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“I don’t understand.” I narrow my eyes at Corvus. “How can he do that? The casts?—”
Kai crosses his arms beneath his white cloak to disguise his trembling.
“The casts can’t stop everything. He still has some power, but he has to take it first—steal darkness to use darkness,” Corvus says nonchalantly.
“I don’t trust him,” I snap back at him, moving down a step closer toward Corvus. “You saw what he did at the lake that night as well as we did.”
“I saw power that could change the tides of war.” Corvus’s voice is cold and accusatory.
Kai shoves past both of us and shakes his head. “Both of you shut up—let’s go.”
Corvus and I glare at one another as we follow behind Kai.
No one says another word the rest of the way down the spiral stairs. Edgar is a good floor ahead of us; he didn’t wait while we argued. After what seems like at least ten minutes of descending, we finally reach the bottom. The mildew smell is stronger in the depths of this tower; something sinister exists down here.
“Guys, maybe we should leave?—”
“Gods, what is that?” Kai cuts me off.
Corvus and Edgar face a ten-foot door covered in golden thorns and twisted statues etched into the ebony stone. It looks prickly and poisonous, with barbed edges surrounding it. It’s clearly not something to fuck around with. That’s obvious.
Corvus looks over his shoulder at us. “We believe this doorway leads to Fernestia. You two don’t have to come if you don’t want to.”
I can hear Kai clenching his teeth, and a wild light flickers through his azure eyes as he finally breaks and shouts at our friend, “Corvus, what the fuck happened to you? Just take a look around you. This is insanely stupid. Even I wouldn’t do anything as reckless as this.” Kai grasps Corvus’s wrist to stop him from getting closer to the door.
Corvus whirls and rips his arm out of Kai’s grip. “Watch yourself, Kai,” Corvus says venomously. He closes his hand around a shadow blade that appears from thin air.
Kai laughs in disbelief and raises his hand into the air. “Meskill.” Kai whispers his Shadow’s name, and steam hisses from his teeth. Two ebony spears form from his Shadow. Kai spins them like a well-trained assassin, aiming them at Corvus.
My heart beats rapidly and my blood thickens inside my veins. My Shadow anxiously coils inside, waiting to see what my friends will do next. “Stop it, both of you,” I shout, but they ignore me.
What should I do?
Kai lurches forward. “Come to your senses, Corvus!”
Corvus dodges a little too late and gets his shoulder sliced clean with Kai’s black spear. He lets out a pained grunt but shakes the assault off quickly.
Kai lands on the other side of Corvus and Edgar and shoves his spears into the portal frame, barring the door. The weapons glimmer and become one with the door, sealing it.
Edgar catches on just as I do and the air suddenly shifts, energized.
“Remove those now.” Edgar’s eyes burn like green infernos and instill fear in me. The turquoise fractures glow brightly and I know he’ll blight us if I don’t act now.
“Guys, enough!” I snap, raising my hand and summoning a wall of fire that breaks between them. Edgar’s fists are clenched tightly, but the fire distracts him and the turquoise in his gaze returns to its former dim glow.
I take a deep breath, shaking, but steady enough to say, “Please—let’s not turn on each other. This is exactly what Fernestia wants.” Kai stares at me uncertainly, his eyes flicking back at the other two with distrust. “I don’t care what you two do, but enough fighting.” My brows pull together with rage.
I can sense it firsthand, Edgar’s wrath, and I never want to feel it again. I’ve never felt anything so rotten and twisted. One thing is clear: no matter his ideation, Edgar is on a path that will only carry death.
For everyone, not just Fernestia.
I don’t waste time waiting for either Corvus or Edgar to respond. I grab Kai’s wrist and drag him back toward the stairs. Kai opens his mouth to say something but I shoot him a warning look. He shuts his mouth and doesn’t say another word the rest of the way up the stairwell.
The maze of hallways is difficult to navigate but I keep up our pace. I’m not sure what Edgar and Corvus decided to do after we left, but I’m not about to let them catch up to us in case they’re still looking to fight.
After we finally make our way out of the lower floors, we emerge back onto the familiar main level of Alkrose. Only then do I let a sigh loose. I felt like I couldn’t breathe down there. My anxiety was about to set my Shadow into a killing frenzy.
Neither of us speaks until we enter the homeroom of the Cosmos House. Kai still has his arms crossed and an annoyed expression firmly in place. I plop onto one of the sofas and exhale loudly. My entire body is sore from all the godsforsaken stairs and the tension in that pit.
