Chapter 12

Mariah wakes in Hazel and Lu’s guest room after entering Alice’s suspended death-state. Alice is still in the next bed, pale and breathing shakily, and a wisp of silver-blue aether rises from Alice’s mouth. Mariah realizes her attempt did not restore Alice and hears Lu and Valec arguing beyond the closed door.

Mariah listens as Lu angrily refuses Valec’s request. Valec wants Lu to accompany him somewhere, insisting it would only be for a few hours after he confirms arrangements, but Lu says the idea is too dangerous and will not be persuaded. Hazel also declines to intervene, telling Valec that the matter is between Valec and Lu.

Valec checks on Mariah, who feels weak but alert after Hazel’s tea. Mariah tells Valec that Alice is still alive inside the liminal state, repeatedly reliving the moment of her injury as if trying to discover whether she could have changed the outcome. Mariah concludes that Alice has slowed death but is running out of time, and Valec agrees that Alice’s cleverness may be keeping death at bay.

Mariah presses Valec about his argument with Lu. Valec explains that he has a dangerous lead connected to Bree: a visit to a place where powerful demons called Nightshades, or Goruchel of the Shadow Court, receive supplicants. Valec admits the Shadow Court is real and that many Nightshades escaped long ago, now ruling smaller courts of their own. To enter and survive without appearing threatening, Valec needs Lu’s political protection as the Grand Dame.

Because Lu has refused, Mariah begins thinking about the women around her who act before they are fully ready: Alice holding off death, Hazel tirelessly working to heal Alice, and Bree risking everything for friends. Mariah realizes that if the Nightshades do not know what Lu looks like, Mariah could use Lu’s onyx talisman and pose as the Grand Dame. Valec rejects the idea, but Mariah insists that if Bree would walk into danger to save her friends, then Mariah can do the same.