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A long pause met her statement.

“This is grievous news indeed,” Zaylin said, her expression grave. “But there is little use worrying about it—not yet, anyway. And while you won’t wish to hear this, you, at least, will be protected by your gift, even if he has begun to adopt the abilities of others.”

Slowly, Alex nodded, knowing Zaylin was right, but wishing all over again for a way to share her gift with others—to mass-produce it and cover all those she cared about. But Athora had told her it wasn’t possible; that everyone already had free will and couldn’t receive any more.

“I think it’s time we stop looking ahead and instead focus on the now,” Zaylin said, backing up a step and raising her sword. “What do you say, Alex? Ready to see if you can beat me a second time?”

Alex was more than ready. After everything she had learned and experienced in the last few hours, she was desperate for a good workout against a capable—if ‘sloppy’—immortal. Her muscles were hungry for the familiar, comforting ache that she hadn’t felt in over a week, and she knew an energetic session was exactly what she needed to keep her mind off her newest troubles.

So, with a challenge in her eyes, Alex tossed aside her turbulent feelings and centred her mind onto the here and now, raising A’enara between them and saying, “Bring it on, Zaylin.”

And that was exactly what the Tia Auran did.

Hours passed while Zaylin and Alex sparred on the dais of the stadium, the glowing arches overhead and swirling clouds underfoot their only audience as the three suns moved across the sky and slowly lowered into darkness.

Knowing the time had come to face her friends and find out their true verdict, Alex called their fighting to a stop, both she and Zaylin panting heavily, but also sated and relaxed from the rush of their workout.

After summoning a flask of warmedlaendrato heal them of their numerous nicks and scratches, Zaylin looked at Alex— waiting, it seemed, to make sure she was ready to return to the palace. Receiving a stiff nod of confirmation, the Tia Auranparronedher back to her room, instructing her to call if she needed anything—her words quiet enough that Alex knew she wasn’t just referring to the assistance provided by her as a helper, but also as a friend.

… Of a sort, at least. Because the Tia Auran was still remarkably prickly, even with the tentative rapport they’d formed between them.

Given that Alex was covered in blood, sweat and grime, once she was back in her room, she drew a bath, taking her time cleaning the evidence of her day spent fighting. As she did so, now that she was so close to facing her friends—only a room away—she realised that perhaps she wasn’t as ready to confront them as she’d thought. While shehopedthey wouldn’t blame her as violently as their fake counterparts, she couldn’t help recalling how Jordan had reacted after the Gate of Secrets, how both Bear and D.C. had sided with him, the trio unwilling to hear her explanations. Only the knowledge that they had all regretted their behaviour afterwards gave her the courage to believe for a different outcome today, and yet… she was still nervous.

Deciding to give herself a little more time to prepare her heart—just in case—instead of venturing into their common room after finishing her bath, Alex donned her silky pyjamas and sat on her private balcony, watching the city glitter under the rising moonlight.

Reclining against the golden wall of the palace, she called out to Xira and recapped everything that had happened that day, telling him about the nightmarish Gate and what she’d learned about A’enara, Vae’varka, the Library and the two immortal races themselves, as well as Aven’s cannibalism and how he might adopt and use the gifts of those whose hearts he devoured.

Seems I can’t leave you alone for a few hours without your world imploding, Xira said, sighing.How in the skies did you survive the last few weeks without me?

Because Alex hadn’t done so on her own. She’d had Niyx. She’d had her friends. But now… she had no idea what she was about to face once she stepped back inside. The Gate of Judgement might have revealed her own inner war and given her the chance to fight her lingering shadows, but that didn’t mean her friends would—

Alex, stop, Xira interrupted, reading her spiralling thoughts,It’s going to be okay. You’ll see.

Alex didn’t reply, but that wasn’t because she had nothing to say—it was because she heard a shifting, rustling sound, and she knew exactly what it was.

Xira, still linked with her, understood it as well, and he quietly said,I’m here if you need me… but I don’t think you will.

And then he left her mind, just as Kaiden appeared, climbing up and over the balcony railing.

Immobile with uncertainty, Alex just sat there, waiting for a verbal blow she couldn’t guard against.

She didn’t say anything, but neither did he.

Instead, he slowly approached her, sliding down to sit at her side.

Tentatively, as if fearing she would flinch away as she had earlier on the dais, he reached out and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close.

Until that moment, she had been as tense as a block of ice, but the instant his warmth touched her, she melted, her body slumping with relief.

Only then, with the two of them looking out over the night-time cityscape while she was tucked deep into his side, did she speak.

“Are you mad at me?”

Her voice was barely a breath of sound, but it was all she could manage.

With his cheek pressed against the top of her head, just as quietly, he replied, “I’d already seen most of the future vision. The only parts that were new were seeing me in it with you.”

After everything they’d been through, Alex didn’t have it in her to feel embarrassed that her own subconscious had considered him the person she felt safest with to guide her through the horrors of the future. Even back then—long before they were close to being together.