Chapter 150
The ground beneath me gives way with a deafening roar, and the world plunges into chaos. The last thing I see is Cora’s wide-eyed panic as she reaches for me, her scream drowned out by the sound of rock collapsing all around us. My stomach flips as I fall, weightless for a horrifying moment before pain and darkness crash over me like a tidal wave.
I wake to the acrid smell of burning hair and smoke clawing at my throat. My head throbs, my vision swimming as I try to make sense of where I am. Heat radiates from nearby, searing my skin even though I’m not touching anything. I cough, the taste of ash and copper sharp on my tongue.
Then I see it. A river of lava, glowing molten orange, flows mere feet away. My heart leaps into my throat, panic clawing at my chest. The edges of my vision blur, the heat warping everything around me. I try to scramble away, but something tugs at me, anchoring me in place. That’s when I smell it—my hair.
My ponytail is on fire.
A strangled scream rips from my throat as I frantically pat the flames with my hands, my breath coming in gasps. The fire dies, leaving my hair singed and my hands trembling, but the panic doesn’t subside. I try again to move, but my left leg won’t budge. Or feel.
“No, no, no…” I mutter, the words spilling out as I force myself to look. My stomach lurches. My leg is pinned beneath a massive boulder, the weight of it crushing against me like a vice.
I can’t feel anything.
A sound tears from me, something frantic and raw. I pound my fists against the rocks around me, desperate for an outlet, but it only makes the pain in my hands worse. “Cora!” I scream, the word echoing through the cavern. “Grandma! Help me!”
Distantly, I hear her voice, faint but frantic. “Phoebe? Where are you?”
“Here!” I shout, my voice cracking. “I’m here! Help me!”
Her silhouette appears in the swirling dust and heat, and I’ve never been so relieved to see someone in my entire life. She rushes to me, stumbling over uneven ground, her hands already reaching for me.
“Hold on, darling,” she says, kneeling beside me. Her voice shakes, but her hands are steady as she assesses the situation. Her gaze darts from my trapped leg to the boulder pinning it, her mouth pressing into a thin line. “You’re okay. I’m going to get you out.”
“I can’t feel it,” I whisper, the words barely audible over the roar of lava and crumbling stone. Tears blur my vision, hot streaks running down my face. “I can’t feel my leg.”
Cora looks up at me sharply, her expression unreadable. “You’re going into shock,” she says, her voice firm. “Listen to me, Phoebe. Focus on my voice. You’re going to be okay, but you have to stay calm.”
“Wake,” I sob, gripping her arm like a lifeline. “Wake! Please. I don’t know what to do—”
“Phoebe.” She cups my face with both hands, forcing me to meet her eyes. “I need you to breathe. Look at me and breathe.”
My breaths come in ragged, uneven gasps, but I try. I really try. Her hands move to my hair, stroking gently, and her voice softens. “I’m here, darling. I’ve got you. But you need to listen to me.”
Tears spill over as I close my eyes, the heat and pain and fear blending into something overwhelming. “I just… I need Wake,” I whisper.
Cora’s hands still for a moment. Then she speaks, her voice quieter, almost reverent. “There’s a way,” she says, her words deliberate. “An ancient ability of our people. It’s rare, but not impossible.”
“What… what do you mean?” My voice shakes, my heart hammering in my chest.
She takes a breath, her hands steadying me. “We believe that in the etherworld, the gods reside. It’s also where mated pairs are bonded, so they can always find one another—even across unimaginable distances.”
“The… etherworld…” I gasp, the word strange and heavy on my tongue.
She nods, her eyes glistening with something I can’t quite place. “You can reach him there, Phoebe. If you let yourself go, if you let your spirit reach out, you can find him.”
“How?” I rasp, desperation bleeding into every syllable. “Please, tell me how.”
Cora fights back tears of her own, her voice trembling with a mixture of urgency and tenderness. “Close your eyes,” she says. “Think of your mate. Picture him—his face, his voice, everything that makes him yours. Focus on that, and let go.”
“I’m scared,” I admit, my voice breaking. “I don’t… I don’t know if I can.”
She presses her forehead against mine, her words a soft whisper. “You can, darling. Trust me. It’s going to be okay. Just let go.”
I close my eyes, the roar of the lava fading into the background as I force myself to breathe. I picture Wake—his piercing blue eyes, his fierce protectiveness, the way he always grounds me no matter how bad things get. I hold onto that image with everything I have, letting it consume me.
The world around me blurs, and for a moment, I feel weightless. Then, a rush of warmth floods through me, deeper than any heat from the lava. It’s comforting, familiar, like a home I didn’t know I was missing.
When I open my eyes, I’m not in the cavern anymore. I’m standing in an infinite expanse of shimmering light and swirling energy. It’s the same place I saw Electra in my dreams, the etherworld.
For a moment, I think I’m dead. But then I blink, and the scene shifts. The shimmering expanse fades, replaced by something more tangible—a familiar room, a familiar figure.
Wake.
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