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Merytamun pulls me forward, cupping my other hand around Kayvon’s head, pulling me into a tender kiss that I allow. And yet, despite knowing it is meant for Artaxerxes, I can feel Kayvon returning it. When Merytamun pulls back, she simply replies, "You never lost me; we were simply waiting for each other."

There's a softness in Kayvon's eyes that I think is shared across both the souls inhabiting him, a recent awe that quickly turns to steely resolve just as the inky black reaches our feet. I look down and see it begin to envelop us, a cold, unforgiving sensation, the opposite of a mother's warmth, a cruel world made manifest. But when I look back up and see Kayvon's eyes, the real Kayvon's, staring back into mine, the fear and dread evaporate in an instant.

At that moment, I know that Kayvon, I, Artaxerxes, and Merytamun are aligned on this mission. But, more importantly, I know that Kayvon and I are together again.

Kayvon clutches his necklace, the winged figure I now know as the Faravahar, the symbol of Ahura Mazda, and chants a cleansing Avesta that causes the darkness to peel off us like dried paint.

He continues the chant, the words causing the darkness to recede as I lead him from the bathroom and feel my own newfound knowledge burn its way through my brain. It's not that I now know the blueprint of the building, but it's that on some basic level, I know where the stars are, or at least the fastest way to them. With the darkness at bay, I no longer need to sneak off to the roof, but find my way back down to the rear entrance, out toward the obelisk behind the museum that I know has an unobstructed view of the sky.

Along the way, Mikey and a few other guards move to block us, but the moment they set eyes on the glowing Faravahar, I see their expressions settle, dazed, relieved to no longer be angry over seemingly nothing.

The moment we’re outside and I see the sky, I finally understand: the problem wasn’t the stars—it was me. I’d been looking with Merytamun’s eyes at a sky no longer hers. She’d tried to show me, to reveal how her stars had shifted in two millennia, how the night’s clockwork had changed in her absence. I send her a silent apology for my ignorance, and feel her accept it just as quickly.

Then we are at the base of the obelisk, and all around the park I can hear more than see it. Anger, malice, people in constant conflict; they don’t want or can’t understand why they are so eager to pursue.

At that same moment, the inky black coalesces around us before it swells up again, becoming that same towering winged figure posturing just outside where Kayvon's light touches.

"Uh, now what do we do?" Kayvon asks before resuming his chanting, the light of his necklace flickering for the briefest moment.

My mind is still expanding, still taking in and organizing Merytamun's knowledge. I know we have to cleanse it, but I don't know how.

The beast circles us, climbing up and around the obelisk, appraising, picking its moment. I can feel myself panicking as Kayvon struggles to keep up the recitations that are keeping it at bay.

His voice is waning, getting tired, unable to carry the same confidence after so much chanting. Meanwhile, I continue looking up at the beast, at the way it seems to take on sharper features, clearly preparing to pounce.

That's when I finally realize. Past the figure, the stars don't look wrong anymore; in fact, in a strange way, like the cuneiform and my own self, they are becoming an answer. I now know what Artaxerxes meant: the failure he was talking about, why Merytamun was left to guard the jar by herself, the guilt he carried over her.

"I think, to defeat it, neither of us can do it alone. We have to consume it, and share it between us."

Kayvon gives me a wide-eyed, skeptical look. I hold his gaze as his eyes flick between the beast and me. "I need you to trust me, Kayvon. Do you trust me?"

This must have been it, the moment of truth for Artaxerxes and Merytamun. Kayvon keeps his eyes on mine, still chanting, and then nods.

In that moment, I trust my newfound wisdom. I clutch his face in both hands and kiss him, my trust made manifest as I cut off his chant. At the same moment, the creature, this Druj beast, this aspect of Kamak, pounces and envelopes us just like it tried to do to Kayvon the night before.

For a long moment, I am cold, trapped in an eternal void I would not wish on even Anthony. I can feel my sanity fading, my light and life going with it, the blackness all-encompassing. There are no edges to my consciousness in this place, and yet, I feel so utterly alone, and worse, lonely.

And then, warmth, just the slightest sensation on my lips, enough that I see a little dot of light punch through that darkness. Then another, then another. The heat of the touch, the warmth that trickles to envelope me as a loving embrace, the certainty of Kayvon's trust combined with whatever bizarre magic has become trapped between us turns that darkness into a tapestry of lights that only grows until it becomes a bonding aurora that encompasses a small quivering dot of what I now know is the source of all this suffering, the primordial Druj.

The aurora takes form; the embraced figures of Artaxerxes and Merytamun, shrouded in billowing light, hold the single speck of Druj before finishing what they started thousands of years ago. The little vibrating pebble of malice finally steadies before becoming a shining star of its own, and then, like they should have been allowed to all those millennia ago, all three fade away.

Chapter ten

Real Magic

My vision resolves, the tip of the obelisk obscuring a beautifully lit, star-filled night sky. More importantly, the stars don't look wrong anymore, or at least they look like they're supposed to in my head.

I keep feeling around inside my mind, realizing it is still ablaze with newfound knowledge, new memories, new revelations about my own ancestry and magic. Yet at the heart of all this newness is a Merytamun-shaped hole. It's bittersweet to know she was with me only at the end, but I refuse to take the gift she's given me for granted.

I keep feeling around my body, making sure it's as intact as my mind. It takes me a moment to find the edges of myself, for my sight to return, to realize I'm on my back. In a panic, I sit up, look around, and find I don't see the malicious shadow anymore. What I do see is Kayvon, limp, on his side, unconscious.

I rush to him, dread twisting in my chest as a thousand awful thoughts race through my mind. I roll him onto his back, and his eyes flutter open. "Shit, I died."

I stare wide-eyed. "What do you mean you died?"

"I mean I can see an angel."

It takes me a moment to understand. I punch him in the arm, then pull him into a desperate kiss. Pressing my forehead to his, I fight to keep my voice steady. "You idiot! I thought I actually lost you!"