Valencia produced a crystalline sheet from her robes. She laid it across the desk’s surface, and the crystal flared red in twenty-three distinct locations across a topographical map of Igneus.

  My mother leaned over the desk, her hair falling forward past her shoulders. Her eyes tracked from point to point, her pupils contracting as she studied each marked location.

  “Seven in the eastern district.” Her finger traced a line connecting three dots. “Four along the northern trade routes. Five scattered through residential zones.” She straightened, her spine pulling taut. “And these two—” her fingertip pressed against two marks in the map’s western quadrant “—are directly targeting Houses Balaam and Forneus.”

  The pattern was obvious now that she’d laid it out. This wasn’t random contamination. Someone had selected their targets.

  “The quarantine protocols from five hundred years ago won’t work.” My mother’s arms crossed beneath her chest. “After we sealed Pestilentia, most specialists in Rot containment shifted focus to other disciplines. The infrastructure simply isn’t there anymore.”

  Valencia’s shoulders dropped half an inch.

  “We’ll need assistance from other circles.” My mother’s jaw tightened, muscle standing out beneath her skin. “Ventus has specialists who adapted their techniques for floating territory decontamination. Sanguinum’s ichor can be harvested and refined into anti-spore agents.”

  Her fingers drummed three beats against her upper arm.

  “The heat here buys us time at least. Rot spreads slower in Igneus than anywhere else in Hell. But we can’t contain twenty-three outbreaks simultaneously with current resources.”

  I wanted to ask questions. Who coordinated this? How did they smuggle that much contaminated material past border inspections? What was the endgame?

  But my mother’s expression had shifted. The calculating strategist who’d been dissecting the crisis faded, replaced by something colder.

  “Headmistress Valencia.” My mother’s hand dropped to her side. “Clear the Academy. Send all students home for the week. Faculty as well.”

  “Of course, Your Majesty.” Valencia’s head dipped forward again.

  “As for you four—” my mother turned, her crimson eyes sweeping across us “—it’s time you returned to your dormitories.”

  I opened my mouth to respond, but my mother lifted her palm. She snapped her fingers.

  The office dissolved. My stomach lurched sideways as reality twisted, the sensation of falling without moving hitting me for three seconds before—

  My feet struck carpet. The familiar scent of our dormitory filled my nose—soap and sulphur and the faint sweetness of whatever oil Aria had been using lately.

  I blinked. Aria stood to my left, Isabella to my right. Valentina had appeared near the door, her arms crossed and her mouth pressed into a thin line.

  Something crinkled in my hands. I looked down.

  A letter. Simple cream-coloured paper, sealed with my mother’s mark in red wax.

  My thumb slid under the seal. The wax cracked and fell away in two pieces. I unfolded the page.

  Lily,

  This time, let me handle it. Don’t be too adventurous—this is serious.

  The Academy will be closed for a week. I suggest you take your friends somewhere pleasant. Relax. You’ve earned it.

  Love,

  Mother

  I read it twice. The words didn’t change.

  “Well?” Aria leaned over my shoulder, her chin pressing against my collarbone. “What’s it say?”

  I handed her the letter. She scanned it, her eyebrows rising toward her hairline.

  “A vacation.” She passed the letter to Isabella. “Your mother’s giving us permission to go have fun while she deals with a potential apocalyptic plague outbreak.”

  “She’s right though.” Isabella folded the letter and held it out toward me. “We can’t help with this. Rot containment requires specialists we’re not. The best thing we can do is stay out of the way.”

  I took the letter back. My fingers smoothed the crease down the middle.

  My mother was telling me to back off. To trust her to handle the crisis while I went somewhere safe and relaxed.

  Part of me wanted to argue. Wanted to insist I could help somehow, that there had to be something useful I could contribute.

  But Isabella was right. This wasn’t a problem I could solve with engineering knowledge or True Magic. This was logistics and specialized expertise and political coordination across multiple circles of Hell.

  “So.” Aria bounced on her heels twice. “Where are we going?”

  * * *

  Valentina’s eyes darted between the three of us. Her hands opened and closed at her sides, fingers curling into her palms before releasing again.

  “What—” She stopped. Her jaw moved as though chewing on words that wouldn’t come out. “What is happening here?”

  Her voice cracked on the last syllable. She blinked three times in rapid succession.

  I’d just watched my mother nearly crush her into paste. Then I’d intervened. Saved her. And now Valentina stood in our dormitory, her usual composure shattered.

  “Val—” I started.

  “Hmph.” She straightened her spine, her chin lifting. “You three have been lucky today. That’s all.”

  Her arms crossed over her chest. She pivoted toward the door, her heels striking the floor in sharp reports.

  “Remember that I could have reported you for sneaking around during lockdown.” Her shoulders pulled back. “Consider this a debt.”

  She yanked the door open. It swung wide, bouncing off the wall. Valentina strode into the hallway without looking back, her tail swishing behind her in agitated jerks.

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  The door slammed. The sound echoed through the room.

  Aria snorted. “Classic Valentina. Someone saves her life and she acts like we’re the ones who owe her.”

  Isabella shook her head. “At least she’s consistent.”

  I stared at the closed door. That hadn’t felt like her usual haughty performance. Something about the way her hands had trembled, the crack in her voice—

  But maybe I was reading too much into it.

  “Anyway.” Aria bounced twice on the balls of her feet. “My question stands. Where are we going?”

  The question I’d been avoiding pushed its way up my throat. “Aren’t you afraid what my mother might do to Sombra?”

  Aria’s expression didn’t change. She cocked her head to one side, purple eyes meeting mine.

  “Lily.” She drew out my name into two long syllables. “You should know by now that I don’t give a rat’s ass about Sombra’s fate.”

  Her shoulders lifted and fell. The movement was loose, unbothered.

  “Whatever your mother does to her, Sombra probably has it coming.” Aria’s lips curved upward. “And honestly? If the Queen of Hell wants to have a serious conversation with my dear mother, I’m more than happy to let them chat.”

  I’d expected that answer. Still, hearing her say it so casually made something in my chest tighten.

  “True,” I said.

  The tension in Aria’s jaw suggested it wasn’t quite that simple. But she’d made her choice about Sombra long before today.

  “I’m curious what will happen though,” I added.

  “We’ll find out eventually.” Isabella moved toward the window, her hand resting on the frame. “But that’s not our concern right now.”

  She turned back to face us. Her fingers drummed twice against the wood.

  “I propose we make use of that holiday week.” Isabella’s other hand gestured vaguely outward. “We could go explore the mortal realms. Have some fun outside Hell for a few days. We could bring Faith along.”

  The idea settled into my mind like a puzzle piece clicking into place. Faith was still adjusting to her new existence. Taking her somewhere familiar, showing her that she could still enjoy the mortal world even as a demon—

  And honestly? After everything we’d dealt with over the past few weeks, leaving Hell entirely sounded perfect.

  “That’s a good idea.” I felt my lips curve upward. “We haven’t properly taken Faith anywhere yet. Just that one trip to the Den of Debauchery.”

  Aria’s grin widened, showing teeth. “Oh, I have so many places I want to show her. There was this club in New London that—”

  “We’re not corrupting her all at once,” I interrupted.

  “Where’s the fun in that?” Aria’s tail swished behind her.

  Isabella’s eyebrow lifted. “Shall we pack, then?”

  * * *

  The transport gate flared. Purple energy crackled around the edges of the obsidian circle before fading. My heels clicked against the polished stone of the palace’s entrance hall.

  Anastasia materialized from a side corridor. Her yellow eyes brightened, the black sclera making them seem to glow.

  “Princess!” Her wings fluttered twice behind her. “I wasn’t expecting you today.”

  “Unexpected visit.” I gestured to Isabella and Aria beside me. “The Academy closed for the week.”

  Anastasia’s head tilted. A strand of jet-black hair fell across her crimson forehead. “Is everything alright?”

  “Could be better.” I started toward the east wing. “Where’s Faith?”

  “Miss Clarke should be in her quarters.” Anastasia fell into step beside us, her shorter legs moving twice as fast. “She finished her lesson with Professor Valdris about an hour ago.”

  The corridor stretched ahead. Paintings of various demonic landscapes lined the walls—scenes from each of the nine circles rendered in obsidian frames.

  “How has the Academy been treating you, Princess?” Anastasia’s tail swished behind her in that particular rhythm she adopted when making conversation. “Are your studies progressing well?”

  “They were.” I watched the imp’s face from the corner of my eye. “Until someone smuggled contaminated materials from Pestilentia into Igneus.”

  Anastasia’s steps faltered. Her foot caught on the carpet edge. She recovered, but her wings pressed flat against her back.

  “The Rot?” Her voice dropped half an octave. “How bad?”

  “Twenty-three simultaneous outbreaks.” Isabella spoke from my other side. “Coordinated attacks across the First Circle.”

  “Mother’s handling it.” I turned left at an intersection. “But the Academy needed to evacuate everyone until containment’s complete.”

  Anastasia’s fingers twisted together at her waist. “Your mother mentioned increased activity in the lower circles recently. I hadn’t realized it extended to biological warfare.”

  We passed through another corridor. The walls transitioned from paintings to floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the inner gardens. Burning trees cast orange light across the marble floor.

  Faith’s quarters appeared ahead on the right. The door was closed, but warm light showed through the gap beneath.

  I raised my hand and knocked twice. The sound echoed down the empty hallway.

  “Come in,” Faith’s voice called from inside.

  I pushed the door open. The hinges moved without sound.

  Faith lay stretched across her bed, propped up on one elbow with a leather-bound tome spread open before her. Her white hair spilled across the dark pillows. The horns protruding from her forehead had grown another inch since I’d last seen her—they curved upward now, beginning to take on a more defined shape.

  A glass sat on the desk beside her bed. Red liquid filled it halfway. The scent reached my nose—not pure blood, but diluted with something else. Wine, maybe, or some alchemical mixture the palace staff had prepared for her.

  Faith’s demonic eyes widened. She pushed herself upright, her tail curling around her hip.

  “Lily?” She set the book aside, the pages settling with a soft rustle. “I wasn’t expecting you until the weekend.”

  “Plans changed.” I stepped into the room. Aria and Isabella followed, with Anastasia hovering in the doorway. “Someone decided to start a plague outbreak in Igneus.”

  Faith’s eyebrows drew together. “What?”

  “The Academy closed for a week.” I moved to the chair near her desk and dropped into it. The cushion compressed under my weight. “We’ve got unexpected free time.”

  Aria bounced twice on her toes. “So we’re taking a vacation. To the mortal realms.”

  “And you’re coming with us,” Isabella added.

  Faith looked between the three of us. Her fingers curled into the bedsheet, gathering the fabric into small bunches.

  “Me?” She blinked twice. “Where?”

  “Wherever we want.” I leaned back in the chair. The wood creaked. “You’ve been stuck in the palace for two weeks straight. Time to see what else is out there.”

  * * *

  Faith set the book on her desk. The leather cover thumped against the wooden surface. She stood, her tail uncoiling from around her hip.

  “When do we leave?”

  “Soon as everyone’s ready.” I turned to Isabella. “Do you have everything you need?”

  Isabella tapped the silver band on her left hand. The spatial ring glinted under the crystal light fixtures. “Packed this morning. I always keep essentials stored.”

  “Of course you do.” I looked at Aria. “What about you? Need anything?”

  Aria’s eyes widened. Her mouth opened slightly. “Really?”

  I nodded once.

  Aria squealed. The sound echoed off the stone walls. She bolted past me toward the door, her black hair streaming behind her.

  “Where are you going?” Faith called after her.

  “Lily’s wardrobe!” Aria’s voice faded down the corridor. “I’m finally getting access to the legendary collection!”

  Isabella raised one eyebrow. “Legendary?”

  “Mother filled an entire dressing room before I woke up.” I stood from the chair. “I haven’t touched most of it.”

  “Most?” Faith picked up the glass from her desk and drained the remaining red liquid in two swallows.

  “There were… a lot of things that felt awkward at first.” I moved toward the door. “Then the Academy kept me busy enough I never really looked through it all.”

  Faith wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “And now Aria gets free reign?”

  “She’s been secretly eyeing it since she first saw my room months ago.” I stepped into the corridor. “Might as well let her have some fun.”

  Isabella followed me out. Her heels clicked against the marble in that measured rhythm she always maintained. “This should be entertaining.”

  We walked through the palace corridors. The burning trees in the gardens cast shifting orange patterns across the floor through the windows. Servants moved past us, bowing their heads before continuing about their tasks.

  A distant crash echoed from somewhere ahead. Then Aria’s muffled voice: “Holy fuck!”

  Faith caught up beside me. “Should I be concerned?”

  “Probably.” I turned the corner toward my chambers. “But it’s Aria. She’ll be fine.”

  Another crash. Something heavy hitting the floor.

  “Are you sure?” Faith’s tail curled against her leg.

  “No.” I pushed open the door to my quarters.

  Aria stood in the centre of my dressing room, surrounded by scattered garments. Red silk draped over her shoulders. Black leather hung from one hand. She held up a corset covered in silver chains, examining it against the crystal light.

  “Lily.” Aria’s voice came out breathless. “You have been holding out on us.”