Page 66

Chapter 66

Saelyn

I WOULD BE SEVENTEEN IN TWO WEEKS, AND I WAS CONVINCED I WAS THE MOST HIDEOUS CREATURE ON THE ISLE

“ Viridis , ” the Blightress lilted, stepping away from me again, scanning the courtyard and halls of the garden library.

My past self mumbled her way through a thick book, searching for the spell she needed to rid her face of the bright red blemish on her chin, just hours away from seeing Thevin again.

“ I’ve always loved it here, ” I replied, joining her at the balcony. “ I felt less alone in this place. The tall trees, the books, the birds… ” We watched as a dozen sky-blue birds flew across the great glass dome above. “ I used to sleep here. On nights when I waited for my best friend to return in the summer, I pushed these benches together to make a bed. ” I inhaled the familiar air. “ Viridis never let me down. Viridis never looked away because of who I looked like. Viridis never disappointed me or avoided looking in my eyes because my eyes were his. ”

She turned her head to look. The smallest hint of an upturned tilt to her lips emerged as she replied, “ You may have your father’s features, but I see your mother in your spirit. ”

We heard my past self behind us in an excited squeal as the spell she’d found cleared her face.

“ Why her? ” I questioned, reaching for her hand on the rail. “ Why did you choose Karus to give your power to? ”

She stilled in her surveillance of the tops of the birch trees, dancing in their endless sway to a phantom breeze. “ I …felt her. When she was growing, I felt Karus in her mother’s womb. Just as I had felt my own daughter all those centuries before. ”

I swallowed my fear, asking quietly, “ You loved your daughter? ”

She squeezed my hand, her black nails pressing into my skin hard enough to leave marks. “ I would have done anything for my daughter. I tried to give my own life and cut her from my womb when it was clear one of us had to die. ”

My past self rose to leave Viridis and I stated, “ You loved my mother, too. ”

“ I still love your mother, Saelyn . ”

With the whisper of my name, the light flashed and we left the day like any other, leaving myself behind, alone to my thoughts in Viridis .