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Alex winced, both at the exclamation and at the volume. Desperately hoping no one was close enough to have heard, she kept her own voice down as she replied, “I’m not the one who changed.”

“You lied to us!”

Renewing her grip on the queen’s still struggling form, Alex said, “I have Meyarin blood in my veins, that was never a lie. Aven’s blood flows through me—I am what I am because of him.”

“And he’s what he is because ofyou!”

Alex winced again, unable to ignore the truth of her words. And yet she replied, repeating Astophe’s words, “Aven made hisown choices. You know that, Niida.” The queen bucked under her again, and Alex tightened her grip and held her irate gaze as she repeated, “Youknowthat, Niida. No one made Aven do anything. He started all this on his own.”

“I lost my husband because of you!” Niida cried. Tears welled in her golden eyes as she continued to fight. “My son is dead because of you!”

Violently, she surged upwards, almost managing to dislodge Alex. It was enough to snap Alex’s patience and she shook the queen, hard enough that her whole body flailed with the movement.

“Roka’s not dead, Niida!” Alex said, trying to keep her grip on the female Meyarin. “He’s still alive!”

The queen stilled, but then she renewed her struggle, even more fiercely than before. “Stop lying to me!”

“It’s not a lie,” Alex hissed. “Listen to me, Niida—listen to me!”

But the queen was beyond listening, so Alex did the only thing she could think of. In one swift move, she drew the dagger from her thigh and pressed it up against Niida’s throat.

The queen’s body froze just as her eyes narrowed. Between stiff, ruby-red lips she said, “You wouldn’t dare.”

“I won’t kill you, you’re right about that,” Alex confirmed. “But this blade is laced with Sarnaph blood. One small scratch and you’ll be much easier to deal with.”

Alex wasn’t bluffing—if she had to take Niida out with the Hyroa blood, she would, and she’d just hope Fletcher had some of his antidote in his medical bag back up in Draekora.

With the queen now stilled beneath her, Alex quietly said, “Roka’s alive, I swear it. Whatever Aven told you was a lie.” When Niida opened her mouth to protest, Alex spoke over her and said, “He was in the middle of fighting Roka and Roka was winning, so Aven used one of his gifted followers, Grimm Helkin, to send Roka into a catatonic sleep.”

Niida’s face whitened.

“But Lady—Aes Daega was there, and she escaped with Roka before Aven could kill him,” Alex continued in a hurry. “Roka’s been in a coma up in Draekora ever since Aven took control of Meya.”

The queen shook her head, tears again welling in her eyes. “I don’t—I don’t believe you.”

“Why would I lie?” Alex returned. “You were there, Niida— you know how close I was with Roka in the past, just as you know how much I care for him now. I’m telling you, he’s not dead.” She paused, then softened her voice to admit, “But he will be soon, if we don’t get Grimm to Draekora so he can wake him.”

Quickly, Alex explained Roka’s current state and why such a desperate act had been needed so that she, Kaiden and Hunter could sneak into Meya. She also took a risk and shared her plan to abduct Grimm so that she could Release him and he could in turn deactivate the gift still holding Roka in its grip, thus allowing the true king of Meya to reawaken.

When she was done, there was a long pause as Niida just looked at her with wide, shining eyes, until—

“You killed my son?”

It was a question rather than an accusation this time, but it was still screeched loud enough that Alex hissed, “Keep it down!”

She was amazed no one had yet come running—that no one had heard their struggle or the queen’s shouts.

But then Niida said, “No one can hear anything. This room is warded with soundproofing—a gift from Astophe so I can enjoy peaceful mornings.” The last was said in barely a whisper, the heartache clear in her voice.

Hearing that, Alex looked closely at the queen and saw that the fight had left her. Somewhat warily, she said, “If I let you go, are you going to attack me again?”

Slowly, Niida shook her head.

It took a moment before Alex was willing to move, but a new plan was forming, and she needed Niida’s cooperation for it to work. So, inch by inch, she removed the dagger from the queen’s neck and rose to her feet, holding out her free hand that only trembled slightly with doubt.

Just as hesitantly, Niida reached up to grab hold and allowed Alex to pull her to her feet. They then looked at each other, neither quite sure what to say, until Alex whispered, “You know we have to stop him.”

The tears that had been welling in the queen’s eyes suddenly leaked over as she whispered back, “I know.”