“I don’t know Walker, there’s been strange stuff at school.” I wince. “Extra inspections. Teachers being attacked or even killed. It’s bad out there.” I picture the pile of ash that once was Miss Thing and shiver.

Mom taps her cheek. “We need an exit plan.”

I raise my hands to shoulder height, palms forward. “I won’t run and hide.” Despite my best intentions to sound badass, the words come out as more of a question.

“Think about it, Myla.” Mom rises to her feet. “Only angels have blue eyes like yours. If you stay here, the ghouls and demons will figure out who you are, fast. They’ll try to control you. Unlike Adair, you don’t have an army nearby for protection. It’s me and Walker, that’s it.”

I can’t help but smile. Something in that speech reminded me of the Senator Lewis I saw in so many dreamscapes. I slump into my high-back chair, thinking through this crazy morning: finding out Xavier is my father, that I have Scala powers, how Verus connected me with Lincoln, and that demons could invade Purgatory any minute. I suppose I now know what happened to me and why, as the igni instructed me to do. Grim determination seeps into my body. Unfortunately, my next step is all too obvious.

Mom moves closer, her fists on her hips. “What do you want to do?”

I look up and meet her gaze. “Get the hell out of here.”

Mom grins. “Yes, but where to go?” She paces the room. “Earth, Heaven, Antrum, somewhere else?”

I tilt my head from side to side, weighing the options. I’m about to run away and leave my entire life behind. The worn-out gears of my mind spin, circling back to the same name again and again. “Verus can be sneaky, but I’d go wherever she said it was safe.”

Walker laces his fingers together at his waist. “It will take a bit to get an audience with Verus. You’ll need a safe place to hide in the meantime.” He taps the pads of his thumbs in a fast rhythm. “There’s a bunker from the old quasi regime, a secret place where leaders went in times of trouble. It’s in the Gray Sea.” He turns to Mom. “We can take Myla there now, then I’ll portal to Verus for advice.”

Mom nods. “I know that bunker. It’s right under a–”

I finish her thought. “–wall of black stone.” Unholy Hell. That’s the very spot where all my dreamscapes have started. My body turns cold. That can’t be a coincidence.

Walker eyes me carefully. “You know this place?”

“I see it in my dreamscapes all the time.” I hug my hands against my body. Suddenly, I’ve never been so cold. “That’s a good sign from Verus, I guess. I’ll go there, no problem.”