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The easy silence continued as we ate. After taking my last bite and swallowing down the last of my doubt, I cleared my throat, “I do want to talk. It’s just not easy.”

“Fair.” He hesitated. “What happened in the vault won’t be easy to say either.”

My mouth dried. “I see.”

“I met a skeleton in the stairwell, called himself Guardian, and he led me down—”

“A skeleton?” I asked, struggling to imagine it.

“A lost form of necromancy. Unlike shades, they’re sentient and still linked to their living soul, like a timeless echo. I thought they were all gone. But…” He shook his head. “There’s much I’ve misunderstood.”

I leaned closer, caressing the back of his hand with my fingertips. “I could say the same.”

He turned his hand around so our fingers could twine. “The army of shades was made by Inarus. One of them was Vanessa’s former lover, Jasmine.”

I glanced at the water sprite’s blue glow. Squinting, I saw a tail of green fabric caught in the wind.

“I was able to bring back Jasmine’s scarf,” he concluded.

I swallowed, giving him a nod and tight smile. An entire army? It was a lot to take in. I focused on the facts. “And the shard?” I prompted.

“I found it toward the end, when” —he glanced away— “when I raced to the surface.”

“Ah,” I whispered. The tether must have alerted him to the disaster with Ninti. Cringing at the onslaught of a fresh wave of grief, I focused on the point at hand—Zayne had rushed taking the shard. And he was also rushing over saying something uncomfortable. “What happened when you took the shard?”

How bad is it?

My stomach tightened.

“The quickest way to secure the shard was to accept Inarus’s gift—the shade army. So I did so.”

I stared at him, eyes wide, still trying to understand.

He tapped his forehead. “Even from here, I can feel them all, the undead waiting for my command.”

“Does it… hurt?”

He shrugged. Judging from the ease with which he moved, he’d recover. No, it wasn’t pain that was bothering him. “I’ll adjust,” he said, “unlike the thousands of undead making up my new army.”

“So many dead,” I said carefully. The shades had stolen countless lives. It was heart breaking, and now Zayne carried the weight of that. “This was Inarus’sreserve?Why did he need an army this large?” Concern after concern raced through my mind.

Zayne shook his head. “As soon as we have the shards, we can return to Dusk, and I’ll find a way to release them. Might take a couple days, but it must be done.”

My gut clenched at the idea. The whole time, I’d have to wait, watching over him as he wandered in and out of that vault. The last time he’d dispatched thousands of shades, he’d nearly died.

If he insisted it was the right thing to do, I’d support him. However…

I swallowed, admitting a terrible truth “We might need an army.”

Zayne fidgeted.

When he didn’t respond, I continued. “There’s a lot we don’t know. Even if we know who the shard bearers are, we aren’t sure who has been orchestrating Gloom’s expansion, much lesswhy. As much as I hate to admit it…” I glanced away. “Given what we’ve seen at Mer—this secret weapon trade—it’s possible Eleanor may need access to an army.”

He leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms. “I know.” It seemed he’d already thought it over.

I sighed, worrying my words weren’t compassionate enough. But this had to be considered tactically. “Do you know what it’s like for Vanessa’s lover, being a shade?

Zayne shook his head. “In theory, Jasmine’s soul isn’t connected to her body. She’s just a shell. Only, I don’t trust theory. Not anymore.”