“I owe him my life,” Kyle said.
“We all owe you ours,” said Sophia. The sentiment shocked Kyle into silence. His pulse leapt as Kira appeared at Sophia’s side.
Kira launched herself across the room and threw herself on top of him. “I’m glad you’re alive.” She squeezed him so hard he swore he could feel his sore ribs crack.
He didn’t care. He hugged her back just as tightly.
When they broke apart, Kyle met everyone’s eyes in turn.
“Thanks for not giving up on me.” He drew a ragged breath, knowing he had to tell them the truth. “But for now, we have bigger problems. I found out why the demons are infesting the Mortal Plane.”
“Why?” Kira asked.
He paused and cleared his throat, ignoring the words that had just made him the focus of the room’s attention. He sucked in a deep breath. “This time, it isn’t just Ra’al. All the Demon Lords are working together. As one.”
THE LIGHT AND THE DARKNESS
Sera lay on her bed, trying to focus on her math workbook. It was two in the morning and she couldn’t sleep. She’d tossed and turned for hours before finally giving up, hoping that some mundane activity like trig would put her to sleep. But her brain wouldn’t cooperate. It was brimming with other things—like the looming end of the world and the fact that all the Demon Lords were plotting its demise.
She sighed and slammed her workbook shut. They’d stopped the KaliYuga once before, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t happen again.
A soft scratch on her door distracted her from her morbid thoughts and Nate’s blond head peeked into her room. She motioned for him to come inside, pressing a finger to her lips. Gray shadows darkened the tops of his cheeks, making him look far older than his years. Sera wasn’t surprised that he was awake, too. She pushed back the blankets.
“Couldn’t sleep?” she whispered as he climbed into her bed and nodded tiredly. “Me neither.”
Nate tucked himself below the sheets and curled into a ball. “Do you think what Kyle said was true?”
“About what?”
“About the Demon Lords working together,” he whispered.
“You heard that?” she asked.
Nate nodded sheepishly. “Yeah. Did he say anything else about what was coming?”
She eyed her little brother. He’d been passed out—or at least he’d seemed to be—when Kyle had explained what he’d learned while possessed by the pishacha demon. She debated not telling him more, but then shook her head. He was a part of this now, too. Keeping secrets from him wouldn’t do any good. And he’d earned it. Nate had saved Kyle’s life. He deserved to know the truth. She of all people knew how much it hurt to have secrets kept from you.
“No, but he’s worried they will want to use him somehow, as they did before. So for now, no more portals.”
Because while the Trimurtas had been caught up in the mystery of the demon infestation, the Demon Lords had been conspiring. Kyle had learned from the pishacha that the Demon Lords were working together. The influx of demons was all part of a ploy to distract the Trimurtas and to misdirect from the real threat.
Nate yawned. “How are you planning to get rid of the rakshasas that are here already?”
She couldn’t articulate an answer. It was the one part of the plan that had bothered her. The only option they’d been able to come up with was to kill the hosts and the demons, which meant hundreds of innocent people would die. She would do anything to avoid that—which meant that they didn’t have much time to figure out what the Demon Lords were planning and find a way to stop them. She sighed. That was where the second part of the plan came in—the part that included a second trip to Xibalba.
Opening herself up to Mordas had changed something inside of her. She couldn’t pinpoint what, exactly, but she felt it. It was an awakening—some seed of deeply buried knowledge was stirring. It wasn’t about wickedness or immorality. It was an inner awareness of what Xibalba represented—not evil, but rather something necessary for human existence. It was free will mired in passion and desire, and that will’s relationship with karma. Good could not exist without its counterpart.
The knowledge both confused and frightened her. She wanted nothing to do with the Dark Realms, especially if it could tether her to them forever. But she felt it deep down; there would come a day when there would be a reckoning for her soul, and she would have to choose. A part of her wanted to believe that she would never side with Xibalba, but things weren’t always that black and white. If she had to do it to preserve the greater good, Sera knew she would.
The seed of consciousness in her belly pulsed as if in response. She was haunted by so many desires—she wanted to rejoin Illysia. She wanted to be with Dev. She wanted to be an ordinary teen, regain some semblance of normalcy. But her wants were selfish, she knew. What was the point of being a goddess if she could have none of those things?
“You okay?” Nate asked.
She nodded. “Why?”
“You looked really upset for a second.”
Sera stared at her brother lying beside her and felt the sharp edges of her irritation dissipate. “I feel powerless sometimes,” she confessed. “Like I can’t control anything. Like we’re fighting an enemy we can’t see.”
“That’s life, though, right?” Nate’s voice was quiet. “Fighting a bunch of unseen battles? It’s kind of like role-playing games, where every choice has a consequence, or takes you somewhere new. We can’t predict the outcome, only what we choose to do. But I guess those are games, and this is real life.” He pursed his lips as if deep in thought. “Sometimes we make mistakes, and I guess that has consequences too.”
She rumpled his curls. “How did you get so wise?”
“A lot of work.”
Nate yawned again, his thick eyelashes starting to droop against his cheeks. She poked him, and his bleary eyes focused back on her. “What does Micah say about your gifts?”
“What about them?”
She struggled to find the right words. “Are they going to . . . change you?”
“He says he doesn’t know.” Nate chewed on his bottom lip. “But I can feel them doing something inside me. And I see things. I know things. Like how I knew I could help Kyle. And other things.”
Sera narrowed her eyes. “What kind of things?”
Nate took a long time before answering, and when he did, his voice was so quiet that she could barely hear it. “I see the questions people have. The ones they’re afraid to ask.”
A rush of goose bumps peppered her arms. “Like what?”
“Like the one you had just before.”
Sera bounced upward so suddenly on the bed that it made Nate startle. “What are you talking about?”
“The question you had about the point of being a goddess.”
Sera gaped at him. “Do you know the answer?”
“Yes.”
“What is it?”
He shook his head. “I can’t tell you. It would be cheating. Dev says we all have to find our own answers.”
“Dev?” She swallowed. “Have you been talking to him, too?”
“I’ve been talking to all of them,” Nate replied. “The Trimurtas.” He closed his eyes and then reopened them. “You don’t have to be scared, Sera. It’s natural to have those kinds of questions.”
“What’s your question then?”
“Whether or not I’ll die.”
His clear eyes met hers, making her skin prickle. It felt like she was carrying on a conversation with a stranger. But this was Nate. Her annoying little brother, who got into trouble for his hacker escapades and made her giggle with his snarky wit. This was the boy who built LEGO Brick castles, stalked J.J. Abrams, and saved every penny for film school.
“You’re not going to die, Nate.”
“The living know that they will die.”
Sera frowned at him. “You quoting Harry Potter again?”
“Ecclesiastes.” Nate sniffed and smiled
at her, snuggling more deeply beneath the blankets, his eyes drifting closed.
“Since when are you reading the Bible?” she asked in disbelief.
“It’s just a book, you know. And it’s interesting. I’m reading other scriptures, too.” He yawned sleepily. “Love you, Ser.”
“I love you, too, buddy.”
Within seconds, she could hear his gentle snoring.
Sera stared at her baby brother for a long time. His mouth twitched restlessly, as if his questions plagued him even in sleep. Sera stroked the blond curls from his temple, soothing him with hushed sounds. A boy his age should be dreaming about mundane things, like Minecraft and Xbox, not existential questions about life and death.
What had he meant? Did he really believe that he was going to die? Soon? Even in the next couple of days when hell was unleashed on earth? The thought of losing Nate made her heart pound violently in her chest. No, she vowed firmly. Not if she could help it. The question was—could she?
There was only one person who would know for sure.
Sera stared at the runes on her palms and slowly pressed them together. Time slowed and stopped as she left the mortal world and entered her sanctuary in the realm between realms. She hadn’t been sure what part of her sanctuary her state of mind would conjure, but was pleasantly surprised to find herself on a beach instead of the cliffs. The ocean always made her feel calm.
Dawn was just streaking the sky in pale lilac swatches, and there was a crispness to the air that made more gooseflesh rise over her arms. She wasn’t cold, though. She walked along the water’s edge, her bare toes digging into the cool sand. The sand was not like the silky sand from previous beaches in her realm. It was heavy, grainier. The roughness felt good against the soles of her feet.
She knew what she had come for, but now that she was in her world, Sera relished a moment of solitude in a place where the two sides of her nature didn’t make her feel like she was caught in an eternal tug of war.
She sat, wrestling with her thoughts.
Sera loved what Illysia represented. But there was a reason that she alone could walk all three realms. The truth was, she loved the vibrancy of the mortal world, too. She loved the innate passion of human beings and the fact that each day meant something. Each day was a fresh start, a chance for them to make something of themselves.
And even Xibalba fulfilled a purpose. Because without the darkness, there couldn’t be light. Without the Dark Realms, there would be no balance. That was the beauty of the human condition—free will and the ability to choose one’s own path, whether that was one of sacrifice or selfishness, virtue or vice.
She didn’t love being tied to Xibalba, but that didn’t mean that she couldn’t understand its significance in the greater scheme of things. That balance represented the crux of samsara.
Sera felt Dev’s arrival before she saw him. “Hey,” she said, turning to him as he walked toward her. He wore a loose, yellow, cotton shirt and flowing pants knotted at his waist. His expression was somber, but a light glinted in his golden eyes.
“May I?” he asked, indicating the place at her side. Sera nodded for him to sit. “Couldn’t sleep?” he asked.
“No,” she said and turned her attention back to the swelling sea. “My mind is too restless.” She paused, her fingers digging nervously in the sand. “And I’m worried about Nate.”
“How so?”
“He thinks he’s going to die.”
“He’s mortal,” Dev said softly. “At some point he will die.”
Sera stared at him. “But not until he’s lived a long life. Right?”
He hesitated, his warm gaze falling to her, offering comfort as if he knew his answer would not. “Perhaps.”
That single word made warning bells go off in Sera’s brain. “Do you know something you’re not telling me? He’s my brother, Dev. If there’s something going on, I have to know.”
Dev’s hand crossed the short distance between their bodies to close over hers. Her breath hitched. Whatever he was going to say had to be bad. She met his eyes and saw the indecision in them. “Spit it out. I can handle it, I promise. What are the Trimurtas saying?”
“Nate’s future is unclear,” he began. “He is meant for great things, that much we know, but his path is mired in tragedy.”
“What does that mean?”
He drew a slow breath, his fingers squeezing rhythmically. “Micah believes that either Nate or someone close to him will die in the coming war with Xibalba.”
“Someone close to him?” Her voice was a pained whisper. The only people who were truly mortal in her family were her father and her brother. “Like my dad?”
“We do not know.”
“Then what do you know?” she snapped, even though she knew it was unreasonable to get angry with Dev. He would tell her the truth if he knew any more.
“Micah has also reported that Nate has had visions,” Dev said after a beat.
“Of what?” she asked frowning.
He turned her to face him. “Of the war. Of what will come. Of his role in the fate of the Mortal Realm.”
“What role? Stop speaking in riddles.” She pulled a hand through her hair in frustration. She could sense that he was keeping something from her. “We have to keep him safe. Regardless of these new gifts, or whatever Micah is seeing, he is only a boy. The fate of the Mortal Realm shouldn’t rest on his shoulders.”
“I fear that neither of us can predict his role in the coming days. From what the Trimurtas can tell, Nate was chosen by Brahman to be his instrument long before he was given life as your brother.” He sighed softly and pulled her close. After a moment, she relaxed into him, appreciating his warm strength. She breathed in his soothing scent of marigolds and cloves, and felt her worries dissipate slightly.
“Does my mother know about this? Nate’s part in what’s to come?”
“Not yet, but she will.”
Sera shook her head. “She won’t be happy.”
“Sophia will understand,” Dev said.
His expression softened as he smoothed her hair out of her face. The lighter gold flecks in his beautiful eyes were mesmerizing as his thumb stroked across her chin, leaving a flurry of tingles behind.
“I’ve missed you,” he said.
“I’ve missed you, too.”
His fingers brushed her cheeks in small, feathered touches before tracing her lips. “You belong with me in Illysia.”
Flushing, Sera curled her right hand into a fist and stared at the raised, red rune near the cusp of her wrist. “That’s not possible, thanks to this.”
“We will figure out a way.”
As if to quiet her saturnine thoughts, Dev swapped his fingers on her lips for his mouth. The kiss was sweet, clearly meant to make her forget her fears. And it did, to a degree. His mouth tasted of cloves and mint as he nibbled her lower lip. Sera’s pulse raced, aligning with his as it did every time he touched her, the connection between them as strong as time itself. Thousands of memories poured into her brain from past incarnations. He had always found her, in every lifetime, no matter what.
Dev wrapped his arms around her as he deepened the embrace, making her entire body feel like it was part of his. He rained kisses across the rise of her cheekbones and on her brow, touching his lips to her eyelids and her nose, before finding her lips once more. By the time he was finished, she couldn’t remember what she’d had for breakfast, much less her worries about Illysia.
“Better?” Dev asked, snuggling her closer as they watched the sunrise.
She snorted. “Confident, aren’t we?”
“Somewhat.”
Sera laughed and rolled her eyes. “I should play harder to get.”
“If I hadn’t already loved you for a few thousand years, that might work.”
“And if we manage to survive the next few days, what about the next thousand years?” she asked, leaning contentedly against him. “Will you still love me then?”
His vo
ice was soft. “I will love you until the end of time, meri jaan.”
AN EYE FOR AN EYE
Kyle looked at the sleeping girl beside him, her dark hair strewn across the pillow in a wild tangle, and groaned under his breath. As if he could have made things worse—being on his immortal deathbed had obviously made him reckless.
And stupid.
Kira was a goddess—a volatile, impetuous goddess, unforgiving at the best of times. They’d talked for hours, then made out for hours more. They’d fallen asleep just as dawn was breaking across the sky.
It could have just as easily been Darika lying there. In fact, some deeply hidden part of him wished it had been her, instead of Kira. He’d never felt so torn in his entire life. It was like he was being pulled in two directions. One minute he was into Kira, as he had been last night, and the next he was into her sister.
Sera was right. He was an idiot, playing with fire.
Ruthless, unforgiving, burn-you-to-ash goddess fire.
Kira’s passion made her exciting, but it was a destructive, explosive thing. Last night had been everything he’d needed at that moment—but now, watching her sleep, Kyle wasn’t so sure. It wasn’t regret he was feeling. It was more an uneasy burning in the pit of his stomach. Now he understood what Sera must have felt when she came back from Xibalba last year—and what had prompted the unexpected kiss between them. Last night with Kira had been the same as that moment: instinctive.
Stupid.
Creeping out of bed, he pulled on a T-shirt and decided to go for a run. It would help clear his head. He hoped.
He ran at a punishing pace, and by the time he returned to the house sweating and panting, his legs felt like noodles. As he opened the front door, he heard female voices coming from the kitchen. Bracing himself, he peeked around the doorjamb. Carla—his foster mother—was at the stove flipping pancakes, and Kira sat at the table sipping a mug of coffee.
“Just in time,” Carla said, catching sight of him.
His stomach rumbled with hunger as she placed a heaping plate of food on the table and signaled to him to sit. He hesitated in the doorway as Kira let out a low laugh. “Why are you acting like you’ve never had a girl stay over before?” she teased.
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