Page 83 of Torn Ivy
Bram’s expression darkens, and he closes his eyes and breathes out, rubbing a hand over his face. “I was afraid of something like that.”
“You knew this could happen?” I ask, anger flaring inside me.
He holds up his hands defensively. “Not exactly. But messing with that level of magick... we knew there could be consequences. We just didn’t know how severe.”
I shake my head, frustration building. “So you risked tearing apart reality just to bring me back? Why? What could possibly be worth that?”
Bram’s eyes flash with an emotion I can’t quite place. “You. You are worth it, Ivy. We couldn’t just leave you scattered across dimensions. We’d do it again and again?—”
“And again,” Torin interrupts.
Their words should touch me, should make me feel something. But I just feel hollow. “Now what? We’re stuck in some broken version of reality, and if we go back to the real world, Tate is dead.”
“Not necessarily,” Bram says, taking a step closer. “There might be a way to fix this. To get back to our proper timeline before Tate dies.”
“Before you bring me back, you mean,” I state bitterly.
Bram grimaces at my less-than-positive attitude. “No. If we can find a way back to the precise moment you returned, the precise moment Tate dies, we might be able to prevent all of this.”
“And how the fuck do we do that?” I growl.
“By asking the one creature who knows all about death.”
I blink and shrug.
He rolls his eyes. “Death, Ivy. Death.”
Right. Because we have Life, so, we have to have Death as well. Of course. This all makes sense now. It all makes sense. Not.
40
IVY
Bram’s expressiontightens when he sees my disbelief. “Ivy, I know this is all confusing and overwhelming. But we can figure this out.”
I laugh bitterly. “I don’t even know who you are. Any of you. I have these fragments of memories, but nothing solid. How am I supposed to trust you?”
The snake around my neck hisses softly, reacting to my emotions as I run my fingers along its scales. Torin’s eyes blaze with intensity. “Then trust your instincts, Ivy. Deep down, you know us. You know we’d do anything for you.”
I shake my head, overwhelmed. “That’s the problem. You’ve already done too much.We’vealready done too much. If we start messing again, are we going to make things worse?”
“Well, they can only fucking get better,” Bram snaps, losing his patience.
“Not helping,” Torin grits out.
“We did it because we love you,” Bram states.
The words hit me hard. Love. It seems like such a small thing in the face of everything that’s happened. And yet.
I close my eyes, trying to sort through the havoc in my mind. Flashes of memory dance behind my eyelids, but they are gone before I can remember.
When I open my eyes again, I see the desperation and love in their faces. It tugs at something deep inside me, a flicker of recognition.
“Okay,” I say softly. “Let’s say I believe you. That you did all this because you love me. How do we fix it?”
Bram’s expression lightens slightly. “You call for Death. He’s the only one who can navigate the boundaries between realities.”
“How exactly do I do that?” I ask suspiciously. “Put out a Wanted ad? ‘Seeking skeletal figure, must have own scythe’?”
