Chapter 43
My sword hit spine and lodged there. But lack of forward momentum was irrelevant, because Liam was already dead.
And as he crumpled to the ground beside me, Mama’s magic oozed out of his body right alongside spurting blood. At first, the spray of bodily fluids was so intense I didn’t even know what was happening. But then, somehow, my mother gathered enough energy to speak.
“Mai. I’m going. I’m almost gone. Kira....”
I immediately understood what my mother was telling me, but I couldn’t seem to breathe sufficiently to do anything about it. Because Mama was right—she was already fading around the edges. The glowing star ball at her center was dimming as her fingers wisped away into the night.
Clods of dirt raining down upon a closed coffin. My father’s tall body beside my ow
