Chapter 57
Itried dialing Rocky as my hands shook, making it difficult to dial, let alone breathe.
The grief struck me like a knife through my chest, swallowing me whole.
Raquel answered and fell silent, listening to my cries.
“She’s gone. Ma, she’s gone!” I wept into the phone mercilessly, making my way back into the cave.
“I know, I felt it.” Rocky fell silent. “Tell me, prima, are you ready to claim what belongs to you?” she asked.
Not knowing the gravity of those words, but knowing whatever it was, for Ma, for Birdie, there was no better time than now. Everyone would pay, I swore to the gods.
“I’m ready,” I stated, wiping my tears and letting the pain turn into solid anger and vengeance.
I kissed my mother’s cold cheek. “I will avenge you, Ma, I promise,” I whispered to her.
Something crinkled as I brought her to my chest. It was folded in her poncho, coated with her blood. I unfolded the mysterious paper. It was a letter. A letter she kept right by her heart.
Dear Faye,
If you are reading this, that can only mean one thing— I am dead.
Do not grieve for me, my child, for I lived a fruitful life.
Being your mother was the best gift ever bestowed upon me.
While I’ve protected you endlessly, I am now terrified those actions have cost me a great deal.
Meaning, I couldn't live long enough to speak the truth among all the answers you seek.
You are incredibly special, Faye. Not just because you are my daughter, because you are more than that.
A gifted being. And with gifts come curses.
A seer, La Sibila, taken from both light and dark magic, making your gifts a force to be reckoned with.
While my tea withheld your power for protection when you were a child, it was all I could do to aid you with your visions.
Your night terrors, your gift– the true divinity of life and death.
The power courses through your veins like a beast, my love.
The prophecy has been told for centuries, but didn't come true until there was you.
Your very first breath gave me a reason such as my life, to protect you.
You are divination and darkness wrapped in one, making you one of the most powerful spell binders of Mortis.
Your DNA is the key to the evolution of the Robles bloodline and to a whole new realm. A realm they don't want to exist.
The Council is terrified of hybrids running free and claiming their gifts.
It's one of the reasons your father had to leave us.
Our love was sealed by hate, never to be accepted.
A god and a spell binder. Two different species among the realms of Mortis.
Where law overrides love. Your ancient blood made you strong, desired, and feared.
Your father, El Micta, the God of the Underworld in his realm, made the ultimate sacrifice for the ones he loved most. In order to protect us, he had to go back to Mictlan to convince the Underworld that you did not live outside the womb.
That you passed in your sleep in my belly.
A lie that kept us protected and without the greatest love of my life.
There is only one thing your father loved more than me, and that was you. His little girl.
I'm sorry that I've kept these truths from you.
I'm sorry I did not have more time. But I will never be sorry for protecting you.
I will always be with you, mija. While my body has passed, my soul is eternal and wrapped in love.
I am wherever you are, always. Protect Birdie, and love her, for she is gifted, too. You will see.
Love,
Ma
P.S. Remember, the occult requires balance, like all things. Take from the source what you need and nothing more. For there are consequences to the overuse of dark magic.
I clutched the bloody, wrinkled letter to my chest, smelling it and trying to catch my mother’s scent one last time. I read the letter over and over in disbelief, the words a thief to any rational thoughts. A hybrid? My father is a god? What the fuck.
I turned my back to the cold, stone cave wall. My dreams, they were prophetic visions this whole time? Warm, salty tears swarmed my face. Why… Why would she keep all of this from me? The discovery was too much too articulate, yet somehow closure stirred peace in my collective soul.
Everything, my whole life, suddenly made more sense than it ever has.
I still had so many questions. Questions I wanted answered by my mother.
But she was gone. I brought the letter to my chest, squeezing it and screaming, the grief winning, the pain overbearing.
The only thing anchoring me to this earth was Birdie. The only lifeline I had left.