30
MAX
Opening my eyes, I exhale.
I’m back in theIn-Betweenagain. The air moves like a current in the sea and the ground shakes ever so slightly as if walking across a blanket of moss after a hard rain.
The village around me though, isn’t what I expect. With small huts of rough stone and a heavy mist, it clings to the walls with a somber attitude. The dirt is black, rich with nutrients, and the faintest howl of a creature in the distance has me searching.
It’s the growl of a Skrull from the Eternal Night Forest. My shoulder still bears the scar from their bite.
“He can’t get you here,” someone says to my left. Quickly, I jump up, expecting to see Aoife’s ghost haunting me here. We just defeated her, finally stopping to camp close to the borders before pushing through to the Shadowlands. It’d be just like her to return from the Underworld and kill me.
But it’s not her—another woman stands in front of me.
With bright red hair and matching lips, she stares at me expectantly. Short, curvy, and delicate, this woman exudes a quiet strength I’ve never felt anywhere.
I notice her eyes—large orbs of blue that are mirror images of twin sapphires set in a pale face.My eyes.
“Thea?” I ask timidly, and she smiles, warm and wide.
“Hello, Maximillia.”
I throw myself into her arms. She smells like love—the softest scent of juniper and cedar, like the woods around us. Her arms are sure and familiar, though I can’t remember my last hug by my mother. Yet, my body does and I sink into it as she pets my hair.
“You’ve grown.” She laughs, chin wobbling.
“How are you here?”
She pulls back, wiping my cheeks. “A gift fromSeti. I don’t have very long.”
“Does that mean the Hadeon is safe?”
My mother nods. “He rests where he belongs. Seti gave him to you because he knew what was to happen. He’s very fond of your father. This was his way of easing the burdens that have been placed on our family.”
My shoulders drop. I’ll never be able to repay the sacrifice from the beast, but it feels good to know he’s finally resting with the God of the Dead—his true master.
“Your journey is not over,” she tells me, smoothing my shoulders. “Aoife was just one step toward the end.”
I sigh. “I know. We still have to handle Griffin.” Killing Aoife will break the curse over the world, magic will return and with it, old memories will appear.
The Humans will be angry and hungry for magic. Griffin has had it out for me and Kaden since we first met. He won’t make it easy.
She smiles sadly. “It will be difficult. But you must rely on your allies.”
“Mal and Layla?”
She shakes her head. “You will see. When the battle is almost lost, you must rely on those who you once trusted most.”
The familiar sensation of shifting sands makes me stop, twisting to look around. The mist swirls and the beasts grow louder.No. No, I’m waking up.
But this is just a small gift. I’ve hardly had any time.
Cupping my cheeks, my mother presses a kiss to my forehead. “I am always with you, Maximillia. I gave my life so that you may live. I would gladly crush my own heart if it would make you happy. You are everything I’ve always wanted in a daughter.”
Tears drip from my eyes and I nod, clutching her close.
“You have your father. Cherish him. And through him, you will know me.”
