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I gasped in a shuddering breath that sent more pain racking through my body. It wasn’t supposed to end this soon. I hadn’t finished my tasks. I didn’t tell Neia that I loved her or hugged my family like I’d never see them again. And I hadn’t discussed everything with Lira.
Somehow that stung the most.
Something scuttled, and I turned my face against the gritty sand I lay on. The bhoot crouched beside me. Without my heightened sense of sight and my familiarity with shadows, I wouldn’t have seen her. She reached for my injury, and I jerked away which sent pain—white, hot, sharp, miserable pain—searing through me. And the world faded.
Ah, Yama. One last thought whispered across my mind.Go easy on my soul.
I woke again at the sound of a voice. Lira’s. For a moment I thought I’d ascended beyond the mortal plane, but Lira’s song—despite the graceful beauty of it—was tinged with fear and grief. And my body still throbbed.
Oh Goddess, I was still alive.
The bhoot remained at my side, greedily licking her fingers that dripped crimson. Or maybe this was Naraka. Perhaps I’d earned punishment. If I could custom design a hell for myself, slowly dying as a demon crouched over me while Lira’s fearful voice echoed around and me unable to do anything to help her would be it.
Lira stumbled towards me, dim lights sparkling around her. Tears streamed down her cheeks, and she whimpered as she took another uneven step. The bhoot startled and rushed away, disappearing into the rocks.
Lira wouldn’t be able to see well down here in the chasm's bottom.
She walked closer, and I shuddered but forced a word to whisper out of my mouth. “Lira.”
“Sai.” She tumbled another step forward and dropped onto her knees before her eyes scanned over my wrecked body. “Oh, my god. We have to… we need to…”
Lira was here. The object of my greatest regret. The one thing I might rectify before my death. I reached out and grabbed her hand. Her touch strengthened me, sending a rush of fresh energy through my veins. “There’s something”—I paused for a miserable breath—“I want to tell you.”
Her fingers trembled in mine, and I wanted desperately to calm her, to tell her it would be okay. I wouldn’t lie to her ever again, though, not even by omission. She sniffled as her other hand hovered above my injury. “What?”
Something clattered in the distance and my muscles tensed. The bhoot could come back for Lira. I should tell her to leave. Lira had her powers, the map, my family’s name, and their protection. They would provide her a haven and she would be okay. Perhaps I’d failed at many tasks in life, but Lira, as a princess of the Prasanna, would be safe. My body felt like jelly—ice cold jelly that swept away from me. My soul would leave this plane soon and I couldn’t delay anymore. “I love you,” I choked out. “And I’m so sorry.”
A tear fell from Lira’s cheek and it landed warm against my lips before rolling down my chin. “No,” she said. “Don’t say that. We can…” She stopped speaking. The hopelessness of the situation was palpable, like a mist that joined the temple to hover above the pools of water.
“My biggest”—I swallowed and closed my eyes—“regret… in life… is hurting you.”
“Oh, Sai.” She clutched her fingers around mine and it felt like coming home. My fears about my soul leaving with nothing familiar to cling to abandoned me. Lira was here. I reached up despite my muscles screaming and traced a finger down her cheek. She clasped her hand around mine. “Please tell me there’s something I can do. I can’t lose you before I even know you—before I get a chance to apologize too.”
“Listen to me.” I tangled my fingers into the silky strands of her hair and peace flooded through me. “Your… siren magic… requires fueling, and you’ll need to…” Wait. She was a siren. Oh Goddess. I gasped so hard it took me several breaths to speak again. “You’re a… siren.”
She dropped my bag into a puddle and yanked it open. She grabbed a jacket before bunching it up and pressing it into my side. A groan pealed past my lips and darkness passed over my vision, but I fought against it. I couldn’t fade now. “I thought you knew this,” she said with a touch of humor in her voice but the tremble that shook her words gave her true feelings away.
“No.” I had to stop and swallow. “Siren’s… magic is… healing.”
Lira’s anxious movements froze. “Healing?”
“Siren’s songs… reach not only to… the mind… but the body… You could… heal me.”
Her eyes widened until they took up half of her face. Even in the dim light, I could make out the crystal blue of them, the sheen spreading across their surface. Those eyes were one of the first things I’d noticed about her. I could spend eternity looking into them, wondering what thoughts flitted across her mind.
She bit her lip. “I don’t know what I’m doing.”
“Help me… off this… stone.”
“You’ll bleed out, won’t you? I mean, I know nothing about healing, but I feel like I read that in a book once and—”
“Lira.” I curled my fingers around her hand and leaned into the calm that flooded through me. “It’s okay… Help me… You can try.”
She garbled over a sob. “What if I fail?”
“It can’t… get worse… I’m already… dying.”
“Oh, Sai.” Her words competed with the rushing of the water in the background. “I’ll try. God help me, but I’ll try.”
