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Michael smiled.

He shut his eyes and lay his head on the floor.

“What’s a—” I began.

Rafael shot me a look, one that said,I’m handling this.

So be it.

“You didn’t just kill the par animarum,” Rafael said. “You cursed them.”

Michael’s smile inched higher.

“When you said they’d be back one day, that was what you meant, wasn’t it?” Rafael asked. “You cursed them, and they have to break it.”

Michael laughed.

“Answer the question,” Rafael snapped. “Is it a curse?”

“It is.” Michael’s eyes were still shut, and he was still smiling. “But you want to know how?”

My heart pattered behind my ribs so quickly, it was hard to hear them speaking.

“That’d be appreciated,” Rafael snapped. “And then I’d like you to show me for confirmation.”

Laughing, Michael nuzzled into the rag of a blanket, bunching it beneath his face. “They all have to die first.”

My face screwed up in confusion.

“What do you mean?” Rafael asked.

“All the par animarum must die, and find one another in their next lives.” He chuckled again. “She’s been waiting for you, Nix. I wonder how many lives she’s lived while you were here torturing me. Or when you were wallowing for a dozen centuries.”

“I don’t understand,” Rafael said. “When they find one another, that’s when the curse breaks? So none of them have found one another in a thousand years?”

“No, no. I’m sure many of them have found each other.” Michael’s eyes fluttered open, meeting mine. “Except for Véa. And Hya, I suppose. The rest of them, I’m sure they’ve found one another in many lives. After all, your souls are bound. I bet you’d gradually inch closer and closer to one another in every life.”

My stomach churned, chest tightening with every word he spoke. “She isn’t in a crystal somewhere.”

“No. She only was for a few years. It was right in front of you, by the way.” He laughed again. “That day in the Elder’s Hall. It was by your feet. She wasright there. So were your children.”

“What?” I stepped forward. “What the fuck does that mean?”

“The blade Metatron used to kill her captured her soul. Your children’s, as well. They wererightin front of you. But you were more concerned with arguing.”

It took everything in me to maintain a normal breathing rhythm.

“You must die, and Medica must die. And then you all must find your paired soul in the next life.” He was still smiling, the most evil, sadistic little grin. “Then, when you and Véa have your first child, the curse will break.”

That was why they hadn’t killed me.

That was why they hadn’t hunted me down.

That was why they let me out of the Elder’s Hall.

That was why they didn’t kill me in all those attempts I made at capturing them.

I had to die.