I stared blankly ahead at the video feed, having lost my voice. Queen Brisha was the last person I’d expected to come face-to-face with so soon, and the mention of Pandora left me frozen. The queen might as well have been an ambaka.

“What happened to Pandora?” Queen Brisha repeated impatiently.

“Forgive me, Your Highness, but where are my friends?” I countered, finding my courage. “Are they safe? I need to know they’re okay!”

The Queen’s striking, near-white eyes narrowed. “Answer my question, Riley. My patience has been tried enough, as I’m sure you can imagine!” Her tone was cold, her demeanor just as icy. Somehow, she looked older than the last time I’d seen her. There were more lines on her forehead and darker circles under her eyes. War appeared to be pretty stressful.

“My friends, Your Highness—are they safe?”

“My advisor, Riley—what happened to her?” Brisha demanded, mimicking me.

I held her gaze through the monitor, feeling slightly ridiculous that I was speaking to her through such a tiny screen. Neither of us wanted to back down, but I knew it would be me who broke first. She held the upper hand; she had news of my friends, and I sensed she was only asking the question to make sure my story matched what Navan, or one of the others, had told her.

On the journey back from Zai, we’d settled on our cover story: Pandora had died in a temple cave-in, after a pillar collapsed and crushed her to death. It was simple and easy to remember. Regardless, I felt nervous about telling the tale out loud. With my friends’ lives hanging in the balance, I couldn’t bring myself to take the gamble—not if my story didn’t quite match up with what she’d already been told.

I remembered something Roger always used to say: “If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.” Never had those words felt more poignant.

I took a deep breath, steeling myself. “I could lie to you,” I began, hoping I wasn’t doing something even more risky, “but I respect you enough, Your Highness, to tell you the truth. I know it might get me in more trouble than a lie would, but at least my conscience will be clear.”

“Are you saying somebody has already lied to me?” Queen Brisha’s tone was challenging.

“I don’t know what you’ve been told, Your Highness, but I’m going to tell you what really happened. If my story doesn’t match up with what you already know, that’s because my friends didn’t think you’d believe them if they told you the truth,” I explained. “Right now, I’ve got no idea if you’ll believe me, either.”

Brisha arched an eyebrow. “You have my attention, Riley.”

“Pandora wasn’t who you thought she was, Your Highness. To you, she was a most-trusted advisor, to whom you confided everything, but all of that was a ruse,” I said, my heart thundering with each word. “It was a way of getting close to you, and Pandora wasn’t afraid to play the long game. You see, her true loyalty was to a group of rebels. I overheard her contacting a coldblood named Orion, who seems to be the leader of this rebel faction. She was giving him secrets—about the elixir, about the failing truce between you and your sister, about everything that went on within your queendom.”

For a moment, a heavy silence formed between us. I could tell my words were sinking in, but her face was impossible to read. Her pale eyes remained unblinking, staring straight into mine.

“Lies,” she said simply.

“They’re not lies, Your Highness. We discovered the truth while we were on Zai. I’ve got no idea how long she’s been contacting this Orion, but they seemed close,” I replied, keeping a few half-truths in my story for good measure. If she knew how long we’d been aware of Pandora’s traitorous behavior, we’d be risking our necks, too.

Brisha shook her head defiantly. “These are poisonous lies, to divert me from the facts. Pandora would never betray me. She has been my sworn friend and advisor for years. I have known her far longer than I have known you, Riley,” she hissed, her eyes burning with rage.

“I knew you’d react like this, Your Highness. This is why it would’ve been easier to feed you a lie,” I countered firmly. “Pandora fooled all of us. She made a mockery of your friendship and your trust. I know that hurts, but the truth does, sometimes.”

My words appeared to make Brisha pause for thought. To be honest, I was just glad I’d managed to get through a sentence without stumbling or needing a fresh set of underwear. She looked pretty freaking scary, with her strawberry-blond locks plaited in the same shieldmaiden style as her sister and dark green patterns drawn across her pale skin, giving the impression of two elongated fangs beneath her bottom lip.

“Then what happened to her, in the end?”

I sighed. “I killed her, Your Highness.”

“You dealt the final blow?” She seemed surprised.

“I had to. She’d given information to Orion and promised to bring him back a vial of Draconian blood, to assist in his immortality elixir experiments. She was always rooting for them, not you.” I knew the last sentence would cut through her like a knife, but she needed a dose of tough love.

A tight laugh barked from Brisha’s throat. “Not that it would have done him much good. Maybe we should have let him have it, to set him back a rebel or two in the testing phase.”

I realized she knew about the blood being unusable. So, she’d definitely spoken to at least one of my friends. Now, all I had to do was convince her to let me speak to them—even if it was just a few moments with Navan, so I could ensure he didn’t come rescue me.

“I suppose that would explain a few puzzling incidents that arose in the past few months,” she mused, seemingly appeased by my explanation. “I could never find her when I needed her, you know?”

I nodded, remembering the way Pandora would suddenly appear from nowhere, always running from job to job, as though she didn’t have enough time for it all. I supposed juggling two lives had to have been tricky.

“I know of this Orion,” Queen Brisha continued. “If he has managed to breach the security of my closest circle, I must discover where he’s hiding. Perhaps I shall enlist you and your friends to help me. At least some loyalty remains from all of this. Although, I have to say, I did not expect it to come from you.”

The prospect of Queen Brisha going in search of the rebel base terrified me. Of all the planets in all the universe, why the hell did Orion and his band of not-so-merry men have to choose my planet to use as their evil hideaway? My hatred flared.

“We’ve never given you any reason to distrust us, Your Highness,” I said boldly, knowing it wasn’t entirely true. Still, she didn’t know that—and that was the point.

The queen made a doubtful face but said no more about it. “Your friends have explained to me that you were kidnapped upon your return to Northern Vysanthe. They are most desperate to retrieve you. However, I would like to hear events from your mouth, before I make a decision. There is a war going on, after all, and I can’t risk more lives just to rescue you.”

“I completely understand, Your Highness,” I assured her. I couldn’t have put it better myself, especially with Gianne’s paranoia putting everyone in danger. As quickly as I could, I explained that one of the Idrax brothers had been responsible for my kidnapping, with the end goal of luring Navan and Bashrik back to the family home, in exchange for my safety.

Once I’d finished, the queen sat silent for a moment. Her painted face was blank, offering me nothing. Then, without warning or explanation, she scraped back the chair and stood up, before disappearing offscreen. I waited for her to come back, only to be met with the same empty background.

I flashed a look at Ronad, who’d been crouching to one side of the sofa this whole time, keeping his body out of sight and his mouth shut. He looked just as worried as I did.

“Where did she go?” I mouthed, keeping one eye on the screen.

He shrugged. “I don’t know, but time’s running out. We can stay on this channel a while longer, but the executions will be over soon, and we need to make sure we leave enough time to get back,” he whispered.

“I really wish one of us had wings,” I muttered.

He smiled. “Me, too.”

We sat in tense silence for the next ten minutes, staring at the flickering screen, feeling our time dwindling. “I say we turn this thing off and get going. She’s obviously not coming back.” I sighed, cursing her under my breath. I knew she was busy being a military mastermind, but where did she get off, just leaving like that?

“Good idea,” Ronad agreed, moving forward to turn the device off. He was just about to power it down, when a shadow arched across the screen. Someone was coming. With a stifled yelp, Ronad jumped back to his corner of the sofa, his eyes wide with panic.

A moment later, Navan appeared, sitting down in the chair that Queen Brisha had so brusquely vacated. I was speechless at the sight of him, tears pricking the corners of my eyes. He was dressed in the green-and-silver uniform of a North Vysanthean soldier, his hair freshly buzzed on either side, some sections shaved into patterns similar to the ones painted across Brisha’s face. A smile tugged at his lips, making them more kissable than they’d ever been before.

“Navan?” I gasped, wanting to reach forward and press my hand to his, but the screen was too damn small.

“Riley,” he whispered, his voice thick with emotion. “I’ve been going mad without you, not knowing if you were okay. You have no idea how good it is to see your face!”

I smiled. “I’ve got some idea.”

“I love you so much.”

“I love you so much.” I laughed through tumbling tears.

“I should never have let you out of my sight—I should have fought harder to keep Kaido away from you,” he insisted bitterly. “Is Ronad okay? Is he with you? Are you safe?”

I nodded, glancing at the man in question. “Ronad’s with me. He’s fine—we’re both fine. Stop blaming yourself for what happened. Kaido is a skilled fighter, and he hasn’t harmed us in any way,” I said firmly, wishing I could somehow flow through the screen, into Navan’s arms. “We can’t change what happened. We just have to figure out where we go from here.”

“How about a faraway moon with tropical beaches and scantily clad women?” Bashrik’s voice chimed in, shattering the somber mood.

“Hey!” Angie teased, punching him in the arm as they came onscreen, peering over Navan’s right shoulder. Lauren appeared over his left, waving enthusiastically.

“You look thin. Are you eating?” she asked, sounding like a mother hen as she squinted down the lens.

I grinned until I thought my face might crack. “I promise you I’m eating. In fact, if I never see another fruit platter again after this, I’d be totally fine with that,” I joked. “It’s so good to see you all! Are you being treated well?”

“It was touch and go for a while, but we’re okay now,” Lauren replied, making me frown.

“Wait, are you all fighting?” I asked, realizing that everyone was wearing a uniform. The two brothers were dressed identically, except for different badges on their chests and sleeves. Navan had two crossed swords, while Bashrik had crossed wings. My friends were dressed in similar clothing, but they wore lighter green jackets with two red stripes across each shoulder and a bottle of some kind on the badges.

Navan nodded. “We’ve been drafted to fight on the battlefields. I’m in elite infantry, while Bashrik is on aerial ops.”

“Yeah, and we’re in the medical corps, helping in the hospitals to heal the injured soldiers that get brought in from the fighting,” Angie added.

“And you’re all okay?”

They nodded, smiling. “We’re fine. Nothing to fear here!” Lauren confirmed.

“Well, aside from bombings and fighting,” Angie added with a cheerful grin, though I felt anything but cheerful.

“I thought you’d all be in a prison or something. I was so worried something awful had happened to you.” I felt a wave of emotion welling up inside me. “What happened to you after I got taken?”

“And tell us quick, because we’ve got to go really soon!” Ronad chipped in, ducking into frame. He put a comforting hand on my shoulder, easing the tension of so much pent-up worry and sadness. I saw Navan’s eyes flicker toward the hand, his brow furrowing slightly. Ordinarily, a glimpse of jealousy would have amused me, but right now all I wanted to see was love in his eyes. He would never have anything to worry about, where that was concerned.

“After Kaido took you, we hitched a ride on one of Brisha’s military ships,” Bashrik said. “Navan wanted to go after you straightaway, but I managed to convince him otherwise. We had no ship, no weapons, no resources. It would’ve been a pretty sad excuse for a rescue mission!” he added, laughing.

“Anyway, we got to Brisha’s palace and took the blood to her,” Angie cut in, the two of them making a cute double act. “She was overwhelmed with war stuff, and us turning up with a useless vial of blood—one that would poison any coldblood that ingested it—pretty much pushed her over the edge.”

Bashrik nodded. “She had us clapped in chains within about two seconds of telling her what had happened, but then Lauren came along and saved our skins,” he explained, gesturing to the woman of the hour.

Lauren blushed. “It was nothing, really. I just suggested we trick Gianne’s spies into believing that Brisha had finally made a breakthrough with the immortality elixir,” she said with a shrug. “I thought we could make some poisonous pretend samples for the spies to steal. Nobody would be any farther along with the elixir itself, but Gianne would end up with a nasty surprise or two.”

“Honestly, I had no idea our girl had such a deliciously devious streak!” Angie enthused, though Lauren didn’t seem too pleased by the accolade.

“I just wanted to do something that might reduce the number of bombings—give Gianne something else to think about,” she mumbled.

I couldn’t quite put into words how much I admired Lauren. Even with war already raging and lives being lost on both sides, she was thinking of ways to reduce the conflict. Yes, the poison samples might hurt a few people, but she was right about keeping the queens distracted. As long as their minds were on the elixir, they wouldn’t start trying to one-up each other with weapons instead.

“What about you? What are your plans?” Navan cut in, his eyes sad. “Are you coming back to us, or do you want us to come to you?”

My expression turned stern. “You can’t come here—none of you can. Gianne has pretty much lost her mind, and if she finds any of you on the wrong side of the barrier, she’ll kill you. Any promises she made before this war began can’t be trusted anymore,” I warned. “She has weekly, screened executions. It’s why we need to hurry now. We only have until the executions finish to get back to the house before someone notices we’re gone.”

“What if she finds you?” Navan pressed.

“She won’t,” Ronad assured him. “Your father is keeping us hidden, and he’s doing a nice job of it. Well, aside from us sneaking out, but that’s on us.”

“For now, we need to do what we can, on both sides,” I insisted, feeling the pressure of time. “But there are two things I need to tell you before we go.”

Navan frowned. “What?”

“Bashrik, Navan—your mother is ill. She’s not well at all. It’s why Kaido kidnapped us, to lure you both back to the house. Your father wants you back here, too. He thinks it might help her. Obviously, I don’t want either of you to risk Gianne’s wrath to come back, but I can’t make that choice for you.”

There was another choice I couldn’t make for Navan, either, but I was working up the courage to get the words out.

“My mother has enough siblings to take care of her,” Navan said, with surprising coldness. “It pains me to hear that she’s unwell, but I doubt our presence would do anything to help her. Besides, I’m not exactly eager to do anything that pleases my father.”

“You can’t forgive her?” Ronad asked.

Navan flashed him a look. “I haven’t decided yet.”

“Can you guys figure out a way to contact the Titans while we’re separated? We need to make some headway, especially since we’ve got no idea when we’re going to be together again,” I interjected. “In the meantime, we’ll try and come up with a way back.”

“Actually, it might better if we did come to you—me and Bashrik,” Navan said suddenly, making my heart jolt in my chest. “Gianne will pardon me, as she promised. I’m sure of it. And I can always say that Bashrik was taken prisoner. Gianne won’t kill an Idrax.”

I shook my head furiously. “You have no idea what’s going on over here. Everything has changed! Nobody is safe. Navan, you can’t come here. Just stay where you are and try and contact the Titans. If we’re going to get anywhere, we need to—”

“I’m sure Queen Brisha would like to have her say in the matter, as you are her loyal subject,” Navan said loudly. His tone was weird, and I soon realized why. Queen Brisha reappeared behind the chair where my friends were gathered, though they dispersed as she arrived, with Navan offering up his seat. She refused it, allowing Navan to remain. I looked to my side, but Ronad had already dropped off the edge of the sofa.

“I have decided to allow Navan to travel to you on a rescue mission, though Bashrik and your Kryptonian friends will remain here, as collateral,” she announced. “You are my trusted subjects, and I wish to have you back in the North, where you belong.”

“But—” A warning look from her pale eyes silenced me.

“I will have you back,” she repeated, before vanishing from sight once more.

If Navan was coming here, against my will, I knew that meant the time had come. I had to tell him about Seraphina. Perhaps we could figure out a way to spirit her away too, without inciting Gianne’s wrath. After all, if Brisha was planning to keep hold of Bashrik, Angie, and Lauren, then staying in the South wouldn’t be an option. We’d have to come up with something, now that the two queens had kindly wedged me between a rock and a hard place.

“Navan, there’s one other thing I have to tell you,” I said frantically. “If I can’t stop you coming here, then you have to know that Seraphina—”

The video feed cut off before I could say anything else. Navan’s face disappeared, and I could’ve sworn I felt my heart crack with the dimming of the screen. With Brisha’s blessing, he was about to risk everything, and there was nothing I could do to stop him.