“Yes, I can,” I interrupted.
“You know, we’ve been saving people for fucking years, and sometimes we want to pretend the world is all rainbows and cotton candy clouds too, but we can’t.”
I flashed him a smile that I knew scared the shit out of even the toughest supernaturals. “I’ve been doing this for thousands of years. So when you get to that point, give me a call. Until then, fuck off before I get really mad.”
“Let’s go,” Hunter told him again.
Ellis gave me a look that said this wasn’t over, but then they turned and started back across the rickety bridge, followed by the banshee. When they disappeared back inside the massive house, I looked back at the greying sky, and the sounds of the birds started back up again. My anger faded again, and I felt more tears rolling down my cheeks.
Freedom is never free.
Maybe I haven’t paid my dues yet.
But no matter the cost, I already knew this was worth it. So, I sat and touched the grass, I felt the breeze, and I listened to the birds, crying like a fool. Knowing that after the sun set, reality would set in too.
And I would have to summon the courage to keep fighting, because evil never slept, so neither could I.
2
Mae
When I walked back across the bridge, the weight of responsibility fell back on my shoulders like the heaviest mantle I could bear. I almost felt my body curl inward from the reality of it all. Everything suddenly felt too heavy. The air, the weight of the sound passing through it, even light, it all felt like it was trying to beat me into submission.
I moved through the door of the house, if that was even an appropriate name for it, and found banshees of all ages whispering and staring as though I was a circus freak with three heads or something. For a moment I’d forgotten about my scars. About how horrifying I must look to someone who doesn't see a mirror break as I burst into a room, to someone who isn't already fighting an even more terrifying monster.
My ears pricked at the sound of Hunter's voice and I followed it.
"You don't know what it's like," Hunter's voice was saying and I paused in my tracks. "There's no light, no grass, no animals that aren't trying to kill you and eat you. I don't know how she survived, and I sure as hell don't know how she stayed sane."
And that was my cue. "Who said I'm sane?" I asked as I entered the small room they were crowded in.
Hunter's eyes flashed when they met my own and I saw a fire blaze in them for just a second before he got it under control. I grinned at him, which earned me one in return. It made my heart flutter. "If I thought you were crazy then I wouldn't have--stayed in that realm with you."
There was an awkward pause as he spoke. He was going to say something else. If he thought I was crazy he wouldn't have fucked me? Was that it? My chest squeezed at the thought. I wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or hurt.
"We shouldn't keep the High Priestess waiting any longer than we already have," Ellis said with a glare thrown in my direction.
I stepped aside and gestured for them to lead the way. Ellis stomped out of the room like a bratty child while the other two followed shortly thereafter. I couldn’t quite remember which one was which, but as they passed, I noticed one of them had a shirt stained with blood and a weary look on his face. That would make him Alastair. And the other one, the tall, silent one, the one who was too watchful for his own good, would be Grim. Hunter was last, offering me his arm like a gentleman.
For a moment I debated, but then I took it. I'd been so long without human contact, without the simplest touch of kindness, that turning it down almost seemed offensive. He escorted me back through the building and up to an antechamber of sorts that was right next to the room I had emerged into. My mind flashed with the image of the old woman lying there with shards of different mirrors sticking out of her chest. I was sorry that she had lost her life, but I was thankful that I was still in the land of the living.
"Mary, thank you for coming. I know you probably want to explore the world after being trapped for so long, but before you go we wanted to talk to you about what has happened. I'm High Priestess Amara." The woman speaking paused and swallowed a few times, before sweeping her hand through her dark hair as if to calm herself. When she regained her composure she gestured to the chairs as she continued, "Please, have a seat.”
We all took a seat, and I couldn’t help but glance around at the space. Is this what the world looked like now? It was like a cross between a sitting area and a library, with shelves of books on all the walls and an assortment of chairs and a fancy-looking couch facing a little coffee table. I frowned, thinking of the homes I’d seen through the mirrors. This place looked… antiquated compared to them.
It was weird to realize how much I didn’t yet understand about this new world.
“So,” I began slowly. “You said something about darkness and what not…”
The priestess nodded. “When the mirror realm almost collapsed and you were freed from the curse that bound you to it, something happened. We aren't sure what exactly, only that many of our sisters had the same vision. It wasn't just the same vision though; they used the same words to describe it. It was the same vision I had while waiting with Grim and Ellis. This is what I felt compelled to say: Blood, everywhere. Black and red. Heads will roll and rot. Bodies will move under someone else's control. Magic will be wielded with vicious intent and without mercy. We have to change it, or it will doom us all.” She paused and took a breath before adding, “Four other banshees had the same vision and said the same thing to the person closest to them when they awoke."
Well, fuck.
Multiple, identical visions was never a good sign. Even I knew that, and I'd missed most of the current world's development.
"Can you tell me any more about what you saw?" I asked, hoping the answer was yes and she had a detailed version of who exactly was out to get me. I know, I know, the likelihood of that was close to zero.
"I wish I could, but it's all faded now. All I have is this general sense of foreboding and the words that were spoken by myself and my sisters. Something has arisen, something dark and deadly, and I don't just mean for you. I don't know how you are tied to... it, but I know that it will be coming for you. From what I can gather, when the warlocks trapped you in the mirror realm so long ago, this malevolent force seemed to subside. Apparently, it just went dormant somehow and now that you're back, it's awake. It will come for you and anyone connected to you, which is why I also need to ask you to leave the House of Banshees as soon as you are able. I cannot in good conscience risk the lives of the majority of my kind with your presence. I'm sorry for any hardship this causes you." She genuinely sounded sorry as well, which was touching.
"That's no problem," I said, even though I had no idea what I was going to do or where I was going to go. It wasn't like I had family I could go back to, or even friends for that matter, with the exception of the men who freed me from my prison. My chest tightened at the thought of being homeless in a world I didn't know anymore or understand. Before I could spiral out into panic, I took a deep breath and said, "Thank you for helping them get me out of there. I appreciate it, and I'm sorry if I bring any trouble your way."