Page 344 of Split or Swallow

It was the first time Caspen had called him by his name. Still, Leo hesitated. Caspen stepped forward so they were eye to eye, placing his hand on Leo’s shoulder.

“I cannot protect you both at the same time, and I know she wants you to live. Go.”

It was as close as Caspen would ever get to telling Leo that he mattered. For a moment, the two men simply stared at each other. Then Leo placed his own hand on Caspen’s shoulder. Neither of them said a word, but Tem saw a mutual understanding pass between them: they both needed to stay alive for her. Nothing was more important than that.

They dropped their hands.

“Very well,” Leo said. He turned to her. “Tem, I—”

“Tell me after, Leo.”

He closed his mouth. Then he pressed a kiss to her temple and ran.

Tem watched Leo get halfway across the clearing before a basilisk grabbed him triumphantly by the throat. Before Tem could panic, the basilisk released him, looking down at his hand in confusion. A moment later, Leo was gone.

“Tem,” Caspen said urgently. “We must get you somewhere safe.”

She looked out over the chaos before her. Predators hunting prey. Strong killing the weak. The circle of life.

“No,” she shook her head. “This is my fault. I have to fix it.”

“You cannot fix this, Tem. My people are angry—you cannot stop what has already begun.”

Before Tem could reply, someone joined them onstage.

Caspen immediately threw his arm in front of Tem as a basilisk in its human form advanced toward them. Blood dripped from the man’s mouth, which was twisted in a horrible grin. He was already transitioning. Great claws formed where fingers had once been, spreading wide as Caspen pushed Tem behind him.

The basilisk lunged.

Caspen let out a grunt as the sharp claws found purchase. He stumbled backward, blood pouring from his bicep. The basilisk advanced again, its fangs thrashing together madly as the rest of his body caught up to his hands.

“Caspen!” Tem cried. “Transition!”

But Caspen only shook his head.

“I cannot, Tem.”

Understanding pierced Tem like an arrow.

Caspen was weak. He’d been dying for days, and it had progressed to the point where he could no longer embody his true form. Tem stood up straight, squaring her shoulders so air could reach her lungs.

It was time.

She closed her eyes, tuning out the sounds of conflict, focusing only on the way she felt inside. The void within her was glaringly large. Tem felt a primal ache at the loss, wishing dearly that she hadn’t waited so long to address it. She quieted her mind, reaching for the remaining strands of her power.

It was there, but just barely. She drew from it—drinking from the endless well within herself—using one side to fix the other.

The moment she connected the two parts of her, every cell in her body lit on fire. Complete and utter clarity rushed through Tem’s veins as her basilisk side immediately began to heal. The frayed edges of her mind knit together seamlessly, creating something that was even stronger than what was there before. Tem felt buoyant, as if she might float from the stage and into the endless sky. She was soaring into infinity, experiencing nothing and everything all at once. There was no greater feeling than this—no better way to understand herself. All the broken pieces of her identity came together in one perfect, limitless point. Her power was cosmic—as vast as the stars.

She was bound to no one. She was free.

Tem reached for Caspen, throwing open the corridor between their minds, gasping as their connection surged back into place.

Caspen. Transition.

Caspen didn’t need telling twice. A great cloud of smoke billowed from his shoulders as his body snapped into something else entirely. He transitioned with a roar—one that was so deeply triumphant Tem had to cover her ears. A split second later, the other basilisk was headless. It happened so fast Tem didn’t even blink. Without missing a beat, Caspen lunged at two more basilisks that were approaching from the back of the stage.

Out of the corner of her eye, Tem spotted Vera. Rowe was upon her. She watched as he wrapped his fingers around her throat, lifting her head to his. Vera’s eyes rolled upward, and Tem knew he was cresting her. Beside them, two basilisks were having sex, their bodies thrashing together in the blood-soaked grass. Tem looked desperately around for Gabriel and her mother, but didn’t see either of them. She was about to step off the stage to find them when she felt a presence behind her.