Chapter 29
Sapphire
The dream comes again.
The cliffs. The storm. My brother screaming my name.
It’s more vivid and ethereal than any dream I’ve ever had.
The jagged, glass-like rocks cut into my palms, extracting thick streams of blood to rain down my arms and into my shirt.
And the sting of my skin peeling from my hands as I begin to lose my grip from the downpour, shaking my head to fling the water and wet hair out of my eyes.
“Krimson! I’m over here!” The louder I yell, the weaker my voice becomes.
“Sapphire! I’m here! I’m coming!”
I cry out as white and pink lightning crack across the gray sky.
I’m going to fall! I can’t hold on much longer!
Tears burn my eyes. I can hear those heavy footsteps splashing through the mud.
He’s close. He knows where I am. He’s going to find me. He’s going to save me!
“I’m slipping, Krimson! Please don’t let me fall!”
Skylenna
It feels like I haven’t had much sleep in twenty-one years.
Tonight, though, I blame my restlessness on the fact that Krimson and Sapphire have yet to return home from their night out on Main Street.
It’s not that I’m worried about them—I’ve made sure to raise them strong.
Both physically and mentally. It’s what Kane and Dessin would have wanted.
But I think it’s the loneliness that keeps me awake these days.
Chekiss goes to sleep fairly early after helping me clean up after dinner.
And after that, I usually do some reading on the front porch swing while the sun goes down.
So often I would imagine Kane sitting there with me, reading out loud while I rest my head on his lap and let his soothing voice caress me to sleep.
But after so many years, those thoughts have made me unbearably sad. Even though I try to hide my sadness from my children, they are too smart to fool. They have his brilliant mind, and I’ve known I’d have trouble getting anything past them since they were born.
Tonight, I tried to fall asleep alone in my bed.
But something about the soft sheets rubbing against my legs made me cold.
It triggered a memory of the nights in the forest, on the run, Kane would let me tuck my cold toes into the backs of his knees.
I’d shiver against his warm back and nuzzle the icy tip of my nose against his hot neck.
It always made him chuckle no matter how exhausted he was.
A couple of hours lying in the darkness, I got out of bed, put on my robe, and went to Dessin’s room.
I massage his legs, move his arms to prevent muscle atrophy, and kiss his hands while I pray for God to bring him back to me.
Most of the time, taking care of his body in this coma is a ritual that keeps me sane.
I’ll change his clothes, brush his hair, and ensure he has clean sheets.
How could I not? He’s my soulmate. The love of my life.
I will take care of him until the day I die. There will never be anyone else.
I know in my heart that if the roles were reversed, Dessin and all of his alters would never give up on me. Not ever. They would take care of my body and protect me until their dying breath.
It’s well past midnight, so I make myself cup of chamomile and lavender tea, sitting at Dessin’s bedside while I read to him.
“Mom.”
I lift my head from the book, locking eyes with Krimson in the doorway. He has his father’s height, build, and eye shape. Nearly all of his qualities except for his one emerald-green eye on the left.
“You’re back,” I say with a sleepy smile.
“Mom…” he says again, this time I catch the tension in his voice, the static in the air.
“What’s wrong?”
“Sapphire left the tavern with Niklaus.”
I raise my eyebrows. “Do I really want to hear this?”
They’ve hated each other their entire lives. But I don’t want to know what my daughter is up to when she’s drunk.
“I can’t find them anywhere.”
I almost suggest that maybe she doesn’t want to be found. But there’s an alertness in his eyes. A piercing expression that’s trying to tell me something else. Something out of fear.
“You already know what my response is going to be. That maybe they don’t want to be found right now because they went back to Niklaus’s house. But there’s something you’re not saying…”
Krimson nods, pressing his fist over his mouth with wide eyes.
“I have this feeling,” he says in a deep, low voice. “She’s in danger.”
“Is she hurt?!” I toss my book to the ground and rush over to him. “What’re we still doing here? Get Aunt Marilynn and Uncle Niles up. Let’s go look for them.”
My blood is charged and generating bursts of adrenaline. The sleepiness that once hung over my eyes is now completely gone.
I go over a million different scenarios in my head before I can blink again.
“No. It’s…fuck, I don’t know how to explain this.” Krimson tightens his jaw and looks to his father’s bed for answers.
“Try,” I say through my teeth.
“There is no point in searching for her here.”
I wave my hand in a circular motion for him to get to the point before my anxiety really takes over.
“Sapphire isn’t here. No where we can look.”
“WHERE THEN?!” God, I feel like Dessin’s temper has taken over my senses. I never snap at Krimson like this.
“I-I don’t know, Mom. It’s as if she blinked from existence.” He crosses his arms and shakes his head. “She went somewhere we can’t reach at all. I know that doesn’t make sense. But I swear to God, Mom, I can feel it in my gut. Sapphire needs me. I can practically hear her calling out to me.”
My mouth falls open, and I’m at a loss for words.
“Fuck. I sound crazy!” Tears glaze over his piercing stare. “It doesn’t make any sense, I know! But something happened to her!”
“Stop. No. I believe you. You’re not crazy.”
I pace the room, drumming my fingers against my mouth in thought. The void would have alerted me to find my daughter. But it didn’t. That must mean she’s outside of my reach, wherever she is.
When Krimson and Sapphire were little, I wondered if they would have any special traits like Dessin and me. I wondered if I kept them away from any traumatic experiences, which I did, would they have unexplained abilities.
After this long, I assumed those questions were silly. That my children would lead normal lives. That the afflictions or abilities that I’ve come to manage would die with me.
This changes everything.
It has to.
“Mom! What do we do?!”
I snap out of my train of thought and look at him.
“Now I’m the one who’s going to sound crazy.” With two long strides, I take his hands. “I’m going to show you how to do something…”
“What?”
“I don’t think I have access to find her, Krimson. But you’re her twin. If I teach you how to go into the void, you can find her. You can bring her home.”