Prophecy Girl (31 page)

“No!” Cormac yelled, and advanced to Eva/Muirgen. 

Aghamora grabbed Eva’s hand and pulled her across the widening chasm. Cormac extended his cane, as if to strike them both, but Eva miraculously caught it in her hand, and knocked it against his head. Blood trickled from the gash that she’d made. 

“Why?” he asked, sounding anguished, as the blood dripped and dripped.

Eva was speechless. Muirgen was not, holding the cane firmly in her grasp. “My sister and I have paid for our crimes. Now it’s your turn.”

And with another strike of the cane, Cormac fell into the darkness. The hole in the earth remained. 

“You must seal it,” Aghamora said, indicating the cane. “And we must go below.”

Eva was confused. “We?”

“My sister and I,” said Muirgen, in Eva’s voice.

She was effectively talking to herself. “Could you let me down?” Eva asked her, noticing that she was still floating in the air.

Eva/Muirgen descended safely to the ground, and Muirgen left Eva’s body. Eva felt heavy now that she had control of her body again. She wondered how she could go on, feeling such weight on her shoulders.

“What do you mean you have to go below?” Eva asked Aghamora.

“We’ve been tasked with keeping Cormac and Saoirse in the Underworld,” she said. Then she nodded to her sister. “We’ll keep them below, away from you, away from the world.”

“By why you? Why not someone else?”

Eva knew that she’d miss them. They were her family, after all.

“It’s our fault what happened. The curse. The legacy.”

Eva shook her head. “That’s bullshit. Like Muirgen said, you’ve done your time.”

Muirgen cupped Eva’s cheek. Her touch was cold, but Eva didn’t mind. “We have, but Saoirse and Cormac are our responsibility now.”

“What will you do with them? Keep them imprisoned?”

“As best we can,” said Aghamora. “But we need your help.”

Eva held up the cane. Cormac’s cane. “How?”

“After we’ve descended, break the cane. The hole will close, trapping us below with them, but also preventing their escape. The barrier that Cormac erected at the school will vanish, as well. You’ll be reunited with your friends,” she added, smiling.

Eva was crying. “But I can’t. It’s not fair to you. You made a mistake, that’s all. You were just children.”

“Children who knew better,” said Muirgen. She squeezed Eva’s hand. “Don’t mourn us, dear Eva. I’m glad that we got a chance to know you. The curse is a curse, but only a hardship unless you make it. We’re all cursed, in one way or another. It is how we adapt to our misfortunes that make us who we are: do we bemoan our fate, and let it destroy us? Or do we use it to our advantage?”

“How?” Eva asked.

“You have the gift of foresight,” said Aghamora. “You know when someone is about to die. Save them!”

Eva didn’t know how, but she’d find a way. She’d turn her curse into a blessing.

“I will,” said Eva. “Thank you, for everything.”

Aghamora extended her hand to Muirgen. “It’s time, sister.”

The sisters joined hands and floated above the dark hole. “Goodbye,” they said in unison.

“Goodbye,” Eva returned, crying.

“The cane,” Aghamora reminded Eva. “Don’t forget.”

Eva nodded. “I won’t.”

The sisters gave her a farewell smile and disappeared. Eva stood at the edge, at the entrance to the Underworld. She heard a scream. Saoirse, she hoped, screaming in agony at her defeat. Eva’s name was whispered in an anguished voice. Cormac. He was calling to her, pleading for her to save him.

“You’re not worth saving,” she said, and broke the cane. 

About the Author

Melanie Matthews is the author of
Coldhearted
,
Burning Hearts
,
The Rebel Prince
, and
Stargazer
.  She lives in South Carolina.