“Sanrin is reviewing the results of the first measurements, but so far, the numbers are inconclusive.” Hirani put a hand on mine. “We have more advanced facilities in Bogotá. We could transfer you there, and—”
The door opened and Elder Sanrin and Elder Brand entered the recovery room. Their faces were grim.
“Claude couldn’t come,” Sanrin said. “There was another heretic attack, and he can’t use the portal network from his current location. It’s unfortunate. We could have used his expertise.”
The elders exchanged worried glances that bothered me almost as much as the equipment attached to my body. If three of the most powerful, intelligent, and wise people that I knew looked so worried, something very, very bad must have happened.
“Just tell me what’s wrong,” I said. “The suspense is killing me.”
“It’s not doing me any good, either,” Elder Sanrin admitted. “You’re an unusual case. Your core isn’t like any others. That makes figuring out what’s happened much more difficult.”
“Maybe if all the information about Eclipse Warriors hadn’t been destroyed when they were betrayed, someone would know how to fix it,” I grumbled.
“No,” Brand said sharply. “You’re not exactly like them.”
Elder Sanrin raised a hand to silence my questions before they could begin. He snapped his fingers, and a chair whisked itself across the room to my bedside. The elder took a seat, crossed his arms in front of him, and leaned in close to me.
“Your core was created imperfectly.” Sanrin considered his next words. “It had a gap in it. You plugged that gap with a core stolen from the Locust Court emissary. It was a clever, if unorthodox, solution to your problem.”
“And that’s how I became an Eclipse Warrior,” I finished for him.
“Jace, Eclipse Warriors were a fusion of two Empyreal cores.” Sanrin leaned back and steepled his fingers in front of his face. “You’re not exactly the same as they were. And that’s the problem.”
“What’s the problem?” I blew out an exasperated sigh. “Just spit it out.”
“Okay, tough guy,” Brand said. “Here’s the whole, ugly truth. Your core’s delaminating. We don’t know why, and we don’t know how to fix it.”
“Unless we go to Bogotá,” Sanrin said. “We have the best experts there. It will take some time, but I am confident our people will be able to solve your problem before it reaches the terminal phase.”
“I don’t understand.” I didn’t know what the terminal phase of delaminating was, but it sounded very, very bad.
“Your core is made up of two halves.” Hirani held up her clasped hands to demonstrate. Then she lifted two fingers away from one another. “Unfortunately, the fusion is imperfect. Those two halves are separating into distinct layers. That’s the definition of delaminating.”
Her words were like a splash of icy water in my face. I sank back into my bed and tried to ignore the beeping and whining of the machines attached to me. The medallions on my chest glowed red, then faded to a dusky violet as my panic settled into despair.
If my core came apart, I’d be a hollow again. All the power I’d gained would vanish like mist under the morning sun. My core would be useless and all the progress I’d made would be undone.
I’d be nothing more than a kid from the camps again. I wasn’t sure I could survive that.
“How long would I be away from the School?” I asked.
“There’s no way to know for certain.” Brand shrugged. “Could be a few days. Could be a few months. Maybe a lot longer. We’re in uncharted waters here, kid. We’re doing the best we can for you, but honestly, nobody knows.”
“What happens if I don’t go with you?” I asked.
“We don’t know that, either.” Sanrin sighed. “Your core seems stable at the moment. If I had to guess, your rapid advancement strained its natural imperfections. Those tiny fractures in the shell were further damaged by the stress caused by your time with the Inquisition.”
Panic and despair went to war in my thoughts. I’d come so far, so fast. Tycho had used me. Grayson had tried to kill me. I’d saved the whole world from the Locust Court. And all I’d gotten for my trouble was aches and pains and a core that was splitting itself in half.
“What about my mother?” I was desperate to change the subject. I needed time to make this decision.
“We’re still searching for Eve,” Brand said. “Things have gotten messy out there, though.”
“What happened?” I’d been locked up for three months and hadn’t had a chance to catch up on any news since I’d returned to the School.
“Just rest,” Hirani urged. “Let’s save this conversation for when you’re recovering in Bogotá.”
“He deserves to know,” Brand said.
Sanrin considered the other elders’ words before he finally nodded.
“The Empyrean Flame commanded that the truth about Kyoto be suppressed,” Sanrin explained. “Its priests didn’t want the populace to panic, which is exactly what would’ve happened if anyone found out that the Locust Court had not only survived but staged a counterattack. The priests have blamed the attack and the missing sages on heretic terrorists.”
“Someone had to see me as an Eclipse Warrior in the courthouse.” Even if most didn’t know the true history of the Empyreals, someone had to have realized what I was.
“That never happened. You were a concerned student who alerted the authorities to the impending attack.” Brand scoffed. “The PDF knows better than to spill the beans, and those Empyreals who survived the attack know the effect news of an Eclipse could have. The idiots would panic. Most of them would want you killed.”
“Which we will not allow,” Sanrin added quickly. “The Inquisition returned you to the School
