An insistent knock woke us from our sublime reverie.

"You'd better get that," Peter said in a dreamy whisper.

I threw on my long, black Fireborn robes that reached my ankles. When I opened the door, the same odd messenger stood before me who'd informed me Bragda had been found.

"How is my sister?"

"My leader," he replied, stiffening to a ramrod straight posture. "I'm here to inform you that she is awake if you wish to see her."

I turned to Peter, who leaped to his feet. "Yes, let's go!"

"You are to come alone," the messenger said. "She's to have only one visitor at a time so as not to overexert herself."

"I understand." I turned to Peter with an apologetic look, but he smiled and nodded in approval. "Lead the way."

The messenger and I meandered through cavernous hallways made of basalt rock and obsidian stone, dark and cold as I'd always imagined the bowels of Paxus. I was grateful to have a guide, or I'd have gotten lost about a dozen times.

With a casual toss, I drew my hood over my head, not only for warmth but also to prevent Bragda from having a heart attack. My voice was already starting to deepen. She didn't need to see my growing horns or my mottled human flesh peeling and darkening into snakeskin.

We walked in silence until the narrow hallways opened up into a large foyer. Obsidian sconces adorned the walls from which torches blazed, casting ominous shadows onto the dark gray stone. Decorative rugs hung from the walls depicting Fireborn warriors in the midst of battles.

I gasped when I saw an ornamental rug hanging on the wall. A roaring Fireborn Queen stood on a basalt stalagmite far above a sea of fallen bodies, holding up the severed head of a Dwarfish Fighter.

The head looked exactly like Bragda. And the Queen looked like me.

My stomach churned in protest. What in Hades is happening? Is this some kind of sick joke?

I took an involuntary step backward, and the room began to spin. I thought I'd sink into one of my visions, but the dizziness cleared and only a headache remained.

When I gazed at the tapestry again, it depicted a battle like any other. No traces of Bragda or me to be seen.

Great! Now I'm having hallucinations.

The messenger gave me a quizzical look. "My Leader? Are you ill?"

"I'm fine. It's just the treatments."

"If you follow this passageway," he said, gesturing to the narrow tunnel ahead, "it will take you to the infirmary, and you can see your sister. Shall I accompany you?"

"No, thank you."

He clasped his right fist over his heart. "Good day, my Leader."

When I finally exited the narrow corridor, a whirlwind of buzzing, chirring, and beeping machines greeted me. Technology that I'd never seen in my life monitored the patients' vital signs and blood levels or performed body scans depicted on translucent screens.

"Good morning," I said to the young Risan nurse flipping through a medical chart. Her dark-brown hair was swept up and clipped with a green ribbon. "I'm looking for Bragda Ironfist."

She gave me a curt nod. "Just this way, my Leader."

As we drew nearer, I could hear Bragda complaining in a gruff voice. "Damn you, woman, stop fussing and let me out of this bed."

"You'll stay where I put you," a brusque female voice retorted.

"If I stay here any longer, my muscles are going to shrivel up into saggy tits, d'ya hear?"

If the nurse beside me had raised her eyebrows any higher, they would have touched the ceiling. I remembered being that naive once. Now I didn't bat an eyelash at such language. It took all my self-control not to race towards Bragda and scoop her into my arms.

"My sister, the Spitfire," I whispered to the nurse with an apologetic shrug.

"You will do exactly as I tell you, Ironfist," a familiar voice growled, "or I'll strap you down to this cot with leather belts."

"We've never tried that before." Bragda lowered her voice an octave. "Maybe I'll like it, sweetheart."

"And I'll tape your mouth shut!"

"I'd like that less."

When we rounded the corner, Bragda looked pale, thin, and bruised, but her eyes shone with defiant fury at the nurse. Her matted auburn hair was splayed on the white pillow like a forest fire around her head.

I gasped. Someone had shaven her beard and mustache clean off.

The Dwarfish nurse whipped around to face me. Her ebony hair and beard were braided with green and blue ribbons.

Nurse Kaylar!

"Who in Hades are you?" she growled.

"Leader Liselle Carolina Alta," I replied with as much dignity as I could muster.

"Miss Alta?" Kaylar's eyes widened briefly before she regained her stern mien. "Visiting hours start in five minutes."

What is it with her and five minutes?

Bragda narrowed her eyes at the nurse. "That's my sister, sweetheart. Let her through, or I'll kick your ass."

With a disdained huff, Kaylar left the room.

I stared at my sister with wonder, not quite believing my eyes. She held out her arms to me, and I raced to her side and squeezed her. "Oh, gods, sis, you're alive!"

Her eyes glistened with restrained tears. "Neither Heaven nor Hades will keep us apart, I swear."

My throat clenched so tightly that all I could do was squeeze her again.

She hugged me with such a fierce grip that probably would have cracked my ribs if I were still human. "I missed you so much," she said. "I was such a fuckwit. I'm so sorry."

"You're back," I croaked. "That's all that matters."

Bragda pulled away from my embrace with a grimace and took a close look at me. "Either I'm hallucinating, or you've grown three feet taller."

"You're not wrong."

"And what in Hades happened to your face? How did you do that? Magic?"

My heart leaped into my throat. "No, Bragda. You were right about me being a coward. I've decided to fight, and I couldn't help out as a weak Risa."

"I was a stupid, emotional twit when I said that," she growled. "Wait, what do you mean as a Risa? Did you use your magic to turn into something else?"

"No, Bragda," I replied. "We used science."

"I'll be damned! Well, let's see, then!"

When I pulled back my hood, a small gasp escaped her lips. She stared at me from head to toe, both shocked and amazed.

"Whoa," she breathed. "You're simulating a Fireborn. How d'ya do it? Only your eyes are the same. Green skin, muscles bigger than mine, black horns, everything."

I nodded, waiting for her to get used to my new appearance.

"Damn, I thought your voice had changed! How did you master such a complex spell?"

"Like I said, it's...not a spell, Bragda." I swallowed the lump in my throat. "It's permanent."

Her eyes widened even further. "Wait, you mean...you can't change back?"

"No, it was the cost of rescuing you," I murmured. "If I promised to lead the Fireborn, they promised to get you back."

"Who the fuck made you agree to such a thing?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me."

For a second, I stared at her, trying to see if she were strong enough to hear the news.

"Don't ogle me, sis, tell me who it is so that I can fucking strangle them."

"Bragda--"

"No one extorts my sister and gets away with it," she hissed. "The guards said you suffered a great deal to get me back, but I had no idea that they made you do this."

"It's all right."

"And to think I was pissed off about my beard."

"It'll grow back," I said with a smile as I looked at her gorgeous, thick, dark-red hair. Unshed tears burned and stung my eyes as an unfamiliar emotion stuck in my throat.

Envy.

My fiery locks would never grow again.

"Don't worry about me," I said.

Her expression hardened. "Liselle Carolina Alta, you tell me right now who made you do this."

I gazed into her sapphire eyes, which raged with all the fury of a hurricane. Until now, I'd kept Peter's secret just like he asked me, but I could not hold the truth from Bragda any longer. She had a right to know who had used her as a bargaining chip.

Besides, none of those secrets mattered anymore. Peter no longer had his draconic form, and my father had become a monster. So with a resigned sigh, I told her in a choked whisper.

"Father."

Bragda simply stared at me, wide-eyed and uncomprehending.

"Father?" she breathed. "Father's dead, Liselle."

"I thought so too." I swallowed the lump in my throat. "But I saw him at a political rally a few months ago."

"And you didn't see fit to tell me?" she asked through clenched teeth.

I didn't want to tell her any more lies. So I just opened my heart to her.

"Father's betrayal made me so angry that I wanted to forget it ever happened."

Her expression softened, and she sighed.

"Besides, I had a sacred oath to keep to a friend," I added. "I couldn't betray his trust, and the time was never right."

"You mean to tell me that Father abandoned us for the Fireborn Project?" Bragda's eyes glittered in anger. "That's why Mama..."

Bragda couldn't finish the thought, unable to bring herself to say suicide. I gave her arm a reassuring pat. Staring at the ceiling, she drew a deep breath and tried to pull herself together.

"I'm going to fucking kill him," she seethed, "and then you and I are going home."

"I signed a pledge with heart blood," I cried, gesturing at my new form. "To fight until we win the war."

"Damn it to hell!" She leaped off the bed, but she toppled forward into my arms. "I'm not going to let you rot here in this dungeon of Hades."

I supported her until she could crawl back into bed, her face pale from the exertion. "I just got you back, Liselle. I'm not saying goodbye. If you have to fight, we'll fight together."

"Don't nullify my sacrifice by not going home."

"Does the Ministry even know about this? Father can't keep his own personal demon militia." She stared at my horns. "No offense."

"They know," I said. "They sanctioned it. And they won't let us free until the war is over."

"This is bullshit!" Bragda shouted, earning both of us a stern glare from Kaylar. She lowered her voice and continued, "We'll get a lawyer. A heart blood oath taken under duress is null and void."

"Tell that to my heart."

My sister grimaced. "I swear I will free you, sis. No matter what."

"What about my friends? What about Peter?"

"Peter?" She balked. "He's here?" Her eyes twinkled. "Please tell me you've jumped his bones."

A shy smile crept across my face. "No, but it's a long story."

"And I can't wait to hear." Bragda curled her lip and lowered her voice. "You'll train with me in the coming weeks until I rebuild my strength. Meanwhile, find a way to break the curse. Got it?"

"I don't know if there is a way to break it without dying."

Bragda nodded. "We'll find a way. Meanwhile, I'll teach you how to use a weapon."

"Then what?"

"Then we escape." Her eyes twinkled with defiance. "Even if we fight our way free."