“I’m not scared,” Verene says. “But they have to know. They have to know what I did for them. You can’t let me just disappear without—”
She’s clutching his shirt so tightly. She is scared.
There’s a strange expression on Theo’s face. He’s no longer looking at his sister. All his attention is focused on something clutched in his hand, and he’s just staring at it, like he can’t decide what to do with it.
It’s the eye. Ale’s eye.
And then Verene notices it, too. She recoils. She tries to squirm away.
“No,” she says. “No. I won’t—”
“Verene,” Theo says. “You already did.”
She’s trying to get away. But he’s already shoving the eye into her mouth.
All I can do is watch, strangely mesmerized, as Verene gags. Theo covers her mouth and forces her to chew. And chew. And chew. It takes so long, and she fights it the whole time, but he doesn’t let up. When it’s finally done, she goes limp.
She’s crying, and it’s a small, broken noise. He takes his hand off her mouth and pushes her hair away from her face, gently. He’s watching her like he’s waiting for something to happen.
So I watch her, too. I watch her shuddering breaths. I watch her seeping wounds. I watch the omens crawl down her face and onto her neck.
And then, the omens stop in their tracks. They disappear. Every last one.
Her wounds stop bleeding.
Verene goes still. Then, all at once, she wrenches herself away from her brother. She scrambles back on her hands and knees. She’s moving like she doesn’t feel any pain at all, but her face is gray and terrified.
She blinks once, twice, and something happens behind her eyes. Even from here, I can see it. In an instant, they’re darker.
Colder.
“No,” she says, her voice hushed. “No—”
I know what I’m looking at. I’ve seen it before.
Magic. Blood magic. The most powerful magic a person can have.
I have to get out of this city. I have to get back to my home.
I stand up and scoop up my knife off the cobblestone. Somehow, I get Ale on his feet. His arm is around my shoulder, leaning on me heavily, as we stumble into the nearest street. I look around wildly for an entrance to the catacombs. I see dark manors and terrified faces peeking out of the windows. I see bubbling fountains and beautiful white rose gardens. I can’t remember if I’ve been on this particular street before, and I want to scream. I don’t have time to be lost. Ale doesn’t have time to be lost.
At last, I spot a familiar door in an alley. I drag Ale onto the first step. Instantly, a few drops of his blood fall. A moment later, the vide is there, swallowing it up.
I pull the blood-soaked jacket off Ale’s face. I wring it out onto the vide, and its shadowy form gets darker. The air gets colder as the splatters of blood disappear.
“Ale,” I say. “Tell it to take us back to Occhia. It will listen to you.”
Ale sways, and all at once, he’s collapsing down the steps. I chase him. He’s landed in a crumpled pile on the catacomb floor, barely conscious. His one remaining eye is fluttering, but really, all I can see is the gaping, bloody hole in his face.
“Ale.” I grab his shoulder and shake him. “Tell the vide to take us home. Now.”
“It hurts,” he whispers.
“I know,” I say.
“Why?” he says. “Why did she do this to me?”
His voice is so small and helpless, and for a second, I completely lose my nerve. For a second, I’m convinced that I can’t do this. We can’t do this. We’re never going to be able to make it back to Occhia, and we’re going to die right here on the floor of the catacombs.
But then I shake myself. Ale needs me. He needs his best friend—the one who can and will do anything for him.
I press my knife against my unblemished hand. I hold my breath and slice, quick and decisive. I squeeze it out over the floor again. And again. And again.
“Listen up, you gluttonous thing,” I say to the shadow underneath me. “We’ve given you more than enough, so you’d better—”
The floor opens up beneath us.
And everything goes black.
I’m flying through the air, and I have no idea which way is up until I hit the ground, hard.
I struggle to suck in a breath, suddenly desperate for air. Traveling inside the vide was quick but deeply disorienting. I felt like I was dragged into a black room and tossed onto its floor like a doll. All I wanted to do was get up and look around, but I couldn’t. My body wasn’t listening to me.
I wonder if being dead feels anything like that.
There’s a heavy thump beside me, and I turn to see Ale, lying with his back to me. I sit up and reach for him. I shake his shoulders, and he doesn’t move.
“Ale?” I say. It comes out as more of a whimper.
He’s passed out. He’s lost so much blood, and it’s still seeping out of his face.
This is my fault. I was supposed to be with him the whole time. I was supposed to protect him.
Then I realize that the shadow is still hovering next to him. It’s quietly sucking up the blood pooling below his empty eye socket.
“Stop it,” I hiss at the vide, suddenly furious.
We’re lying at the foot of a staircase that looks just like the one we left. Up above, a door is cracked open to reveal the red light of the veil.
If we’re not really back in Occhia, I don’t know what I’m going to do.
I start dragging Ale up the stairs. The vide follows us.
“Stop!” I say, aware that it’s probably not going to do any good. “Leave him alone.”
I reach the door and shove it open.
We’re back in our city. The manors all around
