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It’s a waste of an effort. The Night King’s still staring at my lips, looking entranced by them.

Around us, the air thickens with static electricity, raising the hairs along my arm. I look around, trying to figure out its source. Des tears his gaze from my mouth, his eyes moving over our surroundings.

Something bad is coming.

BOOM!

The ground beneath me trembles and debris flies into the air as something on the other side of the palace explodes. A moment later, I feel a wave of dark magic slam into me, knocking me off my feet. Des catches me before I hit the ground, and the two of us share an intense look.

A fresh batch of screams rise from the other side of the castle.

I was wrong—something bad isn’t coming.

It’s already here.

Next to me, the Bargainer’s wings appear at his back, expanding ominously. “I’ll be right back, cherub.”

With that, he vanishes from my side.

Des!

I can still feel the press of his hands against me, but he’s gone.

My eyes move towards the back of the palace, where the screams are coming from. That’s where he went.

I sprint towards the back of the castle, my heart pounding wildly. There’s pressure near my shoulder blades, my wings fighting to reveal themselves.

Ignoring the sensation, I run down one of the cobblestone paths that winds around the palace, the stones smeared with blood. Ahead of me, a dead fairy lays sprawled across the pale grass, her arms stretched wide, her eyes glassy.

How many lives have been cut down in a single night?

Too many. We’ll make our enemies pay for the slight.

Fairies flee past me, some taking to the air, and some sprinting on foot, all of them running from whatever it is that caused the explosion.

When I round the back of the castle, I come up short. I have to lock my knees at the sight in front of me.

Dear God.

The circular annex that contains the Night Kingdom’s royal portal is in use, its double doors obliterated. Row after row of gore-covered soldiers pour through it, their eyes vacant. They march onto palace grounds, their uniforms carrying the symbol of the Night Kingdom.

The sleeping men.

There are dozens and dozens of them, and more are coming with every passing second.

I stagger at the sight of them.

I’m going to die.

I’m going to die, and it will all be for nothing: Finding Des only to lose him. Spending an agonizing seven years without him. Enduring Karnon. Nearly dying at the Green Man’s hands. Drinking the lilac wine. None of it matters anymore because an army of possessed soldiers want to wipe the Night King’s people from the face of the earth, and I will be just one more casualty.

Ahead of me, Des stands very, very still. Even though I can’t see his face, I swear I can sense his despair. The numbers were against us when it was just the sleeping women attacking. With the men, they’reinsurmountable.

The soldiers begin to break ranks, fanning out to attack anything that lives.

I’m one of those things. So is Des, and so are the few fairies scattered around us who’ve decided to stay and fight.

The Bargainer gives a rallying cry, and then disappears, reappearing in the middle of the sleeping soldiers long enough to deal out death before disappearing and reappearing again.