Fatal Ties: An Urban Fantasy Novel (The Lillim Callina Chronicles Book 7)
Page 18
But I would have also sworn on everything I was, that Mattoc, that my Mattoc, was touching me, was speaking to me from somewhere. And as I reached out toward the touch of him, I felt him slip away like the last vestiges of a dream. A fresh pang of loss hit me all over again. I wasn’t even sure if it was real or not, but it felt real. If it was, then I had to do something about it.
“Lillim, I’m not letting you die,” Thes said, moving close and wrapping his arm around my waist. He hauled me off my feet like I weighed nothing, and as I turned my gaze back to him, I realized he was back in werewolf form. “But that doesn’t mean you don’t need a doctor. I’ve had enough friends die today.” The muscles in his legs tensed as he leapt into the air and drove his claws into the bark of Yggdrasil. “You won’t be joining them, at least, not if I can help it.”
“We’re still friends?” I asked somewhat surprised because he was supposed to hate me. So why didn’t he seem to hate me?
“We were never friends,” he grunted which wasn’t really the response I was looking for. I mean it was true. We were uneasy allies at best, but still, he didn’t have to tell me that when I was dying. He was supposed to be nice to me.
As he scaled the world tree with remarkable ease, I thought about yelling at him about it, but I didn’t because part of me hoped he’d make it before I went into the great beyond. Call me crazy, but I had no special desire to bite the bullet. Once we got to the top, we could have more of a talk, assuming, of course, I didn’t die.
Besides, I was still holding onto a stupid little hope I’d see my mother up top one way or the other. If I didn’t die, would she still there? Or had she been recalled to the underworld? Would my father be there to see me? It seemed like he should be. Maybe if all of us were there we could all take a picture? I’d like that.
As tears began to leak down my face, I realized I had no idea what I’d find when we got out of this hole, but I knew one thing. No matter what it was going to hurt, and I’d grieve. Then I’d get up and take a step forward.
Why?
Because Mattoc might not be as lost as I’d thought he was, and if that was the case, if that was truly the case, I would find him.
I had to find him because, like Thes, I’d lost far too many friends, and that was about to change.
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