I bit my lip to suppress my smile as I remembered that night. The way he kissed me. The spontaneity. The feel of his mouth and tongue as it licked all over my body.
Pia noticed the color of my cheeks change. “You have a secret.”
I slowed my walk a little to make sure Sawyer couldn't hear us. I started to tell her about the archives, but my nostalgia was soon replaced by the reminder that he was not here, and I stopped myself.
A few days.
We only had a few days of truly being together before he was whisked away from me.
Pia noticed my sudden change of mood and squeezed my hand in hers. “He’s going to be okay. He's a strong fighter,” she assured me.
“Yeah, I'm sure he's fine,” I said. But I was not.
I’d been here before.
I glanced around at the familiar sight of human carcasses, completely bled out and shattered into bits of bones, lying in their final resting place on the cobblestone patio of the courtyard.
The hairs on my arms stood up as the temperature dropped in response to the heavy fog rolling in, covering the cadavers just as it had before. I reeled in a deep breath, steadying myself to continue my journey to nowhere.
The air was plastered with the stench of mortal rot. It bit at my nose, a constant reminder that I was not truly alone.
Wind lashed around me, tangling my hair into knots. Some of it stuck to my forehead, caked with the blood of myself and others. I walked around the edge of the patio, familiarizing myself with the eight figures of stone that surrounded me. They had me cornered, and I saw no exit through the haze.
Flames burned through the mist covering my feet, responsible for turning some poor soul to ashes. I stood centered in the wreckage of death, waiting for a voice to call to me, just as she had before.
“Come to me,”the euphonious voice sang, as if she knew I was expecting her—perhaps maybe she did.
The hum drew me in, and I halted in front of Blythe, wiping my face as my own blood dripped into my eye. “I’m here,” I announced to the goddess made of stone.
Her hand broke out of the mist, the same as before. This time, however, the stone severed from her fingers, crackling off in chunks as she reached out for me. I accepted her outstretched hand, my gemstones sparking when our skin collided.
“Why am I back here?”
Her voice was hushed as she spoke to me.“I have a messagefor you.”She tightened her grip, pulling me closer. I couldn't see anything but her hand and a silver-blue eye watching me through the mist.
“What is it?”
“The prophecy will soon become a reality, and you must be prepared for when it does.”
I gulped. She meant that I should be preparing for my death.
“That is not what I'm referring to.”
Did she just read my mind?
“I am the Goddess of the Mind and Stars,”she stated.“Are you so surprised that I know your thoughts?”
A shuddered, “Woah,” escaped my chest.
Wait. Did she say mindandstars?
“There is no time to explain that now, butlisten to me closely, Maeve.”The eyeball twisted and churned through the mist, watching me while its owner spoke.
“There's a book—you've seen it before, in a classroom, from what I can see.”
I racked my brain, trying to decipher what she referred to. “Yes. Professor Stoll showed me a manuscript when I first discovered my powers.” I recalled the large textbook he had shown me back in the fall. “The Gods and Goddesses of Life,” I said the title back to her.
“He did not show you enough of it.”
