I narrow my eyes at her. “You said she wasn’t here.”
Selene frowns. “I didn’t know.”
Liar. Her nonverbal cues speak louder than her words. “What are you keeping from me?”
Selene rolls her eyes. “You haven’t seen me in ages, and the first thing you do is call me a liar?” She laughs as if she’s offended. “I’m trying to help you. This realm isn’t meant for the living. Leave, help your friends while you still can. If Leigh is here, she must have a reason. Last I checked, she could take care of herself. Why don’t you listen to her?”
I survey the surrounding darkness. Each breath is a struggle, as if a weighted vest is cinched too tight across my chest.
“Please,” I beg. Selene cringes. “I need to know she’s safe.”
“Maybe she fell asleep,” she offers, but her tone tells me she doesn’t believe that.
“Selene, we’ve had our differences in the past, but I’m asking you for help.” The words tear from my throat. “Can you just ask the other ghosts if they’ve seen her? You mentioned the ghosts here have a psychic connection.”
Selene examines her nails. Each finger is painted a different color, though like everything else in this realm, they’re muted, as if viewed through frosted glass. “You aren’t going to make this easy—” She cuts herself off with a deep breath she shouldn’tneed. “If I do this one thing, will you leave? It’s for your own good.”
Selene doesn’t have to look out for me. I can handle myself. “I’ll go. But only if Leigh’s safe.” Which I doubt.
Selene closes her eyes, going preternaturally still. I begin pacing, eyes closed. Worst-case scenarios flash through my mind like a bad horror movie: Leigh hurt, Leigh crying out for me, Leigh unconscious, Leigh?—
“Oh!”
I skid to a halt. “You found her?”
“Leigh is fine. She’s with Kosac.”
Kosac. “How do you know she’s fine if she’s withhim?”
Selene clasps her hands together. “I’ve already told you that Kosac is harmless. This realm is also safe, which means you should go home. Leigh is a Lunar Witch; she doesn’t need you to babysit her. She is fully capable of accomplishing whatever she came here to do. Trust me.”
My head spins. If Kosac has Leigh, I’m not going anywhere.
“Where are they?”
Selene studies me. “How should I know?”
I’ve encountered people like Selene many times on the job. She won’t share any information unless there’s something in it for her. But she’s dead. What motivates a ghost? I don’t have time to figure it out. If she’s not going to help me, I’ll handle it myself.
“The castle. What’s the fastest way there?” I ask. “This way through the trees?”
Her lips flatten. “Wilder, listen to me. Leave. Leave while you still can. Please.”
“Leigh doesn’t belong here either,” I spit. “I promise, once I find her, we’ll both go.”
Her lavender eyes narrow, a muscle ticking beneath one brow.
I will bring Leigh back. Even if I have to tear this realm apart by hand, I will find her. Selene can either help or sit back and watch her new world burn.
I war with consciousness.
It’s as if my eyelids are made of steel. Sleep tries to hold me in its grasp. Usually, sleep doesn’t scare me. Not when I can walk through people’s dreams as easily as passing through doorways. Right now, though, no dreams welcome me. No familiar paths open. It feels like I’m back inside the rift, endlessly tumbling through nothingness.
I manage to crack one eyelid open. The effort is like trying to lift a bus with my bare hands. The world swims into focus in fragments: shadows, shapes, movement. Through the haze, one fact becomes clear. I’m being carried. Rough, black fabric scratches against my cheek. But something’s wrong. Something’s missing. No heartbeat drums against my ear where I’m pressed against my carrier. No warmth radiates from the body holding me.
“W-who are you?”
Only silence answers. I struggle to move. Pain radiates through my body as if I were injected with it. My head pounds relentlessly. Sleep beckons, but I need to make sure Wilder’s safe. He needs to be there when I return home with Fynn. Being here must be worth it if I get to spend my life with him.
