A moment later, Kreutzer emerged beside them, wreathed in flame.

“You think you are the only one with tricks?” he growled.

The flames sputtered and congealed on Liam’s skin, rolling away from his face and down his arms until he held them in a single ball of fire in his palm. Kreutzer glowed, furious, as he concentrated to keep the flames contained.

Liam pulled himself up out of the mud. The shadows were all around, waiting for him to command. But as he pulled at them—

Nothing happened.

Kreutzer smirked at Liam. “This world is ours now. Enjoy it while you can.” He flung the flames at Liam’s feet.

“Stay back!” Daniel cried, catching hold of Liam’s ankle. Kreutzer was already vanishing, slithering off into the darkness beyond the fire wall he’d left behind. Liam strained forward, raw fury powering him. He couldn’t lose Kreutzer now. Kreutzer had the book, he was using the shadows to further his own horrific purpose—

But he’d escaped. Liam dropped back into the mud with a groan. Once again, he’d been too late.

Daniel pushed to his feet in the slurping mud and helped Liam stand. “We’ll find him. He must be headed back to Wewelsburg. We can stop him there.”

Liam nodded, too exhausted to argue. It was the best they could hope for now.

As they trudged out of the mud and into the darkened forest, the ghostly image of the church continued to burn through the shimmering veil of the opened rift. Fires with silver nitrate burned brutally hot and fast, with such a fervor they could even burn underwater. Had it been anyone else, Liam might have felt some sliver of remorse for just how painfully the soldiers inside were dying right now. He and Daniel were safer on this side.

“Thank you.” Daniel took a step closer toward him. Liam’s heart was racing, but the shadowed woods were oddly quiet and calm compared to the chaos back in their world. As Daniel came nearer, his pulse ratcheted higher. “For saving me. For . . . everything you’ve done. You didn’t have to do any of it, and I—”

“Of course I did,” Liam said. In the darkness, Daniel’s eyes were no longer stormy: they glittered, fathomless like stars. “It’s the least you deserve.”