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Back Into the Dying Light Save as PDF
Chapters (72)
  1. Copyright Notice
  2. Dedication
  3. I
  4. 1
  5. 2
  6. 3
  7. 4
  8. 5
  9. BEFORE
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. BEFORE
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 12
  18. 13
  19. BEFORE
  20. 14
  21. 15
  22. 16
  23. 17
  24. BEFORE
  25. II
  26. 18
  27. 19
  28. 20
  29. 21
  30. 22
  31. 23
  32. 24
  33. 25
  34. 26
  35. 27
  36. 28
  37. 29
  38. 30
  39. 31
  40. 32
  41. III
  42. 33
  43. 34
  44. 35
  45. 36
  46. 37
  47. 38
  48. 39
  49. 40
  50. 41
  51. IV
  52. 42
  53. 43
  54. 44
  55. 45
  56. 46
  57. 47
  58. 48
  59. 49
  60. 50
  61. 51
  62. 52
  63. 53
  64. 54
  65. 55
  66. 56
  67. 57
  68. 58
  69. AFTER
  70. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  71. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  72. Newsletter Sign-up

Hassan recognized that rage too well. Hector did, too. They all knew it for what it really was—grief. The kind that could tear you apart if you let it.

“He’s gone, Jude,” Hassan said firmly. “And the best way to deal with that is to keep going. Finish what you started with him. Stop the Hierophant.”

“He’s not—” Jude cut himself off, jaw clenching as he looked off toward the window. “If you want to give up, then fine. Go back to Nazirah. I’m not stopping you.”

Before Hassan could summon a reply, Jude stalked back out of the room.

Salt air swept through the window in his wake, chilling Hassan as he sank down onto his bed.

“You’re not really going back to Nazirah, are you?” Hector asked into the long silence that followed Jude’s departure. “What about the Hierophant? What about Beru?”

Hassan lifted his gaze to meet Hector’s. Hector had told him, one night when he’d been too deep in his cups, what the girl really meant to him. The revelation had struck Hassan hard—a little too hard. Because it had only made him think of Khepri and what he’d left behind in Nazirah. Despite the lies and broken trust between them, he missed her so much he could hardly breathe sometimes.

“Our plan fell apart,” Hassan said. “We’ve run out of allies, and I can’t sit here and do nothing, Hector. Not again.”

It felt too much like those first weeks in Pallas Athos after the Hierophant had taken Nazirah. Sitting in Lethia’s villa, waiting. Desperate for any scrap of information, for any way to make himself useful.

“Just … give it a few more days. One more week.”

Hassan was caught off guard by Hector’s soft, beseeching tone. He swallowed the objections on the tip of his tongue. Maybe there were stones yet unturned.

“I’ll talk to Jude,” Hector promised. “We’ll figure this out. A smuggler who will take us, or—or we can stow away—”

“A week,” Hassan agreed. A deadline made him feel better. More in control. He could give Hector another week. He owed that much, for the role he’d played in unleashing the god on the world. The role they’d all played in putting that god in the hands of the Hierophant. “But one way or another, when the week is out, I’m leaving Tel Amot.”

3

EPHYRA

Whatever Beru had done—or hadn’t done—this time, it must have been bad.

That was Ephyra’s first thought when the Witnesses dragged her out of her room for the second time in as many days. Usually, they doled out their punishment right there, but perhaps this time it wasn’t enough to simply let Beru see the evidence in the bruises they left. Maybe this time they would make Beru watch.