“But theoretically, it’s possible?”Eleanor asks.
Midnight’s eyes widen as she scratches her head.“I mean…”
Alistair steps away from the wall, his expression grave as he glances from a brooding Midnight to the professors.“Yes.It’s possible.”
“Then we have to try,” Cordelia says.
“I agree.The more reinforcements we have, the better,” I add.
For the next hour I feel utterly useless.All I can do is stand by and watch as Eleanor and Cordelia explain the layout of their city and where the Whisper Club is located.
After practicing holding a tear open to the outskirts of Sangui, we realise the cut between realms will take so much power they’re only going to be able to send one person through.Someone will have to stay to anchor it to allow Cordelia’s family back through.
We argue back and forth for at least ten minutes about who should walk through the tear.
In the end, despite Midnight’s level of exhaustion, we decide the most sensible person to go is her.Alistair will be responsible for keeping the rip open, and Midnight will bring everyone through.
When they’re here, we’ll seal the tear so there’s no ruptures puncturing through to Sangui.
Cordelia’s family can then travel back by train after the chaos is over.
Midnight looks exhausted as she and Alistair set about trying to harvest enough energy from the campus.They work for an hour, their hands covered in thick black ropes of magic.Again and again they rip magic from the walls until the clocktower floor is littered in shreds of black ribbons puffing and disintegrating.A sheen of sweat covers both Alistair and Midnight’s foreheads.Her eyes are dark and the bags plump beneath her eyes.
She needs a break.I stand in front of them.“This isn’t working.You don’t have enough power.And even if you can cut all the way through to the Whisper Club, you’re not going to have enough to keep it open.”
Eleanor rubs her jaw.“I suspect you’ll need the tear open for at least six hours, probably more.Sangui is enormous and to gather Cordelia’s family will be a task.”
Midnight’s eyes flash to mine.“Don’t even think about it,” she says.
But of course my skin is already flaring to life, the runes tingling as they glow and glisten.“Use me,” I say.
“Absolutely not,” Midnight says, throwing a hand out as if to cut the conversation off.
Alistair glances at me and then to Cordelia and Eleanor.He knows it’s the only solution.
He touches her hand and she softens at the gesture.“Midnight, be reasonable.To keep the tear open and continually reinforce it while also ensuring the underworld doesn’t burst through, is going to require an unimaginable amount of power.I don’t have access to that.I’m good.But I’m not an arch demon.I need Lucy as an anchor.”
Midnight’s jaw clenches.She yanks her hand out of his and paces up and down.
“If anything happens to you—” she says, pointing at me as if I’m the problem.
I hold my hand up.“I’ll be okay.”
“But if?—”
Cordelia steps in front of Midnight so suddenly it makes her halt.“Midnight!Stop.We either give this a try or we lie down and quit now.We don’t have time to argue about who can donate what.”
Midnight’s nostrils flare, her neck pulses in a way that tells me she’s biting her tongue but really wants to rip Cordelia’s head off.
“Fine,” she says through gritted teeth.
“Good.Now, my daughter is a sceptical one.You’ll need to convince her.Tell her I need her help, that I want her to consult on an issue, she’ll like that.”
“Eleanor, can you source a couple of chairs?We’re going to be stuck in here for a few hours.”
She nods and leaves.
“You can access your power on command?”Alistair says to me.
