Abigail fell, unable to fight anymore. She gave up and gave in, not caring for a blissful second, crashing to… …. …to a cushion made of translucentvvyst. It fluffed around her likea cloud, rushing to cup her body, seeking entry inside via her nostrils, her mouth, and her ears.
The pain eased, Abigail’s head cleared, and her body relaxed. Energy poured into her and helped her to her feet. Standing firmly, she lifted her chin to see Ethedra holding the vortex over her head, a bright light swirling with grey and black matter flowing in a stream from it across the Templum, directly to Abigail’s chest, swarming her and filling her with healing power.
Abigail closed her eyes.Thank Rhen.Her eyes flew open and she ran for Ethedra’s well. The vortex-light moved with her for a few feet, then the stream collapsed to the ground like water, the energy dissipating while Ethedra tucked the vortex away in the folds of her cloak.
Abigail shouted, “You said it would be a human child! He took Paisley!”
Ethedra pulled the vortex back out of her cloak and held it between her hands, one over and one under. Abigail stopped ten feet from Ethedra’s well and stared, transfixed by the pull of the thing.
“Because your protections are so complete and biological—” Ethedra intoned, her voice deeper and louder than normal, reverberating through the vortex. “—the Augury was fooled and saw a human child, but the Tether is ever at work in your family, drawing Khain to you, even when he intends a human.”
Twisted emotion flooded Abigail, filling her throat with fire. She stomped her foot and magic crackled around her like electricity. “The Tether, the Tether, the Tether!”she shouted. “Of course it’s themotherfucking Tether!I’ll never be free! Always will I have to watch my fucking back, watch my fucking voice, watch my fucking grandbabies!” She shrieked like a warrior, filled with a young woman’s voice, expressing the agony of living as the demon’s spawn.
“The bofox will break the Tether,” Ethedra intoned in that same reverberating voice.
“But Paisley!”
“She is protected. Your veil is protecting her mind.”
“Her body?”
“Khain has needs for it to be whole and well. He hasThe Usefor it. She will be untouched, if thevodvodCrew Arcoal gives up his mate, and if his mate gives up her life.”
“They both will?”
“They both have promised again and again.”
“Khain will give up my granddaughter?”
Ethedra smirked but the voice did not lose its resonant sound. “Without ever knowing what he had in his hands. The wolves will recover her. She’ll be taken to the hospital, where you’ll retrieve her without incident, if you are quick and ready and everyone plays their part well.”
“Will Crew Arcoal sense Paisley’s veil?”
“Perhaps.”
“What will he do?”
“The fates offer several replies.”
“Sweet fuck,” Abigail whispered, knowing that meant no one knew what any filthyvodvodwould do in the moment.
“The fates reveal you’ll be talking to him sometime today, before Paisley is recovered.”
Abigail moved to the closest well and held on, expecting her legs to give out at the news, but they didn’t. She stayed standing, musing, running her fingers over the brick of the well, with Ethedra silent behind her.
Abigail turned to face her. “What about you?”
“The fates have long foreseen thevodvodseeking the counsel of the augur, as this day turns to the next. The seeds have been planted and nurtured and only await eruption and bloom.”
Abigail thought that meant Crew Arcoal would be going to Orion and meeting with Ethedra around midnight. Ethedra had influenced someone close to him in that world years ago, in preparation for this moment.
Ethedra lifted a hand from the vortex, raising it over her head. She snapped her fingers, then drew her hand down her body. Her clothing changed from the black ceremonial gown with hood to a lacy purple dress drawn at the waist with a leather corset, high-laced black boots, and fringed headwear, her gray hair loose down her back, her eyes dark and luminous, staring at nothing in particular.
Abigail backed up against the well, clutching imaginary pearls. “You look like you should be telling fortunes at the county fair!”
“The wolves expect garishness,” Ethedra intoned, her hand drifting back to cup the vortex. She tucked it into a secret pocket, and her voice became normal again.
“I look forward to meeting with your preciousvodvodtoday,” she sneered. “I have a very important task for him in Dilmet.” She pouted theatrically. “My babies are trapped and hungry.”
