by Jaymin Eve
The first stared with those three black eyes. His voice shuddered. It seemed to cause him pain to speak. “We will have an eternity together.”
In that moment, the ground beneath the Seventine split open. The purple light flashed across everything, highlighting the stark desolation on the creeps’ faces.
Rot in hell!
With a final screech, which held horror, fear, pain and rage, the shells of the seven bodies collapsed in on themselves. Leaving behind nothing more than a rubbery skin on the ground.
I felt a splintering then. The ritual we’d set free was finishing. The moonstale and laluna stones were visible in the walls, flashing their shine of power.
With the last of our energy, Fury and I held on, pouring our blood and power into the prison. We had to make it to the end.
The entire cavern and mountain rumbled as the Seventines’ essence was again returned to the prison. I screamed. Fury screamed. And then I felt her slipping from me.
No … you’re strongest, I stuttered. I need you.
I couldn’t lose them all.
Love y…
She never finished, her life fleeing from me, and then I was alone in my bond.
The moment our bond fell, so did the barrier we’d erected during the ritual. I held desperately to consciousness, forcing myself to resist the slippery edges of the blackness which wanted to wash over me. The prison closed then, the ground sealing off. In my fuzziness I thought it odd that there was nothing there to mark the stone. It was as if we hadn’t just expelled a zillion gallons of very precious half-Walker blood on it. It had taken our offering and the Seventine were gone from the world. No longer able to sever tethers or destroy everyone.
But I had lost them. My girls. They were gone.
A sort of deliriousness swamped me. I was alert enough to hear the cries, to see the men as they gathered their mates to their chests. The sacred animals’ cries were ear-shattering as they curled around their girls.
Dune was in my direct line of sight. He held Fury, who looked small and slender, white hair flashing all over the place. He didn’t cry at first, but as he tenderly touched her face, brushing back her hair, I saw that the tears were silently tracking along his red cheeks. The stoic Crais nomad looked more lost than ever before. He looked destroyed.
My lashes fluttered closed as warmth surrounded me.
“Baby … no, don’t you leave me.”
My lashes flickered again and Brace’s beautiful face came back into view. He had been with me from the moment the barrier fell, and I never even realized. His eyes were black, but shiny. Like he was trying hard to keep it together.
I felt warmth on my throat and knew he was healing the wound; it wouldn’t be enough. Using his face as an anchor, I tried to stay with him. I would never willingly leave him. But as my lashes stopped fluttering, I couldn’t seem to find the will to reopen my eyes. I pressed back against the darkness that engulfed me, but it was too big. It was everywhere.
Brac …
I had to tell him I loved him. I had to put in the few words I had left how he was my everything. That with him in my life the last year had been the best I could ever imagine. But I failed at that also.
I know, baby. You’re my everything too. I will not let you leave me.
I took comfort in the fact that he sensed my final emotions through our bond. It was enough. I could hold on no longer. His angry howls were the last thing I heard before my heart stuttered and stopped for the last time.
Chapter 19
Children of Gods, born unknown and alone,
the seven are needed to eliminate. Take heed,
for baby will not live till four and one year
unless removed from the world here.
The youngest and strongest to collect.
Lost and alone, a god-man is the key.
Gather the Halflings, stone and fear.
The end of days is written in mineral.
I registered the hum of prophecy. It was everywhere, in, over and through me. I was awake, but it took me moments to register that. Then with a snap I remembered everything with bright and instant clarity.
We had defeated the Seventine. We had all died. And I had left Brace and my soul in the mortal realm.
I wanted to fall in on myself. I wanted to howl and scream out the utter well of pain and agony festering inside. I had lost everyone. My girls. As their faces filtered across my mind, familiar sensations shot through me, giving me pause – I could feel my girls still. How could that be so? I knew they were gone – I’d watched as their life drained away. Were they here too, in this weird afterlife I was rocking?
Speaking of – where the hell was I?
For the first time I took a second to pay attention to my surroundings. In my head I habitually reached for that section of my mind which Brace occupied. But there was nothing there. My soul screamed for him, the pain so raw and fresh that I wondered how I could survive even one second of this afterlife, let alone an eternity.
I was broken, trapped in a misty place – white – clouded in an iciness that would be breath-stealing. Except I wasn’t cold. I knew it was cold, but it didn’t affect me.
The words of the prophecy started again. Echoing around, filling my body.
Was this my afterlife? Stuck in the land of icy mists with the damn prophecy which had altered my entire life playing on repeat.
Great! Thanks, Abby, for saving the worlds. Here, have a hellhole to live in. No Brace. No Lucy. No half-Walkers. No food.
Was I actually hungry? I was dead, for freak’s sake.
I was feeling pissed off and a whole lot underappreciated. Didn’t seem like the afterlife had made me all saint-like and accepting of shitty things.
I lifted my arm and examined the marks which still littered my skin. I looked the same. I had expected my shell would be gone, but it wasn’t. I started to move, wanting to explore this world and figure out what had happened.
Of course, as I moved so did the mist, so no matter where I stepped, I could see nothing more.
“Hello!” My shout was loud, but didn’t echo. There were no acoustics in my hellhole.
“Hello.”
I jumped about ten feet in the air.
The Mother of All appeared out of the mist.
We stared for an infinite amount of time, before finally I spoke.
“Where am I?”
Her voice was all tinkly as she stepped closer. “You are in the land between the planes.”
Planes? “Like planes of existence?”
“Yes, I managed to capture the rest of your essence before it was lost. I brought you here to give you back enough energy so you could return to your vessel.”
The choked up feeling was in my chest and throat again. “Why?” I managed to croak out.
“You have sacrificed much, given more than any could expect.”
It was no more than most would have given. “I didn’t have much choice. I would have preferred not to die.”
She laughed and it reminded me of tinkling chimes, chirping birds and the warmth of summer.
“You held on to each of your friends. You fought for them long after they were gone. You did not give up and now … the gods will not give up on you.”
“Will the girls return also?” A flickering of hope.
“Their essence was not free for me to capture. I cannot help you with them.” The light voice dropped, and I sensed she wished she could have answered differently.
Gods, I wished she had answered differently.
The Mother took another step toward me. And now, unlike in her realm, I could see her clearly. She was shrouded in white, but her skin was dark and creamy. Milk chocolate. Her eyes were large and ringed in kohl, and she had the longest, darkest lashes I’d ever seen.
“You will return now, to the life you left. Your soul will be one with the vessel again. You will still hold small portions of your original power, but it will be nothing like you had. The bulk of the origin
al power is again in the prison. Never to be freed.”
“How can I survive without it?”
The originals hadn’t been able to survive.
“You were born of three entities. Walker father, First World mother, and original energy. All you have lost is the original energy. You are more than the loss of one part.”
My hybrid nature was the reason I had survived, the reason the Mother could return me.
“Why is the prophecy spoken here?”
The words were still there, faint in the background.
“This was your last fate. It was attached to your essence. Now that you have fulfilled this calling, it will leave you. A new fate will be born.”
Great, she talked in riddles like Francesc –
I cut off the thought. I couldn’t think of my aunt right then … or Quarn ... or the girls. I needed to keep that pain and anger tucked away in my little box. I needed to get back to Brace before he tore apart the seven worlds that we had sacrificed so much to save.
“Are you ready to return?”
I nodded once. “Thank you,” I said. “I’ll be forever grateful to you.”
“It is the gods who are grateful,” she trilled, and then with a wave of her hand a veil of darkness returned to me.
An instant passed, no more than a speck of time. That was all it took for me to travel between the planes of the white misty world and First World. I returned to the sensation of hot energy pouring into me.
“Abigail … please. Wake up. Brace, you have to do more; it’s not working.”
Lucy’s voice was the first sound then there was pain. So much freaking pain. My entire body hurt despite the softness below me. Still, my soul sung with pure joy to be home.
Red. The word was ragged, Brace’s usual smooth accent gone.
He was broken. I had broken the strongest being I knew.
What’s up, baby? I tried to joke, even though pain was making me its bitch right about then.
Red …
I forced my eyes open. It took more than one attempt, but focus eventually filtered in. I was not in the cave any longer, which explained the soft surface. I was in my room at the beach house. Brace was on one side of me, Lucy on the other, and Colton stood at the foot of the bed, on guard or something.
I struggled to sit up. Despite the Mother’s help, my energy was still almost depleted. I wasn’t worried, though. My Walker side would repair the damage in no time. Helped along by the flood of hot energy my mate continued pushing through my limbs.
“What happened after …?” I trailed off.
Emotions were choking me, so many mixed feelings. I had lost so much, but not everything. Brace and Lucy were the two people who meant more to me than any others in the worlds. It was like I was seeing everything for the first time. With a crystal-clear clarity that had me breathless.
“How did I get back here?”
Lucy’s face was ravaged, red and swollen. I could see claw marks on her cheeks and knew her grief had been intense and all encompassing. She reached out and clasped my hand, then just sat there holding it. She didn’t speak or move. I sensed that she couldn’t, and I had literally never seen her quiet like this.
“We thought you were gone,” Colton finally said. “Lucy couldn’t feel you any longer. She’s your guide and the bond you share is tangible. On her side at least, but you were no longer there.”
I met her unblinking blue-and-yellow eyes. “You can feel me? Why have you never told me?”
She shook her head, opened her mouth before slamming it shut again. She tried again to speak, and finally words emerged in a hoarse sentence. “I never realized what it was until you were gone. I didn’t know that you were that warm spot beside my heart, the spot which I cherished more than any other. Then it was gone.” She squeezed tighter. “I died with you, Abby.”
Her arms went around me and there was no space between us any longer. I held her as she sobbed, my eyes hot and damp, but I wouldn’t let myself fall apart. If I did, I’d never pull myself back together.
I met Brace’s black eyes. Lucy wasn’t the only one who had died with me that day; my mate had also.
“You thought I was … I died?” I asked him softly.
His features shuttered again, and that sheen was back in his eyes.
“You did, Red, you died in my arms. In the end I shot my energy into you, hoping it might save you.”
“You did save me,” I said, knowing that it was Brace’s energy that had kept me alive long enough to allow the Mother of All to capture my essence. He had infused strength into my soul.
“The … others?” I couldn’t bring myself to say their names. It hurt just thinking about what had happened in the cave.
Lucy sobbed harder then. Colton’s rumbly growls grew louder and his face crumbled around the edges. He seemed to be in physical pain watching his mate fall apart. Brace reached out both hands and cupped my face gently, his thumbs rubbing down my cheek bones. So softly. With such tender care.
“Lalli and Josian are there, but it doesn’t look good … I’m so sorry, baby.”
I was crushed, sagging forward.
Brace caught Lucy and me, his hands falling from my face to cradle us both.
It couldn’t be true.
Why would the Mother save me, but allow the rest to fall? They had done as much as I had, sacrificed as much. It wasn’t fair.
I felt more warmth around me, and as a familiar lick went up my face I knew my hellhound was here. That he had mourned this loss too.
“I need to see them,” I murmured against Brace’s chest.
Poor Lucy was squished between us.
I hoped we weren’t suffocating her. “I have to say goodbye.”
I knew it was going to hurt, but they deserved this from me. And I needed the closure. I could still feel their energy, feel their souls. It didn’t seem real that they were gone, so I had to see it with my own eyes.
“Where are they?’’
Brace pulled back, and Lucy let go of me. She seemed tinier somehow as she sank in on herself, both arms wrapped tightly across her middle. Colton couldn’t hold back any longer. He reached out and snatched her up into his arms, his massive form engulfing the tiny pixie as he cuddled her closer.
Brace’s hands found my face again. It was as if he couldn’t stop touching me, examining my features. “Are you sure you want to do this? Because you don’t have to.”
His eyes bored into mine then they began scanning my face. The look in his eye was one of disbelief. The bond was telling me that he’d truly believed he would never again see the flash of green in my eyes, or kiss my lips. He had lived with that knowledge for a short time, but it was long enough to crack his heart into pieces.
Right then he was thanking every god he had ever known or heard of that I had returned. He was so busy being thankful he hadn’t stopped to look into my memories. To know that the gods had blessed us. But then he did …
The Mother of All saved you?
There was awe in his voice, but it wasn’t focused on the Mother. Nope. It was all for me. Brace knew I wasn’t perfect, but he still considered me to be above all others, and he was quite pleased to know that the gods valued my life also.
“I need to see them,” I said out loud. “I will say a proper goodbye.”
Brace didn’t remind me that they were gone, that there would be nothing left but shells that would eventually fade away. He supported my need and would make sure it happened.
“Josian and Lallie are with them in the ballroom. Your parents haven’t given up. They’re trying to revive the girls the same way we did you.” Brace got to his feet, and scooped me off the bed, before setting me down with tender care.
A burst of love flooded the darkness in my mind; my parents never gave up. Cerberus moved to my side then. I reached out and rested my hands on him.
“They literally left your side only moments before you woke,” Lucy said, sounding less distraught. “Brace begged them to
try and help the girls. He said that you would want them to make sure there was no way that had been missed to save them.”
The welling of tears which I had been holding at bay surged forward again, and I threw myself at my mate.
“Thank you. Thank you.”
I murmured the words over and over. I had never believed I would have someone like Brace in my life. Someone who did everything in his power to ensure my happiness. I was blessed in so many ways. And yet, my heart still ached.
“Lallielle’s trying to reach them through dreamscape. She can go deeper into one’s subconscious. Josian is providing backup power,” Brace said. “I had to push them pretty hard to get them to leave. It wasn’t until they knew for sure you were coming back to us that they went to help the others. I think they expected you would sleep longer.”
I halted his explanation. I knew my parents loved me more than anything. They would not have easily left my side when I was hurt.
“Let’s go to the girls.”
I pushed down the remaining flickers of hope. I knew my girls were gone; I’d felt it. Josian and Lallielle wouldn’t find them hiding deep in their subconscious. And yet, I still couldn’t stop myself from literally running toward the ballroom.
I sensed the mood long before we made it into the large, ornately clad room. Stepping onto the top of the long staircase, my eyes were immediately drawn to the angels that decorated the ceiling. It was oddly appropriate considering the room was being used as a sort of open-air tomb.
Reality was, I couldn’t bring myself to look down upon the scene I knew waited below. There was a heaviness in the air, a sense of mourning and pain. I could feel the emotional resonance of everyone who waited there. All of us had lost someone. For some it was their mate. For me it was my sisters.
Sucking in what I hoped was a fortifying breath, I took the first step and started to descend. Gods, it was a lifetime ago that I had walked through those doors on the eve of my eighteenth birthday. Almost killing myself in those ridiculous heels. A lifetime ago that I didn’t know the true joy of Brace. Or my half-Walkers. I didn’t know of the pain and fear and craziness that the next year fighting the Seventine would bring. My world had done a complete three-sixty, and even though we had won – we had beaten them – the cost was just too high.
