But if she was there, she was the only being who could give Lia back to me.
“Dea,” I said. “Please. You can’t give me something so precious, so wonderful, so amazing, and then take her from me. I need her. I am not whole without her.”
I sucked in a shuddering breath because my throat had gone tight, my chest constricted. “Our love bond surpasses death. I took your vows in our marriage ceremony and claimed Lia as my own. I promised to care for her and protect her. Please let me do that. Let me have another chance.”
There was only silence, only my dead wife in my arms.
“Dea, I will offer you anything you want if you restore her to me. My kingdom, my crown, my life. All of it forfeit if you ask for it. I cannot do this without her. She is my light, my heart. Nothing else matters to me but Lia. Please.”
I couldn’t stop myself from muttering the word “please” over and over again, pleading, begging, as I rocked my wife back and forth in my arms.
Waiting for a miracle.
Chapter Fifty-Six
“Lia?”
I opened my eyes slowly. The first thing I noticed was that I wasn’t cold anymore. The second, that I was dry.
The third? That I was outside, lying in a field of flowers.
I sat up and looked to my right. “Maia?”
She smiled brightly at me. “Welcome.”
“Does this ... mean I’m dead?”
“Yes.”
That was not the answer I’d hoped for. I got up slowly, expecting to be injured, but nothing hurt.
I felt . . . good.
Maia walked over to me and held out her arms. I hugged her. “I never thought I’d see you again.”
“Didn’t I tell you that I’d always be here for you? You are my favorite acolyte, after all.” That made me smile.
She released me and I asked, “Where are we?”
“Think of it as a world beyond our world.”
“That didn’t really answer my question.”
“Always so curious,” she said, tilting her head in amusement, and I realized she wasn’t going to give me more details.
“That curiosity has helped. We’ve had to figure out so many things on our own.”
“I know,” she said with a nod. “I can’t tell you how foolish I feel now. To find out that we could have had magic at the temple. Women carry the seeds of life within us, have an ability to nurture and create. Of course the goddess’s power was always meant to be ours.”
Confirmation wasn’t necessary, but it was nice to hear. Maia speaking of when she’d still been alive dredged up some guilty feelings.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there to save you and your niece,” I said, the words sticking in my throat. I would always feel guilty that I hadn’t been able to help the women of the temple.
“Everything has happened the way it was supposed to,” she said. “We are both very happy here. Free from pain, from death, from sickness. Living with our loved ones for all eternity.”
“So is that what happens to me now? You’re here to escort me to my family?”
“Your grandmother is here, and I could take you to see her. Or ...” She turned to the right and a door suddenly appeared. “You could go through the door and see what waits for you there.”
