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You have no honor, I want to say. But I don’t. Instinct tells me that Angma is speaking the truth.

Ever so slowly, I lift my gaze to meet hers, those same amber eyes that have haunted my dreams for years. There is no demon red, no malice, no magic spinning in them. “What do you want with me?”

Angma hesitates. She lowers the spear to the stone. “I am not the monster you think I am. I am not without compassion. You wish for the face you should have had—I can grant that.”

“At the cost of my sister’s life,” I snap.

“You think that giving my pearl to the Golden One will save her. No—it would doom her to a curse she can never break. I’m sure Nakri warned you just as much. It would be a mercy for me to kill Vanna. A mercy you ought to allow.”

Where is Ukar? If he were here, I’m sure he would have gnawed out Angma’s eyes by now.

But the light is close. I have to keep Angma distracted. I school the harshness out of my features and open my palms. I lean forward. As if I’m listening. Considering.

She latches on to my silence. “Had you given me your sister, I would have raised her as my own until her pearl matured. Then, in return for the pearl, I’d have seen her reincarnated into a new life. A happier life. Such will be the pearl’s power, when both halves are reunited.”

“Could the pearl truly be so formidable?” I ask, genuinely curious.

“It can do whatever the bearer wishes of it, for a price.” Her voice falls, turning subdued. “I’ve told you before, I want the same as you. To have another chance.” She meets my gaze. “I lost my daughter, and you lost your mother. Let us be the ones we’ve lost for each other.”

The first time she made such an offer, I was stunned. I was sure it was a cruel, preposterous trick. This time, I believe her. Angma has unmasked herself to me, showing me a glimmer of the woman she used to be.

It is the most perverse proposition I have ever heard, and never have I hated her more—yet never have I felt sorrier for someone, either.

The flat stone beneath me grows warm, a narrow stream of light gilding its veins. “I won’t be the redemption for your mistakes,” I say quietly. “I’m not your daughter, and I never will be.”

I bolt for my spear, but Angma’s too fast. With a rancorous cry, she twists it from my reach and raises it high. I’m a beat away from being staked in the chest when a dazzling flare of light explodes over the valley.

Vanna.

She bursts toward us, the pearl in her heart shining brighter than I have ever seen. “Do not touch my sister,” she commands, her tiger voice booming with power.

Oshli rides on her back, followed by Hokzuh on foot. My friends aren’t alone. They’ve brought an army: Angma’s army. I never thought I’d be happy to see demons, but I am. Their eyes are red, freed from Angma’s thrall. The first thing they do is turn on the suiyaks.

And my sister confronts Angma, raising her claws with a blast of light.

Angma staggers back, taking me with her. The spear flies out of her grasp, and I try to wrestle free to grab it—but she holds me close, using me as a shield. Shadows tear out of her body, wrapping around me.

Light and darkness meet head-on, clashing like warring tidal waves. I am thrust between them, my body slammed by cold and heat in the greatest extremes, as both halves of the pearl struggle for dominion.

As Angma’s shadows creep over Vanna’s light, I fly forward, closer and closer to my sister. I know I’m screaming, but I can’t feel my lungs. I’m drowning in white, dazzling pain.

“Let her go!” Vanna shouts. “Channi, get out of here!”

My sister’s eyes are pained; she knows she’s hurting me with her light.

Don’t stop, I plead with a look. If you do, Angma wins.

Angma is counting on the bond that we sisters share. She’s betting that Vanna will hold back her power to spare me the pain. She knows Vanna won’t sacrifice my life.

But I will.

My body is heavy as lead, and every movement that I make feels like I’m pushing a mountain. Futile. Pointless. But I don’t give up. Muscle by muscle, I twist back toward the Demon Witch. Her shadows lock around my shoulders and stab through me like phantom knives. I will bear it. I must.

Time itself sways. I am in the eye of a storm, but I am moving, fighting to obliterate the distance between Angma and myself. We might as well be worlds apart. The space feels infinite, impossible to overcome. But thank the gods for Ukar.

He springs through the mist, coming out of nowhere. Even I don’t see where he was hiding. He bites Angma on the ankle, the way the Serpent King bit me years ago. The Demon Witch draws a sharp breath, and for a precious instant, her power falters.

Thanks to Ukar’s diversion, I tear free of Angma’s darkness. I stumble into the bushes. My body no longer shields the witch, and Vanna is free to release the full power of her light.