Chapter Forty-Seven

Fiona

Though my heart wasshattered, I kept myself occupied by healing the injured. I didn't have a choice, for they began to show up at Se?or Cortez's house in droves. We'd converted the kitchen into a hospital of sorts, complete with two cots and several donated medical supplies. The hospitals and convent had gotten word of my skills, and they were more than willing for me to take some of the load.

Some patients asked for me to heal cracked ribs, snake bites, and fevers. One small child asked me to heal her broken heart, for the rest of her family had perished in the flood.

"I'm sorry, lass." I cupped the child's cheek. "If I knew of a way to do that, I would have done so long ago."

If only I could find such an elixir. I'd give my life to see my child happy once more. For now, I'd have to settle for the only treatment I knew—the dragon song. I'd sung it to Safina after Duncan had carried her in this morning. Though I couldn't keep my daughter asleep forever, I hoped that in time, Safina's heart would mend.

My gaze traveled to the curtain that hung over Gabriel's bedroom doorway. The room belonged to Gabriel no longer, but to his widow, a child too young and tender to know such suffering.

I had hoped Safina would sleep for many more days, but Se?or Cortez had already insisted she be woken for Gabriel's funeral. I didn't look forward to burning his body on the pyre, but Se?or Cortez refused to tie weights to his grandson's corpse and throw it in the sea, as others had done.

After the funeral, I would have to insist Safina go back to sleep, for I couldn't bear to watch my child suffer.

"Miss Fiona, the water is ready." Abby pulled a steaming hot cauldron off the fire.

Because so much of the water had become contaminated, we had to boil it before cleaning our patients. Many of them smelled like the rot that permeated the air, and this cleaning would be the only one they'd receive until the city's plumbing was restored or the cisterns were repaired.

Abby proved to be an attentive helper. Though Charlotte had begged her to stay in her grand home, living in luxury while servants waited on them, Abby refused. Instead, she'd rolled up her sleeves and got to work serving others, laboring tirelessly in the kitchen getting people cleaned and fed. She'd even fought the sheriff to get Moses off corpse duty and assist us instead.

"I heard they will call for the Red Cross," Abby said as she piled biscuits on a platter. "First, I'm going to ask Charlotte to give Moses employment. I'm sure she will since his brother already works for her. Then, when Clara Barton gets here, I'm going to ask if I can join her." She turned to me, crumbling a biscuit in her white-knuckled grip. "I've been a selfish brat my whole life. It's time I lived for someone else for a change."

I managed a smile for Abby. "Your Nana would be proud of you."

Abby shrugged. "Let's hope so."

I knew Abby still felt guilt over her Nana's death. I empathized with the girl, for I'd lived with five centuries of guilt, and after robbing my child of all future happiness, I was sure to live with an eternity more. Ironically, I realized how Duncan must have felt all those years, living with the guilt of having killed my mother, and I admired him all the more for bearing such a burden. I wasn't sure I could survive an eternity of knowing I'd brought my child so much sorrow, and I feared Safina would not survive without her mate.

* * *

Safina

I WOKE FROM A FITFULslumber to the gentle baritone of my father's soothing voice. "Safina, wake up. It is time to say goodbye to Gabriel."

I shot upright as images of Gabriel's lifeless body came racing back. "What?"

But my memories were already piecing together. Gabriel had been shot in the street, and neither my mother nor I had had enough magical strength to bring him back from the dead.

Oh, Almighty Mother! Why did you take him?

I buried my face in my pillow—Gabriel's pillow. It still had his scent: earth, leather, and ink. How cruel fate had been to take him from this world when he'd been nothing but good and kind. And how foolish my mother had been to sever the bond when she'd known it was dangerous magic.

"Come, lass." Father brushed a strand of hair out of my face. "Abby will be in to help you. You must get dressed for Gabriel's funeral."

I looked up at him through a sheen of tears. "Where are they burying him?"

His luminous eyes saddened. "We're burning his body and Mrs. Jenkens. Your mother will perform a ceremony and ask the Earth Mother to guide their souls to the light."

My throat burned, my body ached, and I wanted nothing more than to join him on that pyre. "I wish you'd burn me with him."

I felt my father's heart twist and shudder, and I regretted that my words hurt him.

"Please don't say that," he begged.

Abby pulled back the curtain and entered, carrying a small steaming bowl and a crust of bread. "Oh, good. You're awake." She flashed a weary smile. "Moses made you some broth."

I pushed away the food. "I'm not hungry."

"Safina," my father said, "you need nourishment."

"No." I shook my head, hugging the pillow harder. "I need Gabriel."

* * *

Duncan

JOSEF WAS SITTING INhis rocking chair, chewing on the end of an unlit pipe and staring thoughtfully at the setting sun. I heaved a sigh and I sat beside him.

"She is taking his death hard," the old man said.

"Aye." I ran a hand down my face, feeling more tired than I'd ever been, knowing I wouldn't be able to seek the solace of a peaceful slumber for a long while. "But I knew she would."

"I would trade places with him if I could." The old man's voice cracked like splintered wood as he rocked back and forth in his chair.

"So would I," I murmured.

Josef turned a sharp glare on me. "I wouldn't let you. I already have one foot in the grave. My days in this world are numbered."

My throat tightened. How could this family sustain one more death?

"Don't look sad for me." Josef turned his gaze back to the horizon. "This world has been unkind. I welcome the reprieve of death."

* * *

Graechen

GRAECHEN HELD THE ORB, which was no bigger than a starfish, close to her heart as she swam to the surface. This beacon of light was precious, the one ray of hope among the abyss of sorrow and darkness. Ever since the storm had barreled across the sea, her once peaceful sanctuary was now awash in a cacophony of cries from lost souls, unable to grasp their fate as they wandered the current in search of the bodies they'd lost.

This soul was different, shining brighter than the rest, and too full of life and promise to leave this earth so soon. Though the Earth Mother had already claimed him, she prayed her magic would work, and she could trade his soul for another.

* * *

Fiona

SAFINA SOBBED AGAINSTDuncan's shoulder as I bent beside the altar. Casting my gaze to the cloudy night sky, I prayed to the Earth Mother to receive these souls with open arms.

Abby cried softly while Moses gave her comfort. Gabriel's brothers hung their heads, teardrops pooling at their feet as their shoulders shook with grief.

When Josef handed the torch to me, Safina wailed harder.

I hesitated. Dear Almighty Mother, give me the strength to burn my child's mate.

I clutched the torch like a lifeline and then stepped up to the pyre. Gabriel rested peacefully, a lock of Safina's hair tucked underneath his crossed hands.

I held the torch to the kindling, waiting for the sparks to crackle and burn.

"Hold on!" someone called.

I pulled back, amazed. A naked, elderly woman with ebony skin and matted locks that cascaded down her back approached us with her head held high. She carried in her hands what appeared to be a small, glowing moon.

Do not burn them just yet,the woman said to me in thought.

I recognized that voice. Graechen? How did I not know my friend was also a shifter?

Graechen stood in front of the crowd, apparently unabashed by her nudity. "Almost five hundred years I listened to a dragon mourn her mate." She shot me a knowing look. "I cannot abide an eternity of another dragon's sorrow." She stretched out her arms, the orb hovering before her. "I have his soul in my hands, but Earth Mother has already claimed him. I cannot free his soul unless I take another."

The mourners gasped and then went silent.

Josef stepped forward, bowing his head. "You may have my soul, Graechen. I will gladly give my life for Gabriel's." He turned to the crowd, motioning toward his grandsons. "Just, please, let me say goodbye."

I stared numbly at the old earth speaker, hardly believing what was happening. My gaze shifted to Safina, shock written across her features as her mouth fell open. Could Graechen truly bring Gabriel back to my child?

Josef's grandsons cried as they held him.

"It is my time," he kept repeating.

Manny held him the longest, squeezing him so tight, I feared he'd never let go.

Safina's limbs shook as she stood next to her father, gaping at Josef as if she were in a daze.

Josef kissed Safina's cheek. "I know you will make him happy."

She nodded as tears streamed down her face.

Josef stood before the crowd once more, holding his arms up. Amazingly, the clouds swiftly parted, revealing stars that twinkled like diamonds.

"Do not mourn me, my friends," he said. "My bones are weary. My soul needs rest. I have been living on borrowed time for years, and I am relieved to go to the Earth Mother."

He walked up to Graechen. The orb pulsed and shook in her hands.

"You have made me proud, mijo," he spoke to the light. "May your soul always shine brightly for the world to see."

I watched with admiration and awe as Duncan and Josef's grandsons removed Gabriel's body, placing him on the sand, and helped Josef onto the pyre.

Graechen stretched over Josef, her hand hovering over his face. I gasped as a glowing circle of light left Josef's mouth and floated into Graechen's hand. Then Graechen bent over Gabriel's body, dropping the other orb into his open mouth.

The orb disappeared, and Gabriel sat up, rubbing his eyes, showing no signs of having been shot in the chest.

"Gabriel!" Safina fell beside him, an overwhelming joy pouring from her heart and soul as she held him against her.

Graechen took the torch from me, lighting the rushes beneath the pyre. It went up in a brilliant conflagration of flames. Duncan held my hand, smiling down at me. His warmth and happiness radiated around me, wrapping my soul in an embrace. I leaned against him, tears of joy mixing with tears of sorrow as I watched my friends burn.

* * *

Safina

I ROCKED GAbrIEL INmy arms, sobbing with him while the flames shot into the sky.

"Gabriel," I whispered, "I'm so sorry about your papí."

"He sacrificed his life for mine." Gabriel's vortex of pain and sorrow swirled around us, extinguishing my small flame of happiness.

Though I was relieved to have Gabriel back in my arms, the sacrifice his grandfather had made overshadowed any sense of joy I should've been feeling. But then I remembered that spark within me. That tiny flicker of light and love I'd been feeling ever since my mother had restored my magic.

I grabbed Gabriel's hand, placing it on my abdomen. "He died so that you might live, so that your child would have a father."

Gabriel stiffened as he stared at my stomach. "Child?"

"Aye." I nodded. "I can feel the pull of her soul."

Gabriel looked at me with wonder in his eyes. "I can feel her."

"Isn't it wonderful?" I asked, my throat constricting. "I would love to name her Josefina."

Gabriel answered me with a kiss, soft at first, but then strong and steady. His love and gratitude poured through me, infusing my soul with happiness.

After he broke the kiss, I looked into his eyes once more. "I love you, Gabriel."

He smiled, running his hand across my stomach. "And I will always love you, mi amor, for this eternity and the next."

My mother knelt beside us. "Forgive me, daughter, but I feel the pull of another."

"Aye, Mother." I beamed up at the dragon queen, any remnants of bitterness toward her washed away with the promise of new life. "Your grandchild grows inside me."

Mother clasped her hands together. "Oh, my dear daughter." She kissed my forehead.

Father joined us and kissed me as well before taking Mother in his arms.

We sat that way for many moments, silently reflecting on our joys and sorrows while the fire slowly faded.

Abby marched up to us, kicking sand on my dress. "There are many wounded left to heal," she said impatiently. "The people of Galveston need us."

Gabriel stood and held a hand down to me. "Then let us go home."

"Aye," I said, taking his hand. "Home."

The End.