Shadow growls from where he still lays prone on the ground. "Tell them to leave."
"Leave," I command with only a slight stutter.
But the Guard remain.
"We cannot leave?—"
"—without the prisoner," they explain, different heads taking their turn to complete the sentence.
"We answer?—"
"—to a higher power?—"
"—and it demands payment,"
"in the flesh of?—"
"—this monster."
So they obey me to an extent, but there are rules, edicts they cannot break.
But why do they obey me in the first place?
A fearful suspicion snakes through me. If it’s true, it could crack open my entire world. Part of me almost doesn’t want to know.
"I demand you tell me why you have to obey me." An imperious tone has slipped into my voice like I think I’m some kind of damn royalty commanding her subjects. Who the hell do I think I am? And yet...
"Evie, no," Shadow growls in fury though he is still too weak to move. "Don’t speak to them."
"We protect."
"We covet."
"We serve the Nexus."
I shake my head. "That doesn’t answer my question." The Nexus isn’t here.
"We serve the Nexus," they repeat. All of them still have one leg up. It’s ridiculous.
Despite the prickles of suspicion jabbing at my subconscious since they obeyed my first command, the realization is still slow to arrive. It comes like molasses from a bottle. Sticky, thick, and too much to swallow the whole thing.
No.
No, it can’t be true.
But it is.
Iamthe Nexus.
The Dirty Truth
The Nexus is the key between two worlds. The monsters have been coming after me. The Nexus.
I am the Nexus.
The Guard stands before me, still absurdly balanced on one leg. Silence presses in, but the air thrums with an invisible energy that echoes with near-painful force in my ears. I press trembling fingers to my lips, my body barely containing the tremor surging through me.
A sharp, metallic taste coats my tongue, cold and unsettling. No matter how hard I try, I can’t ground myself. Everything is tilting, off-kilter, like the world has just cracked beneath my feet.
