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I waited a beat.
“This is the right move, and you know it,” I called. “That’s why you haven’t kicked off whatever horror show awaits me in here. We’re on the same side. No tricks. Just give me the key, and we can end this nightmare quickly. Two years is two years too long.”
I paused and waited some more. Nothing happened.
Had it worked? Were they listening to me? They had to be. From the little experience I had with monsters, they didn’t hang around, shooting the breeze, when there was demigod flesh nearby to feast on. Whatever creature was lurking in this jungle was being held back.
“Thank you.” I released the first true breath I’d taken all day. “Now the key. Lead me to it. If it’s with my friends, lead me to them. We’re ending this n—”
A noise sounded overhead.
I tipped back, getting a single millisecond to scream before a coconut smashed into my face.
“—LA? AELLA?”
I groaned, blinking blearily. My whole face ached like I was whacked with a shovel.What the hell happened?
“Aella, are you okay?”
A voice reached me, piercing through the fog and confusion. I could make out someone leaning over me. They looked familiar. Who was it?
“Wake up, baby. Please, wake up.”
“M... Mom?” My eyes refocused, locking on to the woman who gave them to me. “Mom!” I bolted up and tipped flat on my face, head spinning. “Mom?” I croaked. “Mom, is that you?”
“It’s me, sweetheart. It’s me.” Mom helped me up, then hugged the stuffing out of me. I would’ve complained about her cracking my ribs, if I wasn’t hugging her just as tightly.
“I can’t believe it.” I buried my face in her neck. “It’s really you. How?”
“You’re how, Aella. I’ve been trapped down here so long, I’ve lost count of the days. I’d given up hope of ever leaving when the door to my chamber suddenly opened. I didn’t think,” she said. “I just ran. I ran and ran, and in chamber after chamber, the doors opened until they led me to you.”
“That means it worked. They listened to me.” I drew back, taking in every inch of her.
I’m not sure what I expected. Likely the emaciated, gaunt version of my mother who had sunken eyes and stringy, tangled hair. The woman sitting before me looked nothing like that.
Her clothes, her makeup, her hair, her honey-blossom perfume—all of it was just how it was the night she was taken.
“This place must be outside of time too. You haven’t changed at all, Mom.” I squeezed her hands so tight they turned white. “And... and you don’t look like you’ve been hurt. Please, tell me Selene didn’t hurt you.”
“Selene?”
I threw out my hands. “The goddess they built all of this to trap.”
“Oh, Selene.” Her eyes darkened. “She goes by a different name in here.”
“What is it? Who is she?”
“We have plenty of time for that later.” She rose, pulling me up with her. “All that matters is no, I wasn’t hurt, and it seems you weren’t either. You’re beautiful, baby girl, look at you.” Her eyes shone with unshed tears. “You’re bigger. Older. How long have I been away?”
I bit my lip, not wanting to say, but the answer spilled out. “Two years.”
“Oh,” she cried, doubling over like the words were a physical blow. “I left you on your own for two years? I’m sorry, Aella. I’m so sorry.”
“It wasn’t your fault.” I threw myself in her arms. “We’re together again. That’s all I care about. This nightmare ends today.”
“Yes, it does, baby. We’re going home.”
My heart melted, then exploded. For two long years I waited to hear those words. Finally, I was going home.
