“The Citadel,” I gasped. “Youwere 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, hethought 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 infernaldevil,” 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. Hedidn’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 alllived.”
