Ahead of her, Cassius nods.
In every way, it’s the perfect, gorgeous opposite of the Realm of Nightmares. Claudia hates that they’re about to stain it all with blood. This world doesn’t deserve to contain such horrors.
But it will all be over soon, and then they can spend the rest of their days here. They can dream as much as they want. This is where the nightmares end.
Stopping beside the vast, shimmering lake, Cassius opens the Doorway with a swift sentence. It yawns like a mouth in front of him, framed by white flame.
“I’ll be back as fast as I can,” Cassius says. “Be ready.”
He gives Claudia one long look, followed by one quick kiss before he steps through and disappears into the black.
The rest of them stand close by, waiting. A cold breeze twirls through the humid air. Claudia shivers. A minute of silence has passed when a chilling thought comes over her.
“Angel?” she calls.
“Yes?”
She should’ve asked her next question earlier. They should’ve thought of it before they let Cassius leave. She swallows hard, eyes locked forward on the Doorway. “What are the chances we all make it out alive?”
Angel pales. Stiffens. He pulls a small notebook from his pocket and scribbles on the paper for a whole minute. His eyes narrow. Shaking his head, he scratches over his work and tries again. He does this two more times before looking over at Claudia with sad, shiny eyes.
“Zero.”
CONSUMMATUM EST
A perfect outcome is the only impossibility.
Caedisterra, God of Blood and Balance
The air is tense and icy while they stand haloed around the Doorway. Waiting for Triche. Waiting to kill. Waiting for death.
At least one of them won’t make it out, and it’s too late to change the plan. Cassius has already left. He and the High Sage are likely on the way back.
This is it.
Starlake towers behind them, and Claudia wishes they could run inside, lock the doors, draw the curtains, and pretend there’s no world outside those walls. She wishes she could take it all back—all of it. Her bargain with Sidarphion, her love withCassius, her friendships with everyone around her. For the first time, she confronts the idea that it may not have been worth it, that maybe this is a worse fate than the one she’d been dealt before she traded her soul.
The wet wind whistles and howls. Claudia’s fingers twitch around a needle in one hand, and pages of celestial spells in another. Out of the corner of her eye, she spots Alistair, his hands trembling around vibrant potions and elixirs. Angel stands at his side, his arm around him. They look at each other for a long time, knowing this could be the last time.
Will it be one of them? Oh gods, will it be Alistair? Claudia can’t stomach the thought. Alistair turns his head and meets Claudia’s gaze. His eyes are glassy, his face hopeless and afraid.
“I love you, Claud,” he mouths.
“I love you, Alis,” she mouths back.
She looks down at the pillowy, lake-fed grass at her feet, for she can’t bear to look at him anymore. It hurts too much.
“Don’t you dare die on me again,” Marcherie whispers to Odette. Odette strokes Marcherie’s hand with her fingers.
“It won’t be me,” she says.
That comment echoes in Claudia’s ears. What makes Odette so sure? What does she know that they don’t? She’s about to ask, but the Doorway shimmers. Metallic resonance fills the air.
Cassius steps through first, his face pale as milk as he rushes to Claudia’s side.
High Sage Triche follows. The Doorway closes behind him. It takes him but a second to realize the position he’s in. Shock slaps across his face when he sees Claudia. His jaw hits the ground when he sees Odette.
He doesn’t look afraid, though.
