[Rosalynd]
“And what, exactly, was I made to be?” The room goes calm, and quiet, as I turn towards Gideon. Except for Patrick, who takes a seat next to his grandson. Rafe is still sound asleep, the events of the day far more draining than any of us expected them to be. He’s only five years old. In the last few months, he's had to fight evil warlocks and get sent away only to get kidnapped by the same evil warlocks and watch his father get tortured. This kid has had to witness more violence and deal with more stress than most people 10 times his age could manage.
We didn't need Patrick to say anything out loud for us to get the message loud and clear. Poor Rafe neither needs nor deserves to be in the same room as I learn what Gideon means when he says I am "who I wa
[Rosalynd] The steps are hard and cold beneath my bare feet as I make my way up to the roof, the pounding clang of each footstep ringing throughout the stairwell. I do not move with care. I stopped caring about my safety as soon as I left that room. As the cool air touches my skin, I feel reality slam into me like an icy slap. I was never meant to exist. I shouldn’t exist. No one creature should contain the amount of power that runs through my veins. I was crafted with warlock magic, magic stolen from dozens of fae and witch lives. How many had to die to create the egg and sperm that eventually led to making me? Was even a small part of who I am a part of either Victor Vex or Esther Reid, or were they just vessels for something more terrible? If the nature of my creation were made known to the entire magical community, would I be seen as a potential savior, or a memory of the pain my father caused when he harvested their friends and families, stealing them away without a trace? I’
[Rosalynd] Falling. I don’t know how long it is that I fell. Time flows differently as you face your death. I don’t feel it when I stop, I don’t feel anything. Everything just goes dark. So this is death. “You are not dead,” a familiar voice calls to me from the void, I recognized this voice when it first spoke to me in the forest, and again when it spoke to me through the oracle. It is the Universe, the one that controls the ebb and flow of all energy in the cosmos, the sustaining force of life here on Terra and Tara, the tether that keeps the worlds connected. “
[Evander] There’s a rush of fear, followed by a strong sense of vertigo right before I feel something akin to being slapped into a hard wall. My whole body shakes with the impact even though physically I am standing still. And then nothing. Less than nothing. It is the absence of feeling all together. The three of us, Axel, Gideon, and myself, all look up. “Rosie,” we say in unison. Nothing else needs to be said. We all have a deep connection to her and even when we are
[Gideon] The look of sadness and terror on her face after I told her about her creation and her father's intentions for her made me wish I had kept my mouth shut and never said anything. And if she asked, if she simply had to know, I could have crafted a pretty lie to tell her, one that didn't make her feel like a monster. If I had only taken a few more moments to consider my words and the ripples they would create maybe we wouldn’t be taking turns standing around her hospital bed, waiting for her to wake up. The doctors said it was a “miracle” that she neither died nor miscarried from the impact of her fall. Our babies are still growing, still healthy. Because of her wolf DNA, she started healing as soon as she hit. Because of her Fae DNA, our babies, which now resemble a human embryo of 8 weeks instead of the life that started only days ago, have an extra layer of protection within her womb, an evolutionary advantage. But how did she survive that fall at all? Even a werewolf, no
[Gideon] “Victor,” I say as I turn around. “I was wondering when you would show yourself.” I try not to look anxious but I am wondering where Axel is. I could use his help right about now. “Gideon,” his grin is too wide, too white, and too pleased with his current situation. “I would say the same about you, but I can see that time hasn’t treated you well.” “What are you doing here, Victor?” I demand although I already know the answer. He is here for Rosie, his “daughter" whom he constructed out of spare parts and let loose into the world with no sense of who she is or what her place is in the world. He allowed her to be abused by her 'mother' who tortured her from the moment she was born. He doesn't deserve to be called anyone's father. He is no more a true father than he is a true witch. “You know why I’m here,” his grin grows impossibly wide as a small ball of darkness forms above his fingertips. “The only reason you and I are talking is because I want to make it clear to the
[Gideon] "ENOUGH!" I shout. Both men gape, their eyes staring. I hardly ever raise my voice and here I am, standing between these two big men, scolding them in the way Rosie often had to do to keep the peace. "Don't you see what you are doing? What he is making you do to one another? You are falling right into Vincent's trap. This is how he works. He messes with your mind first before he tears you apart in other ways. He wants us all at each other's throats so that we aren't focused on finding him and getting our Rosie back." The other two men paused, looking at one another as if trying to decide whether it was worth it. Does it matter if you are correct in an argument if it is at the expense of everyone you love? After a few more moments, they drop their arms to their sides. Exhaling deeply, I take a step back and watch them as they consider my words. This isn’t the first time they’ve been at each other’s throats, and it ended in Rosie getting hurt or worse. Axel and Evander’s
[Rosalynd] The room is cold and the air tastes stale. I am lying in a bed, covered with a sheet, but the surface is hard and unrelenting. It doesn't have the smell of a hospital, but it also doesn't have the smell of home either, which means that wherever I am, I am not safe. Because if I were safe, one of them would be here. My boys would never leave me. Which means that someone else must have me. And I can only think of one person who wants me this badly. Vincent. My father. Grand Warlock of the West Coast. The last thing I remember is falling right after Slone, in her confused fury, pushed me off the roof of Evander's casino hotel. She blames me for everything terrible that has happened to her and I can see why. But I didn't make her final decisions for her, that was all on her. I am sad about the loss of her child. No mother should feel their child slip away from them like that, but I will not apologize for defending my family and keeping them safe. She had no problem threaten
[Rosalynd] “This is not my home,” I manage to find enough strength to speak above a whisper. My voice echoes off the walls, sounding louder than I intended. “But if you could return me there, I’d be grateful. I’m sure my husbands are looking for me.” He laughs before putting goggles on and shaking his head. There is a body on a gurney in front of me. She has large white and blue wings and very pale skin. She looks a bit like a butterfly, a cabbage white, but in humanoid form. A pixie. They rarely venture out of Tara, but when they do, they tend to stay in remote or abandoned places. “I’m sure they are,” he agrees with me as he holds up a clean bone saw, dangling it above the body, moving it up and down as he talks as if he were holding a book or some other random object and not something designed to cut through layers of flesh and bone. “What happened to her,” I ask as we get close enough for me to see the holes in her wings and her still chest. She is either dead or in her y