I shrug and walk over to the cabinets along the far wall. I can’t stand by while someone sits freezing and soaked, not even her. I grab a few blankets.
“Those won’t do any good, dear boy,” she calls softly behind me. “I can’t feel the cold.” I turn and hang them on the bars anyway.
“I didn’t know you were down here soaking wet,” I say quietly. “If I had, I would’ve done something.”
She steps closer to the bars of the cell, stopping just in front of me. “It’s good to get used to the water,” she says, her voice flat. “I’ll be drowning in it soon enough.” There is no doubt she knows that is how she will die.
“My magic,” I say, the words sharp. “I need you to tell me more about it.” The least she can do, after everything, is give me the truth. The real path to the power that’s been buried inside me since birth.
Taika wraps her long, bony fingers around the bars. “It’s strong,” she whispers. “I told you. Find Fog. He will help you.”
My eyes harden. “I want to hear it from you, not some stranger I’ve never even met. How do I unlock what’s dormant?”
Her eyes narrow, almost gleaming in the dim light, and she tilts her head slightly. “I’m a stranger to you too, am I not?” she says, the words cold enough to freeze bone. Then she hisses bitterly. “I told you… I have to die for you to unlock it all.”
I tune into Mira’s heartbeat. It’s steady, but climbing. She is looking for me. I look back at Taika, pacing again, like always. She never seemed able to sit still when we talked, like the truth might burn her alive if she stopped moving.
“I don’t blame you.” The words leave me quietly. Controlled. She stops in her tracks. Her eyes grow wide. Tears pooling instantly, clinging to her lashes.
“How?” she breathes, her voice cracking. She’s been waiting a lifetime to hear those words from me.
“You made one bad deal that cost you everything,” I say quietly. “You fucked up, and you paid the price with a lifetime of pain and suffering. You lost your family, but knew theywere still breathing. Still out there.” I pause, my voice lowering. “Mourning people who are still alive is harder than if they were dead.”
She moves her hands to her face, her shoulders trembling. She looks like a ghost of herself, an innocent woman who has finally let the last of her walls fall. Her cries are silent at first, choking and trembling.
“Every day,” she starts, her voice breaking. She swallows. I give a slow nod, letting her know I am listening. “Every day, I wished I could see you. Both of you.” She removes her hands from her face, placing them on the bars.
“I tried everything. The potions, the spells… I was always trying to find a way to reach you. But all I could make out were fragments. Tiny images of your faces. That’s how I watched you grow. Through flickers. On your birthday each year, I’d see you, just for a moment. I always looked forward to November.”
My heart feels heavy in my chest, like it had swallowed a stone. And then I feel her. Mira. She is near the stairs, lingering in the shadows, letting me have this moment alone with my mother.
Taika begins pacing again, water dripping from the hem of her dress. I wait. “Take your time,” I say. She stops and steps back to the bars, her black eyes locking on mine.
“Never make a deal with the devil,” she whispers. “I’m sorry I lost you. I’m sorry I lost him. I loved you both. I should’ve figured it out. I just… I couldn’t find the right spell.”
Her long, bony fingers wrap around the bars. I reach out, placing my hand on top of hers. Her skin is ice cold. “Our family is fucked up,” I say. “But you tried. That’s what matters. He loved you. I think he made a deal with the devil for you, too. His last words were, ‘Taika, my love. Free me.’
Her expression shatters. She grows paler, if that’s even possible. “He said that?” Her voice is thin, a cold wind behind it.
“Yes.” I let go of her hand. She steps back, releasing the bars. “Hmm,” is all she says at first.
Then, after a long silence: “His soul isn’t resting,” she murmurs. “He’s in pain. I’ll find him. I’ll bring him with me.”
I blink, confused. “What do you mean?”
“Don’t worry, dear boy,” she says. “I’ll take care of it. The afterlife is hell if you’re not at rest. Only immortals know that pain.” I nod slowly, unsure what to say.
If his soul wasn’t resting when I killed him, does that mean he was immortal? I watched him die. I heard his last breath. Just like Mira’s mother. If she came back, could he? Or worse, did he already have an original form? And if both of my parents were, or are, immortal, what does that make me?
“Thank you. You will heal this world, my beautiful boy.” Her voice trembles, but the smile that follows is warm. “You and her, you will heal it together. Please, don’t use your power for evil, vile things. Use it to mend what’s been broken.”
She smiles again, soft and motherly, like I’d come home with a scraped knee and needed to be told I’m okay. It disarms me completely. “We will free you,” I promise. “You have my word.” Her eyes close slowly, then reopen, tears balancing on the lower lashes. I never thought I’d see emotion like this from her.
“I love you, dear boy,” she whispers. “Never forget how much I love you.” She looks around the brig one final time, her gaze lingering on the stairwell. She can sense Mira’s presence.
“That girl is your compass,” she says softly. “Let her lead you wherever she wishes. She will always be your heart. Never choose anything or anyone over her. You were written in prophecy, Kai. You are meant to change this world for the better.”
She crosses her legs on the wet floor, slipping back into a deep meditative state just as I say, “I love you too.” I turn to walk away but glance back one last time. She is smiling. Tears run freelydown her cheeks. This is the happiest she’s been in decades. I feel a smile sneak across my face. I’m glad to be the one to give her that.
