And Alex clearly knew it.
It happened in a blink. Almost too fast to watch.
The strap holding the baby snapped and Veronica plummeted toward the quicksand. Jessie unleashed a bolt of lightning, sending it to strike the vines restraining Shelly. They burst so suddenly that she fell over, catching Veronica as she went down. Sarah worked her fingers deep into the soil, hardening the ground under the quicksand.
The twins clasped hands and created an electrical burst that burned through their bonds, then Teddy and Tommy’s.
Tommy brought his hands together, then pushed out toward Dugan, blasting him backward with a forceful concussion of air that blew past Kevin. Kevin turned, directing a flood of spiders to swarm over Dugan, inside his mouth, eyes, ears, and nose. Teddy directed the vines that had bound Shelly to climb Maeve’s skirts and entwine around her neck, arms, and hands, attempting to pull her away from Elizabeth.
Each movement was orchestrated perfectly, each Raines moving in unison, quicker than a blink. Draven smiled, proud of their strength, proud of them. They fought well, but as Alex had known, they couldn’t win alone. Knowing what was to come, he held his position.
As soon as Maeve felt the vines, she screamed and sliced Elizabeth’s throat. Simultaneously, she unleashed invisible blades opening long gashes and deepening wounds on all of them until the clearing ran red with blood.
Knowing his cue, Alex spread his arms wide. Felicia mimicked him, their hands still clasped tight. Blue light surrounded Alex and Felicia directed it out in rays, bouncing them from one end of the dome to the other in continuously rebounding streaks. The light covered everyone, blue electricity crackling in tiny, multiple bursts over them.
Alex threw his head back, roaring as his body absorbed all their wounds. Like a hundred blades striking him at once, his neck opened in a long, straight gash. His shoulder split, the wound thin but deep. Blood spread, ugly and thick, soaking through his shirt. Slashes appeared over his arms, across his forehead. Blood pooled under the skin of his neck and jaw. He’d be one big bruise if he lived till morning.
Light zapped from within his wounds, his body attempting to heal as fast as it absorbed, but the moment Maeve’s weaknesses hit him, he staggered to his knees. Still he fought to keep going, making sure he could heal his family.
Felicia stepped behind him, holding him as he fell. She fed her love into him, willing him to heal. But when her attention swerved to him and away from the children, the light in the dome grew dim.
Alex opened his eyes and saw Elizabeth on the ground. He fought to speak. “Don’t stop.”
The demand was clear. Felicia held him and continued to direct the light. But he grew weaker, choking as Dugan’s injuries were absorbed. He knew he couldn’t last much longer, so Alex gathered his gift into one swirling mass and exploded. Blue light filled the dome so completely, nothing could be seen within it.
Geoffrey pounded on the barrier, his strength fully behind each punch, the dome bending with the force of each blow. Draven joined Silas and they clasped hands, preparing for the moment the barrier fell.
Elizabeth opened her eyes to grass and dirt. She could barely squint through the shining light. Like fog, it slowly dissipated, leaving only a thin blanket of mist hovering over the ground. A few yards away, Alex lay on the ground, braced by her crying sister. The barrier held strong around them, so he was alive, but blood soaked through his clothes, covered his skin, poured from his mouth as he choked.
Elizabeth gasped, stretching her hand out. She had to get to him, touch him. She crawled toward him, scrambling as fast as she could. Laughter filled the air behind her, sounding strong and healthy.
Elizabeth rose to her feet, and turned around slowly. Maeve held her arms wide, her black skirts billowing around her ankles. Her hair was the darkest, richest red Elizabeth had ever seen. Her skin shone with health. She laughed as her devoted servant approached her. This was not good.
Elizabeth looked at Alex, at the kids surrounding him and holding his hands, his feet, touching any part of him they could reach. He didn’t move. His wounds had frozen in place, not healing shut. She needed to be there, to join everyone around him. But she was the only person standing between everyone she loved and Maeve.
You are the dreamwalker, one of the strongest ever made. No matter what strengths and skills Maeve has, she can’t take away yours. Maeve fights under the surface, he’d said. The dream world was under the surface. Maeve’s world or not, this was Elizabeth’s playground.
Elizabeth faced the bitch. “You can’t have them.”
Maeve smiled. “Don’t make me laugh.”
Elizabeth snarled.
“Really, Elizabeth, you can’t truly believe you have the power to stop me? It’s time to eradicate all of Adad’s poisoned fruit.” Maeve raised her hand.
Elizabeth put out a hand to repel whatever Maeve threw at her. “I said no.”
“Aunt Beth!” Shelly shouted just as the barrier fell.
Alex. Elizabeth screamed, her voice full of wordless rage. Maeve began to laugh as the ground beneath her feet quaked. Thunderclouds massed over her head and the wind blew her back into a mountainous cave of black granite that trembled ominously. Steel doors slammed closed over the entrance, blocking Maeve from escape. The mountain shuddered and crashed in on itself, sealing her inside.
Elizabeth looked at the monster Maeve had called Dugan. “You aren’t needed here.”
Dugan disappeared from the landscape.
Elizabeth spun around and ran to Alex’s side.
Geoffrey pressed both hands down on Alex’s chest, pumping his heart for him. Felicia’s fingers rested on the pulse point in his neck. Elizabeth knelt in the grass at his side. She was afraid to touch him, afraid he was already growing cold. Elizabeth bit her lip and reached for him anyway. Sliding his shirt up, she laid her palm over his stomach.
“Alex, come back,” Jessie whispered.
“We’ll take care of you,” Teddy promised as he watched blood slowly trickle back into the wound at Alex’s neck.
“We love you, Alex,” Sarah told him.
Each child pressed their hand over a different wound, holding it closed. Shelly leaned toward her, tears streaming down her face. “He needs love to heal, Aunt Beth. He used all of his on us.”
Elizabeth’s eyes widened. “What?”
“He needs more. He needs us.”
Elizabeth stared at each of them, her hand rubbing over Alex’s stomach. She couldn’t let him go. She’d waited so long already. She’d wasted so much damn time. Her throat clogged shut and she coughed, willing away the tears burning behind her eyes. “Don’t stop, Geoffrey. Don’t you dare stop.”
Geoffrey never paused. “I won’t.”
Shelly leaned toward her. “We can’t help him here. You have to send us back.”
Elizabeth shook her head. “I can’t leave him.”
“You stay, but we have to go, Aunt Beth.”
Elizabeth looked at her niece. “I can’t let you go back alone.”
“We have Geoffrey and Aunt Felicia. We’ll be fine. We’ll help Alex.”
Elizabeth looked behind her, toward the mountain. Fine tremors already shook the ground. Elizabeth was all that stood between that demonic bitch and everyone she loved. Dugan was there, awake, and the kids couldn’t protect themselves while they were asleep. But the real threat, Maeve, was still here.
“Trust us. We’ll be there for you. We won’t let you down.”
Elizabeth straddled Alex and her hands replaced Geoffrey’s over Alex’s heart. Once in place, she nodded. In a blink, they were gone and it was only her and Alex, alone in the rain. The ground trembled as Maeve’s anger rose. She would fight her way free soon.
Elizabeth pushed three times and leaned forward, placing her lips against his neck. He was so still. She pumped his chest again, as hard as she could. “Please, please, Alex, wake up.”
The ground rumbled, louder and more forceful. Time was running
out. Time was always running out. She hadn’t even told him how she felt, how she’d always felt. “It was you, Alex. Always you. My hero. My haven.”
The rain poured down harder around them, soaking the ground. The sky was crying for her. She leaned forward again, testing his lips, his pulse. His heart still didn’t beat. But why would it? CPR was for bodies. Not minds. Not hearts.
He needs our love. He used all his on us.
Elizabeth fell forward, pressing her lips over his heart, then her ear. “I bet this poor thing is worn out. Exhausted. You healed all of us, Alex. Even Maeve and Dugan. Just like you meant to. I knew. As soon as you winked at me, I knew.”
Rock groaned, shifting and falling, first a few pebbles, then more. Elizabeth put her arms around him, determined to hold on as long as she could. “You sacrificed so much for us. Everything you are. Everything you could be. I know it. You have nothing to prove. Come back to me. Stay with me.” Her throat closed enough that she could only whisper, “Please don’t leave me.”
With one last violent shove, the rocks exploded outward. At the same moment, Alex disappeared. He could have awakened. Or maybe he’d died. Gasping against the pain, Elizabeth held still.
“Did you truly think that would be enough to stop me?”
“No.” Elizabeth rose to her feet and faced Maeve.
This time anger didn’t feed her, only cold determination. Alex had willingly died for her family. She would live for them. “Only I can stop you.”
Moving in a burst of speed, Maeve suddenly stood before her, one hand wrapped tight around Elizabeth’s throat. “Think so?”
Elizabeth stared at the woman responsible for her family’s curse. She’d kidnapped and tortured the children. Used them to force Elizabeth’s compliance. Well, there were no more children here for her to threaten. Just one pissed-off adult.
“You’re only strong enough to hold me because Alex loved you,” Elizabeth stated.
Maeve blinked, the sneer on her lips dying.
“You felt it, didn’t you? Genuine love.”
Maeve’s eyes narrowed. “You think that means anything to me? You think love influences me?”
“No.” Elizabeth released a sneer of her own. “But I have to wonder how long it’s been since you’ve felt so cared for. Who was the last to feel that way toward you?”
Maeve’s hand trembled. “My son.”
Elizabeth raised one cool brow, ignoring the hand that tightened around her throat. She could still breathe. She could still talk. “You will release me. Then you will leave us alone, tonight and every night thereafter. You will not touch me or mine.”
Maeve laughed. “Are you insane? Why would I obey any of that?”
“Because I said so.”
“Or what?”
Elizabeth wrapped her hand around Maeve’s wrist. “Or I’ll make the lights go out.”
Like a switch had flipped, darkness weighed down on them both, confining and oppressive. Maeve’s hand trembled against her neck, then she firmed her grip. “You honestly think that scares me? That I can’t change this with a snap of my fingers?”
“Try.”
Maeve snapped. Nothing happened. Elizabeth waited as Maeve concentrated and tried again. Smiling at her, though she couldn’t see it, Elizabeth pulled Maeve’s hand away from her throat. “You’re in my brain now, bitch.”
Like a slow burn, Maeve spread poison throughout the world around them. Lime-green and deadly, it washed over the ground, wilted the trees, and cast a sickly light.
Elizabeth held strong, fighting away the effects. If she lost here, her family would suffer. Fire roared across her mind, searing, blistering, charring. Another attack from Maeve. Elizabeth pushed back with all her strength, all her endurance, returning the darkness. Maeve trembled—and lost.
Elizabeth felt the moment of weakness. “Every time you close your eyes—night or day.”
“Don’t threaten me, you little bitch.”
“But I win,” Elizabeth stated calmly.
“Yes.” Reluctance dragged at Maeve’s words. “You win. All Raineses past, present—”
“And future.”
“—are safe from me.”
“Now,” Elizabeth said, returning light to the landscape. “Take your hand away from my throat.”
One by one, Maeve released her fingers. Backing away, she eyed Elizabeth with all the hatred in her heart. “You think you understand. This isn’t your brain, Elizabeth. It’s a world created the moment it is willed into being. It has breath and a heartbeat, theories and guiding principles set from the first thought. Be careful or you will destroy your family all on your own.”
With those words, Maeve was gone, leaving Elizabeth to stare around her with new eyes.
Geoffrey awakened and reached Alex before Draven and Silas arrived. He hovered over Alex, both hands pushing firmly against his chest. Alex was sprawled on the couch, his feet hanging off the overstuffed end. The only blood visible was a faint, thin film over his lips. One by one, the children surrounded the men. The little ones were crying, holding each other. The older ones stared in silence.
David placed a hand on Geoffrey’s shoulder. “We’ll need you to step back a little. We don’t want to hurt you.”
Geoffrey looked at the boy and nodded. He stepped back as the twins replaced him, Felicia placed a hand on each of her children’s shoulders, guiding them.
This time their hands did not shed sparks. Instead, Felicia guided their electrical light so it burst around their hands. They lowered them to Alex’s chest and he arched. They pulled their hands back as Geoffrey checked Alex for a pulse.
Everyone froze, waiting, praying. Then Geoffrey nodded. Immediately, all of them surrounded Alex, reaching out to touch him. As Alex inhaled, a blue glow covered him from head to toe.
“They have this,” Draven said. “Let’s go to Elizabeth.”
“You don’t think Maeve will keep her word, do you?”
“And you do?” Draven’s tone was scathing.
Silas sighed. “No, not really.”
Just who did that little bitch think she was? Maeve fumed the entire way to the hospital. To threaten her of all people! Did Elizabeth honestly believe she could stand her ground with a Goddess? Not in this universe.
Maeve hadn’t lied about the dreamscape. It was a world willed into being. Maeve had created the world with the purpose of destroying her enemies, but greater truths had defeated her.
Elizabeth had clearly practiced building dreamscapes more than Maeve. Which made sense, because Maeve much preferred the physical world to a mental one. Why create a fantasyland she could only visit in dreams when she could live it instead?
The truth had been meant to scare Elizabeth, to prevent her further exercise until Maeve could confront her again on a mental battleground.
But Maeve wasn’t patient enough for that. Though she felt strong and healthy now, poison rolled around inside her. The same poison that had weakened her hold on the dreamscape, allowing Elizabeth’s strength and skill to wrest control from Maeve. That same poison that still moved through her, causing Maeve’s hands to shake and her steps to falter. Love. Acceptance. Forgiveness.
Alex had healed her and weakened her at the same time. Maeve refused to feel remorse. Guilt had no place in her unblessed life. She had chosen to live a life for herself, not others.
First, she’d kill Elizabeth. There was no way Alex’s heroic self-sacrifice would go unpunished, so she’d destroy his biggest strength—Elizabeth and her love. Then she’d kill him. Nodding, Maeve strode down the hospital hallway toward Mary Beth’s room.
Silas and his mysterious companion appeared, blocking her way, but Maeve was out of patience. Telekinetically, she knocked them aside. She walked through the door and prepared to cross the veil into the human realm where she could do the most immediate damage.
Mary Beth lay still as death, sun shining down on her and her daughter. The heart monitor beeped quietly, Mary Beth’s body was s
till alive as her spirit said good-bye.
Maeve focused on Elizabeth, but when she stepped forward, black smoke emerged from every shadow, darkening the room. Even as she struggled to breathe past her panic, Maeve knew this wasn’t the darkness Elizabeth had promised. This was much worse.
The shadows thickened and solidified, becoming a nightmare of towering strength. Black muscle gleamed as he stood, his arms crossed over his hulking chest. Obsidian wings stretched from one side of the room to the other, so that Maeve’s vision was filled with only him. He was so black she couldn’t detect any features other than the eyes of flame that condemned her.
Silas and his cloaked demon appeared behind her, trapping her. She couldn’t teleport. Not with the Angel so near. Considering her choices, Maeve did the only thing she could. She ran.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Elizabeth woke to the high-pitched squeal of her mother’s heart monitor. She’d flatlined. Elizabeth blinked, her eyes dry but her heart heavy. Bright morning sunshine spilled into the large room from the broad window behind her. Unfortunately, she hadn’t been able to provide a room full of family for her mom.
Sunlight splashed over Mary Beth’s peaceful face. No pain marred her features. No more bitterness marked lines around her lips. A nurse entered and turned off the machine. Silence fell, abruptly. “I’m sorry for your loss, Miss Raines.”
“Me, too.” Elizabeth stretched her lips into a small smile and turned her back to the room as the necessary motions of death were carried out.
What would she find when she returned home? All her dreams come true? Or all her nightmares? It could go either way. For now, though, Elizabeth chose to have hope.
As Elizabeth climbed the steps of her front porch, the social worker exited the front door.
“Mrs. Hastings,” Elizabeth said with surprise.
“Miss Raines,” she acknowledged.
How had she forgotten about the visit? She’d been warned it would come, but not when. Could there have been a worse morning for this? Anxiety tightened into a ball inside her and the woman’s considering silence just made it worse. “I was at the hospital.”
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