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I couldn’t leave Ernest there to fight her alone. He didn’t look like he would make it. It would be a death wish.
“Ernest,” I said, reaching forward. “Stop.”
“Go,” he hissed. “Go now.”
“I can’t leave you here,” I said. “We have nowhere to go. We have to help her. We can’t run forever.”
Ernest kept his gaze on Delilah for several minutes before he dropped his magic and fell to the ground. Delilah hopped up and dusted off her clothing.
I stood in front of him, daring her to touch him. “If you hurt him, we won’t go,” I said. “Kill me, and Josephine won’t help you at all. You know it. Leave him be.”
Delilah’s eyes flashed from green to red, and she chuckled humorlessly. “You all are beginning to grow on my nerves,” she said under her breath. “Josephine!” she shouted. “Come out now. I’m growing impatient.”
I waited several seconds before the backdoor opened and they walked outside. They both held a bag over their shoulder. Josephine stared at me as she descended the steps. “Are you okay?” she mouthed.
I nodded and offered Ernest my hand.
He climbed to his feet and dusted off his hands.
“The portal is this way,” Delilah said. “Follow me. If anyone decides to run, I’ll hunt you down and show no mercy. I don’t need everyone to get the spindle back. Remember that.”
Josephine looked up at me once her mother began walking toward the portal. “Do you trust me?” she asked.
The moonlight hit her vibrant blue eyes.
“What are you going to do?”
She started after her mother without another word.
Chapter Forty
Josie
Mother—Delilah—whatever her name was led us into the woods like a witch taking us to her cottage. I half expected her to turn around and blast the ones she didn’t need to the moon.
It wouldn’t surprise me. Sadly, nothing surprised me anymore.
Kellan stayed quiet beside me but reached for my hand after several minutes. I had a plan. It was vague, and I wasn’t sure it would work. My knowledge of my mother was one thing we had in our corner.
The sad, pathetic corner we did have.
Mother stopped several feet from the portal and gestured for us to go inside.
“How do we know you aren’t going to close it and leave us there with Deidamia?”
“Does it look like I have the spindle, Josephine? Stop wasting my time. I’m already pissed that you gave it back to her to save this relationship,” she said, waving her hand at the two of us.
Her lack of caring stabbed me in the stomach. I’d never felt more detached from my mother than I did in that moment. Even though she'd taken off her mask of truth, there was an invisible veil that kept me from her. She was untouchable. She didn't seem like a real person. She was ... frightening.
Stepping forward, I felt Kellan hovering behind me, not wanting to let me go.
“We’ll go together,” he whispered into my ear.
The warmth of his voice soothed me and helped me stay in the present. My body wanted to block all of this out, this nightmare, but he kept me there. He kept me grounded. He wrapped his arms around my waist and leaped forward. My hair swirled around my head as the portal sucked us back into the realm we’d just escaped.
We were tossed around while clinging to one another. For a brief moment, I prayed that the portal would take us far, far away. Somewhere Mother couldn't find us.
Kellan clung to me as we were flung onto the hard ground. He tried to turn to take the blow, but the wind separated us. I hit the roots of a large tree, and pain shot into my back. It was a reality check.
