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As if in bursts of light, each memory flares and fades away. Pictures of us playing as children with our mothers watching, beaming smiles on their faces. The first time she let me hold her hand. The first time I kissed her by the river. Her blood-soaked body limp in my arms. Her lifeless jade-green eyes staring at the sky above.Oh gods, I can see her face.
My breath lodges in my throat as tears threaten to fall. She’s no longer a distant memory veiled in haze. The vibrant color of her red hair doesn’t hide her face anymore.
Nausea turns my stomach, and I can’t get enough air. The pain fades again, and I shove off the table, scrambling out the door of the dining hall. Using the stone wall, I follow it out the front entrance of The Keep.
As I push through the doors, another blast of pain overtakes me and I fall, crashing into the wall. My mind is being torn to shreds, as simple as if it were paper being ripped into a million pieces.
The image of a red-rimmed mist near the end of my bed. A thin, red-haired girl chained to a wall as a dark-haired man places a hand on the surface. Her broken and bruised face set in a scream, but there’s no sound. She pulls against the iron with all her strength, trying to get to me.Lily tied to the wall of my cell. No. It can’t be.
I can’t catch my breath. I vomit as image after image rushes through my mind as if flipping through the pages of a book. When the pain eases for a moment, I drag myself out of the walkway into the field. My breaths are ragged as I rush across the grass.
A hand grabs my shoulder, pulling me back to spin me around. I lunge, my mind not entirely my own, landing a punch to Nyx’s jaw. He staggers back a few steps, rubbing his face.
Searing pain burns through my mind, and I grab my head, groaning as the waves crash into me. Memories flash in broken segments of a night out at The Blue Stag. Lily standing behind the counter, smirking at me. Jonathan putting his hands on what’s mine. The animalistic rage that consumed me before my fist met his face. Lily asking me to touch her in the alley. The sparks that ignited my body the moment my lips slammed into hers.
I choke on a sob as the pain eases, and I fight to stay on my feet. My sense of reality is quickly being unraveled. Nyx grips my arms, helping me to stand.
“Theo! Look at me!” Nyx yells as I try to catch my breath.
“I remember, Nyx. Oh gods, everything she said was true. But it hurts so much.” I dig my nails into his arms as tears streak my face. He stares at me, fear darkening his eyes. My head throbs as if I’ve taken too many hits to it.
“It should be over soon, but we need to get you to Loma and Lily. They will know what to do,” he says with hesitation.
My stomach rolls as bile climbs my throat, and I swallow hard to force it down. “She’s alive. My flower is alive,” I say, my voice trembling. Nyx nods as he holds me upright.
I gasp as my words and actions from last night replay in my mind. “I shoved her away like she was nothing. She’s the only woman I’ve ever loved, and I hurt her, Nyx. Help me fix this, please. Tell her I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.” I fist Nyx’s shirt, begging him to save me from my mistakes.
Fiery agony rips through my mind again, worse than the rest. I scream as my head feels as if it’s being cleaved into tiny, fragmented pieces. Nyx holds on to me as my body shakes under the force of the elixir tearing at the veil.
My mother’s sweet voice rings in my ears as a flashback plays crystal clear in my mind. She rubs gentle fingers through my hair as she tells me stories about the gods and their final decree.
I gasp for air as the last sliver of haze fades away. My memories return unhindered, mixing with the ones over the past month in Umbra. All the broken parts slide into place and become whole again.
“Oh no,” I whisper as words click everything together. Nyx stares at me with pinched eyebrows.
“Please don’t kill each other. The queen will kill me if you do, and I rather enjoy living,” Hiram shouts as he races across the field, stopping beside us. “Gods, Nyx, what did you do to him?”
“I know why they made me forget,” I say, tightening my grip on Nyx’s shirt. “The story is wrong. There’s a second half that’s missing.”
“What’s he rambling about?” Hiram asks Nyx, who responds with a shrug and shake of his head.
“With gift of heart and soul of night, powers grow to the gods’ delight,” I stammer, earning confused looks from both men. “Roots stretch as they descend, bringing forth the very end.” I release my hold on Nyx. Numbness floods my body as I remember what my mother once told me. “Your destiny doesn’t lie in this kingdom, my sweet boy.” She knew.
“Let’s get you back inside. I think the elixir broke something not even Loma can fix. Hiram, help me with him,” Nyx says as both men take an arm. But, like a tree, I’m rooted to the ground and don’t budge.
I stare at Nyx as words get jumbled in my mind. “Loma was trying to warn me. Only her Amari can save the realm. Without tethers, darkness will descend, vast and unyielding. All light stomped out, never to be seen again.” Tears well in my eyes as my destiny becomes clearer.
“What are you talking about, Theo? You’re not making any sense. We need Loma, now,” Nyx says, tugging at me to move.
“Everyone will die. She will die,” I say, forcing the words out.
“Who?” Nyx stares at me, eyebrows cinched together.
“The end bringer.” A single tear slides down my cheek, knowing how terrible of a mistake I’ve made. This could have ended, all because I refused to see what was right in front of me.
Nyx narrows his eyes, lips pinched into a thin line. His gaze darts to the side as if trying to figure out my senseless ramblings. His lips part as his face relaxes and his eyes go wide.
“Wait. No.” Nyx shouts, grabbing my arms. His nails nip at my flesh. “No.” He shakes with rage as he slots all the pieces together.
