Page 9

“I thought it would have happened sooner than this, if I’m honest.” He says nothing else as he finishes his drink and takes his mug to the sink.

“And Brax?” Marieta murmurs. “How did he die?” The memory floods my mind, and my hands clench involuntarily at the pain. “The first time he arrived, he left just as quickly,” she adds, and my chest clenches. Knowing he made it all the way to the Realm of Shadows before finding his way back to us makes it all the more real.

“It was during an attack at the Shadowmoor outpost,” Zane states. “We were ambushed by the Amayans and one of them managed to get to him, then Raven’s abilities finally came to her.”

“Came to her?” Peta asks, standing behind his chair now.

“Yeah, that’s a story for another time, but she didn’t know she was a necromancer until she was a wreck hovering over Brax’s body. Her cry was… gut-wrenching, and a moment later, his eyes were open again.”

“She’s not like any necromancer I’ve heard of before,” Marieta whispers, dabbing at the corner of her eyes again.

“She’s not like anyone we’ve ever seen before,” Creed reiterates, swiping a hand down his face.

“Let’s take a look at the room, shall we?” Peta offers, and we all nod in agreement.

He leads the way back into the hallway, turning us toward the end of the hall. I don’t know what I expect to see on the other side of the door, but it’s not this.

Paper litters the entire wall, words scribbled everywhere. Items littered around every surface seem just organized enough to be considered categorized. There seems to be some kind of color coding going on: yellows, blues, pinks, and greens.

“This is everything we’ve tried so far, and these are options we’re trying to put together,” Peta states, waving his arm around the room.

Fuck.

“We’re stranded and helpless,” Creed grunts, and I take a deep breath, refusing to let that be the truth.

“That’s what we’ve been for all these years. I don’t want to give you false hope because I sure as hell don’t have any,” Marieta states, running her fingers mindlessly over the papers on the wall.

“You best start believing in it.” Her eyes widen in my direction as I stand tall.

“You can’t be sure.”

“No disrespect, Marieta. Brax may be your son, but you don’t know him as well as we do. He won’t rest until we’re all together. For his sake, for yours, ours, but most importantly, for Raven’s.” My words hang in the air for a few beats and I’m certain she’s going to brush me off, but to my surprise, she takes a deep breath, standing taller as she nods.

“I hope so.”

“I know so,” Zane clarifies, making her smile.

“So, what’s going on out there?” Peta asks, and I realize they’ve caught us up to date on things in here, but they have no clue what’s happening in the real world.

Where to even begin?

Planting my hands on my hips, I exhale. “Everything seemed to be okay from our perspective until Erikel arrived. There were a few attacks we were made aware of, and we were on a visit to Shadowmoor outpost when it was attacked, but everything really did go to shit when he showed up.”

“Erikel?” Marieta frowns, knitting her hands together.

“He’s from the Basilica Realm,” Zane explains, and she gulps, turning to look at Peta.

“I thought he was dead,” she breathes. “I watched you kill him,” she adds to her husband, who looks as defeated as she does.

“So did I.” Peta looks our way. “Are you certain it’s him?”

I shrug. “I didn’t know this man existed until he appeared at the academy. I have no idea.”

“It has to be him, though, right? Who else could it be?” Zane asks, his brows knitted as tension ripples through me.

“Do you know what Erikel’s magical abilities are?” I glance back to Marieta, who nods.

“He had the strongest telekinesis abilities I’ve ever seen.”