Macha pats the sheets near my foot in a maternal gesture. “The boy lives. This pain will be yours and yours alone.”
Badb frowns.
Morrigan reaches inside her gown and produces a silver bough with white flowers blooming up the length of the branches. She plucks one and offers it to me. “There is a third choice. By eating this, you may return home for a time.”
The bloom brings to mind another face, a gray-haired man. Relieved to have a face in my mind again, I hesitate and don’t accept the offered gift. “The bloom of eternal life.”
The women nod again. Their singularity is getting annoying. “What happens if I eat it?”
“You’ll return home for a while,” Morrigan says again. “And when your purpose has been served, you’ll be taken across the crystal bridge.”
The memory of the man fades as well, and my remaining contentment along with it. My mind continues reaching, but is unable to grasp anything solid. “What about the people I love? The ... others.” The blue-eyed boy, the woman who held me when I cried, the friend with the hypnotizing voice. Why can’t I remember their names? Their faces?
“They are still mortal, and as such, will someday die while you’ll continue living for many years. It is the best of both worlds.”
I have no pain, nothing binding me to earth. Nothing but a pair of deep blue eyes and the words I’ll find you again.
Then I manage to grasp an agonizing memory of deep, unforgiving ache. “If I eat this blossom, will I feel pain?”
Macha shakes her head.
Another memory. A hand holding mine, keeping me grounded, arms pulling me close. “Then how will I know joy?”
No answer.
More memories fight through the fog, leaving me confused, frowning. A dark-haired boy who betrayed but then saved me. A woman tenderly combing my hair when I was little, trying so hard to understand me, to help me. The older woman, the Healer, what she wanted for me, what she always told me I would someday become. My own desires for future possibilities. Blue eyes. The boy in my dreams. The boy who always finds me.
“If I go, he won’t be able to find me.”
A cloud of confusion darkens Macha’s face. “Immortality is a great honor offered to few chosen souls.”
“But I have to be mortal so he can find me again. So I can find him,” I murmur, shaking my head. “I need to find him.”
“I will never understand the attachments of humans.” Morrigan presses the flower hard in my palm. When she removes her hand, the bud has morphed into a large pink diamond. “The tasks ahead will be more difficult than the ones you’ve yet survived. You will call on us again. Swing this diamond over your palm in a clockwise circle and sing the calling tones. They are the same ones you used to call the broken energy out of your beloved and save his life, and which summoned us to your aid. Be warned; with the next summons, your choices will not be the same.”
My fingers close around the precious stone. I’m going home. I’m going back to him.
“Beware that charm, young one,” Badb says. “The Morrigana always requires payment. A summons will cost you.”
I hope I never have to find out what that cost is.
“Fate has decided.” With soft hands on my arms, Macha urges me to lie back. “Close your eyes, and prepare for pain.”
Morrigan hums. Soon the other two join her, and then I’m spinning. Spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning until I land. Thud. Smack into hell.
FORTY-THREE
Strong, Determined
A freight train is parked on my chest. I try to thrash about, but my limbs are too heavy. Every inch of me aches. My skin, organs, and muscles throb with the slightest touch. Something rolls under my back, lifting me from a fiery hot surface and submerging me into icy, frigid water. I steal a mouthful of air, but it refuses to travel down my throat and I choke on it. When I finally find enough breath to scream, needles dig into my arms, thousands of them, until the pain becomes too much and I slither into oblivion.
A voice reaches me down a tunnel far, far away. Rivers of cold hold my heavy eyes closed. Something touches my skin and my fuzzy brain struggles to figure out what’s happening. My fingers twitch, trapped. A hand. Someone’s holding my hand.
The voice says my name and I force an eye open. A blurry face looms above. Valdemar. His words are caught in the tunnel and I can’t understand them, but as my eyes focus, my ears clear a little. He’s chanting, quick and sharp, in a language I don’t recognize. Someone lifts me, and every step, every tiny movement is torture. “It hurts,” I moan, thankfully falling back into the dark.
The first thing I see upon opening my eyes is Kye’s face on the pillow, next to mine. His smooth skin is perfect, unscarred, untouched. His eyes are closed, but I know their color well.
I don’t hurt so much anymore, but my chest feels tight. Kye’s arm is draped across my stomach, holding me to his side. A soft light flickers in the room, but the only sound is his steady breathing. He jerks and his arm flexes, tightens. He’s sleeping.
“Kye,” I croak. “Can’t breathe.” His eyes pop open and his brows draw together. Then his expression softens into that familiar half smile. He loosens his grip but doesn’t let go.
“Hey, you,” he murmurs. “How are you feeling? Are you warm enough?”
“Hot.” My voice is rough from disuse. “Heaven’s warmer than I expected, but I’ll take it as long as they let you stay with me.”
Kye brushes tangled hair away from my eyes. “I have to go home at some point. But lucky you, you’re already here.”
“Home?”
“Yes. Your mom’s here. And Erda. You can go back to school. Live your life now.”
“I can’t go home,” I say, teasing. “I’m dead.”
“That’s not funny.” He grimaces, shaking his head. “You really had us worried.”
I struggle out of his arms and sit up, feeling a deep ache I can’t pinpoint. I pretty much hurt everywhere. Soft, white light filters through the curtains and four or five stubby candles burn on my dresser, reflecting off handfuls of colorful crystals placed around my room. Kye has cleaned himself up since I last saw him. There is no trace of blood or dirt on his skin or clothes and his breath smells like mint toothpaste.
My mouth, on the other hand, tastes like I ate dirt, and my head throbs like I’ve been buried in it. When I look at myself, I half expect to be filthy. Instead, I realize someone has changed me into flannel pajamas. My sleeve is pushed up to my elbow to reveal fading purple bruises dotting my pale skin.
“You don’t want to see the rest,” Kye says, pulling my sleeve down. “Your mother about fainted the first time she changed your clothes.”
“How long have I been asleep?”
He props his head on his arms. “Way too long.”
I lift an eyebrow, waiting for him to elaborate.
“Nine days.”
“Nine days?” I squeak, shocked.
“We’ve been really glad you weren’t in an actual coma.” His words come out in a rush. “You mumbled a little, moaned, and drank through a straw when we really pushed it down your throat. You even drank some herbal stuff Val forced on you.”
“No way. No way, Kye. Do not tell me I now have two weeks of missed school to make up.”
“Technically, just over one. And I can’t believe you would worry about school at a time like this.” He sits up, shaking his head again, irritated. “You risked your life to save mine, fought against the Dark Prince, and resealed the tomb to save the rest of the world from destruction. There are shadow demons on the loose, and you’re worried about homework? You almost died, Abby!” He drops his head into his hands, threading his fingers through his hair. “Why did you do that? Huh? Why?”
“Which part?”
“Why did you sacrifice yourself to save me?”
I let out a long breath. “Clearly I didn’t, since I’m still alive.”
“But you tried, and I want to know why. Your heart stopp
ed. Val said your heart stopped for about three minutes. I almost lost you. You almost died because of me.” He sits up and pulls me to him, his expression fierce. “Don’t you know your death would have killed me too?”
I run my fingers through my matted hair until they’re completely tangled and I have to forcefully rip them out.
“I want an answer,” he demands. “Why?”
“Because I love you!” I shout. “And I couldn’t just stand there and watch you die. I had to do something.”
Gently, he scoots me into his lap and wraps his arms around me, resting his cheek on my head. “Say it again,” he murmurs.
I breathe into his neck. “I’ve said it before.”
“Say it anyway.” He squeezes harder, though still not tight.
“I love you.” I wrap my arms around his waist and lay my head on his shoulder. “Stay here with me. Please, stay here with me and don’t go away.”
“You want to stay with me while I drag you all over the world? Sleeping on benches in malls and getting attacked on the street? Having to catch a plane by yourself in the middle of the night, not knowing what happened to me? Running through a dark cave barefoot in a silk dress? Facing impossible odds to correct something that went wrong in a life you don’t even remember?”
“Yes.” I pull him into my arms, blinking my misty eyes.
“How? How can you want this?”
“How can I not?” I press my hands to his cheeks. “There’s no going back to my old life now. I’ll never be the same after everything that’s happened. After loving you. I do remember a little bit of my life as Raina, of her love for Theron all those years ago. It’s part of me forever. I’ll never stop loving you, so how can I not want to be with you for as long as I can?”
Kye blinks rapidly, closes his eyes, and draws a deep breath. “They’ll never leave us alone. I don’t know how to protect you except to leave and let Raina fade back into Abby. That’s what would happen, you know. You don’t feel Raina and I don’t feel Theron as much when we’re apart. So, if I left, maybe—maybe you would have a chance at a partially normal life.”
My heart cracks open a little and I drop my hands away from his face. I need to know. “Do you love me?”
“I do.” His voice sounds tortured. “So much it hurts. I don’t know how to protect you, but how can I possibly leave you? It’ll kill me.”
I sigh, relieved. “So, what do we do now?”
He pauses, thinks about it, and then points at a stack of books on the floor. “Homework.”
I giggle at his mood swings, because I love him.
So.
Much.
He rubs my shoulders again, and my skin heats at the touch. I wrap my arms around his neck and lean in, prepared to put off homework for a little while longer.
The door bangs open and a muffled giggle is drowned out by a bark. Erda bounds into the room, jumps up to put her front paws on my thighs. I yelp. “Off, Erda. Get down. You know better than to jump on people.”
Her long, pink tongue smears slobber on my chin in answer and I melt. “I love you too.”
“You’re awake.” Jen clears her throat, standing in the doorway. “We thought we heard voices in here.”
“Actually, we thought Kye’s cookies had finally crumbled and he was having a conversation with himself.” Rose pushes past Jen. “We came to see if it’s time to send him to the crazy farm.”
Kye makes a face, then picks up my pillow and lobs it at her head. “Very funny.”
“Well, you have been acting rather nuts.” Rose tosses the pillow on my bed, then shoves Kye away and hugs me tight. “I’ve been worried to puking over you, you know.”
I squeeze her back, feeling weak. “I know. I’m sorry.”
Jen joins our hug. “Me too,” she says. “I burned a hole in your mom’s shower curtain when Val told us there was nothing more he could do. I went in there to throw up and started the thing on fire instead.”
The mental picture makes me giggle. “Seriously?”
She nods, blushing.
Another voice, quieter, more hesitant, comes from the hallway. “You’re awake.”
Kye scowls at Eric. “All right, she’s awake and you’ve seen her. Now go home.”
“Ahem.” My mom pats Eric’s shoulder, shooting Kye a stern look. “Actually, that’s my call, Kye.” A softer, more sympathetic look goes to Eric. “Stay as long as Abby likes.” Her gaze veers back to Kye. “No fighting, you two.”
Eric looks smug and Kye’s scowl deepens.
Mom takes me in her arms. “Oh, sweetheart. I’m glad you’re okay. I’ve never been so worried in my life.” She draws away, a wrinkle forming on her forehead. “Don’t ever do that to me again.”
I lean my head on her shoulder, feeling safe, loved. “I’m sorry, Mom. I didn’t mean to worry you. Everything happened so fast.”
“I know,” she says, frowning. “I’ve heard the story—several times.” I glare at Kye.
He makes a face. “Hey, don’t look at me. I wasn’t the chatty one.”
Suddenly, no one will look me in the eye except Eric. I’m all set to yell at him—because he’s there and I’m still mad at him—when the door slams downstairs and someone yells, “Marian? Kye? I brought pizza. Where is everyone?” Heavy footfalls clamber up the stairs. “Marian?”
“Landon, we’re in here.” Mom flushes and her hands flutter up to pat her hair. Kye grins.
Apparently, I’ve missed a lot while I was sleeping.
A ball of light whizzes to the bed and stops abruptly near the empty pillow. Murtagh whips around, hands on hips, looking confused. “Cailín girl? Bed empty. Where mo chara?”
I pull out of my mother’s arms. “I’m here, Murtagh. Right here.”
He seems relieved, and flits closer to hover near my face. “Cailín better now?”
I offer my hand for him to land on. “Yes, I feel a lot better, thanks. What have you been up to?”
Murtagh explains his story with gusto, using his arms and legs and blinking light. Too bad none of us understands a word of his language.
Kye murmurs in my ear. “Valdemar says Murtagh showed up after you and Eric disappeared through the portal. You took the hard way in. That little guy had information about a sacred well. A thimble full of water from the well turned the boiling acid-mud into a calm, glass surface and opened the portal like a door. After Murtagh showed up with the water, he led the others into the tunnels where they found all three of us—you, me, and Eric—unconscious in the cavern.” I notice he says nothing about Juri and decide not to ask right now.
“We were all unconscious? What happened to Eric?”
“We figured out that while you funneled your energy into me, Eric was doing the same thing to you.” Kye sighs, reluctantly adding, “He probably saved your life.”
Murtagh finishes his story and poses dramatically with one fist on his hip, waving the other in the air triumphantly. “Murtagh, hero. Find sacred place, fight battle, save queen. Queen healthy now. Good day.”
Everyone laughs. Akers has his arm around my mother and I smile at them, because I like feeling the brush of romance in the air—and not just my own. The eight of us—counting Murtagh and Erda—filter downstairs to the kitchen and spend the evening catching up on what I’ve missed at school and during spring break.
As night falls, Jen and Rose leave for home. Akers eventually mumbles something about an early morning class and goes too. Mom kisses my head, reminds Kye he has school tomorrow, and then closes herself in her bedroom looking twitterpated. Erda dozes on the floor in front of the fireplace, with Murtagh curled up and snoring on her fluffy back.
Kye and I sprawl on the sofa watching Cake Boss. He could stay all night. I doubt my mom would notice before breakfast. I know eventually he’ll have to go do whatever he does when the elementals call on him. It’s part of why I love him. Plus, he doesn’t actually live here.
“When do you leave?” I ask.
His he
ad is tipped against a cushion, eyes closed, but he forces one open. “Huh?”
“I know you can’t stay forever. You have an obligation to the elementals. Especially the faeries. I won’t keep you from it, I just need to prepare in advance, that’s all.”
Both eyes are open now. He lifts his head. “I told you before, Abby. I don’t know how to protect you, but I’m not going anywhere for now.”
I blink. His smile blooms at my disbelieving expression. “Like it or not, princess, you’re stuck with me for a while.”
“Wait,” I say, confused. “You’re staying here? With me?”
“Looks like it.” He picks up my hand and plays with my ring. “We’re stronger together. Having me leave for a while, then come back and leave again ... well, I don’t know how that’ll affect Raina and Theron. Val and I discussed it, and we both feel like it’s too much of a risk. So, like I said, I’m here for the duration.”
My heart races. This is not at all what I expected. It makes me happy. So happy. I throw my arms around him. “What about the curse?”
He bites his lip. “Val has another theory about that. It isn’t a sure thing, but he thinks we should test it. When you took my life energy into yourself, you connected us with a sacrificial bond that could possibly be stronger than the curse.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means we’re connected, maybe even responsible for each other. No way to know for sure until we test it out.”
I brush a lock of hair off his forehead. “Huh.” A thought has me pulling away, worried. “How does my mom feel about you moving in?”
Erda growls in her sleep when Kye bursts out laughing. “Abby, I love you, but I’m not moving into your house. None of my many parents would be happy with that scenario.”
I blush, looking down at my knees, wondering what he thinks I was asking.
Descendant Page 27
