Page 148 of In Between Death and the Devil

Death was on the other side, light already trailing from her fingertips. Her face was a mask of concentration.

“What do I do?” I asked.

“Follow my lead,” he said, reaching for my hand.

Our fingers twined as we delved into our power and let it loose. Light and shadows wove together, racing along the bridge into every fissure.

I could feel the texture of every stone and plank of wood my power touched. Sensing there was more, I let my sight go hazy and sank beneath the surface of walls and floor. The fabric of the In Between lit up like a heavy blanket of stars. I could see it bulge and stretch along every seam.

Our power poured into every breach, knitting them back together. My light twined with Fen’s, following his lead, but the cracks filled more slowly than they had when he and Death had healed the bridge in the past. It was because I was pulling power from Fen rather than wielding my own, I realized. There were so many cracks, like strands of a rope fraying faster than we could grab them. Fen’s and Death’s powers were strongest working together. He and I would be better off working separately.

I gently pulled back, untwining my power from Fen’s, and reached instead for as many frayed threads as I could gather.

“What are you doing?” Fen asked.

“Combine your powers with Death’s. It’ll work faster. I’ll try to stem the tide.”

He blew out an aggressive breath, but his shadows reached for Death’s light.

Her jaw tightened, but she followed his lead. Their combined powers snaked behind my light, pouring into the gaps I was holding together.

The three of us fell into a rhythm. Catch. Hold. Knit. Release. Over and over. Power flowed easily between Fen and me. There was no strain or resistance. I didn’t see any of his memories, but that was probably because we weren’t drawing that much power. Knitting the realm back together was more time consuming than power draining. If we lost the battle, it would be because we’d run out of time.

Immersed in our task, everything else faded away. I let go of anything that wasn’t my awareness of the bridge, our powers, or the fabric of the In Between, and slowly, so painfully slowly, we started to catch up. The breakage slowed to a pace we could almost keep up with.

A yell broke my concentration, and my sight flickered, the surface of the bridge coming back into view. I looked up to see Bea running down the corridor of Death’s castle towards us.

Two Judges chased her, pushing people aside in their haste to get to her as she dodged and weaved through the crowd that had gathered. My breath caught as she broke through, passed Death, and ran onto the bridge. Her pursuers balked, pulling up short just behind Death, but Bea didn’t stop. She kept running, weaving slightly to keep her balance as the floor shook.

My eyes flicked to Death. Her mouth flattened, but she otherwise ignored Bea.

“Maeve.” Fen’s voice pulled me back to the task at hand. If we didn’t save the bridge, Bea would be lost.

Sinking back into the state of heightened awareness, I redoubled my efforts. Catch. Hold. Knit. Release. But my momentary distraction had cost us, and the progress we’d made started to slip. I tried to concentrate, but a loud crash made me jump.

Bea’s scream made me look up. She clung to the wall, a chunk of the ceiling inches from her feet.

Cursing, I poured my attention back into catching the fast-fraying threads, trying to ignore the way my pulse raced and the sinking feeling in my gut. We were losing ground faster than we could gain it.

I glanced up to see Bea push off the wall and keep running. She was still less than halfway across. I didn’t know what would happen to the In Between if the bridge broke, but Bea would stand no chance if she was on it when it did.

“Fen.” My voice shook.

“She’ll make it. Keep working.” He squeezed my hand in reassurance, but I felt his doubt through our bond.

Catch. Hold. Knit. Release. I tried to lose myself in the rhythm, but it was clear that the bridge wasn’t going to hold together much longer.

My eyes flicked to Bea, calculating the distance. “She’s not going to make it.” There was only one way I could think of to get her to safety.

“She will. We can’t stop.” Fen’s grip tightened on my hand, sensing my intention.

“It’s over.”

“No, it’s not.” He forced the words through gritted teeth.

I looked over at Death. Panic bled into her expression as she saw what I had: the bridge was as good as lost.

“I’m sorry.” Pulling my hand from Fen’s, I dropped the ribbons of my light holding onto the bridge and took a step forward through a rent in the air. I landed a few feet from Bea as she raced towards me.