Finn’s mother nodded. “The Archtree’s presence made the barriers between the worlds thin. It allowed me to make contact without physically being in the same place as you.”
“I think I understand,” replied Finn, though Anna couldn’t say she agreed. Finn’s mother claimed Anna had brought them all to this place. It couldn’t be possible, could it?
As if reading her thoughts, Finn’s mother turned her cool gaze to Anna. “The seasons are changing,” she explained. “The barriers grow thin all across the land. The old bloods are returning. The Cavari, the Faie, and the elder clans, one of which is Clan Liath. Their blood runs strong through your veins. Magic is returning to the earth. It is returning to you.”
“It cannot return if I never had it to begin with,” she snapped, suddenly defensive.
Finn’s mother chuckled. “You’ll see in time. You are not the only one reconnecting with the power that should have been your birthright.”
Birthright? Anna wanted to ask her more, but Kai’s hand spasmed around hers, drawing her attention away.
“His blood has been poisoned,” Finn’s mother explained. “He will die.”
“No,” Finn argued, shaking her head over and over. “He cannot, I will not allow it. I will not lose another friend.”
“You wish to save him?” her mother asked.
“She does!” Anna interrupted. “Can you help us?”
Finn’s mother smirked, then turned her gaze back to Finn. “You truly have forgotten much, much I am loath to remind you of, but I will tell you this. Immortal blood runs through your veins. Share it with him, and he will be changed. He will not live forever, but he will be stronger than he once was, able to fight the poison within him.”
“How do I do it?” Finn asked frantically, staring down at Kai’s sickly face.
Something like hope blossomed in Anna’s chest.
“There are consequences to changing the natural order,” her mother warned.
“I do not care,” Finn replied. “How do I do it?”
“Cut your hand and his, place the wounds together,” she explained, taking a step forward. “This can only be done if you are entirely willing to share a portion of your immortality. If you do not truly mean what you say, it will not work.”
Anna searched her belt and found that both her daggers still rested there. She had not noticed them until then. She withdrew one, and hurriedly offered it to Finn, but Finn presented her palm instead. “Help me,” she urged. “We will save him together.”
Anna had never felt any love for Finn, but she would have kissed her right in that moment if Kai wasn’t slowly fading away between them. So instead of kissing her with her lips, she did it with her dagger, slowly drawing it across Finn’s open palm. She then took Kai’s hand that she’d been holding and spread it out, then sliced his palm in the same direction.
Finn leaned across his body and intertwined her bloody fingers with his. Deeply concentrating, her eyes drifted shut.
“It may take some time,” Finn’s mother warned, but Finn seemed unable to hear her. She laid down beside Kai with her mouth near his shoulder, maintaining a tight grip on his hand.
Anna watched them for several moments, willing whatever Finn was doing to work, then turned her gaze back to Finn’s mother. “Can you tell me how to take us back? Saving him will do little good if we are trapped in this place.”
“Give it time,” she explained. “You are not meant to be here, and you will eventually be pulled back. Falling asleep might help.”
It was difficult for Anna to remember she was talking to Finn’s mother, and not Finn, they looked so similar, but she had to remember she didn’t know this woman. She needed to be cautious.
“Why did you come here?” she asked finally.
Finn’s mother tilted her head. “My daughter is on a dangerous path, and there are many things she does not know. Many things she refuses to know. They will come to her eventually, and I would like to make amends with her before they do.”
“You make it sound like she’d cause you harm,” Anna observed.
“My dear,” she replied, “she’s quite capable of harming us all. It is why my clan has acted with caution. Why all have acted with caution. You would be well advised to do the same, Gray Lady.”
With that, the mist began to gather once more, and she turned to walk away. She had almost faded from sight, when she turned to face Anna. “The exchange of life will take a large toll on her,” she explained, gesturing with a nod toward Finn. “Make sure she remembers I was the one to help her. You would do well to remind her of your part as well.” She turned and slowly faded from sight.
Anna’s shoulders slumped in relief. She peered down at Finn and Kai. Kai’s breathing had gone back to normal, and his expression was peaceful, as was Finn’s. They appeared to be softly sleeping lovers, not an immortal being giving away part of her life force to a dying man.
Branwen stepped forward out of the dissipating mist, and Anna nearly screamed. She had completely forgotten the woman was even there.
She moved around Kai and Finn, then took a seat on the stone floor next to where Anna knelt. Sensing they might be there for a while yet, Anna leaned back and swooped her legs around into a more comfortable position.
“Will you be able to come with us when we leave this place?” she asked, still wondering at Branwen’s presence.
Branwen shook her head, tossing her matted hair about. “No. The three of you have simply stepped between the realities, but you belong in the one you left. I am trapped between the living and the dead. I’m here, but I’m not really here. I think-” she cut herself off, as if deciding just what to say. “I think if someone were to save my body, I would go back. Or if I were to finally die in full, I would move on to somewhere else.”
“I apologize,” Anna replied with a sigh. “I can’t help but feel I’m the reason you’re in this state. I’m the reason you first entered the Blood Forest, and ended up here.”
Branwen smiled softly. “Do not apologize. I can sometimes catch glimpses of the world where my body is. The entire land is the Blood Forest now. I do not entirely envy your return to it. And,” she hesitated, “and I feel it is somehow my fate to be here. I’ve seen you when you visit in your dreams sometimes, and I felt compelled to be in this very place when you arrived. Perhaps I have a purpose to serve.”
Never one to believe in the guidance of the old gods, Anna frowned. She could not think it fate that her life seemed to be interwoven with Finn’s, and even Kai’s and Branwen’s. It was merely bad luck, or good luck, however you chose to look at it.
Anna stared down at Kai and Finn. It seemed they all might live, but for how long? And at what cost? Finn’s blood was now running through Kai’s veins, at least in part. That alone couldn’t be good.
“I still apologize,” Anna said finally, looking to Branwen. “I’d much rather be around to fight, even if the odds are not in my favor. I’d rather live, than wait around to die.”
“Well I hope you do,” Branwen replied. She glanced down at Kai and Finn. “I hope you all do, and I hope that if you see my brother, you will tell him to do the same. He always was a bit lost without me.”
Anna nodded, letting Branwen’s words slowly sink in. She’d always been a loner, depending on no one, while no one depended on her, but perhaps Anders was not the only one who was lost without the person most important to him. Perhaps she had depended on Kai from the start, even if she had never been willing to admit it.
At some point she drifted off to sleep, and when she woke, she was back in her chair at the inn. The curtained window was still dark, and the candles and fire in the room all burned as if they’d never gone out. Finn sat across from her, asleep in her chair, and Kai rested peacefully in the bed.
For a moment Anna thought perhaps it had all been a dream, so she stood and did the only thing she could think to do. She checked both Kai and Finn’s hands. Each held a shiny new scar, the only remaining remnant of the strangest night of Anna’s life.