“You and your feeble hope. Hear me, now. The longer you’re apart, the more her memories of you return. But without your soul bond, everything will be tainted. She’ll remember you as the Void’s vessel, not as her love. I’m elated she’s been taken to another Reflection. It only aids me further in keeping you two as far from each other as possible. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before.”
He closes his eyes and bares his teeth. His gloating is getting to be a little much. “My plan was to control the situation, to keep her by my side so I could keep an eye on her. But this? This is so much better. By the time we find Eliyana, even when you make contact, she’ll have made up her mind about you. She will feel nothing but disgust for what you have become.”
I fold my arms over my puffed chest. “Explain.” His desire to boast about how well things are working out trumps his need to remain mysterious. Good.
“The man who gave me the recipe for the Elixir—Rafaj Niddala, our grandfather—pressed that time is of the essence. Time heals all wounds, correct?”
I nod. Where’s he going with this?
He sits a tad straighter. “Your bond with Eliyana was a wound that needed healing. It ruined everything—everything.” His chest heaves, his dark rage too fiery to control. He exhales and regains composure, though his expression remains hard as a conch shell. “She belongs with me, understand? In time, you will surrender to the Void inside. Darkness and hatred will consume you, and your love for her will turn to resentment. That is when the Elixir will have done its job. That is when I will have conquered.”
Staring more intently, I look for the man I can’t see. David is in there. In some dark corner where Josh would have him rot away, lost forever. But he’s the least of my concerns. What he’s done to Em is sick.
And what of the Reflections? Wasn’t it our unique link that set us on this course in the first place? If the bond between us is severed completely, will the link between Reflections break for good as well? It’s the only thing that explains why the nearest Threshold is nothing more than a muddy pond when it was once a rushing river. We thought it was our soul bond that caused the problem, the too-close link between Void and Verity that created the chaos. But what if it’s the opposite? The Void came from the Verity, after all.
What if our connection is the force holding everything together?
The realization sets in like a storm at sea. Nowhere to go but directly into the squall.
When we were together the Callings faded, the Thresholds drained, yet her Calling grew stronger. We made it into the Fifth by the skin of our teeth because of Em. The Callings are returning now, but at what cost? What if the reunion of the Verity and Void was the beginning of something far greater than we knew? A force to be reckoned with. They’d been separate for so long, the darkness and light removed from each other due to a tragic heartbreak. Of course things began to fall apart at first when the two were reunited.
But then things started to shift.
What if our love began to mend things, return them to their original intended state? Return them to the way they were in the Garden of Epoch? What if our love set a course of action that Josh-Joshua-whoever has carelessly interrupted?
“One last question.”
“What now?” He rolls his eyes.
“Where did you last see Jonathan Gage?”
“I told you yesterday. He was with me in the Fourth. We parted ways this side of the Fifth’s Threshold.”
“And you have no notion as to where he might’ve gone?”
His flattened lips are all the answer I require.
“Why protect him? What’s he ever done for you? He tried to kidnap Em—Eliyana.”
Josh exhales. “I am not protecting him. I am seeing how clueless you truly are.”
My defenses erect, I’m at the ready with my next retort. But then I catch the humor displayed in his calculating eyes. He’s stalling. This is just a game to him.
I turn my back on my brother and tromp up the stairs, opening then closing the cellar door. I’ve half a mind to slam it and rattle the entire cottage. But this is no one else’s concern aside from my own. I creep up the hall and grab my pack, which is already bulging with supplies. The books I included only weigh me down more, but I can’t leave them behind. The written word has saved us before, and I won’t underestimate its power now.
The same loop of thoughts tumbles through my brain as I exit through the front door and ready for my jog. If Em and I remain apart too long, the passages between Reflections will cease to exist. I’m sure of it. The Verity will lose its connection to the Thresholds, the Callings, everything. I must find her and restore the connection, allow the course we set out on to play through.
I’m about to set off, but a sigh keeps me in place. When I peer over one shoulder I find Elizabeth. Why am I not surprised? Should’ve known I wouldn’t make it out of here without her say.
“Good morning.” The greeting is meant for me, yet her eyes don’t abandon the fleece-bundled baby boy in her arms.
I turn to face her, bowing my head as I do. “Ma’am.”
Her smile takes over, the spitting image of Em’s. My heart contorts. Keep it together, man.
“Oh, Ky.” She sighs again, this time shifting her gaze toward me as she rises from the stone bench beside the door. “I believe you and I both know I am no ‘ma’am’ to you. You love my daughter. I feel, in the very least, we ought to be on a first-name basis.”
I swallow hard and offer a nod.
“Makai felt he should be the one to speak with you. He knew you would try to take off. He thought you should know something before you decide to leave everyone who cares for you behind.”
The corner of my mouth twitches and my feet itch to run. I respect Em’s mom enough to wait and hear her out, but my head’s already halfway across the valley.
“You should not be trying to go this alone. Nothing good will come of it.”
Each word digs deep as the Void pulses along my veins. I’m reminded of something I once said to Em. A smirk surfaces because, oh man, did she despise me. It was kind of cute. She was bleeding from the inside out yet, stubborn as ever, didn’t want my help.
“Either you let me help you, or you die right here. Your choice.”
She caved after a minute, and I lifted her onto the horse. There was no way around accepting my help. Is now any different from then? Except I’m the one in need of assistance.
The Void stings again, each time harsher than the last.
Stay with Em. Focus on Em. Love will keep me sane. Keep me from letting the Void take over as it’s attempted to do so many times before.
She sighs. “Joshua is a good man.”
I realize, deep down, she’s correct, but where’s she going with the change of subject?