Page 166 of Death of the Glass Angel
The answer struck Janus. The Glass Angel. It had thrummed as the flowering field appeared, and it had vibrated moments before the fire flared and Janus had tumbled from the window.
Janus loosened her grip as Eros darted away, running up the steps. The topmost would crumble beneath his feet, sending him tumbling to the ground. His ankle would snap, and Janus’ wrist would fracture. They’d lie in pain for five minutes before Evander showed up to rescue them—knowing full well they’d snuck out.
Falling. She and Felsin had been falling. Into flame. To their deaths.
Something cracked behind them, and someone shrieked. Janus closed her eyes. This wasn’t real. They were in the theater. They were falling.
Her eyes flew open, and she gasped as she felt the support behind her back dropping away, sending her plunging through the theater toward the burning stage. The floor gave out beneath Felsin’s feet as he grabbed her arm.
Chaotic and unorganized memories flew through Janus’ mind as they plummeted, but one in particular sang above the rest.
Every experience is an asset. Even boring balls.Gemellus had said.
Are you suggesting I open a sinkhole at the ball?Janus asked humorously.
The stage collapsed as the ground beneath them churned, falling away into a massive sinkhole, swallowing everything in its vicinity. The memory of Piona’s lake, sparkling under the sunlight, joined with it. Water burst from underground, surging like a geyser, flooding the growing chasm.
Janus struck the water with a painful splash and sank with debris and rocks. Something grazed her head, and her vision spun. Red mingled with the waves, and stone darkness swallowed her.
* * *
One moment, Felsin had been standing in a Thuatian ruin; the next, he was plummeting through from the third story of the Faedrail Opera House. Within an instant, the seating and stage collapsed into an underground waterway.
He was still braced for impact with the chairs when he struck the water, back slamming into the shattered wood of the submerged seating. Janus sank a few paces away, a stream of blood rising from a wound on her head.
Fighting through the murky water littered with chunks of furniture and stone, Felsin swam to Janus and grabbed her, hauling her to the surface. They broke the water with spluttering gasps.
Reflections of fire burned brightly on the water’s surface. Glancing up, Felsin saw the roof’s support beams falling away, but more than stone plummeted from above -strange sheets of bronze metal tumbled with them.
There was nowhere to go—everything was collapsing. Everything was ablaze.
The roof caved in. The night sky appeared in the newly created gap, stars pouring silver light upon their tomb. Felsin gazed at them, seeking comfort in their tranquil canvas. His mind fell quiet, strangely peaceful despite the situation. For the first time in his life, he finally grasped Alfaris’ teachings.
In this final moment between life and death, he let go of his thoughts and gazed ahead.
The starlight descended from the sky, enveloping everything in a luminous glow. A figure painted the heavens, skeletal and shrouded by dark cloth. Death.
With a final groan, the opera house collapsed, spilling chunks of rock into the water.
A light so bright it cut through stone caught his eye, where a solitary torch clung to a fractured wall. A constellation shone beside it.
The Star.Hope.
The world turned on its side and time itself reversed. The rocks picked themselves back up, rising into the air and piecing the ceiling back together. As though someone had wiped clean the canvas and undone the past few seconds.
The constellation of Death flashed one final time, and the opera house was whole again.
Felsin gasped. He had glimpsed the future. Truly glimpsed it for the first time. Nothing had collapsed yet—they still had time.
Where had the Star been? Spinning around wildly, he searched for the torch, where it clung to a piece of rubble. Grabbing Janus, he dragged her towards it.
The ceiling rumbled again. Cracks streaked through the stone. Death approached.
Shoving Janus against the submerged chunk of wall, Felsin shielded her with his body, watching the sky fall. He closed his eyes, counting the impacts, as water was tossed around them in violent waves.
Alfaris’s mantra had always been meant for this moment. Had Felsin followed his father, they both would have died here.
Whatever his other motives, Felsin’s mentor had always meantto save his life.
