Page 37

37

DANTE

One week later

I stand at the edge of what used to be the main courtyard of MistHallow Academy. Students swarm over the academy, still none the wiser to the absolute hell we went through a week ago. That we are still going through. The sheer sacrifice of a woman so brave, of which they will never know. They will never celebrate her.

Questions have been asked about where she went. Luke told them she left after her father’s death to be with her mother. I don’t think people really care. She was an outcast. She was the most perfect woman in this academy, the most loving and generous, and everyone either feared her or disliked her.

I look upwards. The sky above is perfectly normal, without a trace of the rifts that tore reality apart. The ground is sealed as it should be. But my heart will never repair.

I stand on the precipice of a decision I never thought I would have to make. Pulling the stake out of the back pocket of my jeans, I twirl it between my fingers and then stop, with it pointing directly at my heart.

“Don’t even think about it,” Luke says, appearing at my side and snatching the stake out of my hand. “And this is mine.” He stashes it away. I feel the sorrow of losing it. Just another notch of pain to add to the worst agony I could experience. Talk about kicking me when I’m down.

“You don’t get to decide that.”

“Oh, yes, I do,” he hisses. “You don’t get to take the easy way out. She would loathe you for it.”

Well, those words hurt.

But they aren’t untrue. She would hate me and think I was weak. But maybe that’s what I am.

Weak. Broken. Incapable of surviving in a world without her.

“Is that what you want her sacrifice to mean?” Luke asks, his voice softening slightly. “That you couldn’t bear to live with what she gave everything to protect?”

I turn away from him, unable to meet his gaze. “What’s the point? She’s gone.”

Those two words that have played on repeat in my head for seven heartbreaking days hit him where it hurts. The flash of tragedy in his eyes mirrors mine. But he is better at hiding it. He shoves it back with a visible force and grimaces.

“Felix thinks some of the reality distortions have permanently altered certain areas of the campus,” he says. “Particularly around where the main breaches occurred.”

“What does that mean?”

“Things aren’t as perfect as they seem.”

“Seem,” I mutter. “How is he?”

“Terrible,” he says with a sigh and rubs his hand over his face. “I’m trying, but I’m not his sire. He has thrown himself into research, barely emerging from the library archives.”

We’re all coping in our own ways. Luke, through being the most attentive Headmaster MistHallow has probably ever had. Felix, through obsessive study. And me? I keep doing what I’m told, following Luke’s directives, standing around contemplating staking myself while feeling completely hollow inside.

And I dream of her.

Luke pauses, something softening briefly in his expression. “Dante, do I need to put you on watch?” His question is deadly serious.

“I’m fine. I’m perfectly fine.”

It’s a blatant lie, but he accepts it with a nod before disappearing again, taking my stake with him.

“It’s not yours,” I call out even though he can’t hear me.

I remain where I am, watching as life continues. The world turns while I stand still, frozen in the moment she died.

Forcing myself to move, I return to my room, crawling onto the bed and closing my eyes. I don’t even bother to get undressed. I know I won’t be here long enough before I’m up again. I should check on Felix. Take him some synthetic blood. Maybe grab some for myself.

But I just cannot bring myself to do it.

“Gaida?” I whisper into the darkness. “Are you here?”

Silence answers me. Of course. What else did I expect?

But something feels different tonight. The air seems charged with a subtle energy I can’t identify. I reach for the silver compass I’ve kept beside my bed since that day. It was a gift from my dad, my family, whom I have cut out of my life. It is hundreds of years old, a family heirloom. For some reason, I find peace in it. Like, somehow it will guide me to her.

But it’s not there. It has moved from where I placed it. Now it lies open, its needle spinning slowly, rhythmically, searching.

I stare at it, wondering if this is an anomaly from the world merging that didn’t happen.

Before I can make sense of this, Felix bursts into my room unannounced, wild-eyed and dishevelled, clutching an ancient book in one hand and a to-go cup of blood in the other. A second cup is floating along next to his head like some weird sort of pet.

At least he’s drinking.

“I found something,” he says without preamble, before slurping the remains of cup one up through a straw. He ditches it in the bin under the desk and grabs cup two from the air. “Something about her. About what really happened.”

“Felix. Please… I can’t…”

“You have to.” He places the book on my bed, his fingers shaking as he opens it to a marked page. “Look here. This text describes the original thirteen founders and how they contained fragments of the Blood Queen’s consciousness.”

I glance at the page, seeing symbols and text in a language I don’t recognise. “What does it say?”

“They didn’t die,” Felix says, his voice tight with suppressed excitement. “Not in the conventional sense. Their consciousness continued to exist in a state between worlds, serving as anchors for the division.”

“Felix,” I say gently, “Gaida’s gone. She sacrificed herself to save everyone.”

“No!” He slams his hand down on the book, splashing blood out of the cup all over my bed. “Not gone. Transformed. There’s a difference. And I think we can bring her back.”

I stare at him, and my face crumples. “Don’t. Felix, don’t do this.”

“Blood bonds,” he says, ignoring me, flipping to another marked page. “The three of us share a unique connection to her. Luke and I through our sire blood, and you not only through being a pureblood, but the blood bond you shared. A triangulation point.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying she might not be completely gone,” Felix explains, pacing now. “Her consciousness exists somewhere between worlds, maintaining the separation. But our connection to her, our unique blood bonds, might be strong enough to call her back.”

The compass on my nightstand suddenly spins faster, its needle pointing directly at Felix before returning to its rhythmic rotation. We both stare at it.

“Did you see that?” I ask quietly.

Felix nods slowly. “She’s trying to reach us.” He glances around the room. “Have you felt her? Sensed her presence?”

“In dreams,” I admit. “Almost every night.”

Felix’s expression is fierce with determination. “I’ve felt her too. Objects are moving around me. Books are opening to specific pages. At first, I thought it was just the aftermath of the reality distortions, but it’s her. It has to be.”

Hope, dangerous and fragile, sprouts. “Even if you’re right, how do we reach her? How do we bring her back?”

“We need Luke,” Felix says. “All three of us, our blood, our connection to her. A ritual similar to what the original thirteen used, but in reverse. Not to divide, but to reunify.”

“Luke won’t agree,” I say immediately. “He refuses to even discuss her.”

“He will when I show him this.” Felix taps the book. “When I prove she’s not truly gone.”

The compass spins again, faster this time, its needle vibrating with energy.

“We need to tell him. Now.” Felix is already heading for the door.

The compass on my nightstand stops spinning abruptly. Its needle points directly at the door, as if urging us to go.

Or I’m losing my mind to Felix’s delusions, and I’m reading way more into this than I should.

But I can’t help it.

He has awakened that pinprick of hope I had that this was somehow fixable.

I grab it, tucking it into my pocket. “Let’s go.”

For the first time in a week, I feel something other than numb despair. A dangerous feeling, without a doubt. But I cling to it, nonetheless.

Hope.