Lilith's Arc

Chapter 37 of 40

Lilith held the sealed page and turned to thank the scribe. But Wren had not left. She stood at the tide line, one hand around the glass vial at her throat. The gold light inside it pulsed. Lilith felt her stomach drop. That light was godsfire. It was the same fire the sun god used to find people. If it burned near the cottage, Apollo would see it. He had already threatened her family once. She had turned his wrath toward Nyx to save them. Now the light hung a stone's throw from her children. "You need to put that out," Lilith said. "Or take it far from here." Wren did not move. "It's mine. My brother died cold so a god could keep it." "I know." Lilith stepped closer. "But it shines like a beacon. He watches for it. My children sleep up that hill." "Then he sees me," Wren said. "Not you." "You stand on my shore. He won't tell us apart." Wren's jaw tightened. She looked at the cottage, then at the vial. The gold fire lit her face. Lilith saw the calm break for one breath. The girl had saved this light for a single act. She meant those three minutes to count. Lilith knelt and set the crystal trident in the sand. "I can't take it from you. It would draw him faster if I fought you. But I can hide it." "Hide it where?" "Underwater. Deep. The sea swallows light." Lilith raised her hand and sang one low note. The water beyond the surf stirred. Her enchanted seahorse rose through the foam, its scales bright with old marks. It hovered near the girl. "Give it to him to carry. Not to me. He'll take it down and keep it. You can call it back when you're ready to use it." Wren studied the small creature. It did not flinch. She unhooked the vial from her neck. Her hand shook once, then went still. She held it out. The seahorse curled its tail around the glass and drew it under its fin. "When I want it," she said, "I come here and it comes back?" "Yes. It answers me, and now it answers you." The seahorse sank. The gold light dimmed as the water closed over it, then vanished. The shore went dark except for the moon. Lilith let out a breath she had held too long. No beacon. No god turning his eyes to the hill. Wren touched the bare place at her throat. "I'll be back for it." "I'll be here." The girl walked up the sand and was gone. Lilith picked up her trident and the sealed page. The light was hidden. Her family was safe tonight. But Wren still meant to spend that fire, and she now knew the way to Lilith's door.