“Oh? Who?”
“Ren. You met her in Night Haven.”
“She left Maribella’s?” I can’t believe it. I thought the frightened woman whom I left in the vampire kingdom would remain a blood donor forever. She was so afraid to venture out on her own.
“She credits you with getting her out of there, El. That’s how I met her. After she was topside, she looked you up. She didn’t know anyone else and didn’t have anywhere else to go. She showed up on the doorstep of Harcourt and told me how she knew you. We hit it off immediately, and I invited her to be my roommate. She’s a great cook.” A blush stains her cheek.
“Oh—Maeve, when you say you hit it off…?”
Her face positively glows. “We’re together. It’s only been a few weeks, but I’ve honestly never been happier.”
I hug her again. “I’m so happy for you. Ren is good people. She got me through some incredibly hard times in Night Haven.”
“I agree.” She laughs. I glance down and see the tea in my cup is halfway gone. The tea set is Maeve’s anchor. Once the tea is gone, we’ll be thrown out of this dream and both return to our own worlds.
“Maeve, I wasn’t expecting to see you, but now that you’re here, I need your help.”
She frowns. “What’s going on?”
I give her a short rundown of what’s happening in Stygarde, with as much detail as I can fit into a few minutes. I tell her about the blood tax and the young shades who work the fields drugged out of their minds. I tell her about how a dark elf sits on the throne and how I was tortured by her father, the elf king, in Blackspire. I speak so fast I wonder if she’s even following. But when I’m done, she looks adequately horrified.
“Eloise, by the goddess, it’s amazing you’re still alive. You are an evil queen magnet. Goddess, two planets, two evil queens. You are two for two.”
I laugh at the truth of it. “Two evil queens and one benevolent but terrifyingly crabby goddess,” I remind her.
She chuckles. “How can I help?
“I need you to give Morpheus a message. Tell him that his mother, Tempest, is okay, but that war in Stygarde is inevitable. Tell him that he was the first thing she asked about when we arrived here and that Aendor is helping organize the resistance. Tell him she loves him.”
Maeve snorts. “Another visit to Morpheus… Yay…” She unenthusiastically shakes her fists in the air. The two aren’t exactly chummy, but I know she’ll follow through.
“Anything else?”
“Cassius. Let him know what’s going on. Damien and I miss him. And thank him for helping me.”
She squeezes my hand. “You have my word. I’ll tell them everything you’ve told me.”
I glance down at the tea again. It’s almost empty. Just a few drops left.
“I miss you, Maeve,” I say, tears flowing freely now.
“I miss you too.”
“Say hi to Ren.”
“I will.”
“I’ll try to Hitch and Cast once my powers are working ag?—”
47
Flight
DAMIEN
Eloise is still sleeping when I slip from our cabin. She needs the rest. We collapsed into bed the second we reached our dwelling, our bodies drained from our ordeal on the shadowpath. I have many questions about Eloise’s heartbeat and whether her magic has returned with it, but she needs to recover first. Nothing good can come of rushing things.
I use the opportunity to seek out my mother and Karyl in their cottage. The conversation I need to have with them is, perhaps, well overdue, but given our trajectory, it is imperative we have it now.
