He grins. My stomach flips. “Promise me something, Malik.”

“Sure. Anything.”

“Promise me you’ll never wipe my memory. Like you wiped Bea’s.”

“What are you talking about? Why?”

“Just promise.”

“OK. I promise. Why?”

“Because, Malik Habib, I don’t ever again want to live in a world where I’m not one hundred percent certain that you exist.”

He kisses me.

“I’m sorry,” he says as we draw apart again.

“Sorry? About what?”

“About what I said, in Venetia. About staying away from me.” His voice falters. “I was wrong. It’s just…Issi, then Gabe and Vidhan. It breaks my heart.”

A wave of sadness rolls over me. “And mine,” I say. “But Bea’s alive. And we’re the reason. Gabe and you and me. And Vidhan.”

Malik nods and I fall into his arms. “If it ever gets too sad,” he whispers, “we can always go and look for Vidhan’s double. Just…to see him again.”

And it dawns on me. Out there, in a world apart, a different Vidhan Blue is still breathing. Not the same, but alive. It’s a realisation that doesn’t bury the pain, but it sears off a layer of hurt, like burnt skin—just the idea of him. Another Vidhan.

We say nothing for a long time.

We don’t speak about Akuji—or Mara—and we don’t speak about Shinigami.

Is she dead? She’s in hell, that’s all I know for sure. And the Order? In ruin. Collective Pathfinders, not long after we left Venetia, overran the pyramid fortress and blew it out the sky. Now the Seventh Gate is guarded. And the multiverse is free.

“What’s all that about your phone?” Malik murmurs, breaking my reverie. “You didn’t leave it here. It’s been in your pocket all this time.”

“I wanted to see her, that’s all.”

“Your mum?”

“Yeah. Mum.”

My phone buzzes and I snatch it out my pocket. It works. It bloody works! Wi-Fi. Internet. 4G. We’re back in the real world now.

Moon!

Bea!

U home?

Yeah. I’m home.

Parental has caved to pressure.

What do u mean?

She’s repealed her decision. We can hang out again. Officially.

She’s all heart.

Lol. I’ve missed you, Moon. Feels like f**kin forever.

Tell me about it.

Heard about Erika? She’s out of hospital.

Really?

Yeah. So, don’t feel bad.

I don’t. She deserved what she got, Bea. All of it.

Geez! Who are YOU?

I start typing and then stop. Malik is at the window, looking out. Beyond him, the trees are black against a darkening sky.