Page 36 of Immortal Consequences (The Souls of Blackwood Academy #1)

Irene

It was like falling through the sky. Like the fabric of the universe had folded in on itself and spat her out. She was nowhere and everywhere all at once, the atoms of her being splitting apart and joining together again.

Blinding white light poured over her vision. An all-consuming glow, so bright it felt like staring straight into the heart of the sun. And then that light bled away, replaced by a muted fog, a feathered veil stretching over the landscape.

Irene blinked.

And there it was—the Ether.

It was an ever-changing landscape. With every door passed through, the scenery would change form, morphing into different worlds. Into different universes.

This time, the Ether had sent Irene to an empty valley. Wispy clouds dotted an opaque black sky. It was a world shrouded in darkness, a palette of moss and shades of brown melting into a plain of flat grass.

Irene drew in a strangled breath. When she moved, her hand seemed to lag, as though she were treading water, fighting a current. She often liked to compare the feeling of being in the Ether to having drunk one too many dirty martinis.

Minus the fun.

She closed her eyes and called upon the magic inside her.

Instantly, she felt the sharp pull. The call guiding her toward her target soul.

But she also felt something else…a web of other souls drawing her closer.

These were different from the call of a lost soul—familiar.

It was the other contestants scattered throughout the Ether, their positions making faint yet noticeable flickers in her internal map.

She scoured through them and landed on the one she was searching for.

There you are.

Irene opened her eyes and spotted the path that had emerged within the grass. Sparkles of golden light, almost like a trail of fireflies, guided her forward.

She didn’t waste any time.

She followed the path, careful to keep her eyes forward.

There was no telling what the Ether would attempt to distract her with, and the less time she spent investigating, the better.

Despite her laser focus, she couldn’t help but feel the unmistakable presences looming in the distance, the bone-chilling reality that awaited those who couldn’t reach Ascension.

The Forgotten Students.

There were dozens of them. Students who had once been just like her, who had once lived within the halls of Blackwood. They roamed the outskirts of the Ether, faces eerily blank, each of them following their own path.

It wasn’t like they were completely devoid of their human characteristics.

In fact, those who had recently transitioned were fairly normal, if not a little bored.

It was those who had been there for hundreds of years, perhaps even thousands, who were left an empty carcass, a shell of the person they used to be. Barely sentient.

Irene refused to become one of them. This nomination was her last chance—the final dance, so to speak. If she didn’t win, if she didn’t become part of the Ascended, she would consider the alternative route.

Even if it meant leaving Blackwood, and her best friend, behind.

The Demien Order offered her a way out. A chance at something new, something more than the existence she had been forced to accept.

In her old life, Irene had often found herself feeling powerless.

Nothing but a passenger, helplessly enduring the consequences of her mom’s mistakes, bound to a fate she couldn’t escape from.

But not anymore. When Irene had died, she’d been freed of those restraints. No longer powerless, but power ful. She’d shed the skin of the girl she used to be, leaving her behind to rot in a place where nobody would ever find her.

So—if Blackwood couldn’t offer her what she needed, Irene had another plan.

She wouldn’t wait around for power.

She’d take it.

Irene shook off her thoughts and refocused her eyes on the glowing path.

It didn’t take long for the door to appear.

It sat perched against the tall grass, a seemingly normal white door with a silver-plated handle.

But there was nothing normal about it. As she approached the door, Irene’s chest ignited with a golden sphere of light, signaling that she had reached the correct destination.

Irene swung the door open and stepped through.

One moment she had been walking on grass, and the next her boots were sinking into wet sand, a dense gray mist obscuring her vision. The roar of the ocean swept over the land, echoing with a dreamlike reverberation.

She inhaled the salty brine as the ocean spray dampened her skin. To her left stretched a flat and never-ending ocean, small waves crashing against the black rocks dotting the shoreline. To her right was…nothing. An eerie darkness blotting out the rest of the world.

And there, standing a few feet in front of her, was Masika.

“Care to go for a dip?”

Masika crossed her arms, sighing. “Took you long enough.”

“Well, maybe if you’d waited for me before going through the first door like I told you to, it wouldn’t have taken me so long to find you.”

Masika smirked, clearly pleased with herself. “So…how far is your soul?”

“About three doors,” Irene calculated. “You?”

“Two, I think.”

Irene nodded. She bent down, running the wet sand between her fingers. It felt so real…each grain brushing against her skin. The damp particles in the air. The moisture clinging to the ocean spray.

“Then I suppose we take care of yours first, and then we can move on to mine.”

Masika hummed in surprise. “You’d really be willing to let me go first?”

“Why not?”

“It’s a bit risky, isn’t it? By the time we locate your soul, we could very well be too late.”

“Oh, please.” Irene brushed her off with a wave of her hand. “You and I both know we’re faster than the others. I wouldn’t be surprised if they haven’t even passed through their first door yet.”

Masika chuckled softly. “You’re doing it again….”

“Doing what?”

“Underestimating everyone else.”

“I’m not underestimating them. I simply know my value.”

“I’m not saying that your skills aren’t impressive by comparison,” explained Masika, throwing her arm over Irene’s shoulder as they began to trudge along the shoreline.

“But these other nominees are talented. They’re strong.

Smart. They were chosen for a reason. And honestly… they deserve to win. We all do.”

“You’ve been spending too much time with the others,” Irene muttered furiously. “They are brainwashing you.”

Masika chuckled. “Irene…”

“It’s true. All this talk of bonding and us being unfortunate acquaintances…you’re one group hug away from completely losing your focus.”

“Group hug?” Masika echoed, biting back a smile.

“Don’t mock me.”

“I’m not—” Masika came to a halt, turning to face Irene. She grabbed her squarely by the shoulders. “Listen. I get it. The Forgetting terrifies you. It terrifies all of us—”

“That’s not—”

“—but one of these days you’re going to have to accept it. If we don’t become Ascended, then eventually…it’ll happen. It’s just the natural next step in our duty. An inevitability that we can’t run from.”

Irene pushed herself away from Masika. “I can run from it. And I will.”

Masika startled. The soft smile on her face vanished.

“What are you saying?”

But before Irene could respond, something in the sea at their side began to change.

It was a small, almost indiscernible difference at first, the waves swelling in size, the ocean spray hardening.

And then the roar of the waves turned deafening.

The ocean spray pelting their skin like shards of glass.

“Masika.” Irene grabbed her firmly by the wrist. “Run.”

The moment they broke into a sprint, the ocean sprang to life, a towering wall of water sprouting from it like a skyscraper. A paralyzing shock ran through Irene as the wave descended upon them. Her hands went numb, her feet rooted helplessly to the ground.

But Masika was fast.

She pressed her hands out and stopped the wave just as it sprang toward them, changing its trajectory. The water fell over them in an arch, crashing to the ground a few yards to their right.

“Come on!”

Something unidentifiable warped Masika’s voice.

Confusion. Desperation. Irene wasn’t sure what it was, but it snapped her out of her daze and brought her back to her senses.

She darted forward, sprinting as fast as she possibly could.

Suddenly, something materialized in their line of sight—a wooden door with iron detailing.

“There!” shouted Masika. She began to run straight toward the door, all the while casting a protective barrier around them.

The water roared in defiance, another monstrous wave rising from the surface of the ocean.

Irene couldn’t help but feel as though it were alive, chasing after them.

She wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but she swore she saw a face reflected against the wave.

A familiar face that reminded her of her own.

Terror uncoiled in her chest. “Mom?”

Masika glanced at her as they ran, eyes wide and brows furrowed. “What did you say?”

But Irene never answered. Instead, they hurtled through the door, throwing themselves into the next world in a dizzying blur. Her hands landed on asphalt, the wave crashing behind them just as the door slammed shut.

The sound of it rattled against her ears.

And then…silence.