Page 93 of Witch's Fate

“Thank you.” She met Aleia’s sympathetic gaze. “Take care of the village, okay? I’ve got to do this.”

Aleia nodded and Sofia didn’t wait for her to speak. When Kitty pressed up against the side of her leg, she aetherwalked to the university.

The ground was white and the trees topped with snow. More fell from the sky. Kitty turned to smoke and hovered ather side. Sofia shivered and used her wand to conjure a jacket, then set off toward the east. Her feet sank into the snow as she cut across the rolling hills. She ignored the big stone buildings to her left and kept heading in what she hoped was the right direction.

Finally, a small yellow cottage appeared. Purple shutters were cheerful in a way she wasn’t sure she’d ever feel again. She knocked on the matching purple door, praying that Vivienne would be home.

When it swung open, she almost sighed in relief.

Surprise flashed across Vivienne’s face. She was dressed for lounging at home—leggings and a loose sweater draped with a colorful scarf. Her wild dark hair was pulled up in a knot atop her head. “Sofia. What’s wrong?”

“I need help.”

Understanding dawned on Vivienne’s face. “Come on in. Have a seat.”

Sofia followed her into a colorful living room scattered with Persian rugs. Art from around the world hung on her walls, including a striking engraved platter over the fireplace.

“You want me to take you to Malcolm’s afterworld,” Vivienne said.

“Yes. How did you—”

“I’ve only been in this world a little while. I’m a half-blood and spent most of my life mortal. But what I can do is rare and valuable and other Mytheans figured that out pretty quickly. So when someone who has just lost someone they love comes to me, I know why they’re here.”

“Can you take me? Will you?”

Vivienne’s visage was solemn. “Yes. But just for a little while. To say goodbye. I don’t have the power to bring him back from an afterworld. Once he’s there, he’s there forever.”

“If you get me there, can I stay? Forever?” That the question entered her mind didn’t shock Sofia. It meant death, leaving earth and her village and her friends, but she’d do it in a heartbeat.

“No. And I know you know that, deep down. The only way to get to an afterworld is death, and only if you believe in that religion. If you die, you’re going to the same place your ancestors would go, I would guess.”

Sofia nodded. Of course. She’d just been grasping at straws. “But you’ll take me?”

“Yeah. We can go now. I’m sure you want to do this right away.”

More than anything.Sofia stood. “It’s on Dartmoor, in southwest England.”

“All right. Let me get a coat. I’m not used to this cold.” Vivienne pulled on tall boots and wrapped up in a puffy black coat, then held her hand out to Sofia. “All right. Take us there.”

Sofia gripped her hand and, once Kitty had pressed herself up against her leg, aetherwalked them to Sorcerer’s Tor.

The wind was howling today, the sky overcast. The granite stones tumbled over the hilltop in massive disarray, just as she remembered it. She pointed to the largest pile, to the large crack that cut through the middle of the biggest rock. “There.”

Vivienne nodded. “Looks about right.”

To a mortal, it would appear as just a shallow fracture. It even looked that way to Sofia. But Vivienne seemed to know what she was looking at.

“Come on,” Vivienne said, and led the way over the tumbled stones and spongy ground. They stopped right in front of the fissure. Anticipation sang through Sofia. Fear as well.

“Take my hand,” Vivienne said. “Normally getting to an aetherworld requires aetherwalking, but I think we can just go through this portal.”

Sofia gripped her hand and followed her through the opening. Dark cold surrounded her and fear gripped her throat, but the next step took them into the light.

A village sprawled before her, sun sparkling down on the white streets. The buildings were all pale stone with slate roofs, immaculate, but cold. Even the flowers that spilled from window boxes were faded blues and pinks. Like a ghostly version of one of the villages at the edge of Dartmoor.

“How do we find him?” Vivienne asked. “Because from here, I’ve got no idea.”

“Ask around,” Sofia said.

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