“I love you, Sammy.”Another tear slips down my cheek.“It’s time for me to rest now.Tell your mum and your brother. Tell them that I love them too.”
“I will, I’ll tell them.”
His fingers squeeze around mine one last time, and when I blink again, he’s gone. I suck in a sharp breath at the empty space before me. Throat burning, I clasp my hands to my chest.
Elora places her hand on my shoulder. “Sam?”
Reluctantly, I turn. Elora and Tallulah share a puzzled look with each other.
My mother steps forward and grasps me in a tight hug. “Samaria Trednik,” she whispers against my hair. “Tell me what I believe to be true, you’re a Spiritwalker?” She giggles, swaying my body against hers in a dance-like hug.
Tallulah gasps, covering her mouth with her hands.
Agnes pulls away from me but keeps her arm around my shoulder. Her smile is bright and beaming. The most proud I’ve ever seen her. It stings. Seeing how proud she is at this moment and not for any of the other achievements in my life.
“I think I might be,” I admit. My mind is still cloudy, replaying the image of my father’s face. The feel of his hands on mine.
“A Spiritwalker?” Elora crosses her arms. “What does that mean?”
“She can communicate with the spirits who have not yet passed on to join Mother Gaia on the other side,” Agnes says. She claps her hands and my stomach turns. “My daughter, a Spiritwalker!”
“Your eyes turned white,” Elora says. “Like Agnes’ and my mother’s. I thought you may be a Seer.”
I shake my head, fighting to hide the tremble in my lip. “This was certainly not…” I bite my lip.
“Did you see someone, then?” Tallulah asks, drawing me from my wandering thoughts.
Clearing my throat, I take my mother’s hand. “It was my father, William.” Agnes’ smile falters for a moment but it quickly returns.
“He said to tell you he loves you,” I say, and she grips my hand. I wish she wouldn’t, because it reminds me of his, and I want so badly to open that portal again. To risk the hunters.
Instead, I turn to Elora. “He wanted to make sure Sorin knew as well. That he loves him.”
Elora smiles, but there’s uncertainty in it as her gaze drifts between Agnes and I. As if she can read my frustrations with my mother. I suppose she probably can read my emotions. Even having known each other for such a short time, we’ve seen each other at our deepest levels. I want to ask more about being a Spiritwalker but my question lodges in my throat as another apparition appears directly behind Elora.
Her skin, unlike my father's, is glowing. While his was more gray and nearly transparent, this woman’s is ivory and glowing. As if she is made of the purest crystal. Her face doesn’t waver asmy father’s did. Her long, dark hair pools down her back and she looks strong. Solid. And then I remember my father’s words.
The veil is thin for uswithoutmagick in our veins.
She must be an Enchantress. She must be…
“Sam?” Elora cocks her head to the side, and when I meet her with widened eyes, her brows relax and her face contorts.
The apparition runs her hand through Elora’s loose waves but Elora doesn’t flinch. She has no idea that her mother is by her side. I raise my palms, magick needling along my fingertips. That momentary loss of time washes over me until I feel the portal open, thrumming against my skin.
“You’re Elwyn, correct?”
Her silver eyes ignite as she dips her chin. A small smile creeps over her lips as she continues to stroke Elora’s hair. “Can you give her a message for me, Enchantress?”
My hands shake, still suspended in the air. Elora’s golden eyes burn into me.“Yes, of course.”
“Tell her I’m always with her. She was never alone. Not really. Tell her?—”
My mind is racing, my body heating as I meet Elora’s gaze. “Wait, please. Let me pass one message along first.”
“Elora,” I start, but she holds up her hand to stop me. Her bottom lip quivers, and she must know because she takes a step backward.
“Don’t.” She tucks her hair behind her ear, shaking her head. “Whatever you’re about to say, don’t Sam.” She looks away for a moment, biting her bottom lip. “Not right now I just—” she rubs her forehead with the tips of her fingers. “Please, just don’t tell me.”
