Page 215 of Fallen Stars

“Lukas, why are you here?”

Lukas smiled. “This is The Graveyard. All souls in limbo end up here.”

“I thought you were Sofia.”

Lukas’s placid expression changed, grotesque as pure anger took over his features.

“You should have stayed far away from her,” he hissed. “She did no good for either of us when she came to the palace.”

Elara sighed. “So you’ve said before. Sofia was our best friend before your shadows began to take over you.”

“Myshadows?” Lukas exclaimed. “All my shadows did was try to protect me.”

Elara glanced warily at Enzo. “From what?” she asked.

Lukas’s eyes dimmed, a gleam of fear coming into them. There was a rumble of thunder, so similar to Ariete’s dreams that Elara flinched.

“Even now she won’t leave me in peace. Even in death,” he whispered.

Elara took a step forward. “Lukas, what are you talking about?”

But Lukas’s hands were over his ears as he wailed, screwing his eyes shut.

“Lukas, who?”

There was another rumble, the darkness around them seeming to roil.

“Lukas, we need access to The Graveyard. Will you let us in?”

Lukas’s eyes screwed shut tighter.

“Lukas, can you hear me? We need to find where Piscea is buried. Do you know?”

Lukas’s wails grew even louder.

“You need to turn back, Lara. You need to go.”

“Like hell,” Enzo snarled. “Show us where her fucking tomb is so we can stop her bringing a reckoning to the world as we know it.”

Lukas’s eyes shifted, blackening then clearing again. He was shaking as Elara’s grip turned into a vice around Enzo’s.

“I can let you in, but I can’t promise you’ll be allowed to leave,” he whispered.

Dread pooled deep in Elara’s gut. Enzo flared his light, so brightly that Lukas winced, scrabbling away from it.

“I think we’ll be fine with some ghosts,” her Lion drawled.

“Then follow me,” Lukas whispered before staggering up the grey sand.

The gateway to The Graveyard looked ominously like the one in Eli’s dream mansion. Weeping angels hung their heads in shame as the dead grass curled.

“Is this really all there is to death?” Elara whispered.

Lukas shook his head. “The heavens and hell don’t look like this. This is a space in-between, remember? For the spirits who can’t rest. It’s we who wake tonight, who try to contact the living on All Hallow’s Eve.”

“And…Sofia? Is she here?” Elara bit her lip. “She won’t be, I’m sure. She’ll be in paradise.”

Lukas gritted his teeth, as though fighting against something trying to come out of his mouth. He passed his hand over the lock between the gates, and it creaked open of its own accord. Elara shuddered.