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No time.

She slammed up her mental barriers to keep him from distracting her. Her focus needed be solely on this. On controlling the tempest of power within her.

“Cassius, I need you to take me up and get us as centered above everything as possible, and then I need you to hold on. No matter what.” She twisted to look up at him, glowing red eyes meeting hers. “You understand?”

“That’s what we’ve always done, Seastar.”

“Don’t let go,” she whispered.

Because she had no idea if this would work, and if it didn’t and she couldn’t control the Chaos…

“You can do this, Scarlett,” Cassius said, his arms tightening around her and pulling her more securely against his chest.

“Don’t let go,” she whispered again.

And she let the Chaos out.

It spilled out of her. She felt it reaching for the spirit animals. Other World Walkers with the same gifts. She felt their own power rising up to meet it and guide it. More and more she gave, letting that power take and destroy, break and remake, and the more it took, the deeper she sank into it.

Until she wasn’t there at all but among the stars.

No, not the stars.

She watched as another battle played out. There were seraphs and Fae, but also dragons. So many dragons. Gods and—

World Walkers.

There was a female around Eliza’s size. Not small, but one could tell her body was honed from decades of training. Her sleek black hair hung down her back like a sheet of night, and she had several small gold hoops running up the curve of her rounded ear. But it was her silver eyes that Scarlett recognized.

Shirina.

This was her other form. No arched ears like the Fae. She looked human.

Before she could get a good look at the others, she was pulled from whatever this place was to another.

Here were two beings so ethereal, Scarlett knew instantly they were gods. One was a female with silver hair flowing past her navel. A crown of white flames as bright as starlight sat upon her head. Thick kohl lined her eyes, dark red on her lips. She wore a black, nearly sheer gown that stood out against her bronze skin.

Serafina.

Which meant that the male beside her was…

He was devastatingly beautiful in the same way that Cethin was. Angular features with a chiseled jawline. His black hair curled around his ears and a lock of it fell forward, brushing his cheekbone. Eyes as green as emeralds were fixed on Serafina, but they flicked in Scarlett’s direction, as if he could see her. He wore all black— pants, tunic, jacket. All of fine make. There was a sword strapped down his back, but Scarlett couldn’t imagine why the God of Endings would ever need such a thing. There was no crown atop his head. He did not need it. Not with the darkness that swirled in his eyes and drifted around him. There was no mistaking who he was.

Then he turned away from her, and she felt as if she were tumbling back through the stars to another place.

There was a female who appeared to be around her own age. Scarlett couldn’t tell if she had gone through her Staying. Her golden hair was dull and limp as she appeared to be sneaking away from the large estate of buildings behind her. Scarlett watched as she took one last look behind her before darting off and disappearing into the night.

The Chaos took her again, and Arius was here once more, this time with another. The male beside him was the same height, but his hair was as golden as the sun and nearly reached his chin. His complexion was darker than Arius’s, more golden and tan. His features weren’t quite as sharp, but he was just as beautiful. His eyes were blue with brilliant flecks of gold, and he seemed to glow, as if light swirled around him the way darkness followed Arius.

With a start, she realized it was Achaz.

“Scarlett.”

She could hear her name, and she tried to find the source of it.

“Scarlett.”

She could feel the spirit animals, their power still guiding, directing.