It was a strange dream, like they were at the center of a kaleidoscope, in a world flooded with dancing lights. There was a woman, ethereal in beauty, with long iridescent tresses and eyes of ever-shifting colors—silvers and blues and greens and reds and violets, like a diamond in the light. She smiled upon seeing them, opened her arms wide—
And suddenly it was like they were in her mind, listening to her story, this goddess of whom they each carried a piece.
She had always admired the mortals’ ability to dream.
She felt a kinship with them over this singular quality, for she, too, was a dreamer of sorts, in tune with the endless possibilities that came of this ability to dream, to manifest, to imagine. The mortals loved her for it, and she loved them back. They were her whole world, and she would do anything to protect them.
It had been an easy decision to splinter herself into pieces for their sake. A necessary sacrifice. So long as a piece of her lived on in each world, the gods could not wipe clean the board. Evil would be kept at bay.
But oh, how she burned to be restored. She felt them, all her splintered parts. The blood she’d poured into the seas of a world flooded with moonlight. The bones she’d buried in the rich soil ofthe witches’ woods. The heart that burned ever on in the fires of a sun-soaked land. The soul that kept singing in the storms between the peaks at the farthest reach of the universe.
If they would only answer her call, pour themselves into the mold from which she could reenter these worlds she had helped build.
But there was the small matter ofhiscreature, a thorn in her side from the start. The dark deity that drove her to this splintered state, and the faithful servant of his that sought to diminish her power now.
Such thieves could not be trusted.
The woman’s multicolored eyes met Romie’s with a warning. Light flooded through the dream, the song growing fainter as it chased them back to waking.
56EMORY
AT DAWN, WHILE THE DRACONICknights slept, Emory slipped into their encampment, using the sunlight to render herself invisible.
Using her magic was a relief, the pressure in her veins instantly easing. She didn’t feel guilty calling on her power here, far from both the ley line and the keys. She only hoped the darkness would stay away long enough for her to free the Shadow—and that his presence would chase it away completely.
She found him in one of the tents, his eyes closed as if in sleep, his hands bound together, and one of those magic-dampening bands around his neck—which had to explain why she hadn’t been able to reach him in that liminal space these past few days. His shirt was dark with dried blood where the sword had pierced him at the Chasm, but the skin beneath was smooth, unblemished. Emory’s healing had worked.
Without those ecliptic eyes staring at her, it was hard to separate the god from the boy she’d fallen for. The boy whose Lightkeepermagic she wielded now. Emory took a careful step toward him—and jumped back when his eyes snapped open, locking on her face as if he could see through the invisibility. Her magic sputtered in shock.
Fury swept over his features, chasing away any lingering trace of Keiran as the god’s murderous gaze met hers. “Behind you,” he warned.
Emory spun around, but it was too late. The draconic knight barreled into her with a grunt, knocking her to the ground. The knight lifted his sword above her. Before he could bring it down to her chest, a chain wrapped around his neck. His eyes went wide as the Shadow stood behind him, tightening the chain until the knight’s sword clattered uselessly to the ground and his eyes went empty.
The Shadow tossed the body aside. And then he was pulling Emory up roughly and wrapping a hand around her neck.
“I should kill you for leaving me in their clutches,” he hissed.
His face was haggard, pale, as if he’d endured the worst sort of torture, or perhaps Keiran’s reanimated corpse was finally running its course. Even his grip around her neck felt weaker than it ought to be. His eyes, though, burned with enough hatred to end them both.
“So do it,” Emory said.
She thought he just might as his fingers dug in. And maybe this would be best, for someone to stop her before she hurt anyone else. But the Shadow released her with a frustrated growl, and relief surged into Emory despite herself. She didn’t want to die.
“Why did you come here?” the Shadow asked.
Rubbing at her neck, Emory motioned to his chains, the collar around his neck. “You said we need each other. I’m here to propose a bargain.”
“Like the one where I tell you who I am in exchange for you healing me? That didn’t exactly end well for me, in case you haven’t noticed.”
“I kept my word. I healed you.”
“And left me weak enough for the draconics to capture me and hurt me some more.”
Emory crossed her arms. She wouldn’t let herself feel guilty over that. “Do you want my help or not?”
There might have been a spark of a smile in his eyes as he asked, “What do you propose?”
“I need you to show me how to control my magic. And you clearly need me to get you out of these chains and heal you again along with whatever other reason there is that you’ve kept me alive so far. The deal is you don’t go anywhere near my friends, and I hear you out.”
