Absolution

“Zoe? Where are you?” Weston’s call echoed. All of this suffering.

  Because of me.

  “Now, Zoe,” Albert hissed in my face. “Now.”

  It seemed I was destined to die at that moment. If I died, at least Luke and Weston would be safe. Matthias would be free of his father’s efforts to destroy him. We’d be together in Paradise. Pressure became so great I crumpled over, my soul buckling. I opened my mouth to acquiesce, but my voice froze in my throat.

  A light formed to my left. It grew larger and larger, until its radiance spread out, illuminating the area around me and Albert. The black spirits disintegrated instantly.

  Matthias. His presence caused the ice to crack, the sound filling the forest like fallen trees as each branch, tree and surface was freed from Albert’s arctic grasp. Instantly, I warmed from head to toe. The thunder of feet running my direction snatched my attention to my right.

  “I’m here!” I shouted.

  Weston appeared in the clearing first, panting and wide-eyed, but he came to an abrupt halt when he saw the light. Luke came seconds later and ran right for me, wrapping around me in a relieved embrace. Weston remained statue still, staring Matthias’ direction.

  Did he see him?

  Matthias’ gaze locked on his father. “This has to end.”

  Albert shielded his eyes from Matthias’ aura. “You know very well that’s not going to happen,” he said.

  He said you were being punished, that I’d gotten you in trouble.

  Lies, Zoe. I heard Matthias’ thoughts, but his gaze remained fixed on Albert as if, with his eyes, he held the devil in place.

  Luke and I clung to each other, for safety, for support. Weston hadn’t moved since he’d come upon the scene, mouth open, his arms hanging at his sides.

  “Take me.” Matthias reached out a hand to Albert. “And this will end.”

  “No!” I lunged toward Matthias but Luke held me back. “No! Don’t!” I struggled, unable to break free of Luke’s hold.

  Albert’s arms slowly lowered from his face. How he was able to endure Matthias’ presence, I didn’t know, except that the menacing on his face had shifted to utter shock at Matthias’ offer. Father and son stared at each other for tenuous moments until another light illuminated through the black sky above.

  Bright as sunlight, the power bathed the forest in purifying white so blinding, everyone except Matthias had to shield their eyes.

  A faint hum filled the air. The sound accompanied the light, and soothed and comforted instantly.

  I squinted, trying to see details. A silhouette was centered in the light.

  Albert dropped to his knees and buried his head in his hands, his shoulders shaking. Was he crying? I couldn’t hear over the hum filling the forest air.

  Matthias’s gaze stayed on his father for a moment, then his blue eyes met mine.

  I drew in a breath. Something was going to happen, gravity nearly sucked me into the powerful center where Matthias and the silhouette stood.

  Then, Matthias was gathered into the light and the beam burst.

  The forest was dark, save for the moon breaking overhead through the clouds, radiating. I tingled from head to toe. Warm. Comforted. Safe. Luke, who hadn’t moved since the second being appeared, stepped back, his arms lowering to his sides, his stare fixed on the place where Matthias just stood.

  Weston’s face lit with a soft glow. His open mouth formed a gentle smile as his eyes met mine across the clearing.

  The only sound was Albert’s wretched sobs. He’d fallen to his knees when the light had appeared and there he remained. Only his suit wasn’t black anymore. The color was lighter now—a shade of gray.

  I ran across the clearing to Weston who met me halfway. His arms gripped me, lifting me from my feet in an embrace. Words seemed irreverent.

  I didn’t want to speak. I didn’t know what to say, feeling inadequate to follow the experience with anything that might tarnish what had happened.

  I felt Luke’s familiar hand on my back and lifted my head from Weston’s chest and smiled at him. Weston and Luke’s eyes filled with questions and they studied me as if I had all the answers.

  Chapter Eighteen

  ____________________

  At home, Weston, Luke and I sat in the family room, the three of us on the floor in front of a mild fire burning in the fireplace. We hadn’t exchanged words as we’d hiked out of the forest. Weston had taken my hand and led me, and Luke had stayed at my back. I hadn’t felt vulnerable or unsafe. Albert hadn’t followed us.

  We left him on his knees, weeping.

  Now, hours after seeing Matthias taken up in a stream of light, we were still speechless. I supposed each of us was pondering the experience and none of us wanted to go to bed, though the hour was way past midnight.

  Most of the lights were off in the house except for the flickering flame, and the fire cast each of us in a warm, amber glow.

  Weston kept staring at me, breaking out in a smile of admiration whenever I caught him. Luke’s gaze rarely left the dancing flames.

  “Thank you for finding me.” I finally broke the ponderous silence.

  Both Luke and Weston looked at me. Luke’s mind was filled with thoughts, I’d seen that distracted look on his face before—but usually he was distracted by how to score the next bowl. This distraction actually had the wheels in his mind churning with pure purpose.

  Weston brought his knees to his chest. “When you ran out of here, I knew something serious was up. Zoe, I felt that same feeling I felt that time in the hotel room. You weren’t lying to me. I knew you weren’t. I only said that because—I was angry. I didn’t mean it.”

  Angry and taunted by Brady. “How did you get rid of Brady?”

  Luke’s shocked, curious gaze shifted from me to Weston.

  “So he was here.” Weston swallowed.

  I nodded. “I told you he was.”

  “I—I felt him. Like the other day with my mom. Rage like I’ve never felt pushing me. I remembered what you told me about him not being able to make me do anything. Once I wasn’t angry anymore, I didn’t feel his presence.

  He must have left.” He glanced around, a thread of panic in his voice.

  “Right?”

  “He’s not here now.”

  A tremor shook Weston’s body. “I hope he never comes back.”

  “Brady? As in the Brady whose mom tried to shoot you?” Luke asked.

  Weston gave a sober nod. “Yeah.”

  “Holy.” Luke’s blue eyes remained huge. “Z, what happened out there?

  I was searching for you and suddenly the whole forest became arctic. Man, I couldn’t believe how freezing it was.”

  “Yeah.” Weston nodded. “Thought we were going to die.” He looked at me with rounded eyes. “And never find you.”

  “Albert.”

  Luke swallowed. “He turned the forest to ice?”

  I nodded. “He was there, in the bedroom with Brady and… dozens of other black spirits.” My blood chilled recalling the evil that had surrounded Weston and me on the bed. “They followed me.”

  Weston touched my hand. “Don’t talk about it.”

  “Bedroom?” Luke’s brows arched.

  “It was my fault,” Weston piped.

  Luke’s eyes flashed at Weston testily. “How the hell did the spirits get there?”

  Weston’s mouth opened, but I spoke before he had a chance. “It doesn’t matter. They were there to stir trouble and when I ran out of here, they followed me. Weston got rid of Brady on his own.”

  “And the big bad wolf followed you out into the forest,” Luke observed, his tone still feisty. “You put her in danger, man. Not cool.”

  “I put myself in danger,” I corrected, sharply. I wanted all of this to be over.

  “Sorry,” Weston put in. “You’re right. It wasn’t the place to—”

  “No details, dude.” Luke held up a hand. “She’s my sister.” A brittle silence followed, but quickly dis
sipated. “Z, what else happened?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “With Matthias.”

  Both Weston and Luke waited for my answer. “What did you guys see?”

  I asked.

  “Matthias,” Luke said. Weston nodded.

  “So you saw him too?” I asked Weston.

  “Yes,” Weston said around a thick swallow. “I—I’m still—I don’t know if I can describe what it felt like to be there. It was… amazing.”

  Luke bobbed his head in agreement. “The coolest.”

  “Matthias’ father was there. Albert. Did you see him?”

  Weston and Luke shook their heads. Luke gestured to my face. “Did he do that to you?”

  I touched the scratches on my face and winced. “No. I fell, and my face hit the ground. Albert told me Matthias was being punished because of me. That I’d gotten him in trouble. He told me I had to give myself to him to make it right.”

  The fire crackled and a log split, falling to the hearth floor. Gold parks escaped up the flue.

  “I thought I was going to die, that somehow Albert would kill me and take me with him. I was willing to go to free Matthias. But I was terrified.

  Then, Matthias came. He said Albert was lying. And you guys showed up.” I took a deep breath. I still couldn’t believe Matthias had been willing to give up his soul for me.

  Weston’s eyes grew larger. “Wow.”

  “Yeah.” I nodded, shivering in spite of the fire. “But then, the other being—I don’t know who—came down.” The gravity of wondering who had come to save Matthias linked us together in a bond of awe.

  Luke nodded. “We saw him.”

  “You think… it was… God?” Weston whispered.

  The idea sent a flush of warmth through my spirit. “I don’t know,” I said.

  “Maybe Matthias has a guardian of his own,” Luke suggested. “Blows me away,” he murmured.

  “Seemed to blow Albert away, too, because he fell to his knees, crying.”

  “Seriously?” Luke asked.

  “I expected him to disintegrate, like he usually does,” I said. “The other black spirits did. The second the being showed up, they were gone.” Weston’s mouth dropped open. I realized he didn’t know about how Albert came and left. “Albert can’t be around purity—it causes him to disappear.”

  Weston’s Adam’s apple rolled up his throat. “Oh.”

  “So I expected that to happen, but it didn’t.” I was perplexed that Albert’s suit had lightened with the event. “When we left, Albert was still there.”

  Luke shuddered. “Yeah, I heard him.”

  “I did, too,” Weston added.

  A tingling of thrill raced along my skin. How fascinating that both of them had heard Albert, but not seen him. Albert’s cries of hopelessness and realization would haunt me for a long time.

  Weston’s open mouth, wide-eyed expression was that of a child discovering the secret of Santa Claus. “Will Albert be back?” he asked.

  “Matthias told me he’d fight me for my soul—to get to him.” But where was Matthias now? Was Albert still after his soul? “I don’t know who that was that came and took Matthias, but someone is watching out for him.”

  The silence between us prickled with unanswered questions. “This is huger than anything I’ve ever seen,” Luke mumbled. He rubbed his face.

  “You’re something else, Z. I’m glad you’re okay.” He patted my shoulder.

  I leaned over and hugged him. “Thanks bud.” He held me a moment, and I enjoyed the connection. The evening, dangerous as it had been, had also brought us together in a way I knew none of us would ever forget.

  “Don’t know if I’ll sleep, but I’m gonna hit the hay.” Luke stood, stretched, eyed me, then Weston. “You staying over?”

  Weston’s cheeks flushed. His gaze met mine and fire danced in the reflection of his eyes. “Maybe I can take the couch?”

  Somehow, I was able to sleep. A shower helped. Fresh pjs. Restlessness wasn’t as much about Weston sleeping downstairs on the couch as it was the lingering vision of Matthias ready to give himself up to his father. For me. And I couldn’t stop replaying the moment he’d been surrounded by that light and taken up.

  I jerked upright in bed, heart pounding as the night before played out in my head: flashes of the moment in bold scenes, over and over and over. Was Albert here? Heart leaping in my chest, I searched the room with my gaze, every corner, even leaning over the side of my bed for a look beneath.

  No Albert—thankfully.

  My pulse started to slow and so did my rapid breathing. What had happened to Matthias?

  Would I ever see him again?

  The thought of never seeing him hit me like a tidal wave. I refused to let the morbid idea drown me. Until I knew for sure, I wouldn’t fixate on something I didn’t understand.

  Then there was Weston, who’d remembered what I’d told him about how to dismiss evil and had gotten rid of Brady. Pride, and respect, both flowed through my heart at that moment for Weston.

  I grabbed my phone to check the time: almost noon. Thank heavens it was Saturday.

  I got out of bed, curious to sneak a peek at Weston, asleep downstairs.

  Passing my reflection in the bathroom mirror, my scraggly hair screamed that I needed to freshen up first. I brushed my teeth and washed my face, careful not to scrape the red scratches on my cheeks and forehead. Ugh. I looked like I’d been smacked in the face by a pine tree.

  Hair finger-combed, pjs adjusted so I was completely covered and somewhat presentable, I crept down the stairs and into the family room, alert for any sign of Albert. I felt nothing. Saw nothing.

  Weston lay on his back, one arm hung off the side of the couch, the other across his chest. His eyes were closed, and his lips were parted a little.

  His thick, dark hair barely looked mussed. Unfair.

  Suddenly, his eyes popped open, and I jumped.

  He looked around, rubbed his face with his hands, then noticed me standing, gaping at him. “Hey.” His voice was rough.

  “Hey.” I inched closer, tingling with pleasure at seeing him. The need to kiss him sprung through my body like a cat after warm milk.

  He sat up at little, pressing himself into the back of the couch, making room for me. He patted the empty spot next to him.

  I sat down, and he eyed my mouth. “Man, what I’d give for some mouthwash right now.”

  I laughed. Leaning closer to him, I closed my eyes, and pressed a light kiss on his lips. His hands cupped my face and held me in place.

  When the kiss was over, I asked, “Did you sleep okay?”

  He nodded, eyes hooded for a moment, his mind appearing to race.

  Then his eager expression disappeared and he sat upright and stretched.

  “Couch is comfortable, as couches go.”

  “Sleep on a lot of them?” I teased, standing.

  He grinned. “No.” His cell phone vibrated over and over from the depths of his pocket. He pulled it out. “Probably my mom wondering where I am.”

  “I’d want you home every night if you were mine,” I said, then wanted to slap myself. Who says stuff like that? Even if it’s true.

  He blinked slowly, his lips curving up. When he read the text, his jaw twitched. He shoved the phone into the depths of his front pocket, as if ignoring whatever his mother had written.

  “Um,” I spoke up, “breakfast?”

  “Sure.” He followed me into the kitchen and I showed him his options: cold cereals or pancakes.

  “You cook?” he teased. “And see angels?”

  I laughed. “Ab-so-lute-ly.” Matthias’ smile flashed into my mind momentarily, and wonder squeezed my heart. Where was he? Was he okay? I hoped he wasn’t in any trouble for saving my soul. He should be heralded a hero.

  “Zoe?”

  I looked up from the mix I was stirring in a bowl. “Sorry, did you say something?”

  Weston’s lips quirked. “Yeah. So, t
onight’s prom.” He leaned my direction on the counter top, and bit his lower lip. “I’m excited.”

  “Me too.” I smiled and finished whisking pancake batter. I retrieved a pan from the cabinet, flicked on the gas and waited for the skillet to heat. The domesticity of what I was doing sent a giddy tingle through my body.

  “You want me to tell you what Luke and I planned? Or surprise you?

  Or did Luke already spill it?”

  I poured flat, baseball-sized pancakes on the sizzling surface of the pan.

  “Luke hasn’t said anything, except that he got a tux and Krissy’s dress is blue—crap. I forgot Krissy’s coming.”

  “She’ll be here in a few minutes.” Luke’s voice came from my left. He entered the kitchen fully dressed in jeans, button-up striped shirt and freshly washed hair.

  “I totally spaced.” I snatched a spatula and flipped the cakes.

  “It’s cool.” Luke pulled out a bar stool and joined Weston at the cook-top island where I flipped the finished cakes onto a plate and handed them to Weston.

  “Thanks, they look great.”

  I handed Luke the spatula. “You finish up, I’m gonna go get ready.” I jogged around the cooking island and back upstairs.

  I pulled on jeans, a red thermal and topped it with a green short sleeved tee shirt. As I pulled my hair into a pony tail, the doorbell rang.

  Krissy’s timid voice trickled upstairs. Another female voice—her aunt’s—spoke in conjunction with Luke’s.

  Krissy and her aunt stood in the entry. A gust of tepid air followed them in. I was surprised the air wasn’t colder after last night, but the sun was out, and white-gold rays poured through every window in cheery beams. A carpet of light fell in through the open front door where Krissy and her aunt stood.

  A purple garment bag hung over Krissy’s arm. She wore jeans beneath her coat, and a pair of black flats with little bows. Her hair flowed in soft waves to her shoulders. She radiated. Krissy’s smile gleamed at Luke, who spoke—quite confidently—to the woman. I didn’t see Weston and figured he was in the kitchen, finishing his pancakes.

  After introductions and hugs shared between Krissy and Luke and me, Krissy’s aunt Connie turned to me. “I appreciate you having her for the night.