Roman looms over Esta as we speak, his focus sharply on her. Already, her fingertips are starting to twitch and the flow of blood from her neck wound has stopped.
He presses the angels’ weapon to his chest, where a rune flares, and the weapon disappears once more. I’m not alarmed. I’m not sure where he has secreted it to, but it’s better that it’s safe now that we’re unlikely to be able to use it.
“We’re out of time,” he says, spinning to Koda with a command. “Speak!”
Koda is smart enough to edge backward, but he doesn’t delay in his response. “It’s obvious that we need to get out of Mortem, not hide within it. I know a way—”
It’s my turn to advance on him because my own distrust rises within my heart. Koda was hellbent on avoiding the Elimination in the first place—it was why he came to Earth. “If you know a way out, why haven’t you taken it already?”
“Once I returned, the gates were locked, and I was bound to the Elimination,” he says, his expression stony. “I couldn’t fail to participate or the power that bound me would have killed me.” As he speaks, he brushes his right arm where he wears the royal rune. At his touch, it glows briefly through the torn material of his shirt.
I also wear the royal rune on my arm, given to me by Roman when I didn’t know what it meant.
I turn to Roman, suddenly worried. “How can we leave at all? The Elimination isn’t over until one power remains.”
Roman’s forehead is creased as he seems to think it through. “You’re in the final trial now. There are no other fights after this. One way or another, this trial must end with only one power remaining—either Esta’s alone or yours and Koda’s combined.”
He speaks even more carefully as he continues. “You’ve already left the arena, and the fight has continued here. That confirms there’s no rule that says where the final fight has to take place, but—”
He stops speaking, suddenly tipping his head back to stare at the outlines of the other two worlds.
He tenses, inhaling sharply.
I see it, too.
A shimmer of energy shoots through the mist. A visible ripple, like an energy stream that intensifies and fades. It bites the air, snapping at my senses and making the hairs on my arms stand up.
I speak quickly, aware that my pack is unsettled and they’re all watching and listening carefully. “When we first arrived, Esta said that our father’s disappearance has been tearing Mortem away from Earth—and it’s creating strain on the angels’ realm. She said the three worlds are connected with energy streams, like chains, between them. Which means that a ripple in one world flows through to the others. She said that if a new ruler isn’t chosen, the souls of the dead will flow between all three worlds. Was she lying?”
Roman was there at the time, so I assume he would have corrected Esta if she was misrepresenting the facts.
“It’s the truth,” he says. “But only the first phase. When the barriers between worlds are broken, souls will flow. Which will make Esta stronger.” He pauses. “But then, like an implosion that comes after an explosion, the connection between the worlds will retract, and the three worlds will crash into each other. Nobody will survive.”
He gestures to the sky. “These new ripples in the air, and the cracks in the substance of the world, are all signs that the Balance is being destroyed with every passing hour.”
Well, great.The destruction of three worlds is not ideal. “Then it’s only going to get worse with every moment we delay.”
My heart sinks further when Roman says, “Judging by the power of the ripple we saw just now, we have a week before the damage is irreversible.”
A week.
Only a week.
To get out of here, find my father, and figure out a way to end Esta’s power.
First, we need to trust Koda with our lives—which is easier for me than for my sisters.
Roman’s eyes darken. “The fight may have started in Mortem’s arena, but your battleground will spread across the three worlds.”
I never would have wanted to take this fight to Earth or to the angels’ realm, but…
“We have no other choice,” I say, spinning to Koda, knowing we’ve already delayed longer than we should have. “Show us the way.”
CHAPTEREIGHT
“Follow me,” Koda says, inclining his head toward the other side of the bridge. “We need to get to the other end.”
He takes off through the mist and we sprint behind him. Within seconds, we leave the junction between worlds and emerge into the clear, night air.
