“I can't believe this is it.”
“Is it?” he asked, and I turned to him, noticing his raised eyebrow. “I mean, the gods did favor you after all.”
I let out a huff.
“If that's what you call it nowadays.”
He rammed his elbow into my side.
“They’re listening, you know? Don't make them regret what they did.”
I knew what he was saying had some merit. I felt them there, and I knew they saved me. But I didn’t know how or why.
“It was all in vain,” I said with a sigh. “They saved me just so I could die a few hours later.”
“Aren't those interesting?” Max suddenly commented, changing the subject, and motioned to the shifters, who still hadn't changed from their beast form.
I let my eyes linger on them.
“I thought they were a rumor. A badly thought-up fairytale,” I admitted.
I had heard stories of them, whispered here and there, but nothing credible. I just assumed it was all made up.
“An experiment. Dumped into the Underground by a corrupt ruler. A decade later, that place is filled with them.”
“What are they really? Do we consider them witches anymore?”
Max shrugged. “I don't know. I know they started as witches, but now they have turned into something else entirely.”
Silence fell between us. I didn't want to look at my dead body anymore. Or watch them cry over me.
“You got really lucky with them. I guess it’s good it all worked out in the end.”
“Is there a reason why I'm here?” I asked, getting frustrated. “As much as I want to see Aurelia and Vesper, it hurts to see them like this. You being here is telling me this isn't some type of afterlife, so… what's happening?”
He sent me a smirk. “Quick one, aren’t ya?”
I let out a huff.
“Youweregoing to die. You felt it, right? It was warm. Comforting. Just like a lover’s embrace. You almost fell into it.”
“Until you woke me up.”
“You'll thank me in a bit.”
He took a step forward, getting closer to my body and my lovers. Unable to stop my curiosity, I followed him.
My eyes started to widen when I realized what he was seeing.
My wound was closing. Vesper and Aurelia were talking, but I couldn't make out what they were saying, all of it melding together into background noise.
“You know, most witches don't make the change,” he said. “Their magic fights it off and lets them go back to their gods only to start the cycle again when the time is right. But you're different. Like I said, the gods favored you.”
It took me a few seconds to grasp what he meant, but when I did, happiness burst out of my chest.
And then some slight apprehension.
“You were distracting me while the change ran its course.”
