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I wasn’t sure where I was going… only that I needed to get as far away from that balcony as possible.

A laugh escaped me as I found myself before the double doors that would lead to the throne room. I pushed the doors open, unsurprised to find the battle scene from earlier still remained.

I stepped over the bodies and narrowly avoided the pools of blood on my way to the dais.

I ascended the steps, the sword clanking against the marble in a way that set my teeth on edge. I threw the sword down and it clattered against the blackened legs of the throne. I stood before it, hatred and anguish bubbling up within me. I pulled against my own hair as another scream of frustration and anguish tore through me. I was bent in half, all the rage and sorrow tearing out of me.

I screamed until my throat was sore.

Until my voice couldn’t possibly withstand another sound.

Until my legs were tired, my back aching.

It wasn’t until I was utterly and completely spent that I turned, sitting on the throne, gently placing Nik’s blade across my lap.

In the end… Donikahadbroken me, after all.

Deep in the halls of The Stone Palace, Annelise and Zion lay in white, narrow beds in the infirmary. The castle had fallen silent, the soft sounds of celebrations lingering outside and bleeding through the stone walls.

Their limbs rest at their sides, their eyes gently closed.

Their bodies were cleansed of blood and ichor.

But slowly… softly… the sound of a beating heart filled the castle.

Then two.

If one were to listen closely, the sound of a spine mending could be heard, snapping softly back into place. As if a collective breath were being held, the castle fell impossibly silent for one long moment.

Somewhere deep in The Stone Palace of Akra, ancient magic was at work.

Annelise’s blue eyes flashed open, a gasp escaping her pale pink lips.

The moment Tess had come to fetch me, to tell me Annelise and Zion were alive, I raced through the hallways of The Stone Palace. I wasn’t exactly sure where I was going, only that I needed to go to her. Needed to see her. I didn’t know if it was instinct alone that drew me to the castle infirmary or something deeper, but I burst through the doors to find Annelise sitting up in bed, Zion at her side.

They werelaughing.

I thought I had left every tear I had back on that throne, but they spilled forward once more as I rushed towards them.

But these tears were different—they were happy.

They captured me in a hug so tight it felt as if they were piecing me back together.

I pulled back only enough to search their faces. “How?!”

Another set of footsteps entered the room, and I should have known it would be the smug seer behind all of this.

“You?” I asked, confusion clear in my voice.

Alastir nodded, coming forward to rest a hand against my shoulder. “I didn’t tell you, because I wasn’t sure it would work. In the chance that it didn’t… I didn’t want to be the one to break your heart should I have failed.”

“Ifwhatfailed?” I asked, searching their expressions.

“The antidote.” Zion’s voice was resonant when he answered.

I shook my head back and forth, confusion creasing my brow as my mouth fell open.

“The antidote we created in The Shadow with your blood wasn’t only a cure for siphoning, but a cure fordark magic. I thought it might work, but I couldn’t be sure. When the antidote was administered to Nik and the Noctani parts of him died but left the rest of him whole, I thought perhaps the same could be true for Annelise. It would kill the piece of her that was dark, the piece of her that wasDonika, but she would live. The spell that I used to save Annelise was a sister spell to the one that saved Nikolai. All Annelise had to do was drink it before the battle… no coating of the blade necessary since it wasn’t Annelise herself whose heart had been changed by the darkness.”