Mara forgot the tingling running through her arms and legs as soon as she shook off the shock enough to realize the ground rippled beneath her back. She jumped up and kicked anything that moved. She staggered into the road, wobbled for a moment and looked up as Diana set the Chronicle on the altar. The blue translucence shimmered in the air ahead. The bubble was back and so was the black passage below the arch.
“There will be consequences to what you do here, Mara—and not just for you. Your interference could prove costly to others,” Diana said.
Her lips peeled back into a broad smile as she lifted a dagger with her right hand and plunged it into her own left shoulder. She retracted the blade, waved it above the altar, dripping threads of blood onto it.
Mara gasped, leaned toward the ba
