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Their heart beat. Their blood warmed their faces. They had a child-like naivety that never left them. Tracey felt the same quality from Davy, even until the end. It was there, like a light that had been dimmed, but it was still there. Tracey yearned for that never to happen to her niece. She always wanted her light to burn bright, no matter what forces of evil were at bay.
“Are you thinking of your sister?” Suhnah asked, holding her arms open as Lily came running. A giggle escaped her niece and she stopped, breathing hard, but
smiling so widely as Suhnah closed her arms, folding a robe around her child.
At the mention of ‘sister,’ some of the glee left Lily. She gazed up at Tracey, like she had since she first arrived as a guest in their home. No words had been exchanged. Suhnah told her that they never explained her connection to a thread-holder or that Tracey was her aunt through blood, but she knew. A look of wonder
showed over Lily’s face every time she focused on Tracey. She knew deep down, whether she spoke the words or not. Lily knew Tracey was her aunt.
She took her hand, tipping her head back so she could look all the way up the bigger vampire. “You’re missing my mommy.”
Suhnah gasped, but Tracey felt a burning behind her eyes. She was trying not to cry. “You know who I am.”
Lily nodded. Her little hand squeezed Tracey’s. “But you know that I knew.” Her cheeks puffed out. The color had started to fade, but it pinked again. “My mommy comes to see me. She told me about how nice you are. You came all this way to protect me.”
Suhnah’s head lifted. She stared at Tracey intensely. “Protect her? From who?”
“The other lady that broke them out, Mom.”
The burning moved to her throat. Tracey felt a lump forming. Her niece was trying to reassure her Mori mother, but she looked back to her and when their gazes collided, she knew that the child was aware of so much more than she should’ve been. Tracey knelt down. Her hands rested on Lily’s tiny shoulders. “What do you know about that lady?”
“She’s here.” Her voice dipped low. She glanced over her shoulder, as if looking for her to arrive right then and there. “She’s coming because she’s scared that I’ll take the thread from her.”
“What do you mean? She is the thread.”
“Yeah, but if she’s turned, she’ll come into me. She won’t exist anymore. She’ll just be the thread again.”
Tracey’s mind was spinning. There’d been talks about how to stop The Immortal, but no one had come up with anything legit. All the ideas were too outlandish and failure was a certainty. None had considered asking the child. She had to know more, so much more, but she forced herself to speak calmly. She didn’t want to alarm her niece. “Lily, do you know how to stop The Immortal?”
At the mention of her, Lily’s face grew alarmed. Her eyes rounded. The ends of her mouth grew tight and her neck stiffened. She looked like she couldn’t breathe, but she only shook her head in a clipped motion from right to left and back again. A whispered, “No,” came out.
“Stop it.” Suhnah rushed forward and pulled Lily away. She lifted her up. Lily buried her head into her Mori mother’s neck and held on tight. A whimpering sounded from her. It was low and sent shivers through Tracey, but her niece knew. Her niece knew about The Immortal. She knew she was coming for her. She knew about Tracey. She knew about Talia. She wanted to ask more, know more, but she bit her words back. She wouldn’t find anything out that way.
Tracey stepped back and lifted her hands up. “I’m sorry. I just . . .” She faltered, feeling an ominous sadness weighing down on her chest. She was going to lose her niece. Her end was coming, but she didn’t know when.
“If you don’t mind, I think you should stay with the others for the night.” Suhnah cupped the back of Lily’s head. Her eyes flashed in anger. “There’s a room for you. We can talk tomorrow about what happened today.”
Tracey nodded. “Okay.”
Suhnah walked away, and she couldn’t do a thing to stop her. The ominous feeling grew, and all she could do was watch. Lily lifted her head. The tears were dried up already, but she held her aunt’s gaze as she was carried away.
Tracey let out a soft sigh. “Talia, if there’s a time for you to perform a miracle and help me save your child, it’s now. Help me keep her alive.”
Talia heard her sister. She was on the other side. A barrier was between her and the living, but she was there. She knew what was coming and unlike those still alive, she could see what was coming.
Saren stepped next to her, watching Tracey who was watching her niece. “We’ll stop her.”
Talia glanced at her, sadness emanating from every cell of her spirit. “I hope so. I really hope so.”
“The Immortal knows about us. She must’ve been the one to tell Jacith about us. She’ll come for the child and then she’ll come for us.”
Another thread-holder sister joined them. Others were there as well. One by one, they all came to stand on the other side of that veil. All watched the child and all knew, their end was near.
Sireenia said, “She is the last thread-holder. That means something.”
No one looked at her. No one wanted to remind her that it could mean all their spirit deaths were coming, because more than likely, that was the ending for their prophecy. It was their death and not The Immortal’s.
Saren was the vessel chosen to fight for them, but it wasn’t time yet. She was waiting, and as they remained there, she was coming.
