"Three days is not long," Thalia said. "But it's not nothing. You may find her mostly intact. Or you may find pieces. Fragments. Memories that think they're still a person. Either way, you hold on. You anchor her. You keep her from dissolving completely while Victoria and I perform the resurrection on her body."
"And then?" Nicholas asked.
"Then we pull," Thalia said. "Victoria will use death magic to reach into the Veil. I'll guide her. We'll grab both souls, yours and Lilith's and we'll drag them back toward life. You'll feel it. Like a rope around your chest pulling you away from the Veil. Pulling you both toward the light. Toward life."
"And at the last moment...."
"At the last moment," Thalia interrupted, "you let go of your own connection to life and you push Lilith through. You sacrifice yourself. You stay in the Veil while she returns to her body. And the entity accepts the trade."
Nicholas was quiet for a long moment.
