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“Why does it sound like a really bad idea?” Raven’s boots pinged against the metal stairs, following me down to the next level. It was another massive space, designed to resemble some ice palace, a ballroom dripping in white diamonds. The smooth stone glittered in the light, the ground a graveyard of what was left. Overmined, leaving the place empty and hollow.

We walked along the slippery walkway for a bit before I took us off the path, climbing over boulders and venturing into another room.

“Shine your torch here.” I pointed to a stone wall, something catching off our flashlight beams. The water wore down the rock until the mineral showed like veins under the skin. “Look there.” I pointed to the tiny gemstones preserved in the rock streaming down the wall. “I’ll start quarrying there.”

“You sure you want to do this?” She bit her lip.

Doubt lined my stomach. I had never dealt with a Vâlve before, and Vasile warned me about their vindictive nature.

“Be careful. Vâlves are extremely emotional, and if you make them mad or hurt, they will come after you with everything they have. They will make you pay dearly.”

“You have another idea?”

Raven shook her head. “No, but…”

“We have no other option than to at least try.” I lifted the tool, and with a forceful exhale, I swung the pick down. The hit reverberated through my bones, the stone screaming out with a loud cry. Small chunks of rock crumbled when I yanked it out. Swinging up, I struck it again and again. The sharp edge gashed the rock surface, tearing through the skin to the raw bone underneath. Sweat dampened my back, lining my forehead after a dozen more strikes, my muscles burning and aching.

Crack!

A piece dropped next to my toes, cracking open like a broken watermelon, showing its guts. Instead of seeds, seams of gold threaded lightly through it. Not enough to make anyone rich, but I hoped it was enough to goad her.

Crouching down, I lifted a piece into my hand, my senses trying to pick up any kind of change, noise, magic, or shift in the air.

Nothing. “Fuck,” I muttered to myself, standing up.

“Maybe it wasn’t enough,” Raven suggested.

“Or it’s not even here anymore.” I could hear the defeat in my tone. We had gone through so much to get here, and I never really let myself think about what we’d do if this spirit was no longer here. In my head, it worked out; all we sacrificed and experienced would not be for nothing.

This whole journey, my purpose for even being in Romania, felt as if it was crumbling under me. Every time I had a chance to kill the very people I was here to destroy, I hesitated.

Every day since Lucas and Kek’s death, I’d run a thousand scenarios in my head of tracking Sonya and Iain down, and in none of them did I falter. Not for a moment, even if it ended my life as well.

I was swallowed up in a sea of anger, confusion, guilt, and disappointment, and I could no longer tell what was up or down.

“Szar.” My fingers tightened around the stone until my joints popped. Fury boiled up until it slipped from my control. “FUCK!” I chucked the rock against a wall, splintering into dust. Picking up the other half, I hurled it at the same place, exploding more debris and minerals onto the ground.

“This was all for nothing,” I bellowed, grappling for the pick and hurling it at the wall, watching the hit splinter more fragments, billowing grime into the air.“Le van szarva!” Fuck it!My hand ran through my hair, about to whirl around and find something else to throw when my eye caught a shimmering in the air.

“What the…?” I tapered off, seeing tiny pieces of minerals float in the air like fireflies, the dust becoming more solid instead of dissipating.

Raven gasped, her flashlight pointed at the hazy silhouette. It slowly shaped into a figure.

A woman.

Her figure was semitransparent, but her stunning features were sharp as if they were carved out of stone. Dressed in a layered sheath hanging off her shoulder, her frame was willowy and tall. Everything about her was gray, from her clothes to her skin, eyes, and hair, causing her to blend into the rocky surface.

Her eyes popped with fury, her gray lips pinching together, the gold flecks twirling faster and faster, sparking off the light against her dull clothing. Her hand moved, and the gold pieces moved with it, showing they were at her command.

One swish of her hand and they could be used as bullets.

“Talyssa?” I spoke softly, taking a step. There was no point reaching for my weapon on my belt. It would be useless against a spirit. “That’s your name, right?”

She jerked at my voice, her gray eyes staring at me, the minerals twirling, inching closer to us.

I held up my hands, shuffling slowly to Raven, wanting to get between her and the gold pellets. “We are not here to harm you.”

“Just to steal from me.” Her voice sounded like it was cut from the rock. “How do you know my name? That power is only given to those who are worthy.”