me, Sorcha.”
“I thought you were here…” Cailean smiled sadly, shaking his head before he too vanished without an explanation of how he’d been elsewhere.
My father stepped up next, touching my shoulder before he bowed his head. “Don’t cry for us. One day, you will stand where I am, feeling your child’s pain at your loss. You will wish to take it from them with everything you have inside of you. Nothing can take away the pain or assuage the grief you are feeling. I am glad that I got to know you, and that you will continue long after I am gone. Liam will need you now more than ever, and I am glad that you remain with him. We love you, daughter. I couldn’t be prouder to call you mine,” he expressed, placing his hand into Thanatos’s as his blue eyes locked with mine in sadness I didn’t want or need.
One by one, the souls moved forward and vanished until I stepped back, allowing them to pass without saying anything. I let them touch me to bless their passing, and Thanatos accepted them to their eternal rest. I stared past the dead to where a ghostly figure surveyed me; beside her was the Stag in his male form.
The crowd hushed around us as I glared into the eyes of the one creature I’d been hunting before they slid to my mother, who regarded me through angry, burning eyes. An uneasy feeling wrapped around my throat, clenching my stomach tightly until I swallowed it down.
Flowers still rained down around us while my feet took root where I stood beside Thanatos. This was Danu’s fault for leaving us with the mess she’d created of her marriage. I opened my mouth to speak, but she reappeared before me, placing her finger over my lips.
“No, Mother,” I whispered angrily, my gaze holding hers in challenge. “You did this to us. You damned us to die by letting Bilé into this world!”
“Synthia, I created this world in his image. The deadly beauty within Faery…It is him. You cannot destroy Bilé without killing Faery. You have to find another way. I brought you help to do just that.”
“Help? I needed help when your husband was slaughtering my people! You brought me here to save this world, to save the people. You created me to anchor the beast, and I did. You created me to save the world, but I can’t! You didn’t bring me here to save Faery. I was brought here to save Bilé, and I will not save that monster! He has taken from me and this world. He cannot be saved. He will destroy us all.”
“You cannot destroy Bilé, Synthia. He is stronger than you and filled with rage. I lost my way with him. He grew jealous that I spent my time creating this world for us to love and rule over.”
“Yeah, well, there’s no love within that heartless prick anymore. He’s trying to kill me. You get that, right? He killed Ristan’s mate! He murdered the entire fucking Blood Court, Light Court, and Dark Court, in case you haven’t been brought up to speed.” Crossing my arm over my chest, I glared at my mother, accusingly.
“He’s resetting the world.”
“Yeah, is he? The only court left standing is this one! Footnote, Mother,” I hissed angrily. “It’s mine. I will destroy Bilé before I allow anyone else in my court to die or fall to that bastard.”
“Change his mind,” Danu pleaded. “Bilé is not unreasonable.”
“Did you go deaf or dumb when you died, mother? Because you’re not hearing me or what I am telling you! He’s trying to kill us! He’s slaughtering entire castes of fae as he skips across Faery.”
“Then give it to him,” she stated. “If you cannot reach him, give Faery to him. Leave,” she said icily, something sinister burning in her gaze. “Without him, there is no Faery. I made you the goddess of the people so that you could protect them, so either let your anger for him go and try to reason with him or leave this world. Bilé can be reasoned