Sister Evelyn, not knowing I had flung away High Priestess Neha’s purist oath for a deal with Enasis, had accommodated me in her little office with all the cakes and tea. My faith rested in "what you don't know won't kill you." So long as she was safe.

As for the puritans and their leader, all I could do was evade them.

♤♤♤

"I heard Xanthe asked for your audience at his estate some days ago?"

Madame Brooke's scowl is permanent.

I shrug nonchalantly.
"Can you tell me what you two discussed? I mean, since you didn’t care to bring it up."

"Well, he questioned whether or not it was an ambush..."

It takes her a moment to realize I’m posing a question.

"You and your team ambushed a level two assignment. You weren't supposed to be there."

"In that case, I simply didn’t answer him."

"You and him..." She begins flipping through papers on her desk, making my heart race. "How often do you talk?"

Like a montage, images of our intimate moments flash through my mind.

"Frankie..."

I shake my head. "Barely."

"Whatever you do, don’t be misguided. The underworld is not an ally."

"So why are they part of the board?"

"Just because we need them right now doesn’t mean we can trust them. King Giovanni is as power-hungry as he is vain. And Prince Xanthe—though patient and kind-hearted to a fault—he can be very unforgiving when double-crossed."

Pause.

"How do you mean ‘unforgiving’?"

"I won’t get into detail now, but I’ll say this: they’re complex as beings and even more complex as mermen. Jasmine was a top soldier of mine. Even she was corrupted."

"Corrupted..."

She sets the papers down and sighs.

"King Giovanni had his eye on her for a long time. When she finally folded to his charms, he unraveled her in ways I couldn’t have imagined. Not even the repression the Octavians placed on her could save her."

She looks directly at me.

"She was just like you—beautiful, innocent, like a daughter to me. But he took all that away. Left her bitter, trifling, addicted to her desires. All over a stupid book about Panacheans and rejuvenation."

After staring into empty space, she looks back at me.

"Anyway. Have you heard anything from Enasis?" she asks, recollecting her papers.

---

When the Underworld arrives during the last clan meeting, I ignore their entrance by turning to Tetris for the schedule.

"Frankie, I need you inside," Madame Brooke calls with urgency.

I just missed Xanthe.

Standing near her, I avoid his gaze.

Though he sits comfortably—formal, flanked by his right-hand men—his head is cupped in two fingers, elbow leaning casually. His worried stance. I feel his eyes boring through me.

After the meeting, he appears before Jade and me and bows.

"If I could have a word with the head Panachean."

"Of course, Prince Morais," Jade says, bowing and departing.

"We can't be seen together."

"And don’t you think that makes it more suspicious?"

As I begin to calm down, I finally meet his eyes. Whatever agony I was feeling vanishes at the sight of him in his Prussian-blue attire. Calm, steady. He can’t possibly be the monster Brooke described.

"When you don’t make it to our rendezvous... it worries me."

When I don’t respond, he adds softly, "I know I tend to appear placid, but it’s not my intention. In actuality, I’ll be losing it quite Frankie-ly—pun intended." He half-laughs.

I avert my gaze. His expression tightens.

"What’s wrong?"

"Xanthe, where did you get that Panachean book?"

"I don’t think you want to know."

"I do. That’s why I’m asking."

"Gio gave it to me." He sighs.
"Did he tell you why?"

"Franchesca..."

"Answer me."

I glance toward Brooke, busy in the crowd, eyes just slightly off me.

"It was the day he found out about my feelings for you. When your colleague stole the white stone and he let you both go on my behalf. He gave it to me as a gift."

"Well, it's the same book he used to manipulate a Panachean named Jasmine. According to Madame Brooke, you may be trying to do the same thing to me."

His face shifts with that same disappointment I saw when I wrongly accused him of setting up Amelia.

"Though I understand your concerns," he says, "it’s not in me to engage in such vile tactics. If I’m to share anything with you, I’d rather it be real—coming from your heart. Nothing under the sun would please me more... I would think you know that by now. Know me by now."
Pause.
"I worry it’s me you don’t trust, never mind the book."

"Xanthe..."

"What? Do you—"

"I... I don’t know what to believe right now..."

"You say that, but you’ve betrayed me more than once. To save your people, to hide your feelings. I even let you. I don’t care. I lo—"

He catches himself.

"Damn it, Franchesca. You've been making love to me every day for the past number of days, and yet you stand here still wishy-washy."

"Maybe we don’t need to speak of this now."

"Maybe we don’t..." His voice fades.

For the first time, fighting with him hurts.

"Maybe you need time to figure things out, Miss Oliveira. I’ll speak to my brother."

"Sir, are you ready?" his second interrupts.

He nods.

Watching him leave splinters me. My gaze lands on Brooke. This time, she’s watching.

As soon as I escape the corridors and her scrutiny, I lock myself in my room. For the first time in a long time, I can breathe. But the breathing turns to heaves. I start to cry.

I hadn’t cried in ages. Even in my old world, crying wasn’t an option.

What is wrong with me?

I stagger to the mirror. I barely recognize myself.

Once, I was sure of everything. Now? I don’t know who I am. My place in this organization. What I’m even fighting for.

To conclude: none of this is worth it.

♤♤♤

There’s a sigh of relief when he sees me enter his drawing room.

As water steams over us in the shower, Xanthe wraps his arms around me.

From his breath in my hair to the soft awe on his face as he watches every expression I make, mesmerized as he makes love to me, he holds me against the wall, kisses me fervently, pushes one final time...

And I explode into stars.

***

"Frankie! Psst! Frankie!"

I jolt awake. Kareem hovers over me. "I told you to take the repression meds." He whispers.

I’m wrapped in Xanthe’s arms. Sleep had found me fast, but unease had lingered beneath the warmth.

He is the last person I expect to see right now.

"You need to wake up. It’s time. Enasis awaits," he whispers then freezes.

A purple shield flashes up around me. Kareem goes flying, slammed into the wall.

I can’t move. The shield paralyzes me.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Xanthe’s voice darkens, sword drawn.

Kareem stammers.

"Speak, or by the seas I’ll end your existence."

Enasis appears in a whirlwind. Taking advantage of Xanthe’s distraction, he dispels the shield and pulls me into his grasp...

And we vanish.

***

I land in Enasis’s make-believe world.

"From one savage to one purist, have we forgotten we made a deal?"

He tosses me my attire. I’m in nothing but Xanthe’s shirt. I dress quickly.

"You tricked me."

"Here. I fixed it." He throws me the demize clock.

"How?" I ask, shocked.

He laughs. "Just pulling your leg. He, the prince, did it himself while you slept. A kind gesture, I suppose. Too bad your love is doomed."

"It’s not—"

"It is. At least for now. Yours and Amelia’s fates are intertwined. One of you cannot live without the other. No matter your hatred. You were destined to rescue her... or die together. Now tell me, how does that work for your love life?"

He limps toward his rock. Falls before reaching it.

I rush to his side.

"Enasis..."

This time, the green field is grey. The flowers have withered.

The part he didn’t tell me is clear now. If I don’t return, he won’t survive.

"Why didn’t you tell me?"

"That your archenemy, who I once conspired with to tamper with your clock, outsmarted me? That I’m dying? That Brooke won’t help me anymore because I no longer serve her purpose?"

A cold wind blows.

"...I still would have helped you."

"Spoken like a true purist. Do you have the urge to help me?"

"Maybe no... but I don’t want to know what the world is like without you in it."

He is Pyrenees’s constant. He saved my life when I closed the portal. At his best, Enasis is like a father to me.

"So you’ll go then. Even if I let you keep your oath?"

Pause.

"Even if I tell you the clock only gives you 24 hours in purgatory? You may never see your prince again?"

I breathe in deeply.

"Yes."

He studies me for a long time. Sympathetic.

"Are you ready?"

I nod.

He lights the clock.

And I feel my body and mind disintegrate.