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He tossed the egg carelessly toward the other side of the room, and it shattered.

Pain surged through my chest as I stared at the broken shell on the floor and the dark smear inside. They weren’t just eggs—they were babies, Molindra and Alabryss’s children. And in some sense, my kin.

Marcus must have seen it on my face because he laughed. “You never fail to amaze me with how pathetic you can be, little brother.”

“Don’t,” I said shortly. “Don’t call me that.”

“What?”

“Brother. Not anymore. We are nothing to one another, you and I. Not after what you’ve done.” I shook my head. “Mother gave her life for us. And look what you’ve done with yours. Squandered it away.”

Neville howled sadly. He’d sprung to his feet inside the nest, his tiny body puffed up in outrage to nearly twice its normal size. He let out a furious stream of yaps, all of which seemed to be directed at Marcus. It would have been funny in any other situation.

“There’s my missing helper,” Marcus said, looking down at the fluffin with interest. He took a step forward and Visha moved, as if to block his way. He stopped, staring at the fluffin. “I was supposed to have one of these with me. A female. But when I went to fetch the little bitch, she was gone.” He shrugged. “Viktor got impatient and sent me down alone. He figured I’d either find you down here or Mortis.” He smiled pleasantly at us, as if we were all just there for tea.

“You do realize there are more of us than there are of you, right?” Visha snapped.

He ignored her, which told me he had a plan—or a weapon we didn’t know about.

Marcus grinned at me. “Lucky me. You brought everything I needed. I’ll take the eggs and that fluffin. Viktor is going to be elated.”

“Elated?” I scoffed. “Our uncle?”

“Our uncle and I … and Catherine,” he added as if an after-thought, “are going to rule not only Sangratha but every world. We’ll rule without borders. Highbloods above all.”

There was a soft hissing sound, and Marcus’s whole body jerked. He looked down. A small crossbow bolt jutted out from his chest. Right in the vicinity of his heart.

He made a choking sound, then staggered forward, his hands out as if to brace himself on the nest. Visha stepped up and kicked him in the center of his chest. Marcus went sprawling backward. Behind him, a man had stepped out of the shadowed opposite side of the chamber, beyond the other half ring of pillars. He lowered the small crossbow he was holding.

“I hope no one wanted to hear the rest of that speech,” Nyxaris said coolly.

He glanced at me with something like sympathy in his amber eyes. “I’ll finish this off quickly.” He grabbed Marcus’s body and dragged him back behind the other side of the pillars, out of my line of sight.

I heard a crack, then a wet sound. Then nothing at all.

Nyxaris emerged again, this time followed by another, slighter figure: Florence Shen.

She held something close to her chest. I saw with interest that it was a small, cream-colored fluffin with soft, gold-tipped ears.

“Put me down,” Pendragon breathed from where she still half sat, half lay in my arms. “Put me down, Blake.”

She twisted so fast, I nearly lost my grip. “Careful, now,” I reminded her.

But the second her boots hit the stone, she was scrambling forward. I winced, hoping she wouldn’t fall. But she was all right. My girl was so strong. Florence moved at the same time. The two girls collided and clung to each other. As they embraced, the little fluffin Florence had been holding sprang down from her arms.

“Florence,” Pendragon sobbed.

“Oh, Medra!”

“You’re alive. You’re here. I wanted to come to you—so badly. How did you …”

As they spoke, I stared fascinated as the little fluffin Florence had been holding jumped up onto the side of the nest—clearly with a plan similar to Neville’s. From inside the nest, Neville lifted his head and stared. For a moment, the two little creatures just looked at one another. Then the smaller one, the female, made an excited chittering sound. The next moment, the two were circling one another awkwardly, over and around the eggs.

“Well, will you look at that?” Rodriguez breathed.

The fluffins were sniffing one another with frank curiosity. Neville gave a delighted little yap and pressed his nose to the other fluffin’s.

A hand clapped me on the shoulder, and I turned to see Nyxaris standing beside me. “We’ve been calling her Nell.” I assumed he meant the other fluffin. “It’s good to see you again, Brother.”