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When a Shadow stood above me, taking the breath from my lungs, it did so thoughtlessly. It did it out of servitude toits master, a king deep, deep under the earth.

This man, this king, was taking my breath and watching me with satisfaction in his eyes.

I choked. He did not flinch.

My body jerked beneath him involuntarily, and he pushed back harder.

He wanted to see the death in my eyes.

“What a useless knight you were,” he spat.

Darkness lingered on the outskirts of my vision, and I was screaming in my head, my cries permeating throughout the whole world—

That screaming I heard. It was Ofelia’s, too. She was calling out my name.

There was a loud thump, muffled and painful, like the final beat of my heart.

The hands loosened from my throat.

The king slumped to the floor.

Eglantine stood above me, chest heaving, a large book still held aloft. Among the spinning world, I could read the title of the volume that had taken down the king:His Majesty’s Innumerable Victories.

He groaned but was stirring still. I glanced at the mirror—it was empty. Ofelia had vanished.

“Are you all right?” asked Eglantine, heaving with breath. She offered me a hand, and with every inch of me quaking, I slowly stood.

It felt like the pull of the earth had been magnified tenfold. All my years of training, the strength I fought so hard to gain—all gone. “I’m alive,” I said softly, my voice rough and hoarse. Standing on my feet again, I heard Eglantine call my name. I looked up in time to catch a penknife in its sheath.

I smiled at the familiar blade, whipping it from its sheath. I approached the king, kneeling and pressing the blade to his jugular. With my other hand, I grabbed the back of his snow-white hair, holding him in place as his eyes struggled to focus on mine. He sneered—but there was real fear in his eyes. I knew it well.

“I have the power of the gods on my side,girl,” he growled. “One word from me and they’ll turn you to ash.”

How that would have left me bowing and pleading only a few weeks ago.

Now I smiled. “Call them,” I said.

His confident look flickered for a second. “You cannot harm me. I was granted immortality.”

“Immortality, perhaps. Invincibility?” With a bit more pressure, a drop of blood rolled down the king’s throat and dribbled down his golden clothing.“Perhaps not.”The simple act was enough to leave my arm burning with pain. I gritted my teeth. I took a deep breath. “Shall I put your immortality to the test,sire?”

“What do you want?” he snapped.

The answer was immediate, like oil catching fire. “I wantOfelia,” I whispered. “And I want you torot.”

Before he could speak, I said, “Eglantine, are you willing to come below with me?”

“Yes,” she said.

I nodded at her, this librarian, my ally. “Open the door.”

“Door?” The king’s eyes focused behind me on the isolated black door standing not far from where I knelt. His pupils became pinpricks. He started to struggle against me, his movements sluggish and weak, but I held his hair tighter and kept the blade firm against his throat.

“You have nothing to fear, Your Majesty,” I said coldly. “You are favored by the gods, aren’t you? I should think you are good friends with the god of the Underworld.”

“Guards!” he bellowed. “Guards!”

Eglantine dashed to the door to the Underworld, glaring at the king as she held the doorknob. “You. You sacrificed my mother for yourvanity,” she hissed.