The garden was a blur of green as I covered her hand with mine. My chest felt rocks were piled on it. “NO. There must be a way.” I tore out of her grasp and launched myself at Ranth, shoving him with both hands. “You can make this happen. Stick your hands in the ground and ask the Trees or the Serpent to fix this. Or let us stay here and live with you. Fix this!”
Ranth grabbed my wrists as I fought against him.
His voice was a soft caress. “I cannot. Asking will not change it. You know this in your heart. Accept it or it will destroy you.”
I stopped struggling. “Like the whispers,” I thought.
He answered, “Yes,” in my head as he pulled me against his chest. I breathed in his scent, his skin silky under my cheek.
I did know this.
My mother could not return to life. Her time on earth had passed. Sparing her from an eternity with the Sisters was the best I could do.
Ranth’s hands smoothed down my back to my waist, and he whispered into my hair, “You can do more. You can prevent the Sisters from hunting on your world.”
I leaned into him. “What do you mean? How can I do that?”
“In your time, there is a tablet. With it, you can close the portals, and the demons won’t be able to pass back through the other worlds. That includes the Sisters.”
“Where is it?”
“I can only tell you what it looks like and where it was last.”
Images of Egypt flickered through my head.
I blinked. “The Queen’s Tomb? Wasn’t that lost?”
“The location given was not the right one, so thieves would not find it and ravish it.”
“But someone must have known?”
“All who were part of it were entombed, and the ones who did the deed, sacrificed. The location was kept hidden even from the royal chamberlain who oversaw it.”
“You’re telling me you know where it is?”
“I’m telling you I know where the tablet should be.”
“That’s not exactly an address. If no one knows where the tomb is hidden, that’s an impossible task.”
“It’s all I have. If you can get that, then you can block the Sisters. Until then…”
“Yeah, I know, I have a job. Got it.” I looked at my mom longingly. She stared at the clouds that weren’t really there. “What will happen…” I couldn’t say it.
“She will move forward with her journey.”
I choked back a sob. This would be the last time I would see her—ever. I ran back to her. She enveloped me in her arms. Her familiar scent intensified as if impressing on my memory.
“Sunshine, it’s okay. I accept my new phase, as you must too. I believe in you. Go be the witch you desire to be.”
“Your book, the one you gave Bud. Why do I have to wait until I’m twenty-five?”
“Twenty-five is a special time for our family. I wish I could be there for you, but I know you will be the witch your grandmother dreamed of. Your ancestors are with you, my dear heart.” She was crying now too.
I nodded against her, sobbing, unable to speak.
“Sorrel, the time is running out. You promised…” Ranth’s delicate whisper inside my head was like an itch I couldn’t ignore.
“Come with me. We’ll find a way.” I pulled back from my mother and looked around for him.
