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- Herausgeber: Dragonfire Press
- Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
- Serie: The Witches of Thyana
- Sprache: Englisch
The world is on the brink of devastation.
Natural disasters, plagues, and death run rampant as the malevolent Goddess of Darkness and Destruction, Thyana, is free. The very fabric of reality unravels as Thyana executes her plan to annihilate humanity.
Gabriel Matthews, thrust into a perilous journey alongside his friends and defected Mavors, chases the ominous signs of the apocalypse. Branded a traitor and fleeing the only life he's ever known, Gabriel is determined to thwart Thyana's intricate scheme and save humanity. Yet, his ultimate mission becomes intensely personal as he strives not only to rescue the world but also the person who matters most—Ava Black.
Ava, liberated from Thyana's clutches, grapples with newfound abilities that challenge her very identity. Racing against time, she seeks to protect her loved ones, salvage a crumbling world, and perhaps, save her own soul. Having worked tirelessly to transform into a better person, Ava questions her humanity as she battles against an emerging darkness within.
Will her friends embrace her return? Can Gabriel still see the woman she once was? The haunting possibility lingers—could Ava, like Thyana, harbor a thirst for blood?
In this gripping tale of survival, redemption, and the battle between light and shadow, the fate of humanity hangs in the balance.
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Seitenzahl: 279
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024
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Praise for
The Sacrifice of Ava Black
—Diverse characters, strong female lead, pacing, meticulous back story that intertwines. Developed characters you will be rooting for or cursing. Plot twists and chaos! Ava learns she is from a long line of Mavors that are born with gifts to protect humanity from the goddess that wants to crush humans. Humans are mere cattle to the goddess, a source of food. Can’t wait for book two!!
~Amazon Reviewer
—Beautifully written, perfectly descriptive, wonderful chemistry between the main characters and also the side characters. I particularly enjoyed the dynamic of characters introduced later to the story.
~Cassandra P. Lewis, Author of Jefferson Ranch series
The Second Death of Ava Black
The Witches of Thyana
Book 2
By: A. G. Porter
Content Advisory: bullying, violence, depictions of death, and traumaassociated with attempted assault
No part of this book may be reproduced, copied, resold, or distributed in any form, or any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage or retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for brief quotations used in book reviews, blogs, or articles.
This book is a work of fiction. Any and all names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and/or incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used in a purely fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, alive or dead is entirely coincidental.
Edited and Formatted by: Reanna Guthrie
Cover © Open World Cover DesignThe Second Death of Ava Black
Copyright ©2022 A. G. Porter
All Rights Reserved
To my sweet husband and boys who temporarily lost me while writing this book. I’m back! Until the next book!
Contents
Mother
of Darkness and Light
All praise to Mother;
Bringer of peace and love.
All praise to Mother;
Who shines from above.
All praise to Mother;
Bringer of war and pain.
All praise to Mother;
Bathed in the blood of the slain.
All praise to Mother;
Bringer of darkness and light.
All praise to Mother;
Who sets the balance right.
—A. G. Porter
Prologue
Tepkunset
She was just a child. My child. She would be angry with me when she found out the truth. I would not blame her. Helping her from the realm I had locked myself in was all I had to offer. It was up to her to do the rest. I believe in her. That is why I had chosen her. I had favored her above all others.
Watching her run, scared, tore at my soul. She deserved so much more. This should have been something I had stopped long ago. I was unable to stop Thyana. She was my sister. But that shouldn’t have prevented me from ending her reign. Instead of ending her, I trapped her. I should have been stronger.
Now, I must leave this up to her and give her all of my strength before I fade away into the world of spirits. Please forgive me, Ava.
Ava
There was a sharp pain in my chest as Tepkunset phased through my body. It felt as though she were solid, touching every atom of my being. Visions of blinding light and flashes of her memories invaded my mind’s eye. Planets crashed into planets, and stars fell from the sky. The beginning and the end of the world. It had to be what she was showing me.
It only lasted for a few seconds, what she had passed on to me, but inside, it had lasted much longer than that. I felt as though I walked her life with her, felt every emotion, joy, and heartbreak.
When my eyes focused on what was happening around me, Keira’s eyes were piercing my soul. Her charred face was in ruins as she shielded Thyana from the rays of light pouring through the hole in the temple.
I heard Tepkunset in my mind, screaming at me to run. So, that’s what I did. I grabbed Frankie’s hand, and we ran until we couldn’t run anymore, and still, we kept running. I told her we had to keep moving. She was exhausted and terrified, but if we stopped, we’d be dead.
As the sun sank behind the mountain range in the distance, we came upon a small town. Lights were illuminating windows in small shops, and smells from the local restaurants lingered in the streets. Shoppers moved around us, hurrying to their destinations, paying us no mind.
My paranoia told me we looked like we had just run for our lives from a coven of witches and their immortal queen, but apparently, it didn’t reflect on our faces. Frankie and I clung to each other as we moved through the streets, looking for. . . something.
“We need to find a phone,” I said.
“Where are we?” she whispered, a quiver in her voice.
“I don’t know,” I answered honestly.
Looking around at the people and the shopping center, I couldn’t tell much of anything. My eyes scanned the name of a shop sign, and I stopped short. I blinked, thinking that maybe exhaustion was catching up with me. It was, but it looked the same as before, and the sign wasn’t in English. Frankie seemed confused as to why we weren’t moving and then looked up at what I was staring at.
“Is that French?” she asked. “Are we… are we in France or something?”
I only took one year of French in school and didn’t do very well in it. Still, I could tell the shop sign said something about flowers, especially considering the contents in the window. It was the other word that really caught my attention.
Fleurs de la Lune. Flowers of the Moon, and the picture beneath it was a Mavors symbol. This was a Mavors establishment. Relief washed through me. We would find shelter, wherever it was we had been taken.
“Come on,” I told Frankie. “Let’s go.”
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“I think we might find help in here,” I said.
We entered the small flower shop, the smell of wet earth and a mixture of botanical flowers hung in the air. It was dark except for faint overhead lights. I almost wondered if it were even open, but I saw a woman behind the counter, busy moving and replanting flowers.
“Excuse me,” I called as we walked up to the counter.
She turned around with a smile on her plump face, but it faltered as she took in our disheveled state.
For the first time, someone noticed that we didn’t belong. We were two lost teenagers in a place far away from home.
“Americans?” she asked, her accent was French but laced with something else.
“Yes,” I said to her. “We’re lost, to be honest.”
“Oh my, how can I help you?” she wondered.
“Can you tell us where we are?”
“You’re in Labrador,” she told me.
“Like, Canada?”
“That is right.” She nodded, her eyes narrowing. “Is there anyone I can call for you two?”
“Yes.” I nodded. “The Mavors compound in Guntersville, Alabama, USA. Myra Walsh, the High Priestess, is there. We had a fight with Imprecors and Thyana has taken up residence a few miles from here.”
The woman’s bright green eyes went as wide as saucers. I was pretty sure she nearly fainted because she staggered for a moment but composed herself.
“Who are you?” she asked.
“Ava Black,” I said.
“Oh, mon Dieu!” She put her hand to her chest. “The heir?”
“The one and only,” I told her. “I don’t mean to be pushy, but my friend and I are exhausted. We’ve been running for our lives and have no clue how we ended up in Canada when we were just in Alabama an hour ago. Will you please contact the High Priestess? We just want to go home.”
“Yes, of course.” She nodded, pushing her curly red hair away from her face. “I am Lizette. Please, come sit down in the back.”
Lizette led us to the back room. It was full of more plants, planters, a desk, and filing cabinets, but had a loveseat that both Frankie and I gratefully crashed into. Frankie took off her shoes and started rubbing her heels and I grabbed the sides of my head, feeling a pressure build there like never before.
It was from the magic; I knew that, but it was also from the desire that had awakened inside of me. I felt it as I ran through the cold forest with Frankie. I felt it as we moved through the crowded streets. And I felt it in this room. I was hungry and not for the box of pastries that Lizette had left on her desk.
I swallowed hard as the saliva built up in my mouth. It was a sickening feeling, lusting after a soul. Still, I couldn’t deny that I wanted it. I wanted to take Frankie’s and Lizette’s. I wanted to walk out into the middle of the town square and take them all, man, woman, and child.
I jumped up from my seat as the thought hit me hard in the chest. It made Frankie squeak a little and she stared at the door, expecting something to come charging in.
“It’s nothing,” I said to her. “I mean, it is… I just need to move around.”
She took in a deep breath and slowly settled back down on the couch, but not before she slipped her shoes back on.
“I called them,” Lizette said coming back in. “They’re sending a group.”
“Did Myra say if she was sending Gabriel?” I asked her eagerly. “Gabriel Matthews?”
“She didn’t give any names,” she said apologetically.
“Right.” I nodded.
I don’t know why I expected anything different. It was probably the guilt eating at me. I had made this decision on my own, consulting no one, not even Gabriel. In my defense, I did it to save them all. I still found myself wanting to apologize. I knew I had hurt them. Hurt him.
“You must be hungry,” Lizette said. “I live above the shop. Please come upstairs and I can get you something to eat.”
“The Imprecors aren’t far from here,” I said to her. “And I’m pretty sure, now that the sun has set, they’re out there looking for us.”
“There are many wards on this place.” She assured me. “They cannot enter here.”
“There were wards on the Mavors compound where they attacked us,” I said to her. “I appreciate your hospitality, but we can’t stay here. I don’t want to bring this on you.”
“And I appreciate your concern, but I am a Mavors.” She smiled, straightening and squaring her shoulders. “This is my responsibility. Please, come upstairs, and eat something. You need your strength, and it seems your friend is dead on her feet.”
I turned to look at Frankie, and she was slumped over on the couch. She had been through so much. I never thought I could spare any amount of sympathy for her, especially after all her torment and bullying. There was a part of me that didn’t, but the part of me that was still human hurt for her. I knew what it was like to lose, to be thrust into a world of heroes and monsters and not being sure which ones were the villains.
Nodding, I went over and prodded her awake. Leading us upstairs, Lizette explained that Myra was sending a team of Mavors to our location, and they would be there early the next day. While I didn’t trust Myra, I did trust Pops and Gabriel. I knew they would come.
We entered Lizette’s tiny apartment. It was quaint, warm, and cozy. The living space was small but packed full of plush armchairs, couches, bookshelves, and numerous plants. It seemed she took her work home with her.
Being welcomed into this sweet woman’s home should have put me at ease. She was a Mavors, after all. But my nerves were suddenly on edge. To be honest, they had been on edge for months, so what did I know. Still, my body was screaming at me to just keep running.
“Have a seat,” she said as she moved piles of books from some of the chairs and put them on top of other piles of books. “I’ll go make us some tea.”
Frankie and I sat down. Frankie gratefully took a seat on the overstuffed couch. I sat tensely on the edge of an armchair. My body was like a spring, ready to uncoil at a moment’s notice.
I looked around the room, taking in the books and plants. One bookshelf had little glass vials of plants and liquid substances. She must have gone into the magic side of the Mavors. This reminded me of Kat and my heart flipped. I hoped she was alright. I hoped they all were. Even Bron, even though I thought he didn’t like me much, we had grown closer over the last month.
Lizette came back in with a tray of food and three teacups. She placed it on the large rectangular coffee table, moving over several colorful plants. The tray held a few small cookies and some finger sandwiches.
“It’s not much, but it should help until we can get you back home.” Lizette smiled.
“Thank you,” I said to her. “That’s very kind.”
Frankie said nothing as she picked up a sandwich and shoved it in her mouth, then took a big gulp of the tea.
“Are you not hungry?” Lizette asked.
“Not really,” I confessed.
In truth, I was. Just not for food.
“You should drink something.” Lizette handed me the tea. “I grow the tea myself. It’s my own special blend and will help calm your nerves.” She picked up her own cup and took a sip. I smiled and took a drink. It was warm and coated my throat in a soothing way. It felt like it had been a very long time since I had anything to drink. I knew it had a taste, it must have, but I couldn’t taste it. It was plain, like drinking water, but not as refreshing.
“I must confess,” Lizette started. “When I heard that you had been found, I never dreamed I would ever get the chance to meet you. And, here you are, in my living room. It is quite surreal.”
“Please,” I said, taking another drink of the tea. “Please, don’t think I am anything… other than a Mavors.”
I had to know if it tasted the same. Or rather, if I couldn’t taste anything at all. I could smell it. It was sweet, lavender and honey. I could feel it dance across my tongue, but nothing was there. Picking up one of the sandwiches, I placed it in my mouth.
It too had no taste. I could feel my eyes burn with tears of panic. So many questions raced through my mind, and I didn’t know which one I wanted answered first.
“You’re just a girl,” she said looking at me. “No older than my daughter.”
“You have a daughter?” I asked, my mind still reeling.
“I did,” she said, her voice soft with remembrance. “I lost her. And my husband.”
“I am so sorry,” I said, finally meeting her sharp green eyes.
“The Imprecors have taken much from us,” she said. “As I am sure they have taken from you as well.”
I nodded, thinking of my parents. Deep down, I knew I still had not processed their passing. And I didn’t have the time now either. My body was betraying me. I was on the run from a goddess with my high school bully in tow. Now was not the time to have a breakdown. As much as I hated to admit it, Abbott was right when he told me I had to pull myself together. This was bigger than me.
“She was 17,” she said, pulling me from my thoughts. “It was my fault. I should have never brought a child into this life. I swore going forward, I would do everything in my power to earn her forgiveness.”
My head was spinning. It wasn’t from the mound of questions or the existential crisis. I looked around the room, and my vision blurred. Frankie slumped over on the couch, her eyes fighting to stay open.
“What did you… do?” I asked, my words slurred.
“You’re too young.” Her eyes were pleading. “Both of you. I am not one to question a goddess, but perhaps Tepkunset was wrong. Myra said you willingly went with Thyana, that she corrupted you.”
“What?” Her words sounded muffled.
“I just talked to her myself.” Lizette stood. “She told me you are an enemy of the Mavors. I don’t think you are, but I think you are a danger to yourself. Please forgive me. If turning you into the Mavors saves you, then that is what I must do.”
“No, Lizette, please,” I tried to stand but fell to the floor. “Thyana is coming. She will destroy us all. You must let me go. I have to find a way to defeat her. Myra is wrong. The Mavors is no match for her.”
“Hush, child.” She kneeled beside me. “Sleep. It will all be over soon.”
The darkness moved in like a rolling fog. I could see her mournful face, hovering above me, her wild hair framing her face like a mane of fire. And then my eyes could no longer fight the potion coursing through my veins.
Gabriel
“Are you mad?” Lorcan asked. “You want to drive toward the storm?”
We were on the road and had been for three days. We were all tired, hungry, and stiff from sleeping in the SUV and on the ground.
The storms had started the night we left. At first, they were small, normal storms you’d see this time of year. Then they became more frequent and more dangerous. To most, it was odd and even scary, but to us, we could see the magic behind it. This was Thyana.
“Are you sure about this?” Trevor asked me for what felt like the millionth time.
“I am,” I told him. “I know it’s her. I feel it.”
As I said the words, I could see the blue light roll under my skin as my hands gripped the steering wheel.
“Ok, Gabe.” He nodded and stared out the window.
I never thought I’d see Trevor again. He had said he wanted to forget everything that had happened to him with Keira and the Imprecors. But, as we were leaving, he was standing at the only bridge out of town.
In shock, I stopped the SUV and ran out in the pouring rain to him. He told me that the visions of what he had seen wouldn’t stop. He had to come. He had to put a stop to the Imprecors. He had to face Keira.
“I don’t want to kill her,” he said to me as we sat eating one day. “I don’t want you to kill her, either.”
“Trev,” I looked at him, surprised. “She used you like…”
“Things have started coming back to me,” he went on. “I have questions. I want answers. I know what she did, but she has things to answer for.”
“OK, Trev,” I said after he was silent for a moment.
His brown eyes looked haunted. I couldn’t even imagine what he had been through. He offered nothing up and I didn’t press. He would tell me when he was ready, or he wouldn’t. That was his decision. What he needed to know was that I was there.
That was two days ago. Now we were racing toward yet another storm near the Alabama and Tennessee line. The local meteorologists were calling for everyone to get into a shelter or safe space.
“This is insane,” Lorcan said again, gripping the roof of the SUV. “We found nothing at the last three storms.”
“I have to agree with him,” Reese chimed in.
“We have to try,” Kat said. “I agree with Gabriel. I can feel magic in these storms.”
Isla sat there, her face ashen with fear. She held Kat’s hand, squeezing hard. If it hurt, Kat didn’t seem to notice, or she just didn’t say anything.
The SUV shuddered as the wind picked up. I held the wheel as steady as I could to keep it on the road.
“What are they saying now?” I asked Trevor.
“It’s about two miles east,” Trevor answered, following the newsfeed and radar readings on his phone.
“We’re all going to die,” Lorcan moaned.
“Shut up,” Reese said.
As we approached the storm, it was harder to keep the SUV on the road.
“Gabriel,” Kat finally said.
I stopped next to an abandoned gas station. It was functioning at some point recently; it had fresh paint and a for sale sign wavering in the wind, but it was boarded up. We raced out of the SUV. The others made their way over to the building, but I stood there, watching the storm.
When Lorcan successfully picked the lock, Kat yelled at me to get inside. I stayed rooted to the spot, watching the dark clouds swirl high above me. I could sense the magic inside. Kat came running up to me, pulling my arm. I was about to turn to her when I saw a flash of green.
I pointed, yelling above the noise of the wind, “Look!”
Kat looked up as another streak of green lightning illuminated the pitch-black storm forming above us.
“We have to go over there,” I said, my voice barely audible. “That is Imprecor magic. There are families down there. They’re going to kill them.”
“We can’t fight that, Gabriel,” she said to me.
Trevor and Isla came running up to us, concern etched into their features.
“We have to try,” I pleaded. “We can’t just let them die. I’ll go alone if I have to.”
I started toward the group of houses at a sprint. It wasn’t long before the others were running behind me. They were on my heels, but couldn’t keep up. I was too fast. I had always been quick, but since becoming Ava’s guardian, I had changed.
Mavors were always born with enhanced abilities, but I knew I was something more now. Kat said that I was like her, like Ava, but that wasn’t true, not in most instances. I didn’t have her magic, her ability to will things. If I did, I’d make her appear right in front of me. She could stop this.
As we neared the homes, I could see several funnels form out of the clouds above. They began stretching toward the ground, like a hand with long gray fingers, and I could feel the wind pull at my skin and clothes.
A house in the distance went up in a million tiny pieces, and then another. My heart sank, and I ran faster.
“No,” I wasn’t sure if I screamed or whispered it.
It wouldn’t have mattered either way. The sound was lost beneath the roar of the unnatural storm ravaging the homes before us. I could only pray the people inside had storm shelters or weren’t home.
As another two or three houses exploded under the pressure of the tornadoes, a burst of green light came flooding from the sky. I saw them, the Imprecors. They landed on the ground, and I knew they were looking for victims.
Pulling my gun from its holster, I aimed at one monster and fired mid-stride. Blue power shot forward, hitting my target and taking its head clean off. The other Imprecors turned in our direction. I’m sure if the storm had not been so loud, we would have heard their shrieks of anger. Instead, they stared at us with silent, angry screams and lunged forward.
My friends took out their long swords, and Lorcan had his daggers, readying themselves for the battle ahead. I had given Trevor a gun, but he was no match for Imprecors. Instead of running into battle, he made his way to the humans lying stunned amongst the debris, to get them to safety.
I shot another Imprecor as it came barreling toward us. I caught it in the stomach, and it went down. I shot another one and another one, but they were still coming. There were a lot, too many. We might not be able to take them all on.
When we clashed with the monsters, I could hear the sounds of their screams at last and the slashes of the blades on skin. Even over the sound of the roaring wind, the sound of metal on Imprecor skin was undeniable.
We were Mavors, we were made for this, but I could see the other’s energy began to wane. They were fading fast; I had to do something and quickly. I called to her; praying that she would hear me. The tether we had, the connection, had snapped the day Thyana took her. I had to hope that it wasn’t gone forever.
“Ava!” I yelled, pulling at the power in my body, reaching out to her through the planes of all existences. “Help us! Help them!”
Power surged through my body. I could feel it pull up from the soil and into my feet. It raced up my veins like volts of energy. Feeling it settling into every fiber of my being, I yelled at the others to move back.
As they did so, I gathered the power in my hands and slammed my fists into the ground. A shock wave rushed forward and knocked every Imprecor off their feet, slinging them back. As they sailed through the air, their bodies disintegrated into ash.
I stood up, watching the storm fade with the loss of their power. It all seemed to be over just as quickly as it started. People were looking around. I don’t think they understood what they had just witnessed. Some would think it was a hallucination brought on by fear. Others would swear by what they had seen though many would not believe them.
I almost didn’t believe it, but I had to. She had come to me. Her power had found me when I called for her, when I needed her the most. That meant she was still out there, still alive. If I had to fight my way through every storm and a million Imprecors, I would find her. I would find Ava and I would bring her home.
We did what we could for the people who were injured until emergency officials showed up on the scene. After that, we made ourselves scarce. Once people started talking about what had taken place, we didn’t want to be around to answer questions. Mavors were good at leaving the scene of impact.
Kat suggested we make camp in the abandoned gas station. After camouflaging the SUV in the back, we holed up in the storage room. Isla had been scratched up pretty badly on her back, and Lorcan had taken a slash across the neck. Kat and Reese were attending to their wounds as Trevor focused on the radar readings and news.
Thankfully the gas station still had power, and I was busy heating everyone’s rations in the microwave. I supposed they kept it on to show potential buyers what they were purchasing. Tonight was Top Ramen and a few veggies Kat had grabbed from the greenery. She had a knack for anything that grew.
If there were ever a true Mavors witch, it was her. Myra saw it, we all did, but looking back, I could see all the times that Myra tried to stamp it out of her. Anytime that Kat made successes in her magic, Myra would be there to remind her not to lose control.
I recalled many times that Myra would walk around, peeking in on our lessons, to watch our progress. She always had encouraging things to say, but when it came to Kat, she was harder on her. At first, I thought it was because she saw her potential. Now, I knew it was exactly her potential that Myra feared. She didn’t want the competition.
I brought the food to everyone, and they took it gratefully. Kat then gave everyone a tea that was full of nutrients and proteins. She said she had to make sure we survived long enough to save the world.
Save the world.
That held so much. I didn’t want to think about it like that, but there was no denying the task that lay before us. I just wanted to focus on finding Ava and saving her from Thyana. The truth was, I knew that Ava didn’t need me to save her. Did she need my help? We all needed help. But I knew what she would say to me. I could almost hear her voice in my head.
“Look at the people you helped today, Gabriel,” Trevor said to me.
I jumped because his words jarred me from my thoughts, but also because they were the ones circling my head.
“What?” I said.
“The people,” he repeated. “You saved so many people. All of you.”
He looked around at all of us. We were beaten, battered, and bruised. Isla looked spooked but tried not to show it, Reese’s eyes were heavy with sleep, and Lorcan looked like a caged animal.
“I can tell that none of you think you did much today,” he continued. “I see it in your faces, but I was the one looking from the sidelines. I saw what you did. Those people, they saw. And, no, you didn’t save everyone. That would have been a miracle. The Imprecors are powerful now that Thyana is free. But you saved so many. You did something amazing, and I have a feeling you’ll get the chance to do it again. I think you should let yourselves rest, truly rest. I’ll keep watch on the news and radar. Just, please, sleep.”
Trevor said nothing else as he sat down on his sleeping bag. The rest of us looked around at each other. Here we were in this abandoned gas station, eating Ramen and a witch’s brew of go-go juice, after defeating a horde of Imprecors, and this scrawny teenage boy had to give us a pep talk.
We said nothing, each of us settling into our own sleeping bags. I never knew any of us to be boastful. Lorcan only was when he was showing off or teasing. Deep down, we knew we had no clue what we were doing. It’s just something we always knew we had to.
Still, we could have run. We could have quit. We could have left those people to die. My friends could have let me run to the Imprecors, to my impending doom, all by myself today. They also could have let me go on this wild hunt for Ava on my own. That wasn’t who they were. It wasn’t only because they cared about me; they were selfless. They would always put themselves in harm’s way for others.
Ava
Gabriel’s voice was in my head. I could hear it, ringing in my ears, calling my name. I knew I was coming to when I heard Lizette moving around her apartment, her hard-soled shoes click-clacking against the hardwood. She was whispering to someone. I peeked through my eyelashes and saw her on her cell.
“I don’t know,” she said. “They seem to be completely out. I’m not sure if this is a good idea. She’s just a girl, Myra, I… Yes… I understand… Yes. Of course. They’re both asleep. The other one? I don’t know. Frankie, I think she said. I could call Michael to… OK, I’ll wait. Yes, Myra, I am sure Ava is asleep. The potion I gave her was very powerful.”
Lizette listened to Myra for a while, nodding her head. She looked back down at us, and I quickly closed my eyes.
“I will administer more if I see her stir,” Lizette told her. “I understand she is powerful, but my potions have… Yes, of course.”
Lizette stopped talking, so I assumed the conversation was over. This was just like Myra. She was afraid. She was removing all the pieces that would stop her from keeping her throne. She was going to kill us all. Thyana would tear through the Mavors. I was their only chance.
While there were many new abilities I questioned about myself, I knew that Tepkunset had blessed me with her strength. If I were out of play, The Mavors, the world, it would all fall.
