We met back at the infirmary as soon as the afternoon settled in shades of orange and deep pink across the sky. Our forays into the city had not yielded as many results as we had wanted.

“Imen keep collapsing in the city,” Patrik concluded after both Fiona and I shared our accounts of slumber before death cases that we’d encountered. “I’m guessing no one was able to tell you much about the illness and how it manifests?”

“Not really, no.” Heron shook his head. “We haven’t learned anything new regarding symptoms, but, based on what Avril and I saw, the Imen literally wither away past a certain age. It’s not absolute, though. There are some elders in the city, still, but the majority seem to gradually slip into this… slumber before death state.”

“They brought them to the infirmary,” I said. “We could talk to them later, maybe? If they’re awake, that is.”

“You could, yes.” Patrik nodded slowly, then gazed out the window. “Another hour or two and I’ll be able to try something with that asteroid belt. Maybe we can restore Telluris communications with Calliope. Judging by how things have been going for us so far, it’s a big ‘maybe’.”

“No, no,” Scarlett replied, a brief smile crossing her face, “you’re supposed to be the energetic optimist in this group, Patrik. The universe won’t flow your way if you go into it half-hearted, and you know it.”

Patrik’s gaze softened on her for a moment, before he looked at us. Something had shifted between them, and I looked forward to the end of this Neraka nonsense, so I could drill Scarlett for answers. We had grown up together; we told each other everything. If she was getting into a relationship with the Druid, I was supposed to know about it. I was going to tell her about my internal struggles regarding Heron, too. As soon as we had a moment to ourselves.

But I had to set those thoughts aside for the time being. There was an overall feeling of uneasiness dangling between us. Heron let out a long sigh, leaning against the wall behind him. I’d never seen him so disheartened before.

“Nothing seems real,” he muttered. “Everything in this damn city feels… off. It’s like… It’s like we can see everything and everyone, but I just can’t shake this feeling that something is… I don’t know, foul.”

“I feel you,” Patrik replied, a glimmer of sympathy in his eyes. “We’re all seeing a very pretty picture, and evil daemons trying to destroy it, but the closer we look at the picture itself, the more the rot beneath starts to show.”

“I honestly cannot wait to get out of here,” Scarlett murmured.

“As soon as we find a way off the planet,” I said, frowning. “Neraka doesn’t want us to leave yet.”

“Neraka doesn’t want us to do a lot of things, apparently,” Heron added, and our gazes locked for a few seconds, before he shifted his focus to Patrik. “Harper and the others should be back by midnight, but if they aren’t, do we all go after them?”

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that, but yes.” Patrik nodded.

A spine-tingling growl came from outside, along with the sound of large wings flapping. I recognized that combination immediately and rushed to the window. Blaze had just landed outside the infirmary, with Caia on his back.

“They’re back!” Scarlett exclaimed from my side. “Wait…”

“Where are the others?” Patrik muttered, his brow furrowed.

We watched as Caia got off Blaze, then handed him a pair of pants to slip into, as he shifted back to his gorgeous, naked self. I mentally reprimanded myself for finding her beau so hot, but hey, I was only looking. I had a feeling all the girls on our team felt the same.

They came inside the infirmary, and Scarlett closed the door behind them.

“Sorry, we wanted to get back sooner rather than later,” Caia said. “Some crazy stuff went down.”

“Don’t skimp on the details,” I replied, then handed them both some water, along with some food we’d grabbed from the Broken Bow Inn on our way back from the upper levels of the city, specifically for them.

We all listened as Blaze and Caia told us about their incursion into the gorges and the underground daemon city. As per my request, they didn’t leave any details out. By the end of their account, we had a clear picture of what the daemon society was like.

We learned about Shaytan, the Seven Princes, the giant generals, and the armies. We had Scarlett’s pit wolf theory confirmed, too—the creatures were enslaved with the help of those charmed collars. We learned about Mose and the impending uprising of daemon pacifists; they could be potential allies, and given how desperately we needed someone on the inside, reaching out to them seemed like the next logical step.

They told us about the death claws and the meranium boxes, their abduction and Darius. That was when we all froze, gawking at Blaze and Caia for a couple of minutes, until it all sank in.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I gasped.

“Nope, Hansa and Jax saw and heard him clearly.” Caia shook her head slowly. “He’s got some plans, and they depend exclusively on our capture. They didn’t want us back here in the city, for some reason. They went to a lot of trouble to keep us underground, but… you know… dragon.”

She smirked as she nodded toward Blaze, who offered a shy shrug in return.

“We made our way out of there in the end,” he added. “Collapsed some of their tunnels and sealed off one of the gorges, just to keep them back. I estimate somewhere between twelve and fifteen hundred casualties on their side.”

Fiona and I then briefed Caia and Blaze on everything we’d learned on our side, from the collapsing Imen to our brief encounter with Cadmus, and Fiona’s encounters with Zane from the night before.

“Speaking of which, Zane helped us,” Caia said, looking at Fiona, whose eyes widened with surprise. “Harper and Caspian convinced him to help get us out. One of his brothers stumbled upon us as we planned our exit. He had to pretend to try to capture us, but pointed us to the right tunnel. That’s when the madness ensued, but Blaze was more than eager to repay the daemons in kind for what they had done, so… lots of fire.”

“We reached the western plains, and that’s where we split up,” Blaze explained. “Harper and the others went looking for the rogue Imen tribes, and we came back to tell you… well, everything.”

A couple of minutes went by as it all sank in. Once more, dozens of questions surfaced in the back of my head, and barely a handful of possible answers.

“So, let me get this straight.” Patrik attempted to draw a conclusion. “Darius faked his own death, killing dozens of Imen and even some of the Lords’ family members in the process, as part of some alliance he’s got with Shaytan, the king of daemons?”

“It looks like it, yes.” Caia nodded.

“Do the other Maras know?” he replied, a muscle twitching in his jaw.

“We’re not sure. Caspian couldn’t tell us. He’s under some kind of oath, and he just flat-out refused to confirm or deny, but we can’t fully fault him for that. He’s been with us, risking his life for us, and, most importantly, he’s now helping Harper reach out to the rogue Imen. I get the feeling that what he can’t exactly tell us, he can show us or get others to tell us—like he did with Mose, for example,” Blaze said.

“Jax said we should gather the Lords and tell them about Darius. Watch their expressions carefully,” Caia added. “And if we get so much as a whiff of something being wrong, we have to get out of here as fast as we can. Blaze can fly us out directly to the western plains, and Avril can track Harper from there, till we find them and, hopefully, the rogue Imen tribe.”

“That sounds like a good plan,” I agreed, crossing my arms over my chest.

“I find it hard to believe that the other Maras knew about Darius and his plan,” Fiona muttered. “Their own people died in those explosions. If this was a conspiracy, I imagine that the explosions would’ve been much more reduced, focusing on Darius exclusively. I saw his daughter during the funeral service, and when we pulled out what was supposed to be her father’s remains. That grief—”

“Seemed genuine, yes,” Caia said. “I agree. But, nevertheless, we should do as Jax suggested. Round them up in one room and break the news. See how they react.”

“And what about Zane?” Fiona asked, seemingly confused. “I mean, yeah, he did save me, and he did let me go, but he also abducted me in the first place. And if he’s a prince, then… then he’s high up on the food chain. He’s got power and influence. He’s the king’s son! Why did he help you?”

“I’m not sure,” Caia sighed. “From what he told us, it doesn’t seem like he’s got the greatest relationship with his father. Sure, he’s a tad arrogant and probably spoiled, like all other royalty, but he did help us out of that meranium box. He guided us to our meeting spot, and he even showed us a way out of the palace. He could’ve told us that the statues turned into real creatures, but hey… I imagine this was his first act of rebellion.”

“I don’t think his brothers suspect him of aiding us,” Blaze added.

“And that might work in our favor later,” Fiona concluded with a nod.

“In the meantime, Harper and the others are out there with the rogue Imen,” Caia said. “I think they have all, and I mean all, the answers we need.”

“Well, I’m glad to see you two alive and well,” Patrik replied, then looked at us. “Okay, time for a new action plan.”

“Oh, goody, another one.” Heron chuckled. “Maybe we’ll get it right this time!”

“Avril, Heron, you two check in with the fallen Imen.” Patrik nodded. “They’re somewhere on the other side of the infirmary. See if they can tell you anything about the illness. See how they’re doing, and, if you see anything stranger than… usual, I guess, let us know. You’ll have to be stealthy and sneak in, though. We don’t want anyone knowing you’re talking to them. This whole slumber before death business is seriously starting to reek of foul play, and, until we get some answers, we can’t even bring the issue up with the Lords. We still have to use diplomacy at this point.”

“Duly noted,” I replied. Heron straightened his back and came to my side.

“Fiona, Scarlett, Blaze, and Caia will stay here with me, while we summon the Lords and tell them what we’ve discovered so far in the daemon city, including what Darius has done,” Patrik continued. “But before we split up, I need you all here with me for the spell I’m about to attempt on the asteroid belt. I need your energy.”

“Ah, yes, the Druid dark arts,” Heron quipped. “Count us in.”

The night had settled over the mountain when we went outside on the terrace. Several Correction Officers stood guard on the edge, but none said anything. They didn’t even look at us, and we didn’t mind it, either. Cadmus’s words from earlier were still ringing in my head. We couldn’t really trust anyone.

Patrik and Scarlett set up the disruption spell, drawing a large chalk circle, with a triangle within it and a multitude of symbols along the edges. They placed various herbs and crystals at the triangle corners, and then Patrik handed us small, clear crystals to hold.

“Hang on to these,” he said. “They’ll help me draw the energy I need for this.”

We all gathered around him, and he muttered a spell under his breath, lifting one hand in the air, clutching a larger, similar crystal, as he looked up at the sky.

I glanced down and noticed my clear pebble light up a warm, incandescent yellow. The others glowed the same, as delicate tendrils of what seemed like energy flowed out of them and into the crystal in Patrik’s hand.

A few seconds passed. His stone brightened up with the intensity of a small star, forcing us to narrow our eyes so it wouldn’t blind us. He uttered the last part of his chant, and a thick beam of light shot from his crystal straight into the sky, headed straight for the seemingly endless string of glimmering purple asteroids in the sky.

It hit what looked like an invisible shield high up in the atmosphere. It burst and dissipated into a rain of amber sparks, but it never reached the asteroid belt. The spell didn’t work. My shoulders dropped, a familiar ache taking hold of my stomach.

“Damn it,” Patrik cursed, looking at his hand. The crystal was clear and dull once more.

“It didn’t work,” Scarlett murmured, her voice barely audible.

“It’s not the asteroid belt,” he replied, then stared at us with what seemed like a mixture of anger and disbelief.

“Wait, what do you mean?” I blinked several times, as if pulled back from a daze.

“It’s this damn planet!” he said, gritting his teeth. “There’s a shield up there. The same thing that almost killed you the other night, Avril. It’s… It’s a spell. It’s swamp witch magic.”

“Whoa…” Heron breathed. “How do you know that?”

“I don’t have my notes from the swamp witches’ tome with me, but I remember reading about it. Viola was halfway through with translating it. It was one of the most powerful spells that the swamp witches had ever devised,” Patrik replied. “I took some notes from her at the time, and I was waiting for her to finish. This was shortly before Jovi and Anjani’s wedding. The day before, to be precise. I’m certain. This is incredibly powerful swamp witch magic. Nothing an amateur could easily pull off, either. This is the heavyweight stuff.”

We stared at each other for a while as we came to terms with the discovery. My breath hitched as I understood the full meaning of this.

“We are in so much trouble.” I whispered my conclusion.

“Why do you say that?” Heron frowned at me.

“She’s right,” Patrik sighed, his hands resting on his hips. “This is a powerful obstruction. No Telluris, no interplanetary travel, nothing that could penetrate Neraka’s atmosphere. And given that Rewa was able to get out and we were able to get through last week, it’s recent. We need to find out who cast the spell, and break it at the source.”

“The source…” I murmured. “Who could it be? They might still be alive, right? Since it’s recent?”

“I believe so, yes.” Patrik nodded. “This must be what’s stopping GASP from getting to us, too. It’s probably why we haven’t seen any of our people coming in yet. This is a huge spell to perform, though.”

“And the Maras are swearing up and down that they don’t have that much knowledge,” Fiona chimed in. “On the other hand, we’ve seen the daemons. They’re way savvier with this stuff.”

“I concur,” Caia said. “The charmed collars, the invisibility spell… the cloaking charm on their tunnel entrances… I think they might be the real culprits here.”

“And Darius? Maybe he’s involved, too, since he’s all buddy-buddy with them now?” I replied, a wave of red-hot anger bursting through me. My hands balled into fists. Boy, was I going to break his face…

“One thing is certain,” Patrik said. “The Lords need to know about this, too. Someone is actively trying to keep us here, on Neraka.”

“Somebody doesn’t want us to leave,” I added.

I looked out into the night, at the gorges rising heavily a couple of miles away, on the other side of the plains. There was nothing but darkness—no movement, no glimmering red eyes, just the rustling of leaves around us as the winds grew stronger.

We were stuck here. And we’d become the targets of a surprisingly well-designed plot that aimed to get us all in meranium boxes. One question remained: who was behind it?