Chapter Seventeen - Leigh
I am not dressed appropriately to scale a tree.
The bark is rough yet slick beneath my bare feet, and the rain doesn’t make it any easier to hold on.
Every movement is a calculated risk. My pulse refuses to slow as I search for something to hold on to.
The harpies will come back eventually, and who knows how they’ll react to finding me gone.
Still, I force myself to move deliberately. One slip, and it’s over. Everyone’s counting on me to close this rift. What time is it back home? Is Ravi telling the Blades where I’ve gone? Has he found the spell we need?
I need to find Fynn to get back to Wilder. Wilder’s probably sleeping peacefully, thinking the Blades have the daemons under control, and that tomorrow, Fynn will be safe at the orphanage, and we can finally say I do, like we’ve wanted for years.
Lightning turns the world bright white for a heartbeat, then thunder booms like cannon fire. The rain intensifies, becoming sheets of frigid water that cling to my hair and clothes like a burial shroud.
“Just a little bit farther,” I whisper to myself through chattering teeth. The ground inches closer with each careful motion. Twelve feet left. I can do this. I am almost—
Leigh.
I freeze. Did someone just say my name?
Leigh.
There it is again—inside my head, just like the ghosts of my ancestors. Except, it almost sounds like … “Wilder?” I gasp. It can’t be him.
Silence answers. Great, now I’m losing my mind on top of everything else.
Leigh! Goddammit, answer me.
At the force of his voice, I lose my grip on the branch I’m holding onto for balance. I gasp again, barely managing to hang on. “Wilder.”
Still no audible response, but his presence is stronger now, like when one of the ghosts takes up residence in my thoughts. Wait.
Wilder? I project the thought this time, hugging the trunk tight as a gust of wind tries to pry me loose.
Leigh. Holy shit. It worked.
I blink water from my eyes, heart pounding. How is it you are talking to me right now?
I thought magic didn’t exist in this world, but maybe this is a different kind of magic?
There’s no time for that, he says. Where are you? I’m coming to take you home.
A slightly hysterical laugh bubbles up in my chest. Yeah, that’s going to be a little hard to explain. Don’t get mad. I’m in Mictlan. I went after the Dullahan. I—
I’m here, too.
I nearly fall. My painted nails dig into the wet bark.
He’s here? Does that mean it’s dawn back home? Or did Ravi break his promise to me? Damn him. I didn’t want Wilder to know anything about this place. He was supposed to stay safe. I have everything under control.
Are you here with the Blades? Please tell me he isn’t alone, that he has backup.
No.
I frown, though I’m not surprised.
Now that he’s here, he’ll bring me home. He’ll demand we let the Blades handle this situation without us. Except the Blades aren’t equipped to deal with supernatural forces like this. I’m a Lunar Witch. Bridging the gap between the living and the dead is my job.
Please tell me where you are.
I shake my head, even though he can’t see me.
I’m not going home, at least not yet. But he should.
It’s safer there; he could help the Blades protect the rift.
Knowing that he’ll be waiting for me and that he’s safe will give me the strength I need to carry out this mission.
If he gets hurt here … if he’s not at the altar when I return …
The thoughts cinch around my heart like a vice. I gasp.
I’m not leaving, I protest.
A familiar screech splits the sky above me. My blood runs cold. The harpies are returning. Fuck. I slide off the branch, my toes dangling as I try to find the next one.
What does that mean? Wilder asks.
I exhale. He came all this way for me, and I love him endlessly for it, but I can’t go home with him right now. I need to do this, to make things right.
Go home, Wilder. I’ll be right behind you.
The silence between us is charged with his anger.
Help the Blades, I add when he doesn’t answer. I get that he’s worried about me and can’t sit still when he’s scared, but he could funnel that energy into helping the Blades stop daemons from escaping the rift while I’m in here.
You need me more than they do.
I stop moving, heat rising up my neck as I hug a tree for dear life.
Fynn is here. That little boy needs me, too.
What about us and our wedding?
I’ll be back on time, I promise.
Wilder’s condescending laughter echoes through our connection. You shouldn’t make promises you can’t keep, Leigh.
My muscles lock up.
Wilder. That’s not what’s happening—
Why didn’t you tell me about Aradia and the rift?
Limbs trembling, I keep descending. Ravi must’ve told him everything.
You were busy with Soter; you would have been disappointed.
That’s bullshit. I always have time for you.
He does, but I am doing this for him. For us and our happy future.
Wilder, I need to do this.
I don’t like the idea of you traipsing around this world alone.
I roll my eyes. I’m no damsel. I will be fine. Besides—
The branch beneath me splinters with a sharp crack. Everything happens so fast, I have no time to scream. There is the sickening lurch of free-fall and the knowledge that this is going to hurt, and nothing more.
I hit the ground with enough force to knock all the air out of my lungs. My vision flickers in and out like a weak heartbeat. I can’t tell if my limbs are broken, but everything hurts. The pain makes my stomach turn with nausea.
Wilder’s voice screams my name, calling for me repeatedly. He grows more desperate the longer I don’t answer. I can barely focus on him. A cloaked figure looms over me. Its presence is somehow darker than the shadows around it.
“Hello, Leigh,” a voice like midwinter midnight says.
The world doesn’t fade to black, it collapses into darkness.