CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

Shackles bore down on Asterin’s every muscle, each limb driven so far beyond exhaustion that she could scarcely move an inch. So when Priscilla wrapped those nooses of shadow around Luna’s and Quinlan’s necks, she could do nothing but watch.

She had never felt so worthless in her life.

“Aren’t I wonderful?” Priscilla sang. “I’m giving you a choice. Isn’t that what everyone always wishes for nowadays? I hope you have it in you to save one of your friends, Princess Asterin. If you don’t … well, you’ll just have an extra funeral to attend.”

Two arrows appeared, one on each side of Priscilla.

And suddenly, Asterin understood what she meant by a choice.

Priscilla was making her choose between Luna and Quinlan.

The world ground to a jarring halt.

“And I’ll tell you what, dearest Asterin—I’ll even count down from ten,” Priscilla went on with a cheery smile. “Ready?”

Asterin heard a crash behind her, but she couldn’t bring herself to look.

“Ten … Nine …”

Asterin’s eyes widened. She attempted to conjure two shields of energy, but they both glowed so weakly that she could barely see them.

“Eight …”

Asterin gritted her teeth, her heart hammering in her throat, and summoned every last drop of energy in her body to squeeze into her shields. Immortals help her—Harry—but no, he was still unconscious.

“Seven …”

The shields solidified, but still … still they couldn’t have been thicker than a pane of glass. Neither could deflect Priscilla’s arrows alone, which of course Priscilla knew. The only way would be to combine the power of the two shields into one … to choose. But … who would she choose? How could she choose?

Or better yet, I will break you.

Asterin cursed quietly, begging herself to try harder.

“Six—oh, this is taking forever.” Priscilla giggled, the sound like the scrape of knives. “Three …”

The oxygen in Asterin’s lungs vanished in one whoosh.

“Two …”

Her body quaked. Oh, gods, oh Immortals, the shields wouldn’t be strong enough.

Luna or Quinlan?

“One.”

The arrows flew.