Chapter Twenty-Seven

Once, Finn and I had made love beneath the starry sky of the Faerie realm. Tír na nÓg was a parallel universe to Earth, far across the abyss, but always so close to one another. We existed on the other side of the galaxy, but we were conjoined, our fates connected. In Tír na nÓg’s sky there were nebulas bursting with color, clusters of dazzling stars shining like sequins across a velvety darkness. Where else to go but there? I saw a movie once late at night where a group of astronauts destroyed an asteroid in space with a big fucking bomb. It was worth a chance. Maybe I would transport myself right smack into a star, or maybe, just maybe, I would find myself in endless space.

I had never traveled out to something like this before, but it didn’t matter. I was pure energy, racing against the seconds, burning down the clock. Perhaps time didn’t exist in Mag Mell, but that didn’t seem to matter to the device clutched to my chest. When I opened my eyes, endless darkness appeared before me. The edge of the universe. I blasted the device into the abyss, watching it float away for a half second before I traveled out of there. A blinding light fractured the astral plane I soared through, and the force of the explosion sent me spiraling out and down and down and down until I knew no more.

My mother’s face swam into view.

“Wake up, Elizabeth.”

I blinked, spots of bright light peppering my vision. I found myself in the Forresters’ living room, but not the dusty tomb that had greeted me the last time I left their home. A fire flickered in the hearth, books stacked up on the carpet. A bottle of wine, freshly uncorked, sat on an end table.

“Do you like it?” she asked with a nervous smile.

“Mom?” I scrubbed my eyes. “What…?”

“It’s not real, I know.” She glanced shyly at the floor. “I would watch you in your professors’ home sometimes when I could get away from Black Annis. I thought you would like it.”

She sat beside the fire, the flames highlighting the flecks of gold and russet in her long hair.

I leaned forward. “Where are we really?”

She smiled and stood up, taking my hand. She felt so real, her palm smooth and cool. Pointing to a mirror above the fireplace, she invited me to look closer.

“Look,” she said.

I stared inside, and instead of my reflection, I saw a whirling band of energy; subtle shades of dark blue and green swirled in dark, billowing shadows. I reached forward and a familiar rush of power flooded my body.

“We’re in the Veil,” I whispered. I had passed through it enough times to recognize its complex weave, its wall of power and magic.

My mother placed her arm around me. “It was the explosion. It sent you here, between our worlds.”

“Am I trapped?”

She laughed. “No, Elizabeth. You’re an Aisling. Nothing can trap you. Except your own mind.”

I knew this wasn’t my mom, not my real mom, but I didn’t know why my subconscious insisted on the Yoda-speak. I laughed at myself, shaking my head. My smile faded as I remembered Finn left behind in Faerie heaven. I would never reach him now.

“But I can’t go back to Mag Mell,” I said, hot tears piercing my eyelids. “I can’t get back to Finn.”

She nodded solemnly, her forehead knitting together. “He is in the Afterlife, and to travel there would mean your own death.”

I swallowed the sob in my throat, staring up at the mirror. “So what now?” I breathed, more of a question to myself.

“You can break it,” she said. “The Veil. Just a simple ward. A wall built long ago.”

“What will happen if I do break down the wall between our worlds?”

Mother let out a soft laugh. “What is a wall anyway, Elizabeth? If you look at a map, you might see a line separating towns and countries, but if you stand there, what do you see? Nothing. Even if you build a wall, it’s only as real as people believe it to be. All walls are an illusion. This Veil is no different.”

“But the Fae…the mortal world…” I spluttered, trying to find excuses.

“It will change, of course,” Mother replied. “But it would have changed anyway. The universe finds a way. Look at you and Finn. I think our worlds have had enough of walls. It is time for it to come down.”

I nodded slowly, taking in a deep breath. Searching the room, I found a chair, shoved it toward the hearth, and stood on it, staring into the void of the Veil.

I turned to my mother. “I know you’re just an extension of my subconscious, but I want you to know I miss you. I think of you every day. I wish we had more time. I wish I could have known you. I think it would have made a difference for me…for everything.”

Mother smiled. “A part of me is always with you. And your daughter will understand that someday, too.”

I clutched at my belly, my eyes widening. “It’s a girl?”

Mother just smiled, and particle by particle she faded into the wallpaper. The fire spluttered and the room went dark.

Turning back to the mirror, I focused on the energy I needed to break the ward creating the Veil. I climbed onto the hearth and hoisted myself up. With one deep breath, I tumbled inside.