Page 54 of The Bonds of Nyx

I nodded. “Time for pancakes.”

Pancakes werenotmy forte. Usually, I let Thea make things like that, but chose to leave her alone. She’d done enough for us, and the last thing I wanted to do was to force her out of bed.

Instead, I set to work. Batter ended up all over my hands before I was rescued by Adrian. He claimed I was ‘not helpful’ in the kitchen, and instead of arguing—because Thea had always said the same thing—I made coffee and sat with Maisie. At least she was finding some sort of normal. She talked nonstop about a cartoon she wanted to watch when we finally went home.

My stomach twisted at those words; Adrian and I exchanged an uncertain look as he dished up the pancakes. Would she understand that we couldn’t go back? Probably not for a while. I suspected Ginny was on her way to understanding we weren’t going home to Blakeview. But Maisie had a childlike hope that everything would return to the way it was.

And it killed me knowing that I would have to destroy that hope in a matter of hours.

Ginny and Eloise, dressed in their own clothes, finally made their way down after an hour. Ginny smiled a little as she dropped onto a chair beside me with her turtle under her arm. Eloise said nothing as she slid into the seat on Maisie’s other side, simply resting her chin on her hand as she watched Adrian cook up another batch of pancakes despite my protests—andEloise’s questions of why a ‘prince’ needed to know how to make pancakes.

Tension filled the air when the girls finished and Maeve came down from her office. Rowan was beside her with Marion, and all three hid their emotions well. Only Eloise was aware of what was about to happen.

Maeve didn’t have to say a word; I nodded my understanding and gathered the girls, motioning for them to come into the sitting room with me.

Heart thundering, I sat Ginny and Maisie on the plush sofa. Eloise joined them, crossing her feet under herself as she nodded in my direction. I took a seat on the coffee table across from them. I tried to keep my own anxiety out of my voice as I watched them.

“We need to talk about Mom,” I started, watching both girls carefully. “She’s not going to get better.”

Maisie shook her head, tears welling in her wide, blue eyes. “No, she’s just asleep. You said she was asleep, and she’d wake up.”

“I’m sorry, nugget,” I murmured, pressing a hand to her trembling knee. “She isn’t going to wake up. She was more hurt than we expected, and now, it’s time to let her go.”

Tears streamed down Ginny’s red cheeks as she looked at Eloise, but the little bit of hope she had died instantly. Eloise straightened her back and wrapped an arm around Ginny. “It’s true. Mom is only hurting because she’s asleep. It’s time we say goodbye. She knows we’re gonna be okay with Ivy.”

Soft sobs sounded from Maisie. “I don’t want Mommy to go.”

“I know,” I replied, my voice cracking. “I don’t either. But she’s not okay.”

The crying continued as Maisie crawled into my lap. I held her close to me as her tears soaked through my sweater.

“We’re going to say goodbye,” I said, sucking in a shaky breath as my own tears fell down my cheeks, “and we’re going to tell her we love her. And we’re going to let her go. She’s going to join Nanna and Pop-pop. And Thea’s Grammy. She won’t be alone where she’s going, okay? And you guys won’t be alone. You’llneverbe alone with me.”

Soft cries filled the sitting room, and I let that wash over me. I should have been able to do more for them, should have been able to save Kerry or prevent it from happening. And I hated myself for thinking like that because I hadn’t been the one to stab Kerry with the poison—but I might as well have.

It isn’t your fault,Elias whispered. I could feel his presence close by, but he stayed in the kitchen with the rest of the team.You know that it isn’t. You just need to focus on them. Let me think about the bastards responsible and their deaths.

I would have laughed if it weren’t for the shaky breaths struggling to fill my lungs. Instead, I tightened my hold on Maisie. Eloise looked up at me, her own silent tears streaming down her face, but she held herself together better than I’d expected—better than she should have.

When the crying lessened, I stroked Maisie’s hair and asked, “Are you ready?”

Maisie had her thumb in her mouth, and I couldn’t find it within me to tell her to stop. She pulled back from me slightly and nodded, skin splotchy and red, eyes puffy. Ginny looked the same as she clutched her turtle to her chest. But she nodded as she sniffled.

Eloise and I shared one last look as we took their hands.

Marion had disappeared, likely to prepare Kerry. I had no idea the process of what would happen after we said goodbye, but I trusted Maeve to have that sorted. I met the vampire’s sad gaze and nodded.

She followed us up, as did Elias, Rowan, and Adrian. It was comforting to have them all there, to know that we wouldn’t be alone.

Thea was already in the room, her arms crossed tightly over her chest. She was wearing her own clothing, and stared sadly at us as we filed in. But she didn’t say a word. Instead, she gave us her strength and pulled me into her side as Maisie and Ginny crawled onto the bed.

Marion stood across from us, her hands clasped, as she said, “I will protect her until she reaches Avalon.”

Ginny made a strangled noise as she threw her arms over Kerry. “They’re taking her away?” she asked, her body shaking as she sobbed.

I blew out a breath and sat on the edge of the bed. “Yeah, they have to. They need to take Mom away like they did with Nanna.”

Ginny pulled back from Kerry and sniffled. “Why?”

---