“The nurses must’ve forgotten about you,” I remarked. “The dorms are already locked down for the night.”
“I’d rather be here with you,” she said softly.
“You should get some sleep.”
She pulled the sheets back and crawled into bed with me. Oberi shifted at my feet, but he was asleep. Ava laid her head on my chest. “Can I sleep right here?”
I squeezed her tightly to me. Her raspberry scent surrounded me. Ancestors, I wished we could fall asleep like this every night. “Right here is perfect.”
The moment I pressed a kiss to the top of her head, a gust of wind swept through the empty infirmary. Oberi perked up immediately, and Ava gasped.
I froze. “That wasn’t me.”
Ava shot upright to a sitting position. “Charlie, it’s…ancestors.”
She trailed off, like she couldn’t find the words. Amazement filled her voice.
“What is it?” I sat up next to her. A magical energy sizzled in the air that felt welcoming and warm. The magical buzz swirled around me, melting away all tension in my body and filling me with peace.
“It’s anancestor!” she cried in excitement. “It’s a spirit of abeautifulwhale, dancing above us like a watercolor painting.”
The spirit swooped downward, and her energy touched my skin— as if she’d passed through me. When our spirits touched, an image formed in my mind of what Ava had described… a massive whale of so many colors, bleeding together into light. It was like when I’d witnessed my ancestors last semester. They’d reached out to touch me after Ava had summoned them in the Lair. Absolutely breathtaking.
“She’s… transforming… into a woman.” Ava’s words slowed as she took in the wonder of the magic.
Even without seeing her, I could sense we were in the presence of a great supernatural being. Her energy surrounded me and felt warm and kind, like a motherly hug. I’d never felt magic so strong before— save for one time, at the Villain’s Ball, when Ava had been talking to the deity known as Coyote Spirit.
Then the ancestor reached out to touch me again. I stiffened as the image of a woman broke into my mind. It’d been so long since I could see that I had no visual memories of what peoplelooked like. But this woman was different. She had long, dark hair, kind eyes, and a gentle smile. I instantly felt warm against her in the light of her presence.
Ava grabbed my arm. “Whale Spirit! Charlie, it’s the Elementai Goddess of Water— the Goddess of Toaqua and part of the Great Spirit.”
My jaw hung slack. I could hardly wrap my head around it. “She’s here for us…?”
“It is nice to see you again, Ava-Marie,” Whale Spirit said in a melodic voice.
“Again?” Ava asked. “But we’ve never met.”
“We have, you just didn’t see me,” Whale Spirit said kindly. “I was there in the hospital when your father was healed, the night he nearly died. You remember, don’t you, Ava?”
She gasped. “That was you?”
Whale Spirit didn’t answer directly. Instead, she said, “I have been beside you always, along with Coyote. From your birth, gods and goddesses on the side of the light and the dark have been warring over you, attempting to control your path. Some have even sought to take your life. Do you remember when you were a young girl, and you went missing in the forest?”
I hadn’t heard this story before, but to Ava, it seemed to make sense. “Yes! I was so little— one moment I was in my house, and the next, I was in the woods. A monster attacked me, but something saved me!”
“A dark entity, sent by an evil god, teleported you into the forest in order to take your life,” Whale Spirit said gently. “But Coyote and I sent your spirit guides to protect you, and they defeated the creature while you ran away.”
“The animal that saved me… it must’ve been a bear,” Ava choked out. “It was my grandfather’s spirit!”
“Precisely, dear.” Whale Spirit had reached out to stroke Ava’s hair. I felt the chill from her hand emitting near my skin. “You are very important to the magical world— you always have been. Ever since, deities in the spiritual realm have been fighting over your existence, and trying to control you. I am here to say that you must not listen, and must forge your own path. Be very careful, for there are mortals and gods alike that seek to bring about your end.”
Ava’s voice wavered. “What do I need to know?”
“I am here to deliver a message,” Whale Spirit announced. “You are closer than you believe to your goal. The directions are already in your hands.”
My stomach dropped. This was about the prophecy.
“What directions?” Ava asked. “To Forevermore?”
