She stiffened back into her robotic posture and her eyes glazed over again.
“No!” I cried. Hot tears burned my throat. Another drop of my sister’s blood hit my wound like acid. Cain’s form flickered and flashed. His full lips spread into a victorious smile.
“Wussuru Mahan ana harrani sa alaktasa la Tarat.”
It happened fast. The instant Maisie stopped speaking, Cain dragged the blade across Maisie’s throat.
“No!” I screamed, my voice hoarse with fear and shock.
My sister’s eyes widened and a gasp escaped her lips. Blood gushed from the angry wound. A gurgle escaped her mouth and more blood poured from her throat.
His form wavered again, going transparent. But Cain wasn’t content to exit the scene without one final f**k-you.
“See you soon, Sabina Kane.”
The air popped, signaling Cain’s escape from the Liminal.
Fear shocked me into action despite the pain. Riding a surge of adrenaline, I lunged for my sister just as she started to slump over.
“Nonononono!” I ripped my shirt off my chest and pressed it against her throat. Wrapping my free arm around her, I forced my sister to look up at me. The whites of her eyes were impossibly large. Her lids flickered, like wings. “Honey, stay with me. Maisie?”
So much blood. Rivers of it. On some level, my mind demanded to know why her body wasn’t healing the wound. I looked down at my own chest wound, which was already closing. Was it possible the spectral blood Maisie dripped into the wound was some kind of healing spell? And more important, could I do the same for her even though she was only in the Liminal in her spectral form?
I shook her roughly. “Maisie, you have to fight! It’s just a dream!” I lifted my wrist to my mouth and slammed my fangs into the thin skin. Blood oozed thickly from the wound. Held it to Maisie’s mouth. “Drink, Maisie.”
Her mouth worked but no sound came out except a wet gurgle. She shook her head, turned her face away from the healing I offered. “Dammit, Maisie! You have to drink!”
I realized then that my blood and my magic couldn’t save her. If she was going to survive, she had to consciously will herself to heal. She had to choose to live.
But her eyes told me the story. She’d already surrendered.
“No!” I screamed at her. I shook her harder, slapped her face. Forced her lips to part so my blood could find its way down her throat. But it oozed down her lips, her chin, her throat to mix uselessly with her own. “Don’t you f**king give up!”
But her lips were already turning blue. Her muscles didn’t strain. She blinked once, twice. I squeezed the material tighter around her neck, trying in vain to stanch the tidal wave of blood.
I looked around frantically, trying to find something, anything to help her. She shifted in my arms. I looked down to see her lids barely cracked. Her mouth moved. I bent over her to listen.
“No use,” she breathed. “I died months ago.”
My tears fell on her face like rain. “Maisie, please,” I said through sobs. “Stay with me.”
I rested my cheek on hers. But it was cold. So damned cold.
“Bina,” she said, barely more than a breath. “Trust fate, sister.” She coughed wetly, blood pouring from her lips. “Always with… you.”
With one final breath, my sister’s body sagged in my arms. “Godsdammit, Maisie! No!”
Her mouth fell open and a bright light escaped. The orb rose on the air and swirled around us once, twice, three times. As it spun, a deep blistering pain scored my left shoulder. I didn’t flinch. Didn’t shy from the pain. I was beyond feeling at that moment. Beyond self-preservation.
After the orb made its third lap, it rose high in the air before slamming down into the pool. The wake of its entry splashed a plume of black water high into the air. Then the light sank fast, until I couldn’t see it anymore.
Maisie was gone.
My head fell back and I screamed my rage at the universe. Sobs doubled me over her body, already cold. I rocked back and forth, praying to every goddess I knew to bring Maisie back to me. I made outrageous promises and issued violent threats.
But she was gone.
I don’t know how long I sat there, cradling her body and bawling. Time moved like oil in water. But eventually, I felt a warm touch on my back. It didn’t scare me. I was beyond such weak emotions as fear. “Leave me, Giguhl.”
The warmth didn’t recede. “Sabina.” The voice was feminine, rich, and dark. Definitely not Giguhl.
Blinking against the wetness clogging my eyes, I looked up.
“Daughter, it is time to leave this place.” Phoebe glowed warmly, but her heat couldn’t reach me.
I shook my head and squeezed my eyes shut. I resumed my rocking, faster now, more urgent. “I’m not leaving her.”
“Sabina,” my mother said. “She’s already gone. Look.”
I opened my eyes. My arms cradled nothing but air now. I stilled, but something deep inside me coiled to life. “Where is she?”
Phoebe smiled down at me. “At peace finally.” My mother pointed to my chest, my heart. “But never doubt she is with you.”
I licked my parched lips. “I don’t understand.” I choked on a gut-wrenching sob.
“The beast is free now. Until he is stopped, no one is safe. That is all you need to know.”
“But I don’t know how to stop him!” I cried. “I can’t do this.”
She lifted my chin with her fingers. “You can because you have to. He must pay for what he did to Maisie. He must pay for what he did to us.”
Thunder rolled through the cavern. I cringed, wrapping my arms around my shivering body.
I swallowed my fear and frowned at her. “Us? Wha—”
Phoebe cowered and looked around, her eyes fearful. “There’s not time. You must go.” Her body went from solid to transparent. “Find the mage who calls himself Abel. He will help you.” With that, my mother disappeared.
I sagged into the sand. My brain felt scrambled and my muscles useless.
Something rough, like sandpaper, scraped my cheek. With my eyes closed, I brushed at the annoyance. Another scrape, not painful exactly but annoying.
“Sabina,” Giguhl whispered. “Wake up.”
My eyes flicked open. “Giguhl?”
His little feline face was about an inch from my nose. “What the hell happened? Where are Cain and Maisie?”
The name made pain lance through my heart. I squeezed my eyes shut and clenched my jaw against the agony of the memories that rushed through my mind. I opened my lids and looked my minion in the eye. “Cain escaped.”