She lunges.

There’s no sidestepping her on these metal bars, so I jump, grabbing at the rafters on the vaulted ceiling and swinging myself to land on the other side of Abra as she swipes at nothing but thin air.

My feet pummel the metal beams, denting them with the imprint of my boots and causing the rafter itself to moan.

I spin on my heel and find Abra charging, another poisoned dagger in hand. Its jagged tip glints in the glow of the liquid sunlight, giving the illusion that the knife itself is molten.

She swings for my head, and I duck, the whizz of the knife singing just above my hair.

The swing leaves Abra unsteady, so I take advantage of the moment and shove into her, hoping to send her toppling over the edge. She strikes faster than I’m expecting, bringing the knife down across my cheek.

Poison singes my flesh, burning away at my skin. I ignore the pain, struggling against Abra to shove her over the edge.

I’m on top of her now, pressing her back against the rafter. Unfortunately, that leaves me with nothing to hold on to but her.

A crazed look overtakes her face once she realizes this. She rolls to the side, thinking to topple me off, but something snags at my back and rips me to my feet.

Nox.

“Steady,” he says from behind as he pulls me into his chest. His lips graze the tip of my ear as he whispers, “Let’s finish this.”

I nod and he lets go of me, launching himself between the adjacent rafters until he lands on the other side of Abra, who’s back on her feet.

Abra turns to the side, monitoring both of us as Nox and I advance.

“I see you found one another,” she says. For the first time, I recognize the strange timbre to her voice, like two sentiences have been melded into one. “Though there must be discontent between the two of you if you felt the need to come after me. Happy couples don’t seek revenge, not when they’re finally free to live out their happy, quiet lives. Tell me, Nox. Do you find the little servant girl less enticing now that you have the entire world at your feet?”

Nox growls, and Abra just laughs. “That’s what I thought. I always knew being contained in that dungeon for years hampered your social skills. No wonder you wanted a girl so plain, if she was the first female to grace your presence.”

“Oh, I don’t know.” A cruel smile forms on Nox’s lips. “I saw you at your best, and I still didn’t want you. How disgusting does that make you, if even the sheltered boy couldn’t desire you?”

My mind does a double take. It takes me a moment to realize he’s speaking to the parasite, not to Abra, though I’m not entirely sure there’s a difference anymore.

Nox charges, but Abra is ready, maneuvering his attack and going airborne for a moment, until she’s behind him.

She stabs at him with her dagger, and I yelp, but he’s ready for it. He spins, intercepting the dagger by grabbing its hilt.

Nox faces down Abra, the female who ruined his life, both of their expressions strained as they struggle for control of the blade.

I advance, ready to jump on the other side of Abra and tear her throat out, but then she hisses, “Tell me, Nox. How’s your sister?”

Nox’s expression falters, just for a moment, but it’s long enough for Abra to gain control, steer the dagger back toward his chest.

No.

I drop to my feet, scaling the rafter from below until I’m at Abra’s back. I dig my nails into her shoulders, baring my teeth, ready to rip out her throat, when she says, “She’s dead, isn’t she?”

I freeze.

Abra tsks, even as Nox’s face warps in pain. “That was the price you paid to get back to your little servant girl. Tell me, Nox. Is she worth it?”

Evander’s voice echoes in my mind. Tell me it was worth it, Blaise.

No. I glance at Nox for confirmation, but he’s not looking at me. Like he’s refusing to.

“Oh. Oh,” Abra says, a cackling delight escaping her throat. “It wasn’t Farin, was it? Tell me it wasn’t Farin who killed her. Because if it was, then we all know what that would mean.”

No. No, no, no.

“Remind me, now. It was you who sent Farin into Zora’s world, wasn’t it, Blaise?”

My heart stops beating, and only now does Nox look at me.

And there’s enough ice in his eyes to speak the truth without a word.

My ribs crack at the look. My fault. My fault.

Zora, unprotected Zora, dead because of me.

Because I just couldn’t let Nox go like he asked.

It’s then that Nox and I make a mistake.

We take our attention off of Abra. One last betrayal. One last sabotaging of one another.

I don’t see the blow coming until it hits.

Well-aimed, not at my chest or neck as I expect, but at my ankles.

Abra steps forward, sending me off-balance.

My feet lose their grip on the rafter, and though my instincts have me scrambling for purchase, I’m still in so much shock from the news of Zora’s death that my fingers find nowhere to grip. I fall, my body barreling through two sets of eroded rafters before I finally grip onto a loose beam.

The warehouse is burning, melting under the heat of the vats that spilled during Nox and Abra’s fight below. The liquid sunlight and moonlight slink across the floor, moments away from colliding.

One glance down tells me there’s another vat directly below me.

A vat of swirling liquid sunlight.

I turn to swing myself up on the beam.

Something explodes.

Liquid sunlight and moonlight blast mingled into the air, a byproduct of their collision. The vat below also explodes, making the rafter on which I’ve gripped groan.

It falls, and me with it. I barely catch myself on another rafter below.

Liquid from the explosion slides down the metal beam, singeing my fingertips as I try to get a grip.