Chapter 26 #2
Zillah, meanwhile, is still crowing. “I knew it,” she says, hands on her hips. “From the very first moment in the circle—the way you two entered together, the air practically sparking between you. Anyone could see it.”
Selene laughs through her tears, brushing them away with the back of her hand. “Fate has a way,” she repeats, steadier now. The room vibrates with warmth, with a joy that isn’t only ours but somehow shared. For a moment, I let myself bask in it.
And then Elaris clears her throat. “Now,” she says, turning her full attention on me, “I have questions of my own for you, Metra Donovan.” The air shifts. I sit straighter; my pulse quickens.
“I would like to know more about your life,” Elaris says. “How Elin kept you hidden. Any detail you can remember—no matter how small. I have reached for her with my power many times and found nothing. She is still bound, wherever she is. And so I ask you.”
Lowan squeezes my hand, steadying me as we all return to our seats.
“Okay,” I say, my voice a little unsteady.
I tell them. About the constant moves, city to town, place to place, with no reason that ever made sense.
It was always just my mother and me. How I grew up believing it was about her whims, her eccentricities, and how I resented it—how selfishly I focused only on what I was losing. Friends, stability, a place to belong.
Shame prickles under my skin. “I even remember her saying she wanted to tell me everything, but she wasn’t sure I’d believe her.
” I huff out a laugh, sharp and bitter. “And I wouldn’t have.
All of this would have sounded insane to me.
My mother was already strange, in my eyes.
This would’ve pushed her straight into madness. ”
The weight of that admission hangs heavy.
But Selene leans forward, her voice gentle.
“Metra, you have no reason to be ashamed. You were working only with what you knew. Your mother chose not to burden you with truths you weren’t ready for.
Mistakes may have been made, but they were made with love. And now you see them more clearly.”
Her words soothe the ache in my chest. Selene smiles, soft and sure. “Your mother would be proud of you.” She pauses, then corrects herself, voice firmer. “She will be proud of you. We’ll find her again, right?”
I gasp, my breath catching in my throat. “Is this… is this possible?” Elaris inclines her head. “Yes. There is still someone in this realm who can open a portal to the others, and perhaps find your mother. But for that, I need every piece of information you can give me. Nothing is too small.”
The name slips from me like instinct. “Nova Donovan.” Elaris’s eyes glint. She gives a slow, confirming nod. “Yes. That is the one.”
My pulse quickens. “But why every detail? What do you mean?”
Elaris says solemnly, “We must do this without error.” “We have only one chance. The portal must be opened at precisely the right place. If it is not, Calidora will sense it. She is also a Donovan, and though I do not know the depth of her abilities, she will know when a portal has been opened. Whether she could pinpoint its location, I cannot say. But we cannot risk it. We must get this right on the first attempt.”
A chill runs through me. “Wait—does that mean someone knew when the portal opened the night it took me?”
“Most likely,” Elaris answers. “Whether anyone followed up on it, I do not know. But your mother—Elin—she would have understood the risk. I doubt she has lingered in that same place, for fear of another finding her.”
My skin goes cold. “But… my friends. I had friends there. Are they—are they going to be okay?”
Elaris studies me with measured patience. “Your mother would have realized the danger to anyone tied to that place. She would have taken precautions. It is who she is.”
I swallow hard, nodding, but the worry sits heavy, anyway.
Elaris leans forward, her tone brooking no argument.
“Tell me your story. Everything you can remember. No detail is too small. I will weave it together so that when the time comes, and you are ready to meet her, Nova will have what she needs. If we are to reach your mother, Metra, the path must be exact.”
I press my palms together, steeling myself. “Okay.” And then I begin.
I speak until my throat aches. Piece by piece, I unwind the Threads of my childhood—the endless moves, the strange little towns, the cities where I never belonged, the way my mother’s restlessness was a cage disguised as freedom.
I tell it all: the loneliness, the fleeting friendships, the little joys that never lasted.
Every detail I can scrape up, no matter how small.
Sometimes Remli, or Selene, or Zillah slips out for a while, but Lowan never leaves. He sits at my side, steady, his presence an anchor when my voice trembles.
Elaris doesn’t interrupt. She sits motionless, eyes closed, as if she can see the whole of my life playing out behind her lids.
Every so often, her eyes snap open, sharp and knowing, and she asks a question—always something that seems strange to me, like it couldn’t possibly matter.
But I answer, because the way she looks at me tells me it does.
By the end, I am spent, wrung dry. Reliving it all—the good, the bad, the bewildering—has hollowed me out. My voice is raw, my chest tight. Elaris finally opens her eyes. “Enough for today,” she mumbles. She rises, smooth as drifting smoke, and floats away toward her own chamber.
For a long moment, no one moves. Then the others exchange glances, wordless, and scatter toward their rooms. Lowan takes my hand, and together we retreat to ours, my body aching with exhaustion, my mind still echoing with memories I thought I had buried.
Our chamber feels more like a cocoon every time I step into it.
I sink onto the edge of the bed, too drained to do much else.
Lowan doesn’t hesitate—he goes straight to the buffet table, piling food onto a plate, pouring water into a glass.
I see him glance at a tall bottle of sparkling liquid, pale and gold in the crystal light.
“Oh, no,” I warn. “I sipped that at the castle, and I could tell it was strong. Things went south for me after that.”
His mouth quirks. “Hopefully not immediately after,” he says, and the look in his eyes makes me blush, remembering his touch that first time in that chair.
“Well,” I murmur, “shortly after.”
He pours it anyway, setting the glass down beside the plate. “I think the cave provided it for a reason. Maybe to give you the rest you’ll need tonight.”
“Hmm.” I tilt my head. “You could be right.”
He helps me out of my day clothes, easing me into a soft shift, then strips down himself. We sit side by side on the bed, sharing food and drink. The sparkling spirit is crisp and heady, and I quickly chase the first swallow with water, alternating between the two.
“You did beautifully out there,” he says softly. “I can see now exactly why you are who you are.”
Some of the food sticks in my throat. “Some of it was really hard to relive.”
His eyes darken. He knows what I mean. Mason’s name had crossed my lips as I rehashed everything.
“I’m sure it wasn’t easy to hear me talk about him,” I say.
A low growl rumbles in his chest, but he exhales it away. “There was a flash of jealousy, I admit. Your past does not threaten me. I’m the man in your bed now. But it’s no different from how you felt about Remli, I’d wager.”
“Oh, yeah,” I laugh. “I’ll never forget the first time I saw her in the woods. She was beautiful. And I thought, if that’s Lowan’s type, I don’t stand a chance.”
“Don’t,” he cuts me off, voice fierce but tender.
“I’m just saying—that was before.”
“Right,” he agrees. Then he smirks. “All I can say is that man was a fucking fool to let you go. I will not make the same mistake.”
I shake my head. “No. Now I see I was Fated for something more.”
His hand finds mine, warm and sure. “Fated.”
The glow stirs inside me again, pulsing softly at the word.
He sweeps the tray of food aside and sets the half-empty glass back on the buffet. The bubbly spirit is heavy in my body now, pulling me toward the bed. Lowan eases me down onto the pillow, then stretches out beside me. I curl into him, eyes already half-closed. “I wonder what tomorrow holds.”
He brushes a strand of hair from my cheek. “We’ll worry about that tomorrow. Sleep, love.”
And with his voice wrapping around me like a blanket, I do.