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Then Lenore turns to Kieran, and the look she gives him is more deliberate than any since we arrived.

“When the war comes,” she says, her voice quiet in a way that makes my stomach tighten, “I hope you’ll stand with those who have been oppressed. History is written by those who win, but it’s survived by those who choose the right side before anyone knew which side that was.”

Kieran’s thermal signature doesn’t move.

“I’ll stand where the fight is just.” His fingers find the hilt of the sword on his back in an idle gesture I’ve never seen him make casually.

Lenore nods once and waves us toward the door.

I exit with the sealed letter in one hand, the invocation in my pocket, and an unsettled feeling in my stomach. Because the Aldridges have known the Thornes for generations. This is the same woman who gave Oliver and me pastries when we visited as children, and who reached for my mother’s hands at academic conferences.

But the phrasing—those who have been oppressed—is sitting wrong.

Because it’s the kind of language used by people who have already chosen a side—not from those who are weighing their options.

23

JADE

Ruby and I are sitting on her porch in the nighttime cold, wrapped in blankets as we drink hot chocolate. Connor and Logan are inside the cabin reviewing something or other. Probably a plan about Venezuela, since Logan and I are heading out soon.

I wrap both hands around the mug, and my electricity hums quietly against the ceramic.

“Tell me more about Amber and Sapphire,” I say, because I’ve been wanting to ask since the first night, and because discussing the other champions is safer than thinking about the Revenant inside her house talking to her fated mate. “What are they like?”

Ruby pulls her knees up onto the porch swing and tucks the blanket around her legs. “Amber’s a force of nature.” She laughs and shakes her head. “She’s from this tiny town in Vermont, and she moved to New York and ended up marrying the vampire king of Manhattan. And she’s impulsive. Genuinely, legendarily impulsive. She’s also the bravest person I’ve ever met. She fought a Minotaur in a labyrinth under Manhattan and won. She can shoot sun flares from her hands, and her Solar Scepter is gorgeous. It folds up like a telescope so she can carry it hidden.”

“That’s practical.”

“Right? And it responds to her intention. The calmer and more focused she is, the stronger it gets. When she’s scared or agitated, it weakens.” Ruby’s mouth curves. “Which is hilarious, because Amber’s default state is doing reckless things and figuring out the consequences later.”

My hot chocolate’s warming a path down to my stomach, the porch swing is rocking gently, and the guilt is getting worse with every second. Because Amber fought a Minotaur, married a vampire king, and is ready to fight the Blood Coven with the certainty of a champion who knows what side she’s on.

Meanwhile, I’m hiding a Revenant in a supernatural sanctuary, and my brain won’t stop reminding me that the celestial sword I’m preparing to claim was forged to kill the man I love.

“And Sapphire?” I ask, because if I don’t keep the conversation moving, the guilt is going to eat me alive and ruin the first real friendship I’ve had since Evie.

Don’t think about Evie, either.

Ruby lights up even more. “Sapphire’s a fae-vampire hybrid. Her mom is the fae Summer Queen and her dad is Damien, Amber’s husband. Which makes Amber her stepmother. They’re the same age, so the family dynamics are...” Ruby waves her hand. “Complicated. But in a good way. They’re figuring it out.”

“Wait.” I lower my mug. “Sapphire’s father is Amber’s husband?”

“The vampire king.” Ruby nods. “Sapphire was placed as a changeling in the mortal realm and grew up in Maine thinking she was human. Then a fae prince showed up, she was star touched by Celeste, and she found her prince again—Riven—in the fae realm. She was sentenced to death by Riven’s father, the Winter King. From there she survived deadly trials, married Riven, and earned a celestial throwing weapon called the Star Disc that trails stardust and returns to her hand after she throws it.”

I stare at her, trying to take it all in. “That’s... a lot.”

“We’ve all had a lot.” Ruby’s eyes are warm and steady on mine. “That’s the point. None of us asked for this. Amber was a small-town girl on a gap year. Sapphire was pouring drinks in Maine. I was a college student on a ski trip. All four of us ended up chosen by goddesses who decided we’re the ones who should lead the war against the Blood Coven.”

All four of us.

She includes me so easily. As if I belong in the same sentence as her, Amber, and Sapphire.

I take a long sip of hot chocolate and let it burn down my throat, because the warmth is the only thing keeping the guilt from freezing me solid.

The gods think the four of us are going to stand together against Ambrogio and the Blood Coven, because that’s what star touched champions do. Except my enemy shares my bed, and if it comes down to a choice between the other champions and Logan, I know which one I’ll make.

“You’re going to love them.” Ruby bumps her shoulder against mine, and the turquoise of her eyes is so trusting it makes my heart hurt. “When the four of us are together, it’s going to feel right. You’ll see.”