Malin – Mother #3
Malin threw her arms around him, squeezing his sturdy frame with everything she had. The steady rise and fall of his chest grounded her, proving without a doubt that he was truly here and safe. “Of course, I came back for you. You can’t get rid of me that easily.”
It was then that she noticed his tear-stained cheeks. She looked around and asked, “Where’s Ellie?”
He squeezed harder, then pulled away to look at Malin, his eyes wide and glassy.
“I don’t know. I’m really worried,” he said.
“One night I got really, really tired. I fell asleep on the couch. Like I couldn’t keep my eyes open.
When I woke up, it was the next afternoon, and she was gone.
I don’t usually sleep that hard. I should have been there to protect her, but she’s gone. I’m so sorry.”
Malin’s blood went instantly cold. “Gone?”
He nodded, suddenly defensive. “I looked everywhere! I checked the whole palace. Even the secret passage behind the kitchen. No one saw her leave. Opal is gone, too. But he wouldn’t have taken her.”
Malin turned to her mother, a suffocating panic rising in her chest. “Can you reach her?”
Mom’s eyes closed for a long moment. When she opened them, there was a glint of resolve in her eye that hadn't been there before. “I reached her, but just barely. She is on the edge of my reach. She doesn’t know where they are. She is with Caelum and Opal.” She smiled, faint but real.
“She says they are safe. They went through a portal.”
Malin nodded mechanically.
Her lungs burned as she gasped for air. Ellie was safe.
She repeated the words like a prayer, but they failed to anchor her.
Caelum had her daughter. Pure, primal terror ripped through Malin, turning her blood to ice.
The edges of her vision blurred black. Bile surged up her throat.
The maternal urge to scream, to tear the room apart and burn the entire world to ash, clawed violently at her chest.
She dug her nails into her palms, desperately forcing her logic to cage the horror. Caelum was a trained transporter like Will, so he should have the skills to keep her safe. He wanted a family. He'd take excellent care of Ellie until he was tracked down and slaughtered for this betrayal.
She dragged her blurry focus back to Zee. His face was streaked with tears, his shoulders shaking with guilt. If Malin let her panic show, it would completely destroy him. She bit the inside of her cheek until blood flooded her mouth, shoving her terror down into a dark, locked box.
“This isn’t your fault,” she said. Her voice felt hollow and heavily strained as she fought for control.
“Based on your description of sleeping so long, I would bet that Caelum drugged you.
There was nothing you could have done. None of this is on you.
We'll get her back,” she stated, masking her overwhelming despair with absolute conviction.
As she spoke, the wall holding back her emotions groaned, dangerously close to cracking. She had to stay strong for him. He needed hope. He had been so strong here alone.
Zee nodded solemnly. He was really growing into his teenage years, looking like a much younger version of Will. He scooted closer to her mom and took her hand in both of his. “I can stay with Nanna,” he offered bravely.
Just then, the door flew open. Aeladar froze on the threshold for a single second before rushing to the bedside. He pulled the love of his life into his arms, burying his face in her neck.
“It worked,” he breathed. The sheer outflow of relief in the room was entirely overwhelming. “Ael’an. Me Cour.”
Tears streamed down everyone’s faces. Seeing Will standing in the doorway, Zee finally broke his brave front. “Dad! You’re back.” He bolted across the room, throwing himself into Will’s waiting arms.
Malin forced her shaky legs to carry her across the room. The toxic anger and resentment that had been poisoning their marriage for weeks instantly evaporated, crushed beneath the sheer, suffocating weight of a mother's terror.
She stopped just short of the doorway. Will held their son in a desperate, tight embrace, his eyes completely locked on hers over Zee's shoulder. His broad frame and fierce, protective grip offered the physical anchor her fracturing mind demanded.
Caelum had dragged her baby through a portal. He would regret that with every ounce of his being. Her husband was a force of nature. No one breathing navigated the transport paths with more lethal precision than Will.
If Caelum thought he could hide Ellie in some distant, shadowed corner of the world, he had just signed his own death warrant. She would get her baby back. It was only a matter of time.
She stepped forward, collapsing directly into the solid wall of Will’s chest. His free arm immediately wrapped around her waist, pulling her tight against his thundering heart.
They had a massive mountain of trauma and broken trust to repair, but absolutely none of that mattered right now. He was the only person in the universe capable of hunting Caelum down.
She buried her face in his shirt, letting his raw, uncompromising strength absorb her trembling frame. They would bring their daughter home.
Together.