Page 55 of Beta Hybrid

‘Are you okay?’ I go to Cai, a hand on his back.

‘Alpha got a little scared?’ Divina says dryly.

Cai launches to his feet and snarls in Divina’s face. ‘Don’t start. Every moment I’ve known you has been a lie,’ he growls. I know she can feel the heat of his breath on her face. ‘I don’t know how you got to me, or if you were really injured, but I took you into my own home, you ungrateful witch. From here on, you warn us of any danger, got it?’

Divina pales. ‘Fine.’

I take Cai’s hand. ‘So, how do we get over there?’ I nod to the other side of the chasm.

‘Oh, we don’t,’ Divina says. ‘If anything, Mother will come to us.’

‘If anything?’ I snap.

‘I… she’s an old woman who likes her quiet. She might not want visitors today.’ At a glare from Cai, she adds, ‘But I’ll try.’ Everyone watches as she steps up toward the edge of the cliff. ‘Mother! It’s me, Divina. I need to talk to you!’

After several moments of silence, I sigh, impatient. ‘What, is she, out?’

Divina gives me a withering look.

‘Move, let me try.’ Cai reluctantly releases my hand. I’ll be careful, I promise him. ‘Uh, Gaia?’ My voice reaches up, over the chasm, and echoes around the barren area. ‘I guess you know me if you wanted Divina to find me. I—I’m Zenna. I’m a hybrid witch-fae. So is my mother, Andrea. I, uh, we need to talk to you.’ What if she doesn’t talk to us? I ask down the bond. What if she can’t help?

We will have to make Divina kill her mother, and the other three Origins. I am not going anywhere without a solution.

‘Little halfling, is that you?’ A woman emerges from some secret tunnel within the tree on the other side of the chasm. She blinks, and then she’s standing before us. A dress that looks like it’s made of smooth tendrils of grass wraps around her body. She seems ageless, the way she holds herself is graceful: shoulders back, chin high. There are no lines on her face. The only sign of her age are the silver strands within her brown hair. She smiles at Divina, but her focus is on me. ‘Halfling.’ She holds her hands out to me, as though we are old friends.

I don’t know what to do, so I reach for her, too. We need to make an ally of her, after all, but something in my vines pulls me back. I frown and step away from her.

Gaia tosses her head back and chuckles. The dress comes alive; nature blooms from her. Flowers grow, blossoming in every colour. ‘Your fae side is wary.’ She holds out a hand. ‘I’m not your foe. I promise.’

I still my vines and grasp her hand. After a moment, when hell doesn’t break loose, Gaia smiles. ‘See?’ She looks over me. ‘You’re lovely,’ she tells me. ‘Just like your mother.’

I blink. ‘You know my mother?’

‘I know all my children.’

Divina closes the distance. ‘Mother.’

Gaia brushes a hand under her chin fondly. ‘My little black witch. You brought the halfling to me. What for?’

‘We need your help,’ Divina explains.

Aldrich inclines his head. ‘You’re looking well, sister.’

Gaia chuckles. ‘You are looking old, dear brother.’

Cai growls impatiently. ‘You’re both dead,’ he gestures to the Origins. ‘And you brought them back,’ he growls at Divina. ‘Now, Drusilla is causing chaos and all that, and we need to stop her, and you need to help us.’

Gaia purses her lips to suppress a grin. ‘Brave little wolf, what has my sister’s business got to do with me?’

‘She brought you all back!’ I point at Divina. ‘She says you’re all connected. We can’t kill Drusilla alone, she’s too powerful.’

Gaia narrows her eyes. ‘You speak of killing my sister in front of me?’

I snap my mouth shut.

‘She’s killed,’ Cai says quietly. ‘She nearly killed Zenna.’

‘Is that so?’ Gaia’s gaze travels between us. ‘She looks okay to me. Little halfling, why did you come here? Why not simply escape my sister’s clutches? You seem to have the means to travel well. Why involve my brother and myself?’

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