Smoke rolls off his body in waves as he traces away, leaving the echo of Frankie’s screams behind.
I sprint toward the portal, the chaos fading behind me. I brace myself and step through, ready for the storm that met me last time. But it’sdifferent now, less volatile. Shadows wrap around my body while I move, but they don’t hurt. Up ahead, a soft light surrounds a figure lying on the ground, curled into a tight ball.
Frankie!I rush toward her, my heart ready to rip in half when she trembles, gasping for air. Her entire body shakes with sobs.
“Melita,” I whisper, dropping beside her. “Baby, look at me.”
She stares straight ahead, eyes glazed over, unfocused. “I’m sorry,” she mumbles. “I’m so sorry.” She repeats over and over, not realizing I’m here.
I pull her onto my lap. The side of her head rests on my chest, her legs draped sideways over my thighs. “It’s okay. I got you, baby. I’m here.”
She gasps, choking on a sob. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I—”
“Frankie.” I make my voice stronger this time, trying to pull her back. My thumb wipes away the tears from her cheek.
Her head turns slowly like it hurts. Her eyes are unfocused when they find mine, and I know she doesn’t actually see me. Then her lips move.
“The babies…” Her voice cracks on the word, breaking something in me with it.
What is she talking about?I reach for the bond, for the babies. I can feel their little hums. They’re faint, but they’re there.
“They’re safe,” I say, but she doesn’t hear me.
Her breath shatters. “I…” She tries again. “I…”
Whatever she’s trying to say won’t come. The words cut off as she panics. Her hands claw at her chest trying to pull the sound out, and the light around her starts pulsing faster again,
“Frankie.” I grip her shoulders and force my voice to be firm enough to cut through the noise. “Look at me.”
Her gaze flicks up, wide and glassy. Her face is soaked with tears. “I can’t feel them,” she chokes out.
“I promise, they’re safe.” I take her hands and place them on her stomach, praying our little firecrackers will give her a sign.Come on, little ones!
Then I feel it. The tiniest little kick. Thank Gods! Frankie’s eyes light up, and the tears start again. The fight drains out of her as she sobs. I pull her closer, feeling her body tremble until it finally slows.
Something moves. Light shivers through the haze, morphing into a voice. Not human, different. It’s layered, ancient, every syllable vibrating against my bones.
“The Cry of the Valkyrie,” it says. “Few living souls could bear to hear it, yet twice now it has reached me. Once from death, once from despair.”
It’s her. The Goddess who first spoke to Frankie months ago. “Theia?”
“Yes,” the voice rolls through the space around us. “This is not the first time our souls have met.”
Something stirs in me, a flicker of a memory that isn’t mine. I don’t understand, but her presence is familiar to me, like I’ve stood before her, but had simply forgotten.
The light deepens, gold seeping through the smoke, filling every shadow around us. “The balance is not yet restored. The portal still hungers for what was denied.”
Frankie’s head jerks up. “No.” Her voice trembles. “No, I won’t” She clutches her stomach, shaking. “They can’t have them. I won’t let them take the babies!”
I don’t understand. Why is she talking about the babies? They have nothing to do with this. Then it sinks in, and my whole body goes cold. “The babies?” My voice comes out rough. “Frankie, what…”
She’s sobbing now, incoherent, thrashing against me, trying to get away.
I catch her wrists, pulling her close, my voice steady even when my chest feels ready to crack. “They’ll never touch our children. You hear me? Never.”
Frankie’s voice comes out rough. “I won’t let it take them.”
The light around us thickens as Theia speaks again. “The portal was born of two forces—light and dark—bound by love strong enough to break worlds. It will only be steadied by something born the same.”
