“She pretended to be,” Mila clarified. “Before the real librarian returned.”
Malakai added, “And we saw her last night when we snuck away during the bonding festivities.” Barrett let out a scoff at his brother’s confession, but Malakai ignored him. “She led us to the room where the door opened to lead to the information about Cypherion’s scythe.” He wrapped his arms tighter around Mila. “I saw her during the battle, too. Right before…”
Right before he’d sacrificed himself. Aimee had emerged from the wall of Angellight with the gods wavering behind her.
“I was confused about it,” Malakai added.
“Holy Cursed Spirits,” Cypherion exclaimed, nearly dropping the tray he still balanced. “I thought she looked familiar. She was in Lumin, too. When Vale and I were trying to fix her magic.” He nodded at Vale. “In the fighting rings when your session took over,thatwas the Starsearcher that gave us the reading.”
Vale blinked at us all. “You’ve all seen that woman before?”
Apparently we had. The Storyteller had been following us around Gallantia for months. Vale’s expression morphed into total shock.
“What is it?” I asked, eyes flicking to the dunes Aimee had disappeared across. My skin tingled, feathers ruffling.
“That wasn’t a Storyteller,” Vale said. “I’ve seen her before—in readings. And she appeared in Valyn when the gorgon shot Jezebel. She fought her off for us.” Vale shook her head. “I thought I was confused from the hysteria. Seeing things…” She gazed across the dunes. “But I suppose not.”
“If she isn’t a Storyteller, who is she?” Tolek asked.
Vale’s attention drew back to us, and she said, “That was Thallia.”
Celissia gasped, jumping up. “Thallia as in the Witch Goddess of Sorcia?”
Shewas the one we’d been seeing for months. Who had pointed me in the direction of the Angel emblems. Who had dropped hints for Tolek about Annellius and shown Malakai and Mila where to find the sphinx books. Who told me where the warrior sisters in thefel strella mythoshad come from and that we should go to the Gates of Angeldust.
The very same goddess who had forged the lock that sealed Echnid in the Stone Realm had reappeared—shadowed by the other four gods—to see the Warrior God’s downfall and the resolution of the Angelcurse.
“How in the everlasting Angel fuck?” Barrett asked.
“I don’t know,” I said, head swiveling to where the goddess had disappeared.
But it seemed that the gods had been much closer than we’d ever thought.
And as we sat around a mystlight lantern, a part of me wondered whether that was a good thing or not, and where Thallia had gone now.
But just like I had with Damien, I set aside the curiosities. We’d survived this battle, gods be damned. We’d won with thestrength of our own true warrior hearts, the magic woven in myths, and the ferocity of the last seraph.
And now, we earned the right to rest.
So, I leaned back against Tolek’s shoulder and let the gentle sounds of the desert mesh with my friends’ casual conversations, the laughter forcing itself through the darkness, and the warmth hovering among our cabal of damaged spirits.
And as I watched the stars sit contently in the sky, I didn’t think about the legends they spun, the battles they oversaw, or the deities waiting between them.
I only took a deep breath and embraced the peace we’d earned.
Epilogue
Malakai
Four Months Later
“Stop fussing,”Mila said, swatting my hand away from my collar.
“Sorry, but I’ve never done this before.” I ran my palms down my thin tunic. The green fabric clung to my skin in the lingering summer heat. Here in northern Mystique Territory, it wasn’t quite as warm as it got down in Palerman, but given how anxious I was, the air was heavier than normal.
Mila tracked the way my fingers ticked over the hilt of the dagger at my waist, absently counting the gems lining the handle. I hadn’t even realized I was doing it.
“Don’t be nervous,” she assured.
