Lilly laughed. “Okay. I promise. I love you, kiddo.” Lilly ended the call and set the phone beside her.
Myanin watched as the warlock queen stood motionless, staring at the floor. She muttered something under her breath, but Myanin didn’t catch it. Instead, the djinn studied Lilly’s body language. Her shoulders slumped forward in defeat, her face lost and forlorn, and her hands trembled at her sides as if they needed to hold something but there was nothing left to hold. This was a woman who had lost not just one man, but two. She’d said that when Jacque’s father had left, she’d been able to move on, but it wasn’t the same with her soul mate. Losing her soul mate seemed to have knocked the queen on her ass, permanently.
Myanin watched Lilly wipe away more tears and felt a kindred spirit with the woman. The djinn knew what it was like to be frozen in a state of complete bleakness. Slowly, as if watching the dawn creep onto the horizon, Myanin began to have a realization. Yes, she’d been heartbroken when Thad left, much like Lilly had been about Dillon. But Myanin hadn’t been permanently stopped in her tracks. The grief she’d experienced wasn’t the same as she saw Lilly enduring now. That could only mean one thing—Thad was not her soul mate. It was as the Great Luna had said. Thadrick was not meant to be hers, no matter how badly she wanted him to be. Deep down, she’d probably known that all along. But until now, she’d not been able to face the truth. Even after the Great Luna had spoken to her, after admitting all of her guilt, there was a small part of her that still wanted to hold on to Thad and almost felt like she needed to. But standing here, watching the queen so lost without the other half of her soul, Myanin realized that what she felt for Thad was an imitation of the real thing. She didn’t want an imitation.
The truth came with a painful finality. She knew she’d never be with Thad. But there was another emotion walking hand in hand with the pain—freedom. A lot like the freedom she’d experienced when she finally confessed her transgressions. The weight was gone. It allowed her to breathe a little easier. Myanin felt as if a veil had been lifted from her eyes. The world, which she’d hadn’t even realized had been muted sepia, became crisp and vibrant to her once again.
Now, as the djinn stared at the distraught woman, empathy overwhelmed Myanin. To her surprise, she realized shewantedto help the queen. Call it female solidarity, or whatever, but she didn’t enjoy seeing this woman, this incredibly strong woman, so broken.
Myanin walked toward her.
“Hello, Queen Lilly,” she called. Myanin knew before she spoke the words that the queen wouldn’t be able to hear her. The djinn circled the oblivious female, thinking about what she might do to help. How could she shake the woman out of the grief? How could she force her to act like the queen she needed to be?
A plan began to formulate in her mind, as she smiled. She knew what to do. “See you soon, Queen,” she crooned. Then the djinn concentrated hard on her own consciousness. She wasn’t exactly sure how to transport herself out of this vision, but she assumed a strong infusion of willpower would do the trick.
Myanin felt the breath being ripped from her lungs as she focused on wanting to be in the present. All of her desire went into needing to be where she could begin to put her plan in motion, help and no longer hinder herself or anyone else. The pressure in her mind built and just when she thought her skull might explode, Myanin found herself once again sitting next to Tenia. She was breathing hard, and her heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest. Tendrils of sweat trailed down Myanin’s neck as her skin began to heat. She felt Lyra’s magic undulating beneath her skin, seeking a way out.
“That was interesting.” Tenia said, her voice a little higher than usual.
“One second,” Myanin said as she tried to catch her breath. “It’s about to get more interesting.”
In her mind, Myanin pictured the magic rising to the surface of her flesh, much like the sweat on her skin. She pictured it sitting there, no longer trapped inside, and then she imagined a massive downpour of rain. The kind of rain that kept you from seeing even a foot in front of you, washing away all of the magic from her skin. Suddenly, there it was. One drop, then a second, and then a downpour. She heard Tenia curse, but Myanin just threw her head back and laughed as the power she’d stolen, that she’d forced to bend to her will, was washed away. The rain drenched her in seconds, and it was the cleanest Myanin had felt in years, maybe even centuries. “Thank you,” she whispered through the deafening downpour.
“There is still much to do, my warrior.”The Great Luna’s voice filled her mind.
“Myanin?” Tenia’s yelled, “Are you all right?”
Myanin heard the apprehension in the fae’s voice.
“I am,” Myanin yelled back. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Well, a few minutes ago you sort of just crumbled to the ground, like your legs couldn’t hold your weight, and you grabbed your head. I tried speaking to you, but you didn’t appear to hear me. I’m guessing that was a little side effect of stealing your elder’s magic? Then you were suddenly back, and you couldn’t breathe, then the sky opened and is currently trying to drown us, and you’re just sitting there laughing. Forgive me if I’m not reassured by your ‘why wouldn’t I be’,” Tenia explained.
“Yes, that was the elder’s magic, but it’s gone now. I’m free of it, praise the Great Luna.” Myanin sighed. “As for the rain, doesn’t it feel good to be washed?” She turned and looked at Tenia. The rain had slowed, and she could see the fae’s face clearly. Her eyes were wide, her cheeks a little flushed, and she honestly looked like she didn’t have the slightest idea how to answer Myanin’s question.
“I prefer my showers in an actual shower,” Tenia said after several beats of silence. “Just, a, uh, personal preference I guess.” She paused as she wiped the water out of her eyes and then asked again, “Are you really all right?”
Myanin took a quick evaluation of her faculties, her emotions, her person. The foreign magic was gone, and she wasn’t burning from the inside out. There was still much she needed to work through as far as the encounters that she’d had with the goddess and the changes she could feel still transforming inside of her.A new heart,the Great Luna had told her. Myanin pressed her hand to her chest and took a deep breath. “I am,” she finally said. “I’ve got a long way to go, but I’m moving forward. Change is hard, Tenia.”
Tenia’s smile was so genuine as she looked at her. “It is,” she said, nodding. “But then nothing worth doing is ever easy.”
Myanin chuckled and her smile widened. “Speaking of doing, I know where we’re going next.”
Tenia narrowed her eyes on Myanin as her lips pursed. “Why do I get the feeling it’s not Romania?”
“Because you’ve got good instincts. We’re going to pay the newly crowned warlock queen a visit. It seems like she needs motivation to move from being the grieving widow to the conquering queen. She’s going to have to be a lot stronger if she’s going to stand against the shit-storm the Order is planning to rain down on her.”
“You’re really picking up on the human profanity,” Tenia pointed out, not for the first time.
Myanin grinned, feeling lighter than she had in months. “I know. Who knew it was so fun to curse?”
Tenia frowned. “Don’t smile like that, ever. It makes you look creepy.”
“Creepy’s bad?”
“Yes, always bad.”
Myanin shrugged. “I’ll remember that. Now, flash us to Cypher’s stronghold. We have a queen to attack.”
