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“And I fear there is not enough time in all of eternity to give you the answers you seek. Your very existence was woven into the tapestries long before you were born,” he said, his voice sad and melancholy. As if he would miss me as much as I could miss him.

I reached out slowly with tentative fingers, catching his hood on either side. I pushed it back carefully, narrowly avoiding touching the thin skin that covered his skull. It was the faintest, most transparent skin I’d seen, firmly stretched across bones to give only the hint of a face. His golden eyes shone out from the eye sockets, and there was nothing of the father I remembered in the face that stared back at me.

Still, I swallowed back my unease and leaned forward. Touching my mouth to the skin of his cheek, I breathed softly through the only sign of affection I could offer. “Thank you for bringing him to me,” I whispered, pulling back as I adjusted the hood to cover his face.

I stepped off the skiff, holding his stare as Caldris stepped upbehind me. I’d recognize his touch anywhere, the comforting set of his hand around my waist and his mouth at my temple.

Kharon pushed off the sands of the shore, using his oar to guide his way to turn to paddle upriver.

I watched him go, holding back the tears that threatened to fall. I would not betray the sacrifice he’d made by grieving for him, allowing myself to feel the joy that his sacrifice had brought me.

Thanks to him, I had Caldris at my side.

With him, I could do anything.

THIRTY-SIX

ESTRELLA

Thunder clapped in the sky, the sound drawing my gaze up to the clouds that formed along the surface of the cave structure that was Tartarus.

Medusa looked to the sky, meeting the Morrigan’s gaze briefly before she turned her eyes back to the group of Gorgon women waiting behind her. She reached out, taking my hand and squeezing it tightly.

“Come quickly,” she said, tugging me away from the river at my back. The clouds above us turned more menacing with every moment, blackening the sky as Caldris hurried after us.

“What’s happening?” I asked, following after her as the wolves snapped at Caldris’s heels, forcing him to keep up. He grunted at them, his steps far larger than mine.

He wasn’t at risk of falling behind or being too slow. The urgency of the Morrigan as they shifted into their bird form took me by surprise, and they fluttered into the distance until they were gone from sight.

“Rain is coming. The rain of the Acheron causes pain all the same as the river itself,” she said, but instead of taking us downriver where I assumed we would attempt to reach the safety of the next river, she brought us inland.

“We’ll never make it,” I said, glancing up at the clouds as they swirled in the sky. The storm brewing seemed like one that would tear through all the homes in Mistfell, like it would obliterate anything in its path. The swirling motion of the clouds formed a cylinder above, the winds picking up to blow sand through the air.

Caldris was at my side in an instant, using his body to shield mine from the worst of the wind. Sand pelted into his armor as he raised an arm to shield his face, tucking me into his side as Medusa guided us forward. The rest of the Gorgons took up the rear, keeping their eyes peeled for any threats that may have tried to follow us.

The cave Medusa led us to was tiny, so small it felt like Caldris would never fit inside. There wouldn’t be room for all of us, but she ducked her head low and walked inside without hesitation. Caldris and I shared a glance, but the first drops of rain fell. It sizzled on the leather of his armor, smoke rising as it burned a tiny hole into the protection.

“What about the wolves?” I asked, turning back to look at Fenrir and his sisters. He lowered his head to me, a sign of respect as his voice rang through my mind.

Do not worry for us. We will go to a cave nearby.

I returned the wolf’s nod, ignoring the pointed glance Caldris gave me as he observed the communication he couldn’t hear. With a swallow, he shook it off and nodded as the wolves raced in the opposite direction, pushing me forward gently. I ducked down, reaching out to grasp his hand in mine as I pulled him to follow. His fingers were like ice, even without his physical form, his magic keeping him cool in what was otherwise a balmy, too warm setting with the flames that often surrounded us.

He had to bend himself in half to fit within the cave, but he maneuvered himself through the narrow passage. It plunged into darkness, leaving me to grope the fingers of my free hand along the wall to feel for the path to take. I could no longer see Medusa as she faded from view, disappearing into the depths of the narrow cave ahead of me.

“Keep going, Estrella!” she called, her voice echoing off the walls as I fumbled and came to a stop. The walls felt like they were closing in, getting narrower. My shoulder bumped against the rock, and if ithadn’t been for the leather protecting me, I might have lost a layer of skin against the porous surface.

I took another step, continuing on the path and choosing to trust the woman who had birthed me into my original life. Caldris grunted behind me as he squeezed through the narrowing passage, and I could just imagine how he struggled to fit.

I continued on, guiding him with me and refusing to risk separation. I stepped, tipping forward when the rock vanished beneath me. I yelped as I fell forward, falling through a gap in the stone. My fingers slipped through Caldris’s, neither of us prepared for me to drop so suddenly.

My stomach dropped out as I fell, finally splashing into a pool of water at the bottom. I swam, kicking for the surface desperately.

I was so fucking tired of water.

I burst through the surface, gasping for air as sound returned. “Estrella!” Caldris called, leaning over the hole in the floor to stare down at me. I couldn’t see anything but the shadow of his form, blinding by the dazzling lights around me.

“I’m okay!” I called up, turning in the water to meet Medusa’s stare. She treaded water, floating on the surface as serpents slithered across the surface to touch her affectionately. They glowed from within, reflecting light upon the water. “You need to see this!”