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Astra let another spark fly, hitting Selenia’s skirt this time, singing it.

As she looked down, Lux reached for her neck, snagging the chain and yanking it free.

He tossed it back toward Astra as she swung around and searched for anything to dig her hands into.

Lux dodged Selenia as she called out for Alastair.

I’m so sorry for this, Alastair beamed to Astra.

His pale face appeared from the crowd, tapping Lux on the back as he had when he took Astra to the Court Above. Lux fell to his knees, collapsing over himself. Alastair turned and looked at Astra, his eyes wide, as Selenia advanced again.

He’s only asleep, Alastair’s deep voice assured her, but the panic did not subside.

They had no more time to waste. Astra dropped the locket onto the ground and fired at it, busting it open and focusing all her energy on the wisps of black smoke that rose from the trinket.

“What—what did you do?” Selenia’s eyes tracked the wisps, her hand clutching her chest as she watched them fade into the ether.

Her rage shook her very bones, a bruised anger flowed from every pore.

She scooped the locket from the ground, looking around frantically.

Selenia lifted her pale hand as she heaved a breath, her glowing skin fading to a sickly gray as she struggled, grasping for any sense to make of what was happening.

“You’ve just begun a war you cannot win, Astra Leona,” she groaned against the weight of her lungs caving in on themselves. “The gods will not forgive you,” she gasped. “Lucian will never let you two get away with it. He will come after you, you fools!”

Astra shook her hands, letting the remaining sparks flicker into the space around her, her heart pounding as she stood before her, rooted to her spot.

The final hazy threads of Selenia’s Shadow fled from the still-open locket, twirling into a sphere that hovered over Astra’s palm.

She felt the weight of it, the dense anger that ran through its black currents.

The power.

“I will not seek the gods’ forgiveness, Selenia,” Astra pushed through a tight jaw, the onyx sphere melting into her palm, fusing into her veins. “But they will have to beg for mine.”

Astra watched as the reality of Selenia’s situation set in.

She was at anyone’s mercy now, not just Astra’s.

She’d given up her power again and again, and now there was nothing left.

If Astra killed her now, she’d be confined to Luciela’s realm for eternity, no way back.

She waited for a pulse in her bones, something within to tell her what to do.

Instead, she caught a flash of movement from behind Selenia.

Oestera, her proud mask faltering, gave a soft nod so slight that Astra questioned if she really saw it—if she should trust it.

She closed her eyes, begging her body to do something , lean one way or the other. But it was the soft echo of Leona’s voice in her ears that finally pushed her.

Oestera’s loyalty is the only thing I’ve ever been certain of.

Astra held Selenia in her mind, the same way she’d done with dozens of roses, with the Solarian in the woods, and she pushed the flame into her lungs, filling them with black smoke so thick it may as well have been the Shadow she lost.

It did not take as much effort as Astra thought, but then again, Selenia hardly had anything left to begin with. The goddess collapsed, a wave of golden blood spilling from her lips over the pavement that churned Astra’s insides.

In the silence, the courtiers’ colors rushed in.

Every shade imaginable, shocked and unsure what to do about the murder they just bore witness to at Astra’s hands.

Oestera stepped forward, pulling uncomfortably at her sleeve, a tick Astra had seen before.

Oestera’s lips parted, a heavy breath pushing down the wave of nausea in her gut.She spoke loudly and with the same authority Astra had always wished she carried.

“Aren’t we so fortunate that the Lunar Queen Astra Leona’s first act upon the throne was to defend her court from a premeditated attack by the Solar God Lucian?

Hardly a minute into her reign, and she’s already proven herself to be a wise and decisive leader.

” Oestera stood beside her daughter, Astra’s hands shaking, and looped an arm through her daughter’s.

Courtiers exchanged glances, the tide of shocked reds melting into greens and blues of admiration as Oestera spoke. She turned to Astra, her face alive with a light Astra had never seen before.

“Now, I know this was a lot of excitement for one day, so please, retire to your rooms. The maidens have prepared an evening tea service to help everyone get some rest before tomorrow’s coronation!”

“Astra,” Oestera whispered, something like tears forming at the ridges of her eyes. “Hold it together. I’m afraid we’re in for a long night.”

Lunelle’s sweet spirit moved over Astra, her slender frame rushing toward them as courtiers dispersed.

“Mother?”

Councilwomen closed in around them. Both Archera and Tula whispered to maidens, sending them in every direction.

“Archera, send for Ehlaria. Someone from Mercury, get Maeve here! Tell them to check their wrists. Commander—” Oestera glanced around the panicked garden, catching Astra’s eyes as she tried to comprehend what the fuck was going on.

They both landed on Lux’s motionless frame strewn across the pavement.

“Oh dear, Alastair! Wake the poor boy, please!”

Alastair appeared from the rustling crowd, tapping Lux on the back again.

“Hey, big guy.”

Lux’s brows furrowed, one boot in this realm and one in another, but he had the wherewithal to glare at Alastair.

The god grinned. “So sorry about that. If your queen here hadn’t finished Selenia off today, I couldn’t blow my cover.”

Lux shook his head as Oestera stooped to meet his eyes.

“Commander, could I send you to Earth to fetch my husband? You know the court better than any of the maidens.”

Lux blinked slowly and looked for Astra.

“I don’t know what’s going on, either,” she said, shrugging.

“All will be revealed, Astra, I promise,” Oestera said, turning toward another maiden who asked her a muffled question.

“Yes, tell him to check his wrist. Girls! Girls,” she said, resting a hand on each of her daughter’s shoulders.

“Go change into something comfortable and meet me in my chambers. We have a lot to discuss.”

Astra glanced at Lunelle, who shared the same apprehension, twisting around their ribs in flickering yellows and oranges.

“Let’s go, ladies!” Oestera chirped, disappearing into the palace, a bounce in her step that put Astra on edge.

“Was she... smiling?” Astra asked.

“I believe so,” Lunelle said, astonished.

“Your Highness?” someone asked from behind them.

“You just missed her,” Astra mumbled, pointing toward the palace.

“Actually, I meant you,” the maiden said.

The last thing Astra heard before everything whirred into a black void was Lunelle’s muffled laughter.