Page 3

Two

Light, blinding light assailed Alex’s vision themoment she was through the doorway. She blinked back tears as her retinas burned, and when her eyes finally adjusted, all she could do was stand there and gape at the sight before her.

It was as if the doorway had relocated her to yet another new world, as if the unending desert had been some kind of purgatory stopover on the way to her true destination. And Alex would have continued believing that if not for the three suns high in the sky, set in the exact same position as where the blue and red moons had been. Like the flipping of a switch, the world had turned from night into day.

But that wasn’t all that had changed, because no longer was she standing in a desert. Instead, she was surrounded by clouds. No, not just surrounded by them—she was standingonthem. They weren’t like the vapour clouds she knew; these were substantial under her feet, like a solid mass, reminding her of the cloud-chair the Dayriders had summoned for her to sit on, fully solid and capable of bearing weight.

Alex would have crouched down to explore with her fingers had she not been so transfixed by what else she was seeing—by the city that was resting atop the clouds and rising high into the heavens.

‘One does not live a single day amongst the splendour of Tia Auras and then choose to leave.’

Given the view before her, Alex could understand why Athora might have made such a bold statement prior to her leaving the Library.

The city was made of gold.

Brilliant, shining, almost overpowering gold.

Spiralling arches reached dizzyingly high before cresting back down again, like semi-circles of shining, curved light. The design reminded Alex of Meya—but an impossibly more advanced Meya, with spires that were spherical and horizontal rather than straight and vertical. The gold was nearly blinding, but added to that were glass highlights— or perhaps diamond, given the rainbows bouncing off the arched, transparent towers. The effect was breathtaking, with even the fluffy, white clouds surrounding the city taking on the dispersed light and absorbing the colour, like kaleidoscopic mountains.

Athora had been right—the splendour of Tia Auras was beyond compare.

But Alex also couldn’t help thinking it was a little over the top, especially with the periwinkle-blue sky still streaked with stars, like an unending daytime meteor shower. The visual overload was too much; too bright, too colourful, too perfect.

Was it beautiful? Definitely. But Alex had seen her share of beauty. She knew better than to be swayed by a pretty view. She was here for only one reason, and it wasn’t to play awed tourist.

Determined to carry out her mission, Alex took a wobbly step forward, half expecting the clouds underfoot to start acting like they were supposed to and give way. But when her weight came down on the cottony ground, it remained solid. Like walking on packed fairy floss, there was perhaps a hint of springiness, but otherwise the surface remained fully stable.

One step after the other, Alex pressed onwards towards the entrance to the city. It was still a fair distance away, as if theLibrary had dropped her far enough back so she could first take in the view. Delivering her to the middle of the action would have been more pragmatic, but she was grateful for the chance to get her head together and gain a better idea of what she might be dealing with once she arrived.

After perhaps ten minutes of trekking across the cloudy landscape, Alex approached two great, golden gates reaching high into the sky. They were open, inviting, but that didn’t make them and the city they led to any less daunting.

The fact was, Alex had no idea what to do or where to go once she stepped into the golden domain. While she could understand the language of the Tia Aurans thanks to her inner translator, she couldn’t speak it, and she had no idea if they’d be able to understand the common tongue of Medora—or Freya. More and more she was realising that she should have asked Athora some pertinent questions before venturing to his home world.

With a deep breath, she stepped through the gates, her plan being to seek out the first person she could find and try to communicate that she needed to speak with whoever was in charge. She had no idea if it would work, but it was the best she could come up with.

As it turned out, she needn’t have bothered considering her options, because as soon as she crossed the threshold, a trickling sensation shivered down her spine, followed closely by what felt like a needle stabbing into her temple.

She cried out at the sharp pain, the agony enough to send her to her knees. Unable to fight off the invisible attack, she keeled over onto the cloudy ground and was unconscious before she could so much as wonder what had happened.

For the first time in days, Alex felt comfortable and at ease. Her head was cushioned by something soft, and gentle fingers were playing with her hair, the sensation causing her entire body to relax.

She didn’t want to open her eyes, didn’t want to discover it was a dream and wake to the reality of still being in the unending desert. But then she remembered that she’d already left the desert.

Clouds.

She recalled seeing rainbow clouds. And a city of gold and diamond so bright that even the memory burned the back of her eyes. She also recalled stepping through gates that had prompted her being stabbed in the brain by an indiscernible weapon. And now here she was, no longer in pain—very much the opposite.

Blinking herself into awareness, it took a moment for Alex to comprehend where she was. Or rather, why she was where she was, and who she was with.

Because, from what she could tell, she was lying with her head in Kaiden’s lap.

“Hey there, Sleeping Beauty,” he said, smiling softly down at her. “How’s the headache?”

His words were quiet, almost as if he was afraid of causing her more pain. She had to struggle against melting at his concern. Instead, she pushed herself up into a seated position and didn’t hesitate to lean forward and wrap her arms around him.

Startled, it took him a second to return her embrace, but then his arms circled her waist, pulling her tightly against his warm, strong body.

Alex took longer than she should have to let him go. And when she finally released him, she struggled to look him in the eyes, embarrassed by her display of affection. But he reached out and tilted her chin up until she met his gaze.