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“Kai,” she cried, squeezing me tight. I wasn’t expecting that kind of welcome, but I accepted it wholeheartedly. Did I deserve it? No, but I needed it.
“I didn’t think you’d recognize me,” I said, hugging her back.
“You’re my son, Kai,” she sobbed. “I will always know who you are.” She let me go and clutched my face, her gaze full of sorrow. “I’m overjoyed seeing you, but I’m not happy you’re here.”
Visions of Ella flashed through my mind. I hated that my last moments with her were full of despair. I placed my hands over my mother’s.
“I did what I had to do to save Ella.”
Tears streamed down her cheeks. “Because you love her.”
I nodded. “I do. I always will.”
Her hands slid off my face and she took my arm, leading me down the path to her house. “She’s a lovely woman. How is she taking all of this?”
“I don’t know. We’re not allowed to see each other. She can’t come here, and I can’t go to the Land of the Fae. Something is stopping us.”
She halted at her door and turned to face me. “If there’s anything I’ve learned in life, things happen for a reason. It’ll all work out in the end. You just have to believe it will.”
“Where did you get your optimism from?”
My mother beamed. “Your grandmother. Soon, I’ll take you to meet your family. But right now, we have a lot to catch up on. So many years lost.”
Before she could lead me inside, I squeezed her hand. “Can you forgive me, Mom? I never should’ve given in to the darkness.”
She cupped my cheek. “There’s nothing to forgive. You’re my son and I love you.”
Hearing her words restored one part of my heart, but there was still an emptiness that only Ella could fill. I just hoped she could fulfill her destiny and find her way back to me. If not, that hole would never be fixed.
“I love you too,” I said to her. I stepped into her cozy little cottage and smiled. “We have so much to talk about.”
Chapter30
Ella
The past day had been a blur; it all jumbled together in a sea of heartache and anguish. The land called to me, more so now than ever before. There was so much I wanted to do, but my heart wasn’t in it. It was still hard to believe that Kai was gone. Worse, he was in the Hereafter, and I’d been banned from entering.
I tried not to let the anger get to me, but I was furious. Why was I being kept from him? Was it a test? If so, what is the point? None of it made any sense. My brain had been working nonstop, trying to figure it out. It couldn’t be a punishment because of who Kai was. If that was the case, there was no way he would’ve been let into the Hereafter.
He had been redeemed.
Leaning my head against the glass, I blinked away the tears. I’d shed too many in the last few hours. I was surprised there was even any left in me.
“Ella,” Merrick murmured, appearing in my bedroom. I didn’t realize how much I needed to hear his voice. “I’m sorry about invading your privacy. I know your room has always been off-limits, but I needed to see you, to make sure you were all right.”
A shaky sigh escaped my lips, and I hurried over to him, letting him take me in his arms. I couldn’t stop the tears from falling.
“It’s okay,” I whispered. “I think I needed this.”
He swayed us back and forth, rubbing his hands soothingly over my back. “Everyone is worried about you, Ella. Marin and Iston are downstairs, and your parents have been by here several times.”
“I know,” I confessed. “I’ve heard them. It’s just . . ..”
Merrick let me go, his expression sad. “I know. You’re not ready. I get it.” I sat on the bed, and he knelt before me. “Do you want to talk?” he asked.
I shrugged. “What’s there to talk about? Kai’s gone and it hurts. I don’t know how to make the pain go away.”
His warm Summer hands closed over mine. “I tried to see him in the Hereafter, but I’m blocked from him, too.”
