Soraya's Pov

Mira looked at me with those unsettling black eyes. "Then the seal will break violently and the backlash could kill her. The magic will tear her apart from the inside."

The room went quiet. I could hear my own heartbeat pounding in my ears and I felt dizzy.

"There has to be another way" Darius said. "There has to be something else we can do."

"There isn't" Mira said firmly. "Blood magic doesn't give you options. It gives you one path and you either take it or you don't."

"What if I just leave the seal alone?" I asked. "What if I don't try to break it?"

"Then...