Page 55 of Loving Amari

“What was yours?” Aya laughs, the sound cold and bitter. “Everything supernatural belongs to me. I created the balance. I hold the power.”

She raises her hands, and blue magic erupts toward Tabatha. Past-Tabatha barely manages to throw up a shield, blue light flashing as it deflects Aya’s attack. But the effort costs her. Nathaniel’s spirit form pushes against her binding spell, straining to break free.

“You can’t fight us both,” Nathaniel taunts, his ghostly form growing more solid.

Past-Tabatha's face hardens. She splits her focus, one hand maintaining the portal to limbo, the other hand casting defensive spells against Aya's relentless assault.

Aya sends blast after blast. Blue fire. Black lightning. Waves of dark magic that crack the stone floor. Past-Tabatha counters with blue shields, redirecting attacks, but she’s being overwhelmed. Blood runs from her nose, her ears. The strain is killing her.

“Just die already,” Aya snarls, sending a massive wave of dark magic.

Past-Tabatha screams, pouring everything she has into one final defense. Blue light explodes from her, creating a barrier that holds back Aya’s attack. But in that moment of distraction, Nathaniel breaks free of his chains.

His spirit form lunges at Tabatha. She spins, redirecting her magic to contain him again, but that leaves her vulnerable to Aya.

Aya’s attack hits her square in the back. Past-Tabatha crashes to the floor, blood pooling beneath her.

“No!” I shout, but of course, no one can hear me. This already happened.

Past-Tabatha is dying. I can see it in the way her body trembles, the way her magic flickers and dims. But even now, she’s not done.

With her last bit of strength, she raises one hand toward Nathaniel. Blue magic streams from her palm, wrapping around his spirit form like chains. He fights against it, but this time the magic is different. It’s not just binding him. It’s pulling him.

“If I die,” past-Tabatha gasps, blood spilling from her lips, “I’m taking you with me.”

“Ancient” is doing nothing here. The symbols flaring to life is already mysterious and magical. We don’t need to be told they’re old—this is a flashback/vision, everything is already from the past. Plus, “ancient symbols” is such a common fantasy phrase it’s become wallpaper.

“What are you doing?” Nathaniel screams, his form being dragged toward the portal.

“I’m becoming your warden,” past-Tabatha says. “Your cage. You’ll never escape limbo because I’ll be there, holding you back. Always.”

Her body begins to dissolve, turning to blue light that streams into the portal. Her sacrifice. Her final act. She’s binding herself to limbo, making herself part of its structure. And she’s taking Nathaniel with her, locking him inside.

Nathaniel fights, clawing at the air, but he’s pulled in after her. Their forms spiral into the void together, locked in eternal combat.

Aya stands alone in the chamber, staring at the spot where they disappeared. For a moment, something like regret flashes across her face. But then she smiles, cold and calculating.

“Foolish Blackwood,” she mutters. “Dying for nothing.”

But I can see it’s not nothing. Even as the scene fades, I understand what Tabatha did. She saved the Blackwood line. She contained Nathaniel. She bought time for someone else to take up the mantle.

She bought time for me.

The scene begins to fade, colors bleeding away.

“I look at the present Tabatha beside me. ‘You had to die.’ The words feel heavy. ‘Because Nathaniel... he was your problem...’”

Tabatha nods slowly, her ethereal form dimming slightly. “I never had a fated mate. I didn’t understand the power of the mate bond until you gained the reins to limbo. The more you chose to stay out of limbo, the more leverage you gave him. Aya made him stronger when she attacked us both. Now here we are.”

“What are you saying?” My voice cracks. “Are you saying the only way to stop this is for me to stay in limbo?”

Tabatha snaps her fingers. The chamber dissolves like mist, colors bleeding away until we’re back in the white void. The transition is jarring, leaving me dizzy.

“This time, we are finally going to end this problem,” she tells me. “But it will cost you the freedom you crave.”

“What do you mean by that?” I demand, stepping toward her.

Suddenly, Tabatha disappears. No warning. No fade. Just gone.