Page 121 of In Between Death and the Devil

“You might arouse suspicion if you poke around anymore,” I said. The idea of her disappearing next or Death realizing she was a spy wasn’t something I could stomach.

“Maeve’s right,” Fen said. “We need to focus on ending Death’s rule once and for all. The best way to stop it from happening is to get Maeve ready to challenge Death.”

All eyes turned to me. It made me want to run and hide. There was already so much riding on the outcome of the challenge.

“The Guardian said the second trial would happen when you were ready, right?” Daphne asked.

I’d told them at breakfast, and Daphne must have told Bea because she looked unsurprised by Daphne’s comment.

“Yes.”

“Then we concentrate on getting you ready,” Titus said.

The weight on my chest grew heavier, but I nodded. What else was I going to do?

“I need to get back,” Bea said. She and Daphne headed for the portal to the next room.

I took a step forward to intercept her, my feet moving of their own accord.

She looked at me, her expression wary.

The distance between us felt wrong. It wasn’t that I trusted her. Truthfully, I didn’t know how I felt about her, but I didn’t like that she was hurting. “I’m sorry about your friend.” I swallowed as her face softened, her eyes growing glassy.

“Thanks.”

“Be careful.” It came out harder than I intended, and she stiffened.

“I’m always careful.” Brushing past me, she disappeared through the portal into the next room.

Daphne raised her eyebrows at me in exasperation before following.

I wanted to call after them, to clarify what I meant, but they were already gone.

* * *

The next few days flew by. I spent every waking minute training, either with the others or by myself, and my nights tangled up with Fen. During training, he taught me how to light-step, tricky at first to get the feel of, and to create illusions—small ones that only one person could see, and larger ones that engulfed a whole room of people. Unlike creating something tangible, it involved creating a shell to encase people in with a few concrete things inside and enough detail to fool someone into thinking it was real. It reminded me of my time in the Pool of Memory, and I was surprisingly good at it, which should have tipped me off that things were about to go pear-shaped.

One morning, Fen excused himself from my training, telling me I needed to learn to pull power without him present since he wouldn’t be able to be in the Challenge with me. He had a point, and it wasn’t difficult; I had to concentrate a little bit more than usual, but I missed his steady presence.

“Make those spheres bigger and keep them spinning,” Titus said, looking up at the hundreds of balls of lights I’d conjured that hung above our heads.

We were working on splitting my focus between as many tasks as I could manage. I’d already conjured a sound bubble for the room, areas of sand in the corners for softer landings, a sword for Titus, and a staff for Marcus. Rather than transforming or creating the items and leaving them, I maintained a continuous connection with each of them to stretch how much power I could draw. I did as Titus asked with the lights, manipulating them with ease even while keeping everything else in place. Power flowed easily through my connection with Fen, more than I’d ever channeled before. My capacity had been growing with every session.

“Now create something for Marcus to fight.”

A quiet curse from Marcus made me smile. The last time we’d done this, I’d created a giant salamander that chased him around the room, occasionally spouting fire, but I’d manipulated the salamander myself. With the number of things I was trying to learn to juggle, I needed to do something different. Something that didn’t require so much continuous attention.

With a flick of my hand, a human body took shape.

The curse from Marcus this time was louder and longer. I’d created a reflection of him, one that would mirror or counter his every movement. He lifted his staff and his twin easily blocked it.

“Clever,” Titus said with a chuckle. “Now weave an illusion around me.”

I cast my mind around for one I hadn’t used yet. I’d created the Soul Library, the Pool of Memory, a desolate plain, and my father’s office thus far. It didn’t need to be horrific, just something I could create in detail, like the kitchen where Titus had made me Minnog.

Picturing it in my mind, I let myself sink into the memory. Then I drew on Fen’s power and… hit a wall. It was so unexpected and abrupt that my magic faltered. Fake Marcus dissolved right as real Marcus swiped down with his staff, and the spheres above our heads winked out.

“Maeve?” Titus asked as Marcus staggered, nearly falling from the force of his swing and the disappearance of his staff.