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A witch’s challenge was a beautiful and treacherous thing. Beautiful in how much it could grow one’s magic. Treacherous in how the means of one’s challenge only seemed obvious in hindsight. If Cora had acknowledged the darkness in her heart for what it was the first time it had begged her to look at it, she could have grown her magic days ago.

But that was the nature of challenges.

The way of the witch.

It wasn’t meant to be easy.

Now that she’d broken that dam inside her, there was no stifling the darkness. She whispered the lullaby of truth it had wanted to hear all along. “It should have been her.”

Anger rose inside her, and she didn’t tamp it down. She let it strengthen her voice to a shout. Let her fury pour out of her and burst from her lungs, her heart, her lips. “It never should have been me! I hate that I suffered in her place!”

Darius nodded. “As you should.”

More and more of the darkness leaked from her chest, eased from her soul. Her mind spun with the euphoria of its release. How long had she been carrying it? How had it burrowed so deeply—yet so subtly—inside her that she hadn’t noticed its unbearable weight? Now that she’d given it freedom, she felt lighter than ever. Her mind too felt clearer. Sharper.

And her magic…

Mother Goddess, her magic felt stronger.

It surged through her body, filling every crevice the darkness had occupied. Her magic tingled the lines of her insigmora , burning her palms, radiating through her blood.

The blockage was finally gone—the fatigue that had overtaken her when she’d worldwalked. The solution had been there all along, buried in the darkness she wouldn’t confront.

But she confronted it now, watching it, acknowledging it, even as it broke her heart again and again, even as it healed each jagged cut it made.

What a cruel and lovely thing it was.

“I knew you were like me,” Darius said, voice quavering with fervor once more. “I knew we were of the same mind. You’ve felt what it’s like when someone undervalues you. Or misplaces your value. You feel the same rage that I do. The same sense of justice.”

Gods, she wanted to laugh.

She and Darius weren’t the same.

He was a fool to think bringing her darkness to light meant she agreed with him.

Everything she’d confessed was true. Every word she’d shouted had come from her heart. But truth wasn’t always one-dimensional. Hers was multifaceted.

She wished Mareleau had been cursed in her stead.

She was glad Mareleau hadn’t suffered the way she had.

She hated that she’d borne a punishment meant for someone else.

She wouldn’t wish the terrors of her past on anyone else, least of all Mareleau.

Yes, that darkness belonged to Cora, a small and vulnerable side of her that she’d tried to ignore. Tried to smother and bury. But that wasn’t all Cora possessed. There was a bigger, brighter part of her that could exist beside the darkness. A side that understood her tiny, scared, bitter counterpart for what it was. Not something to be ignored but to be held. Listened to. Freed. Only then could the brighter side truly shine.

Darius remained oblivious and continued to grin at her in triumph. “Now do you see?—”

“I still need more time.” Her words came out calm. “I will not ally with you until you’ve proven your merit. That’s what you stand for, isn’t it? You’re asking me to compromise on my principles and allow you to take innocent lives?—”

“One of those lives belongs to someone you resent. Taking it would save thousands more. It would end a war before it can begin.”

“Yet it’s a life nonetheless. I don’t take that lightly. Give me the full three weeks, and you’ll have your answer when we meet at the border. In the meantime, stay out of Khero, stay out of Ridine, and prove you’re someone worth trusting.”

Irritation flared in his eyes, but he made no argument. His fingers curled and uncurled at his sides until he released an aggrieved sigh. “As you wish. Just don’t forget what I told you. You will be outnumbered at the border, should you refuse to either surrender or ally with me.”

“I’ll have to take that risk.”

He extended a stiff hand. “Shall I escort you back?—”

“There’s no need.” She took a step to the side, a vision of the moonlit forest just outside Ridine in her mind, and planted her feet on cold grass. Icy air filled her lungs where mild heat had been before. Darius’ palace was gone, replaced with dense forest and a glimpse of the castle walls just ahead.

She took a moment to breathe, to marvel at how easy it had been to worldwalk here compared to all her recent attempts. She hadn’t needed minutes to sink into her destination. Just a vision. Intent. A feeling. And here she was. She may not be as strong of a worldwalker as Darius was, but it was enough that her magic had grown.

Where the purgatory have you been? Valorre’s frantic voice filled her mind. He was close enough that she heard the pound of his hooves on the forest floor. In a matter of heartbeats, he reached her. You disappeared. You disappeared!

“I’m all right,” she assured him as she caressed his silky neck.

His panic lessened only the slightest bit. I kept my distance and gave you privacy while you were mashing bodies with Teryn, and then…and then you were gone. You were just gone .

If her poor familiar wasn’t so upset, she’d be more amused by his mashing bodies comment. Or perhaps more embarrassed.

“I know. I’m sorry to have worried you. That’s why I came here first.”

Although Valorre’s worry was great, there was someone else who was probably equally as frantic.

Valorre’s emotions flared with jealousy, which he demonstrated by scraping his hoof in the soil. He nuzzled her shoulder several more times, a tad more aggressively than usual, before he finally relented. Go on, then. You should tell him you’re not dead. He…was doing something strange earlier .

She pulled back. “What do you mean something strange?”

Valorre gave the emotional equivalent of a shrug. Something with dead people .

That was enough to leave her equal parts perplexed and concerned. She gave Valorre a final conciliatory pat before worldwalking straight to her bedroom.

She caught Teryn pacing before their bed, his thumbnail between his teeth. He jumped upon seeing her, blinking several times as if he wasn’t sure she was real. His eyes were wild, his hair more mussed than before.

“I’m safe,” she said.

Her words broke the spell on his surprise, and his expression eased. He rushed to her and folded her against his chest. “Thank the gods. I was about six seconds away from waging war on Syrus myself.”

The comfort of his arms, the scent of his skin, the cadence of his heartbeat against her ear, soothed all the fraying edges of Cora’s anxiety. She wished the moment could last. Wished they didn’t have to talk about what had happened or what would come next.

But she couldn’t put it off.

They didn’t have time for that.

She pulled slightly away and locked her eyes with his. His energy constricted. The furrow between his brow hinted at a worry he was desperate to voice. Did it have something to do with what Valorre had mentioned?

“What is it?” she asked.

He framed her face with his hands as if he couldn’t bear to release her. His throat bobbed. Once. Twice. His voice came out strained. “I…I need to tell you something. Something I’ve done. My means were questionable, but I think it can help us.”

“I’ll listen,” she whispered back. “Afterward, I have something to tell you too. I have a plan. Or…the beginnings of one. It might make the Elvyn hate me, but it’s the only way to truly protect the people of Lela.”

Conviction flared in her chest. She knew what she had to do.

Darius may have been wrong about her in many ways. They were nothing alike. Freeing her darkness hadn’t filled her with hatred. Bitterness didn’t compromise her ability to love.

But he’d been right about one thing.

Lela belonged to her.