The gate opened another inch.
A cold wind rushed through the underwater kingdom.
I froze.
My heart stopped when I heard the voice again.
"Bjei…"
It sounded exactly like her.
My mother.
"Angela?"
Shawshank grabbed my hand.
"Don't go closer."
I stared into the darkness.
"That's my mother."
"I know."
"How?"
He looked at me.
"I can feel the magic around the voice."
The darkness moved.
Then a figure appeared.
A woman stood behind the gate.
Her hair was wet.
Her clothes were torn.
Her face was pale.
But I knew that face.
"Mom!"
I moved forward.
Shawshank held me back.
The woman lifted her head.
"Bjei…"
My knees almost gave way.
It was Angela.
My mother.
The woman who raised me.
The woman who had always warned me about the sea.
The woman who had seemed afraid of something she refused to explain.
She stretched her hand through the small opening.
"Come to me."
Tears filled my eyes.
"Mom, what are you doing here?"
She looked at me with fear.
"I have been waiting for you."
I pulled against Shawshank's hand.
"Let me go."
"No."
"She's my mother!"
"And something is wrong."
Angela suddenly screamed.
"BJEI! DON'T OPEN THE GATE!"
The entire kingdom shook.
I stopped.
Her expression changed.
For one second, she looked terrified.
Then the darkness behind her moved.
Something grabbed her shoulder.
Angela screamed.
"RUN!"
The gate slammed shut.
"Mom!"
I rushed toward it.
My golden mark burned.
I placed my hand against the gate.
"Open!"
Nothing happened.
I tried again.
"OPEN!"
The gate trembled.
Shawshank came beside me.
"Bjei, wait."
"No!"
I turned on him.
"That was my mother!"
"I know."
"She needs me!"
"And if you open that gate without knowing what is behind it, you could lose yourself again."
I stared at him.
Then I heard something.
A whisper.
Very faint.
Coming from behind the gate.
"Bjei…"
I stepped closer.
"Mom?"
"No."
Shawshank's voice was low.
"That isn't her."
My blood ran cold.
"How do you know?"
"Because Angela would never ask you to come into the darkness."
I looked at him.
"How do you know my mother that well?"
He hesitated.
That hesitation frightened me more than anything.
"What aren't you telling me?"
"Bjei—"
"No."
I stepped away from him.
"Everyone keeps telling me to trust them."
I looked around.
"My grandmother hid things from me. Marina hid things from me. Azrael hid things from me. Elara hid things from me."
My voice broke.
"And now you're hiding something too."
Shawshank looked hurt.
"I was trying to protect you."
"I don't need protection anymore."
The water around me began to move.
My golden mark glowed brighter.
"I need the truth."
A voice answered from behind us.
"You finally understand."
We turned.
The false queen stood several feet away.
But she was different.
Her crown was gone.
Her eyes were no longer glowing.
She looked exhausted.
Almost human.
Shawshank immediately moved in front of me.
"What do you want?"
She looked at him.
"Nothing."
Then she looked at me.
"I came to warn her."
I laughed bitterly.
"You?"
"Yes."
"You tried to possess me."
"I know."
"You tried to kill Shawshank."
"I know."
"You stole the queen's crown."
Her eyes dropped.
"I know."
"Then why should I listen to you?"
She slowly raised her head.
"Because I know Angela."
Everything inside me went still.
"What?"
The false queen looked toward the gate.
"Angela has been protecting you from me for years."
I stared at her.
"What are you talking about?"
"She knew what you were."
My heart pounded.
"She knew about my powers?"
"Yes."
"How?"
The queen took a step closer.
"Because she was there the night you were born."
I couldn't breathe.
Marina's face appeared in my mind.
The baby.
The golden light.
The screaming.
The sea.
Angela.
I whispered,
"My mother was there?"
"She wasn't supposed to take you."
My eyes widened.
"What?"
The queen continued.
"Marina gave you to Angela because she believed the land would be safer for you."
Shawshank looked at me.
"That means…"
"She raised you because she promised Marina she would keep you hidden."
I shook my head.
"No."
The memories began rushing through me.
Angela holding me as a baby.
Angela crying.
Angela warning me never to go near the sea.
Angela waking from nightmares.
Angela looking at me whenever she thought I wasn't watching.
All those years.
All those secrets.
She had known.
The false queen stepped closer.
"But there is something else."
I swallowed.
"What?"
She looked directly into my eyes.
"Angela didn't only hide you."
My stomach tightened.
"What did she do?"
The queen whispered,
"She helped divide your soul."
Silence.
I felt like the entire ocean had disappeared.
"No."
Shawshank turned toward the queen.
"That's impossible."
"She was there," the queen said. "She helped Elara perform the ritual."
I looked at my golden mark.
My hand began shaking.
"Why?"
The queen's voice softened.
"Because your power was killing you."
I remembered what Elara had said.
My body couldn't survive my power.
My soul had been divided.
But nobody had told me Angela was part of it.
"Did she know what would happen to me?"
"Yes."
Tears rolled down my cheeks.
"Then why did she do it?"
The queen looked toward the gate.
"Because she loved you."
I almost laughed.
It came out broken.
"She loved me?"
"Yes."
"Then why didn't she tell me?"
"Because she was afraid."
"Afraid of what?"
The queen looked at me.
"Of losing you."
Suddenly, the gate began shaking.
A voice screamed from behind it.
"BJЕI!"
Angela.
This time it was really her.
I knew it.
I could feel her.
"Mom!"
I ran toward the gate.
Shawshank followed.
The golden mark on my hand flashed.
The gate opened.
Only a little.
Enough for Angela to crawl through.
She collapsed onto the ground.
"Mom!"
I dropped beside her.
She looked at me.
For a moment, she didn't speak.
Then she touched my face.
"You're whole."
I cried.
"You knew."
Her eyes filled with tears.
"Yes."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
She closed her eyes.
"Because I was afraid you would hate me."
"I do."
She flinched.
But I couldn't stop the tears.
"I hate that everyone lied to me."
Angela pulled me into her arms.
"I am sorry."
I wanted to push her away.
But I couldn't.
She was still my mother.
The only mother I remembered.
She held me tightly.
"I promised your real mother I would protect you."
I whispered,
"And did you?"
She looked at me.
"Yes."
Then her face changed.
Fear returned.
"But I failed."
I pulled away.
"Why?"
Angela looked toward the gate.
Something was moving in the darkness.
"Because it has found you."
"What?"
She grabbed my hand.
"The thing behind the gate."
Shawshank stepped closer.
"What is it?"
Angela looked at him.
Her eyes widened.
"You."
Shawshank froze.
"What about me?"
Angela whispered,
"It has been searching for you too."
The kingdom went silent.
Then something laughed behind the gate.
A deep, ancient laugh.
And this time…
It sounded exactly like Shawshank.