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T he three of us move toward the top of the outermost wall; the guys aren’t far behind.

I feel them as they move through the tunnel to the stairs, which will bring them out not far from us.

And not for the first time, I find myself thankful that Serena has more than just me.

We might have had a rocky start, but with every day that passes, I find myself drawn to them, looking to them, and I’m more than a little shocked to realize they have become my friends.

Which is why it’s so hard to look down on the other side of the wall and see Lyle.

I’ve yet to get to know him, but that doesn’t matter.

Given the chance, we would have found a way to make it work for Serena, something I still hope is possible in the future, but I know this is tearing all of them apart.

I know the second Serena sees him and the state he’s in now.

Her legs give out, and I hear the sob she attempts to hold back.

Thankfully, Ryker’s arm is still wrapped around her so she doesn’t go down, but the pain I feel through the bond makes me wince, and I know it will only be worse as the others witness this change.

Lyle stands not ten feet from Draven. Behind them is a cage with something inside that I can’t make out with the way they are positioned in front of it. I didn’t think it was possible, but Lyle looks even more monstrous.

His fur is matted, his claws no longer those of his bear, but something with scales, large horns on his head, and blood dripping from teeth that are easily three sizes larger than they were before.

The one thing that is the same is his eyes, those haunting white eyes of the chimeras that makes them appear soulless.

The guys don’t make a sound, but I feel their despair as they finally make their way to the top of the wall.

Draven watches us, his eyes moving over us before he nods, and I get the feeling he was waiting for us.

That can’t be good.

“I brought you a present, my shadow princess,” he says, the wind carrying his words to us despite how far away he is, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

He steps to the side, and Ryker has to hold Serena as she makes a move toward the edge of the wall.

What could he possibly have?

I let my eyes shift, calling on my wyvern to see across the distance… and then wish I hadn’t.

“Theo…” Serena breathes her name, eyes wide as she looks at the girl in the cage.

From here, it’s impossible to know if she’s alive or not, though I don’t dare say that aloud. The last thing we need is for Serena to try and go rushing into danger headfirst… again.

Tears well in her eyes as she looks from Theo to Lyle, and I feel her heart break through the bond. The urge to block her feelings is strong. I don’t love either of these people the way she does, but I do love her. It seems cruel to make her face this pain alone.

“We’ll figure something out,” I whisper, reaching up to rest my hand on her shoulder in hopes of offering her comfort.

She doesn’t take her eyes off Draven, but I know she hears me. I can feel the surge of determination through the bond.

“Serena, how about we make a deal? You come with me, and I’ll let Theo go.

The attack on the kingdom will be forgotten.

” A smile curves his lips, but there’s nothing happy about it.

He looks deranged. “One life to save so many. Don’t you think that’s worth it?

” He says it like it’s the most obvious answer, making it sound like we’d be stupid not to agree, and he’s right.

It is the obvious answer; it is what we should do in terms of keeping the kingdom safe. That’s my job as their future king, hers as their future queen… so why instead am I stopping her?

My fingers dig into her shoulder as she attempts to move away, unable to let that happen. I can’t watch her go to him.

She would never come back.

Serena whips around to face me, her blue ponytail almost smacking me in the face with how fast she moves, her eyes narrowed, her lips set in a firm line I’m all too familiar with.

“Let me save her. She needs me,” she practically begs, but even still, all I can do is shake my head.

“No.”

“No? What do you mean, no?”

“I mean, no. You're not trading yourself,” I tell her, and her eyes go wide.

“People will die, Garrett. Theo will die.” She holds my gaze, as if waiting for me to change my mind, but I won’t.

I can feel it, the pain of this decision, the ache in my chest that tells me she’s right.

But beyond that, there’s something deep down that tells me if Serena were to leave with Draven, we would never see her again.

I wasn’t lying when I told her I can’t live without her.

The sound of trees rustling and heavy footsteps pulls our attention back to Draven, where he stands—no longer just him, Lyle, and Theo in the cage.

Hundreds of chimeras are suddenly here, surrounding the wall, standing and waiting for Draven to give the command.

“He never intended to trade,” Ryker says, startling me. I’d forgotten he was there, but his words make sense. Draven doesn’t strike me as the type to stick to a deal, no matter if he was the one to suggest it or not.

“You see, I made a few adjustments,” he gestures toward Lyle, as if we could miss him.

“There will be no more fighting against me, trying to spare people. I already had one failure; I won’t tolerate another.

” Draven doesn’t say any names, but it’s clear who he’s talking about.

I can’t imagine what it must be like for him, for this to have been all he knew his whole life.

Yet he seems completely unaffected; with his arm still holding Serena, you would never guess he was just insulted.

Something flies through the air. It’s tiny and fast, and I hadn’t noticed it until it’s too close, too busy paying attention to Ryker.

Just before it can hit me, Ryker steps in my path, the tiny needle lodging itself deep in his arm, and my eyes go wide as Serena chokes on a scream, her eyes full of fear.

“It won’t hurt me,” Ryker assures her, pulling it from his arm and tossing it aside. “I’m already a monster.”

My mind whirls thinking about that. Ryker is already a chimera, yet somehow he isn’t as wild as the rest of them. Even Lyle lost himself to it, so what makes him different?

Is it because he’s a demigod?

Even more than that, I can’t get over how easily he stepped in to save me. He didn’t even hesitate.

“I’ll be seeing you soon, my shadow princess,” Draven says, and my wyvern all but loses his mind, trying to get free, not liking the way he looked at her or the threat in his words.

“Bring her to me, and the heads of her mates.” Draven’s order rings out as if he shouted it through a megaphone before he disappears into thin air, leaving us with an army of chimeras.

“What do I do?” Serena asks, her voice small and lost.

“You fight. We fight.” Ryker steps up beside her without missing a beat, and we both turn our attention to him.

“But these chimeras are people, the same as Lyle. They’re someone’s son or sister, mother, friend, mate.

” I hear the panic in her words as she reaches up to press a hand to her mouth and chokes back a sob.

“I’ve spent all this time looking for a way to save Lyle, but I’m willing to kill all of these people? ”

“You can’t think like that, Serena. If we find a way to save Lyle, we will save anyone else we can as well.

But right now, they are monsters, and they will kill anyone who gets in their way of doing what my father ordered them to do.

” Serena sucks in a deep breath, and I see the effect of his words as they wash over her.

“Can’t you command them away like you did last time?” I ask, hoping for something better than this.

Ryker looks at me for a moment, seeming almost stunned, before he shakes his head. “Sending away eight almost drained us last time. I can’t imagine we would survive trying to push away hundreds.”

Fighting it is.

This fight is nothing like the last one. This time we fight as if these are people, because they might be again someday.

The idea makes my stomach roll, but I push the guilt away so that I can focus on the task at hand.

Not dying.

The kingdom has seen better days, but for the most part we’ve been able to hold off the chimeras as the citizens moved to take shelter in the innermost circle of the walls at the castle.

Thankfully, my parents have precautions in place should there be an attack.

It’s something I used to think was silly: who could breach the walls?

Who could handle the guards, not to mention me?

Draven clearly had the same thought because he made an army just to answer those questions. His beasts scale the walls with ease or have wings, making the walls little more than an inconvenience.

I don’t want to think about how easily he would have stormed the castle if not for Serena and the guys.

As much as it pains me to admit, even with my wyvern, we would not have been enough.

A roar sounds from behind me as I turn to find a mutated lizard with wings like a bird and a furry tail flying at me. I brace for the hit, knowing I can’t move in time, but that’s fine; we can finish this on the ground.

Black shadows wrap around the beast a moment before it collides with me.

I watch as it’s flung back through the air, slamming into the wall hard enough that dust fills the air as the stone cracks under the force.

The creature is no longer moving, and I’m not sure if it’s knocked out or dead, but I don’t have time to sit around and find out.

I don’t want them to die if we can avoid it. I’d love nothing more than to be able to save everyone, but I know that’s unrealistic. This is war, and there will be casualties; I’d rather it be them than us.

Turning, I find Serena looking like a god of wrath, and it takes everything inside of me not to fall to her feet and worship her.