The brown-eyed witch in the doorway paused. I couldn’t make out the expression on her face, but I could see when she nodded. “If you say so.”
Raya relaxed in front of me.
“Thank you,” she called as Lariza returned to the house.
I took a deep breath, realizing I’d been holding mine the whole time. “Why couldn’t she see me?”
She flinched when I spoke, though it didn’t seem fearful. Rather, she seemed restrained in a way. I got the sense that perhaps that was a stupid question at the moment.
She muttered more words that sounded like gibberish to me. “A disguise charm. I wasn’t going to let her see you. If any of them knew, even suspected that I was telling you any of this…” She shook her head.
I slowly nodded as questions rushed through my head. “Raya. Why did you?”
The witch shot me a look that would have made my blood run cold if I hadn’t known her so well. I watched as every muscle in her body seemed to tense before finally surrendering into a relaxed shrug. “I… guess I’m trying to buy a more pleasant eternity for myself. I don’t want to end up…”
“Well, thank you,” I nodded, a bit of clarity dawning on me. “I know Lore would be livid if she knew you told me this. You don’t know what it means to me.” All I could think of was Myrcedes. This news wasn’t the answer she wanted, but it was a definitive answer, at least.
“Do me one favor in return,” she said suddenly.
I barely kept from cringing. Of course. That was an old Seelie trick, give someone what they wanted and reveal after the fact that you want a form of repayment. I felt like an idiot, but I also knew I owed her, and for more than just this.
“What?”
“Don’t ever come here again.”
Her voice wasn’t angry. That was shocking. She had every right to be angry at me. Instead, Raya was completely calm.
I nodded. “I owe you that much.” I bowed slightly to the hazel-eyed woman. I hoped, in some small way, this interaction gave her some kind of closure. At the very least, I’d never turn up at her doorstep again. That would be some peace, at least.
25
Daath
Myrcedes had been pacing for at least five minutes before she finally sat down on the settee in her bedroom, only to look painfully worried as she did so. I walked over from the bed and rubbed her shoulders, kissing her head. “Don’t fret, little owl. He knows what he’s doing.”
She rested her chin on her palm and bounced her leg up and down. I almost worried she’d launch herself off the seat. “What are witches like?”
“Oh, I suppose you haven’t met any yet, have you?” I blinked. “They’re just like any other creature. There are bad ones, and there are good ones.”
“What about these witches?”
“I’d venture a guess that any coven of witches trying to raise Minerva from the dead would be the bad ones,” I chuckled. Myrcedes turned to me with wide, fearful, and annoyed eyes, so I stopped. “Sorry. Not funny.” I kissed her forehead. “But the Seelie trusts them.”
Syrion got up from the bed and sat across from her on the couch. “Darling, stay calm. He’ll be back any minute.”
She shook her head slowly and only slightly at first, but then she sped up. “No… no, no, this was a terrible idea. It was so selfish of me to ask him to do this-”
“He could have said no,” Syrion took her hand. “Love, please.”
“Why don’t we go out, take a walk, visit with Gloria.” I ran through suggestions in my head, but she wouldn’t have it.
“No, I told him I’d wait for him in my room so he’d know exactly where to go when he got back.”
I sighed and continued rubbing her shoulders. I wished I could provide her with even a bit of relief. It was torture to see her like this and know there was nothing we could do to fix it.
She continued to bounce her leg quicker and quicker until finally, her energy overcame her, and she shot up to pace again. Just as she did, the air in front of her door turned black, and when it faded, Kalian stood in its place. Myrcedes ran over and threw her arms around him.
“There you are! I was so worried! I’m so sorry I asked you to do something so dangerous. Are you okay?”
The Seelie smiled warmly at her and touched her cheek. “I’m fine.” It was odd to watch such a gesture come from someone besides Syrion or myself. As I watched it, however, all I felt was a bit of joy at the knowledge that someone else held so much care for her, that someone else would devote at least some of themselves to her happiness, as she deserved.
“What happened?” I asked.
Kalian dropped his hand and addressed the three of us together. “I spoke to the witches. They didn’t really want to speak to me, but luckily, one of them decided to share the truth… there is no way to bring back the dead. Furthermore, there’s no way to contact Minerva.”
Relief hit me like a ton of bricks. I watched a similar shift in my brother. The opposite effect, however, was had on Myrcedes. I watched her deflate. I walked over and took her hand. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s…” she swallowed and shook her head. “It’s fine. It was just a bad idea, I guess. Speaking to the dead…”
Kalian’s eyes lit up quickly. “Actually, it’s not.”
“What?” His response threw me off. “What do you mean?”
“Raya, the witch, said that the reason they couldn’t speak to Minerva was that she was too far into the Bay.”
A
