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Julius looked horrified. “Dannika can foreshadow?”
Dannika gripped the bowl to her chest, as if the demon artifact could keep her grounded in her own time. The infinite possibilities rolled in her mind. It wasn’t as Killian had described.
Maybe it was the differences in their goals. She didn’t seek power. She looked for a way to save Raine.
She discarded events and actions that would create an alternate outcome. There were several visions where Raine survived, but all involved a terrible risk, an unconscionable act that would have severe consequences.
Still, within those options, were several more. One where Killian lived. One where Julius became the reaper leader. She understood why Killian took his time. It could take days, decades to sift through the options, searching for the far-reaching consequences. Foreshadowing was a powerful and terrible ability.
Killian held the blade to Raine’s throat. “Tell me what you see.”
“So many images. Different outcomes. How do you know which path is correct?” The pain in her voice was real. The decision within a decision was agonizing.
Killian’s hand shook at Raine’s throat, the restraint of holding back on a kill taking its toll on the weakening reaper. “What do you feel? Each scenario has a pain tolerance. The less likely the outcome, the more painful it is to achieve.”
Dannika’s eyes met her father’s. Certain visions lanced through her head like lightning, while others rolled on with little pain. “I didn’t understand that. The more painful the vision, the less likely it is to come to pass.”
Killian smiled. “Oh yes, but sometimes the more painful the vision, the higher the reward.”
She concentrated on Killian, whispering in her mind:Show me the past.
Killian sat at his desk, his eyes white with black smoke filtering through the milky pupils. He clutched his head, hissing through the pain, before he stood, shifting to the shadows.
He entered the apartment of Steele’s great-grandson. The attack played through her mind, but it wasn’t the gruesome nature of the death that got her attention. It was the mechanical nature of Killian’s actions. He was killing to alter the timeline, executing events that ensured his rise in power. Using his gift to destroy shadow shifters and cement a reaper takeover.
He was focused on the single vision where he became the reaper king.
Dannika saw multiple outcomes. She didn’t have time to analyze them all, but every vision where Raine survived included one unalterable event.
After multiple scenarios where Raine died, she decided on the most dangerous option. She cut her hand, dripping blood into the chalice.
Killian released Raine, allowing him to fall to the ground. “Dannika, stop. The portal wards are not strong enough today. You don’t know what you’re doing. Humanity cannot survive a demon invasion. We can’t survive it.”
Dannika’s eyes met Raine’s as he reached out to her, pleading with her to stop, though his neck was too ravished to form words. “I can’t survive without him.”
Raine’s arm fell to the earth in defeat.
“Anum caru. Anum candrae. Belifrite toleran solorin.” The words rolled off her tongue
As the power in her blood ignited, the room glowed, waiting for its destiny.
Killian’s eyes bulged. “Don’t!”
She kept her gaze locked with Raine’s as she slapped her bloody hand to the symbol stamped on the rock. The cracking sound echoed in the chamber like a landslide before an orange light split the surface of the stone.
CHAPTER28
Dannika ducked as pebbles and dust fell from the ceiling. The shaking rock knocked everyone in the cavern to their knees, clutching the ground as the mountain voiced its displeasure at the disturbance within.
A second crack split the rock face before bits of stone sucked inward to the glowing orange light. Piece by piece broke away, as the hole grew larger and the light brighter.
She was so focused on the crumbling portal, she didn’t notice Raine had crawled to her side.
He waved his arm in front of her face, garnering her attention. “Dannika. You need to close the portal.”
“I don’t know how.”
“What was on the scroll? The portal was opened twice. Both times it was closed.”
