Fate's Revenge (Twisted Fate, Book 4)

Chapter Twenty-One

Skulking around like a secretive sleuth was harder than it looked in the movies. Television series, like Alias, showed operatives as fearless, driven, victorious. It was different in reality. When it was this quiet, I bet even spies jumped at the little things—creaks, water dripping, rodents. Not that Heaven had vermin, but still. Creeping around the not-so-dark night was, well, creepy. I jumped at everything above a hum.

How did you hide when everywhere you turn, it's so bright that shadows couldn't dwell for you to blend in with?

It was impossible to say goodbye twice, so when Gabe came back to my room a couple hours later as he had promised, I made sure it was looking like I was taking his orders to heart. But keeping my eyes shut and pretending to whimper—or at least whimpering like what I imagined he thought, since I hadn't heard it to mimic it—like he so gently advised I did helped keep me from changing my mind in two ways: not having to say goodbye again like I'd see him tomorrow and not allowing the sight of him to break my resolve. It was hard enough not to react to his voice. So, I waited and tried to keep from squinching my eyes tight—that was so not a natural way to sleep and I would totally give myself away.

Once the door closed with his departure, the silence stretched. Finally, ten minutes after he left, I jumped out of bed, already dressed in black—I didn't realize until later that it would work in the complete opposite way than I wanted it to while in a building made of light. I tucked the vial into my pocket and ran to the door, placing my ear against it to try to sense if the hallway was empty like Gabe had assumed I could. Stillness. I didn't feel anything, though, so again he must be wrong. Holding my breath, I slowly turned the knob and opened the door just enough to poke my head through. Not a soul to be seen.

It was a good start.

I kept to the sides of the wall, making sure to close the door behind me so that no passerby would notice and report me gone. Without my body, I figured they would assume I was in Glory Academy, but still... the longer my not being there remained unnoticed, the better head start I had. Plus, nobody would think to look for me where I was going, and by the time they did, it would be too late. Either way, I would have found what I was searching for—all the way out or all the way in.

Going into the Void to find the Sisters would send me to another world without a way back or it would lead me to who will answer my questions. It was an easy solution, but nobody—not even Tyler before I'd healed him—would allow me to do it if they knew my intentions. It was too dangerous, they'd all said. Especially since I shone all the time, even if I didn't see it. But I couldn't stay here and refuse to lead, I couldn't lead without a purpose, and obviously, I couldn't go home. What other choice did I have left to make? They all may think they know what's best, but none of them, even the Brothers with their holier-than-thou duties, knew what it was like to deal with what I faced on the terms I'd been given.

All the way to the Diamond Room, I repeated it to myself. There is only one Alyssa Frank. There is nobody like me. I must do this... There is only one Alyssa Frank. Everybody is counting on me to get it right.

When I arrived at my destination, I paused. The single door looked so... inconspicuous. How could the room within hold doorways to other realms? If Hell's Fire was truly built to replicate Glory Academy, there was no doubt they were there. Hidden behind the sparkling glass and diamond, there was two paths at the far back of the room: the one on the left led to the Mortal Realm and the one on the right would take me to the Void. Taking a deep breath, I stepped inside the too-shiny room.

For the first time since I had originally been brought here in a dream, I didn't stop to admire the glass floor or jutting walls cut like huge, raw diamonds. Like the garden, this room held memories of time spent with David. Everywhere I looked my face was reflected to me and right now that was the last person I wanted to see. So, I focused on the back of the room and walked with a steady, albeit a little shaky, pace.

The passages leading to the doors weren't visible until I was right in front of them, but Marcus had been right. The entrances were there. What if I was wrong, though? What if, like the wards, everything was opposite? Glory Academy had Pure Souls, walls made from Glory, and angels. Hell's Fire was built with fire, housed Dark Souls and sometimes even Darkness without realizing it.

Was it a leap to think Hell's Fire's right could be Glory Academy's left?

No. Marcus had said the layout was identical, and that had been before he realized he could use me. For the briefest amount of time, I could have sworn he thought we could be friends at some point, which is why I believed him when he said it was just the materials that varied. This room's layout proved that. Okay then, no more procrastinating. I closed my eyes and exhaled the breath I'd been holding. The inner racing of my heart settled to a canter as my determination started to take over once again. Right. I had to go... right.

I opened my eyes and looked left with longing. My parents, sick with worry for the daughter they assumed to be lost, were beyond that door. The Mortal Realm. Though safer than the Void, it would never be safe enough for the ones I loved if I returned. Darkness wanted me, no matter who got hurt as it tried to reach its goal.

Turning back wasn't an option. At least for me, since I was the only one who knew of my plans and others wouldn't be able to shame me for being a coward if I chose to back out. I would know, and that kind of weakness wasn't acceptable, so I did the only thing I could. I stepped right ten paces and placed my hand on the doorknob. Frost shot up my arm to leave an icy trail, but it was surface deep and didn't hurt.

I twisted the knob and pulled back, shoulder-checking to take one last look behind me. The room was now blocked by the wall of the passageway, which meant I missed my final goodbye. I stepped through the doorway, turning slowly to face what lay beyond. By the time I saw where I was it was too late to turn back. The door slammed shut and then somehow disappeared, locking me in the darkest night I'd ever seen, surrounded by nothing but frigid air which blasted me from all sides. I sucked in a chattering breath.

What have I done?