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“Someone in Tellus is taking babes from here?” I repeat. Even to my ears it sounds unbelievable. “To create an army?”

“They want power. What greater source than here?” Micah extends his hand towards the archway. “But to get here you have to bypass those that live in the Wraithlands. What better way to fight monsters than with monsters?”

“Why are you telling me this?”

Micah’s kind eyes soften. “I know your souls, remember? I know who you are, even if you don’t. Go to the Godlands if you want, they can remove the immortal souls housed inside of you. Could possibly remove the godlike one if you insist. But if you choose to go this route, you may not like the consequences your actions will ensure come once you are gone.”

His cryptic message sounds an awful lot like something Rowan once said. “If I’m gone, Lady Gwenyth can’t use me as part of her army.”

“The veil ensured that would never happen.” He tilts his head to the side like he’s listening to the wind speak. “You haven’t noticed your abilities have surfaced here? That you’re becoming stronger, mentally and magically, being in this realm?”

“I’m more emotional,” I snort. “I wouldn’t consider having feelings makes me mentally stronger.”

“Why not? You were numb before, yes? Closer to how those immortal souls behaved in their time. Here, where your godlike soul is able to absorb the land it’s from, you are able to understand and empathize with others. You are able to live instead of merely existing.”

His words remind me of all the conversations Rowan tries to rope me into. All the times he tries to make me see myself in a different light. One where I thrive in the new life I have stumbled into instead of desperately trying to atone for something no longer in my control.

My emotions are everywhere. My skin feels too tight, the air too thin as I try to absorb all this new information.

“Lady Gwenyth will kill me,” I murmur to myself.

“Not if you kill her first.”

Suddenly Micah has my full attention. “What?”

He offers another kind smile. “Lady Gwenyth is the one who stole you, I presume? Or at least acquired you once you made it to Tellus. If she placed the souls inside of you, then she controls them. The godlike soul growing stronger outweighs the immortal ones. If your godlike soul is of higher power, then no matter how much she calls on your immortal souls to be activated, you will not respond.”

“How do you know all this?”

“I live in a world where things are never ending. I see more than you ever possibly could understand. I protect the souls, and they tell me their secrets in exchange. A war is coming. You are the pinnacle. Your decision sets everything into motion.”

No. No way. The last thing I want is to be dragged into a war of someone else’s making. Is it sad that children are being stolen from their parents? Absolutely. Should I care more considering there’s a possibility I’m one of those children? Yes. But I find myself struggling to grasp this new found information and treat it as gospel.

“You’re hesitant,” Micah comments without judgment. “Understandable given your circumstances. I imagine Lord Rowan is highly against his mate being here and aspiring to find death in whatever form she can get.”

Stiffening, I take a slight step back from Micah, putting distance between myself and the portal at the same time. “What do you know about that?”

“Child, you’re wearing the scarf of the estate. And I can see your soul. I don’t need to see a mark to know it’s somewhere on you. A monster calls a monster. There’s little doubt in my mind he’s accepting of your decision to seek this place out.”

A monster calls to a monster. “I don’t need Rowan’s permission to be here,” I rigidly state, my voice feeling wooden as I speak. Does he know what Rowan is? Does he know what I am? Taking another step backwards, I press my lips tightly together to resist the urge to ask. I don’t want to know. In the end it won’t matter because I’ll be through the archway, resting in peace.

“You’re upset about what you’ve learned here,” he muses. “Very little is ever as easy as you believe it will be. This path you appear determined to go down will only lead to heartache. Be it from your inability to make those suffer around you with your loss or to be able to do just that.”

“No one is going to suffer because I want to die.”

“That is not true. Plenty will suffer with either choice you make. Only you can decide which suffering you can live with.”

I glare at him. “Do you always tell people who seek out the Cliff of Embers strange riddles or am I special?”

“You are the first to come in or out in a very long time. I suppose that could make you special if you want to look at it that way.”

“So what’s your wise take on my life and all the plans you see in your mind?” I demand, placing my hands on my hips in a defensive position.

“I am here for the dead, I do not consult the living.”

If there is anyone to make me feel like I’m going crazy by talking in circles, it’s Micah. I came here for peace and I’ll be leaving in anger. There’s no ability to achieve my end goal.

Micah may say this is the easy route, but it feels anything but. Nothing has been easy between the choices I’ve had to make to get to this point. And now I have to restart once again, in a never ending cycle I can’t seem to break.