On the back wall are two large, jagged splits in the rockface, set about five feet apart from each other. Each one is taller than I am, and wider than my body. One glows golden and the other aqua, and even from this distance, I can feel the warmth from the golden one and the pure energy from the other.
“Stella-Astrum and Earth?” I ask. “But which is which?”
“The golden fissure is Stella-Astrum,” Koda replies. “The aqua one is Centrum—I mean Earth.”
“Bothworlds,” I whisper as I step into the cavern.
Koda used this doorway to come to Earth, so I wasn’t expecting to find a fissure leading to the angels’ realm as well.
He follows me inside the cave. “The energy in father’s stone pulled me toward Earth. At first, I was relieved because, of the two, it was the choice that wouldn’t get me killed.”
I sigh. Angels and demons are adversaries, as is written in human lore, yet here we are, needing to travel to the angels’ realm, and it’s right there in front of us.
Koda continues. “But then, I had to figure out how to make the jump.”
Roman slips through behind us, while my sisters and my wolves remain at the entrance. His arm wraps around my waist as he maneuvers into the smaller cavern and squeezes past behind me. His heat and energy engulf me and, for a brief moment, it’s hard to breathe.
His thumb tracks across my hip and his smile warms me before he turns to study the fissures, pausing near them without getting too close.
“These energy points are like open doors—no locks or barriers like the gates have—but the power within them is stormy. Volatile.Dangerous.” He narrows his green eyes at Koda. “It should have torn you apart when you tried to step through, so how did you manage the jump?”
“Father’s stone,” Koda says. “It emitted enough power to protect me on the way through. I didn’t know if it would work, and the journey nearly tore me apart, but somehow, I made it.”
“Then the angels’ weapon should work.” Roman taps his chest, light flares, and the weapon appears within his hand. “This weapon gives us the power we need to travel to either world. And these fissures give us the path we need to get through.”
His expression gentles as he contemplates me and then my sisters. His voice is soft, but what he asks strikes at my heart. “The question is: Which one do we choose?”
I focus on the two doorways, the energy of home seeping from one, while the foreign warmth of angel energy fills the other. The way forward is right in front of me—a path directly to the angels’ realm like we need. And yet, my heart is screaming at me to head back to Earth, find my mom, sleep in my bed, and heal the scars that litter my body and soul. Malia’s healing has helped so much, but I’m soul-weary from the battle, and I need time to recover.
I take a step toward the passage to Earth. Roman’s eyes meet mine, but he doesn’t try to stop me, and I know he’s allowing me to make this decision.
My hand brushes acrosshome.
“We have to go to Stella-Astrum,” I say softly, feeling like someone just punched a hole in my chest. “We have to rescue my father and reinstate his soul with his body. There’s no way we can right this without him. I feel that deep in my energy. In my demon soul.”
It’s the last decision I thought I’d make, to turn away from home, but I’ve weighed the options. What we want is on Earth, but for now, we have to finish the Elimination and restore the Balance between the three worlds.
“Earth has to wait,” I whisper.
Malia and Taniya let out mournful sounds from the cave’s entrance, stepping inside one after the other.
“Are you sure, Nova?” Taniya asks, and I recognize the tension in her voice. She’s on the verge of losing her shit, and I don’t even have to wonder why that is. I feel exactly the same. To be so close to Earth and not go there is killing me, but if we don’t fix this, there’ll be no Earth to return to.
“I’m sure,” I say, my voice breaking before I clear my throat. “We need the King to take control of the Underworld again. He was trying to tell me that he was broken in the prison, and I have to fix him. Teaming that with what Koda said, it stands to reason that he was aware of Esta’s ambitions and might know how to destroy her.”
I’ve made my decision, but even so, I tilt my head back to see Roman, to gauge his assessment of our situation.
His eyes soften. “You’ve made the right choice. It’ll be easier to travel with the angels’ weapon to their realm as well—it wants to return home.”
“So do I,” Malia whispers. But she doesn’t say anything else, and I know she’ll stand with me, no matter what decision I make. I can always rely on my pack.
Which now includes Koda. It hasn’t escaped my notice that he has been very quiet since I decided that we should head to Stella-Astrum.
“What do you think, Koda?” I ask him, wanting to know his thoughts.
He shakes his head, but the corners of his mouth twitch up into a crooked smile that surprises me and—somehow—lightens the sense of sadness within the cavern.
“I’ll stick with you through any plan you choose,” he says. “I thought I would be dead and buried by now, so these hours are a gift for me.”
