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Revna walked up to Eyfura and removed the stones around her mouth. She grasped her chin in her hands and turned her face. “What a pretty little thing,” Revna said, inspecting her face from different angles. “I like the fire in your eyes.”

“Get away from me—” Eyfura started, panic creeping into her tone.

Revna’s hand covered Eyfura’s forehead and part of her scalp. “It’s a shame for such a pretty girl,” Revna whispered, but a devilishly delighted smile curved her lips.

“What are you doing?” Eyfura stilled and then screamed. Her body convulsed and thrashed in every direction, trying with all her might to escape from Revna, but Revna kept her pinned in place.

Kolfinna realized with a start what Revna was doing; she was …consumingEyfura’s mana.

But it didn’t stop at just her mana—she was shriveling her life force. Kolfinna could feel the shifting of mana in the air. She was suddenly reminded of when she was younger and had depleted her mana, so she had decided to take the mana of a nearby sapling. She had been young, maybe six, and hadn’t thought much of it. But as she took its mana, the sapling began wilting, and when Katla finally found her, she had been horrified. She had told her she was defying nature by stealing what didn’t belong to her.

“It’ll twist your soul,” Katla had told her. “You must never do that again!”

Even when she was young, she had realized that what she was doing waswrong. But she could never imagine doing the same to a human or any living creature.

“Stop,” Kolfinna cried and tried to free at least her hands from the rocks. She could feel the skin on her arms and hands scraping against the rough texture of the stones as she yanked at them. She shimmied her shoulders with a grunt and raised her head to where Revna was still draining Eyfura’s mana. “S-Stop!” Kolfinna shouted. She tried popping her shoulders out from the restraints, but she was too cemented against the rocks. “Please! Revna, stop! You’ll kill her!”

Her cries fell on deaf ears and it wasn’t until Eyfura’s screams were suddenly cut off and her body went limp against the stones holding her, that Revna released her.

Revna flexed her fingers. “Her mana was strong, surprisingly, but not as strong asyours.” She pointed to Blár, grinning. “I would love to devour it all, but I don’t want to kill you, not just yet. I need your immense mana for my sisters.”

Mímir’s eyebrows came together. “We’re not going to kill them?”

“No, not yet,” she said. “When my sisters wake up, they’ll be just as starved as I am, so we need to feed them with their mana. We’ll keep them alive until then.”

“Did you …” The question hung in the air as he stared at Eyfura.

Revna made a throaty noise that sounded like a mix between a scoff and snort. “Heavens, boy, are you going to mourn over her? Are you greener than you’re letting on?”

“N-No, of course not!” Mímir bowed his head. “I was just surprised.”

Eyfura’s head was lolled to the side, lifeless. Her blond hair framed her face like the iridescent glows of runes, and Kolfinna waited for signs of life—of her chest rising and falling, of her facial muscles twitching, or something—but she didn’t move.

Kolfinna’s heart dropped. “Why did you do that?”

“Dear, you can’t really be that stupid.”

“Mímir!” Kolfinna moved her head forward—it was the only movement she could do. “Why are you doing all of this? We’re all part of the same team!”

“No,” Mímir said. “We’re not. I’ve always been a part of Ragnarök.”

Ragnarök. She didn’t know much about them, other than what Eyfura had told her. That they wanted to change the country to how it used to be when the fae ruled.

“Kolfinna, Kolfinna,” Mímir purred, stooping down until he was closer to her. “You have no idea how much of a disappointment you are to me. I was so excited to meet you and maybe recruit you, but you’ve been nothing but disgraceful. You did help me reach this place, so I suppose you’re notentirelyuseless.”

“Stop talking like you know me,” Kolfinna spat.

“I know enough.” He wove his fingers over her stray hairs. “You think I didn’t notice how hard you were trying to become a Royal Guard? It’s laughable since it’s futile. You’ll never become a Royal Guard.”

“No, you’re wrong.”

“You think Fenris or King Leiknir planned to keep you alive after you fulfilled your purpose here?” Mímir threw his head back and laughed. “What an idiot! We were told to kill you as soon as we accomplished this mission. Eyfura was nice to you because she was ordered to stay close to you and kill you when the time came.”

The words felt like a splash of ice water over her body. The pit of her stomach grew larger and larger. That couldn’t be true. Eyfura had been by her side because she was her friend. Not because she wanted tokillher. Eyfura was too nice of a person to do such a thing. She was the light of the party. She couldn’t …She couldn’t.

“You’re lying.” Kolfinna’s words were but a whisper, and yet an ugly part of her wondered if he was telling the truth. If Kolfinna’s actions had been in vain. If Eyfura truly was simply a Royal Guard meant to kill Kolfinna after she stopped being useful.

“She was the one who wanted to kill you herself,” Mímir sneered, laughing as if he was telling the world the funniest joke. He rose up and planted a foot on the stones encasing her, slowly aiding in the crushing weight of the stones. Her chest felt like it would burst, and she wasn’t entirely sure if the stones dug deeper, or his words. “Did you know that she hates your kind? Do you now see how futile your efforts were? How stupid you look?”