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Alex Wise Vs. the Gods of the Apocalypse (Alex Wise, 3) - Hardcover

Buch 3 von 3: Alex Wise

Benton-walker, Terry J.

 
9780593564370: Alex Wise Vs. the Gods of the Apocalypse (Alex Wise, 3)
Hardcover
ISBN 10: 0593564375 ISBN 13: 9780593564370
Verlag: Labyrinth Road, 2026

Inhaltsangabe

Saving the world is one thing...saving the multiverse is another. Alex Wise returns in the third book in this thrilling fantasy series all about finding your inner hero.

Alex may have failed to stop the Cosmic Shift, but that doesn’t mean he is giving up on saving the world. The only problem is…he has no idea what world he’s even in. A rip in the multiverse has stranded him and his best friend Loren in a mysterious realm—without his sister Mags, or demi-god crush Liam, or even his kinda-cool-kinda-annoying stepbrother Nick. Like Earth, this world is at war, and Loren and Alex will have to use all their wits and magic to escape space pirates, an underground rebellion, and advanced technology with terrifying consequences. 

But even if Alex manages to find a way to return home, it will be nothing like the home he once knew. His nemesis Ezra is stronger than ever, and along with War and Famine, is turning Earth into a violent, chaotic dumpster fire. Alex never asked to be a superhero, but with the weight of not one but TWO worlds resting on his shoulders, that’s exactly who the needs to be.

“Never has the apocalypse been so fun!"
—Mark Oshiro, author of THE INSIDERS and co-author with Rick Riordan of THE SUN AND THE STAR: A NICO DI ANGELO ADVENTURE.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

TERRY J. BENTON-WALKER grew up in rural Georgia and now lives in Atlanta, where he writes fiction for adults, young adults, and children. He’s also the author of the young adult contemporary fantasy series Blood Debts. He has an industrial engineering degree from Georgia Tech and an MBA from Georgia State. When he’s not writing, he can be found gaming, eating ice cream, or both.

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1

ENTER THE MULTIVERSE

I failed.

Cosmic Shift is happening.

Loren. My best friend . . . is lost. Somewhere in the limitless multiverse.

And Liam . . .

I . . . I think Liam might hate me.

Janet-or should I say Calamity-is also gone. Consumed by Ezra after they were revealed to be a divine being from Paradisum.

I really messed up this time.

I didn't save anyone.

Not Loren.

Not Janet.

Not even Didi, the dragonfly dragon whom Pestilence turned to ashes right in front of me.

And I also think I might've broken Liam's heart.

When the fight with Ezra in Calamity's bunker went left and Loren got sucked into that portal, I panicked. I still don't know if I made the right decision, but I couldn't abandon her. Not after having lost so many others. But to save her, I had to leave the rest of my friends and family behind.

Including Liam.

He begged me to stay. I refused, so he demanded to come with me. And I wanted nothing more than to take his hand in mine and leap into the dark abyss of the multiverse with him.

But I couldn't be that selfish.

Because that's not what superheroes do.

That's not what Alex Wise does.

We couldn't leave Earth undefended-especially now that Ezra's kicked off Cosmic Shift. I couldn't leave my mom, my sister, and the rest of my family with no one to look after them.

I swallow past the knot in my throat at the thought of what Mags and the others must be feeling right now-as volcanoes erupt, earthquakes shake the ground and break apart our cities and neighborhoods, the moon blots out the sun, and Ezra reshapes Earth in his own twisted vision. Dear gods.

Liam Ambros, you're our world's last hope. The entire multiverse is depending on you now.

Especially if Loren and I don't make it back.

Footfalls echo from somewhere down the darkened corridor on the other side of the thick metal floor-to-ceiling bars before me. I tense, then stumble backward, disappearing into the shadows in the corner of my cell.

Someone's coming.

I grimace as I concentrate, honing my Sense, but the response is . . . strange. I can Sense them, but it's as if the signal's dampened. All I can feel are tiny glimmers of anger and frustration that amp up my pulse to an unnerving pace.

Where in the multiverse am I?

I'm not even sure exactly how I got here, wherever here is. The last thing I remember after falling into the portal was spinning in the dark until something grabbed me by the back of my neck and dragged me up what felt like a waterfall. Icy waves slammed into my body, so intense, it was as if they were flowing through me.

Then I blacked out. And I woke up . . . in this prison cell.

Two people(?) step into view on the other side of the bars. Their forms are humanoid, but they glimmer in the dark as if minute stars shine beneath their skin, tiny glittering pinpricks on their brown skin. They're both swathed in dark-colored robes of soundless flowing material, like silk.

One of them reaches into their robe and produces what appears to be a small metal wand. When they tap one of the bars of my cell with it, the wand glows with pale yellow light, and a door-sized section of the bars explodes into a bajillion pieces that vanish like smoke.

Is that . . . magic?

Okay . . . time for backup.

Orin?

I blink and suddenly find myself standing on the front porch of Orin's quaint cottage in the middle of a grassy field and nearby orchard. We're encircled by the endless forest of my mind. I know. Wild to think about, right?

But I'm really here.

Inside my head.

With a real-life god.

And what I'm most grateful for is that time stops while I'm here with Orin. It's the one remaining safe space I have.

Orin's barefoot and wearing pale blue Bermuda shorts and a rose-pink linen tank top. Their long auburn beard is conditioned and curled, waves parting at the top of their round belly and streaming down either side. A pair of oversized, dark-tinted sunglasses hides their eyes as they sip lemonade from a clear plastic tumbler with an illustration of Wonder Woman on the outside. Their freckles, sun-kissed, stand out more prominently on the skin of their parchment-colored cheeks. I don't know how, but Orin's presence is calming despite the hurricane of emotion presently wreaking havoc in my chest.

Orin gestures to an empty rocking chair beside theirs, which I swear wasn't there a second ago. "Take a load off," they say, and smile faintly.

I am exhausted. I glance at the rocking chair, and the comfy-looking overstuffed cushions on the seat beckon to me. Between the empty chair and Orin, a small side table has appeared. It holds a pitcher of lemonade with perfectly cut lemon slices floating on top. Beside the pitcher is a small dish of lemons so fresh they bombard my nose with their strong citrusy fragrance. And next to the lemons is a clear tumbler like Orin's, except . . . Oh, gods. I chuckle under my breath.

Instead of Wonder Woman, I am the superhero illustrated on the outside of this cup. I'm front and center, standing on the roof of a ruined car in the middle of a Los Angeles street, with the Hollywood sign prominent in the background. I'm raising my golden sword, alight with magical flames, above my head. The sword was a gift from Navia, the goddess of Life and Liam's mother. She sacrificed the final dregs of her magic to gift me, Liam, and Loren weapons to aid in our fight against the Horsemen.

But Navia's gone now. And Ezra has destroyed Paradisum, the alternate realm where Liam and the other gods are from.

I'm not alone on the cup. Loren and Liam stand on the ground on either side of me. Loren clutches her whip, which glows with magical electricity. And Liam wields his staff.

Seeing my friends, all of us posed like superheroes, makes me unexpectedly sad. The emotion hits me hard. It's a swift kick to the chest, the kind that empties your lungs of breath.

"What's the matter?" Orin asks. "You don't like your cup? I can change it-"

"No, it's okay," I tell them, and plop down into the seat with a satisfied sigh as the plush cushions fold up around me in a pillowy hug. "I do like it, it's just . . . for starters, it reminds me that I've lost both Loren and Liam. And on top of that, I'm just not really feeling like a superhero. We failed, Orin. Cosmic Shift happened, and Dominion's right on its heels. And if that isn't bad enough, I'm lost in the multiverse, who knows how far from home."

I grab the tumbler and sip the lemonade angrily. The tangy, sweet first taste relaxes the scowl on my face. I gulp down the drink, slurping the last dregs. Then I set the empty cup back on the table.

"That was really . . ." I mutter, my cheeks heating as I suddenly forget every adjective I've ever known.

Orin turns to me, their bushy eyebrows lifted above the rim of their sunglasses. "Is something wrong with the lemonade, too?"

I shake my head. "Flip side, actually. I feel bad, sitting here in this rocking chair, sunbathing on your porch and drinking the most delicious lemonade I've ever tasted before in my whole life when it's my fault everything back home is so messed up and hopeless right now."

Orin folds their hands on top of their round belly and says, "Hmm," then rocks gently, and their wooden chair creaks against the wide planks of the front porch.

A quiet moment passes between us. Maybe a few . . . I'm not really counting. Instead, I'm grappling with the thought that I wish I could stay here forever. Pause the world outside permanently and sit on this porch for the rest of time, sipping lemonade, reading books, and listening to Orin's stories.

But how long until I could no longer ignore the guilt spreading through my...

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Verlag
Labyrinth Road
Erscheinungsdatum
2026
Sprache
Englisch
ISBN 10 
0593564375
ISBN 13 
9780593564370
Einband
Gebundene Ausgabe
Anzahl der Seiten
352
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