“Wraiths,” Alda finishes.
“Yes,” I nod. “It’s taken his mind—we can’t stay there. We’ll end up like them.”
“Yup. You sure would,” she concedes.
“Then you’ll help us?”
Alda’s blue eyes soften. “I wish I could, dear, but it’s not my role in this story.”
“But—”
She holds up a single finger, urging me to stop talking. “However, I am able to give you the tools you need to save yourselves.”
My back stiffens and I lean forward, focusing on her words. “Okay, what do I need to do?”
Alda’s features darken and she pulls her eyebrows in. “You won’t like it, but you have to know it’s the only way.”
Instantly, my heart sinks, but I take a deep breath and wait.
“The two of you cannot stay in Purgatory. It will damn you both to an eternity as lost souls. We can’t have that. But your minds are compromised, which makes this so difficult.”
“Can you help me turn back time?” I ask.
“Unfortunately, no. It would alter prime directives well above either of our pay grades. No, your job, Guardian, is to do your job. Your charge was killed on your watch and he must cross over. Without your guidance, he cannot make it to the Gates,” she says, pursing her lips. “And he must make it to the Gates.”
Shaking my head, I take a step back. “But I’m not a— I don’t have any angelic powers. They stripped them from me.”
Again, Alda raises a finger, shaking it beside her cheek and squinting. “Ah, but did they?”
“What are you talking about?” I say, more confused than ever.
“Do you still remember what Guardians require in order to help a charge cross?” she asks, narrowing her gaze.
I take a moment, thinking hard.
“I’d need to open the Gates.”
She nods. “Well, yes. And in order to do that, you need…” Her hand rolls in the air in a flourish.
Scratching at my eyebrow, I push my mind back, trying to remember. Everything is a foggy mess and it’s hard to focus.
“Your sword, my dear. You need your elemental sword. It will do the job it was forged to do,” she finally whispers. “And it just so happens, I have yours, as promised.” As she raises both hands to the sky in front of her, an ornate sword handle appears across her palms.
My tongue slides across my lips, and I take a step forward. “My sword.” I run my fingertips along the hilt, feeling the power and familiarity of it. “But I didn’t think I was allowed… The Guild—”
“The Guild isn’t in charge of everything, Evangeline,” she says, extending her arms out for me to take it.
The moment I lift the sword from her palms, my dress transforms, replaced by the leather armor I’ve worn my whole existence. All of my memories come flooding back to me—every moment from Liam’s childhood, through to our sexual encounter behind the waterfall, and beyond.
I turn my gaze to Alda. “How?” I ask, surprised.
“It’s only temporary, my dear. Use this gift wisely. If you want to see Liam happy, you must convince him to cross over. He won’t know why, or even remember you right now… but you’ll be able to keep your wits about you for the next thirty minutes.”
My mouth drops open and panic wells inside me. “Thirty minutes—that’s all?”
Alda’s face is empathetic, and she places her hand on my shoulder. “It’s as long as I can manage, my dear. It’s not easy to conjure lost consciousness. Now, are you up for this challenge?”
“Do I have a choice?” I whisper, my heart sinking.
She scrunches her face, softly shaking her head. “None that I can think of.”
I bite my lip, thinking though all the ramifications this could bring. “What happens when it’s all said and done? What happens to me?”
Silence fills the expanse between us, and she sighs softly. “Your sacrifice will give him a chance at a new life. You’ll need to find solace in that.”
Chapter 16
A One-Sided Fix
“Oh,” I say, my eyes wide. The pit of my stomach is empty as it churns over. “I see.” I nod to myself as understanding settles in.
This is a one-sided fix.
“If there was any other way…” Alda begins.
I hold up my hand, shaking my head. “No, I understand. This was my doing. It makes sense I should be the one to fix it. Liam shouldn’t have to suffer because I…” I take a deep breath, holding back tears brimming in my eyes.
“I knew you would,” she says, patting my arm. “You’re a good soul, Eva. Your heart is in the right place. Now, we should head back. You won’t want to waste the time you have left.”
My heart clenches and a sob catches in the back of my throat.
Moments. After everything we’ve been through now, all the love we’ve been able to share, that’s all I have left with Liam. In the blink of an eye, he will be gone, and I’ll never see him again.
Silently, tears roll down my cheeks as I halter my sword and turn to follow Alda. Just like the last time I was here, power rolls off the desk, this entire space actually, and permeates through every atom of the temple.
“Liam, doll, how’s your research going?” Alda asks, walking up to the table and patting him on the back.
Liam glances up, a semi-confused expression tugging at his eyes. “I’m—it’s going well. At least, I think it is.”
“Don’t worry, it will all make sense soon,” she says, smiling.
Flitting his eyes between Alda and myself, Liam cocks his head. “I’m sorry—do I know the two of you?”
I swipe at my cheeks, holding my shoulders back and chin up. The soft tissue around his eyes has darkened and his cheeks have lost their color. Even if I wanted to ignore Alda’s help and stay with him, it wouldn’t be long before he was completely lost anyway.
“Liam, I need to talk to you for a moment. Is that okay?” I ask, swallowing back my trepidation. Reaching my hand out for him, he eyes me curiously, but takes my offering.
“I—yes, I suppose that would be okay.” He nods, standing up. “I’m sorry. I feel at a disadvantage here. You know my name, but I can’t seem to—”
“My name is Eva,” I say, trying to smile genuinely.
“Eva,” he repeats, tipping his head as if trying to decide if he likes the sound of it.
“I’ll give you some time alone,” Alda says, casting me a wink. “I’ll be at the desk if you need me.”
I nod in return, not able to use my voice for fear it might crack. With Liam in tow, I lead us down the rows of books and trinkets. I go far past the place where Alda and I stopped and continue until I can no longer see her desk. Natural light cascades in as we reach a small atrium filled with plants, flowers, and birds.
“This is such an unusual building,” Liam says, eyeing the space.
“It is,” I say, nodding. Making my way to a bench in the center, I take a seat and pat the space beside me.
Liam eyes the stone bench and takes a seat. He clasps his hands together and places them in his lap as he looks straight out in front of him.
My insides are screaming to say something, do something, but somehow, I feel locked—lost. Now that we’re here, I don’t know what to say to make any of this easier. What do you say to the love of your life when you’re about to send them to a place where they’ll no longer be able to communicate or be a part of your existence? Especially when he won’t understand it anyway?
How do you say good-bye, knowing it will be forever?
“So…” he finally says, trying to break the silence.
“So…” I repeat.
“Was there something we were meant to discuss?” he asks.
“There is. I just don’t know how to go about saying it.”
“Just start. The words will come,” he says, applying sage advice.
I nod. “You’re right.” Blowing out a puff of air, I lean back and decide to stand before him instead. “Y
ou know, this whole thing is so messed up. And I know you’re not going to understand anything I’m about to tell you, but I have to say it. So bear with me, okay?”
Liam’s hazel eyes greet mine, and he tips his eyebrows in a quizzical expression.
My tongue skates across my lower lip and I bring my hands into prayer position as I pace in front of him. “Liam, you don’t remember it, but I love you. And, I think for a brief moment, you loved me too. It might not register now and that’s—well, it’s okay. It is what it is now. But I remember. I remember everything and I need you to know how much our time together has meant to me. I don’t know how long I have in existence—I don’t know what will happen to me when you’re gone, but—” I pause, flicking my gaze back to him as I stop moving. He watches me with wide eyes but doesn’t say a word. “But you and I only have a little time left together,” I whisper.
He narrows his eyes, taking a moment to process my words before finally saying, “Why?”
I bite the inside of my cheek and shake my head. “Because we were never meant to be.”
His dark eyelashes flutter rapidly, as if trying to recall his own memories or maybe figure out what my words even mean. “I don’t understand,” he says.
I shake my head, not wanting to cause more pain and heartache than necessary. Stepping forward, I run my right hand alongside his face, pushing back one of his dark strands of hair from his eyes. “It’s okay. I just needed you to know you are loved… and that being with you—I will cherish it forever.”
“Are you going somewhere?” he asks, his eyebrows tugging in.
Tears brim in my eyes and I press my lips together to stop the sob welling in the back of my throat. Slowly, I shake my head. “No.” Sliding my right hand to my sword, I wrap it around the hilt.
Liam takes my free hand in his, pressing it against his cheek and closing his eyes. The sob I held back before escapes my lips and suddenly, I can’t breathe. Losing him is hard enough but being the one to send him on to heaven is unbearable. I’ve crossed over so many souls, both good and bad. But not once has the concept been this much of a struggle.
“I’ve told you—” Alda’s voice echos across the temple’s space. “—there’s nothing I can do for you. Your destiny is locked, my dear. It’s best if you just accept what is and just accept the inevitable.”
The urgency in her voice pulls me back from the task at hand and I step around Liam, trying to get a better idea of who she’s talking to. But it’s no use, we’re beyond visual distance.
“Come on, I think we better check on Alda,” I say, leaving the sword at my side and walking back the way we’d originated from.
Liam stands up, following after me.
“There has to be something…” the voice of the other person says, reaching us in quiet bursts.
“You are right where you should be, Jacob. Take a beat and have some damn patience for once. There’s nothing I can do for you,” Alda says, her voice firm.
As we round the corner, I gasp. “You—again. Why can’t we seem to shake you?”
Jake shifts his desperate glare from Alda to us, then takes a step back. “I knew it. I knew the two of you were here. Goddamn minions anyway. Guess I’ll have to do the job myself.” He shifts from his location behind the desk, rounding the corner and coming at both of us.
Surprised, I hold out an arm, pushing Liam behind me. “Jake—you better think long and hard about whatever you’re about to do,” I warn, tipping my head slightly to the side.
“If it wasn’t for the two of you, I’d still be happy, doing what I want—who I want. But no…” he says, fists clenched by his side. Baring his teeth, his turquoise eyes flash with an intensity only a demon can muster.
“Do not take another step closer, Jake—” I say, reaching for my sword. “I’m warning you…”
He doesn’t listen. Instead, he picks up his pace. His Chelsea boots clack against the marbled floor and echo around the entire space of the temple. Alda turns around, leaning against her desk and crossing her arms in front of her body. She’s either pleased or nonplussed—or perhaps simply unable to intervene.
“Hey, come on, man. What’s your problem?” Liam asks, trying to get around me.
“Liam, you need to stay back. Let me handle this,” I say through gritted teeth. Without any more fanfare, I step forward to meet Jake’s advance. With my left hand, I plant it directly in the center of his chest, holding him back. My right hand firmly wraps around the hilt of my sword again, ready for anything that may be necessary.
“Get outta my way, Guardian,” the incubus hisses.
“Never gonna happen.”
“I knew I should have turned you both in right away. I never should have listened to you—or tried to help you. Talk about the stupidest mistake I’ve ever made. I don’t know why I went against my instincts to help you out. But I’m not going back there, you hear me? I am not about to be surrounded by wraiths for the rest of eternity. I refuse—”
“What in the hell are you talking about?” I ask, confused.
“What are you, deaf and dumb?” he retorts.
“You’re making no sense.”
“Demons don’t have souls, dumbass. We can’t be turned into wraiths. My God, are you sure you’re even a Guardian?” he says, practically spitting at me.
He’s right—he’d been in the middle of all of them and not once did they try to attack him or take away his life-force.
“Why would it matter then? You’d never lose your mind, or be turned. I would think it would be a perfect punishment—”
“Punishment? For helping a goodie Guardian? I thought doing good was supposed to earn you brownie points. Not get you expelled to Purgatory. I have needs. I can’t stay there…” Jake says, advancing again. “Get me out, dammit. You owe me.”
“I don’t have that kind of power,” I say, shaking my head.
“Bullshit, you have direct access to the Heavenly plane. Make a damn call,” he spits. “Or I’m gonna drag lover boy back with me and use him as a personal puppet.”
“Like hell. He has his own fate,” I say, yanking my elemental sword from its sheath. Instantly, the element of water imbues the end, ready to take on any demon willing to go toe to toe.
“Oh, lookie who’s back in their saddle. So, what? You get to boink the boy and they give you back your wings? See? This is bullshit,” he cries, lunging past me and reaching for Liam.
Pulling my elbow back, I smack the incubus in the face with the butt of my sword before he can make contact with him.
Jake’s hands fly to his face, “Fuck—haven’t you done enough damage to my face?” Blood gushes from his nose and through his fingertips, but he stands firm.
“Stay back or so help me, I’ll be forced to end you. I don’t have much time here and I’ll be damned if I’m going to let you take what little I have from me,” I say through gritted teeth.
“Does it look like I give a shit about you and your time right now?” he says, his voice nasal. “Get damned for all I care. Then at least it might be fair.”
Again he lunges forward, but this time, rather than reaching for Liam, he catches me off guard as he wraps his bloody hands around my neck. The force of his attack knocks us both backward, and my sword goes skittering across the floor, disengaging its connection to water and shutting itself down.
“Not so tough when you don’t have your magical poker, now, are you?” Jake says, his features dark and eyes flashing.
I grope at his hands, unable to make them move from my throat. Instead, I rear up, landing my knee squarely in his groin. Squealing a cry of pain, he lets go of my neck to grope at his crotch.
“Fuck… you,” he mutters through gasps.
“No, fuck you,” Liam says, picking up my sword. As soon as he has it firmly in his hand, it bursts forth, imbued with the highest power, radiating the energy of the ancients—the element of spirit. The entire room vibrates as it demands its sacrifice.
My mouth gap
es open, unable to believe what I’m seeing.
Without a single word, as if it’s completely normal for him to light up an elemental sword—let alone the energy meant to cross a soul—Liam steps up and thrusts the blade through the incubus’s chest.
Chapter 17
I Will Remember You
A burst of energy expands outward from Jake, rocking Liam and I backward. Books and other items fly off the shelves, peppering the ground around us. With the blade still stuck in Jake’s body, the crystal-white prism of spirit energy courses through his body, expanding outward into his veins until he’s nothing but a flailing ball of light.
Demons aren’t meant to ever be gifted with spirit energy—they’re never meant to be allowed access to the heavenly plane. The only element meant for them is water—and maybe fire, at a push. Yet somehow, not only did Liam find a way to control my elemental sword, he’s managed to do the one thing never meant for an incubus.
Scrambling to my feet, I yank the sword from Jake’s torso. He thrashes about, groping at the gaping hole in his midsection.
“What have you…?” he cries. “Why does everything hurt?”
Stepping back, I disengage the elemental energy and stare in horror as every atom of the demon floods with white light. Then, as if he was made of glass, Jake’s body explodes in a million shards of luminescence that scatters all around us until nothing is left.
Blinking back in surprise, my mouth gapes open.
“Well, that was a bit dramatic,” Alda says, walking up to where we stand and brushing pieces of Jake off of her sleeve.
Liam turns to face her, his mouth agape and eyes wide with horror.
“What was that thing?” he says aloud.
Alda pats him on the shoulder. “It likely doesn’t matter. Whatever he was, he isn’t anymore.”
“How—?” I say, walking to them both.
Alda shrugs, her lips tugging down into a mock-frown.
“I don’t understand. What happened to him? I’ve never seen the spirit element used on a demon,” I say, unable to wrap my head around what I’ve just seen.
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