Chapter 40
Zara
I was everything and nothing.
I floated among the stars, the sky stretching far and wide, wrapping around me. It was beautiful—peaceful. I wondered if I had become a star? If I were now a wandering soul, and if all stars were just that. Souls waiting, watching—searching.
But what was I searching for? Waiting for? How long had I been here?
Stars, planets, and entire universes twinkled in front of me. The black space was filled with endless vibrant colors. They were so bright and colorful that there were no words to describe them. I just watched in awe as I drifted and drifted and waited. But for what?
Something appeared in the distance, and I was pulled toward it as if by a thread. I was flying through space, through time itself, as I halted before three large stone thrones. They were the size of mountains, and I watched as three figures appeared upon them.
The first figure, the one in the middle, seemed familiar somehow. It was a man, curly dark hair, with devastating features. He was all hard lines and sharp angles, and he was powerful. I could feel the raw energy buzzing in the air around us. His bright, glowing, blue eyes shone as brightly as a sun.
The woman to his left was also beautiful, young, almost like a child. She had a rich, dark complexion with short, wavy black hair, and those same eerie, glowing blue eyes.
The woman to his right was old. She had white hair and wrinkled skin, but she was anything but frail. That same energy pulsed around her, and again the same glowing bright blue eyes. All of them wore long black robes.
Zara.An ancient male voice boomed, but I didn’t notice any of their lips moving.
Zara? I knew that name. It felt familiar somehow, but from where? Where was I? Who was I?
Something snapped in my mind, and my life, my memories came flooding back.
There had been so much death and manipulation, but there had also been love.
The memories sped up, and I spun in them endlessly until I remembered it all, gasping as I came back to myself, one person on my mind.
Xavier.
The Fates were silent as they watched me, but what was I? I should be dead. I shouldn’t be here.
“What am I doing here?” I called out, but my voice was lost in the air. I wasn't sure if anyone could hear me until a young and old, ancient voice filled my head, and I watched as the young girl on the throne tilted her head at me.
You are here because we made it so.Her words were both loud and soft, carrying the wisdom of age, yet it was also playful like a child’s.
“Why?” I questioned and winced as a ripple of power surged toward me. It pressed in on me, and I sucked in a breath as my body appeared, a large marble floor stretching beneath my feet. I was wearing a long white robe, and I glanced at my hands, turning them over, unsure if they were real or if this was all just an illusion playing out inside my head.
Your life is far from over, Zara.
The young woman that had been on the throne was now gone, replaced by a much older version of herself. Her young features now wrinkled, her hair now a stark white.
The other two had also changed. The male in the middle now appeared young, boyish, and the old woman to the right was now middle-aged, with golden hair and smooth porcelain skin.
They were all devastatingly beautiful, and a shiver ran through me as I blinked.
Our time has come to an end, Zara. Like those before us, and before them.
I blinked again, still not understanding why I was here, how I was alive.
You are in the in-between, held here by your thread, by me.It was the male who spoke this time, Caelan, and the memory of him leaving my body had my blood boiling. He had magic… he could have saved Xavier, and he didn’t.
You misunderstand, Caelan said icily, and I glared up at him, my fists clenching.I did not have any power. The curse that was broken was old magic, magic I had already used.
If I were thinking more clearly, that might have made sense, but I wasn’t.
“You could have saved him,” I snarled, and Caelan’s voice boomed.
