The air whooshed out of me in one invisible punch. “Dr. Fairmore?”
Chapter 20
“River.” My name sounded uncertain on Dr. Fairmore’s tongue, like she too was rationalizing that I was there. But I wasn’t the one back from the dead.
She was.
Crushing and melting the ice had taken a lot out of me, but I didn’t think I was on the verge of hallucinating. I blinked. Once, twice, and a few more times, just to make sure.
“What—what are you doing here?” I could hardly form the sentence.
“I… After I escaped Chthonia’s henchmen, I had no choice but to flee.” Her deep brown eyes sparkled with something—shock. Hope. Incredulity. “I have to admit, when there were whispers that the Angel of Water was here in Hamarinn, I didn’t believe it.”
Tears dotted my lashes. How was she here? I’d visited her grave; her face haunted my dreams; I’d blamed myself over and over for her death. I bit the inside of my cheek. If I could hold it together in front of hundreds of people, I would not break down in this hallway.
“But it’s true.” A hint of a smile quirked her gaping mouth. “My God, it’s true.”
Shooting right past the formalities, we drew each other into a tight embrace. The threads of emotion I’d been able to keep tightly wound snapped, and I was crying into her shoulder, the hot tears burning my cheeks, slipping over my jaw.
I didn’t deserve this hug. I didn’t deserve her.
Tight black curls brushed the side of my cheek, lavender and honey and a spritz of salt infused in each strand. It was such a familiar blend of smells—reminding me of home, of those therapy sessions that changed my life, of all the reasons I had to live.
Finally letting go, I took a step back, wiping my nose on my sleeve. I glanced over my shoulder, checking for Flóki—to find the hall silent, empty, as if he’d never been there in the first place—before turning back to Dr. Fairmore.
Looking at her face… I still saw the shredded office, the dark magic, the cemetery.
She’d died. And I didn’t know by whose hand—the Night Stalker offshoot or the demon posing as my therapist—but at this point, it was all the same. I’d mourned her. I’d?—
“I don’t understand,” I said with a sniffle. “You had a headstone and everything… Is this magic? Are you really here, or is this my exhaustion and my Source playing tricks?”
Her lips curved up, but sadness haunted that knowing smile. “Come.”
She walked into the courtyard, the long hem of her dress dangling in a drip of sage fabric across the stone.
I matched her idle strides, noting the shadows billowing and fluttering around her as if they were… wings.
The towering mountains loomed above the open ceiling, their jagged silhouettes cutting into the sky—no clouds, just sunlight, and the sparkling branches of the icy willow draping over our path.
She led us to the heart of the tree, the limbs forming a perfect shield from listening ears and prying eyes. “After our last therapy session, they attacked me in the parking garage.”
They. My nails dug into my palms, Ryder’s name a dry lump in my throat—but I had to ask. I had to know. “Who were they?”
“I don’t know exactly.” As she parted the foliage, her sleeve slipped down her arm. A scar marred her skin from the top of her wrist to her elbow—that was new. “They were wearing masks; and from the moment they captured me to the moment I escaped, they didn’t take them off. But they bore the marks of Chthonia fanatics—inverted pentagrams, goat-headed figures—on their skin and their clothes.”
Acid churned in my stomach. They’d taken her—tortured her, by the look of that scar and the other one I caught, a good slice along the side of her neck.
She ducked her head. “I wanted to be there for you?—”
“No.” I placed my palm on the tree trunk, and the cool bark dug into my skin. “This is all my fault, Dr. Fairmore. You don’t need to explain yourself.” I don’t deserve it.
“Call me Olivia,” she said. “And I owe it you. Owe it to her.”
My pulse drummed in my ears. “Who?”
She finally glanced up, her eyes shiny with unshed tears. “Your mom.”
“Why?” I fought to steady myself, the ground feeling like it might slip out from under me at any second.
