The little girl’s face crumpled as though I’d punched her. And in spite of everything—in spite of the unspeakable betrayal she had almost wrought . . . I still felt pity.

“You will see me again,” she said, after a long pause. “In Core. That’s where everyone goes, after Egungun’s Parade. And when you do—” Chin wobbling, she touched my shoulder. “I’ll be better. A good person. I’ll show all of you. You’ll see.”

I turned away, letting the cold Underworld air dry my cheeks. “I hope so, Mother.”

Another pause. “I still can help you leave the Underworld.”

“Stop lying.”

“I’m not,” she wailed. “The new breach is real. But it’s not the stone. It’s there.” She gestured down into the valley. For the first time, I noticed what looked like a rift in the air on the other side of the valley: a floating, iridescent streak, cycling through a spectrum of colors, into which a stream of undead children were marching.

My stomach dropped. The undead army had already begun its assault on the surface.

“I could fly you down,” The Lady suggested. “It wouldn’t take long. You could go back home. Please, Tarisai. It’s the least I can do.”

Then she smiled her famous smile as her eyes searched my face, hungry for absolution. I watched her in silence, savoring my favorite features—the first I’d ever loved.

Then I said: “Goodbye, Mother. For real this time.”

“But—”

“I’ll see you in Core.” I closed my eyes and sensed her hesitate for a moment, hovering in front of me. But when I opened my eyes . . . she was gone.

CHAPTER 35

I made a silent plea to the air, and a short distance away Iranti materialized, plodding toward me with long-suffering dignity. I sighed, laying my head against hers. “Thank you,” I told her. “For not saying ‘I told you so.’ ”

She huffed a sigh, then spoke in her song of sounds and symbols, extending two words into my mind: Friend. Coming.

“Yes,” I told her. “We’ll always be friends.”

She wagged her head—I’d misunderstood her. She concentrated harder. Friend. Coming.

And just then, the shriek of a phoenix echoed across the mountainside.

I stared in shock as Ye Eun appeared over the mountain ridge, stumbling onto the plateau. Overhead, Hwanghu flew loops in the emerald sky, leaving icy streaks across the zenith.

I recoiled. Were they both abiku illusions?

But that theory vanished the moment Ye Eun reached me, seizing my hand. “You’re all right,” she panted, eyes wide with relief. “Hwanghu’s been scanning the Underworld, looking for you everywhere.”

I pulled her into a hug, heart racing with disbelief. She was the first live human I’d seen in . . .

“Ye Eun,” I breathed, “how are you here? And how long have I been gone?”

“I’d guess about two weeks,” she said. “I’m not sure, though. After the battle started, I knew something must be wrong. So I left Ae Ri with her nurses and came in to find you.”