It looked like the seam between closed doors. But...how to open it?
An offering, probably. Just like the Lady Marche had given.
Blood.
I plucked the magicless dagger Olivian had given me from my belt. The blade gleamed, reflecting the storm. I guided it across my palm.
Hot red agony raced up my arm. I gritted my teeth, then pressed my hand to the trunk’s crack, wincing at the sting.
Blood coursed into the seam, muddying its glow. The buzz in my head intensified, like a swarm of wasps trapped inside a box. The crack widened, the tree peeling apart, the curtain of wood parting to reveal...
I staggered. A woman slept inside, suspended in a translucent amethyst cocoon, like a butterfly awaiting transformation. Only she was more magnificent than any butterfly in existence. Brown-skinned and black-haired, wrapped in a delicate shroud of palmetto leaves, Zephyrine was awe-inspiring, her beauty almost violent.
I threw up a hand to shield my eyes. Looking at her was like staring into the sun.
You have something to offer me.
The goddess’s lips moved, though her eyes didn’t open. Her words flowed straight to my mind, bypassing my ears.
“Yes,” I said. “I came to complete the bargain. I’ll give you my blood, all of it. And in exchange, you’ll stop trying to bring back your daughter. Stop dreaming. Leave Oceansgate in peace. Let Amryssa return to you when she’s an old woman.”
The goddess’s lips twitched—a smile, or a grimace, I couldn’t tell. Her teeth crested to points at the tips.You’d offer your life?
“I would.”
Very well.I accept. All your blood, for fifty years.
I paused. Fifty years. That should be enough. Amryssa would be seventy-seven, by then. I raised the blade again, set it against my wrist. Pain bit at me with bright teeth as I hesitated.
I chanced a look behind me. Kai, my sweet Kai, tussled with Vick, whose sword lay on the ground, now.
A spear of pure love pierced my chest. Despite Kai’s lack of training, he would win, that much was plain. Vick was writhing, throwing sloppy punches, then pulling at his hair and screaming. In contrast, my husband moved with surety, landing blows and darting away again. Vick pinwheeled his arms, then turned on himself.
He was melting. Falling apart.
And Amryssa...
Wait. Where the hell was Amryssa?
When I turned back, there stood my best friend. She’d gotten past me, somehow, or maybe come from the opposite direction. She gazed up at her mother. The goddess had opened her eyes and pressed one hand against the wall of her cocoon.
Amryssa reached out.
“No!” I shrieked.
Fire lit my muscles. I snatched at Amryssa’s hand and dragged her to the ground. Pebbles slammed into my kneecaps, but I ignored them. I hugged Amryssa tight, my knife angled so as not to hurt her.
“Not you,” I babbled into her hair. “Let her have me, instead.”
“Harlowe.”
Every nerve heated to a live wire. There was something in her voice, a hum I’d never heard before. A command. I eased back, hating to let her go, but needing to see her face.
Amryssa took me by the shoulders. “Harlowe, it’s all right. It’s going to be all right.”
“I know.” Desperation coated my words. “Because I’m going tomakeit all right. Zephyrine can have me, and you’ll stay here. Oceansgate’ll be safe. No more nightmares. You’ll help Olivian rebuild, and you can come back here when you’re ancient. When you’re done making the world better. When you’re ready. Just like your mother said.”
She smiled, sad but indulgent, like I’d offered her a dead bird and tried to call it a pet. “But I’m readynow.”
