I didn’t know what good it would do to run toward Navan, but I couldn’t just stand there and watch him fall out of the sky. Bashrik had moved to go after his brother, but Ezra had clawed him back, forcing him to fight. A bestial roar rose from my throat. I wasn’t even saying words anymore—I just wanted him to stop falling.

Suddenly, a disc of blue light appeared, the middle sinking down to form a giant bowl as it caught Navan in midair. The disc moved slowly downward, bringing him safely to the ground. I turned sharply to see Stone with his wrist raised, the glowing bracelet aimed at Navan.

Stone had saved him from certain death.

I didn’t have much time to think about it, as something shot through the clouds. Ezra had stunned Bashrik, using the moment’s distraction to dive for the hatch of his ship, the door rising rapidly as he approached. Before anyone could stop him, he was safely inside the metal armor of his vessel, the hatch crashing back down behind him. A moment later, the engines rumbled, and the turrets of his ship’s guns whirred. The pirates, realizing they were in trouble, started to flee, but Ezra fired on them as he lifted his ship into the air.

I was expecting the rebels to make a run for it, but instead Ezra’s ship hovered a short way above the ground, the front of the vessel poised toward the thieves. He continued to fire at them, but they’d already disappeared down the alleyway at the side of the Salty Siren, taking a good chunk of his shipment with them. He edged closer to the inn, before disappearing over the roof and into the endless stretch of junk, evidently trying to pick the thieves out of the Junkyard’s labyrinthine streets.

Casting a strange look back at me, Stone took off after the thieves with Lauren running after him, fending off any attackers with a whirl of her golden staff. Xiphio and Angie were in hot pursuit, sprinting after the unlikely pair, following them down the shady alleyway.

I stood in the middle of the clearing, not knowing which way to turn. On the ground by one of the archways, Bashrik was crouched beside Ronad, handing him a vial of medicine we’d picked up from the market. Mort was nowhere to be seen. I’d lost track of him in the chaos. Honestly, I wasn’t sure if we’d ever see him again. We just had to hope he didn’t run back to the cruiser and try to steal it out from under our noses. If he did that, I swore I’d track him to the ends of the universe.

“Riley, I’m going to take Ronad back to the ship,” Bashrik called, hoisting Ronad’s arm over his shoulder. “I’ll come back and give you a hand with Navan.”

Too distracted to think straight, I nodded. “I’ll hold down the fort until you get back.”

Shaking off a million thoughts, I ran to the spot where Navan had been gently placed on the ground, and tried to wake him, shaking his shoulders. I couldn’t believe Stone had saved his life, though I still hated him for what he’d done to Lauren. Not only that, but he’d almost agreed to give the notebook to Ezra as part of the weapons bargain, adding another strike to the list of reasons I loathed him. Truthfully, my brain was in turmoil over what to make of Stone.

“Navan? Can you hear me?” I asked desperately, but he didn’t stir.

As I searched his face for any sign of life, comforted only by the slow rise and fall of his chest, I noticed a figure creeping out of the junk on the other side of the Salty Siren Inn. Her purple-and-blue skin gave her away, making camouflage almost impossible. Somehow, she’d managed to hide herself from me while I’d been chasing her. Kirin ducked out of her hiding place, still clutching the two items she’d stolen from Stone’s ship. The sight of the notebook made my heart clench. It was within my grasp again.

Reluctantly, I left Navan on the ground and snatched two knives out of my bandolier, hurling them in her direction. They found their mark, cutting through the indentations above her armpits with surprising force, pinning her to the wooden door that had been propped up against the mountain of junk. She tried to stagger forward with the door on her back, but it was too heavy, her knees buckling underneath the weight.

I ran toward her and pushed the door backward, leaving her writhing around on it like an upturned tortoise. She scowled at me, flashing her needle-like teeth, a flush of deep purple rising to her cheeks as she fought to free herself. Unfortunately for her, the knives were buried deep in the wood behind her; it would take a long time to get her body loose again, if she didn’t want to tear her muscles to shreds.

“Hey, I thought we were pals!” Kirin complained, glancing down at the two knives sticking out of her shoulders. They didn’t seem to be causing her too much pain, but they looked nasty.

“All’s fair in a pirate’s world,” I replied, picking up the two objects from where she’d dropped them. “Let’s just call this payback for the booze you made me drink. You promised me that stuff had no alcohol in it.”

“I didn’t think it did!” she protested, though her wry smile gave her away. “Anyway, what’re you gonna do with a flamethrower? Lower your number—big money, big risk?” A laugh bubbled up from her throat.

“I’m going to secure the bounty that none of you managed to get!” I fired back, grinning. I didn’t really need a flamethrower, but I figured it might come in handy. It was really only the notebook I was after, but if I made it look more important than anything else, I knew I might draw attention to the value of it.

Kirin tried to shrug, but the knives held her arms down. “What’d you expect? We’re pirates. We go after the shiniest thing.”

“Still, I’d have thought one of you might have tried to take Stone.”

A mischievous look flitted across her face. “What can I say? Old feelings die hard.”

“Well, best of luck with finding Captain Notley someday,” I said, unable to hold a grudge against the funny half-fae, half-merevin.

She spat at my feet. “Yeah, yeah. Go get that Stone of mine, Fed-Smasher!” Kirin called after me as I ran back to Navan with my new items tucked under my arms.

The battlefield had gone silent, with most of the participants having retreated into their holes. I knew Xiphio and Angie were still running after Stone and Lauren, so at least my mission hadn’t entirely failed, giving me a moment to stay with Navan. I knelt beside him and tried to wake him again, cradling his head.

“Navan, can you hear me? You have to wake up,” I urged, but he was still out cold. I shook his shoulders, knowing we weren’t safe out here in the open. Yes, Stone and Ezra had left, but that didn’t mean we weren’t still a target. I lightly smacked the sides of his face, willing him to open his eyes and stand up. I was getting desperate now.

A murmur had just escaped from his lips, his lashes flickering, when a ship appeared overhead. I’d have known that ship anywhere. Ezra had come back. The vessel hovered above the clearing, the hatch opening. Ezra flew out of the gap, setting down in front of me.

“Your hair might be different, but I’d know Navan’s little pet anywhere,” he said. “You give yourself away, fawning over him like that. Disgusting.”

“Back off!” I snapped, trying to keep a lid on my anger.

He smirked. “I don’t remember you having such a temper, Riley,” he said, arching an eyebrow. “The mouse turned into a lion. That’s the Earthen analogy, right? Now, I hear that you are the one responsible for my sister’s death. Tell me, mouse, did you do it?” His voice was thick with menace, his near-black eyes narrowed.

My whole body tensed for action, my fingertips itching to reach for Kaido’s vial of strength serum, which was still tucked away in my pocket. I guessed Ezra was only delaying his attack because he was under orders to capture us all for Orion, rather than kill us on sight. I was pretty sure Orion would want to see me suffer with his own eyes, instead of hearing the news secondhand.

“You shouldn’t listen to rumors,” I replied, forcing the tremor out of my words.

“It’s not something you should be ashamed of,” he mused, still smiling. “I’m grateful to you for killing her. Pandora was too much of a distraction to Orion. They were always mooning over each other. He wouldn’t agree to anything without consulting her first, and it was starting to grate on me.”

I gaped at him. “She was your sister.”

“We weren’t exactly… close. Romance is for the weak, and you’ve just strengthened our cause by taking Pandora out of the picture,” Ezra said. “At first, he was overwhelmed with grief, but now I think he’s ready to channel that ‘suffering’ into something more proactive. Honestly, I’m thrilled.”

“You’re a monster,” I whispered.

“Why, because I tell the truth?” He barked a cold laugh. “What were my sister’s final words? I’m dying to know.”

“I’m not telling you.”

“Ah, so you admit you were there?” he taunted. “I know it was you. The least you can do is tell me what she said.”

I grimaced, not wanting to relive it. “Pandora tried to beg for her life. She said she knew a secret about Earth, but I didn’t wait to hear her out before I sliced her throat.” Now, however, I was starting to think there might’ve been a morsel of truth in that secret she’d offered. Perhaps she’d known about the president’s involvement in an unknown deal.

“Ha, pathetic!”

I leveled my gaze at him. “Why were you meeting with an Earthen leader, all the way out here?”

He shrugged. “You know what they say about inferior species—they always have to find a way to compensate. To be honest, I’ve never known such hunger for power. I wasn’t sure whether to be impressed or repulsed.”

“You’re skirting around the question.”

“Tough. I don’t owe you an explanation. I don’t answer to you,” he replied coolly. “Now, I’ve had enough of this chitchat. You’re coming with me. Don’t be annoying.”

I positioned the flamethrower at the pages of Yorrek’s notebook.

“If you try anything, I’ll destroy the notebook,” I declared, taking a step back.

Ezra scowled. His eyes held nothing but malice, all amusement gone. However, we seemed to be at a stalemate. He couldn’t touch me without me setting off the flamethrower, but he couldn’t leave without me either.

He lunged for Navan. I pulled the trigger of the flamethrower, aiming it at his head. The fierce blast sent Ezra sprawling backward, his skin singed, patting flames from his hair. Trying to keep hold of the flamethrower and the notebook, I frantically scrabbled for the vial in my pocket. Ezra lashed out at the bottle in my hand, knocking it out of my grasp as I fought to keep hold of the notebook. The vial landed on the hard ground with a clunk, though nothing seemed to be broken.

I didn’t have time for a closer look as Ezra struck again, forcing me to shove the notebook down the belt of my pants, wedging it securely. I fired the flamethrower at him, trying to drive him away from Navan, but he was too fast. He kept dodging the blasts, gaining ground on me. A moment later, I felt his foot connect with my leg, the force of it buckling my knees. I sank to the dirt. I tried to get up, but he lashed at me again, his fist connecting with my face, my head snapping to the side with a jarring sensation.

Blasts of fire erupted from the end of the flamethrower, but Ezra’s eyes flitted between me and the barrel, apparently anticipating when I was about to pull the trigger. His fists connected with my body again and again, his punches leaving me bruised and breathless. I was losing, but the flamethrower was too awkward to let me properly use the skills I’d learned in training. I thought about dropping it and relying on hand-to-hand combat, but Ezra was way stronger than me, and his body language was giving nothing away.

Thinking fast, I yanked the notebook out of my belt and hurled it as far as I could, knowing I was taking an enormous risk. It did the job, distracting Ezra, who turned to see where it had gone. Catching the glint of glass on the ground, I snatched the vial of serum up from the dirt, took out the stopper, and drank the whole thing, dropping the vial back down to the ground once it was empty. I realized the danger I was putting myself in, downing a bottle of stimulant, but without it, I was dead. I just had to hope that Kaido had given me something that wouldn’t trigger the effects of the silver root.

Ezra had run to retrieve the notebook… and I felt nothing. I started to panic, worrying that it wasn’t going to do anything at all. Then, electricity shot through my every cell, my entire body bristling into renewed life. A strange heat—both freezing and fiercely hot at the same time—coursed through my veins. Everything around me became clearer, my ears twitching at the tiniest of sounds. I could have sworn I could hear Ezra’s heartbeat thumping erratically in his chest. My eyes could see in colors I didn’t know existed, my muscles practically thrumming with power. Although my body felt different, my limbs didn’t look much changed, aside from the dark veins threading across my pale skin, pulsing violently.

Strangest of all, I could feel the weird sensation of elongated fangs in my mouth and a dull ache in my shoulder blades, where wings ought to have been. Baring my new teeth and narrowing my eyes, I charged at Ezra. The speed was immense, and a cloud of dust kicked up behind me as I sprinted toward the coldblood, tackling him to the ground and wresting the book from his hands. I tossed it toward Navan, who was still unconscious, and the book skidded to a halt at his side.

I could process a million thoughts at once, my eyes looking at one thing while my newly sharpened claws raked at Ezra’s flesh. He tried to escape, but I was quicker than him, and stronger, too. I swiped at his head, and four welts sliced through his skin. Before he could even think to retaliate, I’d punched him hard in the gut, prompting him to double over in pain.

For the first time, Ezra looked genuinely terrified.

Desperately, he stretched out his wings and tried to make a break for his hovering ship, but I could jump higher than he expected, and my hands came down on his shoulders, hauling him back down to the ground.

“I’ll tear them off!” I yelled, gripping the root of one of his wings in my hand.

“Let go of me, you bitch!” he yelped, twisting around.

“Why should I?” I growled, my voice sounding alien. “You don’t show anyone the same mercy.”

Wrestling beneath my grip, Ezra gave a low, strange whistle. I glanced up at his ship, before remembering that his underlings had chased after the serrantium weapons. A knife cut my cheek, the blood trickling down my face as Ezra wielded a previously concealed blade. The serum had healed the bruising that Ezra had inflicted earlier, but it wasn’t doing anything for the cut. The effects were already fading. I had known it couldn’t last, but I’d thought it’d hold out longer than this.

My strength and focus continued as Ezra broke away from me and flew toward the ship once more. I couldn’t jump as high as I could a few minutes ago, but I still had my knives. Plucking the last four from the bandolier, I hurled them at Ezra, my skills heightened by the serum. They shot through the air in a blur, two slicing straight through the leathery membrane of his wings. The other two hit him in the root of his wings, and he collapsed to the ground.

This was the moment to take Ezra out of the equation for good. It wasn’t something I wanted to do, just as I hadn’t wanted to kill Pandora, but I knew it was a necessary evil. Ezra was Orion’s right-hand man.

I was about to lunge forward to pin him to the ground, when a rush of unwanted images pulsed through my brain. I grimaced, an intense pain thundering against the walls of my skull as I saw the ferocious king on his icy throne, wearing his crown of jagged icicles. I caught a glimpse of a gaunt Seraphina, huddled in the corner of a room, weeping silently. The images moved to Lauren and Angie, lying motionless on a battlefield, their eyes blank and unseeing.

I struggled to force them all away, knowing not everything I saw could be true, but the searing pain in my skull had rendered me blind. I reached out my hands to feel out the air in front of me, but my body no longer felt like it belonged to me. I remembered the sensation from the last time, when Kaido had experimented on me with his botanical concoctions. I should’ve known there’d be side effects.

The images hurtled back to the fiery king, his impossibly black eyes watching me. I tried to scream as he moved toward me, his face flickering for a moment, shifting to that of Ezra. His entire body seemed to be made of smoke and fire, shot through with frozen veins of ice, and from within his chest he pulled two flaming blades. I screamed again, but no sound came out.

I was frozen to the spot as the shadowy creature with Ezra’s face stepped closer, resting the scorching edge of a blade against my neck. I didn’t know whether it was reality blending with the nightmarish visions, whether I was really in imminent danger. All I could do was stare as his shoulders heaved, moving to slice my head clean off. That was the last thing I remembered as the fog cleared from my eyes.

Ezra had fled, no doubt figuring it’d be easier to make a run for it, instead of waiting to see what other superhuman powers I had in store. I was alone in the clearing outside the Salty Siren, my eyesight speckled with black spots.

“Help!” I called out, feeling a rush of weakness surge through my body, the last of the serum leaving me vulnerable.

All around me, I thought I could hear shouting voices getting nearer, but whether it was just a last fragment of my horrifying hallucinations, I didn’t know. I didn’t get to find out, either, as I fell to the dirt, faced with silent oblivion. The serum had proven too powerful, and the world went dark around me.