I speak up. “Castle Ithebego.” In the beginning, God. He created a home for us. It’s like the name was waiting for this place ever since Nole and I scribbled it on that sticky note.

The children heartily approve, mainly on the merit that it sounds cool.

I mosey along a wall-walk, looking back toward the wavering barrier separating us from Tenebra. A young forest stretches out to meet it with a winding path from our drawbridge to the wheat field. I don’t know who made the forest, but it fills our little castle home with life.

Even so, this won’t keep. We haven’t fortified our creation yet. We’re all exhausted. Perhaps it was foolish to start with such beautiful things, but it gave the kids life. Hope.

“We need defenses,” Erik says, coming up beside me.

“We shouldn’t have to ask the kids to fight,” I say. “They’ve seen enough battle firsthand.”

“Luc is coming back, and he’s going to bring soldiers. The barrier won’t be enough.”

“Where are all the other Adelphoi?” Surely he, Stranna, and Jules aren’t the only ones. They’ve mentioned Jeremy several times, but where is he in Tenebra?

“Scattered. Not all want to work in unity. There used to be a bigger group, but I guess they argued about whether to hide, fight, or flee—and split.”

Like Crixus: a loner. “Is there a way to get word to them?”

He ponders that a moment. “I’m sure Stranna has a way.”

“What about the kids’ parents? Since they’re all trapped in the coliseum, do they even know their children exist out here? And that Luc is trying to kill them?”

Erik shakes his head. “Most of the parents have been trapped in the Nightmare too long. They’re either dead or dying.”

My whirling mind stops at this. Of course. These kids’ parents are in the coliseum dying because they don’t have LifeSuPods. Their kids are safe and taken care of, but that’s not enough.

“Have the Adelphoi tried to reach them at all?”

He lifts a shoulder. “What can we do? We don’t even know where their physical bodies are. We can’t help them.”

I gape at him. “Are you kidding me? You’re an Adelphoi. A Spore.”

He sobers and places a hand on his magical sword. “I’m still limited, Cain. This sword has a mind of its own.”

“I’m not saying to fight, I mean . . .” I grip the tower wall. I’m growing angry too quickly. “You have the answer. Stranna has the answer! You all have the answer!”

Stranna emerges from the tower on my other side. “Hey, you’re a little loud.” She looks at me. “Are you mad, Cain?” She’s seen what my anger can become.

“Erik says the Adelphoi have never even bothered to talk to the citizens in the coliseum,” I say sharply.

She shrugs. “Why should we? They cheer on the nightbeasts in the Arena as they rip us to shreds.”

“Because they’re dying, Stranna!”

“Yes, I know,” she says wryly. “Trust me, I know. I’ve watched more people die in the past couple months than I ever thought I’d have to see in my lifetime.”

“No. You don’t get it.” I run a hand over my face. “You’re both Adelphoi. You have faith and light and because of that you have life. When you’re killed, you don’t die.” I take a deep breath and look at them both. “Don’t you think everyone deserves a chance at that?”

Erik is listening, but Stranna nearly snorts. “You want to walk into the middle of the Arena and become a street preacher? That didn’t even work in real life, Cain. When those people see a Spore, they want to kill it. Just like you did. You murdered me, remember?”

“So what?” My voice is so loud the kids stop their basketball game below and glance at us. I lower it. “I know it hurt. I know you hate it, but you still had life. It’s because you were willing to die that I got a chance at life! Are we not willing to die for others and give them that same chance?”

She bristles. “You understand none of this, Cain. You think that just because you create some castle or cut through the barrier of the Nightmare world that now you know everything?”

“We don’t even know how the resurrection part works,” Erik adds, but he at least seems more thoughtful than Stranna.

“You don’t know how it works?” I give a disbelieving laugh. “It’s in the Bible! It’s in the pulpits every Easter Sunday. My own brother and mother pounded it over my head again and again so much it drove me crazy. Believe in Him and have eternal life.”

“That’s for eternity,” Stranna snaps. “Jesus wasn’t talking about a Nightmare world.”

“Then explain why you don’t die here.”

She clamps her lips shut. I’m not trying to anger her, but are they so blind?

“I get that I’m the heathen in this trio, but how are you not even thinking about this? You have the cure.”

“That’s what this is about?” Stranna throws her hands up and turns away. “Still. Cain, you just want to be the hero. Cure the world. Get the accolades.”

“It has nothing to do with that—”

“You sent countless people to their graves!”

“At least I tried to offer life.”

She’s saying the same words that have rolled through my mind day after day, but it’s different hearing them from her. I’d finally dared to hope I could move past the guilt, but she’s been pocketing it this whole time . . . waiting to throw it at me.

She looks near tears, and I don’t understand why. She has the security of waking up again. She has her special Adelphoi sword. She has community and purpose and answers.

I’m the one dying. I’m the one who joined the Adelphoi but apparently haven’t become one. I’m the one believing in their God more than they seemingly are. Perhaps I am being rash, but it’s clear to me.

They have the answer. And even if it’s too late for me to resurrect into the Real World, there are plenty of other people out there who deserve a chance.

Street preacher or not, if we don’t share the true cure with people and give them the opportunity to accept it, then we’re still guilty of murder. I’ve been down that road, and I’m not willing to walk it again.

A strange, lonely calm settles on me as I release the last threads of life and hope I cling to. “I think you’re afraid, Stranna,” I say.

“Just get away from me.” She stalks away before I can say anymore.

Before I can say goodbye.

I’m going after the Emperor’s father.

Luc’s wrapped his little Roman world in the cloak of his power. He’s given the people a life of lies, imaginary food, and temporary security. But he knows the Adelphoi come back to life after they’ve been killed. He’s never shared that information with his citizens. He’s kept it from them and made Adelphoi their enemy.

It’s time to unravel his world.