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Lady Shufang glares at me. “Go,” she says wrathfully. “But I won’t stop Her Majesty from giving chase. And if you cheat me, failing to yield the antidote, I will hunt you down and flay you alive.”

Her soldiers retreat—Jin, Shenming, and Dian already racing away. My eyes meet those of the Prince of the Iron Mountains, knowing and dark.

He isn’t in pain. He is letting us go.

My arm swings back, hurling the leaves toward him, Lady Shufang’s soldiers rushing to retrieve them.

And then, I run.

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

WE RACE THROUGH THE FOREST, THEN THE CLEARING where the snakes attacked. Worse enemies are hunting us now. We need to reach our boat on the shore; our only chance of escape, into the ocean beyond.

Shouts erupt. I don’t dare turn, sprinting onward despite the burning in my calves. Something plummets from the skies like rain—sharp slivers of ice, stinging as they tear our flesh. Smoke fills the air as streams of fire erupt from behind now, chasing us with scorching heat. The Queen of the Iron Mountains is close, her power far greater than before.

Jin’s shield is spread thin—he’s conserving his strength, unable to draw mine for now. As we duck and wind through the assault, blood streaming from our wounds, I push the discomfort from my mind. The air thickens ominously, hail plummeting from the skies in a ceaseless shower. Every part of my body seethes with pain. If we stop… we die.

“Halt!” Queen Chunlei’s command rings out, carried with the wind. Though she remains out of sight, she must be gaining on us. “Surrender the starfire and I will let you leave unharmed.”

Even if she means this, we can’t let the starfire fall into her hands. Soon, she will be invulnerable. But I’m lagging behind the others, struggling to steady the chaos of the magic within. Jin swings to me, his pace slowing even as I shout at him to go. The starfire is in his possession; he can’t be caught.

Spears of ice hurtle down—thicker this time—burying into the sand before me like the bars of a cage, cleaving me from the others. Shenming and Dian are almost at the shore ahead. Terror floods me as I smother a shout for help, afraid the others will be caught too.

Queen Chunlei appears now, a small figure on the horizon, yet her presence towers as though she is ten feet tall. Alone—how did she outpace the soldiers? Even at a distance, the starfire in her crown blazes brighter than before. A faint sheen emanates from her skin, dazzling light streaming from her hands to form the fire and ice she’s hurled our way.

The earth shudders ominously. I catch myself—but a flare of magic hurtles from behind into my shoulder. Struck, I cannot move, racked with pain. My limbs give way as I crumple to the ground, the side of my head slamming against the earth as I lie there, helpless and vulnerable.

“Bring me the starfire, else she dies.” Queen Chunlei’s voice carries across the distance as though by magic, as if she is right before us.

My body burns yet I’m shivering. An immense weight crashes over me like I’m encased in stone—unable to reach my magic, to even move or speak, trapped in the throes of the queen’s vicious spell.

The others are looking at me, their expressions of fear and horror. I curse myself for falling behind, for failing them. Jin is closest to me. Dian and Shenming have reached the shore, now lined with the soldiers’ boats. They can escape, they must. The thought sears with equal parts hope and dread.

I swallow hard, my mouth forming a soundless plea: Go.

Dian starts toward me, but Shenming catches her, holding her back as she struggles. Jin speaks to them intently; I cannot hear what he says as the others nod. With every moment, Queen Chunlei draws closer, her cloak fluttering as she strides toward me. Her eyes blaze, their pupils almost swallowed in the sea of white. Her features have sharpened like they’ve been honed by a blade, still and pale, all that was once vibrant stripped away, her beauty turned cold. Unearthly… no longer of this world.

Footsteps thud, Jin and Shenming rushing toward me. I cannot shout for them to leave, silenced by the queen’s wretched spell. More of her icy spears plunge down, but they evade them, Jin’s shield gleaming around us. In the distance, Dian drags our boat down to the water. Magic surges from her, the trees quivering as branches snap free, slamming against the other boats to damage them.

Jin reaches my side first. Tears prick my eyes at the sight of him, even as terror grips me. Swiftly, he lifts me up—Shenming a little behind, his sword drawn. Our boat is already in the water, Dian gesturing at us to hurry as we run. Burdened by my weight, Jin’s pace slows as the soldiers gain on us, more appearing even as Shenming fights off those closest. Waves of fire chase us, a hail of ice hurtling to hinder our path, Jin’s shield wavering beneath the force. We cannot outrun them. Soon, we will all be trapped. Captives of the Queen of the Iron Mountains.

My gaze locks on Jin. With the starfire he could have secured the safety of Thorn Valley, struck his own deal with the queen. Yet he stays for me. His danger feels worse than mine; I won’t be his undoing, his ruin. Except now, my strength stolen… I can no longer fight.

Jin glances behind at the advancing queen, the soldiers that Shenming is struggling to fend off. Then he looks back at me, his eyes startlingly bright. All around, chaos rages, more of the queen’s magic unleashed in a tempest of fury. She won’t relent, we can’t escape.

“I’m sorry,” he says in a low voice.

My heart aches, it almost breaks. This is farewell. It would be reckless and selfish to endanger his kingdom, the realm itself, by allowing the starfire to fall into the queen’s grasp. He isn’t just mine alone, he belongs to Thorn Valley as well. It doesn’t mean he cares for me less… but his people have a claim on him too.

A coolness slides into me from his touch—a shield. The last one he will ever cast for me, though none can withstand the Queen of the Iron Mountains for long. But then Jin bends to tuck something into my waistband, searing through the cloth.

Starfire.

Confusion surges, an unseen pain lancing my chest, my heart realizing what my mind is slowly grasping—Jin isn’t abandoning me. He’s protecting me and his realm, the only way he can.

“Don’t give this to the Elders.” He whispers this to me, his eyes blazing with emotion, “Stay safe, Yining.”

Tears slide down my face as he pulls me to him, clasping me tight. Then his arms fall away as he moves to let Shenming take me. Straightening, Jin holds up the shard of Ice Pearl from the waterfall—shining in his hand as bright as starfire. Almost its twin from a distance.