“You and Virgil. What exactly were you two doing outside yesterday before you spotted Louis and Javier beyond the wards?” Even with everything else going on that morning, Emory hadn’t failed to notice the state of them, all swollen-lipped and covered in sand.
“Ah, well. I’m not one to kiss and tell.” Vera’s smile had told Emory enough. Her cousin had pulled her into a tight hug. “Tell Aunt Adriana hi for me.”
Emory had squeezed her back, not wanting this to be goodbye. “You can tell her yourself once she’s home.”
She could only hope this would work.
The room went quiet as Sidraeus appeared out of thin air. Emory’s breath caught in her throat. He really did look the part of the Shadow, wearing a suit of black that fit him like a glove, those spiral runes peeking out of the collar on his neck. His mask was cracked just like her own, the seams filled in with gold, contrasting beautifully with the black of the skeletal-shaped mask. A wicked crown of obsidian rested atop his dark auburn curls.
And as those ecliptic eyes found hers across a sea of people, as all the tension seemed to lift from his shoulders, Emory knew that the conversation they’d had yesterday in the alley… It had changed something between them. Theyweremirrors, in so many ways. And this time, Emorywantedto keep looking at her reflection. At the way she was reflected in his eyes, even as he peered into the dark truth of her.
And Tides. He was beautiful.
But she couldn’t focus on that now.
Sidraeus came to stand beside her, sparing a solemn nod for Baz while his eyes still held Emory’s, taking her breath away all over again. “Are we ready?”
She knew he meant it as a collectivewe, but when he spoke, it sounded like he did so only to her, as if they were the only two people here.
“Ready,” Emory breathed, grabbing the hand he extended toward her.
The Tidecaller and the deity who favored her. They looked the part. Mirrored opposites, lunar and ecliptic, light and dark.
Now they just needed to convince people that there was nothing unhallowed or evil about them and their magic, and hope that Atheia and the Tidelore faith hadn’t already corrupted everyone’s minds against them.
Sidraeus transported everyone to the iron gates of Aldryn, where the silver-wrought motto glistened in the moonlight:Post tenebras lux; iterum atque iterum.After darkness, light; again and again.
A crowd was already gathered here, all of them wearing dark clothes and Shadow masks of their own, a veritable sea of supporters chanting in unison to be let in. Directly on the other side of the gates stood men in Regulator uniforms, their faces set in stoic annoyance.
The gates of Aldryn had never been closed or guarded this way. They’d been expecting this, but Emory still felt anger rising inside her. She pushed to the front of the crowd tomakethe Regulators open the gates if she had to.
She noticed then the dozens of students on the other side of the gate who were shouting things behind the line of Regulators. The idea of former classmates screaming obscenities at those who supported Eclipse-born made Emory want to strike them. Until she heard what they were shouting.
“Open the gates!”
Their anger wasn’t directed at the protesters—it was directed at the Regulators.
Emory’s gaze fell on a familiar face among the lunar students. It took her a beat to recognize Penelope West. Gone was the doe-eyed girl with the bubbly nature; in her place stood a girl molded of fierce tenacity, her dark hair cut in a severe slant just below the chin, her mouth running a mile a minute as she shouted at a burly Regulator two heads taller than her. She looked fearless, confident, and the makeshift Shadow mask in her hand—which all thestudents gathered behind the gate had, either in their hands or on their face—made Emory’s heart swell.
“Nel?”
Penelope’s head whipped toward her at the sound of her nickname. There was a moment of confusion as Penelope took her in, making Emory remember she had on her mask. She grabbed hold of the iron bars, the newly combined sigil on the back of her hand facing out. Penelope’s eyes went wide with recognition as she took in the tattoo.
“Em?” Penelope tried to get past the Regulator, but he blocked the way.
“Step back from the gates, please,” barked another Regulator at Emory.
Emory gave him a hard stare.“Open the gates,”she said, lacing Glamour magic in her words. She addressed all of the Regulators at once, extending her magic to them.“Let us all through, and do not come after us.”
A glazed look passed over their eyes, and they all complied with her command, the gates screeching open to cheers and applause. Emory stepped through with everyone else. Hands pulled her to the side, and she found herself face to face with Penelope.
“Tides, it really is you,” Penelope breathed.
Emory felt a thousand emotions choking her up. Last time she’d seen Penelope, Emory had been led to believe that her friend had ousted her as a Tidecaller to the dean of Aldryn—before Penelope had been doomed to have her memory wiped by the Selenic Order. Guilt spiked through Emory thinking how bad of a friend she’d been to Penelope.
“I’m sorry for everything, Nel,” she said. Maybe this wasn’t the time with everything going on around them, but she had to get the words out. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you, and I’m—I just—thank you for being here.”
Penelope squeezed her hand. “A bunch of us heard your message on the radio. You have our support, whatever you need.”
