Chapter 65

Evie enters the Trench’s judgment and finds an impostor wearing her form near Trystan. Panic turns to anger, so Evie throws a paperweight at the false version of herself. Trystan is relieved to see the real Evie, and the impostor shifts back into the faceless white entity from the Fortis arena.

The entity claims Trystan has already failed and that Trystan’s dark soul belongs to it unless Evie submits to being trapped forever. Trystan tries to surrender himself so Evie can leave, but Evie refuses to let Trystan make a self-sacrificing bargain. Evie offers her magically linked dagger instead, noting that it may have power over her because of the scar on Evie’s shoulder.

The entity recoils from the dagger, revealing that the weapon matters to the ancient magic. Evie argues that she has suffered more from those claiming goodness than from those labeled evil, while Trystan insists that his crimes prove he cannot pass any test of goodness. Evie undercuts Trystan’s self-condemnation by defending him, and the entity finally announces that Trystan has already passed.

Trystan questions the result, and the entity whispers something in Trystan’s ear. The message leaves Trystan rigid, and the next moment Evie and Trystan are thrown back into the arena outside the cage. Evie wakes disoriented on the dirt and finds Trystan feverish, weak, and barely conscious.

As Renna and Julius bring a medical gurney and Tatianna begins tending to Trystan with magic, Trystan mutters that it cannot be and says he wishes things were different. Kingsley appears near Trystan, and Evie jokes numbly that they will be late for dinner. When Trystan panics and begs Evie not to leave him, Evie promises to stay, but a prickling sense of being watched makes Evie fear that the promise may be impossible to keep.