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Aimee let out a loud sob, straining against the arms that held her. “Please, don’t hurt him. Taly, just do what he says!”

There were no exits, no allies, no miracles waiting to be grasped. Just the suffocating presence of inevitability closing in, leaving her nowhere to go and no way out.

Slowly, Taly sank back to her knees.

“There,” Aiden said, lowering the dagger. “I knew you could be compliant, given the right motivation. Everyone has their soft underbelly. It’s just a matter of rooting it out.”

He patted Taly’s head like a well-behaved pet before turning to all those assembled. Spreading his arms wide, he declared, “Beneath the watchful eyes of the Father and the Mother, I summon the currents of creation that flow through all things.”

The shades beat their chests in unison, the sound echoing like a thunderclap across the wasteland. The mages moving among them cheered and clapped.

“By the ancients, by the will of the eternal, we shall bind this mortal vessel to the divine essence that awaits her. She has completed the trials. The offerings have been accepted. All that remains is the final rite.”

A black-eyed boy smudged something red and tar-like on Taly’s brow, drawing a symbol. It was thick, grainy, and dripped into her eyes. Someone else placed a wreath of white chriselmynë on her head.

Graveyard flowers to honor the loss of body, mind, and will.

She could hear Ivain’s voice, their many conversations over the past few weeks. He’d told her about the final rite that would come before the Time Shard possessed her—an impossible sacrifice that would only present itself when she was at the altar.

Trust in yourself, Ivain had urged.There will be moments when you doubt your sanity, times when the shadows will seem to swallow you whole. But remember—evil has to be invited in.

“The sacrifice has been chosen,” Aneirin declared to the cheering masses. “For the sixth and final gift, I bring the question.” Then he stepped close, brushing her hair behind her ear as he said, low and reverent, “Corinna Venwraith, do you accept the call of your patron goddess, to join her in the infinite and divine? Will you become her vessel, her voice, and help herwith everything that you have, everything that you are, to fulfill her holy purpose?”

Mages and undead cheered with fervor, and weapons clattered together as shields banged. The sound was relentless.

“Well?” Aneirin pressed, teasing the tip of the dagger across Aiden’s chin. On his skin, black lines were already surfacing. “Do you accept—yes or no?”

Say no.

Azura’s warning clanged through her memory.

You will be asked a question…

Say no.

Beside her, Aimee’s screams mixed with the chaos, “Please, Taly. Please, don’t let him kill my brother!”

Say no.

Taly clamped her hands over her ears so she wouldn’t have to hear her cousin’s sobs. Aimee didn’t know what she was asking. Being possessed by the goddess of Time—at first, it was exhilarating, like plugging into the heart of a star.

But then, it swallowed her whole.

The rush became a vortex, the vortex a storm, the storm a maelstrom of divine will.

Lachesis had promised strength, but there was no room for both. Power shoved in, forcing Taly out.

Say no.

“Tick-tock, Taly,” Aneirin taunted, a cruel smile playing on his lips. “Make your choice, or I’ll make it for you.”

Blood trickled, bright red against pale skin

Say no.

“Please, Taly! He’s my brother. He’s all I have left.”

Say no.