Page 156 of A Blightress of Wrath
Shemet my eyes then with hers and nodded softly. “Ican do more than what you ask.”Agenuine smile lifted her lips, the firstI’dever seen on her face.
Shewas beautiful.
“Onemore time,”she whispered.“Releaseyour spell one more time, andIwill give you the life you’ve always deserved to live.”
Itook in a final breath and took her open hand.Glancingonce at my young mother lost in her grief,Idid what was asked of me. “Revertaydenen tepiore.”
Thedark flooded through me in a torrent of endless black.Igasped, afraid of what would be next, what theBlightresshad meant in her words.Ifelt the grip of her fingers holding mine as we tore through time, and her power flowed through me, enhancing the spell tenfold.
Iscreamed as we landed, shielding my eyes from the golden glow of the setting sun.
“Staybehind me,” she urged and drew a finger across my cheek. “Havea good life,Saelyn.Knowthat you are never alone.Knowthat you are loved.”
Iremained hidden, kneeling in the obsidian shadows that surrounded us like a cave.Glintsof orange light shone off great puddles in the clearing.Marveloustree creaturesI’dnever seen before halted their music and revelry, gaping at theBlightress.Sherose straight, elegant, and tall in all her dark robes and dark power, dripping in shadows and calm as if she knew exactly where we’d gone to.
Afigure stood with umber, bark-like skin and vines wrapped through her braided hair. “Youare not welcome here,Visalia,EndlessOne,” she called.
“Ihave come to offer you peace,Nova,” theBlightressbegan.Icould not see her face, butInoticed the swivel of her head toward the right.Ifollowed her stare, recognizing the shape of my mother in a dress of gold through her thin green shield.
“Whatpeace do you offer?”Novaasked, stepping to the side as if to shield my mother.
“Apeace from fear.”TheBlightressslowly lifted her hand behind her, a last offering for me to take.
Iplaced my hand in hers.
Itfaded.
Myskin, my hand, my arm—Ibegan to depart, pieces of me lifting into the black swirls of her power as she continued. “Fromthis day forward,Iwill no longerBlightthis land.Iwill no longer seek any child to take as my own.”Iheard her shuttering breath before she called, “Iwill no longer seek to hold the life ofKarus,BaronofFelgren.”
Mythoughts drifted.
Iblinked, but my eyes did not close.
Mymother rose, heavy with me in her belly.Isaw my father then.Heemerged from the gathering of fae near my mother, stepping in front of her.
IfIhad lungs to take a breath,Iwould have gasped.
Helooked so much like his portrait come to life—so much like me.Hewas nothing like the withered manI’dseen in the cavern.
“Thenleave now,” he called. “Neverreturn.Neverseek out our child.Returnthose you siphon for power.ReturnMychaelandRellto us unharmed.Thatis the peace we seek from you.”
TheBlightressnodded once and what was left of my hand fell through hers.
Sheturned her head back to me, andIfaded, leaving this life behind for a new one.
OnewhereIwas no longer haunted.
Onewhere my parents could thrive, raising and loving me together.
OnewhereThevinandIwould fall in love again, this time with a brighter hope for our future together.
Idid not fear it.
Thiswas whatI’dbeen born to do.
Thiswas whyIhad been given such power.
Ismiled as the part of me that was left lifted into the wind and theBlightressstepped back into her portal, smiling at me with tears in her glinting, colorful eyes. “Youare never alone,SaelynofFelgren.Rememberthat for me.”
