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Kalistratos advances, shouting as he slings fireball after fireball from his clenched fists. Airos comes in fromthe other side and sends a plume of gold fire at the monster. They’re pushing it back!
“YOU’RE NOT TAKING HIM!” Kalistratos roars.
A pulse of energy erupts from the reaver that slams both of them to the ground. It’s still standing, unharmed. It turns to face Kalistratos, glaring soullessly with its blank eyes.
“Kalistratos!” I cry.
His body tenses and he’s lifted to his feet. His face is rigid, teeth clenched. He clutches at his throat like he’s being choked by an invisible hand.
I’m not going to let anything happen to you.Never.
I love you.
Everything around me fades away. I’m moving like I’m possessed by some unknown force, completely on autopilot. I feel the stone in one hand and the sling in the other, and the rising furious heat inside of me, flowing through my body. I see the strange light from beneath my skin as I whirl the sling back and forth until it’ a whistling blur. I see the mask-like face of the soul reaver. And then I release.
The stone shoots forward like a laser, tracing a flame straight from my hand through the reaver’s face. Kalistratos drops to the ground. The monster turns slowly to me andstarts to violently shake before erupting into a cloud of black dust.
Alyx and Airos stare in surprise as I rush to Kalistratos. He’s already getting up on one knee.
“Cheesus,” he mutters. “That was wild.”
I throw my arms around him. “Oh, God. I was so scared.” I kiss him again and again. “I love you, I love you, I love you.”
He smiles weakly at me. “My love belongs to you, forever,” he tells me. “It always has.”
I hold his face in my hands and kiss his forehead.
But then I feel it.
The presence from my dream.
I look up. A man is standing beneath the oak tree, draped in darkness. I can’t see his face, but I know it’s him.
He’s real.
Kalistratos squints. “Who’s there?” he shouts.
“You were pretty smart to cloak him from my reach,” the man says. “And much stronger than I thought. But this ends now. You’re going back.”
My three guardians move to defend me, but a powerful blast of flame erupts from beneath the tree, knocking all of us down. I rise to my knees and a starry fissure appears in the air in front of me. I turn to run, but everything around me looks distorted and bent, like a hall of funhouse mirrors. I see Kalistratos running towards me, hand out.
“Freeze time!” I hear Airos shout, his voice muddy and distant. “Stop him!”
“I can’t!” Kalistratos yells. His words are thick and slurred. “Something’s wrong…”
I reach for his hand. He’s right there, but he’s so far away. The expanse swallows me, and I’m dragged down from the shimmering surface like my feet are made of iron and I’ve fallen into a bottomless ocean.
Kalistratos’s desperate face and his outstretched hand are the last things I see.
EPILOGUE
TYLER
The car’s blaring horn and the deafening screech of rubber are the first things to hit me before the car’s fender knocks me to the ground.
As I fall, I see the car—red, maybe a Miata—nearly plow through the people standing at the bus stop. It smashes into a trash can as pedestrians scatter, and with a loud crash, it slams into the building.
I’m still conscious for a moment. The world is sideways. People are rushing towards me.
