by Leia Stone
Dread slithered into me, icy snake-like tendrils that were invisible but so, so real. Reyna was my grandfather’s shield, and she must be taking on a lot to keep him alive—much like how Rage, Honor, and all of the Midnight brothers did the same for me.
“I’m fine,” Reyna growled, shrugging off my aunt’s hold. “He’s magically taking most of the sickness to keep it from me like the stubborn ass he is!”
“Cuss word!” Donovan announced from the table.
Reyna’s attention bounced to my cousin, and she sighed, letting the fight drain from her as fast as it’d rushed in. “Sorry. I-I’m—” Her voice cracked. “I’m not ready to let him go.”
In that moment, whatever wall I’d built to keep away the sadness of my grandfather passing … broke. Hot tears burned my eyes at Reyna’s vulnerable declaration, and I had to blink them away.
“Me neither,” I managed to say … or rather croak.
Sariah plucked the coffee cup from Reyna’s hand, setting it on the counter, and then reached out, pulling both her and me into a bone-crushing hug.
“Me neither. But this is the way things are, and somehow we’ll get through it,” Sariah said.
“I hate hugging,” Reyna said from deep within our tight snuggle-fest, but she was enough of a badass that if she’d really hated it, she could’ve easily broken free.
“I don’t believe you,” Sariah said, letting go and wiping her eyes. She leveled my grandfather’s shield with an epic stare. “Everyone needs a hug now and again, even badasses.”
“Cuss word!” Donovan declared again, and my aunt rolled her eyes.
“Sometimes, I’m not sure which is worse, the crime or the announcement of it,” Sariah said with a chuckle. She went over and hugged her son. “Thanks, sweet boy, for keeping us honest.”
“Well, now that we’ve had a chipper morning chat, let’s get you off to class, shall we?” Reyna asked.
Maybe, if something was inevitable, it was best not to think about it. Wiping my eyes, I nodded at my fierce friend. “Do I get a schedule or books or anything?”
Reyna burst into laughter, but when she saw my confused face, she stopped. “Oh, you’re serious.”
“So … is that a no?” I asked.
Sariah reached out and patted my shoulder. “The only way to learn about spirit is from spirit.”
Okay … that was vague and slightly terrifying. “So … if Gramps is sick, and I need to learn spirit … who is teaching my classes?”
Sariah nodded. “Your ancestors. Your mom.”
My heart thundered against my ribs so hard and so fast I thought I might faint. “But … my mom’s dead.”
Sariah nodded. “So are your ancestors. Don’t worry, it’s all been arranged by your grandfather. Every day, for the next few months, you’ll train with one of your ancestors or your mom.”
Excitement thrummed through me but also trepidation. Getting to know my mother sounded awesome, but lessons on how to harness spirit by Zia? Not so much.
“You look like you swallowed a whole bag of soul stones,” Sariah said with a laugh.
I didn’t have the heart to tell her that the only time I’d seen someone swallow a soul stone was in the Realm of the Dead, and the Keeper didn’t look sick at all but gleefully happy. Instead, I forced a smile. “So, what’s first?”
Reyna held out a crystal point, similar to the one Gramps had tossed at me in the hot springs. “Master Geoff said the crystals are energy augmenters. Each color represents a different purpose. The clear ones”—she dropped the water-clear quartz into my hand—“are to help you access the spirit realm. There are others in his office that he left for you—just in case.”
Just in case? My eyes narrowed, but I couldn’t bring myself to ask the question out loud.
Aunt Sariah gave me a sad smile and then said, “It’s probably a good thing that he planned ahead.”
Her words were layered with meaning, but I couldn’t help but wonder if these crystals … was this why he was failing so quickly?
Reyna walked me down the hall to the spirit pool’s entrance.
“Good luck today,” she said, stifling yet another yawn. “I’m going to, you know, catch up on some sleep.”
I entered the steamy cave alone this time and quickly changed into the swimsuit I’d used last time. I headed to the nearest pool and hovered over the edge of the water.
“Hello? So I just … dive right in?” I called out into the empty room, clutching the crystal in my fist. This felt so weird to just sink into this water and let my spirit go into another realm with no one watching over me. I mean, what if I drowned or got stuck or something? When no one answered, as I knew they wouldn’t, I sighed, slipping into the water with the crystal in my hand and floating up on my back.
The cavern disappeared—as in poof, gone. Only…
Instead of something else appearing, nothing did. Like my eyes were closed, or I was blind. But I couldn’t see anything. Or feel it for that matter.
Panic bubbled up inside of me. Something was wrong, only I wasn’t sure what mistake I’d made or how to fix it.
Forcing my eyes closed was a relief, for at least, this way, the darkness was my choice. Now … what had I done last time?
He’d told me to relax—not one bit of me was relaxed right now. And then he’d said to think of my favorite place. The beach!
No sooner had the thought crossed my mind than the darkness melted away. I opened my eyes to discover I was standing on the shore of a beautiful beach, the aqua waters lapping against the white sand.
But, I still needed someone here to teach me how to harness spirit magic. I thought of my ancestors who’d blessed me my first time here: Aine, Raiden, Lucia, Than, and Zia. If I could pick any one of them to help…
“Aine?” I shouted at the clear blue sky. “Aine, are you here?”
Nothing.
Damn, maybe I should have grabbed that bag of soul stones. Way to throw me to the wolves, Gramps. No pun intended.
I called out to Raiden and then Lucia, each time growing more desperate that someone appear. To make matters worse … not only could I not seem to make any of my ancestors appear, but I had no idea how to get out of here and back to the castle.
“Than?” I called, thinking of the guy dressed in a ninja suit. I waited, hoping he’d arrive, mostly because I didn’t even want to call out for Zia.
Of all of the ancestors, Zia had been the least friendly on my previous visit, as if I’d committed some personal offense against her.
But I remembered her vividly. Everything from the way her silvery-white hair fell around her shoulders in soft curls, to her vibrant green eyes, pert nose, and petite figure—much like mine. I could even see her narrowed gaze, filled with disdain. Cringing, I closed my eyes and whispered, “Zia?”
I blinked, and my shoulders sagged with something akin to relief when Zia wasn’t there in front of me.
“Oh. My. Mage,” she said, from behind me. “You’re back.”
I spun, and there Zia was, dressed in a retro ‘70s dress, her hands on her hips as the heels of her go-go boots sank into the sand. She stared at me like I was a puppy murderer.
Last time, I was nice, but today my patience was low, and one cup of coffee wasn’t enough to put up with crap.
“What is your problem?” I snapped, glaring back. “Is it me, or are you always so … unpleasant?”
Zia raised her eyebrows … and then her expression morphed into a huge grin as she laughed.
Great. Not only was she mean—she was crazy.
“Well, praise the Mother Mage, you’ve got a backbone after all.” Then she sighed. “Look, honey, it’s nothing against you. It’s just that … I got close to your mom while training her. I thought we’d have centuries together, and then, poof, she died and went to the Realm of the Dead.”
Wait. My mom was in the Realm of the Dead, but this was the spirit realm, which meant they were two different places. That was something I needed to
learn more about, but I held my questions for later.
Tears lined Zia’s eyes, but then she shook her head, and they evaporated. “I don’t like to get attached to my heirs if they are going to leave, okay?”
I swallowed hard, suddenly feeling bad for Zia. My mother’s passing could’ve been rough for all of them. “Well, I’m not going anywhere. At least, I plan on being around a long time.”
“Well, that’s always a good plan.” She leaned over then and unzipped her boots. As soon as she’d shucked the first boot, it disappeared into thin air, followed by the second. “Now,” she said, straightening. “Tell me what gaps you have, and I’ll decide which I’m best capable to fill.”
“Uh… gaps?”
She cocked her head. “Or tell me your proficiencies if you’d rather.”
“I’m not sure what all I should’ve learned by now, but… uh… this is my first lesson.” I winced, mortified that I knew so little.
Pursing her lips, Zia tugged at the corner of her ‘70s dress…
Whoa.
She was no longer dressed like a go-go dancer. Zia’s dress had somehow morphed into a sarong, which she tugged free and laid out on the sand, plopping down onto one side of the fabric island. Now she wore a pretty red and white polka dot one-piece swimsuit. She patted the other side of the blanket she’d created with her dress. “Have a seat. Let’s get to know one another a bit, and then we’ll chat about your experiences with spirit.”
Turned out my great-great-great-great-great-grandmother wasn’t nearly so intimidating this time. In fact, she was pretty cool. She’d been married twice before she had children and was nearly nine hundred years old when she had Than. Apparently, it wasn’t uncommon for high mages to have children later in life.
I gave her an abbreviated version of my last couple of months, which earned me a wide-eyed gasp of shock.
“You’ve had a few surprises yourself,” she said in the understatement of the year. Or maybe millennium.
She explained how doing spirit magic was always hardest the first few times. “It’s like learning the steps to a new dance or how to do martial arts. Once you know how, it will barely take any focus, but until you’ve learned it, spirit magic—and all magic for that matter—will take every ounce of your attention.”
I told her how I thought I’d spirit walked to Kaja back when Rage and I had left the selkies, and Zia explained that this was the easiest type of spirit-magic because I’d known what Kaja looked like and where I could find her—plus, we’d been in the same realm. But when I went to fetch Honor’s soul from the Realm of the Dead, I’d needed Grandpa’s help because my power hadn’t all been unlocked and it was a different realm.
“But, now that you have access to all your power, you were able to pull me here and quite easily, it seems,” Zia said. “Tell me how you did it. Did you bring my soul stone?”
I held up my hands, empty except for the crystal shard, to indicate that I didn’t have her stone. And I wasn’t about to say it’d been easy to pull her here. “I’m not sure how I called you because…”
No way did I want to tell her.
“Because…?” Zia pressed.
After a sigh, I admitted the truth. “Because I didn’t really want you to show up. I mean, you weren’t very helpful last time—or even very nice.”
She nodded. “True. I was surprised to get pulled into training another spirit master—plus, you look so much like your mother I let my emotions get the better of me—but it sounds like I made a memorable impression on you. That’s likely why you were able to focus enough to pull me in. Lesson number one: your focus and attention to detail will determine your ability to call on spirits.”
“Gotcha.” Probably why it was so easy to spirit walk to Kaja and connect with Honor’s spirit in the Realm of the Dead. Also probably why I needed my ancestors’ soul stones to meet them the first time. I’d had no idea what any of them looked like or even their names to call on them.
“But … let’s start your lesson with that,” she said, pointing at the crystal in my hand. “Because the first thing you need to learn to do, on your own, is how to get in and out of the spirit realm using just your own magic, not a safety net crystal.”
Then we—and I use that term very loosely—worked on me bouncing in and out of the spirit realm—like, all flippin’ day—until my skin was pruney from sitting in the water. During our lesson, Zia explained that water was an energy conductor and made it easier to do magic, especially when training new students. By the end of our session, nine hours later, I could access the spirit realm in the blink of an eye—no crystal, and even out of the water of the spirit pools.
“Good job, Nai,” Zia said, standing up and brushing sand from her legs. “Now, go get some food and sleep. You need to recharge.” She pulled me in for a spirit hug, which felt nearly as amazing as a real hug. “Tomorrow, you should work with Than on the process of finding one’s soul stone. That’s probably what Geoff will want you to do next, given how short you are on time.”
I nodded absently until the memory of my first experience with a soul stone surfaced. “Where are soul stones found?”
Zia pointed in the air—away from where we stood. “They’re usually found on the Island of Power.”
Huh?
“You mean High Mage Island?”
“Is that what they’re calling it now?” Zia shrugged. “It’s the island the Mother Mage created that exudes magical power.”
Okay…
“So then why would the Keeper of the Dead want a soul stone?” I remembered the way he’d swallowed the one my grandfather had given me, and a chill ran through me.
Zia’s eyes widened. “Because then the soul is tied there—to the Realm of the Dead. Most of the time, that wouldn’t matter after death anyway because that’s where nearly all souls go, but for me, your grandfather, and eventually you—as a high mage of spirit, assuming spirit chooses you—our souls are sealed to our soul stones. So we can travel wherever we want after death, whereas if the Keeper owns your stone, you have to stay down there with him. Speaking of which … make sure you keep our soul stones safe, please.”
Suddenly I knew whose soul stone I’d given to the Keeper of the Dead and why he’d been so excited to get it.
“I know why Geoff didn’t come here with me the first time,” I whispered, a strangled cry dying in my throat. He’d given me the stone so nonchalantly, telling me it would get me and Rage out of there. I’d had no idea he’d condemned himself to the Realm of the Dead after his death.
Anguish, guilt, and shame all overwhelmed me, so strong I lost focus. Zia faded before my eyes, her concerned expression the last thing to vanish, before I jerked upright in the spirit pool, a sob on my lips.
Gramps … traded his eternity of soul-walking for … me.
I leapt out of the pool and raced back to the changing area, shucking my wet swimsuit as I ran. In a mad rush, I pulled my clothes on and then tore out of the glass-paneled room and ran up the stairs and down the hall where I heard Reyna and Sariah chatting.
“Where is he?” I asked, my voice hoarse with emotion as I burst into a conference where the two women sat at a table, chatting.
Reyna rose from her seat. Her wan expression shifted to pity as she took in my distraught appearance. She sighed before offering me a small, sad smile. Stepping into the hallway, she pointed to a room, the door slightly ajar. I beelined for it and knocked once.
“Come in.” Gramps’ voice sounded frail, and it made the lump in my throat grow even larger.
Stepping into the room, I took in his frail appearance. He lay in a king-sized sleigh bed, propped up and reading a book with a cowboy on the cover. Windows lined the entire wall to his left, and the curtains were opened halfway, letting in shafts of light.
Had he lost weight in just a day? Was that possible?
“Hi, dear girl,” he said, brightening as he set his book down. But his smile melted away as he studied me, turning somber with h
is brow furrowed.
I stumbled into the room and fell to my knees at the side of his bed. “Why? Why did you give me your soul stone? The Keeper … he swallowed it. He … he owns your soul now, doesn’t he? You’ll be trapped there. You’ll—”
He reached out and stroked the top of my head as I burst into tears and buried my face into my hands.
I’d barely known him then, and he’d just so easily sacrificed his eternity … for me. I felt 110.9% undeserving. My chest pinched with pain. This weight and guilt of knowing I’d taken something precious from him. “It’s not … I could’ve…”
“Nai,” he said, his voice soft, yet somehow it pierced through my muffled sobs. Reaching out, he tipped my chin up to meet his eyes. “My lovely granddaughter.” He took a deep breath and offered me a smile filled with patience and love. “Surlama tricked you. You never would’ve gotten out without a soul stone. Every realm has rules, even that of the dead. The Keeper has to maintain order.” Grandpa pursed his lips and then added, “We were lucky the Keeper allowed you and Rage to leave.”
I chewed on my bottom lip as tears dripped down my cheeks. “It’s because we promised to kill Surlama. The Keeper actually tricked us. He swallowed your soul stone in exchange for permission to take Honor’s soul when we called for it—”
“Oh, I see.” Gramps nodded. “I’d wondered why it was so easy to bring him back.”
“But, when you first came to the Realm of the Dead, you said…” My brow furrowed as I tried to remember exactly what my grandfather had said when he first appeared there to me and Rage, beyond the fact that Rage’s body would’ve decomposed if we didn’t get out ASAP. “Didn’t you say something about being able to bring back Honor’s soul?”
Taking a deep breath, Gramps closed his eyes. After his exhale, he opened his eyes and met my gaze. Even before he spoke, I could tell it wasn’t good.
“Not without a soul stone,” he said, his voice shaky. “That or some other agreement with the Keeper is the only way to get a soul out. Remember—without order, there is only chaos.”
What the what?
So if I hadn’t made that bargain … would we’ve ever gotten Honor out? I didn’t even want to ask, and … did it matter now?