Page 340

You are consecrated. And that is always harder.

The woman spoke with a voice like thunder, beautiful and terrible and full of fury.

Taly knew it instantly. In her blood, she recognized the call.

“She’s here, isn’t she?” Aneirin scowled, eyes searching the room. “Lachesis, darling, this is a private conversation.”

You are no match for his power,the voice continued, rising to a howl inside Taly’s head.But I am. All things living and eternal are bound by me.

She could almost feel them—threads brushing against her skin like spider silk, too light to catch, too faint to hold.

I can help you.

The runes pulsed sharply against her wrists, resisting. But the threads forced their way in, bleeding across her vision like light through torn cloth.

Stop obeying their limitations.

The barrier held, trembling, for a breath—then shattered.

Be what you were always meant to be.

Suddenly nothing stood between her and the Weave. Light surged in filaments and strands above, beneath, and inside her.

They moved with purpose, as if directed by an unseen hand—countless threads redirected and shifted, pulling back to reveal a single line burning brighter than the rest.

Taly could see it there, bleeding sparks in the air in front of her.

Shall we begin again?

There was nothing but the roaring in her blood, and the screams of the dying, and the two paths that Taly could now see diverging.

Either die here today or keep fighting.

She made her choice.

She felt the weight of the decision echoing, reverberating through the Weave.

Threads snapped—one after the other, all of them joining in a rising chorus that rippled out into eternity.

For better or worse, the path was set.

Take it, little light.

“What is she saying?” Aneirin growled. The hatred in his eyes was a living thing as he frantically searched the room. “Believe me, girl, whatever that bitch is offering, it comes with strings.”

Taly laughed, riding the edge of that ancient, wild power. “It does, indeed.”

Then reaching up, she grasped the thread the goddess offered and unraveled the universe.

Chapter 69

In truth, it probably happened in the span of an eyeblink, the ripple of destruction that tore apart the room. But for Taly, time slowed and stretched, and she saw everything.

She saw the first stitch slip loose, up near the ceiling in the corner of the room. That led to a tear that turned into a larger rip that kept spreading, pushing across the entire wall.

More threads frayed, starting at the edges of the rip and moving outward, moving faster. Gaining speed as the beds, the cabinets, the people themselves all spiraled and collapsed. All turned to threads, the color of them, of the room, of life, leached out to reveal a burning heart of gold.

A quarter of the room had vanished, but no one reacted. Moving so slowly, they didn’t have time to even realize that the fabric of reality was unwinding around them.