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A few of the shadows that had taken the shape of thorny vines around her pulled away and fell back into the ground.

Then they stretched forward toward the trees—back in the direction of where they’d just come.

They darted back and forth from one tree’s shadow to the next, moving like spilled ink down a cliffside.

The shadows hummed in her mind, and she could feel them move and what they sensed. It was how she knew who they were up against the moment the dark encountered what stalked them.

For a moment, she hesitated. Was there a way she could avoid telling Hadeon?

But the prince must have sensed something because he raised his sword and said, “I knew you’d catch up eventually.”

Then Arden and his warriors appeared between the trees.

Arden’s eyes darkened as they fastened on Hadeon. “You dared to force my kin into a bargain? The levels you’re willing to sink to never cease to amaze me.”

Hadeon didn’t lower his blade as he spoke. “She made the bargain willingly.”

“Be careful,” she said as shadows sparked in Arden’s eyes. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

There were far more of the shadow fae. A dozen warriors spread out in the clearing, forming a semicircle around her, Jessamine, and Hadeon.

Arden managed a brief nod in her direction before his gaze returned to Hadeon. “Were you ever intending to help us? Or was this all some farce to assuage you of your guilt for never helping us during the fae wars? Why bother coming here?”

Hadeon had angled himself between Arabella and Arden. When he stepped back, she was forced to do the same or let him run into her. But he angled them in one direction.

Toward the tree—and the gateway somewhere within it.

“I’d hoped for your help to stop my mother from acquiring immortality and starting another war, but it became clear you wouldn’t listen after weeks of the same hostility,” Hadeon said as he took another slow step backward.

“When I learned about your intention to unleash demons in the fae realm, I knew it was too late for you to see reason. Do you know how many fae will die?”

A humorless laugh escaped Arden’s lips. The sound was so raw, so full of emotion that both she and Hadeon stilled.

“What of the shadow fae who were slaughtered?” Arden demanded. “No one considered mercy for the civilians, the innocent .”

As Arden stepped forward, the shadows swelled from the earth. They weren’t as solid or as large as the thorny vines at her feet. But translucent tendrils rose from the ground and pointed toward them.

No, towards Hadeon.

She glanced around as the shadow fae surrounding them also summoned the dark. Some formed inky tendrils while others formed the shadows into bolts.

“I should’ve spoken up or aided you more openly,” Hadeon said, taking a step backward and forcing Arabella to do the same. “It’s one of my biggest regrets, and that’s something I’ll have to live with.”

“ Live with. You’ve lived safely in the fae realm for centuries while the shadow fae have been fighting for each breath we take.

” Arden raised his arms to either side, and the shadows moved in response, pooling beneath his fingertips.

“The thing about magical bargains is they’re only between the two who make them.

If I kill you, Arabella will no longer be bound to your demands. ”

Arabella was nearly beneath the tree’s branches when she paused, breathing a sigh of relief.

She’d been right—if Hadeon was dead, she’d no longer be bound to their bargain.

But would it be possible for Arden to kill Hadeon?

From what she could sense, Hadeon’s magic exceeded his. But there were more shadow fae.

As her own shadows swelled, unbidden, she knew with sudden certainty there was no hope of Arden surviving a head-on attack. Not against both her and Hadeon.

“Don’t,” Arabella warned. “You can’t win against us both. And Hadeon forbade me from letting anyone else through the gateway.” When Arden’s shadows swelled even further, she said, “Return to the mountain. Survive.”

I won’t forget you.

If she somehow survived rescuing Elias and Shadowbank, then she’d return to the Abyss. Somehow, she’d free these people.

Her people.

She couldn’t openly promise to return to them—not in front of Hadeon. The exit gateway was somewhere in the Twilight Court, and he held sway there. Even if his mother didn’t like him, he could insist on them imprisoning her. He could keep her from getting to Elias.

Arden’s eyes narrowed, and she hoped he understood her meaning.

There was a strange humming coming from the tree as her shadows stretched out toward it, unbidden.

Somehow, thanks to the bargain, her magic was unlocking the gateway.

The shadows slid along the ground like snakes. As they inched toward the willow tree, the sound grew louder until she realized it wasn’t a humming but whispers. It wasn’t in any language she’d heard before. The words were deep and guttural, and it wasn’t one voice but many.

“Was it worth it?” she said, looking up to Hadeon. “You went to all this trouble to find the shadow fae, and you’ve left with more enemies than you started.”

Slowly, Hadeon raised his hand toward her, his gaze never leaving Arden. “I may hate my mother, and my brothers may despise my existence, but the Twilight Court is still my home. And I won’t let the shadow fae destroy it in a quest for vengeance.”

Hadeon loosed a plume of wind from his hand, which struck Arabella in the chest.

She gasped, nearly dropping Jessamine as she flew backward—toward the tree.

And the open gateway.

Somehow, her shadows had connected with the tempest at the base of the tree trunk, and a slice in the universe had opened.

She watched in horror as Arden and the soldiers unleashed their shadows upon Hadeon. The fae with wings…

Like a dragon, she thought.

Before their shadows could touch Hadeon, a torrent of magic billowed out from him, forming a swirling storm that exploded in the clearing.

She released a whisper of shadows as she flew through the gaping wound in the air.

And the gateway swallowed her and Jessamine whole.