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Unfortunately, I can’t stay here buried alive. The lack of air is already becoming a problem. A quick scan of myself confirms what I already know. I’m too injured and depleted to keep facing Alasdair.

I swallow and curl my hands into fists. My heart screams, and I buckle under the weight of its pain. I can’t free Tori. Not yet. I severely underestimated Alasdair, a mistake I won’t make again. I need time to puzzle out what he is, how he returned from being half dead, so I know how to fight him. I’ve never faced a weaver who can cut my threads like that, and I’ve never seen such fucked-up eyes. And his power… I know Heirs to Archweavers are powerful, but this seems beyond that. He defeated both Tori and Jinx.

Astoria’s curse must have done something to him, something different and new. I can’t win against him. I need help.

Tears burn my eyes, and I squeeze them closed. I hate leaving Tor like this. My beautiful, wild, Torment. But I have no choice if I want to save her. Running is my best chance at succeeding.

My voice is a small, broken tremble as I whisper to the darkness, “I’ll save you, Torment. I swear. I’ll be back. Just… hold on.”

My eyes snap open. Okay. Let’s do this.

My rings glow as bright as suns, and my threads launch me through the earth at an angle, clawing their way to the surface in a blurring speed. I pour more and more of my energy into the effort. My fingers burn, my rings too hot for my mortal flesh. Blisters inflate, and I grit my teeth. Every last brain cell screams at me to pull back, to make it stop, but I can’t. It’s this or I’ll die underground.

I’d rather destroy myself trying to get Tori help than hiding from her monster.

The fresh air hits me and I gulp down breaths, but my stomach drops. I was going too fast and I am airborne. I launch like a firecracker for everyone in the world to see. Here flies Lucas, the biggest fucking idiot in the world.

I twist, head on a swivel, until my eyes meet Alasdair’s. He gapes at me before coming to his senses. He bellows. Magic erupts towards me in a crackle of black lightning. My threads weave into a shield, blood coating my hands. It’s like I stuck them into a forge, and I shout in pain.

But it works. Alasdair’s attack collides with it, and the force of the impact sends me spinning.

I crash into the surrounding trees and groan for the hundredth time today. Fuck me sideways, I am never doing that again. I drag myself up and nearly crumple back down. My knee’s binding has dissolved, but I can’t stop now. I’m almost to the transportation platform.

A singsong voice echoes through the forest. “Lucas! Come out, come out wherever you are. There’s still so much fun to be had.”

My heart pounds. His laugh, so happy and carefree, will haunt me for the rest of my life. I nearly miss Dimitar. Nearly.

My hands and feet slide along the leaves. I grab the tree and haul my aching body to standing. I’m pouring blood and don’t have the time to try to patch myself up. I need to reserve the last of my magic for the circle.

My first few steps are wobbly, and pain lances up my legs like needles. I grab anything I can to keep upright. I limp faster, crashing into a tree. Spots are forming in my vision, and I bite my tongue hard to keep from screaming in pain.

Then the raised slate platform appears before me, and I collapse onto it. My hands are shaking too hard to chalk anything. I’m an idiot. I should’ve marked it before I left. Cold grips me as sweat slicks my body. My threads slither out and line the engravings. I fumble for my notebook. My hands are coated in blood. My rings glow muted from it. It smears over the pages. Fuck, what did it look like?

“There you are.” Alasdair hums pleasantly.

My eyes land on him. His voice is eerily like Tori’s, and bile rises in my throat. But a rune drawn over my heart returns to me, the symbol clear as day. Tori’s whispered plea fills my senses. “Run…”

I gasp. and my threads twist in the spot I’m supposed to chalk.

I cough, “Travel.” And pray to any gods who are listening that this works. I’ve never used my threads without chalk to complete the circle before.

Alasdair laughs as magic surrounds me. “You all make this too easy.”

Then I’m gone.

CHAPTER 10

THE SPACE BETWEEN

ASTORIA

“Hang on, Tori.”

Jinx’s voice echoes everywhere and nowhere. I pant, my eyes rolling. Pain like electrical currents bolts through my center with each pulse of my heart. I can’t scream. I have no voice. All I am is this agony.

Something constricts around me, dragging me. Everything is so dark. I reach blindly, sobbing, “Lucas…”

But Lucas doesn’t respond. I ache for him, wailing with each surge of pain. Did he survive? I need to know. I need to find him. He was so close to death when he pulled me free from that hellish prison. Did his soul make it back to his body? Jinx must have sent him back before dragging my soul into this darkness. I try to ask her, but my mouth can’t form the words.