Romie sagged against her with a quiet sob, all the vulnerability she’d never dared to show erupting out of her. She had no fight in her left to hide it. To act the part of the brave Dreamer.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Virgil Dade swallowing Emory in a tight hug. Emory clung to him, her rapid blinks indicating she was trying hard not to cry. Romie couldn’t help but wonder at the bond that had formed between them in her absence.
Virgil held Emory at arm’s length then, looking her over with a somber expression. “Are you all right?”
Emory nodded, though she looked dazed, uncertain. She glanced down at her hands like she was searching for signs of silver in her veins, the same way Romie was. But it was just like last time. Emoryshouldhave Collapsed—had seemed right on the verge of it, if her silver veins had been any indication—but hadn’t.
Romie left Nisha’s side to kneel over Aspen. The witch was still unconscious, her clothes a torn, bloodied mess around her middle, but the wound was closed in such a way that it almost had Romie wondering if she’d imagined Keiran plunging his hand through her chest.
Romie caught Emory’s gaze. “Will she recover?”
Emory hugged herself. “I think I managed to undo the damage.”She stared at the archway where the door had been, her face white with horror. “Virgil, please tell me that wasn’t really Keiran.”
Virgil sighed. “You’re not going to like this, but yeah, it sort of was.”
“How?”
“Artem Orlov got a Reanimator to bring him back from the dead.” The acidity in Virgil’s voice as he explained the particulars of how that had happened made it clear he was disgusted with such a perverse act of magic. “I told Artem reanimation would come at a cost. Interfering with death like that, even for someone who’s Collapsed… A person can’t come back wholly themselves. That might’ve looked like Keiran, but he came back without his soul intact, that’s for sure.”
“If he had one to begin with,” Nisha mumbled.
Emory looked like she wanted to say something but didn’t. Romie knew what she was thinking: that whatever had taken hold of Keiran was not human. Those eyes…
They mirrored those of the demon who’d possessed Bryony.
“You said someone who’s Collapsed,” Romie said with a frown. “You mean the Reanimator who brought Keiran back?”
“Yeah.”
“And that kind of unchecked power didn’t kill all of you?” Romie choked out.
The others looked at her as if she’d grown three heads.
Virgil smacked his own head. “Shit, that’s right, they don’t know.”
“Know what?” Romie snapped.
“About Collapsing. Turns out it’s not the curse it’s made out to be, not really. It gives Eclipse-born limitless power, and most seem to be able to live with it if they can escape the Unhallowed Seal.” He nudged Emory. “So you don’t need damper cuffs or any of that shit if you Collapse while we’re here. If Baz and Kai can handle it, so can you.”
The ground tilted beneath Romie’s feet. “What did you just say?” Her pulse stuttered as Virgil and Nisha exchanged a look.“Did Baz Collapse?”
It was the other girl who answered—Vera, if Romie remembered her name correctly, having met her once before at the Veiled Atlas when she was looking for answers on Adriana Kazan. “He’s been Collapsed ever since that incident at your father’s printing press.”
The words were slow to sink in. “No. That would mean…” Romie took a step back. “My father’s Collapsing got peoplekilled.”
“Your father was never the one who Collapsed,” Nisha said gently. “Baz was. Your father took the fall for him.”
Romie breathed out a disbelieving laugh. “We’re talking aboutBaz. My recluse of a brother. The guy who’s afraid of using even the tiniest speck of magic.”
“You’ve been gone for quite a while, dream girl,” Virgil said. “Your brother’s kind of a badass now.”
“Tides,that’show he was able to stop my Collapsing,” Emory said suddenly, staring off into the middle distance. “Back in Dovermere, when we were fighting against Jordyn-turned-umbra… That kind of power…”
“It could only come from someone who’s Collapsed,” Virgil finished for her. “If you want more proof, take the magic Kai used in Dovermere to fight the umbrae. I mean,wewere passed out around the Hourglass at the time and didn’t see it, but from what we heard, it was pretty incredible.”
Emory frowned. “I kept wondering if I’d imagined it, but… How did Kai even have access to his magic? He had the Unhallowed Seal.”
“Baz took it off,” Vera said. “He used his own Collapsed magic to revert time, make it so that Kai never got the Unhallowed Seal. Which means Kai now also has limitless magic.”
