“Nyx.”
Not alone.
Slowly, I turn around, following the sound of the voice. Once again, I’m not frightened or scared. If anything, that sense of peace seems to have intensified.
A woman stands in front of me about ten feet away. Her long black hair kind of reminds me of mine–-the strands flowing as freely as the waterfall behind me.
“Who are you?” I ask calmly.
She smiles softly but doesn’t speak. It’s as though she’s waiting for me to pick up the pieces and put them together.
The Moon Goddess? No. That wouldn’t make sense.
There’s only one possible person she could be.
“Ophelia,” I say.
Raising her hand, she beckons me to follow her. “Come this way.”
We round the edge of the water, the lush grass beneath my bare feet feeling like clouds. I walk toward the rock face, noticing an entrance way into the stone.
As I enter, I blink and suddenly I’m in a field full of wildflowers. Spinning around, I’m confused to find the entrance way I just walked through has completely vanished along with the waterfall.
“Sit, Nyx.”
When I turn back, I see Ophelia sit at a tiny table sized for two in the middle of the flowers.
“Where are we?” I ask, sitting down across from her.
“Your dreams,” she answers casually. “But with the essence of my existence that still lingers.”
Oh, geez. I was never good with riddles. What does that even mean?
“It means,” she says, making me question if I accidentally just voiced that thought out loud. “The essence of my soul that stillremains on this Earth has found you while you are between realms.”
My eyebrows furrow. “Am I dead? Wait. What do you mean between realms? But I’m still on Earth?”
Ophelia nods. “You’re between the physical and divine cosmic plane while Mira heals.”
“You know about Mira?”
“Of course. She’s tied to my wolf.”
“I’m alive?”
But how?
Smiling, Ophelia leans forward, resting her arms on the table. “Yes, you’re alive. Unconscious but you’re healing slowly.”
“Oh,” I mutter, falling back into my chair. “Good.”
It takes a moment to let that sink in, relief flooding through me. At least, I hope she’s correct. Maybe I’m in purgatory or concussed somewhere. Worse, this is just a horrible dream, leading me into a false sense of hope.
Still… if what she’s saying is true I need to ask questions while I can. At this point, almost anything is believable.
Perhaps if you had asked me a few months ago if something like this was real, I’d laugh. But after everything that has happened recently, nothing surprises me now. I think I used up all my shock after Cade.
“Do you…” I pause. “Know what’s happening? Down there? Or here. Whenever home is.”
