The double disappeared with the Codex Umbra.
Elara scrambled to her feet.
"Where did he go?"
Adrian groaned beside her.
"Wherever the book wants him to."
Elara grabbed his arm.
"Can we follow him?"
"Probably. Should we? Absolutely not."
She stared at him.
"That's not an answer."
"It's the only honest one I've got."
The silver symbol on her wrist suddenly burned.
A trail of glowing letters appeared across the floor, leading toward a narrow staircase.
Elara followed them.
Adrian caught up, carrying a broken chain as a weapon.
"If we survive this," he said, "I'm transferring universities."
"You'll have to survive first."
The staircase opened into a circular room filled with mirrors.
Every reflection showed a different version of Elara.
One wore a crown.
One stood in a burning city.
One was old, with silver hair and empty eyes.
And one was dead.
Elara stopped before the final mirror.
The reflection smiled.
"You're late," it said.
Adrian raised the chain.
"Don't listen to it."
The reflected Elara placed her palm against the glass.
"Your father didn't disappear. He entered the Codex to stop you from becoming me."
Elara stepped closer.
"Who are you?"
"Your final possibility."
The mirror cracked.
A dark hand reached through.
Adrian swung the chain, striking the creature's wrist. The hand recoiled, but the glass shattered outward.
Elara grabbed Adrian and ducked as shards flew past them.
The reflected figure stepped into the room.
It looked exactly like Elara.
But black ink streamed from its eyes.
"You cannot change the ending," it whispered.
Elara raised her hand. The silver symbol blazed.
The creature screamed as a wave of light struck it, throwing it into the mirrors.
Every mirror shattered simultaneously.
When the dust settled, a single page floated before Elara.
It was blank.
Then words slowly appeared.
TO FIND YOUR FATHER, WRITE HIS TRUE NAME.
Elara took a pen from her pocket.
"What was his true name?"
Adrian shook his head.
"I don't know."
She remembered her father's notes, his strange warnings, and the signature he had stopped using years before his disappearance.
Her hand trembled as she wrote:
ELIAS WREN.
The blank page burst into blue flame.
A voice spoke from the fire.
"Elara, if you can hear me, the book has already found you."
Then the flames fo
rmed a map.
At its center was a single location:
THE CLOCK TOWER.
And beneath it, one final warning:
COME ALONE.
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