The idea sounded ridiculous even as it passed through her mind. Her Gift for the past meant that she should be able to return to a specific memory at any time of her choosing. But somehow, that didn’t seem true. Perhaps Alex would only trust her as she was today, as he knew her now, and not in some future point in time. There could be a thousand different explanations, none of which really mattered. All that mattered right now was the fact that her mind had been consumed with nothing but the idea that the moment was passing her by.
She didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t shake the memory of Alex torturing William Reilly, the madness taken root deep within his blue eyes. She’d meant what she’d said too—she couldn’t help him, she couldn’t follow him into the darkness and madness. She refused to be a part of the massacre that the Betrayal would turn out to be.
Yet, there had been no real malice in any of Alex’s actions. Not even when he had been torturing William Reilly. He had been twisted by grief and anger, but Allyra was sure that avenging his parents’ deaths was his only motivation. Not that it excused his resorting to torture.
It was grief, and the mantle of the Elemental High Master—the responsibility that came with his position had weighed heavily on Alex, that much was clear. Even though Allyra had seen the worst of him, she still believed that Alex had been driven into the events of the Betrayal out of a desire to make the world a safer place, not by some power-hungry attempt to destroy the Source.
Perhaps it would be best if she didn’t meddle—Alex would still lead the Elementals into the Between, but he would die there with them. It would create an entirely new timeline, one where perhaps she wouldn’t even exist. And even if she did—she would die on the Revenant’s blade as soon as she stumbled into the Between.
Frustrated, Allyra tore the blankets from her body and slipped from the bed. She felt restless and torn.
She needed to move. Even if she hadn’t decided what to do yet. No, that wasn’t really true. She’d known what she would do the minute she saw Alex’s body in that room hidden within the Tunnels. There was only one thing she could do. Perhaps it was the one thing she had been made for, fated for—the reason for her Gift for the past.
She padded across the room to the door, finding her way instinctively despite the darkness. Her footsteps were completely silent, and Jason’s breathing remained even and steady from his side of the room. She cracked the door open and slipped through the sliver, closing it gently behind her, and headed for the Council Chamber and the entrance to the Tunnels.
* * *
The Council Chamber was filled with people—Elementals. Alex stood at the center of them, his voice raised in a rousing speech. He called on the Elementals to act, to follow him into the Between, and, as a final show of strength, to destroy the Revenants.
There was no denying his charisma. She’d seen the him in his darkest moment, and yet, she could barely resist the magnetic pull of his words—it was no wonder that the Elementals followed him.
As Alex’s speech came to an end, the Council Chamber filled with the roar of the gathered crowd. They separated into four groups, each one to enter by a separate Gate within one of the Great Colleges. It was a plan conceived to surround the Revenants within the Between, to decimate them completely and forever remove the threat. The groups left until only Alex remained with Mandla by his side. They alone would enter through the Elemental College Gate to Sanctuary Hill.
The effortless friendship between Alex and Mandla that she’d experienced in previous memories was lost. They stood close to each other, but the distance between them seemed endless. There was a restraint that had not existed before.
Alex turned abruptly to her. “I wasn’t sure If I would ever see you again,” he said, his voice carefully neutral.
Allyra met his eyes frankly. She held nothing back, allowing her fear, her doubt, and her vulnerabilities to all bubble to the surface. It felt raw and real, and she ached with it. Yet, it felt right to let him see all of her. To his credit, he didn’t flinch or back away, but his eyes blazed with an unspoken apology.
“I wasn’t sure I wanted to see you again,” she whispered.
“Who are you talking to?” Mandla asked. “Is it the gray-eyed girl?”
Alex nodded, his eyes never leaving her.
“You can’t stop me,” he said.
“No,” she acknowledged sadly, “I don’t think I could.”
“So why are you here?”
She smiled softly. “To take you somewhere safe. To guide you to where you need to be.”
His eyebrows drew together as he scrutinized her. “What are you not telling me, Allyra?”
“Everything,” she admitted. “Everything that I want to tell you, but everything you told me never to tell you.”
She could see that he understood, even as the unsaid questions burned beneath his skin. “No man should ever know too
