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Cole woke up frequently, distressed and in a cold sweat He wouldn’t tell hout the night, all I saere jues of screa monsters They reached inside es scaredback fro I ith a feeling of dread I wasn’t sure if it cahtmares or from the enormity of our task Jack made coffee for us We sat down across from each other at the table

Jack took ed "Even if it doesthe chances of us destroying the network and escaping before the lockdown are about that of a snowball in the Ring of Fire; and even if it does work, what do we do then?" My lower lip trembled "We’d still have to destroy the vault of hearts And so’s heart And the Everneath would be on lockdown"

Jack caetting rid of the network and eli the bond between the Shades is the first step in destroying the Everneath, then we do it and go on faith that the next step will present itself"

"Faith?" The word popped out before I could think about it "Faith in what? A higher power? The gods? The universe?"

My voice cracked at the end, and I realized what this whole thing had done to in with I realized that the thought of a higher being in charge of all this ry

Jack took ive up?"

"It all seems so futile," I said

He pulled ht now, the other options are that you take me to the Feed, or you beco that if we run out of ti me to the Feed, you take me to the Feed"

"Hell, no," I said "There is no way, literally no way in hell, I will feed on you"

"Then we’d better try to destroy the Everneath," Jack said "Otherwise, we’ll be facing an epic shon, and I’e of his lips curled up and his eyes twinkled, but I knew that underneath it all, the threat was real He would do everything he could to force me to feed on him

Then I looked at Cole The old Cole would’ve done anything to force

And hell, maybe he was the old Cole

I was surrounded by a rooht to

I frowned and started blinking uncontrollably This whole thing wasn’t about bringing down the Everneath It was aboutto survive Maybe I’d letthe lives of countless potential Forfeits, but wasn’t it really just about saving myself?

Without me, there was no need, really, to destroy the Everneath Forfeits weren’t exactly innocent When it cao to the Feed

Withoutso hard for the throne At least, he’d only be trying in the sense that he’d be looking for the next Forfeit

Withouthis life In fact, this whole thing had started because I’d tried to run away froht only of lanced at Cole "I knohat you’re thinking," he said "Don’t do it"

"Do what?" Cole and I both said at the same time

"Can’t you see it in her eyes?" Jack said "She’s running"

Cole looked fro on the bed, obviously taking it literally "No, she’s not She’s standing still"

Jack ignored him "Don’t do it, Becks"

"Without me, you would both be fine," I said

"No," he said "I would never be fine Ever again And if you run, I will catch you And if I can’t, I will try to take the Everneath down single-handedly"

Cole finally looked as if he’d caught up "And I’ll help hih he didn’t quite save Cole wasn’t as deep as it usually was

I couldn’t think of anything to say Would they really still try to take it down?

What if I were no longer alive?

If I were dead, there would be no point in Jack’s trying so crazily to take it down

I closed ht aith it I knew th There was no way I could ever takesorabbing my shoulders "I won’t try to ive up However this turns out, I will be monumentally ht and we losewell, we’ll have to live with it But if I lose you here because you runthere would be no recovering for ain, I knew exactly how that would feel When Jack jumped into the Tunnels forfor his lifeit was a feeling I wouldn’t wish on anyone

I nodded my head "Okay But promise me, if this doesn’t work outI cannot feed on another hu my breath I Will Not Feed On You"

He nodded slowly "Okay Then we’re agreed We’ll fight to take down the Everneath We’ll give our last breath fighting"

I nodded "Sounds like a plan Now let’s go destroy the network"

Jack let out a sigh "I told the professor our plan His first reaction was, Wait, you’re only taking three people to destroy the network? You’ll need an ar we need at least one more person And I have someone in mind"

TWENTY-NINE

NOW

The Surface The hotel

No way," I said "No one else is going to lose their life overthat we’re all going to die When did you develop this cup-half-full kind of attitude? Will’s already been helping us"

"On the Surface It’s a whole different kind of danger in the Everneath"

"Will loves danger"

I glanced at hih the , directly on Jack, ue with

"I have a good attitude"

"Sure you do," Jack said