Corinne had come to the pool as she was instructed, and she was waiting, ready to be patient. Ready to play whatever game Snow had in mind.

Then Yeijiro had called.

And gotten cut off.

“Yeijiro? Yeijiro?” Corinne queried the nima in her bracelet, but they responded that everything was fine. Nothing physically wrong. They’d just lost the signal.

Snow still wasn’t here. Corinne could wait for her. Explain.

Or she could head back to her room, where Yeijiro would be coming to find her.

With a sigh, Corinne stood up, making the responsible choice. She trusted Yeijiro enough that if he said it was important, it was important. Lady Snow would understand when Corinne had a chance to explain.

It was past full dark now, the lights of the estate turning the grounds into an enchanted garden. Corinne crossed those grounds—again. Snow had sent her to a spot so secluded, it felt almost in another world. Even without the trees surrounding the exquisitely landscaped little lagoon, she was far enough from the house it was nothing but soft glow behind the rise of ground in between.

Entire legions could come and go while you were out in that corner and you’d never notice. It was a perfect spot for privacy. Corinne hoped they’d have another chance to go there.

As she came around the mansion, she spotted a lone figure moving through the shadows, just outside the lights of the drive. Yeijiro. Corinne waved, realized she was mostly in the dark herself, and jogged over to meet him.

He looked her up and down. “Where’s your shield?”

Not the question she’d expected. “In my room.”

“I think we’re going to need it.”

Corinne set her feet. “What’s going on?”

“I can explain as we go, but we need to go.”

Corinne scanned the mansion face, identified the window that belonged to her room. She waved a hand, commanding the nima to open the window, and bring the shield to her. It flew to her hand. “Let’s go then.”

Yeijiro led them across the grounds in the opposite direction from where Corinne had been sent to wait for Lady Snow. “Where are we going?”

“The Emperor’s Estate.”

“We’re going to break in to the Emperor’s Estate?”

“Yes, because I think someone is planning to open a rift there and bring another demon through.”

Corinne suddenly wished she’d come armed. “What makes you think that?”

They moved into a more wooded area—what Corinne assumed was a border between estates. Yeijiro dropped his voice to barely above a whisper as they crept between the trees.

“The attack at the end of Shadow Court. That was an attempt against the Emperor, orchestrated by her brother, Kosuri Vivek.”

He gave Corinne some time to work that through, which she needed. “That attack caught us by surprise—or almost did,” she gave him a nod, “but it was still—the Emperor is the Emperor. You’d need more than…”

“More, like a demon?”

Corinne shook her head. He was close, but still didn’t understand magic. “A demon alone is scary to you or me, but the Emperor—she has the investiture. She is the nima. My squad and I, it took everything we have to kill that thing, but she’d be able to do it with a thought.

“Unless,” she continued, “the nima turn against her.”

“The magic you found, the tainted nima.”

“Exactly, it—”

They came out of the trees, and Corinne understood exactly why Yeijiro had insisted they come here.

Corinne didn’t know what security was supposed to be in place around the Emperor’s estate, but right now there was nothing. No guards, no electronic surveillance she could spot—nothing. The air was full of angry nima, swirling and prickling and trying to get around the shield she reflexively lifted. Yeijiro looked at her, confused. “What?”

He didn’t feel it. Not an akashic.

Everything was quiet. And very, very dark. “This is bad.”

“I thought it might be.”

“Come on.” Corinne touched the nima in her shield, felt their eager response, and moved forward.

Just ahead, the shadows resolved into a two-story building. A side residence, or lodge of some sort. But it seemed to be at the center of the zone of tainted nima. There were still no guards anywhere.

“This is wrong.” Yeijiro’s whisper sounded flat and harsh, mashed by the dead air.

“Stay close.” Corinne crept up to the door and eased it open.

As her eyes adjusted to the deeper darkness inside, Corinne made out the three bodies piled next to a staircase leading up. Three dead legionnaires and a trail of blood where it looked like more injured might have been dragged upstairs.

A scrape and a thump came from above. Corinne looked, and could just barely make out what seemed to be dim light coming from the second floor. She pointed up. Yeijiro slowly and quietly drew his sword.

They crept up. Yeijiro was better than moving quietly. Corinne was painfully aware of every tiny creak, every scuff, every shuffle she made. But they made it to the top without anyone coming to greet them.

A long dark hall stretched before them, with light leaking out from beneath one of the doors.

Corinne waved Yeijiro forward. He moved to one side of the door, sword raised, Corinne stood on the other side, slowly turned the handle, then shoved it open.

To see a horror show inside. Blood everywhere. Splatters and sigils. A circle of it on the ground. In the center…

Ambassador Soon-mi.

Who sighed at the sight of her. “Oh Corinne, what a disappointment.” She waved her hand Corinne felt the air around her solidify as she and Yeijiro were dragged inside and the door slammed shut behind them.