Unblessed Witch (Phases of the Moon #4)

5. Deva

5

DEVA

I couldn’t tell if hours, days, or weeks passed as my mom went over each rune, the pile of stones next to me growing the longer we continued.

She imparted her knowledge and explained how to use each one, even reviewing rune combinations and creating larger stones that bore the rune born of the marriage between the two. Her soft singing, which I joined in on, was the only other sound between the two of us as I practiced.

Somewhere along the way, my heart had begun to heal, no longer quite so wounded by her savage loss or my misconception of her abandonment.

The knowledge she was giving me was important, essential even, but it paled in comparison to the snippets of insight I was gaining into her as a person, the woman that raised me for the first few years of my life.

At the moment I couldn’t fully remember what my life was like, but I knew I would’ve been a different woman if I’d been raised by someone so loving.

Many things would be different, though—not just me.

“I have a question,” I said, putting down the stone I was holding. “How exactly are you here? I love that you are, but are you trapped here?”

I hated to think that she had to spend eternity here.

“Oh no, I’m…elsewhere.” She squeezed my hand, hesitating on the last word. “I don’t know how to explain it exactly, I don’t have words for it—but I promise you it’s not somewhere you need to fear or even think about.”

“But you were allowed to leave?”

“ Your magic allows for many things, and the magic of your heart even more.” She smiled softly. “You called me here, loudly. It wasn’t something I could ignore, not that I would. I keep watch on you the best I can, even if it’s from a distance.”

“Thank you.” I was touched at her dedication and the love behind it, but my shoulders sagged as I realized what else it meant. “That means you know everything I did.”

“You can’t shoulder those sins. You were a small girl, a prisoner.” The reaction I’d craved from her before, the fury, now flashed across her face. “Your life was in a constant state of threat. There are adults who would have caved under far less pressure.”

“I’m not sure everyone would view it that way,” I murmured. While the faces and details were blurry, I knew I’d been worried about people discovering my true identity and that some of those people were important to me. I just couldn’t remember why they were important. I could feel the void in my head and my heart where the knowledge laid, the absence of something essential. But every time I went to remember, it felt like hitting my head into a wall.

“Anyone who’s worth knowing will understand,” she assured me. I wanted to believe her, but I wasn’t there yet. I didn’t have nearly as much faith in those outside of the walls of this place— they had no reason to be so forgiving .

Although, that didn’t ring completely true. There were others, shadowed figures who did have a reason. I just couldn’t remember what.

I stopped trying and refocused on my rune work. “Thank you for teaching me so much. I’m not?—”

Suddenly, my world came to a hard halt, cutting off my words.

Pa-dum. Pa-dum.

The sound shook the sky and ground as my eyes went wide. I surged forward to protect my mom as the rocks underneath us shook, but she stabilized herself easily. In fact, she almost seemed happy at the appearance of the noise as she squeezed my arm in support. It sounded once more, and my ears began to pop in reaction to the pressure.

Pa-dum. Pa-dum.

“What is that?” I demanded. What the fuck was happening?

“ That means our time is over.” Her eyes were filled with tears, but her lips pressed into a smile.

Pa-dum. Pa-dum.

“I love you, Deva. I love you so much.”

“I love you too,” I whispered, realizing she’d used my chosen name, as the ground trembled once more and her figure began to flicker in and out of existence.

What? Why was she leaving?

“Mom!” I watched, devastated, as she quickly faded and disappeared, wishing that I could’ve had just a few more minutes, that I could have told her?—

The ground beneath me tilted, making me stumble. Or maybe it was my knees growing weak.

Pa-dum. Pa-dum.

“What is that?!” I demanded, shouting into the emptiness of this world. Even the rune stones were fading, leaving me completely bereft. As if bent on driving me insane, the sound multiplied. At first just by one, but then another and another until there were six in total, the sound making my head spin.

Groaning, I crouched down, eyes squeezed shut and hands fisted at my temples. The tremors in the ground intensified, making me wonder if it would fissure right beneath me. At this point I would almost welcome it. I couldn’t handle it, this constant noise invading my brain, vibrating my bones, stealing my sight?—

Then something changed.

The noise began to take on a different rhythm, the sounds syncing up with one another to create a song. The longer it played, the more familiar it felt. Slowly, I unclenched my fists and opened my eyes. The moons moved in time with the beat, and my shoulders relaxed.

This time when I closed my eyes I let my body sway to the music, a soft hum leaving my lips. I recognized this, but it took me a few more minutes to put a name to it, my focus constantly stolen by the comforting lull of the rhythm.

Heartbeats . I was hearing heartbeats.

Who did they belong to, though? Their sound warmed me, bringing unexpected tears to my eyes.

Something was happening. Something big.

The ground shook violently, and a barrage of images assaulted me. Dark tunnels. Shadowed figures. A cavernous room filled with dead bodies on stone slabs. Running water on all sides that seemed imbued with magic. A crystal pulsating with light toward the front of the room, shining upon…

A glass coffin.

Floating through this abstract, smoky reality, the heartbeats pounding loudly through the air, I reached the glass coffin and found myself inside. I was surrounded by marble bowls filled with water and moonstones, arranged in a way to keep me paralyzed, bound to the cold stone I lay upon. My face looked peaceful, but my lips were blue.

I looked… dead.

But I could hear my heartbeat. Not only my heartbeat, because there were others…

The room was bathed in power as the door blasted open from outside, the water wards not stopping the five shadowed figures who strode in. Who were they? Astaroth’s minions? Had they come, realizing I wasn’t dead yet? That had to be it. Astaroth thought he’d killed me, and now these guys were going to finish the job. Or try.

As quickly as they’d arrived, the images were ripped away, thrusting me back into the world I’d crafted for myself. The barren wasteland broke apart, shooting towers of rock toward the sky. Geysers erupted from within the cracks, black water flooding in from the earth’s core. I didn’t fear the moment like I should have. I didn’t run from the water or prepare to swim. I didn’t fear drowning. Instead I looked skyward as the water rose around me.

Pa-dum. Pa-dum.

It was nearly waist high, the freezing tide making my limbs tremble and my teeth chatter. Five shadowy figures with intense energy appeared around me, each cascading and pushing against me. I couldn’t help but react to them.

Pa-dum. Pa-dum.

The cold, icy waves of shadows wrapped around me.

Pa-dum. Pa-dum.

The copper taste of blood filled my mouth before it leaked down my throat, becoming part of my essence.

Pa-dum. Pa-dum.

The beaming light of the moon burst into my head, a dazzling effect that nearly made me wince.

Pa-dum. Pa-dum.

The taste of water filled my mouth as I inhaled the black liquid around me sharply, taking in the ocean of magic around me. Power sparked, creating bubbles that grazed my skin and exploded in small sparks of contact.

Pa-dum. Pa-dum.

So many bodies laid within reach, the scent of death heavy on my tongue.

Pa-dum. Pa-dum.

The water was far above my head, and I would never reach the top. Instead I filled my lungs with the liquid, knowing I could trust it. This was…me. All of this, this ocean of pure raw magic, was me.

Pa-dum. Pa-dum.

But not just me.

I wasn’t alone in this world. No, there were five hearts that belonged to me. Five hearts that mine belonged to.

Realization slammed into me —my men.

I had to get back to them.