I stopped short of asking how old she was. After all, who really cared? At the end of the long day, when the universe no longer turned on, we were all old. Ancient and should have been frittered away by the least breath left in the cold night air. But forwhatever reason we continued while others died. A freak miracle at best, and a tragedy, at worst.
Anitta’s rotting lips pulled back to reveal teeth the same yellowish hue as her stained eyeballs. “Do not pity me, you pathetic small firebird. You think you are bright and fantastic but his love will fade as all things do.” Her snarl broke off in a hiss that sounded like a broken tube letting out air from a puncture.
I rolled my lips inward. “Do you have that much magic left?” I asked quietly. “Or have you used it up on your tricks and shows? I know you used to be very powerful.”
She will run in spite of herself. Do not be fooled by appearances or any line she feeds you.
Tifa’s words drifted across my mind. I kept my distance, remembering the stories, what this demoness had done to Sebastian’s wife. But that was before and now…
“I am more than you will ever be, small creature,” Anitta declared. “I have slain my firstborn. He, who was ended by my hand, gives me strength. I will rise stronger than ever at the birth of the new day,” she proclaimed, her hideous cackle less of a war cry and more an off key screech.
I still didn’t move from my perch on my crypt, though I did throw a thumb over my shoulder. “Your first born? You mean that one?” I gestured to Sebastian where I knew he and Tifa entered the graveyard. Most likely with Dolion, but I’d deal with the pink toed gargoyle later.
After.
If.
“You aren’t supposed to be alive.” Anitta stared over my shoulder, and squinted.
I waited for one of her eyes to pop from her skeletal face and plop onto the grave below her feet in a jelly puddle and was so disappointed when it didn't happen.
“Neither are you, maman,” Sebastian said softly from somewhere at my back. He didn’t seem to want to bring Tifa closer, and nor did I blame him. The horror that stood before me was bad enough.
“And I thought we were doing everything together. Forever, Steorra,” Dolion’s growl grew louder.
I tested where I perched, waving a hand out, but it was too late. He swept forward and the knife that had pierced Sebastian’s side pricked my throat. The tang of blood—not mine, not yet—stung my nostrils.
A derisive laugh burst from me. “Didn’t you even clean the blade, you hag?”
“You,dare,” she shrieked, digging the point into my throat. This time fresh blood flowed, warm and thick from my throat.
Dolion’s mouth opened in horror, but I smiled.
“Forever. Remember?”I mouthed the words that wouldn’t have been heard anyway beneath the mad woman's cackle that filled the graveyard. I wondered if she didn’t try to resurrect every soul in it. Then we would have a different battle on our hands.
“I remember.” His voice barely made it to me over the white noise floating around me as heat built deep within my core. “I remember everything about you, Steorra.”
A storm brewed deep within me as I stood still, letting the flame burning constantly within my soul wash over me for the first time in my life without panic. Without fear. My eyes shuttered as I breathed in my last, savoring the freedom of my lungs expanding on the warm night air.
Feet shuffled as Dolion herded Sebastian and Tifa back out of range. I hoped he would move them far enough. Tears that weren’t for me tracked my cheeks, turning to steam on contact.
Anitta’s hands curled around me, pulling me back into her body. I let her touch me, let her draw me close to her heart, herfragile, rotting skin. Let her saliva dribble onto my bare shoulder where my cheesecloth shift, the simplest piece I owned, soaked through immediately.
From dust we came, and to ash we shall return.
I opened my eyes, seeking only Dolion out. He stood much closer than I wanted him to be, his muscular legs spread in a defiant stance. Tifa and Sebastian huddled at the far end of the graveyard, almost out of sight, where they needed to be. Good. That was good. They were safe.
Dolion, however…
“We will have words,” I told him, my tone hitching as the blade pressed into my skin.
“You have nothing,” Anitta told me.
“You will die, I murmured back, all show and pomp gone from me, my energy depleted except for one last act. I had no time left for anyone, except for my stone man who stood opposite my crypt, who refused to move no matter the consequences.
“Forever, Steorra. You promised me.” Amber eyes glinted with the fire that would soon reign.
I nodded, and let out my breath. Released my flame. Let it build. Heat wavered the air around me even as Anitta cackled again. Madder and stranger than ever.
