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“You were so young when I found you, but older than any other time.” She worked her jaw. “I don’t know why that was. I don’t know if my magic protected you longer this time, or if it was something else, but whatever it was, that luck ran out almost immediately. I was speaking with your dad, pretending to be a new neighbor to start integrating into your life, when we heard the scream.”
My brow furrowed. “I don’t remember someone else coming to my rescue.”
She nodded. “I don’t expect you to. There was so much going on, I doubt you processed much after that beast had his teeth in you.”
Aya tipped her head up to gaze at the canopy. “That was when I knew I’d have to do more. You needed all the protection you could get. So, I found this place. It was quiet, and Pete was a good man. It was the perfect place to hide you. I used my magic to make sure you and your dad came here, where I could keep you safe personally. I made Pete think I’d been his wife for decades, as well as all the townsfolk, that way it wouldn’t be strange for me to be near you.”
I stared at her a good long moment before it clicked. “You… You were Randi?”
I then pulled a face. “Wait, don’t tell me you acted as his actual wife.”
She winked. “I’m a war goddess, but also a goddess of sex and fertility. Girl has her needs.”
I shuddered and shook my head. Pete became my grandfather. I already struggled with witnessing her trying to flirt with my dad on two occasions, I didn’t want the image of her getting it on with my grandpa in my head.
“Why did you pick the persona Randi?” That name had felt familiar when I was a kid and first met her. It had to have significance.
She smiled. “I didn’t know how the revival magic would work for you and any ancestral memories you might have. I thought maybe, if you were meant to remember, that name might trigger something.”
Randi… her—my mother back then.I ran my fingers through my hair, struggling to really process this. Were these memories mine? Or just one that belonged to a woman who was a lot like me?
I jumped to my feet and paced. Back and forth, back and forth. My mind went a mile a minute, trying to absorb and process.
“So, what, this was just some elaborate plan to fill an oath?”
“No.” Aya shot to her feet and grabbed my hands. “No, Astrid. My oath was fulfilled the first time. We found you. You may not have been alive, but the reunification clause of the oath didn’t require you to be living. I did this because we were friends.”
She slid her soft hand along my cheek, cupping it. “Because you’re my family—my sister. And I didn’t care if you remembered me or not. I’d cherish what we had and embrace the new you, forging a new bond that was just as strong, if not stronger.”
My eye twitched when pain sparked through me again.
“We’re friends, right, Freyja?”
“No.” She pulled me closer. “We’re family. And we always will be.”
I pressed my palm to my forehead. “I’m so confused. What you say makes so much sense, but it doesn’t at the same time.”
She held me by the shoulders. “I understand. I don’t expect you to be able to take this all in at once. Just know, everything I’ve said is true.”
“Why now?”
Aya frowned. “I’m… not sure. I tested the waters with you every now and then, but I always thought it’d done nothing. Now, I’m wondering if they were in some way, and we just missed the signs.”
She chewed her lip. “Like earlier in the week, you remembered the prophecy your past mother spoke before she died, but it was clear you weren’t aware of what you were saying, nor did you seem to remember saying it after the rescue was over, so Tyr and I weren’t sure what to make of the situation. I should have seen that as a sign something had changed.”
I squinted.I’d recited a prophecy?My mind flashed, and the day at the island counter, before the search and rescue, I’d been talking about Hurrit. I’d recited something without thinking about it.
Aya shook her head. “But, even so, I never would have guessed you to be hit so hard by the memories now. I’ve been trying to get Tyr here for some time, using my magic to lure him, since he never answers me any other way. But he claims he never felt the magic, even when he did finally show up, which is peculiar.”
She shook her head. “It’s like the fates didn’t think any of us were ready until now, but for what reason, I’m still not sure.”
I sucked in a deep breath and plopped down on the log again. “How do I deal with this? How am I supposed to process these memories that aren’t mine, but are?”
Aya sat next to me and held my hand. “I don’t think I can give you those answers. I can talk to Kirby to see if she can help. She’d gone through something like it when her memories came back. Otherwise, all I can say is that you have to decide if these memories are yours or not.”
My eyes popped. I knew that name. “Kirby? Why—”
Pain pulsed in my head again, and images flashed. Various kinds of a woman with blonde hair and black wings. All moments where I, or this past version of me, interacted with her. Some happy, some sad.
