Andmy ass. I gave a little booty wiggle, knowing Ry and Mik were watching. One of them laughed, though I couldn’t look back to see who. I might run out of courage. I took a deep breath and tossed my wadded-up t-shirt to one side, watching a few flecks of glitter fly into the air, then dove for the gate.
It closed behind me, sounding precisely like a fire door clanging shut—permanent and immovable. The Limen stretched in front of me, all clouds and pastel benches and chairs. I waited for the pain of separation to hit, but nothing happened. Maybe a little twinge in my nape, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as the pain in my chest. The mega-merging had worked.
I ran through the long hallway toward the unmistakable, endless onyx field at the far end, clutching Mike as firmly as I could in both hands. As I reached the edge of the clouds, I leaped into the void, flapping my useless wings and letting the words of the song that Imriel had given me burst forth. They were what would propel me on my journey.
The lyrics themselves were incomprehensible—it was like they were too big for my mind to encompass, though I could tell I was singing about love and redemption, grace and sacrifice. Very holy, I was sure. But the tune?
If I hadn’t thought he was before now, I now knew it for sure. My big not-brother was a complete ashhole. Or vindictive. I sucked in another breath for the next verse of the song, the notes to “Ninety-Nine Bottles of Beer on the Wall” zinging out into space and pulling my body along.
Minutes stretched into hours, hours into days, as I sang. Behind me, there was a thin thread of silver-blue light that vanished into the distance, but the space all around me was nothingness. A cold void that seemed to leach away my soulfire. The pools of energy Mikhail and Righteous had poured intome, and the constant thrum of their mating feathers, gave me courage to face my destination and keep singing, even when loneliness began to set in.
Finally, I thought I saw something. A small blip of cream on the horizon, like a seed pearl, sort of irregularly shaped and shiny. I sang louder, hoping it was Sanctuary. But, like a desert mirage, it never got any closer.
I gripped my sex toy, wishing the Maker’s gift had been something slightly more useful. An interstellar unicorn with wings, or a rocket ship. Or even just some water. I was parched.
After a while, I grew breathless as well. I could feel the energy leaving my body, and when I glanced to either side, I could even see it, glittering like tiny shooting stars as it leaked.
Other things could see it too, I realized, when a shadow to my left began to grow deeper, closer, and wider. I had no idea what it was, other than a really big, really scary presence.
Was it Rumple? As it approached, blotting out an ever-larger part of the already dark void, it was apparent this was something else. Rumple had never inspired this sort of visceral, pants-wetting fear. No, this thing was not at all friendly.
I kept singing, and the song pulled me in a straight line toward what I hoped was Sanctuary, but I twisted around when I felt cold tendrils on my legs. Cold,moisttendrils.Ew,I thought, trying not to miss a note while I scraped at my leg with my free hand. My other hand held Mike, and I was for sure not going to use that to wipe off shadow ooze. I had no idea how long this trip would be, and my dildo was my only entertainment.
The shadow blurped.
Excuse you,I thought.Moist and blurping? That’s disgusting, even for a shadow thingy.
Thoughts that felt like shards of crystal intruded on my own.You shine.
Oh, shizz.I thought I knew that voice. I peered over my shoulder, and saw a part of it wasn’t as flat as the rest of the space around us. It was shiny. Glittery. And the protrusions looked the tiniest bit like a face.
This was the scary voice I’d very carefully not told Imriel about.Hey, imagine this, us bumping into each other again.
You shine,it repeated. Maybe it wasn’t the same one? But then it said,You glitter.It remembered our last conversation, in Sanctuary, when I’d distracted it by saying I would glitter bomb the entire realm.Yes. Destroy. Rend. Glitter.
I gave a mental thumbs up.Glitter all the way, my dude,I said after another minute, or an hour, in one of the breaths between verses. I needed this thing to think I was on its side, right? So it didn’t attack me.
And it didn’t. But after a while, I felt something plucking at my vibe, trying to pry my fingers off the comfortable, squishy grip.
No!I tightened my fist around it.Mine.
Want.It pulled harder, and my arm went out to one side. I focused on the song, but it was almost impossible. The edges of the shadow presence kept plucking at my fingers. I wrapped both hands on the vibe before it could get loose, and growled the next line of the song.
The void around me sulked. I wasn’t sure how I knew that was what it was doing, but it was obviously having a very quiet tantrum.
What?I snapped as it began sulking more deeply, the tiny flecks of deep purple and pink roiling across its surface.
It didn’t answer, but I blinked. Deep purple and pink… There was glitter all over it. I smiled to myself. Maybe this creature wasn’t all bad.
You look good, I thought.I like the way you shine.
It stopped sulking. I had no idea the void could preen, but it was pretty clear this part of the Abyss was doing just that.
It was cute.Wait. No.I wasn’t supposed to think the void was cute. And the last time I’d thought someone was cute, he’d turned out to be my stepbrother. I shuddered in the silence.
Oh, no. I’d stopped singing.
Terror assaulted my senses. The Celestial song, the message, was slipping out of my mind. I chased it with my thoughts like a child running after a helium balloon that was already out of reach, the string inches above my head…
