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Mab’s shadows twisted into a sword as she stepped back from Twyla, her movements slow and steady. Twyla had time to react and attempt to flee, but she stood with her head raised high as Mab paused, seeming to hesitate.

“I’ll give my mate your greetings in Folkvangr,” Twyla said. Her words were tangible, as if they could reach across the distance and stroke Mab’s ire, stoking the flames of her madness. Mab screamed, the reminder of her husband and the woman he truly loved enough to send her spiraling over the edge.

Twyla wanted it—encouraged it even—despite the consequences she knew would come. She waited for her death… and the magic that would leave her as the Queen of Winter. The realization wasa shock that nearly made me cry out, Twyla’s intention to sacrifice herself for the greater good making my knees buckle. The magic of her court would spiral out into the world, seeking out the next body destined to contain it.

Seeking out her heir.

Mab’s sword sliced through Twyla’s neck.

Severing her head from her shoulders.

It fell to the steps of the dais at Mab’s feet, rolling down in a mess of silver hair. It had twisted about to cover her face from view as her body toppled to the side, blood flowing freely to cover the steps. Her hand fell to the stone, the white snowflake covering her right palm fading from view. They dried like paint upon her skin, blowing off her in a harsh winter breeze as the Winter Court reclaimed what it had given. One of Mab’s guards stepped up with his iron sword, angling it and shoving it down through the skull. It pierced the brain, leaving no doubt to Twyla’s death.

No Fae, God or not, could survive an iron blade through the skull.

Mab was victorious as she cackled, tossing her head back with absolute joy that should have been reserved for children, but Eryx didn’t allow her to have the peace of happiness for more than a moment.

“The Queen of Winter is dead,” he said, his voice loud and ringing through the throne room as Mab’s stare turned to him.

Her dark eyes widened as she realized what she’d done, what her rage had driven her to. She’d kept Twyla alive all these years for a reason, containing the magic of the Winter Court within her body and keeping it from Caldris. She shook her head, stepping back from Twyla’s body as the shadows in her hand dissipated. She gazed out at the onlookers watching in the throne room, seeing the threat of her undoing in each and every one of us.

Eryx smirked at her when her stare turned back to him, as if she could feel the words he would speak. The condemnation that would come in them and the confirmation of everything she would lose.

“Long live the King.”

FORTY-FIVE

ESTRELLA

My mother and the other Gorgons had left the armor we’d both stripped off before our ceremony, and I eyed it with disdain as I finally forced myself to leave the blanket at the edge of the pool hours later. It was heavy in my hands when I lifted it from the rock, staring at it with all the hatred I felt for the situation. When we left this place, reality would press in again. The knowledge that I had to keep going through the trials and giving up pieces of myself to prove I was worthy of reaching the Cradle of Civilization.

I could turn back, return to the land of the living with Caldris at my side. We might stand a chance of fighting back now that we were both free from the influence of those snakes wrapped around our hearts—now that I wasn’t limited by her ability to kill my mate with the clench of a fist.

I met Caldris’s gaze as he stepped up before me, his brutal, handsome face soft as he gazed down at me.

“You have to keep going,” he thought, sending his reassurance tome in the moment I needed it. I knew he felt my guilt, the anger and pain I felt at leaving those we loved on the surface at Mab’s mercy for even a moment longer, but there were answers in Tartarus that I was owed.

There were secrets that needed to be brought to light, and I knew there was only one person who could give me the answers to the questions that threatened to tear me in two.

Khaos had sworn those around me to secrecy, made it so only he could tell me why I was so different from my siblings. Why could I see the threads that Mab and Rheaghan could not, when they both shared the same father?

“What about the others?” I asked, warring with myself. “Maybe I can return to Tartarus after Mab is dealt with.” Maybe we could free the Fae and then come and get the answers I needed.

“And risk needing to go through the trials all over again? You’ve already come so far, min asteren.”

I chewed the inside of my lips, knowing he could hear the path my thoughts wandered. “Medusa spoke of a weapon in the Cradle. She said it could help us,” I admitted, even knowing that it would only encourage his belief that we should continue on. I didn’t want to abandon the people trapped in Mab’s clutches, but what if we weren’t enough without it? What if returning without it would mean her death?

It would haunt me.

“Help us how?” he asked, his voice sounding cautious even in my head.

“She said it could cure Mab of the curse. It could return her to her natural state of being,” I said, and even though I didn’t dare to look at Caldris when I made the admission, I felt the weight of his gaze.

“You want to save her,” he said, and while I’d expected judgment, there was only understanding. I felt nothing but warmth from him, in spite of all the harm Mab had caused him during his lifetime.

“She’s a victim, too. Can you imagine what it’s like to be trapped in your own body and not be in control of what you do with it? To murder and torture indiscriminately—even if it’s not what you want? I’m not saying she’s innocent. Iknowwhat she’s done, but if there’s a way to find out if there’s any good left in her, then I think we need to take it. It’s what Rheaghan would have wanted,” I said, and that felt right. He’d given everything to be there for his sister and try to bring her back from the brink, and I felt like I needed to honor the brother I hadn’t gotten to know.

“Even if all it does is make her easier to kill, I don’t see how it could hurtus,” Caldris answered, nodding his head in agreement. “But when the time comes, if she’s beyond saving, I need you to promise me you won’t hesitate. Our survival comes before hers.”