Caedisterra, God of Blood and Balance, grants the gift of chance. Architect of the cosmic balance, he hears the prayers of scholars asking to understand what can or cannot be.
The Book of Cygnus: Caedisterra 1:1–2
When Claudia opens her eyes, she’s no longer in her room at Cygnus. She’s standing in a snowy forest, dressed all in white, surrounded by nothing but quiet darkness. Above her, the dark sky is hooked by a thin, curved moon.
She’s back in the Realm of Nightmares.
“Dorian?” she calls out.
There is no response. She’s simultaneously disappointed and relieved. She wants comfort and familiarity. She wants his powerin her veins. She wants him to promise her she won’t get killed at Cygnus.
But she doesn’t want that bone-deep chill from being in his presence. She fears the inevitable shame of the following day, knowing she’ll regret throwing herself at him for a spill of his magic that she finds so addictive.
She walks forward through the snow, and the trees part to reveal the Jolicoeur estate. She’s close enough to see light cutting through her bedroom window. At first, it looks empty, but then someone pushes the window open.
It’s… her. It’s Claudia. She’s staring up at her past self. Nightmare Claudia is wearing the blue dress she wore upon her arrival at Cygnus, but there’s no blood.
Yet.
The nightmare bends and warps until Claudia is hovering above the scene, as though she’s standing on the roof or perched in a tree or floating through space. All she knows is that she’s high above the ground, and she can see the mirror version of herself with uncanny clarity. She hadn’t realized just how sick she looked before she left. Those are the gaunt cheeks and hollow eyes of a dying girl. The nightmare version looks exactly like her mother toward the end of her life.
She watches the scene play out with nightmarish exaggerations—her father barges in, and he’s twice the size he should be, with fangs for teeth and black holes for eyes. Nightmare Claudia holds a letter in her hand.
She doesn’t want to watch what happens next, but she doesn’t have a choice. No one can look away from a nightmare.
It all happens in slow motion—the apparition of the Doorway, Bishop’s striking bite, the blade straight through her father’s heart.
And then there is blood. An ocean of it. It fills the whole room, rising like a tide, until Nightmare Claudia can do nothing but breathe it in and sink to the floor. Bubbles rise from where Nightmare Claudia sank.
Claudia watches her mirror self drown to death in blood, and when she screams, the scene turns to smoke.
Then she falls.
Endless black swells around her. There is no ground coming into view. Nothing but wind and night. It feels as if she’ll fall forever.
Part of her wishes she could. At least here, she can’t get caught by the killer in the waking world. And being trapped here would be a fitting punishment for what she did to her father. The guilt has been eating away at her, day and night. She did something terrible, made worse because she got away with it. Facing some sort of consequence is the only thing she can think of that would make it go away. Maybe that would make her good again.
A cold force collides with her, tearing her out of the air. She recognizes him by his scent alone—mint and ice and ash.
Dorian.
“What the hell are you doing here, Starling?” he growls, cradling her tightly to his chest when he lands hard on the ground.
For once, she can’t think of anything to say. Her teeth chatter, and her entire body trembles.
“You shouldn’t have come here again,” he snaps. “Do you understand how frightened you have to be to fall into this realm? What could have scared you so much?” His icy breath breezes across her face. She leans into his hold, searching for heat that isn’t there. A man made of winter cannot keep her warm.
Finally, she says, “There’s a killer out there, Dorian.”
Something in his demeanor shifts. The corner of his mouth twitches. “What?”
“I found a page from a deceased student’s diary. People say she died in her sleep, but that’s not true. She was killed, and it was because of her power. Power that she and I share.”
His green eyes widen, and silver light glistens around his catlike pupils. “Another celestial witch?”
“Yes. She was working with Professor Lamour, who, as far as I know, is the only other one of us left. And this killer… They’ve been doing this for acentury. As soon as Sidarphion left, they started murdering celestial witches. They would’ve killedyouif you weren’t hidden here.” She shudders, swallowing hard. Cold tears well in her eyes, but she blinks them away. “They came back for Odette. And I’m going to be next.”
“No, you’re not. I won’t let that happen.”
