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I take a breath and then another one. Isn’t this what I already suspected? I just couldn’t think with the Chariot hunting me.

Once again, I close my eyes and try to visualize the bridge where Cato and Vesper last were. Once again … I can’t. It’s just a bridge, stone above and water below. All the bridges in Caelria are near enough the same as to be identical. Or at least they are to a Dreg Rat who has little reason to see them, let alone cross them.

I could picture the Dregs easily enough—or at least my home there. I know every nook and cranny, every crack and rotted spot. But it will take me time to get from the Dregs to the Wands District. Too much damned time. I have to be back at the Moon’s temple by sixth strike.

Sunrise comes.

My eyes fly open. It’s been that long? Then I don’t have a choice about my destination, do I? There’s one place I’ve spent more than a little time in the last few days.

The champions’ island. Specifically the spot right in front of the Moon’s temple. I can practically feel the flagstones beneath my feet, can perfectly visualize the faded marble columns with intricate scenes carved into them. I want to rest, to lie down in the bed that’s become mine and slip away for a few hours. I want …

I take a step forward. Instead of mushy ground, my feet hit stone. My legs choose that moment to give, sending me to my knees in a painful lurch. I look up slowly, finding myself in the familiar courtyard, the Sun just threatening to crest the jagged wall to the east. Another night I’ve survived when, by all rights, I shouldn’t have.

Did Vesper? Did Cato?

I look up slowly, forcing myself to count the new banners covering temple doorways. A breath sobs out when I find the Sun and the Wheel of Fortune remain uncovered. They’re alive. I don’t know how, but they are. Two champions died last night: the Chariot by my hand, and the Magician by Death’s. Only seven remain.

Tonight will be the last night. It has to be. I don’t know if I can keep going much longer. Exhaustion weighs me down. No wonder everyone is invested in ending the Trials as quickly as possible. Humans were not meant to be trapped in a cycle of violence like this.

Footsteps sound, and I lift my head as the Star and the High Priestess walk across the nearest bridge, looking as fresh as if they just left the Wands … event. I refuse to call it a party. They titter when they see me. The Star floats over, moving so smoothly that the hem of her foamy dress barely seems to touch the ground. “So the little Dreg Rat survived yet another night.” She leans down, but I jerk back before she can touch me with her gloved hands. “So jumpy. So willing to scurry to safety, no matter who pays the cost.”

“Call it cautious.” I can barely summon a snap to my tone. I’m so tired. More than that, her words are sharp strikes against my fading confidence that Cato and Vesper will understand I didn’t mean to abandon them to the fight. She can’t possibly know what happened on the bridge, but I feel fractured with worry.

“Cautious … cowardly.” The Star shrugs. “They’re the same from where I’m standing.”

“Then get a new view.”

She laughs and turns away. “Enjoy your rest, Moon. The Trials end tonight.”

I watch her walk away. She said nothing more than what I suspected, but it still feels shocking. I look at the High Priestess where she lingers near me. “You have something to say?”

Her gaze tracks to the Chariot’s temple, my banner over the doorway. “That was good work with the Chariot.” My shock must show on my face, because she smiles bitterly. “Come now, Moon. We’re all champions in the Trials; we all share the same goals. To survive until the end and ascend to become Cinque. The Chariot and the Star are formidable allies, no matter their personal faults—and his were legion.”

For the first time, I wonder at her story. I had thought she was nothing more than another frivolous monster like the Star, and maybe she is. But she cared about the woman in the arena. I’m sure of it … I’m just not sure it matters. I shake my head. “If you’re hoping the five of us will kill each other so you and the Star can ascend, it’s not going to happen.”

She tilts her head to the side, studying me. “Tonight will tell, won’t it? I have no intention of failing.”

“Neither do any of the other surviving champions.”

“Even so.” She glances over my head and stiffens. “Good luck, Moon.” She almost sounds like she means it. She turns and walks away, heading for her temple.

Death and Nero approach from behind me. I don’t have to see to know it’s them; they’re the only ones who could send the High Priestess fleeing. Death walks past me, pauses as if taking in every detail of my appearance, and continues on without a word. Nero stands just out of sight behind my left side, but I’m too damned tired to twist to face him. I still can’t find the strength to stand. My knees feel rooted to the stones beneath them, both confining me in place and keeping me upright … mostly.

Cato and Vesper stagger into the courtyard, Vesper leaning heavily on Cato—or maybe he’s leaning on them. It’s difficult to say. They’re both soaked, their clothing pasted to their bodies. Cato’s shimmer has been washed away. Vesper is missing most of the ornaments in their hair. They appear as terrible as I feel.

Cato takes one look at me and then looks right through me. He says something to Vesper that I don’t catch and releases them to march past me without a second glance. It hurts. It hurts far more than I could have dreamed. I didn’t even realize I’d started to care about this arrogant ass, and now it’s too late.

Vesper stops a short distance away. “You left us.”

“I didn’t mean to.” I press my fingers to my face, wincing when they come away bloody. “I killed the Chariot. For real this time.”

“One less threat, I suppose.” Vesper’s shoulders drop. “Sleep well, Moon.”

Moon, not Kestrel. Somehow, that hurts even more than Cato’s deliberate snub. “Vesper, I—”

But they’re already walking past me, making their slow way to their temple and disappearing inside. They think I abandoned them, that I fled to save myself. I can’t even blame them for that, because it appears to be exactly what I did. They can’t know the shadows turned strange and trapped me within them. Even if they did, why should they care? The result is all that matters, and the result was Vesper and Cato left alone to face two of the most terrifying champions in the Trials. “Fuck,” I whisper.

Strong hands catch me under the elbows and lift me easily to my feet … and then keep hold of me when my knees threaten to buckle again. “Steady.”