Chapter 5
Cold stone pressed against my knees as we materialized in what I suspected was a pocket realm not far from earth. The travel had only taken a heartbeat, and I wasn’t left feeling like I was about to lose my lunch. Ringo, however, swayed on my shoulder as I stood before gripping my hair for balance.
Gray stones rose like ancient teeth around us, the air thick with the metallic tang of magic.
It was like a mixture between a manmade stone chamber and a living cave.
I reached out for Sebastian, the only one who had made it through with us, then realized Penelope was beside him too.
She must have been watching us rather than fighting to catch on so quickly.
But I didn’t understand why Marcie had shifted us so abruptly. We were all supposed to face my great grandfather together.
Things became a little more clear as Marcie stepped away from us. A pulse of magic breathed life into tiny floating orbs similar to Mistral’s wisplight.
At the other end of the small cavern stood who I could only assume was my great grandfather, his silver hair gleaming in the dim light, strong but wizened hands holding an opalescent sword against my mother’s throat.
I wasn’t sure why I had expected someone who looked younger.
Celestials were incredibly long lived—but nothing could truly live forever.
The blade caught the subtle rays of the wisplights, throwing rainbow fragments across my mother’s tired face. My stomach roiled as realization washed over me.
“You set me up,” I whispered, glancing at Marcie, who was avoiding meeting my eyes.
When she finally spoke, her voice was hollow. “He promised Helena would live if I brought you alone. It was the only way.”
My mother struggled against my grandfather’s grip. He held the blade more tightly to her throat, watching us impassively, waiting for us to approach.
“He’ll exchange her for you,” Marcie continued. “Once he has you, she will be forced to heal the pathways with the Realm Breaker. It was the only way I could keep him from killing her.”
“The Citadel,” I gasped. “You were the one who told him we were there, not Penelope.”
Penelope scoffed, but I ignored her.
“If I gave you to him he would have stopped chasing her. I could have talked some sense into her.” Marcie’s eyes glistened as she looked toward my mother. “I tried to have you kidnapped, but you escaped. This was the only way I could think to bring you alone.”
We watched as my great grandfather straightened, and the sword bit against my mother’s throat. “But she is not alone, as promised.” His voice sounded ancient and frail. “The devils will protect her. Our deal is off.”
Penelope huffed, but didn’t argue. And here I had been blaming her for the kidnapping.
My great grandfather’s eyes shifted from Sebastian to me, hesitating. He really was afraid. Even without the other guys, he thought we might best him. His fingers flexed around the silver hilt of the blade.
“Wait!” I stepped forward, desperate. “Don’t kill her. She was just trying to protect everyone.”
Sebastian gripped my shoulder before I could get any further, pulling me back toward him then to his other side, farther away from Marcie, but unfortunately closer to Penelope.
Ringo had scurried down from my shoulder and I didn’t see where he had gone.
All I could hope was he wasn’t going to do something brave.
“What do you think the purpose of all this is?” My grandfather’s eyes bored into me.
“Do you think it’s natural to anchor magic in a land that should have little?
Magic that can be stolen and stolen again?
” His voice grew colder. “I would like to know my great granddaughter, but I’m sorry.
Even your very existence is an effort to restore balance.
Conduits are only born into such environments of disorder.
Great power to wreak great destruction. Helena knew that, and she tried to hide it from you. She tried to hide it from us all.”
My mom closed her eyes, wincing, but that was all the movement she could make with the blade pressed against her throat.
One tiny shift and she would be dead. My voice shook. “We’re just trying to keep everyone safe.”
“You cannot have stars without the night.” He pressed the sword harder against my mother’s throat, drawing a line of blood to drip down her brown skin.
“I wish there were another way, but Helena cannot be trusted. And so, my granddaughter dies. The darkness comes. Realms are restored or destroyed. It cannot all exist at once.” His eyes met mine, unflinching.
“If you are to kill me afterward, then so be it. My task will be complete.”
“We had a deal,” Marcie hissed, her face flushing crimson. “She may be a little more dangerous to you with her infernal devil,” she cast a quick glare at Sebastian, “but I still brought her.” She jabbed a finger in my direction, and Sebastian let out a derisive snort beside me.
I couldn’t tear my eyes from the gleaming opalescent blade of the Realm Breaker pressed against my mother’s throat. My grandfather’s ancient hands were steady, not a tremor as he held the weapon that could slice through worlds.
His eyes—the same dark brown as my mom’s—locked onto me. “Would you take her place? Relinquish your power and become my prisoner? With your life at risk, she will undo her own destruction. Neither of us need lose her.”
“No, Eva,” my mother huffed, then grunted as the blade pressed deeper, more blood trickling down her skin.
I knew then that my great grandfather really didn’t want to kill her. That’s why he had given Marcie the option to bring me alone and defenseless, just like the other kidnappers had tried to do. But he was intent on healing the pathways, and he would do whatever it took.
Sebastian’s hand found mine, squeezing once. “He won’t let you go,” he whispered. “He won’t let you return to us. You are too much of a threat.”
For the first time since absorbing it, I could feel the vortex humming beneath my skin, ready to be unleashed.
But my grandfather was too close to killing my mother, and he didn’t care if he died afterward.
All of the shadows would be unleashed at once.
What good was power if I couldn’t save the people I loved?
“Stop.” I stepped forward, breaking Sebastian’s grip. “You said I exist to restore balance. Let me restore it.” My voice grew stronger with each word. “If I was created for a purpose, then you cannot rob me of it. Once it’s done, you let my mother go.”
Marcie shot me a warning look, but I ignored it.
My pulse hammered in my throat as I took another step forward.
He didn’t really want to kill her. There was still a chance.
“Give me the Realm Breaker and I’ll create new pathways myself,” I said, forcing my voice not to waver.
“With help, I’m strong enough. I’ll do exactly what you want, and my mom doesn’t have to die.
None of us do.” It was the only way, I thought, though my stomach twisted at the idea.
My mom had believed severing the pathways was the only way to keep the shadow creatures out.
But maybe with the vortex, we could fight them.
My great grandfather studied me, eyes as cold as dark glass. “How can I trust you care enough for your mother’s life to sacrifice the realm you call home?”
“I could create a contract,” Sebastian smoothly interjected.
With a flourish, papers materialized in his hand, the edges glowing faintly red.
“It could be rather simple, I imagine. In exchange for the Realm Breaker, Eva will regrow the pathways to replace all that were damaged. Once the task is complete, you will release Helena, unharmed.”
“Full pathways,” my grandfather demanded, something like hope in his voice. “Not just roads only travelable by celestials.”
“Noted,” Sebastian said, and I watched new ink crawl across the top paper like a living thing. He was going all out. Usually even a verbal agreement sealed by a devil was entirely binding, and the paper contracts were just for settling on the terms.
He handed the contract to me, producing an expensive silver pen from nowhere, its weight cool and heavy in my palm. I didn’t even bother reading what he had written. He knew contracts better than I did, and I was just going to have to trust him. With a trembling hand, I signed.
Below my signature, shimmering silver ink signed a name in the allotted space.
When I looked back up, my grandfather and mother were gone, and the Realm Breaker lay on the stone.
Marcie lunged for it, then shrieked, flinging her hand back with Ringo now attached to her flesh by his sharp teeth. Sebastian disappeared in a cloud of darkness at my side, then reappeared where my grandfather had been standing. Sword in hand, he pointed it at Marcie. “You betrayed Eva.”
“For good reason,” she huffed, balling her hands into fists. “Once he had Eva, Helena and I could have found a way to restore the pathways safely. We could have been done with this. We could have all lived.”
I wasn’t so sure about that. It was clear my great grandfather really didn’t want to kill my mother, but he actually knew her.
He had an attachment to her. But me? I was practically a stranger.
Without a very clever contract from Sebastian, my grandfather would have no reason to release me after my mother did what he wanted.
Maybe part of him wanted to get to know me, but ultimately his actions were based in practicality.
I stepped around Marcie, giving her a wide berth. She cradled her bloody hand, Ringo now standing proudly at Sebastian’s feet. Feeling brave, Ringo bared his teeth at Marcie when she looked at him. Though once I reached Sebastian, he scampered back onto my shoulder.
“I’ll do what he wants,” I said, “and with the contract, he’ll have to let her go, unharmed.” I looked at Sebastian. “You did put her being unharmed as part of the contract, right?”
“What kind of an amateur do you take me for?” Sebastian rolled his eyes.
“Unharmed,” I repeated, turning back toward Marcie, then jumping when I realized Penelope was now standing right next to me. Clearing my throat, I finished, “And I don’t want to see you again. I’ll save my mother myself.”
I reached for Sebastian’s free hand, but instead, he handed me the Realm Breaker.
A little part of me was surprised, knowing he had been after it for so long.
It was solid, but lighter than it looked.
Probably because it was made from pure celestial magic and not steel.
Penelope’s eyes lingered on the blade, but she had already admitted she needed either me or my mother to use it for her.
Marcie simply watched me, her mouth sealed into a grim line.
Finally, Sebastian took my hand and Penelope once again gripped my sleeve. I thought of the other guys, leaving Marcie and the pocket realm behind.
The world snapped back into focus around me, and I found myself standing in the middle of chaos.
The Circus was in shambles—tables overturned, glass shattered across the floor, and everyone locked in desperate combat.
Gabriel was holding off three of my grandfather’s men with that big sword of his, his face contorted with effort.
Braxton’s pack had closed in around us, and there were so many bodies I couldn’t even pick out Crispin or Mistral, though I could still sense them both.
“Eva!” I heard someone shout, but the voice was drowned in the cacophony.
Sebastian squeezed my hand before releasing it. “They don’t even realize we left,” he murmured. “Time must have been altered in that place. Probably to keep anyone from looking for you.”
Ringo clung to my shoulder, probably just as confused.
But I understood then that my great grandfather’s manipulation extended beyond just me.
Time had barely passed here while we were gone.
This was all part of his plan, to create enough distraction that I could be taken.
To eventually unravel this city that he believed should never have existed in the first place, whether it be by darkness or our own doing.
“We need to end this,” I said, gripping the Realm Breaker tightly. The sword hummed with power in my hand, almost alive. “If we’re going to heal the pathways, we can’t be fighting each other.”
Not really knowing what I was doing, but hoping I could get everyone’s attention, I raised the sword skyward.
Power surged through me, connecting with the blade, and a beam of pure light shot upward, punching through the Circus’ ornate ceiling.
Plaster and wood rained down, but the light held, a beacon that stopped everyone in their tracks.
“Enough!” My voice carried with a power I’d never felt before.
Everyone froze, except for Penelope, who dusted plaster from her shoulders, wrinkling her nose in distaste.