Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 89023 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 445(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89023 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 445(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
Then we laugh and she points at me. “Go! Tell me your idea.”
“I need my pieces, of course! I need to pick up all the pieces of me that are scattered around the world and get my fucking magic back!”
She nods, blinking. “Yes. Of course! I mentioned that, remember?”
She did. And it wasn’t even that long ago, but we both forgot. Which, I suppose, is fine for her because she’s dead. Like really dead. Headless and everything. But I’m not. “I think I’m crazy. I think whatever is happening to my body, it’s fucking with my head, Lucia. Because I can’t think straight.”
“In your defense, you’ve been through a lot.”
“I think it’s the blood. Ryet was feeding me magic that Paul made and…” But right in the middle of the sentence, I lose my train of thought.
“Wow. OK. I didn’t know that,” Lucia says. “But also, I mean… not to bring up trauma or anything, you did get raped by the Darkness, darling.”
I frown. “I did. I’m a wreck.”
Lucia brightens. “It’s fine. I’m here. I’m here to…” But she’s forgetting things too! She must read this thought on my face, because she puts up a hand. “I’m here to remind you.” And even though this isn’t at all helpful, she beams a smile at me.
“Remind me of…?”
She holds up a finger like she’s about to tick off a list. “Scattered pieces.”
I wait for the second finger, but that’s all she’s got. “Oh, my God. We’re doomed.”
“No. I’m here to… tell you… that… you’re supposed to… Oh!” She brightens again. Like she just remembered. “The baby!”
“What about it?”
“It can’t be born.”
“No shit, Einstein! Even I can figure that out.”
“No.” She lets out a breath. “I mean, yes. It can’t be born. But you are pregnant.” I make a face of ‘duh.’ Which prompts her to raise a hand at me. “So you just… split yourself in two.”
I scoff now. “I thought the whole point of this was to gather up my scattered pieces so I can get my power back? How does splitting me into more pieces help? And anyway, I don’t know how to split myself. Paul did it. Or… maybe it was Josep. All I know is that it wasn’t me.”
“It wasn’t Paul or Josep,” Lucia says. “It was magic. Your magic. Not theirs.”
“Well, then they used me. Which is pretty much the same thing. It’s more than I know how to do, at least.”
“I’m sure that will change.”
But I’m not. “I don’t feel very magical, Lucia. In fact, I don’t feel magical at all. The only thing I know how to do is dreamwalk and that’s definitely not going to fix this. That’s just gonna make it worse because as far as I can tell, the dreamwalk is just a way to escape. It’s not real. It feels very real when you’re there, but it’s not. It’s just a trap.”
Lucia is quiet for a moment, but then she starts looking at the mirrors. She points at the closest one. “I think that these mirrors are your pieces. And to gather up your pieces, you only need to walk through to the other side and take yourself back.”
I look around at the mirrors because this actually makes sense. At least in this crazy, fucked-up world I’m not living in, it does. “And then what?”
“Well, if you get your pieces back, you’ll be powerful again. And if you’re powerful again, you can split in two. One to keep the baby inside you forever, and one to just be yourself.”
“Sounds like something out of a nightmare, if you ask me.”
Lucia holds up a finger. “Three! The nightmare! Of course! One. Gather up all your pieces. Two. Get your power back and split in two. Three. Imprison the baby inside you forever. The nightmare.”
“Gross.”
“Yeah.” She nods her head and sighs. “This whole thing is gross.”
“What about Josep?”
She blows out a long breath. “I don’t know. We’ll have to hope that Paul can take care of that part. Let’s focus on what we can control. Your mirrors.”
I walk over to one, staring intently into it, but I can’t see anything. “How do I make it work?”
“I feel strongly that you need the Coyrah mirror. We need to get that first.”
“We?” I ask, feeling both hopeful and doubtful at the same time. Because it would be nice to have someone with me. It would be awesome, actually. I’m so tired of feeling alone.
“If you agree to take me,” Lucia says, “I’ll come with you.”
Now, excited as I am at this prospect of a teammate, we’re talking about Lucia here. I might not actually know her, but I feel like I’ve got a handle on her essence. So I ask, “What do you want in return? Because I know you’re not doing this out of the goodness of your heart.”