Page 129 of When the Wicked Sing

“No,” Mariana choked out, holding her mother close as her shoulders shook with silent sobs. The sun continued its ascent, bathing the world in light, but all Mariana could feel was the darkness closing in around her.

“Come back. Please don’t leave me,” she croaked, feeling the pain of everyone she’d lost smother her, drowning her in grief.

She stayed there on the sand, crying, cradling her mother as the waves gently lapped at their feet, the sea now calm and serene.

“Amphitrite, hear my plea, hear my wish, and guide my mother safely to the end. Guide her to a peaceful place where she can be happy, where she can bask in the sun without fear.” Mariana pulled back, brushing her mother’s hair away from her face, and sniffed. “Let her soul be free to wander the sea and give me the courage to do what must be done.”

A cold, ethereal hand caressed Mariana’s face, and she closed her eyes, leaning into the gentle touch before it slowly disappeared.

Opening her eyes, Mariana stared out over the horizon at the Leruna Sea. The sun rose steadily into the sky, bright and unyielding, just as she would be.

With a deep breath, Mariana wiped her tears, kissed her mother’s forehead one last time, and slowly rose to her feet. A glint of light caught her eye, and she glanced at the diamond-spiked crown still lying half-buried in the sand where the witch had dropped it. She slowly walked toward it andpicked it up, feeling the weight of its history, its legacy, and the responsibility that it represented.

She hated it even more now. And yet, she couldn’t get herself to destroy it. No. She knew where it belonged, and it wasn’t on her head.

With one last look at the horizon, Mariana made a vow to her mother, to Astra, and to Celeste.

No matter what happened, no matter the cost, the witch would die by her hand.

Epilogue

“Doyouhearit?”The whispers echoed through the thick mist, a chilling breeze carrying them like secrets.

Spiders skittered across the damp ground, their tiny legs tapping against the cracked stones. The old trees on the island loomed, ancient sentinels, their gnarled branches reaching out like skeletal fingers.

“Tell me,” she said, her voice a tremulous whisper swallowed by the fog. Her breath merged with the mist that shrouded the silent village.

“Don’t you hear it?” they asked again, voices mingling with the rustle of leaves.

“Hear what? Tell me,” she ordered softly, a shiver running down her spine.

“She’s coming,” a hot breath whispered harshly into her ear, the words searing her consciousness. She gasped, her vision blurring as she pushed herself free from the spirit realm. The sensation was like being pulled through a veil of icy water, making her breaths shallow and rapid.

The wind blew the fog back into the quiet village, wrapping the cottages in an eerie embrace while clearing the view ahead of her. A smile spread across her lips as she stood in the cobblestone square. Anticipation flickered in her single eye, the other eternally shrouded in darkness as she watched lightning brighten the horizon.

She sighed. “Finally.”