He inclines his head.
“Seren and Lira.” The names scrape out of me. “We followed them through Absentia. We saw them. Heard them. They werehere.” I wave at the Gate, at the stragglers still passing through. “But they haven’t come through. Where are they? Did I miss them? Did something happen? Are they—”
“You never followed them.”
My stomach drops straight through my feet.
“What?”
“The Seren and Lira you saw were fabrications.” His voice is gentle, which somehow makes it worse. “Illusions woven from your memories. Bait.”
No.
No, that’s not—
Wesawthem. We tracked them for weeks. I pushed everyone to the breaking point trying to reach them—
“Alekir knew you would follow them,” the God continues. “Knew it would break you open. Drive you closer to the Gate.” A pause. “He showed you what you feared most. What you wanted most.”
I can’t breathe.
“None of it was real.”
The words land like a punch to the chest.
“They were never in Absentia,” he says quietly. “Their souls were never trapped here. Alekir did not have them.”
“Then where—”
“Safe. At the academy.”
I don’t know if I want to scream or collapse or laugh until I can’t stop.
All those weeks. All that guilt. All those nights lying awake convinced I was failing them, that they were suffering somewhere I couldn’t reach, that it was my fault—
“I thought I failed them.” My voice cracks and I hate it. “I thought—”
“You couldn’t have saved them here. There was nothing to save them from.”
The relief hits so hard my knees almost buckle.
They’re safe.
Seren and Lira aresafe.
I didn’t fail them because they were never here to fail.
A sob rips out of me before I can stop it. Then another. I press my hands over my face and just let it happen because I’m too tired to pretend anymore.
The God doesn’t touch me. Doesn’t offer platitudes.
He just waits.
When I finally get myself together — mostly — I wipe my face and look back at the Gate. The Eds are still coming, but barely. A trickle now instead of a flood.
“How many more?” My voice sounds wrecked.
The God glances at the remaining souls, then at me. Something shifts in his expression.
