Chapter 13

13

The redwoods towered over them, their car feeling smaller than an ant next to the enormous trees. "Do you think the curse brought me this close to the portal earlier in life as a joke?" Vega asked Arlet, choking back on the hatred bubbling inside.

"Probably." Arlet shrugged. "There have been a lot of weird things I don't understand about this life. I'm still mulling over the fact that this time you're remembering things before we can get your memories back to you." She pointed to a secluded area of the parking lot. "Park over there. We're going to need to walk the rest of the way."

Vega pulled the rental into a spot where it would eventually get towed for parking too long, abandoned like Vega's life on Earth. Her anxiety shot through the roof when she shifted the car into park. "How do I usually get my memories back?" she asked, talking to fill the silence and the roaring of her nerves.

The sun was beginning to set, the sky above the giant trees turning pink and orange. After the phone call with Chase, Arlet made Vega pull over for a couple hours to sleep, reminding her that their journey didn't end when they got to Tolevarre.

"We have to meet with a witch usually. We call them benders because their power isn't something that can be seen outwardly. It flows through their blood, and they're able to manipulate it into other things. Potions, curses. Marlena is the only one who can truly break your curse, but the memory block piece of it can be shifted." Arlet waited by the front of the car, watching Vega. "It took us about twenty years to figure out the best way to get them back to you. Trial and error, baby."

Vega went quiet as she stretched her stiff limbs. She reached into the back seat, sliding her backpack over her shoulder. Inside was a small pocketknife she'd kept hidden throughout the journey, waiting for the moment she needed to use it to fight for her life.

Do I even want to fight? What am I fighting for at this point?

Her thoughts lingered in her head, her eyes going vacuous as she stacked up all of the terrible possibilities that could happen while alone in the woods with Arlet—who, even though Vega felt a connection with her, was still a stranger.

"Did you hear me?" Arlet's voice broke through her fog.

"Hmm?" Vega hummed, yanking herself out of her head.

Arlet let out a puff of air, rummaging through her small bag. "Make sure whatever you want to bring from this life is something that can be connected directly to the body. The bag's gotta stay. The portal isn't great with excess belongings." Vega didn't want to ask how Arlet knew that.

Her nerves were already shot, and arguing about bringing a beat-up bag wasn't worth the energy she was trying to conserve.

The zipper on the bag needed a little coaxing to open fully. Vega made a mental list of the items she wanted to bring.

Passport: in case I wind up dismembered, someone can identify my body.

Pocketknife: in case I need to dismember someone. Can you do that with a pocketknife?

Vega shook her head, simultaneously shaking away the worry in the pit of her stomach .

She sifted through the bag and came across one more item she wasn't ready to part with. A picture. She held it by the corners. Dark eyes, full cheeks, and her mother caught mid-laugh with her hand on her chest stared back at her.

Vega looked nothing like her, their features almost complete opposites, with her long blonde hair, her slim and tall figure, and eyes as deep as dark chocolate. A tear slid down her cheek, but Vega wiped it away before it could drip or before Arlet could see.

Do not break down now.

She gulped down a steadying breath and slipped the picture into her pocket. Even if Gianna wasn't her real mother and Arlet proved to be right, Vega would love her forever, and the brief time she'd had with her in this life would always be her favorite memory.

"You ready?" Arlet asked. Vega nodded, slamming the car door. "This way." Arlet motioned in the direction of a far-off river flowing through the middle of the forest.

As they began their ascent into the depths of the redwoods, Vega pulled her arms into her thick black-and-white flannel to help with the chill from the setting sun. "I have another question."

Arlet peeked over her shoulder at her. "Yeah?"

Vega's nerves continued to spike, making her chattier than normal. "So, uh, if I've been here for fifteen years and I'm almost thirty, is that why my memories seem to start when I was fourteen? Sometimes it literally feels like I was just born as a teenager and can't remember anything before then. I did some therapy for a while, and they said it was trauma blocking."

Vega had no pictures of herself from childhood, nothing to prove her theory was wrong.

Arlet didn't turn around, keeping them at a steady pace. "Yeah, you're not going to remember what you never lived. Every life you have missing pieces. I'm surprised this life started you so young—you're usually at least college age. We age a lot slower and live a lot longer than mortals, so it's not as if you've changed too much over the last fifty-five years. You can thank the gods' blood for that."

"Was my mom even real?" Vega asked.

"Of course she was, but if you don't want to know why she died, then don't ask the next question."

Vega couldn't help it. "Did she die because of me?"

"Yes," Arlet answered as gently as she could. "The curse caused her cancer. That's what it does. It sucks the life out of the people you love or forces them to push you away. Sometimes the relationship you were in was abusive. Once you were homeless. Your life is never happy here."

Vega never once felt guilty for what happened to her mom. Cancer took who it wanted, but knowing she was the cause of the kindest woman's death, that it was because of her curse Gianna died—Vega felt her regret crash on her shoulders like the weight of a thousand suns. Tears welled in her eyes, guilt shattering what was left of her heart.

Vega didn't hold back the sob. She could hide the hurt when it came to Chase's wrongdoings, the shame that came along with her sad life, but not the burden of knowing she was to blame for the death of someone so pure.

Arlet spun around so quickly, Vega didn't know what was happening until she grabbed Vega's shoulders and met her gaze with that same stare she felt the day in her apartment—like she saw deep inside her. "Vega, her death isn't your fault."

"Why wouldn't she remember not having a child? Like, one day she just woke up and had a teenager? It doesn't make any sense." Through the pain, Vega continued to ask questions—trying to distract herself from the throb in her chest.

Arlet scanned Vega, like she was looking for a reason not to answer her question. "The curse alters them too. No, it doesn't make sense, but no curse ever really does unless you're the one who made it. The curse didn't create your mother, but it chose someone who wouldn't miss a life outside of the one it made them believe." Arlet wiped a tear from Vega's cheek and rubbed her hands up and down her bicep for comfort. "It's okay to be sad, but do not let yourself believe this is your fault. You are a mere butterfly caught in the web of a deadly spider."

They traveled in silence for over an hour while Vega absorbed the new information she'd finally dared to ask for. The tears stopped on their own, but Vega knew her pain would outlast every tear she cried. "I don't want to sound like a child, but are we there yet? If you're gonna kill me, you've missed a lot of good places to hide my body." Vega groaned, her feet hurting worse than during a double at Bobby's.

"Five minutes." Arlet continued to trod through the thickening underbrush, giving her a breathy laugh.

"If there's really a portal out here, why aren't people going through it all the time?" Vega began to ask whatever the hell came to her mind.

"Because you must be from Tolevarre to get to Tolevarre. If a human tried to go through, they'd probably die, and I'm not even sure they'd be able to see it anyway."

Five minutes later, Arlet started to pay closer attention to the trees. She looked absolutely fucking insane. Vega almost laughed, but not at Arlet—at herself… for believing all of this.

"This way." Arlet pointed, the river they followed earlier a distant noise of rushing water in the background. She finally slowed, running her hand over a tree with familiarity. "There." Arlet gestured to a low hanging tree line, forming an arch between two of the biggest sequoias Vega had ever seen.

Vega walked closer, the moonlight causing a glimmer in the middle of the tree, a silver reflection catching her eye. For a moment she was convinced it was the moon playing tricks on her. She balled her hands into fists and rubbed her eyes. The glimmer was still there when she pulled her hands away, shimmering like a holographic card. " No. Fucking. Way." It wasn't just two trees with another falling too low in between. It's real. "Pinch me."

Arlet reached out and twisted at Vega's skin, getting a good grip through her clothing.

"Ow!"

"I told you," Arlet said.

Vega turned to face Arlet, her mouth slightly ajar. "You were telling the truth… all of it." Vega's heart raced as she processed everything she had learned over the last few days.

"I have a pretty decent imagination, but it's not that good." Arlet snickered. Vega caught the wistful smile on Arlet's face and the twinkle of longing in her eyes. "Are you ready to go home?"

"Yes. Please." Vega marveled at the way the portal's entrance flickered emerald and then back to silver. She cocked her head, a shadow forming in the middle. Vega took a step back, raising her hand to point. "Arlet, what's?—"

She didn't have time to finish the question. Arlet snatched her back, away from the portal that led to a life she couldn't remember.

"Arlet," Vega said again, registering the horror creeping across Arlet's face.

"Vega, run." Her voice was soft, filled with a dreadful crack Vega would never be able to unhear.

Vega began to panic, her heart racing at whatever could possibly be passing through the portal that would frighten Arlet so bad.

"Go, Vega! Run!" Arlet screamed, pushing Vega in the opposite direction as a large male figure stepped through the portal and onto the sodden soil. He came into focus, and over Arlet's shoulder, Vega's eyes landed on the most dangerously handsome man she had ever seen.

Bridger.

Vega's breath caught in her throat at the realization, at the tingling feeling she got when his eyes settled on her. Her body was frozen, feet cemented to the ground, and shock unhinged her jaw .

He was more beautiful in person than he'd been in her dreams.

His broad shoulders flexed through the skintight suit he wore as he reached behind him and unsheathed a sword from his back. Another figure formed just behind him, coming into focus as Bridger's lips spread in a crooked smile so eerie it shot chills down Vega's spine.

She backed up, her heart hammering against her chest. Do not fucking pass out, she warned her body.

Bridger spun his long sword with terrifying grace. "Hello, Arlet, long time no see." His deep voice was like music to her ears, but something inside of her jarred to life, reanimating her body.

Run!

Vega darted away from the portal that would take her home, leaves kicking up around her as she ran with one goal in mind: live.

She should have asked more questions about Bridger because it was glaringly obvious that he wasn't here to assist in her safe return to Tolevarre.