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Still not finding Nuri, she soared towards the place she’d last seen Cethin, catching a glimpse of Kailia when she appeared and disappeared before Scarlett could blink. She landed a hundred yards away from her brother, her dragon shifting to panthers as her feet hit the ground. She was running, the dark felines snarling and taking down soldiers as she moved, effectively clearing her path.

Scarlett broke through another group of fighting mortals and Fae at the same moment Nuri appeared, and Scarlett stepped through darkness, reappearing in front of Death’s Shadow with her sword raised, meeting her blade in the air.

“Sister,” Nuri crooned. “You made it. About damn time.”

“You know I like a little flair with my entrances,” Scarlett retorted, falling into movements she had done thousands of times with Nuri.

Only this time she was a High Queen.

Her shadows thickened, wrapping around the two of them and encasing them in a sphere of Chaos.

Because that’s what they were.

Two daughters of the darkest part of the world.

They leapt back from each other. Nuri began to pace in a tight circle on her side of the sphere. Scarlett clutched a stitch in her side, breathing hard, the darkness blocking out the sound of battle around them. “Tell me the order,” she said between gasping breaths.

“Kill the Avonleyan King before the battle is won or lost,” Nuri said, sheathing her scimitar.

“So if the battle is ended before you kill him, you will not need to fulfill it?”

“Yes.”

“Okay,” Scarlett said, her mind whirling with options.

“Scarlett.”

She glanced up at her sister to find her eyes filled with dread.

“There is a Maraan Lord here.”

Scarlett straightened. That changed things, but it also didn’t.

“Which one?”

“Roderick.”

The last Maraan Lord. The only one Scarlett had not known.

“What is his stolen power?”

“He is like Veda, only much stronger. Veda could only manipulate one person at a time. Roderick can touch dozens at once,” Nuri answered.

“Where has he been hiding?”

“He has been organizing the seraphs as they have arrived over the decades,” Nuri answered, her pacing becoming frenetic. “This battle is far from over.” She drew a blade, fisting it tightly. “I don’t want to, Scarlett. Know that. I didn’t want to kill Sawyer or any of the—”

“I know, Nuri,” Scarlett interrupted. “Other than Mordecai, are there any others with Roderick that should be spared?”

Nuri stared at her. “You cannot take them all on, Scarlett. Even with your magic, starfire alone will not be enough to defeat him. He is too strong.”

“Answer the question, Nuri.”

“Only Cai.”

Scarlett nodded before she said, “I apologize in advance for how much this is going to fucking hurt.”

She lunged at Nuri, tackling her and sucking her darkness back in at the same moment. Yelling and screaming filled her ears, Cethin still there, eyes frantic when they appeared.