Black Holes - The Mors Mortis Trilogy Book 3

Chapter Thirty Three

Leah didn't have time to think once she entered the in between. All she could do was shoot and run and survive. And pray Jared left like she'd told him too.

He'd been her only thought when she charged in here, panic for him overriding everything else. But when she'd crashed into him and seen Riley fighting off those creatures, giving Jared enough time to flee, she knew he wasn't the one who needed her right now.

So, she'd allowed herself one selfish second to look at him, to make sure he was okay, and then she told him to leave and charged past, praying he did as she said and he and Brenton returned to the world of the dead and stayed there.

She plowed through the creatures between her and Riley, making it to her friend's side faster than expected. Riley had been backing up fast, trying to reach the world of the dead behind Jared, but every inch she gained was hard fought. Creatures were coming at her from all sides, and each one she mowed down she had to scramble over to reach the next, their bodies twitching and claws spasming in random directions.

When Leah reached her, Riley let out an audible gasp of relief, and then she spun, slashing through another creature that'd run for them. The movement was sloppy, her stance strained, but she was holding out.

"Thank god," Riley grunted. "Did Jared get Brenton back?"

Leah looked back at the portal in the two seconds she had between one creature coming at her and the next. The entrance to the portal was clear, Jared no where in sight, and she felt a stab of such intense relief that it almost doubled her over.

"Yes. We need to go. Zarah's about to close the portals."

There was a clatter of noise off to their right and Leah looked over to see Cassandra stumbling back through the portal to the live world, only metres away.

The portal shimmered behind her, a veil that rippled like disturbed water, but Leah could see a figure on the other side of it. Seth. He was standing very still, his eyes closed and his arms held out, hands pressing against the portal's surface. And as she watched, the portal started to crinkle and shrink, the join between worlds growing smaller and smaller.

"Seth's closing the portal to the live world," Leah shouted to Riley, and Riley's eyes flicked in Seth's direction.

The relief Leah felt was short lived, though. The creatures had realised what Seth was doing too, and several were rounding on Cassandra, the sole guard between this world and Seth's.

"Shit," Leah cursed.

She sprinted towards Cassandra, shooting down the creatures in front of her. Cassandra was swarmed before Leah could get there, though, and she watched as one creature slipped past the four Cassandra was fending off and prowled into the live world, towering over Seth.

Leah hurtled through the portal after it, tackling it to the ground before it could touch him.

She hit the ground hard, rolling and spinning as the creature tried to buck her off, but before it could, she pulled a knife from her waist and stabbed, pulling the knife out repeatedly, her breath rasping and uneven.

When the creature finally fell still, she jumped back up, her adrenaline still churning, but there were no other creatures in the room with them. Instead, she could see both Cassandra and Riley through the hazy surface of the portal, their backs to the portal as they kept the other rest at bay.

Leah let out a gasp of breath and glanced at her brother. Seth was staring at her with wide eyes, three other creatures dead beside him.

"You can close portals now?" Leah asked.

Seth just nodded, too shocked to speak, and Leah saw a glint of blood in his black hair, reflecting like tar. He looked awful, drained in a way Leah had never seen before, and she swallowed.

"Good," she said. "I'll help the others keep the entrance clear."

She took a step back towards the portal, wanting to get out of here — to get away from another person she'd hurt irredeemably, but then someone spoke.

"Leah?"

The voice wasn't coming from Seth.

Leah spun, letting out a whoosh of breath when she saw Tai there also. One of his arms was strung up in a sling, and a nasty gash split open part of his thigh, but he still looked as imposing as ever. His face was ragged, raw, and he reached for her, pain searing across his expression.

"No!" Seth darted in front of Tai before he could touch her, slapping his hand away. "You can't."

Leah blinked at Seth, not understanding for a moment. It was easy to forget where she was, what she was, but then she looked down at herself and she saw what they did. Her body was flickering and transparent, the floor dissolving away beneath her feet, and right in the centre of her chest, where her heart lay, there was a gaping, bloody hole.

Leah sucked in a breath as she stared at the raw edges of the wound that had killed her, and she glanced around the room and realised where she stood. In the basement of Jared's old home. Where she'd died.

The portal that'd once existed within her — the portal that'd started all of this — was in the corner, churning and threatening, taking up almost the entire height of the room, but the one she'd come through was against the far wall, where Riley must've opened it up when she commanded the in between take her to Seth.

"Why are you here?" Leah asked, glancing between Seth and Tai, trying to take them both in at once. "This is the rebel base."

"Seth came for the knife," Tai said, his voice strained. "After you died, it got left here. He was planning to use it."

"You can't," Leah said, turning to Seth. "Not yet at least. There might be another way."

"I know," Seth said. "Riley already told me."

He didn't sound happy about it though, and for the first time, Leah was hit again by how unwell her brother looked. Not just because of what was happening, but physically unwell, like he had a cold or a flu.

"It's hurting you, isn't it?" Leah asked, hyper aware of the fight raging behind her, of how little time she had here. "The way the world is falling apart."

Something close to regret crossed Seth's face, but he nodded. "Every part of this world that gets erased, it's taking some of me, too."

Leah sucked in a breath and stepped back, guilt flooding her.

"I'm going to fix this," she said quietly. "I promise."

Seth just stared at her, and she could tell he didn't believe her. But if Seth used the knife, she had no idea what that would mean, what would happen to her brother. If he was so tied to this world that the in between was affecting him like this, then what would happen when this world ceased to exist? Would he?

"Just please, hold off a little longer, okay?" Leah pleaded.

Seth just stood there, but she glanced at Tai and he nodded, almost imperceptibly, and she knew he'd make sure Seth didn't go rogue again, at least for a while.

"Thank you," she said quietly. "Can you close the portal behind me?"

Seth nodded and followed as she drifted back to the portal. For a second, she allowed herself to search his face — to look at the brother she had a feeling she would never see again.

And then she stepped back through to the in between and watched as Seth placed his hands on the sides of the portal, and the world closed up around him.

...

Next chapter out in two weeks! 

- Skylar xx