"I don't know," Kaelen admitted, and for the Dragon Prince to admit ignorance was a terrifying thing. "But the Sentinel..."
"The Sentinel tried to destroy the Gate," I said, remembering the beam of white light. "It tried to collapse the tunnel while you were inside."
"Exactly," Elias said. He moved to stand beside Kaelen, looking down at the book. "If we were bait, we were supposed to remain in the trap, or at least in the mortal realm. But you broke the seal. You changed the nature of the cage. You turned a beacon into a doorway and opened Olympus back up to a threat."
"They tried to erase us," Thane said heavily. "Which means the plan has changed."
"Or it means the Devourer is already so close that they can't afford any variables," Flynn added, his voice dropping to a growl. "If we escape, if we scatter... the bait is gone. The monster might turn back toward the main course."
"Olympus," I breathed.
"Yes." Kaelen looked at me, and his hand tightened around mine. "We aren't princes, Aria. We’re meat thrown to a wolf to save the hunter."
I pulled my hand away and stood up. My legs were shaky, my head spinning with the influx of memories and knowledge that wasn't mine, residue from the merge. I walked to the edge of theblack pool, staring into the ink-dark water, with the off urge to see my reflection. I needed to see if I was still there, if this was all real.
The face that looked back at me was mine, but wrong. My eyes were a swirling nebula of amethyst, gold, amber, brown, and hints of turquoise. The markings on my neck pulsed with a faint, inner light. I looked less like a Keeper and more like the weapon they accused me of being.
"So," I said, my voice echoing off the damp walls. "We are hiding in a hole in the ground. The Council wants to drain me dry to rebuild the lock. Olympus wants to vaporize us to clean up their mess. And a cosmic horror that eats stars might be on its way to consume the planet."
"Succinct," Flynn deadpanned. "You only forgot the part where we are practically naked in a cave and I am very hungry."
I let out a laugh that was half-sob. I turned back to them. My monsters.
"How has Olympus survived this long if the plan was so fragile?" I asked. "If they needed us to be the lure, surely they would have been watching closer? Why wait a thousand years to send a Sentinel?"
"Because Pandora's plan worked," Elias said dreamily. "She hid us well. The Gate... it muffled us just enough. Confused the signal. Maybe the Devourer lost the scent. Maybe it drifted past. Or maybe..."
"Maybe it's here," Kaelen said grimly. "And they're just now realizing the trap didn't spring."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning the mortal realm hasn't been eaten yet," Kaelen said. "Which means the Devourer is still hungry. And if it turns its attention back to Olympus... they will panic."
"Panic makes gods sloppy," Flynn said, rubbing his hands together. "Sloppy gods leave doors open."
I looked at the obsidian structure on the far side of the cavern. It was ancient, pre-dating the Citadel.
"What does that mean for us?" I asked. "Are we safer down here? If we hide, will the Devourer pass us by?"
"Maybe," Kaelen said. "But the Sentinel proves that Olympus isn't willing to take that chance. They will send another. And another. They will burn this world to ash just to make sure we die in the right spot."
"Then we can't stay here," I said. "We can't hide."
"No," Elias agreed. "We cannot hide from eyes that see across galaxies."
He looked up, not at the ceiling of the cavern, but through it.
"We need to know what is happening in the High Seat," Elias said. "We need to know if the Devourer is coming, or if it is already there."
"How?" I asked. "You said yourself, we are stuck here. The mortal realm is a cage without magic."
"Not anymore," Kaelen said softly. He looked at me. "You changed the Gate, Aria. You didn't just break the seals, you turned it into a bridge. A connection."
I froze. "You mean..."
"You are the door," Theron's last words echoed in my mind.
"We can't go back to the Sanctorum," I said, panic flaring. "It's a ruin. The Council and the Order of Khaos..."
