“Not even when it concerns your mother?” She knew she’d won even before she struck the blow. A slow, ancient smile curled her broad mouth.
I was going to kill her. “What about my mother?”
The witch motioned at the door, still hanging open behind me. “Come in, Garrick the Red. I have a bargain to offer you.”
CHAPTER 56
GARRICK
I’d expected it,but that did not make their loss any less acute. I even tried not to blink so that Syleris would be forced to physically remove her before my very eyes. But in the end, he had the upper hand. Whatever else he was to us, this was the Unknown Gate, and he was the Dark God.
I stood on the same path as before, except that the tree with the witch symbol was gone, and so were Koryn and her familiar. I’d face my future alone. Damn, I hoped I was not consigned to a future alone.
At least with the Lifebind, if Koryn died, I would as well. There was a sort of comfort to that. She’d go on to Syleris, and I would not be tortured by a life without her?—
No.
Neither of them got to go on without me. Not without a fight.
I strode down the path with purpose. Koryn was not beside me. Isanara was not twitching nervously or sassing silently through her bond with Koryn. Whatever this future was, I was ready to face it.
It did not take long for the light to appear.
It started like the mysterious passageway through space that my stepmother had opened—a single pinprick of light. Unlikethe one Parry had created, which spiraled outward and then opened to another place, this light grew larger and brighter with every stride, until it was like staring directly into the sun.
I kept one hand on my sword, the other loose and ready to draw the bow. It never missed. It had been enchanted by its creator. My Lifebind. My Koryn.
The light was brighter. It shone on my clothing, my hair. I just kept walking. Straight forward, straight into it, until I had to close my eyes or risk them burning out of my skull.
I waited for impact. For a shift in the world around me, like when Syleris’ power ripped us from place to place or realm to realm. But it never came. Eventually, I forced my eyes open, just a crack. Enough to see?—
To see that everything had changed.
“Garrick,” my mother said. “Come and sit with us.”
Us.
Koryn and my mother sat before a wide stone hearth, where a fire blazed and a wide-bellied pot of something fragrant bubbled.
My mother said something quietly. Koryn threw back her head and laughed. It was a sound I’d never heard from her before. Wild and untamed, just like her, full of life despite her circumstances. Free and totally unguarded. Her hair was longer, the ends nearly brushing her backside.
Just like my mother, she appeared healthy and happy and whole.
I looked out the window. The brambles. The same ones where my mother and I had once carved out a life. They were still there, but they’d been cleared back to make room for a large yard. Rows of fruit trees and vegetables were neatly arranged. There were flower beds. It was peaceful.
It was not Velora.
“Garrick, we need you to taste this,” Koryn called from the hearth. The coven mark was still there on her forehead. Her sleeves obscured the Lifebind, but when I looked down at my own wrist, I could see it.
“I tried to use some of your herbs,” Koryn was saying. “But Iravena thinks I may have taken it too far.”
I walked to the hearth. Every step made a sound. I could feel my own weight. Everything about this future felt real. My mother safe. Koryn happy. Far away from Velora. It was precisely what I’d dreamed of in those bleak days after the Memory Gate.
I stopped short. Koryn held up a ladle full of clear liquid speckled with dried herbs. I did not reach for it.
“Where is he?”
My mother blinked up at me. Koryn frowned. “Where is who?”
