Black Moon Draw

"You should not have come." His voice is softer. He cups my cheek with a hand.

"You led me to you. You wanted me to find you."

"'Tis not possible. I control none of this." He waves to the fog on the ceiling. "You used magic to find me."

"Since when has my magic worked remotely well enough for me to do that?" I snap. A flicker of amusement crosses his features and I seize on it. "Please. There are so many people depending on you."

His eyes turn dark and then back to the gray of fog once more. He takes my shoulders. I stand frozen for a moment, heart heavy with the knowledge that the medallion is gone, before I realize if ever there was a time to grow a backbone and fight for what I really want, it's now.

"There's a part of you that kind of likes me," I continue. "The side that said you'd take me as a queen if you weren't betrothed. I'd like to think it wasn't for my witchly qualities, which means, you don't want me dying tomorrow."

"You are correct, Naia. You need to leave." His tone is softer. "Go back to your home. Mine will not be here much longer."

Crushed, I can't help the tears forming. "For the first time in my life, I know what I want, and it's not to sit in my depressing apartment going to a job I can't stand! I want to help you save your world."

He wipes away a tear with his thumb. "'Tis too late for my realm." His gaze goes to my lips.

"Even if I didn't want to be here, I don't know how to go home. It means we have to stop this, no matter what."

"'Tis not possible." His calmness normally steadies me. This time, it makes me frantic. I can hear his resolve, his acceptance of the situation. He's truly given up.

"You have to stop this." I take his hand and squeeze. "No one else can!"

"'Tis not so easy. I have tested the evil of this place. It cannot be defeated, not after a thousand years."

I don't know what to say and my throat is almost too tight to speak.

His eyes return to mine, flickering between gray and black, fog and man, death and life.

"Please try," I whisper.

"I do not have that power."

"Then who does?"

"No one."

"Not even me?"

His eyes go to the spot on my chest where the Heart rested. "I felt it die."

Oh, god. The tears are coming, accompanied by raw emotion I can't stop. Afraid to feel and terrified of being hurt, I've spent a lifetime building barriers around my heart and feelings. The walls are crashing down, releasing every part of me I've ever tried to hide away. I quiver with the effort it takes to prevent a breakdown.