Nimirea’s eyes snap open.

  The red haze and cracked stone of the secret floor are gone. Instead she sees the familiar walls of the first floor of the Celestial Tower. Jacob sits a few steps away. He is just sitting up and smiling at her.

  For a moment she thinks this is another illusion. Then her head throbs and her ribs ache and she decides this pain is too precise to be fake.

  She pushes herself onto one elbow and she reels around to see where the Mad King went.

  The throne is gone. The skeletal remains are gone. There is no towering aura in the room. Only Jacob.

  She frowns. The empty space feels wrong. She surmises that whatever Baalrek has become has gone back inside Jacob. The idea makes her skin crawl and soothe at the same time. If the Mad King is in Jacob, he is not out here, yet that also means Jacob carries a walking disaster in his soul.

  Now she realizes they are about to walk out of this tower.

  Out there she is the Leader of the Dark Champions again. Out there he is a student of the Academy and a potential enemy of her God. Out there they will go back to being enemies.

  She feels conflicted about it. The word does not even cover it. Part of her wants to drag him to safety. Another part wants to put a blade through his heart before Asmodeus does worse.

  “What did you get from him,” Nimirea asks.

  Jacob tilts his head. “Who,” he says. He knows exactly who.

  “Do not play dumb,” she says. Her voice comes out hoarse. “What did Baalrek the Bastard give you. Skills. Relics. Curses. Tell me something. Is he back within your soul?”

  Jacob’s smile widens a little. “Secret,” he says.

  “You should be wary of whom you let into your soul.”

  “I am,” Jacob winks at her.

  She glares at him. “Do you regret not taking the crystal Skill?” she asks. “You threw away something that even the High Houses would kill for.”

  He just smiles at her.

  The calm in his eyes tells her more than any list of Skills would. He got something. He thinks it was worth more than the crystal. That scares her more than if he held a doomsday weapon in his hand.

  She pushes herself fully to her feet.

  “Should we go out,” she asks. Her voice is steady now.

  Jacob looks at her.

  “Are we still mortal enemies out there,” he asks.

  She stares back. “Yes,” she says. She hears the heaviness in her own tone. “We are.”

  Jacob pushes himself fully upright. He dusts his hands on his ruined clothes. His smile turns a little crooked.

  “Since we will be enemies again soon,” he says, “and we will not be able to spend time together like this for a while, there is one thing I wanted to do.”

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  He gets up with more energy than she expects from someone who looks half-dead. He squares his shoulders. He walks toward her with purpose.

  Every step is deliberate. His eyes lock on hers. His expression is determined.

  Nimirea’s heart lurches.

  Nimirea starts panicking.

  That look. That stupid determined look.

  He is going to kiss me, she thinks, blushing, feeling her heart about to burst from her ribcage.

  This is insane. We are enemies. My master wants him dead—he tried to kill him already! The Headmaster probably wants me and the other Dead! Dark Champions do not kiss potential sacrifices!

  He looks at her with his deep blue eyes full of purpose and she takes a few steps back.

  He is absolutely going to kiss me, she thinks anyway.

  Her mind races. She starts rationalizing. They are about to part as enemies. They might never stand alone in a room like this again. She has gotten no romance in her eighteen years so far.

  I deserve some thrice-damned romance!

  One kiss before we try to kill each other is not that unreasonable, she tells herself. It is practically traditional.

  Her cheeks burn. Her pulse hammers in her ears. She closes her eyes. She puckers her lips, trembling slightly.

  “What are you doing,” Jacob asks.

  Her eyes snap open. He stands an arm’s length away. He is staring at her with open confusion.

  “I wanted to have a sparring match,” Jacob says. “A friendly one. Before we start trying to cut each other’s heads off for real.”

  Silence.

  Heat floods Nimirea’s face. Her ears burn so hard she is sure they glow. Her soul wants to crawl out of her body and leave.

  “A sparring match,” she repeats.

  “Yes,” Jacob says. He looks at her mouth, then back at her eyes, and his own cheeks color a little. “What did you think—”

  “Nothing!” she snaps. “I thought nothing!”

  She drags a breath into her lungs and forces herself not to explode on the spot.

  I am going to give you a sparring match, alright, she thinks, trembling in fury. I am going to kick you until your bones remember me.

  “Fine,” she says out loud. “I will not go easy on you.”

  “You never do,” Jacob says.

  * * *

  Asterion looks around at all the troops gathered and the other Champions. They have brought enough men, strong enough, to start a war.

  “Everyone ready? There are ripples of Mana starting. They’re about to come out.”

  Everyone stands straighter and gets in formation, grabbing their weapons tighter.

  The portal of the Celestial Tower spits both outside.

  Nimirea steps into the light with Jacob at her side.

  Every eye turns to them.

  Asterion sees the state Jacob is in. His clothes hang in tatters. Dried blood crusts on his face and neck. Fresh bruises darken his skin. He looks as if someone dragged him through a grinder.

  The Champions stiffen. Their hands twitch toward weapons. To them, it looks like she dragged him into a back room and tortured him for information.

  Yet, before they can say anything, Jacob lifts one hand.

  “Let her go,” he says. His voice carries through the hall.

  “What?!” Iskara looks beside herself. “Shut up! Seize her!”

  “I said,” Jacob stands straighter, staring down Iskara, “Nimirea is leaving. This is not the day we’re facing the Dark Champions. Not like this. You guys got beat by one. This? I just had a sparring match. Now, stand down.”

  Everyone looks at Jacob, stunned. But he ignores them.

  He glances at Nimirea. “I look forward to seeing you again,” he says.

  Nimirea turns away so they do not see the way her mouth twists. She walks through a portal that forms out of nowhere and says, “sure.”

  She pretends she does not feel the invisible rope that still runs between them.