Part 39 (2/2)
Maura's black eyes met his. ”There is no undoing it. She's dead. If she's lucky, it will happen fast.”
No. Gilda refused to die. She and Angus had just reconnected. She wasn't going to let go and give up her chance to make amends for all she'd done.
Gilda funneled some of Angus's power into her body, converting it to a healing light. Her skin began to glow from within as that light streaked through her body down to her legs, where the pain was worst.
”You're killing both of us,” said Angus.
Maura's body seemed to sag. ”I know. I've known for a long time how it would end.”
What must it have been like for Maura to see the future, to see herself kill her own parents?
Gilda's body screamed in pain, but she forced herself to move, to turn Maura around so she could look her daughter in the eye. ”Is that why you think you have no soul?” asked Gilda. ”Because you saw this moment?”
Maura looked away in guilt. ”I knew what I'd become. Why fight it?”
”Because your future is not written in stone. You of all people should know that.”
”Apparently, you're wrong. Things happened just as I foresaw.”
There was a hard throb in Gilda's legs; then she felt the warmth of the healing light go out and the pain moved higher, up to her knees.
Gilda sucked in a breath and reached for more power. The connection between her and Angus had widened further, allowing her to bring more into herself.
She sent more light to combat Maura's infection, but the effort left her shaking.
”You don't have to do this,” said Angus. ”We can fix this.”
”I can't. I've tried. It always ends the same way.”
Angus stepped forward. Grief deepened the lines on his face, twisting Gilda's heart. ”No. I don't accept that. You have to at least try. You don't want to kill your own mother.”
Maura bowed her head. ”It doesn't matter what I want or don't want. We all are as we were created to be. I was created to kill.”
”No,” said Gilda, barely able to hold on to Maura's arms. ”You were created to lovea”to love a man the way I love your father, to be loved in return, to fight evil as all the generations before you have done.”
Maura's dainty mouth twisted in contempt. ”That will never happen now, will it? You made sure of that when you made me promise to never grow up.”
Angus must have felt her siphoning off more and more power, because he came to stand by her side, cupping the back of her neck so the parts of the luceriaa”ring and necklacea”locked into place. The contact eased the flow of energy into her, and with a sudden, hard push of will, she drove the last of Maura's infection out of her body.
The effort left her panting, but there was no time to rest now. She had to show Maura there was still hope. She wasn't a lost cause. ”It was a mistake made in grief. I'm so sorry.”
”Sorry changes nothing.”
”It can. If you're willing to forgive, the way I'm willing to forgive you.”
Maura wrenched her little body away, backing up out of reach. ”There is no forgiveness for what I've done, what I'm going to do.”
”You haven't killed me,” said Gilda. ”I cured whatever you did to me with your touch.”
”Liar! You're just saying that to trick me.”
”Into doing what?”
”Coming with you. You want to take the little sliver of soul I managed to cling to in the womb and give it to your favorite daughter. If you do that, maybe she'll grow up.”
”You're wrong,” said Angus. ”Sibyl is not our favorite.”
”She always did the right thing. She was always perfect.”
”No one is perfect. We love you anyway.”
Maura's eyes darted around, like she was uncertain about something. ”You can't love someone who does the things I do.”
”Then stop. Come with us. Turn your back on this evil and rejoin your rightful family.”
”The Synestryn are my family now.”
”Do they love you?” asked Angus.
”They fear me. That's enough.”
”No, it's not, and you know it. You deserve to be loved.”
Maura covered her ears. ”Go. Leave before I order your death.”
Gilda stepped toward Maura. ”I'm not afraid of you. And there's not enough fear on this planet to make me stop loving you.”
”Liar! Lies. All lies.” Maura whirled around to where the Synestryn waited for the order to move. She lifted her small hand, pointed at Gilda, and said, ”Kill them.”
Tori crawled out from under the man's flailing feet. Zillah had some guy by the neck and was shaking him like a dog did a toy. She squatted against the cave wall, using it to support her weight.
She was so tired. Hours of pain had drained her strength, but at least it was almost over.
Another pain gripped her, and she could no longer keep from giving in to her body's demands. She had to push this thing out of her.
Hungry monsters closed in on her, eyeing Zillah to see if he was watching. If anything happened to him, she knew she'd be one more meal.
Part of her wished they'd just get it over with and put her out of her misery.
Despite the chill of the cave, sweat poured down her face, stinging her eyes.
Another wave of pain hit her and raw instincts took control of her body. Tori didn't want to be here for this. She didn't want to see whatever it was that came out of her.
She tried to pretend she was somewhere else, like she used to do, but the pain was too intense. It wouldn't let her go.
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