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Changing course, I race up the steps to where Sebastian has found our brother. The bedroom door is open, and Sebastian is standing frozen in my way. When I race around him, my mind fritzes out.
“What the actual fuck?” I rush to undo the clasps locking Finn in a full-bodied pincushion but my skin singes and bubbles the moment I make contact.
“It’s pure gold.” Lilian steps in from the doorway, grinning like a Cheshire cat. “Even now that you’re here, you won’t be able to get him out. How does it feel to be helpless while you watch someone you care about suffer?”
Sebastian lunges and I race back to the top of the steps. “Ladies! We need you up here!”
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
JOSIE
When I push to my feet, I’ve been transported again, this time to a vast and breathtaking landscape of rolling hills, vibrant meadows, and towering forests that stretch as far as the eye can see.
“Well, we’re not in Louisiana anymore.”
There’s no response, and I’m suddenly missing Phi’s presence. It would have been comforting to have my familiar here with me—the Toto to my Dorothy—because I have a hunch I’m not on the Earthly plane anymore.
Nothing like this exists on Earth.
The sky above is a swirling mix of pastel colors, an ever-changing canvas that reminds me of the Northern Lights. Even the grass here is different. It’s almost the same, but more velvety.
Everything here feels more saturated. More real, yet alien at the same time.
As I gaze upwards, every element around me pulses with an intensity that is almost tangible. I’m still soaking in the surreal beauty of the landscape when a gentle rustling sound draws my attention.
From the midst of a nearby grove, a figure emerges. It’s Mother Gaia, the very essence of the earth and nature itself.
She moves towards me, her form fluid and graceful, garbed in flowing robes that seem woven from the green of leaves, the brown of earth, and the clear blue of the sky.
Her hair cascades in waves of deep forest greens intertwined with autumnal colors, and her eyes reflect the depth of the oceans.
My heart skips a beat, and for a moment, I am utterly speechless. This is the goddess I have always felt but never seen, the divine force I have spoken to my entire life.
I drop to my knees and lower my gaze. “Mother Gaia, you honor me.”
“Aww, sweet Josephine,” she replies, her voice resonant and warm. “You have honored me so often, it is a pleasure to return the favor.”
I glance up to meet her gaze. “I—I don’t know what to say. I never thought?—”
“There is no need for words when your heart speaks so clearly.” Gaia touches my shoulder with a hand that feels like cool soil on a hot day. Her touch is grounding, infusing me with a calm strength.
Tears brim in my eyes as I absorb the reality of this encounter. Here, in this ethereal landscape, I meet the deity of my deepest devotions.
Mother Gaia embodies everything I’ve ever revered about the natural world, and her being here, now, reassures me that my path is blessed, my practices meaningful.
Her presence is awe-inspiring and transcends time and space. My mind is blank. What do I say now that I’m here?
“Come, young one. Let us walk.” She takes my hand and together we walk across the lush carpet of green. Small animals hop and scurry about and I wonder if they know how blessed they are to live in the landscape of the goddess mother.
“You and I and those around us are not so different. We are connected by the threads of magic that weave through this world so thoroughly that we are basically one and the same.”
I blink. “One and the same?”
“In a sense, yes.”
I don’t know how to process that.
“I have looked forward to meeting you, Josephine.”
