They caught him up with the events of the past few days. About the map that had been found by Russo and Birdie. About their plan to travel across purgatory and resurrect the True Headmaster. And, more importantly, about how it had all been a colossal waste of time.
When they’d finished, Dina narrowed her eyes at August.
“You don’t seem surprised. Youdidhear the part about us trying to resurrect an ancient powerful entity thought to be destroyed for centuries, right?”
August ran a hand through his curls. “Quite frankly, this isn’tthe most shocking piece of information I’ve received over the past few weeks.”
Dina considered his words with a shrug. “Fair enough.”
“Well, what now?” Olivier asked, fidgeting with his hands.
A chilling hush settled over them. Catherine tightened her grip on her spear. “Now…we fight. Without the True Headmaster. We fight with everything we have until the very end.”
Panic seized Emilio. Olivier wouldn’t even meet his gaze. He was staring at the ground, an agonized look of defeat in his eyes. Emilio wanted to go to him. To hold him. But before he could move a muscle, Dina spoke up.
“We’ll never make it in time. We can’t relocate through purgatory’s atmosphere. The only way the others will make it is by using the portal back at the base,” Dina whispered softly. “We’d never be able to re-create it. It tookyearsto construct that portal. Decades of carefully threaded magic. If we wanted to get to Blackwood now”—Dina swallowed, panic flooding her face—“it would take ushours.”
“I can get us there,” August replied without hesitation.
Dina shook her head. “You’re not listening. We can’t relocate through purgatory. You’d need an insane source of magic to transport all of us at once. Like, amassive, destructive amount of—” Dina’s mouth clamped shut when she saw the determination burning behind August’s eyes. She gave a quick shake of her head.
“No,” she muttered softly. “August. You can’t.Look at you.” She gestured to the shadow veins crawling over his neck. “You’ve already used too much.”
He shrugged. “What other choice do we have?”
Olivier scrunched his face in confusion. “I’m sorry—what is going on here? What can’t August do?”
But neither one of them answered.
“My soul is already ruined,” August muttered matter-of-factly. “May as well torch what’s left.”
“You do understand the consequences of what you’re saying, right?” Dina pressed, striding up to him. “If you use that much shadow magic in the state you’re already in…if you transportallof us…” Her voice shook with a swell of emotions. “You may as well cast the Reaper’s Kiss.”
August sighed. “I know.”
A gasp sprang out of Emilio as understanding washed over him. “You’re going to use shadow magic to take us there?”
August turned to look at him, almost shy. He smirked and Emilio felt his heart splinter into a thousand pieces. “It’s the onlyway.”
Catherine stepped forward. “August.”
“Oh, cheer up, Catherine.” A crooked smile spread over August’s face, though Emilio could practically feel the anguish radiating behind his storm-gray eyes. “Once the shadows take me, you’ll finally be able to rip my soul out of my chest just like you’ve always wanted to.”
Catherine’s bottom lip trembled. She shook her head. “You’re a bloody fool.”
August shrugged. “I’ve been called worse.”
August brought his hands together. Between them, a cloud of shadows formed.
“How long will you have before…” Dina’s voice trailed off, but her question was clear.
How long will August have until the shadows consume him?
August shrugged.
“Could be hours. Could be a couple of minutes.” Shadows were trickling out of his body, feathering around him, burstingbeneath him like a storm cloud. “But when it happens…and itwillhappen…you cannot hesitate. You strike me down. You put me out before I can hurt anybody else.”
Catherine sealed the promise with a nod.
