Page 26 of The First Lost Boy (The Shadows of Neverland Duet #2)
Ava
Hudson collapses onto the sand when Imani’s mother releases him.
I want to rush to him, but Imani stops me.
He will be fine. He is free of Ezryn now.
Tears prick my eyes. What?
Between her fingers, the First Star pinches a small mass of light and shadow, beams roiling between plumes that try to smother them. She speaks only to Nyin. “I’ll require a pearl, if you’d be so kind.”
The mermaid quickly returns to the waves. After a few moments, she returns with a single, white pearl. Nyin drags herself into the damp sand and stops before the Celestial, who accepts her pearl. Then… the First Star feeds Ezryn’s essence into the lustrous orb. Everyone watches as the pearl in her palm slowly leaches to gray.
She crouches to speak to Nyin. “When you touch this, it will not harm you. He will never influence you or your kind again. I give you my word, but I also must ask for your help, my friend. I trust your pure heart, Nyin, and I wonder if you would be so kind as to keep this pearl safe for me until I return for it?”
She doesn’t say how long Nyin will have to keep it, or what it will cost her. She doesn’t offer any other information. But without a hint of hesitation, Nyin inclines her head and plucks the pearl from the First Star’s fingers. Then she edges back into the water and glides beneath the waves.
The First Star watches the sea erase all evidence that the mermaid was ever there.
She calls Bones forward. “Young man, I know that you carry hope on your person, but I’m afraid that what is done is done. Those whom you have honored with your craft have moved on and are at peace.”
His chin wobbles and his eyes fill with tears.
She takes his hand in hers and pats the back of it as a mother might. “I hope you can find the peace you deserve in the remainder of the life you have.”
His eyes meet mine and a sob escapes him as he pulls away from the First Star and walks through those gathered to catch his breath privately.
The First Star watches him with worried eyes for a moment before she turns to me.
“I will remove Imani from you now, but I cannot return your shadow or the shadows of anyone Imani has consumed. There are limits to even my newest gifts. But I can form new shadows that will allow you to recall your lives from this moment forward. Is that acceptable?”
“It is,” I croak.
She reaches out for me – for her daughter.
I step away, suddenly feeling protective of the being who has lived inside me for so long. “What will happen to her?”
She hadn’t asked Nyin for two pearls, but what would she do to Imani?
“I’ll take her home and guide her through the darkness and into transformation.” As a mother should.
It’s as it should be, Imani tells me. I’m sorry I found you, Ava. Though I would change nothing. You’ve been a formidable host. I will never forget you and when I am reformed, I will look upon you fondly.
You won’t forget me?
Imani smiles. The stars see everything and forget nothing. Even when one hopes they might.
When the First Star, whose hair blazes with bright white light and has skin comprised of a roiling nebula of colorful, interconnected universes that I see but can’t fully comprehend, reaches for me again, I clasp her hand and let her pull Imani from my body. A great tugging is all I feel before that sensation is replaced by falling.