Was that a command? Did he just try toorderme?
A breathless laugh slips from my lips, and I turn—
Another presence floods the room, a warmth spiked with something dark and... horrific.
Something wrong.
My back bumps into a hard chest and large hands curl over my shoulders. I slowly turn, and when I see him, truly see him, I freeze.
His eyes. The darkness in them, it’s right there, right at the surface.
This isn’t the Ezekial I know.
Something’s wrong.
“Ezekial, speak to us.” Julien’s concern only worsens it. Dread and terror entwining.
Ezekial says nothing.
“Hey, Zeek. What’s happening, mate?” Sai tries, standing off the bed and cautiously approaching.
They both track his hands, clamped on my shoulders, then his face.
“Distance yourself, Jasmine.”Julien’s urgent tone is so unfamiliar it rattles something in me.
My heart thuds, panic racing through my body as I try to step towards Sai and Julien—
Ezekial hauls me off the ground without warning, his arms locking tight around me. My legs hook around his waist on instinct alone, clinging for balance. His grip is strong. Too strong.
Then I feel it. His terror—his fear.
He moves with me in his arms, and I catch Sai and Julien’s panicked eyes as Ezekial sits on the edge of the bed, still holding me.
“What’s going on?”I say only to them.“He’s terrified, and where’s Kane? Has something happened to him?”
“No,” Julien replies. “We would feel it. He’s fine but… distant. Somewhere far.”
In my peripheral, I see them approach carefully, sitting on the bed either side of Ezekial. When I catch their concerned expressions, it doesnothingto ease the dread curling inside of me.
“Where is Kane, Ezekial?” Julien asks.
Silence. His fingers tighten, almost painfully, then—
“The Divide.”
The words aren’t spoken aloud. They ripple through our minds, flat, cold, stripped of anything. Ezekial’s voice… isn’t his. Just pure darkness echoing in our minds.
The Divide.
The place between the Dark and Light. Unstable, born from the ruin of the Light Realm. Volatile and dangerous, almost impossible to enter. Deadlier to survive.
Kane mentioned it to me once, then Ezekial. That was enough to never forget. The place Ezekial was kept prisoner. The place his sister died. Where he was thrown and tortured, twisted into a creature of the dark, becoming what he is now: a mind melder.
“How and why the fuck is he there?”Sai snaps, markings flaring.
We wait, but Ezekial doesn’t respond.
“Can you get there?”I ask. The dread is now so heavy, even breathing is painful.
