Lucian took Peri’s free hand in his much larger one and sent his reassuring love through their bond. Over and over, he proved himself to be faithful to his word. He was in this with her, for better or worse. It didn’t matter if she was crazy, an emotional mess, a little too outspoken at times, or even when she was just a plain brat. But he did put her in her place when that last one became a problem.
“Your questions have been answered,” the goddess said. “What should you do with the information you’ve received?”
Peri frowned as the words confused her. They probably shouldn’t. It wasn’t a difficult question. Yet the fae didn’t have an immediate answer. Whatshouldthey do? Alston was already dead. Their mothers were dead. There was no chance at revenge.
The Great Luna, who seemed to be containing the glory of her presence so as to appear as if she was just one of them, lifted her chin. It seemed to Peri she was silently saying, “I’m waiting.”
“We mourn.” It was Nissa who answered. Her hand still shook in Peri’s grip, and Peri could tell her friend was trying hard to hold it together. It reminded Peri of how she had felt when Alina had died. They’d all been fighting the urge to fall apart. But they’d had to wait for mourning until the appropriate time, when it was safe to let themselves hurt, be angry, and find some sort of peace in the outcome. “We find a way to forgive those who have wronged us.”
Peri snorted and gave Nissa a sharp glance before turning back to the goddess. “Why were the memories blocked?”
The Great Luna raised her eyebrows.
Peri lowered her eyes out of respect, reminding herself that the Creator did not owe them an explanation. She didn’t owe them anything. They were the clay while she was the potter. The Great Luna loved her creation, and for that reason, she gavethem her attention, her time, and the words that they needed in order to understand the things that they didn’t.
“If the memories had been left unchecked in your mind, your juvenile thinking would have clouded your ability to do anything other than take revenge. At that time, you were not strong enough to take on your enemy. You didn’t have the ability to set aside the grief and consider the situation rationally. You wouldn’t have known that sometimes justice requires patience.Isee the whole picture. All of eternity is laid out before me.” She stretched out her arms, emphasizing her words. “Mortals see only the immediate. You don’t even know what will happen minutes from now. You had no idea the consequences if you had taken on Alston and he would have killed you. The ripple effect of your death would have moved through time like a devastating hurricane. It only takes a spark to start a fire. It takes one small breeze for the fire to grow. Then it begins moving, engulfing everything in its path. Your death, and Nissa’s, would have been that spark.
“One day, this world will come to an end. Then all those who are mine, those who have remained faithful, will return to me. Those who have chosen the path of evil will be left in solitude, separated from my love and my glory for eternity. But that day is not yet at hand. Now, you will mourn, as Nissa has said. You will forgive. You will lean on me, and the ones I have given you for support, and then you will continue to run the race set before you. Put one foot in front of the other, Peri, looking neither left nor right. Trust that I will keep your feet steady on the narrow way, all the while calling those back to the fold who have strayed.
“You and Nissa have chosen time and time again to resist evil. Are you perfect? Of course not. You have, at times, given into temptation, allowing your own will to rule your life. But you have repented, and you have learned from your mistakes. The right thing is almost always the hard thing.” The Great Lunapointed at Lucian. “It is easy to walk away from a relationship when it gets hard or does not give you the fulfillment that you think it should. While it is difficult to humble yourself and remind yourself of the commitment you made, it is hard to accept your own responsibility in the conflict. To set yourself at the feet of the person who has hurt you and say, ‘Because I chose you at the beginning, I will continue to choose you over and over. I will serve you as the precious gift that you are.’”
Lucian held tighter to her hand, and Peri clung to him.
Then the goddess looked at Nissa. “It’s easy to run from a battle that could cause you pain and even death. Fighting the good fight is always harder. Taking responsibility can be humiliating. It is humbling and, to some, seen as a weakness. But, in truth, it is cleansing and beautiful.”
Peri knew the things the goddess was saying were true because she’d experienced them. But that didn’t make the right choice any easier.
“The lesson here is simple,” the goddess continued. “There are things in the past that are painful. They cannot be changed. You must accept them, and you must let go of any bitterness, animosity, anger, and resentment so you can move forward with clean hands and a pure heart.”
Peri’s eyes fluttered shut as she basked in the loving presence of their Creator. The words spoken soothed the pain and hurt that the memories had carved into her heart. When she opened her eyes again, the Great Luna was gone.
“Now you know,” Serapha said gently.
Nissa gave Peri’s hand a squeeze and then released it. When her eyes met Peri’s, they were filled with unshed tears. But Peri didn’t see any angerorbitterness. She saw acceptance of exactly what the goddess had said—a past they couldn’t change, one they would have to learn to accept. “Let me know when you’reready to start looking for Celise,” Nissa said, then she looked at the draheim. “Thank you.”
“I am sorry for the pain this is causing you,” Serapha said. “But I am glad that you can now heal from it.”
Nissa nodded and then flashed.
Peri turned to look at Serapha. “I know you were doing what the Great Luna commanded, and I want to be angry with you, but I’m not. Two thousand years ago, I would have thrown a fit, but I hope I’ve grown since then. And through this, I hope I continue to grow. So thank you.”
Serapha leaned in close and gently nudged Peri’s hand affectionately. “You are not draheim, but since the day that your mother came to me and asked for me to be ready for her call to protect you, I have claimed you as mine.”
Peri swallowed hard as a surge of emotions gathered from deep inside of her.
“You lost your mother that day, but I took you as my daughter. Over the centuries, I have watched over you. And I will continue to do so. You have never been alone, Perizada, even when you felt it down to your marrow. You have been loved deeply.”
What could she say to that? How many beings had invested in her life without her knowledge? Warmth filled Peri as she considered the Great Luna’s words from previous meetings. The goddess had made sure that Peri had had a support system, even though she’d not always recognized it. “I am forever grateful, Serapha,” and she meant the words with every fiber of her being.
“I am here anytime you need me.”
Peri looked at her mate, and the love in his eyes was the final straw. She’d held it together for as long as she could. She flashed them to their place in her own realm, next to the river.Their spot. Then she fell into Lucian’s arms, letting the tears flow freely.
He ran his hand down her back as he made soothing sounds. “Let it out, Beloved. Let me bear it with you and for you.”
Dalton watched his mate as she quietly dressed, put her strawberry hair up in a ponytail, and then slipped on her shoes. He tried to pinpoint when things had changed between them and couldn’t. There’d been so much going on with the hunting of Alston, Ludcarab, Cain, and the vampires. He’d missed the crack in their relationship, and now it felt like there was a chasm.
He had asked her repeatedly to talk to him. Jewel had simply told him it was witchy stuff. He’d come to understandwitchy stuffto mean that she was struggling with the darkness that Volcan’s spell had left inside of her. Though the Great Luna had made a sacrifice on behalf of the healers, she’d told them that because evil was in the world, there would always be darkness to face. She’d said they had tochooselight. Dalton couldn’t begin to imagine what was going on inside his mate. He wondered if she even understood it herself. Had the darkness returned in earnest to snuff out the goodness of the gypsy healer within? He wished she’d talk to him. Dalton had tried over and over to get her to open up, but she continually pushed him away. He didn’t know what to do, short of tying her to a chair and demanding answers. Not that he could contain her. His mate was powerful.
