“I don’t know, Gabe,” he says. “We made this bed. We allowed all of this to happen. We lived in luxury while we forced living, breathing beings to suffer for one man’s sins. All of us are responsible for that.”

He looks at me, and I see the conviction in his eyes.

“Maybe the answer is to let it all fucking burn.”

Then he glances at Tyr before he pins me with a dark look, turns around, and walks away.

CHAPTER 53

LOR

We arrive in The Aurora under the cover of night. Snow blankets the forest, and the wind whips through our clothing. Compared to just a few short weeks ago, the temperature has changed drastically as we’ve moved into winter. It contrasts vividly with the heat and humidity in Aphelion.

The lights ripple overhead, blue and green and scarlet, and I stare up at them, grateful they’re here. I remember how the Empyrium told me The Aurora lost them at the end of the First Age. As many terrible memories as this place holds, the sight will always be beautiful to me.

Nadir wraps his arms around me, and I lean into him, realizing that I’m making new memories in their place. I look up at him and smile. We have everything working against us, and the odds of surviving are almost nothing, but I have him. No matter what happens, we’ll have had this and each other, and I’m fighting for him and everyone I love, and that has to be enough. If I die, then at least I’ll know I did that.

“Come on,” he says, “you must be cold.”

He uses his magic to envelop me, taking away the worst bite of the chill as we weave through the trees. The lights of the manor peek through the dense brush, and while my first visit to this place was anything but ideal, it, too, creates the sum of these moments. Those days in the manor when Nadir and I reached a tentative agreement to search for the Crown led us all to this spot.

Willow, Tristan, Bronte, Cedar, Cyan, and Linden follow behind us. After Etienne dropped us off, he returned to Heart to ferry Anemone back to Alluvion so she could retrieve the Book of Night.

Once D’Arcy destroyed her ark, she returned to her home in Celestria. I’m trying not to hold it against her—she did help us, and we were all nearly killed for it—but it’ll be tough not to harbor a grudge.

As I note everyone’s scant clothing, I realize they must be freezing.

Nadir uses some of his magic, which seems to help, but we better get them all inside.

When we enter the manor on a gust of wind, Brea is there to greet us.