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“Chosen, huh?” He dipped the washcloth in the water and continued washing the scars on her back. “Well, I hope the goddess is prepared for all the arguing that’s going to come out.”

Taly’s brow furrowed. “Seriously, that’s all you’re going to say?”

“What were you expecting?”

“I don’t know. Shock? Incredulity?”

“Oh, believe me, I’m both of those things.”

She looked down into the water, her voice softening. “I mean… I’d understand if this was it. The one thing that’s too much. If you wanted to go…” Her gaze flicked up to meet his, uncertainty dimming those steely gray eyes. “You don’t owe me anything, Skye. Not with this. I wouldn’t blame you if—”

Skye cut her off. “Shut up.”

“But.”

“I’m serious, Tink. We’ve been over this. Where you go, I go. I don’t care if you grow horns and start kicking puppies, that’s never going to change.”

Taly’s lips pursed, though he saw a smile tugging. “If I start kicking puppies, you have permission to step in. That’s not okay, even for an all-powerful, all-knowing queen of ages.”

“What if you need to kick a puppy to save the universe?”

“No.”

“Okay, okay, just finding the constraints.”

There was a stillness in her expression, a serenity that belied the tempest raging around them. For a moment, Skye’s heart clenched, a knot of fear tightening in his chest.

Was she still in there? His Taly. His best friend. The woman who had challenged him, infuriated him—who had shown him that home wasn’t just walls or a roof, but a heartbeat, a connection. She was the one who made him believe he could have that.

The goddess’s power radiated from her, blinding and terrifying, and yet… there had to be more. Beneath all of that, buried in the brilliance, she had to still be there.

He needed to know for sure. He’d come too far to stop now.

“We’ve got company!” Eula shouted over the comms as fire and ice rained down from above.

Waves of undead pressed in, their numbers swelling. Inside his suit, Kato gripped the controls tightly as warnings blared and lights flickered from every direction. “I noticed. It’s like they don’t appreciate the fireworks we brought.”

A deep, resonant hum filled the air. It set Kato’s teeth on edge.

He whirled the suit around to see crackling arcs of lightning dancing across the surface of the Aion Gate. The light inside it seemed to be contracting.

“It’s closing!” Eula called out.

That’s when Kato saw her.

Not Taly.Cori.

At least, he thought that was Cori.

Amidst the clash of weapons and the roar of spells, she stood untouched, a calm center in the heart of unfolding chaos.

And she was looking right at him. Also, pointing.

“Go!” Eula shouted. “Do you need her to spell it out?”

It would’ve been nice, actually—a formal set of instructions. But, lacking that, Kato still got the message.

“What about you?” he asked.