My skin burned, knowing that Kaiden was the one holding her. But I couldn’t be the one to do it. I knew that if we hadn’t gone through with it, we both would have died eventually, but just the thought that she died atmyhand… It killed something inside of me.
“It was a necessary risk,” the brown-haired one beside me said. Naaz, I believe, is what he was called. I assumed he was speaking to me. “You haven’t looked at her once since her heart started beating again. The guilt that’s eating away at you? It isn’t necessary. Whether you went through with the soul bond or not, she was on her way toward a brutal death—carrying thatmuch power. But, she’s alive, somehow.” His hand came down onto my shoulder in a casual way that made me uncomfortable, but somehow lessened the tension coiled in my stomach. “If there’s one thing our girl is good at, it’s surviving. Even death will have to wait its turn, it seems.”
Before I could even form a response, he slowed his pace and moved behind me, leaving me more confused than before. But I shrugged off my own selfish emotions as we stopped in front of the castle gate. I lifted my hand and touched the rusted iron, letting some of my light flow out. When it recognized me, the gate creaked open slowly, revealing a stony bridge that floated above a deep pit of fire that blazed all around this world. A wall of black and grey smoke masked whatever lay beyond. It was the very mist I had stood behind when Morrigan made her way onto the bridge.
The redhead stepped up, his eyes reflecting the hues of orange and yellow that flickered below. “And to think, she was right behind this wall when we first got here.”
“That’s not exactly how it works,” I explained to him. He turned his head and acknowledged me for the first time. “This wall acts as its own bridge between our worlds. It might seem to be just a few steps in between, but crossing it means walking into an entirely different realm. Only the gods can pass through it.”
“And since Morrigan had the other half of your light…”
“I was no stronger than you or the rest of them. The mist saw me as any other mortal trapped here. But now…” My blood surged with the power that flowed within it. It was hard not to revel in the sensation. I had never felt so…whole.
I moved along the bridge until I stood before the mist, then lifted a hand toward the wall. I had done this several times before. When I would press against it, my hand would connect with what felt like solid stone. But as I pushed it throughthistime, the mist wrapped around my wrist, and theshadows on my arms seeped out like tendrils, tangling with the grey smoke. It was like a key had unlocked a door.
I released a quiet laugh to myself. How long had I waited to leave this place? How many times had I stood on this bridge and counted every stone?I’m free… I’m actually free.
I turned back to my half-brother with Morrigan still in his arms. “I’ll hold it open while you all go first.”
Kaiden nodded and walked in front of the others. He disappeared through the mist as each of them followed closely behind. Once they were all gone, I had to take a couple of steadying breaths before gathering enough courage to actually step through.
Even though we still remained inside of the cave, the air itself had changed immediately once I made it to the other side. It was lighter somehow. No longer tainted with anger and pain. I could hear the screams rising from the fire, screams that echoed every tortured soul in the Netherworld, but they no longer felt like they were a part of me anymore.
My heart tugged a little knowing Malakai was still on the other side of the wall.
He had been by my side almost every day for the past three hundred years. It felt so juvenile, but I wasn’t sure how I could get through the rest of this day without him. I would be going…
What would I even call this place? Home?
“The tunnels are a bit confusing,” Dez said, popping up beside me. “Kaiden will lead us out, though. Just stick with us.”
“Were you not trying to kill me just ten minutes ago?” I asked him.
He shrugged and actually smiled at my question before smacking my shoulder with his hand. “Welcome to the family.”
We walked through the tunnels, and it took everything in me not to puke as we passed the throne room.
I had seen small parts of the cage while Morrigan was still locked inside of it. But now, someone had torn it down from the chains that had held it in the air. The large cage was now turned on its side, half broken on the ground.
Actually, large was an overstatement. Morrigan had barely fit inside of that cage. She couldn’t even stand in it. The highest she could move comfortably was sitting on her knees. It wasn’t wide, either. She would pull her knees close to her chest as she attempted to sleep against the hard iron bars.
“Reel it in,” Eris snapped, knocking his shoulder into mine as he walked by. “Your shadows are crawling all over the floor right now, and we don’t have time for this.”
I peered down to see that my power had, indeed, released itself without my knowledge.This is going to take some getting used to,I thought to myself as I reeled my light back in, regaining control.
It wasn’t long before we reached an end to the tunnels. A bright light streamed down from a hole at the end of the path, and I felt a strange heat emanating from it.
“Is your world on fire, too?” I asked Dez beside me.
In response, he began to laugh. “No, it’s not.”
The heat seemed to grow as I stepped onto the dirt that led up. It was a short, steep hill, but as I emerged through the other side, my eyes stung as they were blasted with a blinding light that all but consumed me.
My arm shot up, and I tried to protect my vision. “Why is it so damned bright?!” I yelled out.
“It seems like it’s early morning right now,” Dez replied. “It’s just the su—” I blinked a couple of times as I twisted toward him, squinting to make out his outline. Realization spread across his face. “You’ve never seen sunlight…”
The way he spoke those words didn’t feel directed at me, but more like a thought said out loud.Sunlight. My world had always been so dark. The fire on the horizon lit just enough for one to find their way, but no light ever reached the sky like this.I think I might have preferred it that way.
