“Not yet,” said Mal. “Unless, of course, you’re giving up.”

Alina smiled and gave her a little shake. “I didn’t put you in charge because you run from a fight.”

Zoya broke away and pressed her palms against her eyes. “How can you be so damn calm?”

Alina laughed. “I don’t feel calm at all.”

“Definitely still terrified,” said Mal.

“Did he seem different to you?” Alina asked.

Mal shrugged. “He seemed about the same. Gloomy and insufferable.”

“What was the boy’s name? The monk?”

“Yuri Vedenen,” Zoya said. “I never would have guessed that skinny little runt could cause so much trouble.”

“I bet you said the same thing about me once.”

Zoya scowled. “You’d win that bet.”

“Genya’s letter said you thought Yuri was still inside him. I think you’re right. The Darkling seemed different, off-kilter.”

Mal’s brows rose. “Has he ever been on-kilter?”

“Not exactly,” conceded Alina. “Eternity will do that to a person.”

She rested her bandaged hand on Zoya’s cheek and Zoya stilled, feeling suddenly like she was with her aunt again, in that kitchen in Novokribirsk. I could stay here, Zoya had said. I could stay with you and never go back. Her aunt had only smoothed Zoya’s hair and said, Not my brave girl. There are some hearts that beat stronger than others.

“Zoya,” Alina said, drawing her back to the present, to her fear, to this wretched place. “You are not alone in this. And he can be beaten.”

“He is immortal.”

“Then why did he flinch when you brought down the storm?”

“It did nothing!”

“He sees something in you that frightens him. He always has. Why do you think he worked so hard to make us doubt ourselves? He was afraid of what we might become.”

We are the dragon. We do not lie down to die. Some tiny fraction of the fear in her receded.

“Zoya, you know we’re here if you need us.”

“But your power—”

“I can still pick up a rifle. I was a soldier before I was a Saint.”

I like this one. She’s unafraid. Juris’ whisper, an echo of Zoya’s own grudging thoughts about the orphan girl she’d once resented and despised. The dragon’s laugh rumbled through her. Loss has made her bold. If only I could say the same of you.

Zoya sighed. “That’s all well and good,” she said. “But how am I going to tell the king?”

18

NIKOLAI

THE DINNER WAS LONG but merry, and Nikolai’s chef outdid himself by serving at least seven different foods in jelly. Makhi and her retainers left when the dancing began—and once the treaty was signed. Whether she would keep to the agreement they’d made was in Tamar’s, Ehri’s, and Mayu’s hands now.

“You’re welcome to stay,” Nikolai said as the queen’s horses and carriage were brought around to take them out to the airfield.

“I’ve performed as much as I’m able this night,” Makhi replied. “I even managed to hold down that hideous meal. Now I need to see just how much damage my sister has done.”

Before Makhi climbed into her carriage, she gestured to Nikolai, clearly wishing to speak away from her ministers.

“Something happened in Ahmrat Jen. Some kind of blight. There were similar incidents near Bhez Ju and Paar.”

“They call it Kilyklava, the vampire. The same thing has happened in Ravka.”

“I know. But I have to wonder if those occurrences were simply cover for the deployment of some new Ravkan weapon.”

“This isn’t a weapon,” said Nikolai. “Not one any of us know how to wield. The blight has struck in the Wandering Isle, Fjerda, and Novyi Zem.”

She paused, taking that in. “The shadows, the dead soil that follows in the wake of this blight. All of it is reminiscent of the Fold.”

“It is.”

“There is talk of the return of the Darkling, the Starless One.”

“I’ve heard the same talk.”

“And what will you do if he has found a way to return?”

If only Nikolai knew. But he doubted strap him to a big thornbush and try to send him to hell once and for all would incite much confidence.

“First I need to best the wolf at my door. Then we’ll see what nightmares lurk in the dark.”

“You will share any intelligence you gather.”

“I will.”

“And if you find out who’s responsible…” Her words broke apart, and Nikolai understood that it had not just been land lost in this blight. For the queen, this was very personal. “I will be the one to punish him.”

But who was the villain? The Darkling had created the Fold, but Nikolai and Zoya and Yuri had all played a part in bringing him back. What had Zoya said? We’re all monsters now.

Nikolai could only offer a half-truth. “If that becomes clear, vengeance will be yours to take.”

“I look forward to it.” Makhi stepped into the coach. “You may be surprised at how long I can hold a grudge.”

“A pity you didn’t meet General Nazyalensky. I think you two would have found plenty to talk about.”

The carriage door closed, and in a cloud of dust and hoofbeats, the Shu retinue was gone.

Nikolai returned to the ballroom, where the musicians had struck up a lively tune. Queen Makhi had stayed at the wedding only as a show of strength, so she wouldn’t be seen running off after the treaty was signed.

It felt strange to drink and dine and toast without Tamar there, knowing she was in danger, that if this all went wrong, she might never return to Ravka. Nadia had wished David and Genya well, then retired early, too worried about the woman she loved to enjoy the party. Tolya said he had made his peace with being separated from his twin, but Nikolai could see the melancholy on his face. Despite his intimidating size, Tolya was the shyer of the twins, the killer who should have been a scholar, if fate had ordered their lives differently.

“Where did David go?” he asked as Genya, smiling and rosy-cheeked from dancing, threw herself down in a chair and drank deeply from her wineglass. She seemed to glow in her golden gown, her eyepatch embroidered with rubies.