Sewn & Scarred (The Fated Creations Trilogy #3)

Chapter SevenEvaline

Chapter Seven

Evaline

“ W ell,” Sage said as she spun around in a circle, looking at our surroundings before turning back to face me and leveling her gaze on mine. “What now?”

“Now, I have to try to find my mother.”

I looked to my left, to the sand that swept up the coast. Behind Sage, where Merwinan loomed covered in shadows. To my right, where I saw the dock jutting out into the water. When my eyes landed back on hers, they were wide as she tilted her head toward me.

“What do you mean ‘try’?”

I bit my lip. “I’m still learning how to use this gift, it’s one of the hardest. And every time I’ve been in the Night before, she’s the one who summoned me.”

Sage clenched her eyes shut before she spoke.

“Evaline, you asked me to come here to see your mother. You said she would be here!”

I shook my head. “I’m trying, Sage,” I hissed, then looked to the ground.

The last time I talked to my mother had been in mine and Maddox’s suite. I wasn’t sure how souls traveled through the Night, but it seemed as if it was just a reflection of the world of the living, so perhaps she was still in Rominia, in the Night.

I said as much to Sage and she nodded, her straight black hair falling over her shoulders in the process.

Sage held out her palms so that they were facing the ground below us, and the sand in front of us slowly started to sift away as it opened into a black puddle of a void below us.

Usually, the portal would shift colors depending on our destination—the soft yellow light of mine and my father’s home, the navy blue light of the Night when we’d come here—now the portal remained black. She closed her eyes in concentration and clenched her fist shut tightly for another moment before she shook her head and dropped her hands. As they fell, the portal in front of us shrunk into nothing until sand sunk in to replace it.

She shook her head. “It’s no use. It’s not the same. I haven’t been there, not to the Night Rominia. Have you?” she asked, brows raising.

My throat bobbed with my swallow and I shook my head.

Sage tilted her head back and gave a dry laugh.

“Of course not,” she said, turning away from me. “Because actually finding your mother after you assured me we would, is too easy.” She took a few steps away and I ground my jaw at her words. “So, so close to being able to help, going to the Night for Gods’ sake, and still, it isn’t enough.”

My frustration boiled over then, and I stomped a foot into the sand.

“Complaining about it won’t actually solve anything,” I snapped, crossing my arms, and looking down the coast.

I didn’t know where the clearing was that I’d gone to in my dreams when I saw her, so I couldn’t look for her there, and the only other place I’d seen her was when I’d pulled her to me in Rominia.

My spine straightened and I let my arms fall to my sides.

My gift allowed me to slip into the Night, and to pull souls from the Night, to where I was, in the world of the living. Perhaps, it would allow me to do the same, but in the Night.

I closed my eyes to the sight of Sage’s back as she still walked away from me, and focused on my mother.

Mother . I urged through my mind as if I were praying. I need you.

I pictured her, pictured her white birthing gown, her white-silver hair, just like mine, that was always pulled half-up into a pin. I remembered her soft voice and it wasn’t a second before I heard it.

“You’re getting better,” she said behind me, and I opened my eyes to see Sage whipping around to face me.

A smile broke out on my face as I turned around and saw my mother there. She reached out and took my hands in hers.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, then turned to look at Sage.

I turned and waved a hand toward Sage.

“Mother, this is Sage, my friend.” I turned to Sage as she inched closer, and wondered if she was afraid of my mother based on how her skin had paled a few shades at the sight of her. “Sage this is my mother. Alannah Manor.”

Sage held out a shaky hand and my mother took it.

“It’s a privilege to meet you,” my mother said. “Thank you for all you’ve done for Evaline.”

Sage swallowed and nodded.

My mother turned to me now. “What did you need?”

I pursed my lips. “We’re here because Charlotte is dead.”

I told her what James had said, and my mother nodded along with sad eyes. When I finished, she squeezed my hand.

“I’m sorry Evaline. If I had known, I wouldn’t have gotten your hopes up.” Her thumb ran over the top of my hand and she tilted her head. “Charlotte’s friends must not have known, either.”

I shrugged. “If you’ve taught me anything, it’s that no one is ever truly gone. So Charlotte must be here.”

My mother’s brows furrowed. “That’s if her soul has awakened here, yet,” she said softly, closing her other hand on top of mine. “It takes a different amount of time for everyone. Some of the most powerful beings I’ve ever met said they took a century to come back. I only took a couple years, and I’ve seen some humans do it in less than one. You need to brace yourself for the possibility that she hasn’t woken yet.”

My mother’s eyes were soft, her head was tilted, and I knew she was only trying to prepare me, but I was so sick of everyone constantly trying to soften the blows of the world.

My father withholding knowledge of my magic, Kovarrin trying to convince us that Maddox was gone so I could grieve, and now, this.

I pulled my hand from hers and stood straighter.

“There’s only one way to find out. And no matter what happens, I’ll keep looking. This is Maddox. He fought for me and wouldn’t hesitate to search for her. So, we must. Have you ever been to Correnti in the Night?”

Sadness flashed over my mother’s eyes, and I didn’t have to question what motivated it.

I’d seen the same look in Kovarrin’s. When he watched me fight for Maddox, which he believed to be a fruitless effort. Something holding me back from moving on.

I could see that look in my mother’s eyes, the fear that I’d never give up and never move on and she’d watch this cycle play out over and over, and simply shook my head.

“Don’t,” I whispered. “Don’t try to talk me out of it, don’t lecture me. This is my life, and I will make the decisions I choose. If you don’t want to help,” I tilted my head down, and back, toward Sage. “If neither of you want to help, that’s fine. I’ll go it alone. I’ve done it before.” I raised my gaze back to my mother’s. “And you can’t tell me you wouldn’t have done the same for Father.”

Slowly, she nodded, then her eyes flicked to Sage as I turned to stand between them. “I can help with your portal.”

Sage straightened and her eyes cut to mine, an accusation in them.

I opened my mouth to speak, my head beginning to shake, when my mother laughed softly.

“I’m sorry, I should specify. I know of your portal because I’ve seen you use it with Evaline. When I watch over her, sometimes I can see the world around her, in quick, hazy, flashes.”

Sage nodded and gave an embarrassed smile. “Oh.”

“You know,” my mother started. “I used to know a Fire Caster with the ability.”

A surprised breath left Sage. “Really?”

My mother nodded. “Yes, he was a friend of my cousins, they lived in the same village I’d grown up in before I left, before I moved to another town and met Kovarrin and Vasier. I lived eight hundred years, and never met a single Sorcerer with the ability after him.”

I straightened as a thought came to mind, and I turned to my mother. “Have you met any of the Sorcerers who had the ability here in the Night?”

“No, not here. But I’ve never looked for any Sorcerers with the ability here.” She shrugged. “I suppose I could, if you’d like me to.”

Sage nodded her head vigorously. “Yes, I never knew any of them, and I didn’t know my own—” She cut herself off before she could say any more, and gave a tight laugh, waving her hand. “Never mind. Are you ready to go?” she asked, holding a hand over the sand.

My mother and I nodded and watched as the portal opened beneath us, and when Sage reached out her hand, my mother took it and it was only a moment before the black portal turned that same shade of soft blue as before.

“It’s ready,” Sage said, moving to stand between my mother and me. We both took her outstretched hands and stepped through.