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When Lucienne recomposed herself, she went to each dead soldier to say farewell. She knelt beside each one, her hand closing his eyes if they were open, and quietly mourned. At each, Ashburn crouched beside her, telling her each of her warrior’s happiest memories.

Lucienne stayed with Orlando the longest.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Her hands hugging her legs, Lucienne sat on the rooftop of the Ghost House, watching the sun slowly drop toward the distant ring of mountains. The roof was made of the same material as the pillar entrance to the Rabbit Hole. Its ice-like sheen gave the illusion that one might fall through it.

The town stretched under her feet. Its gardens had regained some of their previous colors, powered by Ashburn’s TimeDust, but the faded greens and oranges indicated that Nirvana would never fully return to its former glory. Everything had changed.

She had lost thirty-nine good, loyal men. The warriors’ bodies were shipped back to Sphinxes. The mechanics and engineers were wrapping up the repairs on BL7—in a few hours, it would be good enough to take off, and Lucienne and the remaining team would go home in the wake of bitter memories.

Her mind drifted to the voice that came to her through her Siren’s mark twice—once, when she almost killed Ashburn and again when she was nearly killed by Seraphen. Whatever the force represented, it wanted to preserve both her and Ashburn. Ashburn’s words resonated in her head. “It’s how the TimeDust was designed—to put us together, so we’ll bring the end to the world.”

She doubted it. What was the significance of her and Ashburn being together? She was meant to introduce Eterne to Earth. But what if opening the portal unleashed the ultimate evil, and she led humankind to a slaughterhouse instead of quantum evolution?

A movement behind her shattered her train of thought. She knew who it was without turning to look. The pulse of energy in the air told her.

Ashburn had come to say goodbye.

Lucienne had finally chosen to let him go. If she could have done that in the beginning, her warriors would still be alive, and Orlando wouldn’t be buried under six feet of Sphinxes’ soil. Jed said sacrifice was necessary. The Siren had to do whatever it took to get things done and needed to make impossibly tough decisions. But to what end?

“It’s not all your fault.” Ashburn said beside her. “No matter what you did, you would cross paths with Seraphen. You’re the Siren, and his assignment is to protect me by erasing you.”

“After the sunset,” Lucienne said, “my men and I will leave for good.”

“I know,” Ashburn said, looking sidelong at her, and Lucienne felt his body heat. It called her to respond, but she remained still. “I’m going with you,” he added.

Lucienne held her breath for several seconds and exhaled. “Okay,” she said.

“Aren’t you going to ask why?” he asked. “Aren’t you the least bit curious?”

Despite everything, a smile floated to Lucienne’s lips. “I guess you finally decided it isn’t such a bad idea to see the outside world.”

“I have the entire world, from antiquity till now, in my head, and Spike can take me anywhere I want to go,” Ashburn said. “I choose to go with you because I can’t bear not to see you. I tried to stay away from you before, but it didn’t end well. Even though the subprogram still warns me, all I can think of is you. I’m going to try to let my feelings run their course, so my desire won’t drive me mad. I hope it’ll wear off if I don’t fight it so hard.”

“I tried to kill you, Ash.”

“You stopped at the last moment. You couldn’t do it,” he said. “And when I had to watch Seraphen try to kill you and I could do nothing about it, I felt—” He looked away, as if he was experiencing the agony again.

Lucienne angled her body toward Ashburn and put her hand in his. The shock of desire immediately rose in her. Lucienne jerked her hand away. She couldn’t withstand another temptation. She’d learned she wasn’t half as strong as she thought. “Ash—”

“If you die, the whole world won’t matter anymore,” Ashburn continued. “I know it’s horrible and selfish to think like that. How can one girl outweigh every life on this planet? But I just can’t help it. I’ll fight the TimeDust by your side. Besides,” he paused, a wistful look on his face, “my parents are better off without me.”

A wave of feeling came to Lucienne like a rainstorm striking a glass pane. It was hard to say it, but she must. “You know I won’t get involved with you romantically, right?”

“Because of Vladimir Blazek?”

“I won’t betray him again.”

“He left.”

That reminder instantly brought a knife to her heart. It wasn’t just her pain she carried, but his, too. For a moment, she couldn’t breathe, then she inhaled. “He’ll come back to me.”

“What if he doesn’t?”

“I’ll go to him,” Lucienne said, frowning at Ashburn’s cruelty.

“But you can’t be with him.”