Evander woke with a splitting headache. He groaned, turning over in his cot and blinking in the darkness. Where was he?
He recalled the battle with the Titans, and Marina and Gaia healing Cyrus. He had helped sift through the wreckage and corpses, trying to find those who were injured and still alive.
So many had perished.
He blinked, his brain foggy from sleep and his heart heavy with grief. As his eyes adjusted, he sat up slowly. A faint light filtered in through a gap in the ceiling.
A cavern. He was in the fire witch caves. At some point, he had collapsed from his injuries and been brought here to rest.
He turned, then let out a sharp gasp.Mona.
Evander lunged for her, tripping over his cot and sending it toppling. But he didn’t care. Mona rested in a cot directly next to him, her eyes closed and her expression peaceful. He took her hand in his, then froze.
Her hand was cold.Icecold.
“Mona?” Evander whispered, shaking her arm.
She didn’t move.
“Mona!” Evander shouted.
Still nothing.
No, no, no.She wasn’t dead. This couldn’t be…
Frantic footsteps pounded nearby, and a figure appeared at the mouth of the cave. It was Prue, her curly hair wild and disheveled. Her eyes were red-rimmed, as if she’d been crying. “Is she awake?”
“No,” Evander said with a frustrated growl. “Prue, what’s happened? Why is she like this?”
“She—She held on to the power of the Triple Goddess for too long.” Prue’s voice was broken by sobs. “She should have let go sooner. But she forced Trivia and me to leave first, before it destroyed us. And she—she?—”
Evander’s chest shuddered, and he let out a low, anguished groan. “Godsdammit, Mona.” He slammed his fist into the hard ground, not caring when pain sliced through him, making his knuckles bleed.
It was just like Mona to sacrifice herself so others could live. She had done it countless times. It had even killed her once.
And now, it seemed, it had killed her a second time.
Anguish choked Evander, cutting off his breaths. His stomach twisted. His chest caved inward. He couldn’tbreathe.He couldn’t function.
Not Mona. Please, not Mona.
He hunched over, his body breaking down. He couldn’t see or hear anything. Only his rasping breaths. Only his shattered heart.
Not Mona. She cannot die. Please.
A warm hand pressed into his shoulder, and his head snapped up. For a moment, he thought it was her, touching his arm, reassuring him she was here andalive.
But it was only Prue, her face streaming with tears.
Evander almost snarled at her to leave. This washerfault. If she had only held on longer…
But no. No good would come from such thoughts. Evander knew this. And he was too tired for rage. He had no strength for it.
“She isn’t dead, Evander,” Prue said softly. “But… we can’t get her to wake. Gaia and I have tried everything.” She took a shaky breath. “Gaia believes onlyyoucan bring her back. Just as you did before, in the Underworld.”
Evander frowned. It took him a moment to realize Prue was talking about after Mona had died. Her soul had been disconnected from her body, and Evander had found a way to merge them together again.
Through the song of her soul.
