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I looked at him, incredulous. “For how long? How long until … the end?”

He shrugged. “Days. Hours. No one can say.” He gestured to Catherine. “Despite what she might think. She doesn’t really know.”

I thought of Persis disappearing into nothingness before he’d even had the chance to really live. “No. We can’t do that.”

Lysander’s eyes were peaceful. “I know. But I love you. And I want you to know you have a choice. I will follow you, wherever you go, whatever you decide.”

My breath caught. I looked at Kage. At the way his jaw was clenched so very hard. At the way he was holding himself so still. I slipped my hand into his. “Tell me the rest. What do we have to do?”

Catherine suddenly erupted. “No, no, no,” she shrieked. “There is no other way. Don’t you fucking dare. You don’t understand.”

Kage swore and let go of my hand. He moved to her, catching her wrists with one hand as he yanked a cord from one pocket with the other. He bound her as she kicked and writhed and spat. She kept screaming. Warnings and curses. Half truths and half madness. Kage ripped a strip from Catherine’s own bloodied skirt hem and jammed it between her teeth, then tied it behind her head as she bucked and thrashed. Then he rose, breathing hard, and came back over to us. “Keep talking,” he said to Lysander.

My other consort nodded. “The Veil was maintained. Fortified over generations by willing sacrifices.” He met my eyes. “Blake’s mother was one.”

My mouth went dry. “She’s … in there?”

“She isn’t alive,” he said, gently, as if to reassure me. “She gave herself to the Veil. Feeding it with her life. It’s not as terrible as it sounds.”

But it sounded pretty fucking terrible to me. At the very least it sounded like death. I glanced at Kage. His face was white. “Is there a way for us to stop this?” I asked. “To save Persis? To save everyone?”

“You’ve never read the full prophecy,” Lysander said. He recited, “As the Veil grows thin, she shall approach: the woman who has crossed over and stood against the darkness. Thrice defiant and thrice bound by blood, she walks where others cannot tread. In her hands shall lie the fate of many realms, for the Veil shall be sustained by her dying or undone by her living. The world may not endure nor the tyrant be defeated should she refuse the call. You will know her, for the dragon has marked her and called her his own. The marked maiden shall offer the blood of the four.”

I touched a hand to my throat. “Marked.”

Lysander’s fingers trailed over mine. “Marked. And pure of heart.”

“She stood against the darkness.” Kage’s voice was tired. “She killed Viktor.”

Every decision I’d made. Everything that had been done to me. Had all of those things really brought me here, to this place, to this choice?

“It’s not about the words fitting perfectly,” Lysander said softly. “But …” His voice trailed off.

“The four,” I said.

He nodded. “Drakharrow. Avari. Orphos.” He glanced at Catherine, bound and gagged a little ways off. “And Mortis. The four most powerful bloodlines in our world.”

“I’m not a true Drakharrow,” I said, my voice small.

“The Pansera line can be traced back to Drakharrow. And you were Viktor’s consort.” Lysander hesitated. “It should be … enough.”

My heartbeat was loud in my ears. I looked at Kage first. Then back at Lysander. The world had narrowed so sharply, to the space between just us three. A sound wrenched from my throat. Half laugh, half sob. Kage’s face was full of sorrow. It hurt me to look at it.

“I’m sorry,” Lysander whispered.

I touched his cheek. “You’ve been carrying this burden all alone. I’m sorry, too.” I wiped at my eyes with the back of my hand and realized I was shaking.

Kage moved closer to me, wrapping his arms around my body. Then he reached for Lysander, drawing the other man in.

“We do it together,” he said firmly.

Lysander made a wounded sound. He leaned his head against ours. “Together.”

Hot tears spilled down my face. I thought back to the life I’d led. One of privilege. One of pain. I was supposed to marry well, have children, and throw parties. Instead, I’d been thrown away by one man, then captured in cruelty by another. I’d been mistreated and abused. And then I’d been saved and shown pure grace. I’d tasted power, and I’d tasted cruelty. I’d learned they weren’t for me.

I’d tried to change. I’d hoped it would be enough.

I looked at my consorts. “I never expected this. I never dreamed there could be this kind of love.” My throat tightened. “Both of you are … good men.”