I'm still shouting when the medics get here. They take Addy away on a stretcher. She's conscious but her arm is bent at an odd angle. The gash on her forehead has been bandaged.
The medics won't let me come with them. They want to treat me for shock, but I'm absolutely fine. It's Addy who isn't fine.
In the end they bundle me into bed and make me promise to rest. Onyx watches over me, concerned. What happened? Why did you let go of the bracelet?
"It was that voice. It wanted to kill Addy!"
He nuzzles my chin. I told you to ignore it.
"No, Onyx. I want answers. I want to know who she is and why she's here. And I want to leave this place. Tonight."
Onyx's black eyes are troubled. She will follow you no matter where you go. You must learn to overpower her.
"No, Onyx." I shake my tear-stained face. "I can't stay here. I attacked Addy. And I won't connect to Amarat anymore. I'm done."
Onyx growls. You will. He leaps onto my chest and puts his face right up to mine. You don't have a choice. Would you let the world crash down around you because she snarls? Would you let that one moment of darkness follow you throughout eternity? Are you that weak?
I turn my face from him. "What's the point? I've been practising and practising, but I can't properly connect with Amarat. I'll connect for a while, and then it's done. I'm back to square one."
I feared that may be the case. He hops off my chest. There is no choice then. To make it last you must connect with Amarat at her most vulnerable moment - the moment her soul was chained to this earth.
"When she fell from the sky?"
Onyx shakes his head. You must connect with her in the last moments of her life.
"Oh." I've never thought about Amarat's death. Of course, she must have died. She had to die for me to be born. I just never thought about it.
"How did she die, Onyx?" I think of the girl who looked up at the stars and dreamed of going home.
Lily...Amarat was burned at the stake.