“True.” She inclines her head, her long, golden hair tipping across her shoulders. “But we’re family, and honestly, I just want to survive the Elimination and put this entire ordeal behind me.” She shakes her head. “Actually, the truth is… I want Father back. No one else in this family is fit to wear the crown, including me.”
I’m thrown by this admission, but before I can comment on it, the mist envelops us and a sharp, tingling sensation crosses my exposed skin.
Now that I’m walking through it, the mist is like fine snow gently brushing against me, although it’s not cold. It’s similar to the waves of fog that had rolled back to reveal my sisters and my wolves when we first arrived on the bridge. My wolves had shaken it off their fur, and now their hackles are raised, shivers visible across their backs, as if they’re fighting the instinct to shake it off again.
This mist is full of energy. Power.
Rapidly assessing our pure white surroundings, I inhale sharply when the air up ahead of us flickers and the outline of a curved object appears within the mist above us on our right—and another on our left, both large and glowing. The light around one is sapphire and the other is golden.
I brace, uncertain, my sudden tension making Taniya and Malia close in. “What are those?” I ask.
Esta’s eyebrows rise, a faint smile on her lips, as if I’m jumping at shadows. “This mist is the conduit to the gates at the entrance of Pyra-Mortem.”
“Pyra-Mortem?”
“The Underworld. Or as some call it: Hell. It’s only when you stand within this mist that you can see a shadow of the other two worlds beyond the gates. Although their shadows are darker now that the gates are closed.”
She holds her left hand up, curving her palm to create the optical illusion of cradling the sapphire globe in her hand. “This one is Terra-Centrum—the central world. I think you call it ‘Earth.’”
“We call it home,” Taniya says, a sharp edge in her voice, her fury coating her skin in dark shades of amber. She points to the golden orb, her teal-blue eyes narrowed. “Let me guess: That one’s Heaven.”
Esta doesn’t appear concerned by the anger in Taniya’s voice. “It’s called ‘Stella-Astrum’—the heavenly realm.”
“Crone spoke as if the three worlds are all linked and balanced,” Malia says. She appears to think it over, and I’m not surprised. She has never met a puzzle she doesn’t want to solve. “And that the smallest infraction could throw it all out of symmetry. I mean, let’s be real… We’re only two beings sliding across the wrong side of the veil.”
Esta is nodding as we continue walking. “Father’s disappearance has been slowly tearing Mortem away from Centrum and that has created strain on Astrum. Ripples through the three worlds. Think of the three worlds as connected with a fine chain through which energy flows,” she says. “A sudden burst of energy in one world affects the others. Now that the gates are closed, the strain on the other two worlds is minimized, but the energy flowing within Mortem is like… water filling a bowl to the brim. Even the smallest ripple—the tiniest addition—will cause the water to spill over the edge.”
“What happens to the other worlds if the Balance isn’t maintained?” I ask. “If a new ruler of Mortem isn’t found.”
“The souls of the dead will flow between all three worlds,” Esta says. “The Balance will break, and Chaos will rule.”
She stops speaking when the misty light around us starts to ease and the shadows of the other two worlds disappear. I check that my demon wolves are still in a four-point formation around us, and that Roman is still only a few paces behind, his enormous silhouette visible through the clearing haze—a stronger power in my senses than the shadows of Centrum and Astrum combined.
The mist finally clears and at the same time, the soldiers who were walking ahead of us separate so we have a clear line of sight.
Crone waits for us, her little figure somehow looming.
We’re approaching the end of the crystal bridge.
Suddenly, I can see that we’re standing high above a vast city filled with buildings that look surprisingly modern—a lot like the skyscrapers on Earth, or “Centrum,” as they call it. A dense, green environment surrounds the city on all sides, the closely packed trees reminding me of aerial photos I’ve seen of the Amazon jungle.
The height makes my stomach lurch.
We’re at least a mile above the city, but, up ahead, the royals ride their horses right off the edge.
I step forward with a gasp, pausing when I see that the royals are caught a few feet down by beams of light, which carry them toward the modern-looking buildings.
“We travel on the light beams generated by the bridge,” Esta says, drawing to a halt before we reach Crone. “Not just into Zilron—that’s the capital city you see below us,” she continues, “but around the city. The beams are everywhere. Find the one leading to your destination, step onto it, and it will take you safely there.”
“Is Zilron the only demon city?” Taniya asks, her gaze moving rapidly as she takes in the entire scene, appearing to catalog it all.
“There are a dozen major cities across Mortem,” Esta says. “All of them are separated by the Wilds.” Her expression becomes shadowed. “We use the light beams to travel between cities because the Wilds are dangerous, and you don’t want to stray into the Forbidden Lands that lie beyond them.”
“The Forbidden Lands,” I murmur, my gaze catching on the jungle again, trying to see beyond it. It’s odd, considering how far away we are from it, but the undercurrent of darkness that lingers across the bright, green expanse sends shivers tracing along my spine and my demon senses flare.
“Stay out of the Forbidden Lands.” Roman’s deep, gruff voice sounds behind me, closer than I was expecting. “You aren’t prepared for what waits in there.”
My focus flashes to him. His brow furrows intensely and for the briefest moment, I catch a glimpse of a glow across his shoulder—the spot where he carries the rune that looks like three claw marks.
