Page 46 of Between Soul and Vessel
Thesamefeeling I could feel right now.
“I knew this day would come, but I did not expect it to take so long,” Artemesia choked out, her words ragged with emotion.
Mine was no different as I replied, “I have no memories of us, but I can hear the voices of our past, and I can feel how much love my heart holds for you. How long has it been?”
“Thousands of years,” Artemesia sobbed.
Her words and the guttural sadness in her voice were like a dagger to my heart.
I held her tighter, an old instinct waking within me. It was covered in dust, but I knew it well—the need to be a protective big sister and reassure her. “It’s alright. I’m here now.”
She nodded, and we remained like that for a while, just holding on to one another.
“How did you know where to find me?” I asked softly.
“Two vuleeries showed up at my camp, telling me theyhad received a scroll with a white hair wrapped around it. They said it belonged to you, then told me what the scroll said. I wanted to go with them to the arena to rescue you, even though it would have put my people at great risk, but the vuleeries assured me they would retrieve you and told me to wait here instead. That decision was not an easy one. However, now, here you are.” Slowly, she pulled back from me, her eyes puffy and red. I imagined I looked much the same. Gently, she clasped my cheeks. “Creator below, it’s so damn good to see your face.”
“As it is yours.” Then, we were hugging again, a mess of bubbly, happy laughs and heart-wrenching sobs.
When we finally got it together, Artemesia stepped back and gestured to the other female. “Sage, this is Vatara. Vatara, Sage.”
“A pleasure,” Vatara greeted me, the words rolling off her tongue with a mystical quality.
“It’s good to meet you,” I said, reaching out to shake her hand as she did mine.
The second our skin touched, an image flashed before my eyes. It was of an exceptionally large . . . egg. A memory, perhaps? It was gone faster than it appeared.
Weird.
“We should probably get out of here—we have a bit of a long flight to get back home,” Artemesia pointed out.
“Where is home?” I asked.
“I’ll show you,” she said with a grin before she turned to Vatara. “Ready?”
“More than ever. You know I can’t stand being in myhuman form,” she answered. A flash of light emitted around her. One second, a woman was standing before me, and in the next—
A mighty gryphon.
She had the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion. Her front legs were bird-like, her talons, sharp and deadly, digging into the ground beneath her. Her long, glossy brown feathers sparkled with bits of gold. They were her crowning glory. She was magnificent. Mythical. Like a creature from a fairy tale brought to life, right before my very eyes.
The vuleeries began to revolt, hissing and snarling, flapping their wings. Together, they crafted a haunting song, full of warning—you arenot welcome here!
“Come on,” Artemesia spoke to me, before she turned and mounted Vatara. “The vuleeries don’t take kindly to other birds being near Hollow Tree so we best take our leave.”
I nodded then followed after her, eager to escape their haunting melody.
Von
The moment I saw her—collapsed and broken, the icy fire within her eyes gone—dark emotions laced through my insides, gutting me on the spot.
Urgency gnawed at me, the need to protect her, to get to her, overwhelming me. My mate was strong, yes, but something inside her was not as it should have been. Had her memories returned to her? Had she discovered the truth of our past—that she had died while pregnant? It was a question I didn’t need to answer, because one look at her had told me the devastating truth—
She knew. She knew, and I couldn’t be there for her.
A flurry of emotions blasted through me like a blade to my abdomen, cutting me open.
Rage for her mistreatment.
