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I’M STILL STANDING in the middle of the Lounge floor, swimming in my own dread and anger, when Nick and another white boy push past the heavy curtains to enter the building, deep in conversation. The new boy is tall with a gentle face, wearing a heavy coat, jeans, and boots.

I know without asking that this is William.

Nick meets my eyes from across the room, the smile falling from his face when he sees my expression. Before his penetrative gaze can examine me further, William spots me.

“Bree!” William’s shaggy light-brown hair lifts as he jogs toward me, grinning wide. He skids to a stop where I stand, eyes bright and cheeks pink from the wind.

A layer of my anger bleeds away at William’s eager expression, then the rest nearly fades as deep worry overtakes his features. He looks me over from head to toe, as if scanning for injuries. “Nick told me about your knowledge loss,” he says, voice breathless. “I know you don’t know who I am, but I’m just so, so glad you’re all right.”

I notice right away that he says “knowledge loss” rather than “memory loss.” That he’s being precise with his language and that means Nick must have been too. “You’re William,” I murmur. “Scion of Gawain. A healer. You chased after me the day I left the Keep too.”

“Yes.” He nods encouragingly, smile widening. “All of that is true. I’m also your friend who is currently very valiantly resisting the urge to hug you.”

A weak smile tugs at my mouth. “Actually, I could use a hug from a friend right now.”

William folds me into his arms so quickly, air escapes me in a single breath. He swings me around in a circle, laughing low in my ear in a voice so filled with relief and joy that an answering laugh erupts out of me unbidden.

It’s a quick embrace, only a few seconds, but I let that hug coat me like a warm blanket. Let it ground me before the next blow comes.

When William pulls back, he looks at me again, eyes retracing the same path from my head, to my face, to my torso, down my legs. “ Are you okay? No injuries?”

“Nothing physical.” I gnaw at my lip, the despair from earlier rising again even amid William’s light. “I just heard from Nora what happened to her and the other girls.”

His eyes darken. “I’m glad you had Valec call us. We were able to get to the Institute quickly because we were already at the Lodge. We’d tried to get into the Institute a few days ago, after Nick left with Ava in Georgia, but the security guards wouldn’t admit us. There aren’t enough Merlins to spare to protect a mostly empty building, so the guards are all human Vassals. We considered fighting them, forcing our way in, but there was a chance they’d alert the Council, and I couldn’t risk being taken captive again and…” William hesitates, breathing out slowly through his nose. “We needed a better plan.”

“They tortured us there, William. That I do know,” I say. “You were right not to risk it.”

“That’s what I said.” Lark strolls back into the room. He stops at William’s side, offering a gentle press from his shoulder before turning to me. “Your idea to use Gabriel’s name worked perfectly, Bree. The Vassals on-site operate strictly under Gabriel’s authority. There are rumors Tacitus has even mesmered some of them to alert him if any other Merlin tampers with their memories, so I couldn’t risk a mesmer either. But as soon as we told them we were there under Regent Gabriel’s orders to move his new ‘guests,’ they led William right to the girls.”

“While Lark used cambion speed to search the labs,” William adds in a pleased voice.

Lark flushes. “Just following yer hunch, Will.”

“What hunch?” Nick asks as he walks forward to join us. “Last time I saw you, you were on the road when I left with Ava.”

William nods. “We found syringes on Thompson. Instead of heading back to the Keep or the Lodge, we went to the Institute.”

He and Lark exchange glances. “We should show her the photos,” Lark says.

“What photos?” I ask.

“Parked your car out back, Mageguard.” Valec reenters the bar and tosses a pair of keys to Lark, who snatches them neatly out of the air. “Nice ride. Never took you for a minivan guy.”

“Welllll”—Lark flushes for the second time tonight—“I wouldn’t exactly call it my car. We needed something to get here quick, so…”

Valec’s brows lift in amusement. “Don’t tell me you stole a vehicle , Mr. Law and Order?”

William snickers, and Lark glares at him. “That was just for the last few miles. The Lounge is a five-hour drive from the Institute, so I maybe, perhaps, possibly …”—he winces—“also stole Regent Gabriel’s helicopter from the hangar nearby?”

“Grand theft auto and grand theft ’copter? All in one night?” Valec beams. “There’s hope for you yet, Guard Douglas.”

“What photos were you talking about?” I redirect, impatient.

Lark’s expression turns serious as he pulls a phone out of his inner coat pocket. “Like Will said, while he got the girls, I searched the labs to follow up on the vials we nabbed from Thompson. Only had enough time to take a handful of pictures, so we don’t know for certain what they’re planning, but…” He hands me the phone, and Nick and Valec crowd closer to me.

There are five photos in an album. A couple are blurry, like they were taken hastily, but I can make out what I’m seeing well enough. A long black laboratory counter with test tubes and beakers and vials. I swipe to the second picture. An open notebook with equations I don’t understand. Swipe again. Four vials labeled only with letters A through D. A centrifuge. Then finally, another set of five vials this time marked with nearly identical labels scrawled in neat black ink: BM1. BM2. BM3. BM4. BM5.

Nick catches the phone before I drop it. “What is this shit, Will?”

“?‘BM’ is fairly obvious.” William looks apologetic, although he has nothing to apologize for. “It’s Bree’s blood. They’re experimenting with Bree’s blood.”

“And the blood of actively working Rootcrafters,” Valec says, voice low and dangerous. “For what?”

William swallows. “If I had already been experimenting with controlling magical properties in the human body, turning abilities on and off with a serum, trying to isolate the power of the Cycle somehow… and if I had come across someone like Bree, who can access her ancestors’ abilities in a new, more powerful way…”

The room grows quiet. But the King’s words about greed and weakness ring in my ears even now. A man who is both will attempt to recreate that which is beyond his comprehension, obliterating the original in the process.

“They can’t find me. They can’t control me. So they’re trying to recreate me instead?”

William blows out a breath. “Replicating your power, or at least learning how to neutralize it, might be possible. It’s been months since you were last seen. If they gave up on tracing your family tree to locate the next Scion of Arthur, then they’d want to use what they have to control the Table and maintain their supremacy in the Order and in the war. It seems they’ve pivoted to tracking down rogue magic users with powers like yours to study them and try to regain the upper hand.”

“It won’t work.” Valec walks away, teeth bared. “There are no random, rogue magic users with powers like hers! Bree’s a once-in-a-lifetime intersection of power. Unique.”

“ We know that,” William says, “but the Council doesn’t. And they don’t need to recreate even half of Bree’s power to wreak havoc in the war. And beyond it.”

“Where did they even get vials of Bree’s blood?” Nick exclaims.

“From when I was at the Institute,” I answer. “They mesmered me so much, I lost days there. Days. ”

“Never thought I’d say this.” Valec rubs at his jaw. “But this might be worse than the Hunter feeding off the girls’ magic.” He paces back to William. “What can they do with what they have?”

“I don’t know,” William says. “Maybe nothing. It depends on what they already know, the research they’ve already completed.… As far as I understand it, Bree is an anomaly, like you said. It’s possible they’ll use the girls’ blood and Bree’s blood and come to a dead end. Most of science is dead ends, honestly.”

“But we know they’re trying to do something ,” I say. “They’re getting creative.”

“And desperate,” Nick says. “Gabriel spent a small fortune last night. Who knows what other resources they’re throwing at the situation?”

“The situation I created, you mean,” I say, “when I left.”

“No.” Nick grasps my shoulders. “Don’t blame yourself. They could have been on this path before you left. They already had your blood stored. The Order has been disappearing people for decades. They could have been taking rogue magic users’ blood before murdering them this whole time.”

“But if I hadn’t left, they would have just studied me .” I raise a trembling hand to my mouth. “And Nora, Amber, Joy, and Melanie wouldn’t have been captured.”

“You don’t know that,” Valec says. “Davis is right.”

“I can guess it ,” I snap. “Even if the girls would have been taken anyway, it doesn’t change how much the Regents have to be stopped. They can’t do this!”

“They’ve been doing this,” Valec says hoarsely. “Messing with bodies and people who don’t belong to them. It’s why you’re here in the first place, powerhouse. It’s why you left—and I don’t even blame you for that, except for some additional stress lines that I’m fairly certain are your fault.”

I pace away. “No. I don’t accept this. I don’t.”

“What do you want to do?” Nick asks.

I look at Valec. “First things first. Get my missing people back.”

This time, Valec doesn’t give me a warning. He thrusts his palm to my sternum—and then I’m lost. Drawn down and churned by his crimson eyes, his deep voice. “Just breathe.”

When he stops his tour, he is left standing—and puzzled.

I come back to the stage blinking, dizzy on my chair, with his hand resting on my collarbone. “Did it work?”

“No,” he says, voice confused.

“What happened?” I ask. “I felt you.”

He shakes his head. “I don’t know. I saw your mark, saw your Bloodcraft, your root, even saw bits of that Spell of Eternity, but it’s like… there’s a piece of you missin’—” He pulls his hand back.

“What does that mean?” William calls. “Did something go wrong?” He, Lark, Zoe, Mariah, and Nick are standing at the end of the stage looking on this time. Emil, Lucille, and Hazel are in the back tending to the girls while we wait for their parents to arrive.

“Not wrong, just unexpected. Need to take a closer look.” Valec steps closer to me, expression tight and focused. His hot hands wrap my jaw, fingers gripping my temple and thrust into my hair—and his brown eyes pull me down once more. “Look at me,” he intones, and I unspool beneath his gaze.

All my edges peel back, tear open. The heavy swoop of his power tugs deeply at my chest and mind, then tosses parts of me away as if he’s rustling through my very being, my component parts. A tug, then a release. A deep pull, then a push, like an ocean wave.

After a moment, he gasps back, dropping his hands from my face as if he’s been burned. “Shit.”

“What?” I ask drowsily. “What’d you see?”

“More like what I didn’t see. What’s been broken.” His handsome features twist in horror. He blinks rapidly, fingers twitching at his sides as he mumbles. “I’ve never… Didn’t know it was even possible. Didn’t even know I could see it, but now that it’s gone, now that it’s fractured, it’s plain as day. Visible only in the absence—”

“What’s wrong with me?” I ask, mind sharpening. “Why do you look so scared?”

“Not scared,” Valec whispers, eyes distant. “Shocked. Yeah. That’s what we’ll call it.”

“Valec!” Mariah calls. “What is it?”

Valec’s gaze floats to his cousin at the sound of her voice. “Why?”

At first, I think Valec is talking to Mariah, but then he turns to me, and his question is the same. “ Why , powerhouse? Why’d you do it?”

“Do what?”

To my surprise, his gaze crystallizes into angry red rubies and his voice turns accusing. “Why’d you give part of your soul away?”

I blink, startled. “I didn’t.”

His upper lip curls in disgust. “Don’t lie to me. I deserve better than that. And so do you.”

“No, I—” I sputter. I look down at my friends’ shocked faces and back to Valec’s furious one. “I’m not lying !”

“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” Valec snaps. “How irreversible this is?”

I spring backward, away from the gust of heat rising from his skin. The stool clatters to the stage behind me. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, I swear.”

“Valec!” Mariah calls. “Explain!”

He swallows roughly, eyes darkening to brown. “As much as we brokers like to mess with folks’ heads about the devil in the crossroads trading souls for talent and the like, it’s not something we actually have the power to tamper with. It’s a legend for us, too. A fiction that there could be a demon so powerful that he can take possession of a human soul.” A frustrated breath leaves him as he paces back and forth across the stage. “It’s a fable because a soul isn’t a physical object someone can hold in their hand. It’s an amorphous, mutable, ungraspable thing. Even though every human possesses a soul, each and every single soul is unique. The soul is the engine that drives a person forward, the thing in life they can’t live without, and as such it can be composed of anything you can imagine. It’s an unknowable metaphysical core that cannot exist outside its bearer. But in the stories about this demon who can hold a soul, there’s a catch. A big one. That demon can’t take a living person’s soul away unless they offer it up.” He looks at me. Stops pacing. “A soul can’t be removed without the bearer being willing to part from it.”

“But I…” I look down at my friends’ faces again, shaking my head. “I would never choose to forget my friends, my dad, my…,” I stammer. “When I got to Erebus’s home, he said I was fractured . He did something to me then, maybe broke my soul somehow—”

“Oh, Bree…” Mariah’s eyes shimmer, dread driving the blood from her face. “Your ancestral stream.”

“What about her ancestral stream?” Valec demands.

Every nerve in my body turns raw. A white-hot pain beneath my skin. “I… burned it.…”

Valec’s eyes widen. “You did what ?”

I flush, the shame rising quick. To my surprise, it’s Mariah who steps in. “You don’t get to judge her on this, Valechaz.”

Valec blinks down at his cousin. “Like hell I won’t—”

“No!” Mariah says, raising a finger. “She’s still Bree. And she’s the only one who’s had to deal with everything. From every angle.”

“And this is how she dealt with it?” Valec seethes.

“Back off, man!” Zoe calls from the floor.

Valec whirls on me. “Decisions like that have consequences , powerhouse! When you burned your ancestral stream, you fractured your own soul. Broke off a piece and left it free for the taking!”

“She didn’t know,” William counters firmly. “And yelling at her is not helping.”

Valec scoffs. “Don’t you get it? The King didn’t even need a contract; all he had to do was take what was offered!”

“It wasn’t offered!” I’m shouting before I can stop myself. “I didn’t know my soul was connected to the people in my life. How could I? Don’t blame me for the King’s theft!”

“That I won’t do, because you’re right. Theft is theft,” Valec says tightly. “But you did willingly give up part of yourself. Not just the ancestors but us, too.”

Anger and guilt burn into a dangerous combination in my chest. “That’s not fair—”

“What’s not fair are the things we had to do to find you!” Valec releases a hollow laugh. “The things we risked…”

“I didn’t ask you to take risks for me.”

“And you’ll never have to.” Valec’s eyes are hard—and only for me. “A soul like yours is something to kill and die for, Briana Matthews. Your soul is the engine behind a power that could change the world . Unparalleled, in this dimension or the next. Beyond priceless. And you gave it away like it was nothing. ” He growls low in his throat, snarling in outrage—and I flinch.

In a blink, Nick stands between me and Valec, bright aether sparking in warning at his fingertips. “Enough.”

The room goes silent at the deadly simmer of Nick’s voice.

In response, a hot wave of fury rolls off Valec’s body, billowing against our faces. Forcing the others, even Zoe, to turn away.

But when Valec’s anger touches Nick, it only hardens his resolve. “You need to walk away, Valechaz. Now.”

“That so”—Valec’s chin tips up, exposing glinting fangs beneath the stage lights—“Nicholas?”

Lightning flashes in Nick’s eyes. “A soul to kill and die for, right?”

One beat. Two. We all hold our breaths for the fight to come. Then Valec curses, turning to walk away, rage falling from him like water.

I leap after him, running to grasp his shoulder. “Valec, wait—”

“No, the kid’s right.” He shakes me off. “I need to step out.”

Panic fills me. “But I need your help to fix this!”

He whips around, eyes shining. “I can’t fix this, Bree!”

“It’s my soul ,” I argue. “I need that missing piece back.”

He shrugs helplessly. “If there’s even a piece to recover.”

I blink, knocked to my heels. “What are you saying?”

He sighs heavily. “A demon powerful enough to remove a fragment of your soul is powerful enough to destroy it. We don’t know the King’s long game. You need to prepare yourself for the possibility that this is it . In fact, go on ahead and plan for that fragment not coming back. Probably smarter that way, ’stead of getting your hopes up.”

My eyes burn. “That’s cruel, Valec.”

“You’re tellin’ me,” he murmurs. “I can fix a lot of things, powerhouse, but some things you just gotta live with.”

And with that, he stalks out of the room, leaving me behind in stunned silence.