Page 162 of Where Darkness Falls

I bow once more. “Forgive me, but have we met? Why do you call me the child of stars and shadows?” I ask. Is it quite possible that the dead queen of Zulgalros knew my family?

She arches an eyebrow, turning to Emyr. Though she doesn’t speak, Emyr understands her questioning gaze. “She has amnesia, and doesn’t remember her life before fifteen. She didn’t even realize she was capable of wielding starlight until a few months ago,” he answers.

Sure, Emyr. Let’s just tell your mother all the things that are unnatural about me.

“Your pendant and your blood reveal who you are, child,” she says, inhaling deeply. “I can smell the heritage of each being here.” She slowly floats along our group, causing all of us, except Emyr, to squirm.

“Shadows,” she says to Riordan.

“Shadows, as well,” she echoes to Laisren.

She points an index finger to my pendant. “Stars and Shadows… yet more,” she whispers to me.

What in bloody Celestae is that supposed to mean?

When she stops at Virgil, she blinks rapidly. She smells him not once or twice, but three times. Through the entire ordeal, he stands his ground, never flinching away. Her hands hover over the planes of his face, as if she were counting every scar. “Intriguing,” she murmurs.

“Care to enlighten us?” Emyr growls.

She smiles ruefully at her son. “No,” she deadpans.

Emyr sighs. “What’s so intriguing,Mother?”he demands.

Her gaze lingers on Virgil a moment longer, then she is gliding away from him. “What interesting company you keep, Emyreus,” she sneers.

Then, to my dismay, she turns her attention back to me. It seems that in this weird version of the afterlife, she’s also picked up uncomfortable habits of staring so deeply into one’s eyes that she finds their souls. The glowing, blood red eyes remind me so much of Domhnall that I wonder whether he suffers the same fate as the former queen. “Death surrounds and follows you like an old friend, doesn’t it?,” she whispers. “It’s such a burden upon your shoulders, yet a noble honor to possess.” She sighs, pausing briefly as she looks around the group. “Death in this company is no different.”

“What does that mean?” Virgil snarls.

She looks upon him with mock-sorrow. For a moment, her eyes glimmer with a sort of knowing, as her mouth curves into a wicked sneer. “How deeply your scars surround you,” she answers. “Does your sister know what became of her beloved brother?”

Virgil’s hands flex at his sides. “No,” he answers through gritted teeth.

My anger coils within me at this dastardly woman. I’ve had quite enough of her backhanded comments. “How dare you!” I snap at the former queen. “His sister is dead, but I’m sure she’s proud that he survived the hellish childhood he endured without her.”

She laughs sardonically. “Perhaps,” she reasons. “Only time will tell.”

Emyr immediately stands between me and the Blue Lady. “That’s enough, Mother,” Emyr snaps. The haunted banshee shrinks back as if he’d slapped her, but the reaction only lasts a moment before a look of indifference sets into her features. “You’ve had your fun. Now, answer the original question.”

The former queen sighs. “I foresee a war coming that’ll bring much death. I see a darkness that swallows the realm, while your group desperately tries to stop the light from fading,” she pauses. “I also see two deaths before the end of three winters. One a permanent death, the other is yet to be decided.”

“You’re lying,” I seethe. The thought of losing even one of my new friends breaks my heart, but the idea of one of them possibly being Emyr terrifies me.

“I can’t lie, child. I can only speak what I’ve foreseen,” she replies. Then, she waves a hand through the air, and the creaking gates behind us slowly open. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry for the burden this must bring to your hearts, but allow me to bestow one act of kindness: I won’t reveal which of you shall perish. Now go. Time is ticking.”

Though I have more questions, Emyr bows his head and drags me by the arm out of the graveyard. “Do take care of yourself, Emyreus,” she calls after him.

“Okay,” he growls.

“Oh! Maeva, one more thing,” she yells. My head swivels in her direction, watching as the gates close, leaving her locked within their confines. “Whenever your memories resurface, be a dear and come back for a visit. We’ll have much to discuss.”

Emyr pulls me a little harder this time until we’re over the looming hill and the graveyard is out of sight.

“What do you think she meant by that?” I ask.

“Nothing,” Emyr replies. “She’s just toying with your mind.”

“But what about her warnings that two members of this group will die?” I ask. “What if she can help us prevent them from occurring in the first place?”