Vervain, don't try to kill him, Al, the Consciousness of the Void, said.I sense more to this soul than is seen.
I don't care how much there is to his soul, I growled.I'm sooo killing this motherfucker.
That's the thing—I don't know if you can.
What do you mean? Everything that lives can be killed.
Yes, but not all can be killed by you.
Al, this is not the time to be cryptic.
Do you recall when Faerie and I said there is another force at work in your life?
Yes. Please don't tell me that force is what brought back Katila.
I don't know.He paused.Did you hear me, really hear me, Vervain? I, the Consciousness of the Void, do not know how Katila came back to life. He was there and then he was gone. I certainly did not cast him from the Void.
So, what? This unknown force did? Why? And who?
Maybe it's not a who. Maybe it is energy. A type of force.
As in, may the force be with you? Damn, I really am Princess Leia.
I'm serious, Vervain! This power has knowledge beyond us and is working toward its own goal.
Knowledge beyond yours?
Yes.
Well isn't that terrifying?
Yes, it is.
Then something struck me. Something I'd been thinking earlier. How the Great Nine were like a god of gods. What if they truly were a god? A real god.
What about the Great Nine?
No. They have no consciousness.
None that you know of.
Alaric went silent.
“If you keep ignoring me, I will be forced to not be ignored, Vervain,” Katila said.
“What?” I focused on him. “Sorry. I'm talking to the voice in my head.”
Katila chuckled again. “You are so odd. I love it! You hear voices, eh?”
“Tell me how you got out of the Void, Katila,” I urged. “Answer me honestly, and I'll answer any question of yours in return.”
Katila leaned back and stared at me. Finally, he said, “I cannot.”
“You can't because you don't know or because you refuse to tell me?”
He just continued to stare.
Whoosh! Fire in my veins. My magic returned like an explosion. I rocked forward with it, spilling coffee into the saucer.
