Page 142

She wasbreaking.

“This was never your path to take, Alexandra Jennings,” Athora told her, his voice soft, almost gentle. And then he recited, “The day will come and be at hand for changes most timely, when hails a girl of mortal blood touched by destiny.”

The prophecy. Therealprophecy. The one Athora shouldn’t have known anything about.

‘I am an Oracle of my people.’

Alex looked at him through blurry eyes, her heart hurting too much to understand.

“‘Changes most timely’, Alexandra,” he whispered to her.

And then he rose again, and as he did so, he waved his hand through the air and a doorway rippled into existence.

“I am a gatekeeper,” Athora told her. “But what you do not know is that I am also a timekeeper. And long have I known this day would arrive.”

Now it was Athora’s voice that echoed around the cavern, words he had spoken to Alex after Lady Mystique’s death.

‘I knew that a time would come when both she and I would be free of this world…Her freedom came today, just as mine will soon follow.’

“Wait,” Alex rasped, beginning to comprehend. “Wait—”

“One chance,” Athora spoke over her. “That is all I can give you. I cannot take you back to where this all began, but today—today you can make a difference. A single change that will affect the course of your future, should you succeed.”

Alex felt hope rise anew, even as she understood what Athora wasn’t telling her.

‘My time has not yet come.’

But now it had.

The cost of such an act—of changing the course of history— Alex knew.

“Wait,” she said again, her voice hoarse.

Athora touched a hand to his face. “Long ago, Aven Dalmarta stole my eyes from me,” he revealed, causing Alex to suck in a shocked breath. “Today, he shall see justice.”

“Wait—”

“You are not the only one willing to sacrifice your life for this world,” Athora told her, stepping towards the doorway. “Remember, you will have but one chance to make things right.” His sightless eyes locked on hers as he finished, “Make it count.”

And then he stepped through the doorway, causing golden light to erupt so brightly that Alex cried out and shielded her face until it faded, leaving a glowing arch behind.

No, not an arch.

A gate.

And above it was a single word written in Tia Auran.

Zelah.

Time.

A Gate of Time.

That was what Athora had given her, surrendering his life by offering the last of whatever immortal power reigned within him.

Athora was gone.

But this Gate—it was his dying gift to Alex. And she was determined to follow the last instruction he would ever give her.