for his death.” Daraja licks her lips. “I don’t know if I’m okay with that.”

Paheli tilts her head. “But you’d be okay with him chasing us, catching us, torturing us, and ultimately killing us?”

“Paheli.” Valentina slips an arm around her.

“Do you have any other methods to suggest? I’m not speaking to Daraja alone. If you have any other suggestions, make them. I’m listening.” Paheli’s face is uncharacteristically serious. None of us are able to meet her eyes.

Paheli turns to Taraana. “Do you have the same qualms about killing Baarish?” Before he can reply, she forges ahead. “Listen, I’m not a saint who forgives people for the pain they inflict upon me and the people I love. I refuse to be a victim. If this means I have to plan for Baarish’s death, so be it. I will not let him take Taraana again, and I will not let him hurt one of us.”

“Won’t bonding with the Between make Taraana more powerful?” Widad asks. “Can’t we try that?”

“Taraana has been trying,” Kamboja says. “You’ve seen that.”

“But he could try harder,” Widad says, and then stops talking at the look Paheli gives her.

“We’ve been able to escape Baarish thus far not just because of luck but because he hasn’t been seriously chasing us. He’s playing with us the same way a cat plays with its prey. Once he does get serious, how long do you think we can run from him?” Paheli asks.

“Ideally, Taraana would be able to bond to the Between, gain a lot of power, which would keep him safe from Baarish and his companions.” Valentina spells things out. “However, the process of bonding to the Between is more complex, and right now, attempts to do so without attracting Baarish’s attention, impossible.”

“But Baarish is simply one of many people who want Taraana,” Ligaya counters. “Aren’t the others on the Magic Council also after him? Are we going to kill all of them? Can we?”

“Probably not,” Paheli says. “But as I said, let’s take one enemy at a time. If your conscience cannot handle what’s going to happen, you can either stay with Eulalie or leave. I promise, there’ll be no hard feelings whatever you decide. It is your choice.”

“I will always choose myself,” Taraana says suddenly. “Between Baarish and me, I mean.” He slips his fingers through Paheli’s. He offers us a crooked smile. “I have to be alive to feel the twinges of my conscience.”

Paheli has made her decision, and it is up to us to make ours.

“How do you propose to get Baarish to hold a pendant in his bare hands?” Etsuko asks when the silence lasts for a beat too long, raising one of her thin eyebrows. She has no problem planning a murder.