Unfortunately for us, we just survived the first part of our plan. Back in the society, we were on familiar grounds. At least we knew what we were dealing with. But now, we knew close to nothing.

Everyone looked at Katz, hope in their eyes. He should know something. He must.

"Well?" My voice echoed around the dark forest we stumbled into. Faint light shined through the thick leaves above us, but nothing more. I had been through many woods before, even stayed in them for days without company whenever I needed to be alone. It was safe to say I knew everything one should know to survive inside the maze of trees and bushes. Identifying trails of potential danger was something I developed over the years, too.

But here, in this forest, something was eerily different. There were no sounds. Nothing but utter silence. No noise from animals—or any other living thing. Even the trees. It felt like the entire forest was submerged in water. As a matter of fact, I was starting to feel the heavy air. Or the lack of it. Breathing was getting a little harder with each step.

"We have to stop," Katz said, the sound of his voice slow to travel. "This is loop magic."

"Elaborate?" I demanded.

"It rates ten in difficulty in my book," he said, looking around. "All borders were created to confuse and trap. This one in particular, was designed to either kill us or make us insane."

"In what way?"

"There's no getting out of here." He took two steps, and we all followed. "Once you get lost, you're lost forever. You'll go around in circles until you perish."

"But you know how to get out, right?" Tiff asked, fear clearly painted in her eyes. "Right?" she repeated faintly when Katz failed to reply.

Katz's jaw tightened. "There are thousands of borders. It's not possible for me to know everything. With this border, I know what it is, but not its magic design. It's like I know how a house should look like, but I won't know how or where the owner places their things. I'll know where the doors are, but not the keys or what kind of room they lead to." He sighed, staring at them in the eye one by one. "I don't have my tablet with me. It contains everything I need to know about the design."

"You do," I said. "We can access it in your sleep. We've done it before, remember? With—" I stopped before I said his name. There were people in our group who didn't know about Evensen's part in all of this. "What do we do for now?"

"We stay here until we know what we're dealing with." He looked at me, then at Tiff and Akira. "That means we both have to sleep and look into my tablet."

Alistair picked up on Katz's concern. "I'll take care of everything," he said, putting down Mertha's limp form. "Nalani and I will." He grinned at my apostles. "Right, kids?"

My eyes stayed on Mertha. She wasn't unconscious. She was just bloody too weak. "I still don't understand why you had to take her with you."

"She's better off on the other side," Alistair said with a shrug, looking down at Mertha. "One less Astral, right? And we need blood, you and I."

"Then tell me why you have to tag along. This was not part of the plan I was told about."

"By now, you should know that he doesn't tell you everything."

My jaw tightened.

Don't trust Harald. He's selfless. He'll lie to you if it means keeping you alive. He'll sacrifice even the last drop of his blood if it means you get to live.

"My purpose is to keep my sister alive," Alistair added, his face turning serious. "Nalani's life is far more important to me than anyone else's."

"Including the men you left behind?"

He didn't answer, but I saw the dangerous glint in his eyes at my words.

I walked closer to him and hissed, "You left him alone out there."

The corner of his mouth twitched. "He'll be fine. No one suspects him."

"He's trapped."

He just scoffed, staring down at me, gaze knowing. "And what did you expect me to do? Save him? There's no saving him. He's been trapped for two centuries, witch, and he'll stay that way for as long as the Saints remain in power." He grinned. "We all do what we can to survive. He will, too."

The thought made me uncomfortable. I knew Evensen had a lot of help. But what if Alistair was the only one he could trust, and the bastard left him alone?

I shook the question out of my head because I didn't want to think of the answer.

"It was his choice to be an Archaic. He knew the consequences," Alistair coldly said before turning to face Nalani and my apostles. "Gather around. No tricks or I'll bite your necks off."

Turning to Katz, I saw him staring at Mertha. "Ready?" I asked.

He nodded and silently sat on the ground. I did the same, facing him. I looked at Alistair, waited until he assured me with a nod. Turning to Katz, I sighed and willed him to sleep.

***

The problem: Katz wasn't there. I stepped into the familiar room with a mixture of slight panic and confusion.

My brow furrowed as my brain tried to figure out what could have gone wrong.

"Did you make it?"

I whirled around. Evensen was sitting in the corner. Not his usual corner, but the one by the bed.

I swallowed. "Yes. But we have a problem."

He nodded, slowly stood, and walked closer. I couldn't read what's on his mind and it was infuriating that he could read the fear in my eyes, yet I couldn't do the same with his. "One at a time."

"I was supposed to take Katz to a dream, but I ended up here. We were supposed to figure out how the bloody border works—" I stopped, because the panic was finally settling in. "It's the border."

Turning away, I stalked to the chair by the fire. "There's only one way to stop a special ability like mine."

"And that is?"

I gritted my teeth. "A curse."

"Most borders are cursed."

"I get that now."

He sat on the vacant chair across from mine. "But?"

How could he look so calm? Like his own safety was not in danger? Like he wasn't alone? Forever.

I blinked away the thought. "But there's only one way to make a curse really powerful."

He stared at me for a few breaths. "Blood magic."

I chewed on my cheek and cursed under my breath.

"You know a way to counter it."

"If you have a gift like mine, you'll spend hundreds of hours experimenting how one could possibly debilitate you. Of course, I know what's stopping me from using my gift."

"And the problem is the fix, isn't it?"

My jaw tightened. I threw my head back and closed my eyes. "Blood magic can only be countered with another black magic."

"I'm assuming you won't have a problem using that."

"No. We'll need ingredients. But to counter something unknown, I need to do a specific spell. More powerful. It demands a specific ingredient."

"What is it?"

I opened my eyes and found his studying me mildly. "A sacrifice."

Slowly, Evensen nodded. Silence reigned the room for a long while. "What are you going to do?"

We looked at each other. I knew he understood. "I'd have to make a choice, obviously."

Again, he nodded. "You really need to take Katz to his dream?"

"If he can't look into the border, we won't be able to get out. There's no food, nor water. The humans will die before Alistair and I could even feed on them." I saw the corner of his scarred mouth twitch a little when I referred to my human companions. "There's no other way, because it would still require blood magic to cut the looping spell engraved on the border."

"Then there's no other way. You have to survive."

"I'm not as selfish as you think I am," I snapped.

"I know what a sacrifice entails, Aster." The way he said my name sounded almost like a comfort. "I'm only speaking the truth. Your goal is to get to the other side so you can get to Brie."

I didn't answer right away. My gaze hovered on him for a while. "What if I tell you I'm not sure about that?"

He went still. "What do you mean?"

My shoulder lifted in a shrug. "I'm not sure why I'm doing this. Or if I even want to do this."

"You wanted to do this. You just forgot about it," he insisted.

"You don't know me at all, you know. I'm no longer the same woman you spent centuries with. She's no longer here with us."

His jaw twitched. I saw the pain flash in his eyes, but he quickly blinked it away. "Of course, she is. I'm looking straight at her." The words sent a shiver up my spine. "Your perception of me is the only thing that disappeared. In my eyes, I still see the same witch."

I scoffed, shaking my head.

"You've always been weird. You look at people in that odd way of yours, like an older kid trying to scare a child. It's meant to be intimidating, but it's not, really. It's awkward as hell. You don't have to do the same to me, Aster. I've seen your true colors. I know what you are deep inside. We grew out of our stupid games a long time ago. Sad thing is, you forgot." The deafening silence that followed made me shift in my chair. His gaze imprisoned mine and I couldn't look away. "But you surely do make it hard to be patient," he said, almost in a whisper, before he stood, digging his hands in his pockets. Looking down at me, he spoke again. "I know it's going to be hard, but we both know you'll have to make the choice. That or you perish on the border."

I didn't know how to answer. I felt there was so much between Evensen and me that needed to be dealt with, and I didn't know where to start. Letting out a long sigh, I stood in front of him.

"Do you need to feed?"

The question almost drew me across the room toward him. My eyes jumped to his exposed neck. But I shook my head and took a step to the side. "Later. I have some bad news to deliver." I paused, looked at him, and asked, "You'll be here when I get back?"

He smiled and shrugged. "I have nowhere else to go at the moment."

From the corner of my eye, I saw the shadow creeping in again. When Evensen moved, it disappeared.

"Go," he urged before I could ask.

Throwing the corner where the shadow had been another look, I turned on my heels and woke up.

***

They all looked at me, most of them scared, save for Mertha whose eyes were drooping, wincing as if in pain. Clearly, she was still struggling with the rip in her realm.

"There's no other way," I repeated, completely erasing the question in Tiff's eyes. My hand absently scratched Bellatrix's head as I talked from where I stayed seated on the ground. "Blood magic can only be countered by blood. And it can only be done by making a sacrifice."

Akira's face was tight. "You mean one of us has to die."

I swallowed. Hard. Then nodded.

Katz pinched the bridge of his nose. "What spell do you have to do?"

"A cleansing spell. It's the only thing that can surely erase the curse on this border. By doing that, I'll be able to take you to your dream and find a way out through your tablet."

"Well," Alistair said, leaning against a tree. "I say we make a vote." He motioned toward my apostles. "Pick the weakest."

"Klyne!" Nalani hissed, scowling at her brother. "No one has to die—"

"Someone needs to die, Nalani, or we all do," Alistair interrupted wryly. He nodded at Mertha. "You tell them, witch. Unless you have another way out."

Mertha's lips quivered as she tried to talk. I saw the concern cross Katz's eyes, but he remained still where he sat beside Akira. Mertha swallowed and let out a heavy, shaky breath. "Aster's right." When no one said a word, she stared at me and added, "I suggest you do it fast. The curse is making it harder for me to control the rip in the Fog. If they escape..."

She didn't have to finish. We all knew what would happen if her little pets escaped the realm.

I slowly stood, eyes on Alistair. "We don't vote. That's not how sacrifices work."

"Then how does it work?"

I stared at everyone. "I need to choose."