Elli reaches in her pocket and extracts a long, silver blade. It's tarnished, just like the k.n.o.bs on all of the doors, and the sharp end glints maliciously in the light. Elli waves the blade at one of the Harbingers, and then points the tip at Nim.

"Take the crowd. As for these two, only the older one. Leave the girl to me."

The Harbingers lift their skeletal hands and pull back their hoods, revealing the hideous skulls underneath. Oily black skin and red tendrils of muscle weave around sets of glowing red eyes as they stare out at the crowd. One by one the throng falls to the ground, one atop the other, until a blanket of House members covers the hall.

A single Harbinger glides forward, setting its sights on Nim. She collapses into my arms as the ent.i.ty's power overtakes her. I try to support her-to hold her up-but she's too heavy and she slides to the ground at my feet. I bend down with her, letting her head loll in my lap.

Nim's eyes flutter weakly as Elli approaches. "No," my mentor moans. Her words are slurred from fatigue. "Please, think about what you're doing. The House needs to be in existence for the sake of the universes. If you destroy it, they'll be left without Watchers. There will be no one to care for them."

"Of course you'd say that," Elli snarls. "You weren't around in the beginning to see how things went before the rules. The truth is, the universes don't need to be watched at all. They don't need Harbingers to fly down and destroy them when the Seers proclaim it's time for them to end. If left alone, worlds flourish and die in their own time. The way I see it, the only thing The House does is get in the way. That's why I want to build my own universes-ones that I rule over completely. Then there will be a point to my existence, beyond caring for a bunch of musty old books."

She kneels down, brushing her hand across Nim's cheek, and I flinch as if it is my own. Elli sees my reaction and turns her gaze on me. "Stupid little girl," she says. "You could've listened to me, and none of this would be happening. But you forced my hand, and now I have no choice but to show you how serious I truly am."

And then Elli lifts the dagger above her head, gripping the end with both hands as she plunges the blade down, down toward Nim's heart.

Chapter Twenty-Three.

As the blade plummets toward Nim's heart, I wrap my arms around her shoulders and roll to the side. Nim's dead weight is too heavy for me to drag completely out of the way but at least I divert the path of the dagger. Elli can't stop her momentum in time and she gives a warrior cry as the sharp tip sinks into Nim's upper leg.

Silver blood spills out of the wound, dripping into a puddle underneath her. Nim shrieks in pain, spasms clenching her muscles as her eyes go wide and fearful.

"No!" I shout, lunging forward to claw at Elli. She yanks the dagger out of Nim's flesh and jumps out of my grasp. More silver spurts from my mentor's leg and I clasp my hand over the wound, trying to stay the bleeding.

"Go now," Elli tells her Harbingers. "Put the rest of The House to sleep. I can't let them get in my way."

The Harbingers glide away-all but one that stays to guard Elli like a faithful watchdog. I want to lunge at her again-to tear her apart limb from limb-but I can't leave Nim, not when she lies injured on the ground.

"Don't worry," Elli says. "I'm not killing anyone just yet, not unless you cross me again. But as for poor Nim here-I plan to finish what I started."

She draws the blade up again and I lean over Nim's frame, protecting her heart from the path of the dagger. Elli is unfazed, tensing her arms to send the pointed end straight through my shoulder so that it reaches its destination- "What in the name of The House is going on here?" Dante bellows from somewhere off to my left. When I look up he is stumbling over stirring bodies, a group of fellow Leaders trailing behind him. The puddle of blood that drains from Nim's leg causes him to go white as a sheet. His eyes dart between the injury and Elli, who wields the dagger over her head. "Elli! What have you done?"

Elli doesn't pause to think. She doesn't flinch or speak. Instead she leaps forward, dragging Dante by the collar so that he comes to stand before her, and pulls the dagger across his throat. It seems like it happens in slow motion, and as she does it I stand and advance on her. I get there a moment too late, careening into her stomach as Dante crumples to the floor.

I land on top of Elli, my head turned to the side so that I stare at the fallen Leader. His eyes are wild and pleading as silver spurts from the gash on his neck; he tries to speak but his words only come out as labored gurgles. Then his chests stops rising and falling and he goes still.

The other Leaders run toward us but the Harbinger gives them one red stare and they slow, fighting against the draining fatigue that overtakes them. One of them manages to breach the fallen crowd and reach us. He wrenches me off of Elli, tossing me backward onto Nim as he leans down to grab her. Elli has but to extend her hand and the dagger penetrates through his torso, the tip going so deep that it emerges from his back. The man collapses on top of her and she shoves him off, springing to her feet.

One after another Leaders stumble over to her through the haze of the Harbinger's power. Some of them target the Harbinger instead, trying to break its hold over them, but the ent.i.ty's force is stronger and it brings them to their knees. The hall becomes a blur of senseless shapes and figures as I lie atop Nim, protecting her from the skirmish. A foot lashes out, catching me in the gut by accident, and I roll over in the fetal position, coming to rest several feet away.

I am on the outer edge of the chaos. Nim lies helpless in the center of it all, unprotected from Elli's blade. I can't leave her like that, not after all she's done for me, so I grit my teeth, clutch my injured side, and stand.

Staggering back out into the fray, I grab Nim under her arms and drag her slowly down the hall. Swaths of blood soak my path and I slip multiple times in puddles of the stuff; I'm no longer sure if it's Nim's or Dante's or one of the other countless Leaders that Elli is butchering in the hall.

Nim moans as I move her. The noise somehow reaches Elli through the den and she looks up, her eyes turning frantic. She pushes past fumbling Leaders on her way over to us, casting the dagger over her head.

I duck and grab onto Nim's arm, turning us to smoke in an instant. I swarm around her cloud form, directing her toward the watch room. Elli bats at the air with her weapon but the knife slides harmlessly through us, and as we wisp under the door of the Watch Room she slams her weight into the wood and screams in rage.

I focus on solidity and we become whole again, bodies hunched on the floor. The doork.n.o.b starts to turn and I still it with my hand, pulling against Elli's push. The frame rattles as I hold it shut, putting my whole weight against her efforts. Away from the Harbingers, Nim begins to recover, moaning loudly and struggling to sit up.

"Don't exert yourself," I say. "Keep pressure on your wound."

"You've got to barricade the door," she says.

Nim crawls backward across the floor, dragging her legs in front of her and leaving a swath of silver in her wake. Once she reaches me she leans her back against the door. "Go," she orders again. "Find something heavy and drag it over here."

I release the door and rush across the room, hauling one of the heavy basins back with me. It feels like it's twice my weight and my muscles burn in a way I never thought possible as I pull it in front of the door. Nim scoots out of the way and I step back, watching the doork.n.o.b rattle and the frame shake. Still, Elli can't move the weight of the basin.

"You're forcing my hand again, Amara," she shouts. "You won't like what you see when you come out of that room."

"It's a whole House against one Archiver," I reply, raising my voice so that it penetrates the wood. "I'll take my chances."

"So be it."

The k.n.o.b ceases to rattle and all goes silent but for the m.u.f.fled grunts of Leaders on the other side of the door. Then the gray smoke starts to come, wisps of it floating in from the crack underneath. I lunge forward, waving my hands to waft Elli's cloud form away. As I do Nim pulls her dress over her head and tosses it to me. She is left in nothing but a thin white slip that is slick against her skin from blood and sweat.

"Stuff it under the door," she says.

I do as I'm told, rolling the dress up and blocking the opening. The smoke recedes and a bellow of ire vibrates through the door. I brace myself for another attack but none comes, and the air becomes silent again. An unease falls over me as I wonder what Elli's scheming out of sight.

"Do you think the Leaders will overpower her?" I ask Nim.

"I don't know. The Harbingers are strong, and with them on her side she doesn't even need to do the killing herself. She can just order them around and wipe out everyone in The House."

Nim winces, leaning into her injured leg. I kneel by her side and split the seam of my dress, ripping free a length of the hem and tying it around the knife wound. "Can you walk?" I ask.

Nim tries to lift herself up, gasps in agony, and falls back to the floor. "No," she says. "The pain is too much."

I come to sit beside her, staring at the only full basin in the room. My universe floats above it, the swirling galaxies within projecting onto the walls around us. "She'll get inside eventually, and who knows how she'll bide her time until then."

"You need to go warn Noah. Tell him of the threat against his life. The Key must be protected."

"And what about you? I'm not leaving you here to be slaughtered."

Nim tries to laugh but the sound comes out as a grumble instead. "I'll be fine, dear."

"No. You're just as important to me as Noah is."

"Amara; listen to me. Even if Elli kills every last one of us-even if she murders all the Leaders and Aiders and Watchers and Seers-you must survive. You must rebuild The House. It's up to you now."

Tears spill from my eyes. "But it's all my fault. I should've just done what she asked. Gone to get Noah and brought him back to her."

"And then what? Do you actually think she would've let us live?" Nim raises a hand to my cheek, leaving a print of silver on my skin as she cradles my head. "There is no right answer here. No obvious outcome. There is only her and you, and you must make sure she doesn't take over The House. Evolution is unguided for a reason, Amara, just like some doors are locked. Universes aren't meant to be ruled or conquered."

"The Key will be brought into these walls by a Watcher, who will then unlock the mystical force that powers our inst.i.tution. With this power she will either destroy universes or save them, but either way, The House will suffer a terrible end," I repeat verbatim. "That's what the prophecy says. I think it means The House will be destroyed either way."

Nim purses her lips and draws her hand back. "Like I said, universes aren't meant to be ruled or conquered. They are simply meant to be. We in The House are the lucky few who get to watch that happen, but nothing can last forever. We are not what's important. It's the life that matters; the universes stored within the orbs. Save those, and even if every last one of us is snuffed out, all will be right."

I lean my head on her shoulder and sob. I cry until I think I have no tears left to spill, and then I pull away. "This is the end," I say. "Whichever road I take, this is it."

"Do you love this boy, Noah?" she asks.

I nod. "Yes. Yes; I think I do."

"Then you have lived more than me. More than any of us."

"I suppose I have."

Nim manages a small grin. "Now go, Amara. Protect the Key. And don't you dare come back. You can hide on Earth and gather your strength. Form a plan. And years from now, you can return and take back this place as your own."

"You should come with me. You can help."

Nim presses her fingers against the makeshift bandage knotted around her leg. "What if Elli comes in here and makes it to Earth after us? I can't run with you. I can't even stand. It's a silly thing to even consider."

"Two Watchers are better than one."

"I've made my decision," Nim says firmly. "There's no changing my mind. Leave me here. If anything terrible happens while you're gone-if Elli breaks in and tries to come for you-I will enter your universe and warn you with my dying breath."

This is when I say goodbye. I wrap my arms around her, pulling her into an embrace, and whisper my thanks in her ear. She strokes my hair and ducks out of my grasp, dragging herself backward so that she leans against the door and adds more weight to the barricade. Then I come to stand before the basin, turn to smoke, and fly into the stars and blackness beyond.

I swim through galaxies and past planets, shooting through Earth's atmosphere and landing next to the cabin in the mountaintop clearing. Night sets the whole place in shadows, the moonlight tinting the gra.s.s blue. Running to the window, I look inside.

There is no one there. No fire billows in the hearth; no body sleeps on the bed. Noah does not swim in the spring or lie on the gra.s.s.

He is gone, and I am alone, lost in a world I barely understand.

Chapter Twenty-Four.

I run out of the clearing and into the forest, plunging into the darkness that permeates the trees. Branches whip at my skin, slicing into my flesh; I stumble over rocks and plants as I scream Noah's name. There is no answer but for the chirping of crickets and my own ragged breaths.

Pushing through the thicket, I emerge from the opposite end of the woods. The plateau of jagged boulders greets me, the craggy structures jutting up toward the sky like misshapen daggers. Making my way over to the cliff's edge, I dangle my toes over the precipice and watch as clumps of mud tumble down and shatter into dust against the ground below.

"Noah," I say, but this time my voice is barely above a whisper. Left with no other option, I begin to transform, the tips of my fingers turning to mist until I'm up to my elbows in smoke- "Who's there?"

I turn abruptly from smoke back into solid as the words echo out into the night. Spinning around and squinting into the night, shadows flicker against a boulder in the distance. Noah appears from out of a crevice, his face streaked in dirt and his hands shaking as he makes his way over to me.

Rushing up to greet him, I throw my arms around his neck and pull him in close. He smells of sweat and earth, and his whole body quakes beneath my hands. His skin is cold from the chilled air of night.

"I thought you'd gone," I say, the statement m.u.f.fled as my mouth presses against the curve of his neck.

"I've been waiting for you to come back to me," he replies. "I'd almost given up hope when I heard someone call my name. How'd you get away from Dante?"

"That's not important right now. We've got to leave this place and hide you somewhere safe. Maybe I can find another planet where you can survive, many galaxies away from this one. A place she can never find us."

"Who's she?"

I tell him of Elli and her betrayal. The words rush out like river water surging around bedrock. When I'm done reliving the whole, sordid tale, I step back and wrap my arms around myself. Not until now did the full weight of Elli's treachery hit me. The force of it quickens my pulse and sets my head spinning.

"There's no right path to take," I conclude. "She's up there right now, tearing through The House. She'll kill every last member whether I bring you there or not. The only chance we have to survive is to hide. The longer we keep the Key from her grasp, the longer it takes for her to destroy everything The House stands for."

"So let me get this straight," Noah says. "Option one is to stay on Earth-spend the rest of our lives running and hiding. Option two involves you taking me to The House and handing me over to Elli so she can unlock some mystical power and use it to create universes that she can rule over. And option three-"

"There is no option three. We stay here or we surrender. That's it."

Noah shakes his head. "We have another choice. You take me to The House and instead of giving me to Elli, we fight. We do everything in our power to keep her from achieving her goal."

"No. I can't bring you into harm's way. I've already done enough to ruin your life," I say.

Noah throws his arms up in exasperation. "Don't you see that staying here is pointless? We'll only be delaying the inevitable. Eventually she'll get bored up there and decide to screw the prophecy. She'll come to Earth and take me herself. If we take a stand now, at least we have a fighting chance. At least we'll be doing more than waiting around for the end to come."

I lean against a boulder and cradle my head in my hands. "So what do you suggest? We storm The House, find Elli, and-what then? We kill her?" I lift my gaze to meet his, my eyes growing watery. "I don't think I can do that, Noah. Even after all that she's done, she was my friend once. She treated me better than anyone else in The House. I have to believe that person's still in there somewhere. That it's just the billions of years being stuck in the Archives Room that have driven her mad."

Noah wraps his hands around mine, tugging me away from the boulder and into his embrace. "We can hope it won't come to that. There has to be another way. Maybe we can hide the mystical energy the same way The House originally hid the Key. We'll pick a universe and bury it so deep in the galaxies that Elli will never find it, no matter how many prophecies or books she reads."

"What you're suggesting requires us to unlock the Hall of Beginnings, which is exactly what Elli wants us to do in the first place. We'd be playing right into her hands."

"Not if we get to the mystical energy source first. I'll do whatever it takes, Amara. I believe that together, we can do anything. We can win."

I raise an eyebrow. "Nim will hate this idea. As soon as we show up she'll try to dissuade us. And she could very possibly be right. To get past Elli and her Harbingers-to reach the Hall of Beginnings, find the mystical power, and hide it before she can do to us what she did to Dante-it's very unlikely we'll succeed. We don't even know how to fit the Key-you-into the lock."

"Stop doubting yourself," Noah says. "I've seen what you're capable of. What we're capable of. We'll succeed because we have to. All the universes depend on it."

I sigh and rest my head on his chest, listening to the steady thump of his heart. He strokes my hair with one hand, and his touch sends sparks of warmth through my veins. Despite my unease, I begin to believe what he said. Maybe there's a chance we can undo Elli's destruction after all. Perhaps it's just a matter of standing up and playing the heroes. She's one person weak, and we're two people strong.

I feel foolish now for not listening to Noah from the beginning. In The House my predicament felt like one big gray area-any road I walked down would end up as a half win, half loss-but once Noah reasoned with me, everything turned black and white. The future is simple: we fight, or we don't. We win, or we lose. Trying is better than doing nothing at all.

My cheeks warm to a rosy shade of scarlet as I realize how much Noah's comfort means to me. "I love you," I whisper, the words feeling foreign on my lips. "I'm in love with you. It terrifies me and excites me all at once."

"I'm in love with you, too," he says, and then he kisses me.

His mouth is soft against mine at first, but then it becomes more insistent. He presses into me, and I into him. My shoulder blades lean into the boulder behind us as I let him take me over. With him wrapped around me there is no House, no Elli, no life or death decision. There is only him and me, together forever.

I pull away, inhaling sharply and setting my hands gently against his chest. I have to wait several moments for my head to clear before I can speak again. "Not now," I say. "After we defeat Elli. After we win. If I let you kiss me now, I'll get lost in you, and by the time we're done there will be no House left to save."

Noah clears his throat and nods. "I'm ready, then. Let's go."

I step over to a clear patch of ground, tipping my head back to stare up at the stars. Noah joins me, slipping his hand into mine. He's shaking again, but this time it isn't from the cold but from antic.i.p.ation. I can sense it rolling off him in waves.