Arien slipped the flower into my palm. I closed my fingers around the delicate bloom and lifted it in front of me.
“I have a gift from your mother,” I murmured.
When Rhiannon saw what was in my palm, she exclaimed, a wordless cry of denial.
Her creature lunged forward to attack, power gathering around his hands. I could feel the sparks of it along my skin, even from ten feet away. When he loosed his magic, a crackling ball of light and heat, I merely waved a hand.
Rhiannon’s eyes widened when the ball balanced on my palm before dispersing in a shower of blue and white energy. I absorbed it all.
“It can’t be,” she whispered.
“It is,” I replied.
With the gifts the Goddess had given me, I had become more like her. I could feel it. The magic in the earth, the water, the air, and in the fire, it all responded to me. Itexistedwithin me. I was part of it. When and if my mortal body died, I would return to the elements. I would become like the Goddess, able to see and hear everything in every realm.
But only when I was ready.
I lifted the flower. “I call the power, Rhiannon. The power you absorbed was not mine, but your mother’s. With her blood vow, I call it back to her.” I took a deep breath. “And I curse you, Rhiannon. Not as you cursed me. I curse you to feel all the pain you deny, to relive all the moments that you have hidden from your mind with magic and time. You willfeel, my aunt. You will feel it all. There will be no escaping what you have done, however desperately you want to.”
Rhiannon lifted her hands, chanting spells and curses, anything and everything she could think of to destroy me.
But it was useless. The magic she used wasn’t her own, but the Goddess’ and mine. She could not turn our own power against us. Not anymore.
She threw her head back and shrieked, a guttural sound of pain and defeat.
I lifted the flower and her form shimmered. As she vanished, I felt her presence within the heart of the delicate petals. The pulsing light brightened until it was nearly blinding and then it faded.
She was trapped there until her mother released her, forced to relive everything she had done.
The creature collapsed when her control over him vanished. He fell face down to the ground. I felt pity well within me. He was changed now, possibly forever. Perhaps I could find a way to help him with Gaius’ grimoire. If not, I only hoped that he could be brought back from the insanity that Rhiannon had forced upon him. That the atrocities he’d committed hadn’t twisted his psyche irrevocably.
The flower in my hand glittered, the edges fading slightly. It pulsed with light once more then slowly dissolved. I could feel the Goddess’ presence and looked up. A good distance away, at the edge of the trees that surrounded the property, she stood in her white gown, her dark hair blowing in the gentle wind.
Thank you for sparing her. I will not forget.
I nodded once, lowering my now empty hand to my side.Just as I will not forget all you’ve done for me.
She lifted a hand and as she disappeared, she whispered to me once more.I have one more gift for you.
Then I felt her in my mind, the barest touch, and a kaleidoscope of color filled my mind. Suddenly I could see her, my daughter. From birth, her childhood, to adulthood, I saw her life unfold before me. Every beautiful, precious moment of it. It hurt, but it was the exquisite pain of a longing fulfilled. It would never replace what I lost, but it brought me a small measure of comfort.
“Thank you.”
I whispered the words aloud, my lips parting in awe with each crystalline moment that filled my mind.
Then she was gone.
I released the breath that I’d been holding and let the shield surrounding me fall. Arien laid a comforting hand on my shoulder and squeezed gently. I knew she had listened to my conversation with the Goddess.
It was time to face my mate and my friends. No, my family. Somehow they had become exactly that.
I turned around and my eyes immediately fell on Macgrath. He was staring at me with glowing green and gold eyes, his anger nearly palpable. I approached him, keeping my shoulders back and my chin lifted. I could not be ashamed about what I had done.
As I drew closer, I realized that his mind was closed off to me. I couldn’t sense him nor feel his emotions. Sadness stabbed at my heart. Though it hurt, I had expected as much. I had been the first to separate myself. He had a right to his anger and his privacy at the moment.
“Why didn’t you tell me what you planned?” he asked.
I could feel the eyes of everyone else upon us and I knew they were wondering the same thing. I could have mentioned it, even if I knew time would be short.
