"There you are," Silas purrs, stopping in the middle of the street to face us.

Citlali looks between Silas and Renit, noting the resemblance, and adjusts her distance accordingly. Farther than she was before, she helps Renit lift me up back to a standing position. My shoulders bark at me after colliding with the ground; my hips are no better. But the ache doesn't outweigh the absolute fear flooding through my mind.

Everything Silas is emitting...the worst has come.

"Silas?" I ask carefully. The crown prince's attention is a slow drift of his eyes in my direction and when our stares meet, I don't receive the normal smirk and softening of his features. Instead, his stare resembles his father's. "Silas, what are you doing here?" My voice is low, as to not convey dread.

He doesn't answer me. I'm not as important as the witch standing beside me, Renit Marron, his blood brother and the one he was supposed to rule the kingdom with. After being banished by his father, none of that stands. Renit is only a rebel with a nameless past and hopeless future. He won't ever receive the luxuries of the castle again, not if his father has anything to say about it.

"It's been a while, brother," Silas gutters. "I see you've finally chosen your own path." His gloved hands close into fists.

Renit holds no love in his eyes when he stares at his brother. "You've switched alliances."

"Was there ever really a choice?" The lively grey in his eyes is gone, and like he appeared after coming out of the trance Renit's lightning put him in, the crown prince is hollow once more. My heart shatters in my chest.

He's under his father's control.

As if he's reading my mind through a power gifted him from the broad branch of his abilities, Silas meets my stare again. At the beginning, he was the only one that got me through the horrors of this castle. He was kind, respectful, caring—nothing in comparison to the way Renit used to hate me. They've switched roles.

"How you left such a wonderful destiny is beyond me," he says. "This life...this power...I never want to leave it."

I expose a palm to him and from the flare of his nostrils; he takes that as a threat. He's like a startled bull being cornered into a pen. No amount of coaxing will bring him back. "This isn't you." My voice falls to give off a sense of confidence. "Your father is controlling you to be this; the real Silas would not want to come here and kill all these people."

If we capture him, here and now, Celestine can use her power to halt the king's control. The dome over half the village is still protecting her. Rebels are still fighting and taking down every black and red uniform in sight. Silas's fits perfectly, yet it doesn't convey the personality that makes him the next, great leader of this kingdom. The armor gives off the impression his father wants to leave behind. Death. Darkness. Destruction.

"The same can be said for you, can't it?" Silas takes one step towards us, and in turn, we take one step back. He's dangerous. The endless book of his power is short-lived, but one strike and he'll kill us all. If he holds the strength of Elvira or even his father, we don't stand a chance. "You killed so many people, third hand. And here you are, siding with the weak enemy." I visibly twitch at the name the king gave me and the reminder of the tattoo engraved on my skin. The markings hold the truth, as well as common tongue.

"What about Avalie? You'd never hurt her," I attempt. "Avalie does not want you to behave this way."

For a second, Silas considers. He looks to the ground of the street as if seeing her there. Where he stares, he plants his boot in silent order to crush her skull. A shiver snakes up my spine at the realization we're not getting out of this without killing the crown prince of Esaria. This is our last chance...Silas was our last shot. And if we can't have him on the throne, we're doomed. But if we kill him, if we kill his father, too, our chances at living in an ordinary kingdom are better.

The risk is there, but this is all we have. I relay that message to Renit through the Grounding bond and the only answer I receive is his boot scraping on the street as if he's starting to flee from his brother. This is the witch he grew up with, the one he learned with and played with, the one he fought against in training and defended in battle. Renit does not want to kill his brother.

But we're out of options.

"Avalie is part of my past." Silas's words are spread too thin. "I haven't seen her since the day my father changed my life. Honestly, I don't care where she's run off to. If my father is smart, he'll use her powers to his advantage. A witch of decease is very valuable amongst soldiers."

A witch of decease? I could have sworn she was a witch of ice. I think back to when I was under the king's control and I met her. She hadn't wanted to shake my hand...that's why. She can't control it. That makes her even more dangerous underneath the king's command. If he uses her, she'll die if we ever come in contact, for the rebels can't allow someone so treacherous to breathe another second.

"Why did he do this to you?" I question.

"He wanted to strengthen me," Silas responds as if this is the simplest thing in the world. "I had too many faults put forth by my brother's heart. Therefore, the king decided I was best served to stand against the rebels, rather than help them along. The throne will be mine someday, but not until father wills it." He sneers at Renit through lowered brows. A predator assessing prey.

Renit's eyes convey more than one sense of sorrow. It leaks into me from his storm, and I swallow down every bit of it so I'm not lost within the darkness Renit is falling into. "You can't do this, brother." His voice is weak, near helpless. "I've known you my entire life and you've never once wanted to take life. Father is making you do this. If you listen to us now, we'll help you."

Failed amusement shadows Silas's chuckle. "Help me? I don't need help. Trust me, father has helped more than you know." When he lifts his hands to adjust the leather gloves, I spot the faint stain of blood on the cuffs of his sleeves. He has already killed someone since arriving. Likely an innocent rebel lost in the empty streets. It could've been any number of rebels we passed on the way here.

Renit doesn't fail to miss the little note on his hands, either. If we manage to get Silas back, one way or the other, the deaths he committed here will haunt him. After losing himself within the complicated maze of Renit's lightning and finding his way back out, there's a strong chance Silas won't have the courage to do that again.

"What's your goal here?" Renit asks. "Father ordered you to do this?"

"Of course, he did. What do you think, brother? Finally, after so many years after sending you to complete his dirty deeds, father has chosen me. I'm more reliable, anyway." Boredom lances his shrug. "If you really want to know what my goal is, I think you need to look a little closer. Your men are dying, are they not? You waited too long, brother. Besides, we already accomplished what we came for, anyway."

Something within me snaps. The king has done enough. As Silas turns away to head back into the darkness, a wall of my power shoots up in front of him and blocks the crown prince from going any further. My original point still stands, Silas will die here today. We can't allow him to go back to the castle; he's as dangerous as a witch of decease. If he doesn't carry the power already.

Poor Avalie; lost within the castle or in the kingdom with nowhere to go. A lost love, the crown prince that was never hers, to begin with, is all that's left behind of her memories of the castle. Good memories, considering everything else is shrouded in the king's order.

I won't make Renit kill his brother. Citlali won't be the one to do it, either. If Silas were here now, he'd want me to do this for the safety of the kingdom. It's what he cares about most, the future of his land and his people. We'll find a way out of this, with Silas or not. I'm already going through the motions of a new plan for this kingdom when I awaken another fraction of my power to fight.

Shooting up from the deepest depths of the surrounding ground, shards aim directly for Silas's chest. My lover and my twin in power watch in horror as Silas's eyes grow wide with shock. He has another idea in mind.

My skin starts to prickle, my insides heating, and my vision blackens. I stumble back and my entire power falls, including the dome I've secured with Citlali's half around the village. Silas holds his father's power. I scream, scratching at my skin to help the heat escape, but nothing works. He's boiling my blood.

Lightning and ground erupt from Renit's and Citlali's fingertips, aiming for Silas, but in a flash of his own strength from the powers he's multiplied, Silas is gone. He holds the power of transport, too. He can move between one place and the other, a short distance separated by no time at all.

Renit grapples onto my shoulders as the heat subsides. "Are you all right?" He demands.

"I'm fine," I pant. My head spins, but for the most part, I feel fine. Any longer and Silas might've killed me. Had the rebels figured out a way to bring him back, Silas would drift into the darkness from my death, too. "Where did he go?"

"That doesn't matter right now." Renit cranes his neck. "They're fleeing as it is. Likely to reveal to the king what they found."

He attempts to tug me in that direction, but I shrug out of his grip. "No, Silas and the rest of the soldiers must die today. If they don't, the king will send more forces in our direction, and if we've lost too many, we don't have a chance at surviving," I explain.

"I'll handle it," Citlali offers. "Go tend to the injured."

With a quick jerk of his chin, Renit nods. "Thank you. If you can, gather forces and bring the crown prince back—alive. We must do whatever we can to save him."

The quick darting of her eyes reveals the lack of hope she has for bringing Silas back to his original form. "I'll try my best."

It's not a second later that she disappears between into an alleyway and is already shouting into the next street over that the soldiers are fleeing back to the capital. A string of shouts and cries breaks out through the remaining rebels, and without having to try, Citlali has created a small army of her own. Their thundering boots one street over pounds in my heart.

Carefully this time, Renit takes my hand. "Come on, we must tend to the injured."

I don't protest. Although I should be the one to kill Silas, I'll hand the burden over to Citlali, only to take the blame for it later. The king will not aim for her when I'm the one to cause most of this destruction.

A reminder pops into my head at the sound of Citlali's shield dropping over half the village. It folds away safely, compared to mine that crumpled when Silas attempted to boil me alive. I dig my boots into the ground to stop Renit from dragging me away. "We must check on Celestine first. I need to know she's all right," I protest.

Renit nods. "Quickly."

I couldn't move any slower than what he desires. My weak knees take me through the street in a jog towards what is the community kitchens. She has to be there; I told her to stay. I told Celestine to stay safe; she had to listen to me. Right?

I tell myself not to be nervous. The community kitchens come into sight and I don't spot any sign of carnage. No blood, no bodies, it's completely untouched. A sign of relief breaks loose from my chest as my jog comes to a stop and turns into a quick pace of walking through the halls of the community kitchens, Renit at my back.

"Celestine?" I call out. My voice echoes into the kitchens. She's not standing there, but again, that's not where I left her. That's fine. "Celestine?" Through no fault of my own, my voice is more anxious.

No answer. My mind starts to flood with the possibilities of her blood spread through the dining area of the community kitchens, her body limp and lifeless on a table. Just as it left, my heart is thundering again. But when I tear through the open doorway and quickly scan the room without a single breath or blink, I find the room untouched.

Celestine isn't here.