Wrath

him. “She’s too injured. She won’t recover.”

“He’s . . . right,” Mom said.

“No. Mom, please. Don’t give up.”

“Take care of her . . . Tristan. Be . . . what . . . she needs,” Mom said, air whistling in her lungs.

“I promise,” Tristan vowed.

“Be . . . strong . . . Alexis. You. . . must . . . lead.” She paused and her chest rose as though in slow motion as she inhaled a wheezy breath. The last one she would ever take. Her eyes rolled to Tristan and up to Dorian, then back to me. “I . . . love . . . you. All of you.”

I watched as her mind replayed her memories of us, starting with the first time she saw me and cradled my tiny body in her arms on the day I was born. She remembered our days of my childhood, our friendship even through my teen years. She recalled Tristan’s and my wedding day and then bringing Dorian into the world, and the pride she’d felt then. Her mind played out all of our hugs, all of our laughs, all of the joys we experienced together. It slowed as she remembered the last few months with Winston, and I realized then just how lonely she had been when Tristan and I had married, and how happy she’d been to find her Oliver again.

And then her mind blanked out. The light in her beautiful mahogany eyes extinguished.

My mother left us.

“NOOOOO!” I sobbed as I held her body against my chest. “Oh, God, NO!”

I clung to Mom’s small body, refusing to let her go. Tristan tried to pull me tighter to him, but I shrugged him off and began rocking her back and forth. Dorian scooted closer to me, but I couldn’t acknowledge him. I couldn’t do anything but try to hold onto my mother, my confidante, my best friend, the woman who had given me life and then gave hers to save mine and my son’s.

And then I reached out and pulled Rina’s body to me, as well, holding them both as tears streamed down my face faster than the rain fell.

“I can’t do this without you two,” I cried. “We’re supposed to conquer everything together. And now you’ve left me. You’ve both left me to do this on my own. How can I fight without you by my side? I’m not ready to lead alone!”

“You are not alone, dear Alexis.” Though the words came as only a whisper, I recognized the voice. Cassandra’s. “We are always with you.”

The air around us suddenly changed.

The thick weight of evil I’d felt earlier disappeared. The rain stopped as though turned off at a faucet. The clouds above us parted in a circle, exposing a nearly full moon that shone down on my mother’s pale, still face. On my grandmother’s lifeless body.

And I saw them.

A hundred or so women, here but not quite, surrounding us, and although I couldn’t really see them as physical beings, I knew they had dark hair and dark eyes and looked like Rina and Mom and me. I also knew they remained on the other side of the veil, in the Otherworld, but their presence felt so close, pushing warmth and love into our world, enveloping us with it. And I knew why they were here: to escort my mom’s and grandmother’s souls home, to the Otherworld, ensuring their safety while reminding me that I would not be alone. I was never alone.

But, God, did I feel like I was.

Chapter 25

Owen eventually regained his energy, and Charlotte recovered from the blast Kali had given her. Along with Julia and Solomon, we all crowded around Mom’s and Rina’s bodies, saying our final goodbyes. None of us seemed able to move for a long time, as though we believed if we waited long enough, their spirits would return, and they’d rejoin us. But of course that didn’t happen. There would be no reunion until each of us joined them in Heaven. In the Otherworld.

The rain returned and drizzled over our misery for a while, but by the time the sky began to lighten, the clouds had scattered. The sun rose and shone over us from its perch in a perfectly clear blue sky. And I couldn’t decide if it was all wrong for the day to be so beautiful and warm when my mom and grandmother were no longer here to enjoy it—when their bodies lay dead and cold—or if it was right because it meant they were happy where they were. That they’d finally found peace and joy for the first time in decades, and they wanted us to know it.

At some point before we left the U.K., Lisa and Jessica popped in to take the vessel that held Kali’s soul. My mind remained in a fog for a long time, but although I couldn’t pinpoint the exact place and time, I clearly remembered handing over that jar, never so happy to be rid of something in my life. And I remembered the faeries letting out a squeal of joy when they took possession. Debbie and Stacey joined them, and they all left for the Otherworld, taking the sorceress’s soul with them. Removing it from this realm once and for all.

Noah and all of the soldiers had also left the abbey grounds, though my foggy mind didn’t notice when or how.

I barely noticed as someone escorted us to the Amadis jet in nearby Whitby. The journey to the Amadis Island was hazy as grief consumed me, but I remembered the underlying happiness of having Dorian back at my side. And of Charlotte’s delight of having her son where he belonged, too. I knew Owen told his side of the story on the plane ride to the Island, but I barely listened, my heart dulling my brain so it wouldn’t think about the bodies in the boxes below us in the cargo area.

The triple funeral was a formality. I already knew Mom’s and Rina’s souls were gone, probably already at work in the Otherworld, and Winston had surely joined Mom. But of course we gave them an Amadis send-off with all of the pomp and circumstance worthy of them. Amadis from all over the world crowded onto the Island for the service, and we all watched from the cliff side as flames licked the sides of the pyre they shared before the whole thing disappeared, taken by the Angels.

The Council swore me in as matriarch—the first coronation ceremony I’d actually had. It wasn’t as bad as I’d expected all these years, although my numb mind might have had something to do with the fact that I didn’t notice all the attention on me, even when everyone took to their knees, their heads bowed. In fact, the numbness still hadn’t allowed me to think about how on earth I was going to lead the Amadis. The reality of being matriarch hadn’t quite set in.

But I did understand Lucas’s statement now. He hadn’t returned that night at the abbey. He hadn’t been able to walk away with my son or the lykora. But he had made his point. He’d taken away those who were precious to me. And he’d taken away my security. He’d put me into a position he knew I wasn’t ready for. He wanted to see exactly how far I would go, and not only for Dorian. Because he’d ensured that all of the Amadis were now my children. Not Rina’s, not Mom’s. Mine. He wanted to see my real wrath.

He’d declared war against his own daughter.

And war he would get.

He had no idea the true wrath I could unleash. I didn’t know myself how far I would go. But we would all soon find out.

For now, however, as Tristan and I sat in our suite in the Amadis mansion, I needed a moment. A moment to be me, Alexis: a mother, a wife, a daughter, and a granddaughter. A friend and a lover. Not a matriarch. Not a warrior. Just a person with hopes and dreams that had been shattered. A person who had experienced tremendous loss. A person who needed to mourn so she could recover and become even stronger.

I’d cried when Mom and Rina first died, unable to control my emotions at the time, but I’d maintained control ever since. And it had been the only time I’d cried since the day Dorian disappeared. But now that it was all over, I could no longer hold up the dam. I curled up on the antique loveseat against my husband, and he wrapped his arms around me.

“It’s okay, my love,” he murmured against my ear. “Let it go.”

And finally I did. I sobbed.

I sobbed for the friend and protector I thought I’d lost and had regained. I sobbed for Sasha who had fought