He stood tall and nodded. “We must remove this before she is taken.”
“Taken? T-t-taken?”
Michael and Jophiel vanished and then reappeared a few feet away. Uriel moved to the far right and stopped.
Gabriel ran his finger over the crystal, then shook his head. “Brace yourself, child. You will need your strength.”
My eyes widened. Brace myself? For what? FOR WHAT? He reappeared over on the far-left side, opposite of Uriel.
“Chloe,” Jophiel whispered for me, her voice like a Disney Princess. When my eyes found hers, she smiled. “Turn around. Keep your eyes on Malachi. That bond will help you see this through.”
“See this through?!” I shrieked. I spun around to face my soulmate, but the haunted expression in his eyes made me want to vomit. I thought I’d been ready for anything. I’d known this was probably going to be painful because all of our attempts had been so far but when angels told you to brace yourselves that changed the whole conversation. “Malachi?”
He smiled down at me and took both of my hands. “This is going to hurt like hell, but I’m right here. You can do this.”
I shuddered. I can do this. I CAN do this. Oh God, I can’t do this. My body trembled.
He lifted my hands to his mouth and kissed my knuckles, then slowly lowered my hands to my sides. “Just breathe.”
Just breathe. Brilliant advice.
The only thing that was keeping me from curling into a ball was the fact that these were angels. Four of whom were older than time itself here. Whatever they were about to do, it was the clearly the only way to get this off of me. I kept hearing Malachi’s words in my mind, her death grows nearer…she will not survive. He’d been keeping that from me. I didn’t know how I felt about that.
Spot whined and pouted. His red and gold eyes looked up at me sadly.
I tried to smile at him but my teeth were rattling. My whole body trembled.
Angels weren’t supposed to harm mortals. They were supposed to protect us. Which meant the only way to protect me was to hurt me.
I turned my gaze to Malachi and held his glowing gold stare. His eyes were warm, but I saw fear flickering in them and it turned my blood cold.
“Just breathe,” he whispered and held his hands out to his side. “I’m right here.”
I nodded.
His wings stretched out wide and it took my breath away. He lifted off the ground, hovering a few inches in the air. Golden light spread from his body out to his sides. I glanced over my shoulders and found the other four angels looking the same way. The golden light poured out of them to form a circle around me. No, not just a circle. A pentacle. There were five of them, with Malachi standing at the top point.
The energy around me was warm and steady, like rays of sunshine. But the strength in it sent goosebumps across my body. I shuddered and turned back to face Malachi. Jophiel’s warning rang through my ears, keep your eyes on Malachi, that bond will help you see this through. So that was what I would do. I locked my eyes on his and clenched my teeth. I could take it, whatever it was. To survive this locket, I would have to take it.
Malachi nodded once, then he mouthed three…two…one…
Michael chanted words I couldn’t understand. His voice boomed and echoed around the boulders. Bright shimmering gold runes appeared in the air between each of them, but I’d never seen runes like them before. And then Michael’s chanting grew louder. Each word literally hurt my ears to hear. I cringed and hissed as sharp pain laced through my head.
Jophiel’s voice joined his but the sound was just as painful. And then Uriel and Gabriel. Little white squiggles danced in my vision. A piercing sharp headache throbbed in my temples. Malachi licked his lips and joined in the chanting. I ground my teeth together to stop myself from crying out. Their voices blended together into one shrill ringing sound, like nails on a chalkboard but ten million times worse. My eyes twitched. My sinuses burned.
A golden laser shot out of Malachi’s chest and slammed straight into mine. I gasped as it seared through bone. Blue light erupted from Lilith’s locket. That glowing crescent moon shined against his bare chest then bounced around as I shook. Sharp pain pierced each of my shoulder blades. I screamed but then two golden lasers slammed into my rib cage on each side, knocking the breath from my lungs.
The blue light grew brighter and brighter. It was getting hard to look at it.
The angels chanted and my head throbbed. Pressure coiled around my chest like I was being crushed by steel. I couldn’t hold it in any longer. I screamed. Every nerve in my body shrieked and hissed. My muscles burned like I was on fire. My bones rattled like wild animals in tiny cages.
My feet lifted off the ground but the pain intensified. My vision was blurry. I glanced down and found the ground covered in those glowing runes.
I looked back up to Malachi and found his whole-body trembling. His muscles flexed. Sweat covered his bare skin. Tears leaked from the corners of his eyes but he held my stare with blazing intention. His lips quivered as he chanted. Our crystal soulmate glyph in the center of his chest was bright red and pulsing.
The locket hissed like a tea pot. The crystal burned against my skin. A black cloud erupted from the locket and spilled into the air. It swirled and then shot straight for Malachi and slammed into a wall of white light. The black cloud bounced off and flew over my head. I didn’t look. I didn’t dare take my eyes off of Malachi, but white light flashed in my peripheral vision.
The black cloud coiled around my face. I could barely see the outline of Malachi’s body. It felt like bee stings on every inch of my body. Burning and swelling like my skin was going to peel from my bones. I screamed. The golden lasers burned hotter and I cried out. Ice cold chill wrapped around each of the five laser holes in my body and then the lasers turned red coming out of me. It inched toward the angels, red battling gold.
Their chanting sounded like thunder though I could barely hear it over the roar in my body. My throat was raw and sore but I couldn’t stop screaming. Tears streaked down my face.
The black cloud twitched and wailed. It swirled around in itself, like a snake tying itself in a knot. The cloud billowed and I thought I saw a face from within it—
And then it exploded into dust.
The pressure in my chest vanished. A soft blue glow illuminated the front of Malachi’s body. Those golden lasers turned white as snow. There was a pop and a flash, and then they were gone.
I dropped toward the ground but Malachi caught me before I hit. I landed in the cradle of his arms but my body had no strength left. I felt myself drape over his arms like one of Salvador Dali’s melted clocks. All I wanted to do was to close my eyes and sleep—
“Chloe,” Malachi whispered and cupped my jaw. The panic in his voice sent my eyes flying open. He cupped my face, stroking my cheek with his thumb. “It’s over. Stay with me now, okay?”
Of course I will, I tried to say, but I had no strength to speak. I wasn’t going down that easy. I had plans. I had to get turned into a vampire so I could spend eternity with him. Death was not coming for me. I would fight it.
I blinked up at him only to find that glowing blue crescent moon shining on his face.
Jophiel appeared beside him. She crouched down and brushed my hair back off my face. She gave me a bright, warm smile. “You did amazing, Chloe.”
Michael walked up behind them. He lifted his arm and the clear quartz crystal pendant dangled from his hand. The crystal was cracked and partially shattered, the edges of it black like it was burned. The chain was broken and charred.
I frowned and tried to speak but my breath left me in a rush. Malachi lifted me up so I was sitting and the world spun. I sank into his chest, unable to hold myself up. The blue crescent moon was now glowing against the boulder across from me.
Gabriel stepped out behind him and cleared his throat. “Michael?”
Uriel held his hand out. “The remains?”
Michael nodded and dropped t
he broken locket into Uriel’s open hand. Then he growled.
Jophiel put her hand on my cheek. “You are strong, my child. And now Lilith knows that.”
“We leave you now. We’ll speak soon, Malachi.” Uriel looked to me and nodded. “Chloe.”
Bright light flashed and then the three angels were gone, leaving me with just Malachi and Spot…and Gabriel.
“Your task is not yet complete,” Gabriel’s voice sounded from behind me. He moved to stand in front of us, his face grim as he stared at my chest. “You must enter the Garden of Eden now and seek the chalice of Heaven. You must drink from it to be purified of the evil that was put on you.”
My jaw dropped. My pulse quickened. WHAT?
Malachi cleared his throat. “May I go with her?”
“You may escort her to where she needs to go, but she must do it on her own.” Gabriel looked down at me and nodded once. “Good luck. The power of Heaven is with you.”
The second he vanished I cried out and buried my face in Malachi’s chest.
“I know. I’m so sorry, Chloe,” his voice was soft but raw. “Once you drink from the chalice all the pain will be gone. I will be with you every step of the way.”
I nodded and licked my lips. “O-kay,” I said with every ounce of strength I could muster.
Spot whined and leapt over to us. He licked my face then licked Malachi’s.
“Spot – no, Spot, look at me.” He ducked down and ruffled his ears. “Go home to Dad. Wait for me there. As soon as we’re out, I’ll call for you.”
He cocked his head to the side and whimpered.
Malachi smiled. “I promise. Go ahead. Go.”
I tried to speak, to say something to poor Spot who definitely didn’t want to be separated from Malachi, but I was too weak. My mouth couldn’t move. I met his mismatched gaze and hoped my mouth smiled the way I thought I was.
Spot grumbled but then black smoke coiled around him…and then he was gone.
Malachi stood, hoisting me onto my feet and still holding me upright. “Ready?”
I nodded because it was all I could do.
He moved us to the edge of the waterfall. Water droplets splashed onto my face…and then we stepped into the waterfall. The moment the water touched us, my whole body spasmed and tightened up. He wrapped his other arm around me and kept walking, dragging me with him. Then the water was gone. I looked down to our clothes only to discover we weren’t wet.
“Welcome to the Garden of Eden, Chloe.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Chloe
I hadn’t put much thought into what the Garden of Eden might look like, but it definitely wouldn’t have been what I saw before me. The ground beneath our feet was light gray cobblestone. The pathway cut through white sand that stretched on in both directions as far as I could see. The sky was such a faint blue it looked white. Up ahead, the cobblestones turned into a small set of stairs. At the top, a chalice sat sparkling like glitter.
Oh, thank God. It’s right there.
“No, no. That’s not it, love.”
A strangled cry left my lips. My knees buckled and I dropped but he caught me before I hit the cobblestones. He sat me back on my feet and I imagined this is what Ruby the bunny felt like when I used to try and make her walk. My legs were there but they were not functioning, neither were my arms. The only reason I was breathing was because my body did it subconsciously. Every single inch of me throbbed like someone was slamming me with a hammer.
“W-wh-wh-wh—” I whined and let my mouth close. Words just weren’t going to happen.
“It’s okay. Don’t speak,” he said softly and adjusted his grip on my hip. “Save your strength. I am not allowed to carry you, so we’ll have to go like this.”
I groaned and nodded. Then winced as the movement sent sharp pain through my head.
“And nothing here will harm you, unless you drink from the wrong chalice.”
There was no way we’d make it all the way there like this, with me just propped against him. We had to switch up my position to make it easier. I needed to put my arm around his shoulders but my mouth refused to open to speak the words. I tried a few more times as he dragged me several feet but then my legs turned into pudding and I slid down the side of his body. He pulled me back up into the same position, so I turned my head and gently slammed my face into his chest.
He stopped. “What’s that?”
I looked up at him, then down to my own arm just dangling there, then back up to his shoulder. Then I made a weird grunting noise. Put my arm around your neck and hold it.
“Oh. Right, obviously.”
He shook his head as he carefully wrapped my left arm around his neck and hooked his fingers with mine to keep it there.
He gently reached down and took my left hand in his but it felt like rubbing sandpaper over road burn. I hissed through clenched teeth. He froze and started to let me go. I groaned and shook my head. Just do it! He grimaced and then took a deep breath and lifted my left arm up. I screamed out, then bit down on my bottom lip.
His face was tight and pale like he was going to be sick. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry…”
My heart sank. I couldn’t imagine how much this was all hurting him, both literally and figuratively. I craned my head up and pressed my lips to wherever I could reach – the base of his throat. His cheeks flushed and it looked adorable with that soft golden angel glow of his. It was only in that second that I realized he still looked like his angel self. His white wings floated behind us like clouds. Most of his body was covered in those golden lines, except for where our soulmate glyph had turned them red.
He glanced down at me as we hobbled along the path, with basically my legs just dragging. I must’ve been making a strange face because he did a double-take. “What?”
I licked my lips. “Angel…”
“Oh.” He smiled. “We’re on the Heavenly plane now. I will always be in my true form here.”
I nodded. That made sense. Angels had to look like angels in Heaven. I was just grateful he could look different on Earth, otherwise a vampire and an angel would look strange walking down the street together. I frowned as my plan for immortality came back to me. It was still the only way to achieve it, but it meant I needed to be stronger than this. I clenched my teeth, took a deep breath through my nose, and pushed with my feet.
The world spun as sharp pain shot straight up my legs. I cried out and shook my head. I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate on breathing through the pain. Every step was unbearable. Every breath burned. Every brush of hair along my body felt like razor blades.
“Chloe, love?” His voice was sharp. “I need you to open your eyes for me, okay?”
The panic and fear in his voice was the only thing that gave me the strength to open my eyes. The small movement alone was excruciating. My eyes burned like I had sand in them.
“Thank you. Just stay with me.”
When I looked up my jaw dropped, making me wince. Gone was the white desert and blank sky. In its place was...paradise, of every kind. Everywhere I looked, there was something to see. Sprawling mountains with high peaks and waterfalls gushing from their sides. Luscious green grass and trees of every shape and size. In the distance, I spotted lakes with glass-like surfaces reflecting the white puffy clouds above. There were spots of color and light. I wanted to discover all of it.
We were moving better now that I could put some strength in my legs. I could help us hobble along. In no time, the cobblestone pathway turned into bright green grass. Birds chirped in delight as they flew over our heads. Rabbits and squirrels chased each other across our path. Butterflies fluttered around my face. The warmth of the sun soothed my skin.
Everything around me was absolutely beautiful, but I couldn’t keep myself upright. Malachi was basically carrying me, yet the pain was still too much. I grew weaker with every step, every breath. Every other step my pulse stopped and skipped beats, like something had startled me. I kept f
eeling eyes watching me and fingers running down my spine.
Something moved in the corner of my eye. I flinched and looked toward it but saw nothing but the paradise around us. When I turned back I spotted an intersection of sorts. Off to the left, the grass faded into golden sand with soft ocean waves rolling onto the shore. To the right, there was an intricate archway made of limestone that was covered in flowery vines, and beyond it a thriving garden of vibrant flowers beckoned us in. Up the center, the path disappeared between the trees and led into the tall mountains basking in the sunlight. Each option looked inviting.
A dark object moved in my peripheral vision. I turned, but again there was nothing. My stomach tightened. I turned to face forward and slammed into a black wall. I gasped and dug my heels into the ground, then cried out as pain radiated through me. Everything was dark. Pitch black. I couldn’t see a single thing.
Malachi?
Malachi??
MALACHI—
“Chloe!” He shouted through the darkness. I felt his hands squeeze mine. “I’m here. You’re still here. Listen to the sound of my voice and fight it.”
My pulse beat frantically. I blinked and shook my head, crying out with every sharp shot of pain. I pushed with my magic and felt the coolness of my smoke rush over my fingers.
“That’s it. Push harder.”
Malachi’s voice was the lighthouse in the storm. I clung to it, focusing everything on it as I pushed with my magic. Bright light poked through. So I gave it more until the darkness vanished, leaving me clinging to Malachi’s body like a life raft. I sighed and sagged into him.
“That was Lilith. She’s trying to get to you, to stop you from getting to the chalice—”
“What—”
“She cannot outright attack you or harm you, but she can mess with your head—”
“Like Eve...and the apple…”
“We need to keep moving,” he said as he hoisted me back to my feet and started dragging me forward. “Just focus on the sound of my voice.”
The Rose Witch (The Coven: Old Magic Stand-Alone Novel Book 1) Page 19