Page 17 of The Infinite Glade (The Maze Cutter #3)

CHAPTER NINE

Griever Alive

T he Maze Cutter left a wake through Alaska’s cold, blue waters. Alexandra closed her eyes and breathed in a lung full of ocean air. The Goddess never imagined, not even in her nightmares, that the very home above Alaska’s Maze would catch fire. Never mind it all.

The Evolution would rise from the destruction. Of this, she was certain.

“Stop, knock it off,” Sadina’s girlfriend was laughing, very gaily.

Alexandra winced. Why must they laugh at nothing?

Their acts of simplicity were a mark of stupidity.

The Goddess tried to crack her neck to release tension, but ever since she’d ordered Nicholas’ head removed, her own head felt heavier.

A weight that she felt—from pressure behind her eyes all the way to the pounding in her ears.

Her vision dispersed to red static again.

Her feet shuffled below her. She turned from the railing of the Maze Cutter and spotted the cabin steps and door to the lower level.

She needed to sit in the Infinite Glade.

She hadn’t had a single moment to herself since the war started; surely that was the source of all the dizziness.

Her thoughts needed a moment to catch up with themselves.

Steps to the cabin creaked, and the cold air from below reminded her just how frigid the waters of Alaska were at this time of year.

Ugh . The lower level of the ship smelled like a Hollowing.

She pulled her cloak over her nose. Her feet on the wooden floor echoed—in her mind—the sound of Flint’s knees hitting the ground when he collapsed.

Destruction . . . she once thought she was immune to it, but seeing everything happen so quickly and so out of her control infuriated her.

She sat underneath a small window in the cabin.

She remained the only living Godhead, exactly what she wanted .

. . and yet she had never felt more powerless.

She closed her eyes and rubbed the back of her neck with both hands.

She inhaled for three seconds, held her breath for three seconds, and exhaled for three seconds.

The Goddess concentrated on nothing, nothing except clearing her mind of the way things should have been, forgetting all that ever was, including the war.

Mikhail be damned. She breathed in for three seconds, held her breath for three seconds, and exhaled for three seconds.

A ritual as important as the digits. She .

. . entered the realms within her own mind.

In the open, empty, vast space of nothingness and everythingness, she floated inside that place in her mind where anything was possible and all was revealed.

The Infinite Glade.

Colors and shapes swirled around her within the Infinite Glade as if to ask her what would you like to know?

She needed to know more about the book Sadina held. Nicholas had always hoarded his knowledge from her, but now the Evolution would bring information back to everyone. The sun would illuminate all that stands; knowledge would soon become visible to all.

It starts with the Cure.

It started with Newt.

Her mind spun with images of the Goddess herself holding on to the book.

Pages flipped in front of her. A feeling of power rushed over Alexandra with every glimpse of Newt’s book.

Greater than any feeling, even more overwhelming than the Cure Nicholas had injected into her at Crank Palace all those years ago. What is in that book?

The sound of footsteps descended into the cabin, and Alexandra watched as the Book of Newt closed and dropped out of her vision . . .

“Excuse me . . . Mrs. Goddess. I have a question.”

Sadina.

Alexandra opened her eyes. Had it not been the girl, the one she needed most, Alexandra might have snapped.

But it was Dear Sadina, the one whose very own blood held elements of Newt’s blood.

“Yes, Dear Sadina, bring me all your questions and I’ll give you fitting answers.

” Alexandra straightened her back as her head pounded with more pressure.

The red heat of war warmed her face. The Goddess felt her forehead.

“Are you okay?” Sadina asked.

“Oh my, yes.” Alexandra answered. “Was that your question?”

“No . . .” Sadina looked at the Goddess as if she was unsure. “You just seem sick or something.”

“The Godhead has evolved past sickness, my dear.” She pulled Sadina’s hand into her own. “Ask me what you really want to know.”

“What’ll happen when we get to the Villa?

Can they talk to the other Villas?” Sadina moved closer to her, sitting on the edge of her cloak.

Alexandra tried not to let it bother her but the Goddess wasn’t used to people being so close that they sat on top of her garments.

She pulled the cloak from under Sadina’s thigh. “Oh, . . . sorry,” the sweet girl said.

“Don’t you worry. When we arrive at the Villa, there are three women scientists who are at the very top of what they do.

And they will, with your permission, draw some of your blood—the bloodline of Sonya and Newt—to help with a Cure and the Evolution.

” Alexandra couldn’t help but smile thinking about this sacred lineage. She kept her smile to a tiny grin.

“But they talk to the other Villas?” Sadina asked quietly.

Other Villas weren’t something Alexandra worried about. Or cared about. Her neck tensed at the idea of more Villas, more Remnant Nations, more Mikhails and Nicholases out in the world somewhere. Heat pulsed behind her eyes and pain traveled at the base of her head.

Sadina looked up at Alexandra expectantly.

The Goddess inhaled for three seconds, held her breath for three seconds, exhaled for three seconds. Such a simple thing; so important and powerful. “Yes, they have a way that they can communicate with others . . . and other Villas.”

“But how do you know?”

Explaining to a child the element of knowing was like explaining a Griever to a spider. It just is. “The Infinite Glade, Dear Sadina.”

“Oh . . . I think my great uncle Newt wrote about that in his book.” Sadina leaned closer. Of all the books in Nicholas’ library, he didn’t own one written by a Glader of Old. If he had, it would have been the city’s most glorious possession, its very pride. Next to the Maze, of course.

“Tell me about Newt’s book.” It was time.

“Sure. Can you first tell me about the Infinite Glade? I have another question.” Of course she did.

Children and their incessant questions. Sadina took up more of the Goddess’ personal space, but she tried to keep her poise.

She needed Evolutionary followers like this child, close to her. Under her influence.

“The Infinite Glade is the place in your mind where a vast field of nothingness and everythingness exists. You can steady your breath and slow down time to reach all the answers of the universe, wherever you are. We believe it evolved from the original Flare virus, after many mutations. It can evolve even more.”

“Is it something only Godheads can do?” Sadina asked.

“Yes. Historically. But only because the world has been far too chaotic. Soon, with the Evolution, it’s something that everyone will be able to do.” The tips of Alexandra’s fingers tingled at the thought. Little did they know the Cure was less a cure than it was an enhancement .

But they didn’t need to know that part. Not for a long time.

Sadina was obviously intrigued. “How do we travel there?”

“No travel needed. The Infinite Glade is always around us . . .” She welcomed the opportunity to teach Sadina as Nicholas had taught her all those years ago.

Alaska may have fallen, but the Evolution would rise.

“It’s the plane of existence where all things are born and all things die.

We only have to quiet everything else to see it and hear it.

And if you’re quiet enough . . . to feel it. ”

“Sounds crazy,” Sadina said with an embarrassed chuckle.

Alexandra pulled back. She didn’t like that—the insinuation that she might be on the same level as a Crank. “Crazy?” She ran the digits through her mind.

“Crazy as in good!” Sadina smiled.

“Tell us how we do it!” Trish leaned into the open doorway with Dominic and Miyoko behind her.

Alexandra’s neck tensed and her shoulders tightened.

Children took words that used to mean one thing and just redefined them to whatever they wanted?

A lack of respect like that could ruin the very Evolution.

Alexandra reminded herself that the other children who’d joined Sadina were also from the island of Immunes and they, too, had elements of the Cure deep within their blood somewhere.

The Goddess inhaled for three seconds. The ladies at the Villa would have their work cut out for them.

She held her breath for three seconds. She just had to get the islanders there, and she could entertain stupid questions until then.

She exhaled for three seconds. So important.

“Tell them what you told me.” Sadina pulled on the sleeve of the cloak.

Her mind flashed red. “You must calm yourselves, first. Silence and stillness is the doorway to the Infinite Glade. Your breath, slow and steady, is the path through that doorway.” Alexandra focused on her own inner patience.

The non-soldier boy touched all around the doorway of the cabin.

Alexandra shook her head. “The Infinite Doorway. In your mind .” These children were simple, but they were moldable. They could be taught and guided in any way she wished, like the most faithful of Pilgrims. Her faithful Immunes. “Sit.” She motioned to Dominic.