Page 279 of Gift from the Source
She glances at me, then around at my Nexus. Her eyes linger the longest on Corentin.
“That day all those years ago, Willow, your soul touched the beyond. You did successfully use your blood to find me.”
My feet slam to a halt as my body startles, but she pats my hand and pulls me along.
“Not just your soul, though. You’d brought with you the four pieces that connect you to your Nexus. The pain you felt in those moments ricocheted across the fabric of this existence.”
My throat bobs as I swallow the lump forming. I’ve tried not to think about that moment in the last two hundred years. The grief I felt losing Corentin haunts me and him anytime something triggers it.
“When one of my creations pass on, their soul returns here, and a seed is planted from me. That seed sprouts into a new soul. I nurture it, take care of it, and grow it up strong into the person they’re going to be.”
My hearts races as I think back to a time long, long ago when Elementra told my mom my soul was with her in the beyond.
Asking a thousand questions.
“Our daughter. That’s our little girl’s soul.”
“Right you are, Caspian. What happened next, I never expected or saw coming. I honestly didn’t know what to do about it. So I just allowed whatever was going to happen, happen.
“As you split into the first layer of the beyond, your souls screamed out for Corentin’s the exact moment a seed was planted. The five pieces ofyou all latched onto it. That little soul sprouted up in seconds. It became a massive ball of light that zoomed across the beyond to find the source of that pain.
“She found Corentin running toward the barrier separating him from you four. Her orb grew larger as she responded to that call. She sucked up the power in the beyond. She was withdrawing all the power that lives here. I raced to stop her before she pulled you all through or destroyed the beyond. She did neither. She slammed into Corentin with all the power she had and shoved him back through.
“I stood frozen, waiting to see what she would do next. If she stepped through too, it would’ve crumbled the beyond. Crumbled our entire magical system. I would’ve had to stop her and destroy the being you all made. The energy radiating around her was a combination of the five of you and me. It was the purest form of power. There was no telling what she’d do with it, and I couldn’t allow her to cross over to the other side.
“Her little glowing orb turned toward me and slowly started to dim. A small body started to form as all the power receded back into the beyond. All but a tiny piece and a smirk remained once she was done. Again, I found myself so lost and the forces were giving me no direction to go. No sight of her whatsoever. Her growth was something I’d never seen in a soul before. It takes time to shape a person. I really had no clue what to do with her.
“I called all my daughters to me, including you. I need to see you and speak to you. I had to make sure whatever had just happened didn’t affect you. When we entered your subconscious and I found you there frantic for your Nexus member, I could feel his soul really was waiting for you. She’d done what’s never been done before. What’s never been allowed.
“Feeling the love and devotion pouring from you, for not only your Nexus but all who mean something to you, I knew whatever you and your Nexus’s souls had created could never be of harm to us. I just didn’t know anything about her other than she held a bigger piece of me than all souls do, but she was also already touched by you.
“For two hundred years now, I’ve loved on that little mischievous soul. She’s caused me more trouble than I’ve received in all my creation, but also, she’s brought me and the entire beyond the utmost amount of love.”
Each step we take I grow dizzier. If not for her arm holding me, I wouldn’t be able to walk. My chest expands painfully from my breathing and from everything passing through my bonds from my men. I’m not sure how to process the fact that we did this.
I caused this.
I tore into the beyond, searching for my Nexus member, and ended up creating my own child.
“What do you mean by trouble? Is she going to be okay? No one’s trying to hurt her, right? They can’t hurt her here. She’s safe.” Corentin’s words fall out of him in a flurry of fear that spikes my own.
“You all can calm yourselves. She is perfectly fine. She is a perfect little ball of trouble that is so sweet and caring, it’s impossible to get mad when she breaks the rules.”
Her laugh does ease my worry, but it also doubles it.
What does this mean for when I have her? I do get to have her, right?
She’s mine. Ours.
“Of course,Ultima unum. I’d never keep her from you. She just still has some growing to do. And I was trying to give you all a little more time before Iblessedyou with her.”
Oh goodness. Why did she say it like that?
I swallow roughly. “What can she do?”
Her hum vibrates the ground we walk on. I hadn’t realized we’re no longer in that all white space. Grass is below our feet. “She can travel farther than any before her.”
“Wait, you and Willow’s mother have told her numerous times she’s the last of the line. Her traveling anywhere makes no sense.” Cas says.
