own skins. Either way, it’s not going to be pretty.”
“I didn’t think it would be,” I say in a low voice before rolling my shoulders back and straightening up. “Well, might as well get this over with, then.”
“We’re with you,” Killian tells me.
“All of us,” adds Mads, crossing her arms over her chest. I can see the fear in her eyes, but her face is set with determination, and I’ve never been prouder of my friend than I am right now. I know Pey is worried for her, and I told her she didn’t have to come if she didn’t want to, but she was having none of it. She’s going to finish this thing by my side, whatever the outcome.
“Right,” I say, turning to Kit. “If you could do the honours, please, Kit.”
The goblin stares at me for a moment before extending his arms, his night sky eyes closing, and the difference is immediately evident: he doesn’t struggle at all to summon the portal, his gestures practised and self-assured, and when the tear appears in the universe, it expands into a portal at incredible speed. It’s like he’s barely breaking a sweat, I think wonderingly. What else is he capable of now that he’s an adult?
I don’t have time to wonder for very long, as Storm and Seth are already stepping through the portal and disappearing. Killian gives me a curt nod before following them, and Mads meets my eyes for a long moment before bringing up the rear. I’m left on the front stoop with my goblin, but I hesitate, stealing a glance over my shoulder and in through the living room window. I can see mum, dad, Pey, and Damien inside, and they’re watching me, mum and dad holding hands while Pey and Damien each give me a solemn wave. We’ve already said our goodbyes, and I know that going in for another one would be too painful, but I can’t help but raise my hand to them in a final farewell gesture, my eyes meeting mum’s and holding there. She gives me a small smile and nods, and I know exactly what she’s thinking: Don’t let the world turn you cold.
And I’m not going to.
Turning back around, I take Kit by the hand. He seems to understand what’s happening, and moves willingly alongside me as we walk up to the dark hole in time and space. I swallow, closing my eyes…and then we step through the portal.
For a minute I’m disoriented, and not only because teleportation has the tendency to give me major vertigo. My first reaction is to wonder if Kit made a mistake, because there’s no way this is London—it just can’t be possible. But a glance in front of me as the portal closes shows the guys and Mads, all looking around with that same expression of disbelief, and I realise with a sinking feeling that it is possible. We’re living it right now.
Over on the water, I can see Big Ben, or at least, what remains of it. The iconic clock tower has been split in half, the upper part in shambles over the collapsed roof of the Palace of Westminster. It’s been torn apart, enormous tree trunks splitting through the old stone and giving the whole thing a post-apocalyptic look. Indeed, the rest of the city doesn’t look much better; I glance around with dismay at icons and landmarks I remember from my childhood trips here, the city in ruins all around us. It was one thing to see it happening from above, like in San Francisco, but it’s another to be standing in the midst of it, like living in the middle of a natural disaster.
There’s nothing natural about this, though.
For a moment we’re all silent. “You said it was bad,” Killian murmurs to Seth at last. “I wasn’t expecting this bad.”
“It was always going to be like this,” Seth replies glumly. “Ever since Neritous got the life powers. And he’s not going to stop.”
“Then we’re going to be the ones to make him,” Mads states. “And from the sounds of it, we’re not alone.”
We fall silent again, and my eyes go wide when I pick up on the noises of chaos coming from the city centre. It sounds like a battlefield, complete with explosions, toppling buildings, and the occasional scream of triumph or anguish. Above the skyline, bursts of magic of all kinds explode up into the air, lighting the world up in bright colours as the gods duke