“No!” Crone snaps, reaching his side. “You must not fight before the Purification. You know the rules!”
“Let me guess,” I say to her. “If we fight each other too soon, we’ll upset the Balance.”
She narrows her eyes at me. “The laws are clear.”
“Then you have a problem,” I say. “Because I’m not stepping aside. I won’t let you kill my sisters. Either you upset the Balance of the world by allowing them to live—or you upset it because I’m going to kill Arga before the Elimination starts. Which is the lesser of your evils, Crone?”
She purses her lips and I pray she believes that releasing my sisters is the best course of action. I’m pragmatic enough to acknowledge that fighting my way free right now only gets us where we are: standing on this bridge with nowhere to go.
Crone gazes up at me, a wary light in her eyes. “You don’t believe in the Elimination, do you, Nova?”
I lean down to her. “This is not my world. And it’s not my fight. If I could leave, I would.”
She lowers her voice, but I don’t make the mistake of thinking that she’s softening. “Your sisters can’t walk free among demons. They must be killed—”
A scream builds in my throat. It’s full of both fear and anger because my sisters’ lives are worth more than rules. Before I can utter that, Roman’s deep rumble cuts through the tension.
“There’s another way.” He keeps his distance from me, but with a single glance, it feels like he reaches out and strokes my back, a soothing touch against my frazzled nerves. “I can place a rune on the shifters to suppress their presence.”
Crone considers this option for all of two seconds. “It’s too risky. It’s never been done.”
“Then another method of suppression can be employed,” Roman counters, his voice sharp now. “Unless you’d like to see the Balance destroyed and the three worlds thrown into a new chaos when Nova kills Arga before the Elimination.”
He saidwhen—notif—and it causes a ripple through the soldiers and the watching royals. Only Koda doesn’t look surprised—quite the opposite, in fact, his brow furrowed and his fists clenched in a way that I can’t interpret.
“You mean the prison,” Crone says, a smile tugging at her lips.
What?My heart plummets. Just when I believe that Roman might be helping me, he betrays me again. “No! I won’t allow my sisters to rot in a demon prison.”
“If they aren’t killed, they must be imprisoned, controlled, and contained,” Crone says, her robes swishing as she lifts her arms. “If you wish to keep them alive, you must agree to this.”
No.
Everything inside me screams against it. My sisters have always been at my side. We’ve faced the challenges of our lives together. I need them now beside me when I’m up against royal demons, a legion of demon soldiers, a sinister Crone, and… Roman.
But as much as I need them, they need me more.
Right now, I have to protect them.
They’re gathered closer behind me, having edged forward. They’re pale, their shoulders touching. Malia has regained her calm demeanor, her power wafting around her loosely clasped hands, but her warm brown eyes shine with worry.
Taniya, always the one who is last to trust, breaks my heart when she gives me a nod, and it dawns on me that they might not be afraid for themselves right now. They’re afraid for me.
Burying my emotions, I bend to Crone, refusing to take a knee, even though she’s so little that it hurts my back to stoop—not least because I’m sure Tyrus thumped me across my shoulder blades at some point.
“I want a deal,” I say, startling her a little, but I plow on. “If I win the first trial, you will let my sisters out of the prison and allow the Master of Demon Runes to use his power to suppress their presence.”
She jolts again, her head high. “Unacceptable. There’s too much risk. They must remain—”
I raise my voice. “Or Arga and I can fight right now.”
I glare at her as hard as she’s glaring at me, lowering my voice and speaking clearly. “Something tells me that the death of a royal before the Elimination begins would put an irreversible crack in this world, am I right?”
Crone considers me as if she’d like to tear me apart. “Very well,” she snaps. “If you win the first trial, Lord Rune may attempt to suppress their presence. Until then, they will be cast into the demon prison.”
She darts into my space, her hand rising, the dark void within her form flickering into view. “But, Nova, if the runes can’t suppress their energy, you can expect them to spend the remainder of their worthless lives in prison. I’ll make sure of it.”
Not if I win the Elimination altogether.It’s a dangerous thought, but one I can’t shake. To protect my sisters—to get us all out of here—I might not only have to win the first trial. I might have to win it all. An impossible task in a world I don’t understand with rules I’m not even aware of yet, and against royals whose powers I’m still to discover.
