Sleep found us eventually. I don’t know how long I’d been out when the soft creak from my bedroom door stirred me. Skye was gone.
I crept down the dark stairs, keeping to the shadows, following the sound of muffled sobs. Peering into the kitchen, I saw her clutching the home phone. She dialed, then stood silent as the answering machine clicked on: “Hi, it’s Parker. You know what to do...”
My stomach dropped as she dialed again and again, tears tracking down her cheeks as his voice echoed from the answering machine.
I slunk back upstairs and got into bed, but couldn’t get to sleep. I lay staring at the ceiling, the nearly full moon casting pale light across the room and tying my insides into knots. I couldn’t leave Skye behind tomorrow, but I couldn’t stay either. She had to come with us. And if she didn’t, I’d have to ask Aranare to stay. Her safety was more important than my training.
When the door creaked open again, I shut my eyes and pretended to sleep. Skye slipped in beside me, and I reached out, resting a hand gently on her leg to let her know she wasn’t alone.
12
Morgana
And just like that, the full moon was upon us, and we were to spend our last day on land training with Louisa and then Aranare.
From under my lashes, I glanced sideways at Skye, who was sitting cross-legged beside me on the bookshop floor, perfectly poised.
“Okay, girls. That’s thirty minutes.” Louisa swept into the bookstore’s dim back room and silenced the meditation music with a flick. “Morgana, you’re still overthinking things. You need to focus on your breathing and quiet that mind. Magic is a balance of trusting your heart and mastering your mind.”
I rolled my eyes. I had trusted my heart when it came to Finn, and where had that gotten me?
Finn.Just the thought of seeing him made my fist tighten around the edge of the meditation pillow. If I wanted answers, I couldn’t reveal what I knew about his father—or what I suspected about him. But I was terrified that everything I felt would spill out when our eyes met.
We were headed to the Kingdom of Thálassa, and though Finn hadpromised I’d be safe under the Mer emissary’s protection, fear coiled within me—the fear of ending up in yet another dungeon.
But I had to go. Not just to uncover the prophecy, but to see Thálassa with my own eyes—the kingdom where my grandmother once lived, side by side with Finn’s mother, Abalone.
I remembered her words from the diary entry.After the last of my family succumbed to the Shadow, they embraced me as one of their own.
“Skye, will you accompany Morgana to Thálassa?” Louisa’s question brought me back from my tumultuous thoughts.
“I’ve said I don’t know. Would you stop asking me?” Skye nibbled on her bottom lip, her cheeks flushing.
Louisa surveyed her. “There’s a reason Agápe chose to save your life and offer you a chance to claim your heritage. As Manannán’s presence grows, the old gods will find a way to return.”
Skye avoided Louisa’s stare and picked at her nails.
“So Aranare tells me that you’ve mastered your ecstatic magic,” Louisa said, still looking at Skye.
“Yep. I can make people happy or allure them to me? A fat lot of use that will be on a battlefield.” Skye pouted.
The conversation about the Sirens from the throne room swam back into my head, mostly weaving light magic and mind illusions.
“Do not discount your magic. As a descendant of Agápe, you should be able to give people dreams and walk into the memories of others as a dream. But dream weaving is highly complex—”
“Are we going to weave a dream today?” Skye’s eyes widened.
“No.” Louisa exhaled. “We are not trained to teach you. It’s a skill unique to Agápe’s people. That’s why I think you should go to Thálassa. It’s where Agápe herself came from.”
Skye nodded, still chewing on her lip.
“Will Skye’s magic work on the dead?” I asked, remembering how I couldn’t sense the Drowned’s emotions.
Louisa’s brow furrowed. “I’m not sure, but throughout mythology, Sirens have often been associated with death and are known as harbingers of the underworld. So, I think it’s likely.”
“Could you tell us what magic you expect us both to have? It might help with the journey.” I crossed my arms and lifted my chin, meeting Louisa’s gaze with a defiant stare.
She let out an exasperated sigh. “It’s not that simple. Ocean magic is as wild as the tides. Some of it comes from ancient pacts with the gods, some is drawn straight from the sea, like the Mer’s, and then you’ve got evolution and crossbreeding layered on top...” She turned to Skye, her voice softening. “You have to trust that Agápe brought you back for a reason. Let her guide you.” Then, she looked at me. “And you need to stay in the realm of peace and light. Don’t let the darker side of your power take hold.”
