That sticky, cold feeling he usually invoked was nowhere to be found. Instead, the air warmed, becoming kinder, as the storm around them settled so much that Ydren and Auphore both stiffened, retreating a few feet back across the sea.
Once again, the whispers were gentler, more patient, and they sounded clearer too.
Merrick picked up his own name and Lessia’s, and something that sounded like “brave,” as the shadowy figures materialized all around them, some floating across the sea, some so close he could reach out to touch them.
As his gaze flew across the souls, making sure none of them posed a threat to the female he held, dark eyes latched onto his, and this time, Merrick staggered backward so forcefully he almost lost his grip on Lessia’s hands.
It couldn’t be…
But beside the female with those large dark eyes, where silver swam and whirled like the sea behind her, stood a Fae male with silver hair tumbling down his back and an expression on his face that Merrick interpreted as…
Was it love that made the male’s features so soft?
Merrick opened his mouth. Then he closed it again.
This… this was…
A rush of tiredness enveloped him like the salty breeze just had as Lessia let go of his hands, spun around, and stalked up to the two Fae staring back at him.
“We don’t have much time,” Lessia said sharply as the female’s gaze moved to his mate, and Merrick knew he should have spoken up, but he couldn’t.
That…
For the first time in his life, the Death Whisperer just stared at what unfolded before him.
“You need to tell us what’s going on and why you are here. And how we stop fucking dying whenever you come around!” Lessia’s voice was as hard as her face as it bounced between the two shadows, who didn’t seem much like shadows at all anymore as their features sharpened, their skin turned more golden, and their hair even moved with the wind.
The female smiled at Lessia. A warm, understanding, and motherly smile that had Merrick’s gut twist.
“We will, child. And we know you don’t have much time, so we’ll tell you everything we can as fast as possible, but first…” The female peeked over Lessia’s head, her blonde hair carrying streaks of gold similar to the ones in Lessia’s brown strands, shining brightly even in the dim light surrounding them. “Can I say hi to my son?”
Merrick stumbled forward as Lessia turned toward him, and whatever she read in his face had her skin whiten before bright red spots burst across her cheeks.
“Y-your son?” she stuttered as her rounded eyes remained on Merrick’s.
It took everything in him to keep his voice steady, albeit much lower than he intended, as he took the two steps needed to reach them and wrapped an arm around Lessia’s shoulders to keep himself upright. “I… I don’t know… They?—”
Lessia’s eyes flew across his face, wonder and confusion and just a little bit of worry whispering across her features, and he stepped even closer to her as he finally made himself look at the two people he’d seen so many times, depicted on the paintings in the war camp he’d grown up in.
Like everyone in the Morshold family, they’d been heroes, both of them. In a way Merrick could never live up to. Not with the gift of death he wielded.
The Morsholds were known for how bravely they’d fought as they drove the gods from this realm, how they’d commanded Rantzier’s armies, and how they’d given their lives to save others.
He’d only been a babe when his parents were killed—on the same day but in different parts of the battle—and he’d heard whispers that his father had gone first, and his mother had felt their mate bond break, and when she’d fallen to her knees, an enemy sword had severed her head.
There was no trace of that now, though. Both his mother and father were clad in gray robes, the silver in them mirroring his father’s hair, and their faces and skin were clean, not a speck of dust or blood marring them.
“Hi, Merrick,” the female said in that loving voice that made his throat close up. “It’s so good to see you.”
“We don’t have much time,” his father continued. “But we’ve waited so long to speak to you.”
Lessia’s mouth was still hanging open when Merrick’s eyes returned to her, and he hesitated for a second when his mother spoke once more, and his and Lessia’s heads snapped forward.
“Elessia, we’ve wanted to meet you as well. We’ve watched for so long, and?—”
“You’ve been watching us?” Merrick didn’t mean for his question to sound so demanding, but there was a flicker of fear in Lessia that he wouldn’t stand for as she eyed his parents.
His mother only smiled. “Of course we have. We’ve been with you your whole life. You just… couldn’t see us.” The silver in her eyes turned almost liquid, sorrow spreading across the dark.
