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“Aercanum,” I supplied. “It’s called Aercanum.” Unless there was another fae realm we didn’t know about. At that point, I wouldn’t have been surprised by anything.

“May I continue?”

I waved.

“Thank you. She broke Sangratha off from the rest of the main realm using powerful blood magic created from sacrificing her own triad and their children.”

I stared. “Ruthless bitch.”

“Indeed.”

I frowned. “So the Bloodmaiden created the Veil?”

Rodriguez hemmed and hawed. “That’s the implication, though none of the texts are particularly clear.”

“And where do I fit into all this?”

“Yes, that.” He picked up one of the scrolls on top of the pile. “Well, that leads us to the Prophecy of the Pure Maiden.”

My jaw dropped. “Is that seriously what they called it?”

He looked awkward. “Well, pure most likely refers to someone who is pure of heart.”

“Thank the gods for that,” I snapped. “Because if they’d meant something else by it, that ship has sailed.”

He squirmed. “Understood.”

I leaned back. “Go on with your stupid purity prophecy.”

“Prophecy of the Pure Maiden,” he corrected. “Look, I’ll just read it aloud, shall I?” He carefully unfurled the scroll. “Now, this is just one version. But they all say basically the same thing, with minor textual differences. We have to account for changes in dialect over time and scribal error. Why, scribal errors alone account for …”

He started to drone on in that scholarly way that was all too familiar to me after being in his class, and my eyes started to glaze over. “Rodriguez,” I snapped. He paused, wearing a faintly guilty expression. “Get on with it,” I said from between gritted teeth.

“Right. I forgot you are not as fascinated by scholarly endeavors as your friend, Miss Shen.”

“No, I am certainly not.” No point in denying it.

He looked down at the scroll, cleared his throat, and began to read. “As the Veil grows thin, she shall approach: the woman who has crossed over and stood against the darkness.”

I shifted in my chair. Fuck. That part did sound a little bit like me.

Rodriguez looked at me with an expression that could only be described as smug. “Thrice defiant and thrice bound by blood, she walks where others cannot tread. In her hands lies 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.”

I clenched my jaw. Rodriguez watched me. “Is that it?” I demanded.

He nodded.

“And you think it refers to me?”

“Well, the part about a woman who has crossed over.”

I scoffed. “Crossed over what, though—a bridge? That could mean anything.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Didn’t you say you had fought a rather monumental battle against evil back in your own world?”

I scowled. “It was big enough. But stood against darkness? That’s pretty vague. You could say the average person stands against darkness every time they light a lamp.”

Rodriguez frowned. “Miss Pendragon, this prophecy was considered important enough that the Emberwatch guarded it with their lives, kept it a secret for generations, and recopied it faithfully. I sincerely doubt they were referring to lamps.” He carefully rolled the scroll back up. “Now, the part about being thrice defiant is less clear.”