Page 78 of The Reaping Rose

As promised, Wilder is waiting for me when I reach the library.

“She’ll be fine.”

He must have overheard some of my conversation with Letia through our connection.

“Why just Letia though? None of the other villagers are reacting to the aeraliss.”

“I don’t know, but I promise I’ll figure it out.” He places his hand on my lower back, guiding me the rest of the way.

Callum, Perame, Rior, and Atlas are already inside, but Greer must be training because she’s notably absent. Thankfully, Aurora is as well. I've done my best to hold my ground during our blended court meetings, but I’m on edge and can do without her sneering judgment today.

Callum rests against a table with a book in his hands, Atlas and Rior at either side.

“Did you figure it out?” I ask, hopefully.

His pale-gray eyes lift—a storm of worry brews in them. “I believe so, but we’ve yet to test it.”

“Because you need my blood, right?” The concern that shoots through my veins this time isn’t my own.

I glance at Wilder, his emotions so strong he’s barely blocking them.

“Yes and no,” Callum says, drawing my attention back to him. “It’s not quite like we thought. When Perame said the blood of two places, we assumed one source, but I don’t believe that’s the case. I went back over my research on the first Arches. We know they used seeds to grow them, with magic from either end to open a doorway between the two places.”

“We don’t have anyone in the Mortal Realm to wake an Arch there.” I frown. “And if the void is there, we don’t know that there’s enough magic to wake it at all.”

“I don’t think that matters. Just because it requires magic from both ends to wake it doesn’t mean magic needs to be at both ends when it happens.” Callum closes the book, holding it to his chest. “It’s like when we used your mother’s sword. Wilder didn’t wake anything on his end; we did it from ours using your blood and the magic from the vein of the Well.”

“Elorie’s blood tied to Alyssium⁠—”

“And the vein of the Well tied to Vaelier.” Callum finishes Wilder’s thought. “The two together opened a doorway between the realms. It was never about the sword. At least, not when it came to the Arch. I still haven’t figured out how it drove back the Well as Elorie described, but that’s a different puzzle.”

“It didn’t just drive back the Well. It’s like the Well screamed…” All eyes in the room move to me, and a chill runs my spine. “That’s the best way to describe it. When the sword touched the Well, it wasn’t like when Greer and I closed the vein in Solace. It was like the Well was afraid or hurt.”

“You’re saying the Well felt something?” Rior’s eyebrow arches. “Like it’s sentient?”

“We don’t know what the Well is, but it would make sense.” Wilder is the one to answer him. “The Well picks and chooses where it drains. It reaches out and pulls back. There’s some kind of thought in how it destroys. And in Everquell, the split held for years before anything came through. As if it were waiting for something.”

Wilder is right, and it’s unsettling.

I turn back to Callum. “So you’re saying that even if the Arch is closed in the Mortal Realm, we might be able to wake it on our side to step through.”

“If what I’ve read is true, then yes. But the text implies it needs two sources. Yours will work as the descendant of the blood from the Mortal Realm, but we’ll need blood from Vaelier as well. There and back in case it doesn’t hold open in the meantime.”

Perame pops up from where she was leaning against a table, quietly listening to the conversation. “I can help with Vaelier blood. Gaile ancestry runs as deep as the Rivens in Vaelier. I’ll go with you.”

“No, you won’t.” Atlas’s calm demeanor slips as he glares at his sister.

She crosses her arms over her chest, not backing down. “It’s my vision. How else do you expect Elorie to find what she’s looking for? I’m the only one who has seen the void.”

“Perame is right,” Wilder says, stepping forward. “She’s our only hope at finding the void. And I need you and Rior on this side while I’m gone.”

“What?” Rior steps forward now.

Perame is already shaking her head while Atlas begins mumbling disagreements.

I spin to face Wilder, grabbing his hand. “You’re not going with me either.”

“You think I’m sending you to the Mortal Realm unguarded?”