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I turn to the notebook. Doomed to extinction stares back at me. “How come Duals stopped thriving? What happened?”

I don’t know. It was a question that plagued Rossana and Gildra.

I release the uncut ruby and watch the small hexagonal rock side to side. Excitement builds as opportunity blooms before me. I am a soul with a powerful demon protector. I could go to parts of the Weave others have only dreamed of. The things I could learn. The mysteries I could uncover. “I think we should explore the Weave.”

Absolutely not. You need to rest.

“I’ve been resting, and look, my chest is better.” I rub the black-stained line that dissects my body. The two halves remain together like it’s nothing more than a mark. “See? I’ll be fine. Let’s go.”

And where exactly do you plan to go? Other than your death.

“You’re being dramatic. I’ll be⁠—”

Devoured by Alasdair if you return to your body.

The rumbling growl quakes my soul form, threatening my perception of my body. I morph like a ripple. “Woah!” I steady again, but I don’t dare move my splayed arms and legs in case it happens again. “What was that?”

You are a soul. Much like when you travel inside yourself to perceive your Soul Threads, you take on the body that you perceive yourself to have. It’s why you’re shaped as you are and why you were able to knit yourself back together when the horror of Alasdair’s attack faded.

“You mean when you ripped open my chest even when I told you not to?” I glare at nothing in particular, since she’s all around me.

I saved you.

“You delayed the inevitable,” I snip back.

And I was able to pull your consciousness from Alasdair’s prison to prevent him from feeding on your pain!

I click my tongue. “Okay, true. But now I’m feeling better. I don’t need to sleep anymore. I need to do something to help Valen and Lucas.”

Jinx’s silence is daunting. I sigh loudly and try again. “I know you’re worried about me, but you need to recognize that I am strong enough. Lucas is heading towards my father right now. He could be there already. If there’s a way for us to help him or break the curse on my body, now is the time to figure it out.”

The silken strands shift before she answers slowly, Alright, but know this. The Weave is a dangerous place for you. You are the equivalent to a lost soul, and there are demons who roam that would devour you. You must stay close to me.

“I promise. We’re a team, Jinx. Where you go, I go.”

The strands around me suck away. Smoke swirls around before dissipating until I stand on that mirrored surface again, the space below my feet glowing and the cosmos arcing above.

Yet my attention is pulled from the wonder of the Weave all around to behold my familiar towering over me in a form that is both familiar and unfamiliar.

Still feline in nature, Jinx’s demon form holds not one but two sets of fangs that hang side by side over her lips, with the smaller set in front of the larger. Her shoulders are massive, with her front legs longer than the back ones to create an elegant sweep down her spine. Three fluffy tails whip in agitation back and forth, leaving behind a trail of smoke that disperses in the darkness. The same smoke billows in a little stream from the tufted tips of her long, thin, pointed ears.

Her black fur holds a breathtaking pattern of stripes and flecks of inky blue and glittering white, resembling a mix between a tiger and jaguar that provides perfect camouflage to the Weave’s night sky. The fur of her mane lies flat against her neck. It creates the appearance of one flat line from the base of her long ears to her massive shoulders.

I touch her strong forearm. “Is this your true form?”

“Yes.” Her voice echoes lightly, the white flecks within her fur’s pattern winking in response to her pitch.

“You’re beautiful, Jinx.” I stroke her silken fur, so lost in her magnificence that I nearly forget where we are.

Jinx turns her head. “Welcome to the Weave, Tori. My first home.”

I follow her gaze and perceive our surroundings without the haze of pain and suffering. Stars flicker in the deep indigo of the night, some so close that we could stroll up to them, others so far that they’re merely specks. Others arc over us like arrows letting loose into the sky, long glittering trails of every color left in their wake.

“Wow,” I say breathlessly, reaching out, but never fully touching any of it.

“The Weave is a vast, wondrous place, populated with creatures as diverse and complex as those in your own world. You’ve called us simply ‘demons,’ which would be as accurate as calling all life in the physical world ‘animals.’ Lost souls who are stuck become ghosts. But not all souls become stuck. Some are able to find their way to the Weave, but they rarely can navigate their way to the center where the Tapestry of Magic lies with its protectors.”

“Why?”