Cliona smiled. “This is the fun part. If we can wrest control, your mother might receive some magical backlash. Enough to take her out of commission long enough for you to find her and deal with her. Unfortunately, I don’t think this will be a problem that solves itself very quickly. Sarah might be with you a while as you figure out how to safely let her go without damaging Ethan or yourself in the process.”
“How long?” I asked.
“Long enough for us to find a nice necromancer, figure out the magic she’s using and where she learned it, and figure out how to free Ethan before he realizes what’s happening to him and tries to free himself.”
“Oh,” I said faintly. “Is that all?”
Evie rubbed her face. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”
Cliona snorted. “No. But I do believe this is the only one we have.”
The only thing I ever wanted was Ethan’s happiness. “You’re sure Sarah can’t stay?”
Cliona’s expression turned serious. “However this turns out, Sarah must return to the earth. There is no world in which she is supposed to be walking.”
Evie sighed. “Kinda fucked up if you think about it too long, considering what Fee did with the Lords.”
At the mention of her name, my chest warmed. Fee’s affection for Evie was still alive and well in the spirit of her phoenix.
Cliona inclined her head in curiosity, just as Evie paled. “What exactly did Fee do with the Lords?”
I winced. Cliona did not know I still held a piece of the phoenix. As Evie explained what happened, Cliona’s face fell. “A last sacrifice,” the goddess murmured. “Are you sure she’s dead?”
Evie kept her face carefully blank. “I saw Fee disappear myself.”
Not a lie. Cliona could interpret that however she saw fit.
“Phoenixes have different capabilities,” Cliona said after a moment. “They are the only ones allowed to determine someone’s worthiness.” She shook her head. “And for whatever reason, she determined those Lords are still worthy. So no, Evie, it’s not fucked up. Fee willingly gave her life so they could live. Entirely different from Sarah’s dilemma. She was forced from the dead by a puppet master. Sarah no longer owns her life.”
“I will soon if things work out,” I said quietly.
Evie’s attention snapped to me. “You’re going to go through with this?”
“I don’t see another choice.”
My friend closed her eyes for a brief moment. “If Ethan finds out you’re holding the reins, he’ll never forgive you.”
“Then let’s make sure he doesn’t find out.”
Cliona nodded. “Stay back here with the bone. Don’t do anything else until I tell you it’s okay.”
I nodded, fear rising in my veins. If this would save Ethan, I was all in.
Evie stepped up beside me. “I’ll stay with her.”
Cliona reached up to touch my face. “I hope you one day have the reckoning with your mother you so desperately need.”
I’d settle for her dropping dead of a heart attack, but I appreciated the sentiment. “Me too,” I said.
“Then let’s begin.”
Chapter
Twenty-Six
ETHAN
Idug through the pantry and the fridge and couldn’t find the container of cookies anywhere. Last night, I’d showered, inhaled a meal and went straight to bed, unable to muster up the energy for dessert.
