Page 137 of The Seven Miracles of Beatrix Holland
Neither was she comfortable.
She just… was.
The space around her wasn’t light, and it wasn’t dark. She couldn’t see, but she couldn’t not see, either.
She knew one thing, though. She didn’t like it. Any rhapsodic glory that should have been on the other side seemed to be sorely missing. Maybe she’d taken some kind of wrong turn on her way here?
She was frightened, the kind of terror that might make her limbs shake, but she didn’t seem tohaveany body parts, exactly, so the emotion ran through her with no obvious way for it to exit.
What the hell was she supposed to do next?
Somewhere close to her non-body, a voice spoke. “Hey, you.”
It was the sweetest sound Beatrice had ever heard. “Cordelia?”
“I’m right here, sister.”
Cordelia’s voice.
The voice of love.
“I can’t see you.”
“That’s okay. I’m right here.”
“I’m scared.”
“I know you are. But you don’t have to be.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I know some stuff.”
Her sister’s voice was so close to her that Beatrice felt like she could lean on it. So she did. And to her surprise, the sound was solid and warm, and whatever kind of non-body Beatrice was in, she found that the soft support was exactly what she needed. “Keep talking to me?”
“You can’t get this wrong. I’m here with you. I’m not going anywhere.”
“What do I do next?”
“Well.” A pause. “People do different things. What do you want to do?”
“I want Minna to be okay.”
“Oh.” Her sister’s voice broke. “Minna’s okay. I promise you.”
“Really?”
“You saved her.”
“I did?”
“She’s breathing again. She’s awake. She’s going to be fine. And now you get to choose what to do.” Her sister’s voice was tight around her words.
Beatrice didn’t have a choice. Not anymore. She didn’t know much, but if Taurus came for her in here—wherever here was—she’d keep fighting. The Velamens couldn’t have their girl.
But she was so tired.
“Beatrice?”
