Page 136 of Faerie Hunted

Slowly, the fractured pieces of me returned, the loss of Self, but none of them fit together quite the same way anymore. And a large piece, a piece with white hair, remained missing.

A rectangular journal, benign and leather-bound, rested against the gray surface of the rock.

Mom must have been sitting there looking at it this whole time. The spell we’d come for was right there, but she’d been here holding me instead. She’d chosen to hold her crying daughter rather than grabbing the journal.

She’d stayed with me.

My heart turned over in my chest. A healing moment, I realized, being held for the first time I ever remembered by the mother I thought I’d lost forever. My lower lip wobbled. Thankfully, the tears were done, every part of me spent.

“The Abyss has returned what it was given,” Livvy murmured. “The cost is fulfilled.”

“Is it safe to touch?” I asked, gesturing toward the journal.

“I believe so, yes.” Livvy pushed to her feet and reached back for me, holding out a hand to help me up.

Somehow, between Livvy and Noren, I managed to struggle into a standing position. My muscles bunched and had frozen in place after too long curled up into myself.

I stretched them out now with a hiss of pain.

“Let me help.” She stepped in front and reached for the journal reverently.

The old book lay dormant in her palms, yet when I reached out to graze my finger along the spine, the leather warmed to the touch.

Without another word, we turned around, finding an opening in the stone and thin tendrils of gray light reaching toward us. Dust motes danced in the rays.

We moved toward the light.

Noren padded along silently beside me. Halfway leaning against my hip. Nothing and no one stood in our way. There were no more hidden traps waiting to spring and no more surprises looming around the corners, no more boat or solid walls.

Our exit from the Abyss was not the same as our entrance.

It seemed Onyx was right. Once you reached the Abyss, it lived inside of you. I knew exactly where every trap lay on our way back out, as if the tunnels were etched on a map in my head, and navigating them felt effortless. As natural as breathing.

The light was magic, not sunlight, yet the tunnels were open and friendly. No hint of the dark river.

Sorrow sucked me under in a beat. This experience connected me to Onyx in a way I’d never expected. I almost felt him in some cavernous, moonless place where the Abyss also lived inside of me, like he’d become a permanent part of this place.

And therefore a permanent part of me.

No matter where I went after this or what I did, no matter who I met or the things I’d see, I’d feel them both in my psyche. In my blood and my cells and my soul for the rest of my life.

A sob erupted unbidden and my throat constricted around it.

We finally emerged into sunlight, each golden strand illuminating the tall, thin tree trunks of the woods around the ruined temple. Even the wildlife had fallen silent.

There was no one here. I didn’t expect them.

Onyx said time worked differently in the Abyss.

Laina was more than likely getting the help she needed for her injuries, and Mike and Bronwen would be with her.

No one was coming for us.

A hand fell on my shoulder and I turned to see Livvy staring at me.

“The journey to the Abyss is not for the faint of heart,” she told me softly, reverently. “Take comfort in how far you’ve come.”

“How can I feel anything when my friend is dead?” I half whispered.

---