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  “From what I can tell,” Meira said, “the second isn’t going to make things any better.”

  Agreed. “And the first is supposedly what we’re meant to do.” Doombringer raised her ugly head. “Right?”

  Max shrugged. I hated his shrug about as much as his sigh.

  “You know,” my sister said, all the intensity draining from her as she sagged a bit, Ruler turning into my gorgeous younger sibling for a moment, “when the time came, when I realized the end was near, giving up the bond of the Node was the only thing I could do. So I could build it again from scratch.”

  The fact she was suggesting we do the same thing in so many words with the vastness of the Universe made my head hurt. And yet.

  And yet.

  “Creator must have a plan.” Max’s tone had changed, his calm returned. I wished I had his faith in Her. “She is calling the magicks home for reasons only She knows.” And maybe my son. “This must be the path we need to take.”

  That was an about face. “So we let the Universe fall apart.” Yeah, great idea. “You do realize that choice might lead to Dark Brother breaking through?”

  “If that’s the case,” Max said with his irritating calm, “then that is Her will.”

  Damn it.

  “This is a far cry from letting a bunch of planes revert to their natural state.” Why was I the only one angry about this? No, not the only one. The black ribbon flexed on my wrist.

  “You forget the Order soldiers are falling into the void as well,” Mabel said. My ancestress had chosen to side with her leader, then. Fair enough. “The likelihood planes of the Dark Universe are being drawn into the void is high.”

  But not confirmed. Still, her logic was solid. And sent a massive shiver down my spine.

  “So what you’re saying is we’re all going to end up in the same place.” The void. “When Creator’s statue is complete, we’ll be stuck there, every single one of us. Including Dark Brother and the Order.”

  No one said anything for a long time.

  “Are we done?” I spun sideways, shocked to find my son standing just outside our group, watching us. His face had returned to himself, but whatever had lived in him remained at the edges.

  I nodded, unable to think of a thing to say.

  “We need to move quickly from now on.” Like we hadn’t been trying. Or had we? As I thought about it, I realized how much time we seemed to have wasted, months on my part. I’d felt a need to move before, but this urgency that gripped me was new.

  And contrived. So, the Universe was finally ready to act, was it? Awesome.

  “You have a location for another piece?” He’d stood in my son’s way just a little while ago. Now, Max seemed like a complete convert to Gabriel’s need.

  “I don’t just yet.” My son’s frown was his own, his frustration showing. “But I will shortly. The time is coming, though. If we don’t act, if we don’t replace the pieces in the precise sequence intended from this moment on, the way between will be breeched and the Order will come through.” Not maybe. Not could.

  Will.

  Well, all righty then.

  ***

  Chapter Seventeen

  But it was Gabriel’s next statement that really did me in.

  “There,” he said, that single word drawing me into his magic as he showed me with a simple gesture exactly where the Universes intersected. I felt myself drawn physically to it even as my son went on. “Your guess the other Universe is disappearing is accurate, Mabel.” Well, at least it wasn’t just us. I examined the spot in the veil though my body remained in the Stronghold chamber. Disconcerting at first until I allowed my white sorcery to graze the edges and everything became clear.

  How had I missed this scar in the fabric of the veil? It ran through every single portion of it, tendrils tying the Universe together not only with power but with a frozen moment, an instant of time that felt like a scream waiting to be released. I shuddered from it even as I was drawn to it.

  It felt like doom.

  “Is this my fault?” I had to ask, didn’t know why it seemed so important.

  “Yes,” my son said, clear and without emotion. “And no.” His magic hugged mine, my sweets still in there, at least.

  “Have I been Doombringer all along?” Of course I had. He didn’t have to answer that.

  When I retreated to the Stronghold chamber, I realized two things. One, my son was my son again, the veil releasing him completely, at least for now. And two, no one else in the room had seen what I’d seen.

  That weight was mine to bear. Mine and Gabriel’s.

  There wasn’t much else we could do at that point. In our quick exodus after the shaking of the Stronghold, I’d missed who the guardian of the arm had been, the departure of his or her spirit. A shame, one I carried with guilt. Each of Max’s people deserved to be honored. I left him and the drach to do just that, taking my son with me when I departed for home, Sass and Jiao joining us. But instead of returning to Wilding Springs or Harvard or any number of other places I could have gone, my heart demanded I find something good I could do in the midst of the horrible I’d just discovered.

  I was the end of everything. And my son was, too.

  When I stepped out onto the stone floor of the elder council chamber below the pyramids at Giza, I wasn’t in the mood for arguments. Discussions. Talking, even. And, from the looks on the faces of those who remained they understood at least in part just how I was feeling.

  “Femke Svennson,” I said, voice dull and tired. So tired. “I’m going to fix her now.”

  That was the only warning they were going to get and could consider themselves lucky I took the time to tell them. Because telling was my new way of being.

  Yup.

  Before I could leave, though, Everonus spoke up. “You should know,” he said, “it’s not us who have held her down.”

  That was news. Okay, I’d listen a minute before going and saving my friend. If only to get what I needed to make it happen. “Talk.”

  “My magic has been holding her together, truth be told.” That was definitely news. The tall, handsome Sidhe looked drawn, and I realized then the very fact he was here, and not in the void with the rest of his people, was a miracle. He seemed stretched thin to me, as though his strength was failing. And I realized then it was only the magic of the elder council keeping him here on this plane, in the Universe, out of the void. I wondered how long they would be willing to sacrifice their own strength to protect him. To protect the final threads of earth magic remaining.

  Not much longer, most likely.

  “Something controls her,” he said, beautiful voice cracking softly. “Something I have been unable to free her from or identify clearly. And, as my strength fades it takes over more and more control of her.” He coughed delicately into one hand, a hand that shook from strain. “My time is short. I’m sure you are aware of the loss of the realm.”

  Duh. But I nodded instead of speaking that insult.

  “We release you from your promise,” Everonus said. “Save Femke and do what you can to restore her to power before this is over.”

  He knew, did he? Where this was all heading. I turned my back on him and took us home, to the place where my heart remained, to the one spot where maybe I could curl up in bed, hug the pillow that still smelled of Liam thanks to the magic of that place and try to pull myself together.

  Ran into a wall of nothing before stumbling, shocked, into the basement of city hall in Wilding Springs. I spun toward the entry that should have been there, reached for it, found only stone and emptiness. And did my best not to cry while my son did it for me, holding tight to my hand as he, too, realized the truth.

  The Gate. The cavern.

  Gone.

  It was only then, standing in the semi-dark of the mundane basement I realized without Cian, without Aiolainn, I’d lost my chance to find Liam. So random, that thought, so outside what I should have been worrying about. And yet, if anything could
make me finally break down and cry, it was knowing my darling oak tree was lost to me forever at last.

  I fell to my knees next to my son, clutched his weeping form to my chest and sobbed like Liam had died all over again.

  It was the touch of a known mind that drew me out of my grief. I sagged against my son as Nona reached out and gently interrupted.

  She made no mention of my obvious state. Instead, she sent quietly, Everonus is no longer with us.

  I stared blindly at the place where the cavern entrance should have been and nodded into the air as if she could see me. Noted the complete loss, now, of all earth magic outside of Shaylee, shivering and crying inside me. It wasn’t right, how that giant power sighed out its ending into the void. No earthquake met its departure, no rumble of a thunderstorm in the distance to mark its passing. Just the sigh of a sad and lonely magic leaving us behind.

  Understood. It took a great deal of effort to stand, to draw my son upright. Sassafras helped, his own face wet with tears, Jiao’s jaw jumping as if she fought off the inevitable. Nice of them to let me grieve, though.

  I needed that.

  I suppose, I sent to the old maji woman, you’re as ancient as the rest of them. Because that would just be the icing on the cake for me right now. To have been fooled into thinking she was really the Zornov’s grandmother.

  But her wry laughter told me otherwise. Heaven forbid, she sent. I’m just a weary old woman, Syd. From a long line of maji blood who have carried this weight through the centuries. I never told you, but the Hayle family is no stranger to me. My great grandmother aided your ancestor, Auburdeen, when she needed it most.

  I had no idea.

  Ask Sassafras about it, she sent. Or, better yet, I’ll tell you the story myself one day. She paused, sad and pensive. When this is over.

  If there was a when to look forward to.

  And no, she sent. The children have no idea I’m on the elder council, so don’t give them trouble for my duplicity.

  Since Apollo and Owen already confirmed as much, I let it go.

  I have to confess, she sent. I’ve been training Trill to take my place, however. Something that won’t happen now.

  Because the elder council will be gone with the rest of the Universe, I sent, or because she has another destiny? I couldn’t bring myself to be angry with the younger Zornov anymore. She’d helped us, hadn’t she? If only I knew what game she was playing.

  Perhaps both. I loved cryptic. Not. I feel your fear, Sydlynn Hayle. Yeah, it was there, creeping beneath the surface of my guilt and sorrow. No one ever accused me of a good poker face. The opposite, frankly. And while it may not help, please know I trust in you. In what you must do and how you will succeed, no matter your worries. At least one of us did. And I trust Trillia. Something that was finally growing on me, too. I felt myself relax as Nona went on. She has a big job ahead of her. So stop being so mean to her and pay attention.

  Did she just chastise me, really?

  Well, considering Trill was the reason we had the arm back in place, I was willing to finally consider maybe the Zornov maji had an important role to play in this, too. I just wished things could be easy for once, straight forward.

  As if.

  Nona let me go while I looked down into my son’s sad face.

  “I’m sorry,” he choked. “It’s all gone because I had to put the piece back.”

  No way was he carrying this alone. Forget trying to relieve him of his burden completely. I knew better from intimate experience. But at least he could have some help lugging the baggage around.

  “You’re a Hayle as much as an O’Dane,” I said, brushing reddish blond curls back from his cheeks. “Tough choices are our way of life, sweets. I wish it could be otherwise. But I’m here, we’re all here.” I felt Sass’s magic answer kindly, the shift in his power as he took cat form. Gabriel willingly lifted the rotund silver Persian into his arms and welcomed Sass’s heavy, power laden purr, knowing the purpose of it and letting it in as I’d learned to. “And no matter what happens, we do what we do because it’s the right thing.”

  “The only thing.” Gabriel buried his nose in Sass’s fur. “I want to go home, Mom.”

  The house. His old room. I saw it in his mind. And opened the way to the kitchen while my mind tried to decipher more from my conversation with Nona so I didn’t have to think about more painful things.

  What if Trill knew what the pieces would do? That almost pulled me to a halt. What if she diverted the arm because its return would trigger something we weren’t ready for? A chain of events kind of thing? I stepped out into the warmth of late afternoon and into the power of the coven as that epiphany hit. That would make sense. Though the fact we didn’t feel ready for any of this wasn’t lost on me. Still. It fit, right?

  I needed to talk to Max. If Trill was controlling the order of the return of the pieces…

  But why? Who told her? Maybe Zoe. Fate had a direct line to Creator. That would tie things together, right? If that was the case, why not just freaking tell me already? There had to be a reason to keep me in the dark.

  If I was right about Trill’s role, this changed everything.

  The massive understanding of that thought already in my mind, I rocked back on my heels as Trill’s mental touch slammed into mine before I could even close the veil behind me.

  She appeared at my side, jerking me free of my son while Gabriel just watched. Sass squeaked a protest and Jiao lunged for me, but too late. I plunged back into the veil, not under my own power, in the control of the one person in the Universe I wasn’t sure I could trust.

  ***

  Chapter Eighteen

  I almost fought her. Would have, just a little while ago, before the encounter in the chapel in Sanctuary. Instead, at war inside about who she was and what that might mean, I let her take me deep into the veil before reaching out to speak to her.

  Trill. I carefully kept judgement and anger from my mental voice. I need to know what’s going on.

  She didn’t answer that particular question, instead pulling to a halt and pointing below us. She’d formed some kind of window in the veil and I felt compelled to follow her gesturing index finger with my gaze even as I wondered how she managed such a feat.

  How much had she changed from the girl I used to know?

  The moment I looked into the window, we were falling together, though when we emerged through the other side I knew it wasn’t like passing through the veil. I felt insubstantial, almost ghostlike. As if my consciousness had made the trip without my body.

  And almost leaped from my skin when I turned to see a tall, scowling demon staring back at me. I knew her, had seen her this way only once before. When she’d left my body and I feared she’d never return. She wasn’t alone, the slim, worried form of Shaylee waving meekly at me. But it was the cold, pale appearance of the vampire essence, her icy white eyes and hair wavering softly around her that shook me the most.

  Ladies, she sent, nodding to Trill who watched us with her lower lip clamped between her teeth.

  I’m sorry, she sent. I forgot you’re not just you. She shrugged, hands flexing before she stilled again. I hope this is okay.

  As long as you can put us all back again, my demon snarled, her black horns sparking with amber fire.

  I’m sure that’s the case, Shaylee sent. Isn’t it, Trill?

  Of course. Confidence. As long as it wasn’t an act.

  Odd to see you this way, my vampire sent, a faint smile on her lips. Her skin was completely white, and without lines, her eyes huge, rimmed in black. She gave me the creeps, honestly, body shimmering with spirit power under the slim fitting white dress she wore.

  You too, I sent, clamping my mental teeth together to keep them from chattering. It felt so lonely like this. They were still part of me, of the physical me, but I missed having them in my head.

  So weird.

  Come. Trill gestured for us to follow and we did, drifting through dark hallways of black
stone.

  Where are we? I glanced around, not recognizing anything. We weren’t on my home plane, or any other that felt familiar. And when we passed a window, I looked out for a landmark. And saw only darkness. Not a moon, a star, nothing in the sky.

  This place is protected by Dark Brother and his power. Trill continued moving and I flinched when someone marched toward us. But the tall, slim young man simply walked through my guide and past me as I hastily moved aside. This is the only way we can penetrate Belaisle’s stronghold.

  Belaisle’s—

  Yes. My demon’s snarl of victory crackled with power as Trill led us around a sharp corner and into a wide, tall ceilinged room that ached with darkness. But even that black couldn’t disguise the shining pieces resting on the stone dais. Even through the shroud of sorcery meant to keep them safe, the foot and ear of Creator glowed with the power of She who made them.

  A mix of excitement and terror washed over me. Why the sudden hurry? And why was Trill helping us now? Unless I was right and she’d somehow ended up the one who decided when and where the pieces were returned.

  You must bring these back to Creator. Trill’s hands shook, her body vibrating with tension she hadn’t shown before. Her head lowered and when she looked back up again she had regained control.

  Belaisle is here, isn’t he? Of course he was. And I could put an end to this once and for all.

  Let’s go find out. My demon turned, ready to tear him apart with her spirit alone. But Trill’s sharp cry stopped her, stopped all of us.

  Please, you have to listen. She took a breath, though I was sure her soul didn’t technically need to breathe. There is a time and a place for everything.

  An order, I said, feeling my own chest tighten. Or that’s how it came across. Did my soul have a chest? Too confusing to worry about.

  Exactly. She gave great weight to that word, staring me down a moment before going on. My vampire tilted her head to the right, observing with her cool calculation.