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“And driving the coated blade through the Noctani’s heart.”

My eyes were darting back and forth, my mind racing. This must have been what Alastir meant when he said he wasn’t even sure the Shade would survive it. I had a million questions running through my head, but we couldn’t risk going back to find Alastir again.

My gaze met Tess’s.

“This is the only way?” My voice was thin.

Tess nodded solemnly. “Alastir confirmed it. The only way to cure this type of spell is with an equally dark and bloody one.” She nodded towards the antidote before Puck. “This spell contains your blood. That is enough for the two antidotes we have. There is no other way.”

This… changed things.

I had expected another pit to form in my gut, but my heart had simply stopped entirely, suspended within my chest. Ifwe didn’t succeed, if we didn’t cure Nikolai, he would be dead. There would be no going back.

I pushed back from my chair, my hands on the table as I stood. My gaze traveled to Zion.

“What do we do?” My voice was quivering.

I wished more than anything Isaac was here to guide us. He was my mentor, and he knew more about this type of magic than any of us… except for maybe Annelise. My gaze flitted to hers and she nodded.

“I’ve had the Kotova grimoire in my possession for decades, and I trust Alastir with my life. If he says this is the only way to reverse the siphoning spell, it is the only way.” Her hands were neatly folded in her lap as she spoke, but my gaze snagged on her finger, picking the skin off her thumb with anxiety.

Like mother like daughter.

“Then we need to test it on someone else first,” I offered, my gaze drifting around the table.

It was Saanvi who spoke. “The ingredients required for the spell aren’t commonplace, one of which beingyourblood. We have two antidotes in our possession, and it might take days if not weeks to create more. Do we even have that much time?”

Zion nodded at her in agreement. “We don’t, not the way Donika’s numbers are escalating. Our spies confirmed that her numbers have tripled, quadrupled, even since the beginning of this war. If we wait much longer, we risk her creating so many Araneoch and Noctani we have no hope of standing against them. We can’t continue to let her grow her forces. We need to act.”

“Then we move against her now,” Kenna suggested.

My eyes met hers as I settled back into my seat, my hand splayed across my chest. My heart was still beating and I could feel the steady rhythm beneath my palm.

“And when we kill her, we have no idea if her Noctani will continue to live or if they will die with her,” Tess countered with a shake of her head. “The dark magic and the blood she used to create them resides within her. If she dies, there is a possibility that they may return to their natural states… or to the earth from which they came. But there is also a possibility that they will die, corrupted by the spell that turned them. We have no way of knowing. If we move now, Nikolai could end up dead, anyway.”

I nodded, my eyes darting to each of them. “That’s not a risk I’m willing to take.”

When Annelise spoke next her voice was cold, brittle. “Is that what Nik would have wanted? Risking the lives of the entire resistance—and the fate of Istmere—just to save him?”

My gaze was cutting when it met hers. Zion’s hand gripped my knee, keeping me in my chair as my magic surged forth, pressing against my fingertips so fiercely I singed the wood table, leaving behind ten fingerprint marks. I pulled my hands back hastily, burying them in my lap.

I swallowed hard. “Nik would have wanted to see this through. And are you forgetting, Mother, that if he dies, so do I? Who will take the throne then?” My voice dripped acid. “Will it be you? Was the whole point of this not to reinstate the rightful heir to the throne? Istmere will descend into chaos without a succession in place. If Donikadies and so do her Noctani, then so do I. The fact that Nikolai and I still live serves as proof that even if the magic has been twisted and darkened,we are still bound.”

“I’m sorry for suggesting it,” Annelise put her hand out, pleading. “That isn’t what I meant. Only that we are losing focus. The greater threat is the war against Donika, not the Noctani alone.”

“And we will resume our plans to march against The Stone City once we have cured Nikolai and Isaac and have them safely by our sides, marching with us.” My eyes narrowed on Annelise. “Let’s not forget I can’t march against Donika with my magic unbound. I do not plan to march against her with strength and numbers alone. We need Nikolai so that my magic can be used in the fight to come.”

I could see that she regretting having spoken, risking shattering the gentle peace we had achieved upon my return. I understood her reasoning, but there was nothing left to discuss. We needed my magic bound, and we needed Nikolai.

That was my first priority.

“So we have to risk it, then. Trust Alastir. That the antidote will work and we will restore him. We only have two in our possession, and we need to use them wisely.” Puck’s voice was gentle, bringing the conversation back to what our next steps would be.

I closed my eyes, letting the sound of the crashing waves waft over me. I inhaled deeply through my nostrils, allowing the smells of salt and brine to center me. I nodded, my gaze finding Puck’s when I opened my eyes once more.

“Yes. We will have to take the risk that Alastir is the most seasoned magic wielder in this realm, and if there is any chance of saving Nikolai, it rests with him. I have to be the one to do it.” I bit my lip, my gaze falling to the table.

“Diana, no,” Zion protested, his chair pushing back in the sand as he gripped the sides of the table, knuckles white. “You cannot be the one to wield the blade. If it doesn’t work and we lose him?” He shook his head. “You would essentially have killed yourself.”