“He loves my Eliyana as well.” She moves toward me. Before I can protest, she’s offering me baby Evan and placing him in my arms.
It appears the Void doesn’t faze her. She doesn’t even seem to notice it.
“But you.” Her fingers slide into her son’s blanket. She tugs it down to reveal his full sleeping face. “There is a difference between true love and soul love.”
My heart coils tighter, nearly cutting off my air. Em’s brother is heavier than I expected, much more solid than Khloe at his age. I find myself swaying in place without prompting. His face stirs a long-forgotten feeling. My throat clears. I need not ask Elizabeth to continue. She will. It’s why she’s here.
“Do not mistake my meaning. True love is the most powerful emotion. So strong, it can be mistaken for soul love. Joshua’s love for my oldest child is true. Yes, it is very true indeed.” The baby’s mother strokes his full head of dark hair. One wisp curls up above the rest. “But the love you have for her is much more. The kind of love that cannot be denied or broken. No weapon, no potion, no enemy can stand against this love.” She eyes me. The look is so Em.
I sense she’s waiting for me to catch on to what she’s trying to relay. Okay. I’ll bite. “Are you referring to the Kiss of Infinity we shared? The Shadowalker—”
Elizabeth eyes me again, this time in warning.
Duly noted. Joshua is no Shadowalker to her. “Joshua . . . gave her something. He claims it—”
A shake of her head. Brown hair that could be Em’s, aside from a few silver strands, falls into eyes the color of teakwood. “I spoke with him while you were sparring with Saul. Joshua does not know exactly what he has gotten himself into. His seemingly simple solution is not the remedy he hoped for, but a test of your unbreakable bond. A cord of three strands is not easily broken, just as a love sealed with three Kisses of Infinity is not merely forgotten.”
She’s exactly as Em described her. All the wisdom of a Scrib, decades older than she, radiates from her every word. Yet . . . “I’m sorry, you’re mistaken. We only shared one Kiss of Infinity, the night she saved me from the Void injection. All the others after that were . . . normal.” I reposition Evan in my arms, diverting from the awkwardness. Nothing about kissing Em is normal. I’d prefer not to discuss the details with her mother, however.
As she places one hand on my cheek, Elizabeth’s eyes glisten. “Yes, you did share one, when she saved you and you exchanged an identical connection. And there is also the Kiss you bestowed when you saved her . . .”
Her words take me back to a day I assumed no one remembered, aside from myself.
“And the first one . . .” One finger extended, she traces Evan’s chubby cheek. “The Kiss you offered when she was but a tiny baby in my arms.”
I am rarely at a loss for words. Then this happens. I don’t argue. I don’t explain how it was my twin who kissed her daughter as a baby, giving her the mirrormark. Elizabeth was present. I heard Em replay the memory in her mind on more than one occasion. One part always stood out to me, though.
“. . . his eyes almost green in the firelight’s glow, his little-boy hair two shades lighter, all curls . . .”
For a moment I almost hoped it was me. I could’ve fit the description easily, but—“Tiernan took me,” I remind her. “And the boy who kissed Em.” I close my eyes and picture the memory as if it were my own. “He said his name was Joshua.”
Elizabeth beams. “No. He did not.”
I cock my head. Evan begins to fuss and I bounce him gently, just as I used to do with Khloe. A song my mother used to sing fills my mind. I almost begin humming the tune but refrain. The Void has affected my voice as well. I couldn’t care less what I sound like, but I don’t want to terrify Evan.
My thoughts redirect to the conversation at hand. “Em’s memory. She recalled the boy introducing himself as ‘Jos-wuh.’”
“The mind is a funny thing indeed.” Two fingers tap her temple. “It has a tendency to play tricks on us. To cause us to see and hear things that are not there. To fill in the blanks of an incident we cannot quite recall.”
“She’s a Mirror. Her Scrib ability is extraordinary.”
“No one is perfect, Ky. Not a Mask, nor an Ever. Not even a Scrib. I am sure even you have flaws within your Shield?” She winks. “These are our gifts, yes, but they do not make us blameless. The only perfection is the Verity itself. Even a vessel carries its shortcomings.”
I return Evan to her arms. I need not ask how she knows all this. If anyone is aware of what really happened that night, it’d be her or Makai or Nathaniel.
“Stay, son.” Balancing her true son, she squeezes my bicep.
Her soft grip sends a jolt through my body. I can feel the Void recoil from her loving touch.
“Stay and let us figure this out together.”
I’ve always relied on myself, and in doing so I let everyone down. Perhaps it’s time for a new approach. I nod.
Elizabeth smiles. “See you inside?”
Another nod.
She releases my arm and strolls into the cottage. I don’t believe I’ve ever witnessed anyone else as graceful as she.
Setting my pack on the ground, I sit on the bench, extending my legs in front of me and clasping my hands on the top of my head. If what Elizabeth said holds truth, more than one Kiss of Infinity is possible. And if I’ve given Em three? It’s going to take something much stronger than an Elixir concocted by a Shadowalker to break our souls apart. Still, I need to find her if I have any hope of securing our future.
I withdraw a small black vial from my cargo pocket, lift it toward the dawning light. Staying doesn’t change my course. If anything, having the others by my side gives me more purpose than ever.
Time for a refill.
FIVE
I Know
Bloody brilliant! You cannot be serious, man! The notion is absurd!” The younger version of my grandfather paces about, removing his glasses and then wiping the lenses on the tail of his shirt as is his custom.
My cheeks perk. I don’t take my eyes off him. This is surreal. He’s himself yet so different at once. Dark hair like Makai. Gray eyes young and alive and free of shaded, sagging circles. His glasses are thick-framed, the opposite of his wiry old-man spectacles. His walk is sure and able, his shoulders straight though still narrow. I glance at Bianca from the corner of my vision. She watches Nathaniel too. The admiration in her gaze is impossible to miss.
“Hear me out, Archer.” King Aidan Henry folds his arms over his chest in the way I’ve seen Joshua do more times than I can count. He sounds sort of like Joshua too, but for some reason Aidan’s voice is recognizable in a different way. It reminds me of Kyaphus, to be honest, or what I remember of him anyway. The idea makes me scoff inwardly. My grandfather had it right. Absurd indeed.
King Aidan clears his throat. “And for Verity’s sake, would you stop your insufferable pacing.”
My regard passes between the two men who’ve taken center stage, and my smirk returns. The familiar phrase rolls off Aidan’s tongue and I have to stifle a laugh. Did I really believe I invented “for Verity’s sake”? Nothing new under the sun, right?
I take in the rest of the scene. The hard expression straining nearly every attendee’s face. A young woman with pinched lips and fierce eyes reminiscent of Stormy’s. A young man sits to her left, face propped against his fist. He rubs his nose and yawns, making a sort of snorting noise as he does. The girl to his left scrunches her face, scoots over in her chair. The next seat hosts a guy who can’t be older than I am. He keeps scratching his baby face, his permanent scowl reminding me of Preacher.