I groaned and pushed myself up. My ribs barked in rebellion, but my arms hurt too much to wrap around them or attempt to ease the burn. “I never said it was smart,” I said from between clenched teeth.
Reggie moved as close as he could to me, just a few inches separating us. We were restricted by the shackles she’d enslaved us in, but there was just enough slack.
“Can you try not to?” he asked quietly. “For me, please.”
“Yes.” I nodded and grabbed Reggie’s hand, squeezing in reassurance. We would get out of here if I had to tear this cursed place to the ground to do it. He smiled back, as if he could read my thoughts. “There isn’t anything Samkiel or I wouldn’t do for our family, and I think Nismera severely underestimates that.”
“She does,” he said. “She does not feel like you or him. Her emotions are tied only to her need for conquest. When she finishes here and grows bored, she will attempt to claim places far from here.”
“Yeah, yeah, I heard the villain monologue,” I said, taking shallow breaths and looking at Reggie. “You’d think she—”
Reggie’s sisters whimpered, and we both turned toward them. Their hair was a tangled mess as they held each other, rocking back and forth. They swatted at their skin as if trying to put out phantom flames. Reggie never joined them in their visions or reactions, and I would be lying if I said that didn’t worry me. Was he not connected to the same source? Their heads shot back, their six eyes glowing eerily. Their heads snapped forward before turning to me in unison.
“The prophecy remains.”
“One falls.”
“One rises.”
“It was foretold and will remain.”
“One carved from darkness.”
“One carved from light.”
“The world will shudder.”
“The end begins,” they said in unison.
The sisters gasped, their eyes returning to normal as they fell out of the vision. They began to whimper as if what they’d seen caused them pain. They held each other tight, rocking back and forth.
I looked at Reggie. “Has the torture Nismera’s put them through caused them to get stuck in a past vision? It seems as if they’re repeating something that’s already passed.”
Reggie looked at me as his sisters continued to repeat the same words in hushed whispers, their faces buried in each other’s necks. “What do you mean?”
“The whole light and dark thing. This is how the world ends. Samkiel told me about the shuddering crack and all that. How it referred to Gabby.”
Reggie’s eyes grew forlorn. “I never said that prophecy was about your sister.”
“Oh,” I said, staring dumbly at him through my swollen eyes. “Wait? Then what is it about?”
Reggie looked at me, then at the ghost trapped with us. But it was not Reggie who spoke, but Unir.
“If Samkiel does not make it in time, if Nismera succeeds, it will mean the end of not just worlds but of everything. That has and will always be his destiny.”
I winced and looked at my father-in-law. He held my gaze, his eyes filled with only truth and what resembled sadness. Of course, he would have known the prophecy. He was the one who had locked Reggie up. A part of me wondered if this was at least part of the reason.
“Oh, so you didn’t call him the World Ender just to bolster his ego?” I asked, my lip curling. “Who would’ve thought?”
83
DIANNA
“The World Ender was not just his title but a warning for all to …” Unir huffed. “You’re not even listening to me, are you?”
“Nope.” I lay flat on my back, keeping as still as possible. I didn’t want to hear about the prophecy of his destiny. I believed in Samkiel more than myself. My husband was more than stubborn and would do anything to save me and others. He would make it, and gods be damned, as soon as I was free, I’d show them what their world ending really looked like. I concentrated on the ceiling, humming quietly to myself and counting the stones.
“You refuse to listen to what I have to say?” Unir asked.
