Page 97 of Summer of Sacrifice

“By the time you discovered this, Thanasim, you were in your fifth new life without Asteria.” He smiled sadly. “Though, I believe you had recently found her yet again. The last time you threw Athania, it was into a realm with very little magic left. A place where it was outlawed, oddly enough by the dedication of one couple and their comrades—the Jouberts.”

Agatha’s heart clenched. Every tiny step had been with the protection of their daughters in mind, and her very own parents had done the same for Winnie, Sorscha, Seleste, and Aggie.

“A realm,” Smithwick went on, “where the two of you and the Sisters Solstice had taken great pains to orchestrate this era.”

“Midlerea,” Grimm said tightly.

“Morgana,” Agatha whispered.

A slight nod from Smithwick. “But this time, when she fell, a few of our Lord Night’s descendants fell from Aureland, too. Bringing the line to Midlerea and birthing the race of beings you call?—”

“The Druids.”

“The Druids. They stepped up to lead one of the Four Factions of The Order set in place by the Sisters Solstice via the Grimoire. Peace lasted for a time, but, eventually, the factions were infiltrated and began warring over the goddess quill.

“Worse, dark things began to occur. Athania opened her School of Alchemy, sharing the things she’d learned from the Papiens in Aureland—creatures highly skilled in science and alchemy. But her ways were—” He shook his head, the sharp-tipped spines on his head swaying. “Demented. The Sisters had foreseen some things through Hespa and took pains to stop them, but Athania was one step ahead. She’d learned too much as Talan, but neither of you knew this. That was, until Lorelai Joubert.”

“I–I don’t understand,” Agatha breathed. “What else did my mother do?”

“Thanasim, you approached her when she was pregnant with Sister Winter. By then, you suspected who their daughters would be. By the time she gave birth to Seleste, you’d directed her to eradicate magic any way she could, and you sent her across Midlerea with a prophecy—one written long ago by your daughters.

“She and Ambrose split the work, resulting in two variations of the same thing. It was during those endeavours that Lorelai learned Talan’s body had been taken over by Athania long ago.” He looked down at his bare feet, then back up at Grimm. “You were killed a few nights later. A warlock by the name of Pollock that Morgana was working with—he poisoned you. I believe your next life was that of Ira.”

“Gods.” Grimm ran a hand through his hair.

“I need to get back to my Sisters.” Agatha’s voice hardly carried, but they all stood as one to say their goodbyes.

“I’ll return them to Achlys,” Nyxia told the others, all their concern evident. “One more night of rest.” She turned to Agatha and Grimm. “Then I will escort you back through the Netherrealm myself.”

The door of their rooms in the Palace of Achlys closed with a click, and Grimm came to wrap Agatha tightly in his arms. She let the steady beat of his heart against her ear calm the anxiety whorling within her.

“The Dark Star,” he murmured against her hair, leaning down to kiss the top of her head.

After a few moments like that, his voice broke the silence again. “Belfry didn’t go to The Primordial as Talan, Hissa, and Monarch did.”

Agatha’s own heartbeat ratcheted up speed at his words—she knew exactly where he was headed with it.

“Because she had already approached a Primordial Goddess. She’d come to you, hadn’t she?”

Tears leaked from her eyes, soaking his shirt. She nodded against his chest. “How did you know?”

He gently pulled her back, hands moving to cradle her face as he searched her eyes. “That was the night I was to be separated from you for the first time. Do you really think I didn’t come back almost immediately?” His smile was so painfully forlorn. “I was there quite a lot longer before I revealed myself to you.”

Agatha gasped, remembering more of that night. “You did come back. We fought.”

“Of course we did. Our bond had been ripped away. We scrambled to hold onto memories of one another. We managed to, just long enough to quarrel. I loathed Belfry’s plan. But we both knew she was right.”

Agatha nodded, not trusting words.

“And we both know what this means now, my love.”

“Please.” Her voice cracked. “Right now, I just want you to kiss me like everything will be all right.”

His thumbs swiped at her tears, traced her freckles. Gently, he brushed his lips against hers. “Everything will be all right.”

WINNIE

Seleste stood gazing into her scrying bowl as Winnie and Sorscha watched on. She’d been tracking Chresedia for a fortnight, the fragmented images of what she could see confirming she and her Acolytes were travelling.

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