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Annelise had one hand on the lantern—lighting the path before her—the other hand trailing against the stone wall to her right.

The knowledge of these passages might have died with those that had lived in her tenure in the castle, and it was distinctly possible they were in disrepair.

She risked these fragile stones caving in on her, trapping her.

But Zion had to have traveled these passages to open the portcullis for her.

The thought reassured her as she ascended one staircase after the other, quickly out of breath. She wasn’t used to traversing these passages any longer. The wind was nearly taken out of her lungs at the sheer number of steps she had to ascend simply to make it to the ground floor.

She pushed her hood back to wipe the sweat from her brow. Despite the cold winter air, the flame from the lantern and the exertion of scaling the tunnels left her panting and her skin warm.

She stopped at the door to the round antechamber, pressing her ear to the wood and listening. Once she had determined the chamber was safe to enter, she twisted the iron knob and the door squeaked open.

The chamber and passageway beyond weren’t dark as she had expected—the torches on the walls were lit and they filled the cavity with warm flickering light. The chamber also wasn’t empty, and she gasped as she saw a figure step into view from the shadows, her hand clasping her chest tightly.

For only a moment, she imagined it was Donika stepping from the shadows, waiting for her. That Zion had told her she was coming… that he had successfully lured her to the castle after all these years. So she could kill her for certain this time, finishing the job.

“Easy, bird. It’s just me.” Zion’s deep timbre filled the antechamber and her muscles relaxed.

Bird .

It had been so long since she had heard him call her that.

Too long.

‘Always taking flight’ he had once said. The nickname suited her more than he ever could have guessed. He had called her bird long before she had left to be with Osiris, and still long after.

Zion was a good man. A forgiving man. He understood they were better off as friends.

“Zion,” she breathed, collapsing into his arms .

The warmth of his golden skin was a soothing balm to her. She had missed his touch after all these years. She could sense the binding magic pulsing deep in her core, as if it had missed its other half, too. No matter how many miles or realms she traversed, she and Zion would always be bound.

Until death.

It was their secret. The only thing they had kept only to themselves.

Would that knowledge have stopped Donika from killing Annelise? Knowing her father would die, too? She shook her head to clear her thoughts. There was no use thinking on it now. The past was in the past, and Annelise was determined to keep it buried.

“You made good time,” Zion remarked, a smile in his eyes as he pulled away from her only enough to meet her gaze.

“How is she?” Annelise asked, breathless.

A smile turned up the corner of Zion’s mouth before he answered. “Strong. Like her mother.”

Annelise shook her head, worry still fresh in her gut. “What does Donika want with her?”

“You know what she wants.” He sighed, running a hand across his shorn black hair.

Annelise favored this look on him—it suited him. When they had married, he had grown his hair out into boundless curls that he wore tied at the nape of his neck.

The shorn haircut made him appear younger.

“The Kotova grimoire will never choose her. Never. It would rather go undiscovered for centuries before it chose someone with a black heart. ”

“I tried to warn her,” he replied. “You know her biggest weakness—family. She feels slighted by you still. She is a Kotova by blood, but she thinks the bloodline never claimed her. You never claimed her.”

Donika would never forgive her for leaving their family to come to The Stone Palace for Osiris. It hadn’t mattered that it wasn’t her choice—that she was summoned. That she hadn’t wanted to leave.

The result of those events was Diana, and Donika hated her from the very moment she saw her.

Donika was driven by the jealousy that consumed her, and she saw it as a betrayal.

That Annelise left because she and Zion weren’t good enough.

That wasn’t the case at all. She had written to Donika.

Thought of her each and every day. But The Stone Palace was no place for a child, and she tried to restrict her visits to when she had training for the academy.

She didn’t want her spending more time here than necessary.

She had wanted to protect her. By the time she had fallen pregnant with Osiris’s child, they had hastily sealed their marriage to make things official before anyone else knew.

She and Zion hadn’t been romantically involved for years at that point, but that didn’t matter to Donika.

Before Osiris found out her true nature—that she was a Stormshade and had hidden it from him—she stood to be crowned queen of Istmere.

“Has she found it yet?” Annelise asked, biting her lip.

Zion shook his head. “No, she hasn’t. She sent her soldiers to the mortal realm in search of it, but she found nothing. It hides from her still. I believe it is fiercely loyal to Diana. ”

This brought a smile to Annelise’s lips. She had known the grimoire would choose Diana when she had sent it to search for a new ward. The grimoire was quite picky due to its sentient nature, and she knew that Diana would care for it well, as she had all these years.

“How long has it been?” she asked, meeting Zion’s gaze once more.

“Almost a month. We have time yet, before she tires of her playthings,” he replied.

“Play things ?” Annelise asked.

She was under the impression it was only Diana who had been captured.

“She has taken her friend captive as well. A Shade. Fowler… Tess Fowler,” Zion replied.

Annelise nodded to herself. “I know the family. Only a month… that’s more than I had hoped for.

But then again, after all this time, Donika would want to savor it.

I wouldn’t be surprised if she kept Diana imprisoned for years .

If my instincts are correct, we have time to infiltrate the castle staff and formulate a plan.

Who do we have on our side to aid us?” she asked.

“Surprisingly, the boy who was sent to retrieve her from the mortal realm and his friend. He has done a poor job of hiding his true feelings, and I’m sure Donika suspects where his loyalties truly lie.

The boy has been playing the part to try to remain out of her crosshairs, though I’m not sure how much longer that will work. ”

“Hardly much of a boy,” Annelise mused with a short laugh, remembering that Nikolai had to be at least twenty-two by this point.

She hated the idea that he had feelings for Diana. He had double crossed the resistance, and Isaac was furious with him. He was the reason Diana was in this mess in the first place.

No.

Annelise shook her head. Not Nikolai’s fault… no.

That blame fell on her.

She might not have brought her daughter here and served her up to Donika on a silver platter, but she was the reason Diana was even in Istmere in the first place. Placed right beneath Donika’s nose.

Donika couldn’t chase her to the mortal realm. Diana was safe there. If she had never come to Istmere to search for answers, she would still be back in Silver Oaks. She would still be safe.

The error and blame here fell squarely on Annelise’s shoulders.

“So, Nikolai and his friend. Who else?” she asked.

“We still have Theo and Ezra. They will help with the plan. I have to be careful with Avery—she might not swing towards our side any longer. And, of course, the spies from the resistance: Luca, August, and Elijah. We have to be careful with Corian.” His eyes narrowed as the name left his lips.

“That snake?” she asked.

“He still slithers by her side. He is in her ear at all times, and has climbed the ranks significantly since you have last seen him,” he replied. “I suspect him of sharing her bed, though I have no proof of that.”

Annelise nodded. “I’ll be sure to not underestimate him.”

“He walks dreams, as Diana does,” Zion told her.

Annelise raised her brow. “A dangerous man, indeed. Did you bring the glamours?”

“Of course,” he replied, turning to rifle through the pack at his back. “I’ll need to get more, but this should suffice for now. Donika doesn’t travel throughout the castle much except the wing with her quarters and the throne room. Be vigilant to avoid those areas.”

“And you’ve secured my position?” she asked, taking one of the vials of glamour liquid and popping the cork stopper, throwing the drink back in one shot.

“Yes. You’ll be on staff in the kitchens.

You’ll have access to the soldier’s food and have ample opportunity to drug them.

But we need to be careful which potions we choose.

We need them to make it to their posts and out of Donika’s sight before they collapse.

We need to be sure suspicion does not fall on us. ”

“It will take some trial and error,” Annelise mused, thoughtful.

In her mind, she raced through the pages of the Kotova grimoire, a number of spells already coming to mind that would suit this job perfectly .

“I will keep a close eye on Donika, but we should have some time to perfect the plan. Keep your glamours fresh and let me know the moment you need more. Never cross her path, bird.”

“I understand,” Annelise replied.

She reached out and gave Zion’s rough hand a gentle squeeze.

“I’ve missed you, Zion.”

“I’ve missed you, too. I’ve wanted to see you—I only wish it were under different circumstances,” he replied, squeezing her hand back.

“Me too. Be careful, Zion. I know you remain at her side for now, but the moment she senses the tides are turning, she will turn her back on you, too. History means nothing to Donika when she thinks she has been betrayed.” Annelise’s mouth tightened as she raised her chin.

“Same to you,” he replied, his voice raspy.

Annelise could see out of the corner of her eye that her hair was a duller shade of golden brown, the red and pink undertones almost completely leached from it.

Her features felt sharper, her nose longer.

Zion handed her a kitchen apron, and she pulled it over her head, tying it in the back to secure it.

She spun with her arms out. “How do I look?”

“Perfect. As always.” His voice was almost… sad.

Zion would love her with any face she wore.

She grabbed her pack and moved towards the tunnel that would lead into the heart of the castle, confident that her glamour would hide her from prying eyes. She needed to get Diana out of the Stormvault as quickly as she could, which meant she needed to get to work perfecting her potions.

She turned back towards Zion with a soft smile on her lips, beckoning him to follow her.

“It’s time to go save the realm.”