{"id":3445,"date":"2017-12-20T00:00:37","date_gmt":"2017-12-20T05:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=3445"},"modified":"2017-12-19T18:05:54","modified_gmt":"2017-12-19T23:05:54","slug":"twenty-eight-09-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=3445","title":{"rendered":"Twenty-eight – 09"},"content":{"rendered":"

[This post is from J.T.’s point of view.]<\/em><\/p>\n

There were ghosts in that vortex, spirits that had nearly lost themselves that instead clung to the only thing that had ever tried to protect them since their passage from the breathing world. J.T. stopped a few feet from the vortex and the center of the barrow, watching.<\/p>\n

Waiting.<\/p>\n

He could see her face emerging and held his breath. Then she stepped clear of the vortex, pale as the moon, dressed in black, her lips bluish and eyes dull. It was as if Persephone had started to become another ghost, just like the ones she protected, advocated for.<\/p>\n

With Pluton dead and gone, J.T. realized, there was no one to protect her from the rest of Olympium.<\/p>\n

And I\u2019ve done nothing to help her yet. Christ.<\/em> \u201cPersephone,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSpiritweaver,\u201d<\/em> she whispered. \u201cYou came.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Mouth dry, he nodded. \u201cI\u2019m sorry,\u201d he whispered. \u201cThis shouldn\u2019t have taken me so long.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI understand. There\u2019s been trouble. There\u2019s been trouble for all of us. It\u2019s all right. Time is…time.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Leinth\u2019s hand closed around his shoulder as she joined him on the barrow. Her lips were pressed tightly together, her eyes bright and worried. J.T.\u2019s jaw tightened.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s still not an excuse,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s still time,\u201d<\/em> Persephone said. \u201cBut it runs short. One will find me and when he does, he shall come to you\u2014and then you\u2019ll know the moment. You\u2019ll know what to do.\u201d<\/em> She fell silent for a few seconds. \u201cAnd they are still hunting you. The hags still search. You will not be forgiven. Be cautious.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cAlways,\u201d J.T. murmured even as ice sluiced down his spine. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t pay to be anything but.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d<\/em> she agreed. \u201cNo, it doesn\u2019t.\u201d<\/em> Her eyes fluttered shut. \u201cI will see you again.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d he promised. \u201cYes, you will.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cKeep him safe, cousin.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Leinth\u2019s fingers tightened around J.T.\u2019s shoulder. The vortex began to ebb, the chill began to fade.<\/p>\n

The last thing to vanish was her face, framed by hair whipped free of her braids by the unnatural wind.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[This post is from J.T.’s point of view.] There were ghosts in that vortex, spirits that had nearly lost themselves that instead clung to the only thing that had ever tried to protect them since their passage from the breathing … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[240,278,14],"tags":[150,171,170,160,166,149,252,148,168,147,165,146],"class_list":["post-3445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-6","category-chapter-28-book-6","category-story","tag-awakenings","tag-fantasy","tag-fiction","tag-j-t-mackenzie","tag-leinth","tag-original-fiction","tag-persephone","tag-post-apocalyptic","tag-serial","tag-serial-fiction","tag-story","tag-web-fiction"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-Tz","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3445"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3445\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3446,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3445\/revisions\/3446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}