Page 402

A huff of laughter crackled through the comm. “Don’t worry. I’ll be fine,” Eula replied as a new sound rolled across the battlefield, low and thunderous.

Kato paused mid-stride. The ground shuddered beneath him, just enough to feel through the suit.

The Aion Gate was too massive, too wide to see beyond, but on his screen, swarming in from the cliffs— “Holy fuck.”

Green dots flared to life, crowding the edges of his display. Too many to count. An entire army, distant but gaining, spilled from the riftway like a rising wave.

“Well, would you look at that,” Kato murmured. “The cavalry’s here. And I think they may have brought the whole damn city.”

“Told you!” Eula crowed gleefully. “Sarina could talk a stone into marching. A few tight-ass nobles never stood a chance.” She backhanded a shade with a runed gauntlet, sending it flying. “Now go!”

Kato didn’t need to be told again. He turned, the suit’s joints grinding, and set off at a sprint.

To the Aion Gate and his brother.

What am I doing?

The thought hit Aimee like a punch. She stumbled out of her retreat.

That was her family back there. Her… friend? The word tasted strange, unfamiliar, but it settled in her chest with a kind of reluctant finality.

Yes. Herfriend.

What else was she supposed to call someone that risked everything for her brother?

And what did it say about her that she wasn’t willing to risk everything in return?

Aimee’s chest tightened, shame clawing mercilessly at her throat. There it was—the ugly truth beneath all the bitterness, the real source of her anger. It wasn’t because of what Taly had done, what she’d taken. It was because of who she was. Because Taly was better. Braver. Because Taly had faced the same fears, the same pain, and refused to falter.

Because standing next to her, Aimee saw herself clearly. She was a coward. She was selfish. She was… unworthy.

The Aion Gate was closing. Aimee could feel it in the air. And Taly was still up there fighting—for Aiden, for her family, for everyone. Somehow, she knew it.

She had to turn around. She had to go with her!

The ground trembled. Then a metallic behemoth went racing by. Each step was a powerful, loping stride that propelled it forward with relentless momentum. The suit’s hydraulics hissed and groaned, and through the visor—

“Hey!” Aimee ran to catch up, arms waving. “Kato, wait up!”

There was a barrier across the stairs.

Skye could see it shimmering like the edge of a ripple frozen midair.

Without thinking, he thrust his hand forward. The moment his fingers brushed the surface, an icy shock shot up his arm—no, worse. Time itself gripped his skin, froze his blood solid, and locked his bones in place.

But he didn’t pull back. Instead, he set his jaw, agony spreading through every nerve, and shoved harder.

“Taly!” he called over the buzzing, deafening hum of the Aion Gate. “Taly, it’s me!”

But there was no recognition. No hint of feeling.

Taly’s hair whipped around her face, her gown billowing like a banner caught in a gale. Her skin shimmered as if kissed by starlight.

From inside the Aion Gate, a vortex of light and shadow exploded outward. When it contracted, Skye felt its pull.

It was closing.

“Taly, please!” he roared and threw himself at the barrier. Pain exploded, slicing through his body. Not just cold, but a terrifying absence of motion, of breath, oflife. “No. No, no, no… Taly!”