16. Paige

16

PAIGE

B eside me, Aries sleeps soundly. I don't blame him. Whatever nervous energy we had was spent earlier. I'm not sure why I'm wide awake now, considering my own exhaustion before, but as I lay beside him in our tent, my mind whirs and I know sleep isn't happening anytime soon.

Giving up, I climb quietly out of bed and pull on my clothes before slipping outside. The camp is fully dark as I wander through the maze of tents. The only soldiers still awake are the ones standing guard or patrolling the perimeter. I nod at a couple of them and earn a quick smile from each.

I've made it nearly to the edge of camp when I see a figure sitting on a fallen log. They aren't wearing a soldier's uniform. Worried, I creep closer until I can make out their shape and features.

It's not only her height and build that give her away. It's that blonde ponytail glowing in the moonlight that makes her unmistakable.

I approach Blossom quietly, not wanting to disturb her if she's deep in thought, but she looks up and catches my eye before I can decide whether to interrupt.

"Can't sleep?" she asks, her voice low but warm. She gestures for me to join her.

I sit down beside her. "Too much on my mind, I guess."

She nods, understanding without me needing to say more. "It's always like this before a big fight. You start thinking about all the ‘what ifs,' and they just won't let you rest."

"Yeah," I admit, staring up at the stars winking back at us. "I used to lay awake at night, worrying about all of my Head Librarian duties—and that was mostly just paperwork." She snorts. I smile, but it vanishes quickly. "The stakes are a lot higher this time around."

"You're worried about Constantine showing up."

"You've thought about it too?"

"Of course. I'd be na?ve not to consider it. Especially since he's already been here to supply our enemies with weapons."

I blow out a breath. "I don't know if I'm ready to face him."

"Please. He's terrified of you. You just have to figure out why."

"He's got a funny way of showing fear—taking over the library and nearly killing us and all."

"He's relentless in his pursuit of you, Paige."

"Yeah, because he's psycho and obsessed."

"Maybe, but I think he knows you're the one who can stop him."

I scowl. "I wish I knew it, too. Or how to actually do it."

"You'll figure it out. You always do."

"Sometimes your blind faith in me is really annoying."

She grins back at me, the usual mischief in her eyes tempered by something softer. "Someone's got to hype you up, right? Who better than a best friend?"

I laugh, the sound more genuine than I expected. "Yeah, I guess so."

For a while, we just sit there, the fire crackling between us, sharing the quiet comfort of each other's presence. The fear is still there, but it's manageable now, tempered by the knowledge that I'm not facing this alone.

Eventually, Blossom speaks again, her words quiet. "Hoc would be proud of you, you know."

I swallow past the lump in my throat, the weight of her words settling over me like a blanket. "Thanks. That really means a lot."

She nods, and then her expression shifts, a teasing glint returning to her eyes. "That said, if you could avoid getting yourself killed tomorrow, that'd be great. I've grown kind of attached to you."

I chuckle, the tension in my chest easing just a little more. "I'll do my best."

The first light of dawn filters through the tent, casting a pale glow over the fabric walls. I wake slowly, especially after my midnight chat with Blossom. The warmth of Aries' body is still wrapped around mine, his arm draped possessively across my waist. For a brief moment, I let myself savor the quiet, the feel of his skin against mine, the steady rise and fall of his chest as he breathes.

But reality comes crashing back with the distant sound of a horn, its mournful call signaling the start of what I've been dreading. My heart lurches, and the fog of sleep clears instantly, replaced by a sharp, cold awareness.

The battle is upon us.

Aries stirs behind me, pressing a soft kiss to my cheek before he sits up and tosses back the blankets. We dress quickly and quietly and meet at the flap, hesitating there as we lock eyes.

"It's time," I say finally.

He nods, his expression hardening as if a weight is settling over him. There's no more time for words, no more time for anything but what must be done. The intimacy of last night is gone, replaced by the fierce determination in his eyes, the look of a man ready to face death if it means protecting what he loves.

We step out of the tent together, the early morning light casting long shadows across the camp. The hillside is alive with movement, soldiers donning armor, sharpening weapons, their faces set in grim lines as they prepare for the fight of their lives.

I scan the horizon, searching for any sign of the orcs. The valley below is shrouded in mist, the mountains in the distance barely visible through the haze. But I can feel them, a dark presence just beyond the edge of sight, waiting to descend upon us.

"Paige," Aries says, his voice low as he hands me a dagger. "Stay close to me. No matter what happens, we fight together."

I nod, slipping the dagger into my belt, the cool metal reassuring against my hip. "I will."

Leo approaches, his armor gleaming in the early light, sword strapped to his back. He gives us a curt nod, his expression unreadable. "Scouts report movement in the pass. They're coming."

"Are the men in position?" Aries asks.

"Ready and awaiting your orders for the ambush," Leo says.

"Tell them to wait until the front lines spot our advancing army in the valley. They'll fire on my command."

Leo nods. The three of us exchange a look, a silent understanding passing between us. This is it. There's no turning back now.

As we move to join the others, my heart pounds in my chest, the adrenaline already surging through my veins. I've faced danger before, but nothing like this—nothing on this scale. The weight of the responsibility presses down on me, but I push it aside, focusing on the task at hand. There's no room for fear, no room for doubt.

The soldiers on the hillside fall into formation, their eyes locked on Aries as he steps forward, his presence commanding, every inch the leader they need him to be. He raises his sword, the blade catching the light, and for a moment, the world holds its breath.

"Today, we fight for Astronia!" he shouts, his voice ringing out across the hillside. "We fight for our families, for our homes, for everything we hold dear. We fight because we will not let these bastards take what is ours!"

A roar rises from the soldiers, their voices a fierce, unified cry that echoes through the valley. The sound sends a shiver down my spine, and I grip the hilt of my dagger tighter, the resolve solidifying in my chest. This is more than just a battle. It's survival. It's everything.

As the soldiers take their positions, I find my place beside Aries, my magic thrumming just beneath the surface, ready to be unleashed. I can feel the power coursing through me, the energy coiled and waiting like a spring ready to snap. I've never been more aware of it, more in control, and it gives me a sense of calm amid the chaos.

Maintaining our formed lines, we wait on the hillside for what feels like forever. Our army stands in plain sight of the orcs—or we will be the moment they emerge from the narrow pass. But that's part of the ambush. Thinking we're all ready and waiting out here in the open. And when the pass is full of orc soldiers, our archers will attack from the cliffs above.

The ground beneath us trembles as the orc army's front lines emerge from the mist, a dark, seething mass of muscle and steel, their war cries rising like a wave of death. Behind them are large guns mounted to carts, each one dragged along by orc soldiers on wooden wheels far more rudimentary than the gleaming weapons are.

My stomach tightens at the sight of them.

Aries assured us the ditches will prevent them from getting within range, but even so, I begin calling on my magic so I can do my part to render them useless. Before I get that far, movement at the front lines draws my eye.

Our soldiers emerge through the mist, ready for battle. The orcs scream angrily at the sight of the Astronian warriors, the bloodthirsty sound of it sending a shudder through me.

"Fire," Aries roars.

Archers appear along the craggy cliffs, their bows aimed down as they fire their arrows into the crowded pass. Orcs drop by the dozen as the arrows hit their mark.

Up front, the horde charges forward, a tidal force of destruction as our soldiers rush to meet them. The air is suddenly filled with the sound of clashing steel, of screams and shouts, as the two armies collide.

Our vantage point is high enough to remain out of the battle, and I concentrate again on destroying the guns being loaded and aimed. It takes only a moment to awaken the magic inside me. And then only another few to render the first gun into a piece of unformed metal—just as it once had been.

The orcs pulling the weapon stop and scream their shock and outrage.

I turn to Aries, smiling at my victory, but he's frowning down at the battle itself. I follow the direction of his gaze and see Mag and Blossom below us, surrounded by orcs as they defend our hillside.

My breath catches as I realize how close our enemy has gotten.

"Draw your blade," Aries says to me.

I do as he says, fumbling for it as fear takes me over.

But his gaze is steady on mine as he turns to me. "Stay here with Leo," he says, gesturing to where Leo is giving orders to a runner who will deliver them to the archers.

"Be careful," I say around the lump in my throat.

He doesn't answer as he turns and races down the hill.

Aries moves like lightning, his sword a blur as he cuts down orcs left and right. Forcing myself to refocus on my own tasks, I unleash my magic on the guns. One by one, each of them melts into a sheet of unmade metal, much to the orc's outrage.

When those are gone, I scan for Aries and the others, sighing in relief when I see them all spread over the hillside and down into the field below. Aries is covered in blood, but a quick check of the mate bond assures me none of it is his. Mag and Blossom are a force as they cut through orcs together—as if they're doing some sort of tandem dance.

Our other soldiers, however, are not so lucky. Already, the valley is littered with lost lives. My heart squeezes at the sight of so much destruction and death. Too many of the fallen are Astronian—though, I'm determined to stop that number from rising. Drawing on my magic, I use it to create barriers of stone and wood, protecting soldiers from unseen attacks at their flanks.

Time becomes meaningless as the battle rages on, the hours blending into one another, marked only by the rise and fall of enemies, by the surges of power and exhaustion. I lose count of how many soldiers I've protected from a fatal blow—and how many times I wasn't fast enough, the faces of the fallen already blurring in my memory.

Those losses only push me harder, more determined than ever to make my magic count. Eventually, I begin to notice the orc army dwindling.

Relief, elation—victory—surge inside me.

I catch Leo's eye, needing to know. "Are they running?" I ask.

"It seems so," he says, the grimness from earlier replaced by a stark relief. "We'll catch the ones that try. It's over, Paige. We've won."

His words are punctuated by the clang of swords, but the sound of it no longer sparks dread in my veins.

We've won.

Leo's words echo inside me.

Aries puts another orc down and then slowly begins to make his way toward me.

I watch him, grateful and stunned. We made it.

We actually made it out alive.

But then, through the haze of battle, a familiar darkness begins to creep into the edges of my vision. The air grows colder, the light dimmer, as a shadow spreads over the far side of the valley.

It creeps over the grass, rotting it instantly as the shadow surges forward.

The blight is here, but it's more than that.

It's exactly what I feared most.

My magic begins to drain, and I clamp down on its flow, cutting it off from myself—and from him siphoning it away.

Constantine has arrived.

"Paige!" Aries' voice cuts through the din, and I turn to see him staring up at the ridge behind me.

I spin to find a figure cloaked in shadow standing ominously above me, the very air around him warping with his dark magic.

Constantine.

The sight of him sends a bolt of fear through me, but it's quickly followed by a surge of anger, of determination. This is the moment we've been dreading but also the one we've been waiting for.

"Who is that?" Leo asks, at my side instantly.

Aries joins us, out of breath.

"His name is Constantine," I say quietly. "He's from my world."

"What does he want?" Leo asks.

Aries and I exchange a look.

"Me," I say.

"Paige," Aries begins, his tone a warning. But we both know it's no use. The threat is here. We have no choice but to face it.

"We finish this," I say, my voice steady despite the storm raging around us.

Aries nods, his eyes locking with mine, a promise in his gaze. "Together."

We break into a run, cutting our way through the battlefield, the chaos of the fight falling away as our focus narrows to one goal: reaching Constantine. The world around us seems to fade, the noise, the blood, the bodies—none of it matters anymore. All that matters is stopping him.

Constantine watches us approach, his expression unreadable, but I can feel the power radiating from him, a dark, oppressive force that presses down on my chest, making it hard to breathe. But I don't falter. I won't.

"I see your time away from the library has been productive," he says, nodding at the battlefield.

"Your meddling here did nothing to stop us," Aries snarls.

"Is that so, Your Highness? Or does that title no longer apply?"

Aries merely glares at him.

"How did you get here without the book?" I demand—curiosity and worry driving me.

His lips twist smugly. "My time as Head Librarian has been productive as well."

"You can portal without the books," I say.

It's not a question, but Constantine's ego won't let him miss a chance to brag about his capabilities either. "The library's magic, fused with my own, is a powerful doorway. Now, those doors open for me at will. But if you prefer a portal…"

He waves his hand, and a dark, swirling portal opens farther down the hillside. I spot Mag and Blossom leading a group of soldiers toward us, but they stop short at the sight of the portal cutting off their path forward.

No.

Not the portal itself.

The dark and disgusting creatures that pour out of it are a far bigger threat than the doorway between worlds. Even bigger than the orc army we've just defeated.

Hellhounds, basilisks, and a minotaur rush out of the portal onto the battlefield. The soldiers cry out in shock, but Blossom and Mag don't hesitate to slash at the monsters with their swords. The minotaur manages to get inside Blossom's defenses, but Mag shoves his body in front of hers, the blow clanging against Mag's stony exterior. Blossom sweeps in from the side and puts her sword through the minotaur's thigh. It jumps back to avoid another hit but looks ready to try again.

I resist the urge to offer help, knowing it will only give Constantine the meal he so desperately wants.

When I look back at him, he's grinning, proving my suspicions.

My hands curl into fists.

"This ends today," I say.

"Oh yes, little mage," Constantine says, his eyes gleaming as battle cries and clashing swords ring out around us. "I couldn't agree more."

Aries reaches him first, his sword slashing through the air, but Constantine deflects the blow with a wave of his hand, the force of it sending Aries stumbling back. Aries straightens, and we share a look. I nod, and he attacks again. This time, I conjure a shield to take the brunt of Constantine's counter-blow, and Aries manages a swipe that slices into Constantine's arm.

Blood appears in the wound, and I watch, satisfied, as it stains his coat.

With a hiss, Constantine waves his other hand, and an invisible force knocks Aries back again. Then he focuses on me, sucking up my magic as if through a straw. I cut it off as he pauses, his eyes narrowing.

"So, the little mage thinks she can play with the big boys," Constantine sneers, his voice dripping with contempt.

"Let's see if you can keep up," I snap back, raising my hands to go again.

Aries and I move as one, with me on defense and him on offense, each strike designed to push Constantine back, to wear him down. After each defensive maneuver, I yank my magic back to me, turning it off before he can siphon it away. But he's strong—stronger than I anticipated—and he's not just deflecting our blows; he's absorbing them.

A process that only makes him more dangerous, more powerful.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Blossom and Mag and the other soldiers battling the creatures that pour from the portal. For every monster they take out, more appear.

Shutting down the portal would take more concentration than I can spare, so I focus on Constantine—and Aries' attempts to get past the asshole's shields.

Again and again, we strike and block.

The ground trembles beneath us as our powers clash, the very air crackling with energy. The world narrows to the three of us, the battle fading into the background as we fight for control, for survival.

Aries brings his sword down hard toward Constantine's outstretched arm. The sight of the blade sends Constantine stepping back, and I act fast, creating a large hole in the hillside behind him. His boot hits the ledge, and he tips backward, his balance shifting with his momentum.

My breath catches, but I don't stop there, conjuring a portal at the bottom of the hole. Unlike the one I made to bring us here, this one is remade from all the worst parts of the dark prison worlds Hoc and the other Keepers trained me to avoid at all costs. It's a risk to create it here, now, but we have to do something before his creatures overrun our army.

Or worse, he drains all my magic away.

Even from here, the portal's force whips my hair as it attempts to suck Constantine into its swirling depths.

Fear flashes across his face, and I feel a tug on my magic as he sips on the power flowing through me and into the hole.

I can't afford to stop the flow of magic now. Not when it powers the portal. I grit my teeth, praying I have enough of it left to send him into the darkness before he drains me.

At the last second, Constantine recovers. He steps clear of the hole, and his lips curl into a cruel smile. Dread pools in my stomach as I feel the magic between us shift. It feels as if we're in a tug of war and he just yanked on his end hard enough to send my magic flowing right to him.

"That's better," he says.

With a flick of his wrist, he tears open a portal of his own making just behind Aries, the dark void swirling with ominous energy.

"Let's take this somewhere more…private, shall we?" he says, his voice a dangerous purr.

Before we can react, the portal pulls us in, the world around us twisting and warping as we're sucked into the darkness.

My stomach lurches as the ground falls away, and then we're hurtling through space, the cold, dark magic of the portal surrounding us.

"Paige!" Aries yells my name, the sound of it echoing inside the tunnel.

I try to call out for him, but the sound of my voice is lost to the roar of nothingness.

When we emerge, the ground beneath our feet is hard and familiar. The air is musty, filled with the scent of old parchment and ink. And though it looks vastly different than it did before, I would know this place anywhere.

We've landed inside the Athenaeum.

Just like I knew we would.