Chapter 788: Below
I pushed past Alison, taking the stairs two at a time, not caring I might fall, mind locked on Ameline as my power built around me, before me, flaring outward as I thundered toward her with her death in every fiber of my being.
And Gabriel.
The bottom step almost took me by surprise and I found myself pouring the last of my forward momentum into leaping into the maji chamber. It hummed with power, but not Ameline's. With the magic of the maji who created it, welcoming me, embracing me.
Troubled and angry and happy I was there.
I didn't pay attention to it, too focused on the black-robed figure standing beside the long stone slab in the middle of the room, cloak spread out, back to me. I'd seen this, too, Dark Fate's premonition right on the money.
I just wished everything else was decided.
That was, I guess, my job, right?
"Ameline." My voice vibrated with my hate, the world closing in around me as blackened tunnel vision hyper-focused me on her bowed shoulders, her hood-covered head. "It's over."
Galleytrot barked above even as Max's power sealed the door behind me. Alison drifted to my left, eyes locked on Ameline, though the big drach's looming presence remained still and watchful.
Didn't matter. Not when I felt him. And not just a trace of him this time. Or a hint of his passing. Gabriel was here. With her.
My hands clawed beside me, my magic ready to tear her apart. And Ameline turned slowly toward me, face wreathed in shadow.
"Welcome to your death," she said.
I didn't respond. I was too busy staring, in open shock and disbelief, at the little boy sitting on the stone slab.
No, this couldn't be. This wasn't Gabriel. My baby was only two months old. Yes, he looked more like a year, acted even older. But it had only been three weeks. And this child was at least two.
A trick? But no, it was him, his heart, his soul. His sweet magic, reaching for me as his hazel eyes lit up with sparks of green, sullen scowl a blazing smile as he locked eyes with me and reached out with his little arms, heels pattering against the stone as he tried to come to me.
"Momma," he said. And laughed.
Oh. My.
Heart broke, shattered, knitted itself back together again as I choked on tears and sobs and screams mixed with happiness and grief.
"Gabriel," I whispered.
His strawberry blonde hair hung in waves around his cheeks as he wriggled his joy. "Hi, Momma," he said.
And then there was no doubt, curiosity gone. However it happened, my son was here and I had come for him.
Ameline's fury hit me like a wall of bricks. I'd let my shields fall, felt the sting of the blow just before I snarled and shoved her back, my wards slamming into place. I reached for Gabriel with my magic, felt him shielded as the stairs had been. Knew then I would never reach him unless Ameline was dead.
Alison, I sent. Get Gabriel. That's your only job.
She didn't answer. Didn't have to.
Ameline's hand grasped Gabriel's little arm, shook him. He glared up at her, green power flaring in his eyes. "No my Momma," he said. Pointed at me. "Momma."
She. She tried to. Convince him.
"You bitch," I said. "You tried to convince him you were his mother."
She glared at me. Only then did I see past some of the shadow of her hood, her face lit by his magic. And then, she smiled, pulling at her skin, leaving valleys of darkness on her cheeks. "Surprised to see him this way?" Her voice was no longer the cultured, careful voice of an emotionless ice queen, but gravelly and harsh, as though she was three days into a bad cold. "The accelerated aging process his body naturally began had to be sped up." She didn't release him, but my son didn't fight her, either, just staring at her with fury and a clenched little jaw. I wavered between staring at him in longing and glaring at her with as much anger as he did. "My connection to Cian made it simple enough to push his body to age faster." She shrugged under her robe, hand clenching tighter around his arm. It had to hurt, but Gabriel's scowl just deepened.
Didn't mean I had to like it. "Let him go." I barely recognized my own voice, scared myself a little. The very air vibrated from my words, tore at her shield with pin-points of rage.
Ameline ignored me, shaking Gabriel ever so slightly. "His power won't peak until he's older, you see." She snarled herself, shook him again. "But it's too soon, isn't it, my pet?" She tossed her head, shrugging the hood from her, turning her face toward me, letting me see her at last. "And the price... I had no idea how much this would cost."
My breath caught at the sight of her. Sunken cheeks, paper thin, lips a slash across her once generous mouth. Her eyes were deep pits, though the ice blue of them shone as bright as ever. She reminded me of a vampire mummy, drained of blood, though it was power she lacked. She'd poured everything she had into this, into the shields. And into my son's aging process.
"I just need a few more days." She howled, jerking on Gabriel's arm so hard he finally cried out and my fury added another blow to the slowness of her impending death. "Just a few more."
Alison stirred, smiled. "My pleasure to ruin your plans," she said. "But I thought Syd should know you're a deceitful, thieving bitch who had her son." She grinned at me. "You're welcome."
Ameline snarled at her, spitting hate. Struck at her through the barrier she'd created. But my old bestie simply faded into ghostly form and the magic passed through her, absorbed into the walls of the chamber. Which sighed, sad and hurt at the blow.
"It doesn't matter." Ameline pulled Gabriel closer as he started to fight her, kicking at her with both feet, hitting her with one little fist. I could see the Sidhe magic behind the blows, but when Ameline's blue eyes flared I knew his fighting back only fed her. When he fell still I realized he'd processed that himself.
My brilliant little boy.
Ameline pulled him into her arms, stepping away from the slab, holding his wriggling body against her with one arm while a ball of shimmering power formed in her right hand. "When he dies, it's all over. A new Fate will be made. Maybe one that's easier for me." She cackled a laugh. And raised her hand over my son's head.
My brain exploded.
And so did my power.
Right. At. Ameline.
***
