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“Not quite, my pet,” he said with a cruel smile. “To ensure we understand each other, only one of them shall be leaving here alive tonight.”

“No! I did as you asked,” she whirled to him.

“And I am holding up my end by releasing them. Come now,” he said, leaning against the wall. “I shall even give you a choice as to which one gets to live— your sister or the innocent you are trying so valiantly to save.”

“You son of a bitch,” Scarlett seethed. She whirled back to Juliette and the girl. Tears were streaming down Juliette’s face. “I know, Scarlett,” she choked through her tears. “I know.” There was a serene understanding on her face as they held each other’s gaze.

“I cannot do this,” Scarlett whispered. “I cannot make this choice.”

“You will, or I shall kill them both,” Mikale sneered.

“Kill me instead,” she begged.

“No. You are too valuable for things to come.”

“Why?” she asked, turning to Mikale. “Why? I have done all you have asked. I will stay here with you.”

“Because a broken pet is better than a wild one,” he said with deadly calm. “Choose, and since you are taking so long, you can do it as well.”

“What?” Bile rose in her throat at his new demand.

“Scarlett, it is all right,” Juliette said. Scarlett turned her eyes back to Juliette. “It is all right.”

“I will do anything, Mikale,” she said, turning to him and dropping to her knees, begging. The pain in her abdomen was nothing compared to the pain in her heart at the thought of this. “Please do not make me do this!”

Mikale stalked to her and crouched before her once more. He brushed back her hair from her face. “I am already getting everything I desire.” He pressed her own shirastone dagger into her hand. “You have one minute, or I kill them both,” he whispered into her ear.

“Do it, Scarlett,” Juliette said.

“I can’t,” she breathed, pushing to her feet, tears coursing down her face.

“You will take her life?” Juliette snapped, jerking her head to the little girl. “I will gladly give my own for hers. Do it.”

“I am so sorry,” Scarlett whispered as she took a few steps towards her, stopping a foot away from her sister.

“I love you,” Juliette whispered. “Tell Nuri I love her, too. Tell my mother—” Juliette’s voice broke. “Tell my mother that she raised me for such a time as this, and I am so proud to be her daughter and that I love her very much.”

“You have seconds,” Mikale snapped, striding across the room and gripping the little girl’s arm, pressing another dagger to her throat. She cried out in terror.

“It’s all right, Scarlett,” Juliette whispered again.

But nothing about this was all right.

Scarlett raised her dagger and placed the tip at her sister’s heart. Juliette brought her own hands up, still bound, and clasped them around Scarlett’s. “I love you,” she whispered again.

“I love you, too,” Scarlett whispered

And plunged the dagger into her heart.

Scarlett screamed as she yanked the dagger back out. It clattered to the floor, and she awkwardly caught Juliette in her shackled hands. The blanket fell from her shoulders as she gently eased her to the ground. Her breathing was rattled, and Scarlett lifted her head into her bare lap and stroked her hair. “I’m so sorry, Juliette. I’m so sorry.” She sobbed, bringing her head to her sister’s cheek and kissing it. She had played this wrong. She should have negotiated her freedom before giving in to Mikale. She should have done this so differently.

“You will make a magnificent queen someday,” Juliette rasped into Scarlett’s ear.

“I am not to be queen,” Scarlett sobbed.

“Remember that you, too, were made for such a time as this.” Her eyes fluttered closed, and her chest stopped moving.

Rage and hate and wrath bubbled to the surface. The iciness of the cell suddenly overwhelmed her, and Scarlett snatched the blanket from the ground. Mikale merely crossed the room and yanked her head back by her hair. She cried out at the pain, and Mikale dumped a vial down her throat. Her tonic.