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Days passed quicker than I ever imagined they would. Esther never visited my dreams again, and I never mentioned them. I tried to avoid thinking about her at all, and I stayed far away from the dungeons of the castle.

My life became a mixture of watching over Tessa, training for the upcoming war, and spending as much time as I could with Malachi.

But we could all sense change coming. We could sense the war moving closer and closer.

Our conversations grew quiet. Our training held a sense of desperation with every new movement. Tessa could sense it, too. She stayed hidden in her room more days than not.

Until one day, when life as I knew it ended.

Malachi and I were in his room. We had been spending most of our time there lately, locked away from the chaos of the castle.

A knock came from the door.

“Come in,” Malachi ordered.

It was his brother who slowly creaked open the door.

I knew something was wrong the second I laid eyes on Lucien’s face. He hadneverlooked at me like that.

With suchpity.

He looked over to Malachi, who stood behind me in the bedroom, and then back to me.

“What?” I asked. “What's wrong?”

Adonis stepped up behind Lucien, and then Eli behind him.

None of them looked me directly in the eye.

The hair on the back of my neck rose.

“Lucien,” Malachi spoke. His voice was harsher than I had heard it in a long time. “Say something. What do you need? What’s going on?”

“There was an accident,” Adonis said. “In the garden. We ran to see what the commotion was, but it was too late.”

“What. Happened.”

Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong.

“It’s Jade’s sister,” Adonis said. He bowed his head and stared at the floor.

Panic took over my body. “Is she okay?” I asked as I stepped forward. “Where is she?”

Lucien was the one who stepped up, placing his body in front of me with his hands in front of him. “Jade…”

“Where is she?” I repeated. I couldn’t hide the panic creeping into my voice. My mind screamed at me togo find her. Go find your sister.

This wasn’t happening.

This couldn’t be happening.

“Tell me!” I yelled again. The suffocating grip of an invisible hand tightened around my throat.

“She’s dead, Jade,” Lucien said.

A knife pierced my heart.Dead.

No, no, no.That couldn’t be right.