I didn't hear from the HSA again after I woke up. I also didn't hear an apology from Akira, who refused to have lunch with us, which made me even more enraged.

My anger was more on the fact that he was suspecting me than his lack of respect. I didn't like the fact that I had to watch my back even in my home just because some kid was wise enough to question my every move.

Was I being petty? Yes. Irrational? Yes. Did I care? No.

So, when Celine later announced that Felix Katz was waiting for me outside the Keep, I got dressed and told Lexie and Tiff that I was going alone.

"But we're supposed—"

"I read the code, Tiff. There is no need for apostles to always be by their Astral's side."

Tiff and Lexie shared a worried look. "Are you angry at us, too?" she asked.

"No," I said at the door. "I just need to be alone." With my hand on the doorknob, I paused and sighed before turning to face them. They looked tense, their eyes wary. "I swear I'm not angry." A small lie, of course. "I just have a lot to deal with at the moment. We're going to our first mission in two days. I don't want the four of us to fail." I offered them a small smile. At the back of my mind, I wondered how long it would take them to discover what I was, and if that happened, who would betray me first? "Prepare your familiars and pack whatever you can for the trip, will you? We can't come unprepared, especially with Mertha Krall and her horrible apostles joining us."

The mention of their archenemies completely changed their demeanors. They nodded stiffly and squared their shoulders with determination.

Felix Katz was waiting for me downstairs. "We'll talk later," he said before I could open my mouth, and guided me to the car. He joined me in the back, speaking loudly, "I'll be part of the envoy to Exodus. Safety protocols are in place for the journey and when we arrive."

"Where are we headed to now?" I asked, stealing the driver a look.

"I understand you're not familiar with the borders. As an Astral, you'll have to at least have the basic understanding of the system, since we'll be facing some border problems in Exodus."

I nodded, holding his gaze. I had too many questions, none of them about borders. Who was he? How did he end up working for Evensen? How much did he know?

"You need to be familiar with the magic we've implemented on each border. They're all in place using different magical technology we developed throughout the years. Bishops design and improve the borders, applying their expertise on each one."

"The borders are not all the same, then?"

"Some have similar attributes, but yes, they are not all completely the same." He smiled. "Border designers tend to compete against each other."

It was clear we couldn't discuss last night's events, so I waited and kept my questions to myself until we reached the first border. And it was not as I expected.

It was a line of black oaks, their limbs intertwined, their branches heavy with twigs. I could imagine them creak as one with the brush of a strong wind, the heavy crown expelling leaves in a spiral. What I could not imagine, however, was how they could keep ferals out. The quiet forest behind it was filled with fog, seemingly more dangerous than the skyscrapers behind us.

"The design of this one is unlike any other. The only one of its kind," Felix Katz said beside me, eyes on one tree. "No one has ever crossed it since its creator planted these."

I eyed the trees with curiosity. "What makes it different?"

"We can't tell. There were attempts to replicate it, but it seems impossible. We think it has something to do with the soil." He looked down, scraped the ground with the tip of his boot. "They stretch for only a mile, then stop. Anything we tried to grow in this ground died. We cloned the trees, too, but nothing survived."

I nodded, looking up at the tree in front of us. "He cursed the earth so the trees could monopolize their territory."

He shrugged. "The theory is that he used all elements on this stretch of the border, which is rarely successful in any forms of magic." He walked toward a tree, hands behind him. "The Saint Society appointed other powerful witches to make their own borders. They used their own tricks, documented every step. Save for this one. Its creator never revealed his secret."

My lips formed a tight line. "Maybe because he was ashamed of the process," I murmured.

His brows fused as he waited for me to continue.

I bent to the ground, pinched a sample of dirt, and rubbed it between my fingers. It smelled like decaying flesh. Damp. Rotten. "You can't use all elements at once to create something. But you can take them away." I walked closer to the tree, almost touching it. I knew now it was dangerous to do so. "Rob them away and replace them with blood." I looked up at the network of dark twigs with renewed awe. "I wonder how much blood he had to pour for these beasts. How many were drained for this stretch of magic."

"The Saint Society forbids to use of blood magic," Felix Katz said beside me as he followed my gaze to the crown of the tree.

"Then stay ignorant," I said, turning away. "These trees will devour anything that bleeds. That's why no one has ever survived this border." I stopped to wait for him to join me. "But I can be wrong."

He had a knowing smile, waiting for me to ask the question.

I looked over his shoulder at the woods. Freedom from this pathetic new world.

Brie.

"I heard you had some interesting visitors this morning," I said, voice even. "What did they ask you?"

He shrugged, motioned for me to follow him. "Next border is just a few minutes away." The car and the driver stayed behind as we walked away.

The next one was totally different. It was a line of brick wall covered with mirrors. It reflected the city, creating a gap between the tall trees of the forest behind it. "They asked the usual questions, of course," Katz said. I almost didn't realize he was answering my question from earlier. "I would not worry about it if I were you."

"Not if we both gave them a different story." He led me closer to the wall, our reflections fractured by the gaps between bricks. As I looked closely, I realized the mirrors were etched into the bricks.

When he said nothing, I frustratingly asked, "What did you tell them?"

"Whatever you told them."

"How did you know what I told them?"

He just smiled at me, then at the wall. His reflection, however, was not doing the same. It simply stared at him. I frowned at it, then at him. "This border was designed by me," he said instead. His reflection remained still even as he moved. I stepped closer, my reflection following my movement. "It plays with your mind, gives you various dimensions all at the same time." My eyes jumped to my right, and this time, it gave me a different reflection. I was standing in the middle of nowhere with mirrors all around me, and all of them were showing more reflections of myself. I looked away, only to find myself in a different place. As if I moved without me knowing. Or maybe the mirrors did.

"It's an endless loop of doorways," Katz said beside me. I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I turned, facing another mirror which showed me standing outside the border beside him. But he wasn't beside me. He was somewhere else. "This is the border you will have to cross," his distant voice said. To my left was another reflection, this time of myself in the middle of the woods. "I'll teach you how to navigate it until you reach the other side."

I turned gingerly stepped in front of the mirror before me. Raising my hand, I didn't touch cold surface. Instead, it went beyond the illusion. I stepped even closer and realized it was nothing but a space with two angled walls. I slipped in between and found myself back outside.

"Very good," Katz praised. "But there's still a long way to go before you reach the other side. What you just did was take a step into the doorway, then back." He turned and started walking again. "I've installed a few tricks on this border, all of which I'll have to teach you."

"How far does this one stretch?"

"Miles. But if you take the right steps, you will only have to walk through the breadth of the wall."

"Water and light," I said. "Those are your specialties."

He nodded. "Among others."

"There are no other borders?" she asked.

"Of course," he said. "But I'm not familiar with them. You'll have to deal with this one."

"When?"

"As soon as possible. But while we're working on your escape, you have to be careful."

"I'm trying my best. My apostles are already suspicious."

"I'm sure you can deal with them."

"It's against the rules to use my abilities without the Council's approval."

He looked at me with amusement, a playful smile at the corner of his lips. "I've heard enough about you from your past. You have the power of an Astral, but we both know you're not Astral material."

"Unlike Mertha?"

For the briefest second, he stiffened. Then he shook his head. "Yes. She's as Astral as one could get. And you have every reason to be wary of her. She's focused and she's powerful."

"I have the impression that you know her well."

He turned away. "A long time ago, I thought I did." Before I could ask further, he walked faster. "I'll show you another border, then we're done with this fake tour. Have you told him about Exodus?"

Him? Oh, he meant Evensen. I caught up with him and replied, "No. He was in a hurry the last time we talked."

"He's not going to be happy about this." His eyes went to the car waiting for us up ahead. "He wants you to get out of here as soon as possible, which is understandable."

"Why?" I looked over my shoulder. I would need time to study that border. "Why should I care if I get caught? I'm stamped. I'll be an archaic or something."

"No," he said, almost sounding like Evensen. "Archaics are—" He stopped and quickly brushed off my curiosity by saying, "Being an archaic is one thing, but being an archaic with Astral abilities is another. You'll be a powerful threat to the status quo." He paused, looked at me with eyes filled with knowing. "You have every reason to leave."

Of course, I did. I would do anything to get to Brie.

"Why are you doing this?"

He snickered. "Money. And your dear friend has a lot of it."

***

This time, he didn't sense my presence. I stayed behind the dressing screen, waiting and watching. Sitting in front of the fire, fingers against his lips, legs crossed in front of him, he looked down at the woman on the floor. Her head rested on his leg while he absently smoothed her hair with his other hand.

He was having a dream. And the dream was me.

His dream version of me whispered something to him and he only nodded. "I remember you exactly saying that," he replied with a bitter smile, eyes glazed in yellow fire. "But you know we barely listen to each other."

Harald Evensen became a vampire merely five years before we met. I would not consider him old even now, but as he sat there wrapped in the darkness of my room, fire breaking through his edges, he looked older. As if the illusion of me leaning against his leg was an entire world he had to carry. He was just taking a moment to pause and rest before he returned to wherever he went whenever he wasn't here.

The dream Aster reached for his hand. He took it and squeezed before letting out a breath.

"You can come out now," his voice said, loud enough so it reached me.

Dream Aster had disappeared, but he did not move.

"Can you always tell when I'm here?" I asked, stepping out of the screen.

"I've spent two centuries with you in nowhere but this room." He turned ever slightly, eyes following me as I sat across from him. "This place makes very little noise. Your heartbeat has been the first thing I'd hear because you were always here." A quiet pause. "It was never absent before."

"Then you know when you're just dreaming about me," I said with a taunting smile tugging at my lips.

He smiled back. "Dreams don't have heartbeats."

My lips pursed. "I hate hearing them."

I could hear his now, knew it was racing, climbing in a crescendo I couldn't recognize despite the flat expression on his face. Was it anger? Was it weary? It sounded like both.

He shifted in his seat. "You'll get used to it."

"We seem close in your dream."

He just shrugged. No explanation. Nothing.

"How close were we?"

"Enough for you to trust me, I guess," he said with a sigh.

How could I trust him when his own heart was frantically beating against his chest? When all I knew about him was our past? It seemed only yesterday when he ruined my chance at love and, in turn, I fed his lover a potion. In the end, I was without a suitor and he had to sleep in a cold bed.

"Are you thinking about how much you hate me?" he asked, sly gaze taunting me in the way only he could do.

"I don't have to think about it. It's nature to me," I droned, feigning boredom. "Why would your dream version of me lean against your leg like that?" I sneered.

"You're the dream expert. You figure it out." He shifted his leg over the other, mouth set firmly now. "Can we get down to business now?"

"Gladly. I'm leaving for Exodus the day after tomorrow."

He froze with a start. I heard his heart stop for a second before erupting like hooves on the start of a race.

"What?" I asked. "Didn't Katz tell you? Are you sure we can trust him? Seems like he's not being paid enough."

Fury cut through his eyes. "What part about 'stay close' do you not understand, Aster?" he hissed exasperatedly. "You can't leave Genesis City. Not when you're too far for me to reach if something goes wrong."

"Well, I can't do anything about it. I'm not the Council."

"As an Astral, you can choose not to go."

"Well, as an Astral, I have things to prove. I need this mission."

"You have nothing to prove to this bloody society!" He jumped to his feet and started pacing. "Damn it. It's not healthy for me to always be this furious."

I rolled my eyes. He had always been a little dramatic. For once, I was seeing the old Evensen. The forever nineteen-year-old man who acted like every other nineteen-year-old. Young and naive, impetuous and easily provoked. Just as I was.

"Your pacing isn't healthy for my eyes either," I wryly said.

He stopped, closed his eyes. "I usually take this corner of the room to calm down." He pointed to the bed. "You stay on the other side," he said in a controlled, tight voice.

A scoff escaped my lips. "I'm not sure about you, but I'm feeling fine. I don't need a corner."

"Well, I need mine," he gritted out. "Go to the bed and let me think of a plan."

"Katz has one, I guess."

His sharp gaze slashed the air. "Well, good to know you trust him more."

"I trust him a little more than the bloodsucker who has weird dreams about me."

"He's a witch who cares about nothing but what we pay him." I opened my mouth for a rebuttal, but he raised his hand. "Stop talking. I have to think."

"Was this always like this? You ordering me around for two centuries?"

"No." He threw me a sardonic smile. "It was actually the opposite. But since you're the clueless one now, I'm in charge whether or not you like it."

I sighed. "Fine. I'll let you think. But I'm not going to that bloody corner."

He ignored me. He started pacing again, hands on his hips. From time to time, he'd curse under his breath.

I watched in silence, playing with the door with my hand. Turning it blue. Then yellow. Red. White.

Red again.

Yellow.

Then his dream slipped back from where I tucked it in the back of my head, causing a shiver up my spine. I shook my head. It was not me. It was just his version of me.

And most likely, the version he remembers. The one he spent two centuries with.

His seemingly innocent words from that morning echoed in my head.

"Are there more memories?"

A question that his memories could answer, but never by mine. Suddenly, I felt frustrated. The memories I lost were like forgotten words to a spell. They felt familiar, felt real. But my mind could not just find them.

"Katz will be part of the envoy?" he asked, drawing me from my thoughts.

"Yes. As well as Mertha Krall and Corey."

He cursed under his breath again. Paced some more, footsteps mirroring his heartbeats. He ran his fingers through his hair. His dark globes held mine and suddenly the heartbeats sounded different. But for just a moment until he closed his eyes and let out a heavy sigh. "Turn the door white," he said. "I need to think. Meet me here tomorrow at six."

"What?"

"I can't think with you here." He stormed to the door, which remained yellow at my behest. "Aster, the door."

I arched a brow. "What makes you think I can—"

"Turn it bloody white now or—"

"Or what? You'll come back here and dream about me again?" I stood and walked up to him. "What were we, Evensen? Why would you dream of me like that?"

He looked more furious than before, his eyes almost red from the fire. "You could die in Exodus, executed even if they discover what you are, and you're concerned about my dream?"

My shoulders hunched as anger rose in my chest. "You barely tell me anything of the past two centuries that I was trapped in this bloody dream. You demand things from me—go to that corner, meet you here at six, turn the bloody door yellow." I took a step with each word, finishing it with a push against his chest. He did not even flinch, which merely enraged me further. "What makes you think I'd do all that willingly? The last time I remember, you and your brother whisked my sister away from me, Evensen. Now, I have to witness you caressing my head in a bloody dream." I dug a finger into his chest. "I'm not stupid, you idiot. Dreams are my thing. I know when it roots from a secret desire or from a memory, and yours bleeds with both." I closed the distance between us. "So answer my question, Evensen. What happened to us?"

His jaw twitched, but he did not look away. He couldn't. "We were lovers." His eyes remained on mine as he stepped away. Furious Evensen was a lot to deal with, but the one staring at me with a hollowed look in his eyes was a different being entirely. It was as if he dug a hole somewhere in his soul and threw everything inside in a matter of a second. "Is that answer enough?" he asked in a deadpan voice it sent a chill through me. "Now, the door, please."

I flicked my hand slightly, still in disbelief, still discerning his three-word answer.

"Be here tomorrow at six," I heard him say before the door closed.