Page 207 of Gift from the Wing

My contractions began picking up and my men couldn’t take my pain anymore. They broke out of their cage and came to me. We knew what was coming and they refused to be withoutme.

Franklin found us or was more so told by Drin and he was furious.

My men easily could have killed him. I told them not to, but they could get a few swings in, although pointless.

Before they attacked, they each gave me a kiss and said they were going to meet our baby girl. I told them I’d see them soon.

They did beat the hell out of Franklin for a few minutes and I got a lot of satisfaction from watching, but when enough was enough, they stepped back and allowed his gift to overtake them.

Franklin was pissed, pumped from the boost in power flowing through him from the pain, and he ended them quickly. He left the room with instructions to Drin’s aid to bring him the baby when it was born.

The second my soul split, my water broke.

I held you in my arms thirty minutes later.

Laying my forehead to yours, I tried to promise you the realm. I told you how much I loved you, and I hoped and prayed you got my strength. I named you Willow, and with a kiss to your little lips, my eyes closed.

And opened once again in the beyond.”

My fingers trace the edges of the book, and my heart clenches in a way that’s both familiar and unbearably foreign. I’ve felt the pain of grief before, but it’s different mourning someone you didn’t truly know, but love.

The parchment feels fragile as if it’s holding not just ink and information but all the warmth and love of a life that never was shared. My trembling hands continue to glide softly over her words, careful not to get them wet or smear them.

Her handwriting is so smooth, so intimate, and it jumps off the page, tugging at something deep within me. It feels like she’s speaking to me from the beyond, her voice a soft echo in my mind.

Wait…

I reread the last few paragraphs she’s written again. My tears blur the words, but I push forward, trying to make sense of how this is possible. It’s a story told that should have no possibility of being so.

Flipping the page, my eyes widen as more words begin to appear.

“Now you’re a very smart girl. I know it because you have been blessed by so, so many and no daughter of mine would miss such a detail. So I know you’re wondering how I wrote you my story when I was already gone.”

A strangled laugh bubbles out of me as I smile down at the words. We must have been so similar for her to know that.

“Just as CC did—I’m pretty sure he stole the idea from me, by the way—I asked Elementra for a favor. It was my request that when I got to the beyond, I would be allowed to update my book for you. It’s a snippet of my story that I wanted to share with you. She granted the request, even gave me a new method in which to rewrite it, on the condition that the information in this book reveals in the time it needs to.

That didn’t settle with me well.

Like you, I wanted to know everything at one time. I hated the wait and I wanted instant gratification, but unfortunately, this isn’t how these things work. Also, you, filia mea, are different than all the other women of our family. You will learn the knowledge in these pages differently than any before you and I’m so proud, happy that I get to walk this journey alongside you now. So nonetheless, I agreed. It’s not a long wait, and I’m sure you’ve grown used to being patient.”

No, no, I have not.

I snort at my mental argument. I have a feeling she was being sarcastic and that brings me a lot of joy. Her words are like a tender touch—a hug, a kiss on the forehead, a whispered ‘I love you’ that reaches me across an impossible distance. It’s comforting and devastating all at once. I can almost feel her sitting beside me.

Wiping away another slow tear, I look back down at the new ink and my heart rate kicks up and I sit straight as a board.

“So without a further wait, my girl, you’ll learn two major lessons. Each with their own little subsections you’ll need to know. So here’s the beginning of lesson one, handcrafted by me. Well, with Elementra’s input.

Ultima unum. The Last One.

You will be the last to hold the ability that all the women of our line before you have been able to do. Manipulate the portals.There is so much more to your gift than this, but this is an ability you will not pass on and it’s imperative to your current journey.

Starting strong with detecting the portals. Any and every one.

Repeat after me.

‘Release to me the ties of time and space,

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