40KAI
THE PATH EXPLODED. THEY WEREdoomed indeed as it lurched dangerously, like a spiral staircase whose tethers had been blown out and would send them all falling back into the abyss.
The god of balance moved toward Baz fast as lightning.
Kai was faster.
He had already let Clover slip away despite the pent-up rage that had made him want to wring his neck, to force him to experience even a tiny fraction of all the hurt he’d caused. He would not let this god take Baz—wouldn’t let Baz slip through his fingers so soon after they’d been reunited.
He latched onto Baz’s arm just as the god reached him too, and the three of them were swept up by a vortex of threads that felt entirely too familiar.
For a second, Kai thought they would end up in the past like last time. Instead, they were in what looked like a workshop that was in a state of total disarray. It was as if the chaos they’d left behind hadfollowed them here. The glass panes of grandfather clocks were shattering before his eyes, instruments were falling off their shelves and crashing to the floor, strident whistles were making a cacophony of sound, needles whirring as they spun uncontrollably.
And in the very center of it all was a giant loom that had fallen off its perch, the threads it had been spinning all tangled up as plumes of smoke rose from it. The god of balance stared at the broken loom, gripping his hair tightly and muttering a string of unintelligible curses.
This was his workshop, Kai realized. The very same one Farran had described to him.
While the god had his back turned to them, Baz bent to pick something up and pocketed it quicker than Kai could see what it was. Baz met his gaze. Kai still held his arm tightly, afraid he’d lose him if he let go. As if thinking the same, Baz grabbed his hand, interlacing his fingers through his.
“Is this real?” Kai whispered.Are you real?
He’d been wondering ever since Baz had appeared on the path. Too afraid to ask in case it was hell’s way of torturing him, or his own mind playing tricks on him again.
Baz’s answer now wiped away that fear. “Yes, it’s real.”
Kai let out a long exhale, leaning his forehead against Baz’s. “I never thought I’d see you again.”
“Neither did I,” Baz breathed.
“This would all be very touching if you hadn’t just obliterated fate.”
Beside the toppled loom now sat the god of balance, shoulders slumped, beads of sweat pearling on his forehead. Kai couldn’t help but be underwhelmed by the sight of him. He’d thought the four gods of the living seemed plainer than expected, but at least they’d had a commanding presence. The god of balance just looked hopeless, defeated.
Voice shaking slightly, Baz asked, “Why did you bring me back here?”
The god took four pocket watches out of his ugly patterened vest and studied them morosely. His face grew graver by the second. “Do you understand what it is you’ve done?”
“I did what I had to,” Baz said, gripping Kai’s hand tighter, “to save those I love.”
The god peered at Kai. “By switching his fate with Clover’s, yes, only for Clover to evade that fate once you broke the hourglass. And now he’s made himself into a god, drawing on the souls of the dead to power himself.”
“He was going to destroy us all,” Baz argued. “And once he did that,youwere going to reset the worlds.”
The god shook his head. “It doesn’t matter now. Chaos has won. The tapestry of fate is destroyed.Youdid so by breaking the hourglass. I can’t see the outcome now. I don’t know what will happen next. And I certainly cannot fix what Clover has done with his newfound godhood.”
Kai felt Baz’s hand go slack in his. “What did he do?”
“He has remade the worlds. You threw balance off its axis by breaking fate, and now everything has descended into pure chaos. Clover seized the opportunity to harness power like no other. The power of us true gods will dwindle until there is nothing of us left. Our magic, ouruniverse, is in Clover’s hands now, and he will do with it as he pleases.” A sharp, nearly hysterical laugh. “It’s all over.”
Baz shook his head in defiance. “No. There’s always hope.”
“Hope?” The god rose to his feet, looking angry now. “What is hope in the face of a tyrant god? What is hope against the kind of destruction there is no coming back from? What Clover has done is irreversible. He has fueled himself with death itself, and so death will keep eating away at this new universe of his like termites until there is nothing left of the realms.”
“And you resetting the worlds would have been better?” Kai snapped.
“Yes. It would have been a fresh start, a spark of new life. You won’t get that now. Clover’s destruction will be absolute, and no one can stop him, not I nor the four gods, not—”
“Emory could.” The conviction in Baz’s voice was unwavering. “I’ve seen her defeat him.”
