No one knows that name. No one living has ever spoken it aloud in my presence.
Which means Iris is exactly what she appears to be—a seer powerful enough to read names from souls rather than records, to know truth rather than performance.
We break the surface.
The transition is violent—from water's embrace to air's emptiness, from silence to chaos. I can hear shouting immediately, voices raised in panic I don't have context for.
"—just appeared?—"
"—was she always?—"
"—the barrier?—"
I gasp, adjusting to breathing air after what feels like hours underwater but was probably minutes. Gwenievere stirs against my shoulder, her small hand clutching my soaked shirt with desperate strength even in unconsciousness.
The golden bubble dissipates the moment we fully clear the water, its purpose served. I'm treading water now, legs kicking to keep us both afloat, though the effort feels minimal. These waters want to support me, make my movements more efficient than they should be.
"NIKKI!"
Cassius's voice cuts through the chaos, and suddenly shadows are everywhere. They dive into the water around us, forming a platform beneath my feet, lifting us up and out with desperate efficiency. The moment we're clear, more shadows wrap around us—not binding but supporting, checking, assessing.
"Is she—" Atticus is there too, his hands reaching for Gwenievere with vampire speed.
"She's alive," I manage between gasps. "She's breathing. She just needs?—"
"Rest," Mortimer finishes, already examining her with scholarly precision that doesn't fully hide his concern. "Her pulse is steady. No obvious injuries. Just exhaustion and shock."
They're all talking at once—relief and questions and demands for explanation tangling together. But my mind is elsewhere, still processing what I witnessed beneath the surface.
Deathshire Academy.
The name burns in my consciousness like a brand. Another academy, hidden or parallel or something we don't understand. Connected to these waters that recognize Fae authority. Guarded by beings in uniforms I don't recognize. Overseen by seers powerful enough to know names that have never been spoken.
And somehow, the chalice everyone seeks is there. At its gates. Waiting for an heir with her rightful crown—but which heir? Gwenievere? Elena? Someone else entirely?
"The waters," I hear myself say, though I'm not sure who I'm talking to. "They're not Infernal. They're Fae. Ancient Fae. Maybe the original waters, before the realms were divided."
That gets everyone's attention.
They stop fussing over Gwenievere—who Cassius has claimed, cradling her small form with protective desperation—and turn to me with expressions that demand elaboration.
"The barrier only let me through when I shifted to Nikki," I continue, trying to organize thoughts that feel too large for words. "It recognized something in my female form that my male form lacks. These waters... they're meant for women. Specifically, women traveling between?—"
I stop, uncertain how much to reveal. Iris's words feel private, meant for me alone. But these are my allies. My friends. My—whatever we are to each other after everything we've survived.
"Between what?" Zeke prompts, his cat-eyes studying me with intensity that sees more than I'm saying.
"Between academies," I finish. "There's another one. Deathshire Academy. Where women go instead of coming here."
The silence that follows is profound. Even the water seems to still, as if waiting to see how this revelation will land.
"Deathshire," Atticus repeats slowly, tasting the word. "Death's shire. Death's domain."
"Where the cursed are bonded to those who are crescent-marked," Zeke quotes, surprising us. “The waters hold death for the unworthy but encourage life for women destined to be hosts of death itself. I’ve heard of the term…but unable to truly recall why," he confesses.
"Hosts," Mortimer's scholarly mind is already working, parsing implications. "Not wielders or commanders but hosts. As if death is something that lives within rather than serves."
I’m sure if they had more time or even a source of knowledge like a library, the two together could figure it out with their extensive knowledge.
