The shock hadn't subsided from Nash's expression since I appeared with Elias. I wasn't sure it ever would, honestly. It was so strange to see another version of Piercey. Now the three of us stood staring at each other. Though Elias had insisted that I come with him with such urgency, he now acted hesitant to speak.

"Say it already," I snapped.

Elias groaned and scratched the back of his neck. "The leaders of my guild know I figured out how to travel to other worlds."

What he said sucked the air from my lungs. Instinctively, I took one step toward him, perhaps to be close enough to punch him in his stupid face. "How could you let this happen?" I asked breathlessly.

"It was my energy reading. They saw the pattern and had a data analyst track the my movements."

"What does that even mean?"

"The code, Max. They saw what I did. It's only a matter of time before they figure out how to replicate it."

My thoughts spun from this realization. Every single person in his world has power whereas only one percent of mine did. If they wanted to take over our world, they could. Would anyone do that, though? What a foolish question. Of course, there would be people who wanted to conquer another world. It wouldn't require a majority of the population, only a small minority. I couldn't breathe.

"We need to stop my guild," Elias said. "Our world is gridlocked in this power struggle and fighting over resources. There's so much potential here."

"So you're saying if I don't stop your guild, they'll take over my world. Your stupid war is now my war."

He looked like he wanted to retreat, but held my stare anyway as he fidgeted uncomfortably. "I'm sorry. If they come here and realize your people don't have power–"

"I don't believe this!" I shouted.

"They just want to become more powerful. You have untapped resources here. They could recruit more warriors and give them neural implants. I doubt they'll want to simply cause destruction for no reason."

"How reassuring," Nash said.

"It's my world they want control over. I only wanted to get help for my people, not place your world in danger."

My hands curled into fists. "As if I didn't have enough demons and prophets to fight. Do you know what it takes for powerful people to torment those who are weaker than them? An impulse. A bad day. The taste of the thrill."

Elias's jaw clenched as he lowered his gaze. "They know nothing except that this world exists and I can travel here. That's all. But if I refuse to take them, they'll try to force the knowledge from me."

"Can they do that?"

"Not always. There's supposed to be a willingness to connect like you and Piercey did to share your memories. But people in my world have trained in coercing this. It can be successful."

"They would torture you," Nash said. "I know how it is to serve what you hate and feel you have no other choice."

I nearly touched my finger to the scarring weaving down his spine before I caught myself.

Nash looked to me now. "He didn't mean for this to happen, Max. In his position, wouldn't you do whatever it took to help your people?"

"Not place other innocent in harm's way."

"I'm sorry," Elias said, his voice broken. "Time will not pass without you here, though. Come fight with me in my world. Put a stop to this before it threatens your world even more."

"I've never turned my back on a fight before," I said. "No matter the odds, I've always believed in fighting until the end. It's finally too much." It felt like my insides were collapsing into a bottomless pit that tried to consume my entire being. "I travel all over this valley battling whatever threat suddenly appears while trying to win coordinated war efforts on all fronts. People just ask for more. They're pulling on me to be their leader." I clutched my chest, exhausted in a way I'd never felt. "I cannot save another world or another valley when my own is falling apart."

"Max…" Elias spoke with such tenderness that I forget we didn't really know each other and we didn't share a long past together. Tears shone in his eyes. "What I've learned from the version of you in my world is that sometimes when you are so focused on one thing, you can't see anything else, including what you need most. I meant what I said before. The answers you need are in my world. If you won't fight for me and my people, then step away from this chaos here long enough to find a better way."

"It's not that I wouldn't fight for you, Elias. I would love to fight for your people." The weight of the valley bore down on me, trying to send me to my knees, but I refused to yield. I remained standing, strong and determined, but so weary. "I just only have so much to give."

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Nash laced his fingers with mine, drawing my attention. "This isn't working. What we're doing is not sustainable. We've been saying that."

"I know but running off to another world is not the answer."

"Why not? He has neural implants. Better yet, his people know how to properly use them. Their entire world is dedicated to mastering its potential. Stepping back might be just what you need."

"I can't walk away."

"You're not. Nothing will happen while you're gone. Maybe you could manage a full night of sleep over there." Nash pinched my chin, lifting my face to his, as he looked deeply into my eyes. "Trust me. I'm the one saying this. We should not walk away from this battle. You want to help those people and they can also help us."

I squeezed his hand and had that sinking feeling that I couldn't deny what he said.

"You're too close to it," he said gently. "You need to step back."

When I looked over at Elias, I saw that he looked at Nash with a strange expression. Despite glowing with gratitude and appreciation, he also wore a heavy look of pain. What had happened in that other world?

"If I do this, I want the neural implants first," I said. "For Nash, Leif, and Wren."

"Absolutely."

"And I want help training them."

Elias nodded. "Anything."

"What am I signing up for, exactly? Do you have some kind of plan?"

"The guilds will fight each other. We just need to spark their war and pull them out of their stalemate. Give the advantage to the other side. Other guilds will step in to create balance when our peace is disrupted. We just need a spark."

Things still didn't feel right. "Wait. Why was this such a hurry if time doesn't progress without you in your world?"

When he didn't respond, only stared in shame, the realization thudded in my gut. "What did you do?"

"I told her we would only come this once and I needed to talk to you to know if you'd help, so I'd know how to handle her."

"Who, Elias?"

"You have to understand how deep her loyalty runs. It's like having one of them here. One of the guild leaders. She will never turn her back on our people."

Beside me, Nash twisted in a circle, looking around. "Where is she?"

Elias shook his head. "I didn't want her to hear us or for anyone to see her. I've hidden her–"

"Hey!" I shouted. "Come out!"

Elias winced. "I'm not sure you should see each other."

"Bring her here or I swear I will knock every single tooth out of your mouth."

"Threats won't make me put you or her in harm's way."

"Harm's way?"

"Damn it." Elias reached for my hand. "If I take you, then you have to stay hidden and quiet. Close your eyes and don't look. I'm not sure how this works. Better yet, you should do the traveling. Right now, I only know how to go between worlds. I'd have to take us to mine first."

"Where?"

"The cabin you showed me."

Grabbing onto both men, I immediately brought us to the closest tree line. "Get her to meet you out here so I can hear."

"Oh, that won't be a problem."

Before I could ask why, I heard a door slam, followed by stomping.

Elias rushed from the tree line and stopped twenty feet away.

"You said five minutes," she yelled.

The voice seized my heart in my chest and refused to allow it to beat. Nash clasped a tree in front of him as we both watched the strikingly familiar form appear.

Elias had said not to look but I couldn't take my eyes off of her. Someone who looked exactly like me launched away from the cabin for Elias, fiery with anger.

It was like staring into a mirror, only the reflection acted independently of me, refusing to do as I willed. I saw my own eyes flashing with rage, bright in the sun's light–eyes that belonged to another version of me.

A wave of nausea swept over me.

"This isn't good for you, Eli." The woman who looked and sounded like me slammed her fist into her palm. Ashton. My counterpart. "First you hide all of this and then you take off from me once we're here."

"It's complicated." He lifted his hands. "Why can't you trust me for once?"

"Really? I wonder."

"Stop holding that over my head. It was for your own good. You told me you agreed–"

"You still went behind my back and made a fool of me with Jaxon. And don't pretend this has anything to do with us. I'm speaking purely about guild business. You've been acting really weird for months now. Since when do you keep everything a secret from?

After a beat of quiet, Elias chuckled low. "I don't know, Ash. Since when."

Ashton drew back and crossed her arms. Turning her face away, she spoke more quietly. "I've seen this world. I can report back and buy you a few days. That's all, though. I want answers too."

"I know." He sighed deeply. "I promise, I'll explain everything soon."

The way they spoke to one another, argued with one another, answered so many questions I had about them. I glanced at Nash to see if he noticed.

"It's you," he whispered.

"Yeah. It messed with my head too when I saw your version."

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Strangely, I was. Even though she looked like me and sounded like me, she looked at Elias in a way that reminded me that we were different people. I'd never looked at Piercey like that. This identical woman was not me and my brain instinctively understood that to be true.

In their world, Nash and I–Jaxon and Ashton–remained enemies, true enemies. And clearly, this version of Piercey and myself had been much more than friends at some point. Their life differed greatly from ours.

But many things were the same. I recognized immediately in Ashton that she served her people as fervently as I did my own and the thought of those two purposes clashing flooded me with apprehension.

I couldn't deny what I saw as I looked at her. This woman was ferocious. So was I. And we wanted different things.

Many times in my life, I'd felt as if I had to fight against myself. Now I feared that would be literally true. If Elias wanted to war against his guild, it meant warring against Ashton. It meant I would war against another version of myself. I needed to do what Elias had clearly failed to do and convince Ashton to our side. Otherwise, this would be very bad.

I was not an enemy anyone should want to have.