I burst through the castle doors to a perfectly silent and very nearly empty space. With invisible speed, I dart through the hallways. Just seconds later, I shove the doors open to Cyrus’ office and go straight for the computer on the desk against the far wall.

Opening it, I do some quick Internet searching. I check, and double and triple check that I’m reading from credible sources.

“Holy shit,” I breathe, my eyes flicking over the information just one more time.

The seemingly mad-sounding man was right.

For the first time in over two hundred years, there will be a total solar eclipse, centered right over Roter Himmel. Total coverage, total darkness during the middle of the day.

At 1:11 in the afternoon, to be exact.

I am searching for the way back. So we must prepare. You must be ready. It will be soon, when the day is dark as the night.

We have to prepare. We must be ready.

I sit back, recalling that strange dream, that vision. Remember, I yell at myself. Every detail. He was showing you exactly what must be done.

Darting to my feet, I head out of the office.

The ceremony from the dream was done outside, out in an open space, where the sun would reach every part of the circle. There is a field above the castle, tucked far out of sight of the village where there will be no risk of the residents seeing us.

I head out to the courtyard, to the storage facility. There, I find a huge cache of cut wood. By the armload, I load it up, and make the trek up the trail that rises up the back of the castle. Exactly as I remember Cyrus doing from the dream, I place them in a wide circle, taking care that they line up end to end.

It takes me five trips to gather enough wood.

With my sunshades still securely on as I work, I close my eyes as I stand in the middle of the circle, pulling back to memory every detail of the dream.

An altar in the center. The fragrant herbs burning along with the wood.

Through the entire day, I work by myself. I build that altar. I think back to the way those herbs smelled, trying to identify which ones he used. Through the kitchens and the infirmary I dig, searching for them.

I scatter the herbs along the logs.

I’m going to have to prepare well ahead of time. In the dream, Cyrus already had the logs burning. When the sky grew dark, they’d been smoldering for quite some time. I will need to light the fires at least an hour before the peak of the eclipse.

Crazy, crazy, this is crazy, Logan says in the back of my brain. None of this is real. You’ve seen a partial eclipse before and while it was cool, there was nothing magic about it.

But Sevan remembers all the stories Cyrus told her about his family. Mud healers and star worshipers, he’d called them. She had seen him look to the stars himself, seen his lips move in silent prayers and pleas. She knows there is more to the skies than beauty.

I’m filthy when I finally finish. Excited and tired and doubtful but hopeful, I stand in the center of my circle as the sun slips down past the mountains to the west, draping me once more in comfortable darkness.

For a moment, I listen. Sound carries far in Roter Himmel, in this valley and with that huge lake.

All throughout the day, there has been shouts and commands and cries. But now, as the sun has finally set and my people have relief, it’s quieter. They’ve been separated, taken to different buildings, and I know the uncertainty they must feel right now.

But it’s necessary. We have to find who will betray us, who has begun thinking in the old ways.

I take one last look around the circle, sure that everything is perfectly prepared. Goosebumps flash across my skin as I think about what will happen here in less than two days.

I’m scared. Scared that it won’t work. That my dream was just that: a dream.

But I have to believe.

What else can I do?

Wiping my dirty hands on my pants, I set back down the now well-traveled path that leads back down to the castle.

It’s so quiet. The castle feels cold and empty as I walk through its hallways back to my bedroom.

But I’m relieved.

For the past week, I’ve been under constant stress and dealing with issue after issue.

It’s been taken care of now. I’ve done everything I could possibly do.

And now I can focus on myself. On Cyrus.

I take nearly an hour washing myself in our bathroom. I dig the dirt from under my fingernails, scrub my streaked hair. I scrub my skin raw and pink.

I pull on a silky nightgown and braid my hair over my shoulder. Looking myself in the mirror one last time, I note how tired I look. I may be an immortal, a vampire with preserved skin and eternally stuck at twenty years old, but I look worn. There are dark bags beneath my eyes. My cheekbones protrude sharply—I realize I’ve hardly eaten a thing since arriving in Roter Himmel. There is no color to my lips.

That’s the reality. I’m exhausted. In every single way.

But in two days that’s all going to get better, I tell myself. Everything will fall into place, and then I can finally take two seconds to breathe.

With a sigh, I turn away from my reflection. I grab a blanket from the basket beside the bed, and set off through the castle once more.

The secret door to the lab opens up and I step inside, lighting the torches. With heavy feet, I cross the space, coming to Cyrus’ side.

I haven’t checked on him in over twenty-four hours now. But nothing has changed.

Cyrus is healed. His body looks just as attached as the first day I met him in Greendale or the first time I saw him at a dusty market in a country far away. His eyes are closed, his lips shut. He looks as if he is sleeping.

“I understand now,” I say, pushing my fingers through his hair. I bend down, pressing my lips to his forehead. “Everything is prepared, just as you showed me. Now all we have to do is wait.”

I climb up onto the table with him, once more tucking myself under his arm, resting my head on his chest. I pull the blanket over us, and I let myself imagine the moment he will open his eyes.