“Sorry,” Levi said, noticing my expression. “I attract them. I always have.”
“So do I.”
“Not for the same reasons, I’m sure. They watch me, especially those still loyal to me.”
“The drudens?”
“Mostly.”
“That’s how you’ve been hiding from me all this time?”
“Just until I was ready. I wanted to wait until I had all the information before I approached you. And I knew you wouldn’t exactly trust my word.”
I stopped at the door, looking up. “So … you planned for a year, and the best you could come up with was to knock me down?” I said, looking back at Levi.
His cheeks flushed, a sheepish grin spreading across his face. “Yeah.”
He opened the door and gestured for me to lead the way. I walked in and noted the vintage lamps and décor, like the embroidered doilies and antique furniture. Old photos of the lighthouse and its inhabitants throughout its life hung on the white walls.
“So, it’ll just be us here?” I asked.
“There’s a lighthouse keeper, Paulo. He just happened to be staying here when I arrived, volunteering. I hired him for the duration of my stay. There’s also Adelaide. She keeps the house, and she also happens to be a really good cook.”
I lifted my hands and let them fall to my thighs. “Now what?”
“Quick tour. Then we talk,” Levi said.
He led me into the living area, kitchen, bedroom, and library on the first floor and the keeper’s suite upstairs.
“This is Paulo,” Levi said.
A lanky, tall man with a salt-and-pepper beard and rusty skin shook my hand. He greeted me with a thick accent and kind eyes. He seemed mildly aware that something was different about me, similar to what he’d noticed about Levi.
“Good to see you,” Levi said, leaving Paulo for the stairs.
I glanced behind me, seeing that Paulo was watching us closely as we left his living quarters.
Levi offered the worn cushions of the sofa in the living room. He opened a window, letting the sheer curtains wave in the salty breeze. I could hear the waves gaining intensity as the wind picked up.
Levi frowned. “If it gets much worse, you might be stuck here for the night. Do you want to try to catch the next ferry?”
I shook my head. “I have a lot of questions.”
“Are you sure?” he asked.
“I’m sure.”
Adelaide brought in tea, and I pulled a throw from the armrest and settled back against the sofa just as the rain began to fall.
Levi propped his elbow on the top of a cushion and rested his temple on his fist.
“Why are you smiling?” I asked.
“You’re here. You’re three feet away from me. It makes me very happy.”
“How soon could the memories return?” I asked.
“I’m not sure it’s the same for everyone. Are you in a hurry?”
I wanted to sink back from his intense stare, but I denied myself the luxury of embarrassment. “Aren’t you?”
“You have no idea.”
“So, tell me. Maybe once I know everything, I’ll start to remember.”
Levi sat forward, clasping his hands together. “Okay, we’ll start from the beginning.”
The waves against the rock lulled me to sleep, something I didn’t often need. The moment my eyes closed, I was surrounded in the bright white light Levi had described to me. We were bathed in energy unlike anything I’d felt on Earth. My hands shimmered as they reflected the glisten of Heaven.
A large arched doorway loomed in front of me, so different from my surroundings. Thick smokelike tendrils swirled and danced from the opening, and although I was unafraid, I knew that doorway led to nightmarish things.
Standing just beyond the light was Levi, leaned against the side, relaxed and smiling. We were engaged in conversation, beyond terms of trust or suspicion. I knew him, and he knew me. We were friends—more than friends. The pull between us was intoxicating, addictive, but Levi stayed in the doorway, hidden from anyone who might oppose our talks.
“It’s time we go to them,” he said. “We must demand peace.”
“It’s impossible. They won’t listen,” I said.
Levi was opposed to the ways of his father’s dominion, much like he was on Earth. Forgiveness and peace had monopolized our talks for decades until he’d confessed that he loved me.
“What is impossible?” he said with that smile I couldn’t turn away from.
“Our request has an agenda. They’ll know.”
“It’s as good a reason as any.” He sighed. “No more pretending for us. No more hiding in the shadows.”
“I want that. I’m afraid that’s exactly why it won’t happen.”
“Love,” he said, reaching out to caress my face.
I leaned into his hand, relishing every second he touched me.
“If it’s what you want, you’ll have it. We will find a way to be together.”
I held his hand to my cheek, breathing in the sharp musk that I had come to love.
“I can’t stay,” he said, looking over his shoulder. “It’s going to be okay. I promise.”
I looked over my shoulder, knowing the consequences and knowing that I needed him anyway. “I’m afraid,” I said.
“Fear isn’t real.” Levi reached for my hand. He looked upon me with such love and understanding even though he knew I had ruined everything. “They’re not feelings. They’re only things that happen to us. It’s not time for fear. It’s time for courage. Do you trust me?”
“Yes.”
The look in his eyes gave me no choice but to reach out to him. I lusted his mouth and his touch, but once I had finally felt his arms around me, I also realized we’d been discovered, as if a spotlight were shining on the two of us.
He tensed. “I love you,” he whispered into my ear. “Remember that.”
He was pulled through the doorway, and I screamed, reaching out into the darkness.
Michael stood behind me, his eyes full of regret. “Come with me.”
I nodded, knowing a struggle was pointless.
In Heaven, there was no trial, no sides. Only one sovereign meant only one ruling, and justice was carried out with love. I would be sent away for a time, alone, to center and focus on my true purpose.
My sentence was carried out as soon as it had been given. In one moment, I was basking in the love and light of the Creator, and as if I covered my eyes from the sun, it was gone.
I found myself on all fours in a dark room, alone. I called out for Levi, then the Archangels—Gabriel, Michael, Eli—and then even the Creator. I pushed myself off the ground, holding my hands out in front of me. After several minutes of walking, I realized there were no walls, only floors that went on forever. My eyes widened, trying to pull in any light available to see, but the place I had been sent to was devoid of everything.
“Levi?” I called out. My voice didn’t carry or bounce back to me. It was simply swallowed whole by the darkness, as I had been.
I had no knowledge of this place. Without any idea where I was or how long I would be there, I knelt and held my own hands, praying with my eyes tightly closed until I could no longer speak. Then I prayed in my mind until I could no longer think. When it seemed the whole universe had gone dark, I lay on my side, curled up in a ball on the cold hard floor and fell out of consciousness once again.
“Eden,” a familiar voice called.
I climbed to my feet, shielding my sensitive eyes from the red glow coming from the open doorway a hundred yards away. A dark form stood before it, shoulders lifting and falling in quick succession, as if it had been a long battle to reach me.
“Levi?”
My eyes opened, my cheeks wet from crying in my sleep. The darkness transformed into a small room with white walls and aging portraits. The clean air and abundance of flowery aroma had been replaced by the smell of rain, sea spray, and Levi’s familiar sharp
scent of a campfire.
Levi was watching me with obvious concern. His eyes were full of cautious hope as he waited for a sign of my recollection. “Say you remember.”
Touching my fingers to my lips as I watched large drops dive-bombing the ground, I mulled over the fractured memories—including when we had been exiled—coming and going like quickly changing channels on a television.
“Was it just a dream?”
“Was I there?”
I slowly nodded. “You were taken away.”
He sighed, relieved. “You remember.”
I scrambled from my spot on the sofa onto his lap, curling up and burying my face in the crook of his neck.
Without hesitation, Levi wrapped his arms around me and pressed his cheek against my hair, holding me tight. “Everything?”
“Fragments. A million bits to piece together.” I hugged him back. “You feel like you.”
He exhaled, pure contentment radiating from his body. The feeling was so strange. I had never been in love before, but I always loved Levi, this total stranger who encompassed me in his arms as if I were precious to him. We had spent a hundred thousand lifetimes together, and this would be our last. The desperation of my former self to be near him conflicted with the inexperienced young woman I was now.
His eyebrows pulled in. “You said there would come a time when it wouldn’t hurt so much, that I wouldn’t miss the way your hand felt in mine, or your smell, the sound of your laugh, or the color of your eyes. That time came just now.”
A lump formed in my throat.
“But I always knew you were the one,” he said softly. “One way or another, you were my beginning and the end.”
“Always? As in the dawn of time.”
“Literally. Who knew curiosity could lead to all of this? I saw you, in Eden, dealing with the mess my father had created after he tempted Eve. I watched you all day and then days turned to months. I couldn’t stop,” Levi said against my hair.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
“I’m not. I would rather miss you than never loved you. There hasn’t been a day when I didn’t feel that way.”
The white walls reflected green hues from the setting sun shining through the storm. My cell phone hadn’t rang, so that meant my parents knew exactly where I was and why. At least they trusted me for once.
“I was in darkness for a long time,” I said. “A really long time. You saved me.”
He touched my face. “I bargained for a second chance.”
“Bargained what?”
After a pause, he shrugged. “Everything.”
I looked up at him. “That’s where the dream stopped. What happened next?”
He looked down at me, staring deep into my eyes, with a sweet smile on his face. “This.”
He pecked my lips once and then again. My lips parted, allowing his tongue inside. He pulled me closer, his hands finding their way to cup my jaw, and then his fingers brushed back my bangs.
He pulled away, touching his forehead to mine and closing his eyes. “I’ve waited lifetimes for you.”
He looked back, toward the door, and in the same moment, my senses reached beyond the dark creatures surrounding the lighthouse, Levi, and the house employees. A mixture of both good and evil was coming our way—and they were many.
“Levi?”
He stood, bringing me with him. “I feel it.”
“They’re coming.”
“I know,” he said, releasing me to open a wooden chest full of weapons. He loaded a pistol and tossed it to me.
I pressed on the handle with my thumb, and the clip popped out from the grip. “What am I supposed to do with this?”
“They’re shells.”
My parents had spoken of shells from their travels to Jerusalem where I was born. Thousands of demons had taken over the humans and attacked us, hoping to stop my birth. Possession made it easier for demons to navigate Earth’s plane even if it was an abomination and disparagement of the Balance.
“Shells?” I put down the weapon. “I can’t kill anyone.”
He clenched his teeth and picked it up again, holding its grip out for me to take. “These are demons disturbing the Balance, Eden. It’s permitted.”
“Once the demons leave them, they’re human again. I won’t kill them.”
Levi shoved the gun at me. “But you can slow them down.”
I nodded, relieving him of the pistol. I took another from the chest and shoved it into the back of my shorts. “Something else is coming. I can’t get a read on it, but it’s big.”
“Michael … I think. Possibly your grandfather. Your family isn’t far behind.”
I shook my head. “Something else.”
“We’ll know soon enough.”
I followed Levi to the entrance, spinning around when I heard footsteps stomping down the stairs. He moved unnaturally, as if his body were broken. In the next second, Levi’s fingers were around Paolo’s neck, holding him to the wall with little effort.
Paolo hissed, his eyes solid black globes protruding unnaturally from the sockets. Levi thrust his face toward Paolo, baring his teeth, a carnal growl ripping from his throat.
Paolo cowered, but the hissing protest continued.
“Get me the rope from the chest, Eden. Go,” Levi commanded.
In seconds, I had retrieved the rope. I helped Levi tie Paolo to the thick bottom pillar of the banister. Paolo struggled against the bindings. Once again, we were standing next to the door, holding our pistols close.
“Is this it?” I asked. “Is this the part where we die?”
Levi smiled. “This is my father having a temper tantrum. We can handle it.”
“But you said Michael was coming. Why would the Creator dispatch—”
“He doesn’t like it when Hell messes with his plans.”
“So, he’s going to protect us until we die? That makes sense.”
Levi cocked his pistol. “Isn’t that what they do to those on death row?”
I peeked out the curtain, seeing fifty shells standing in perfect lines, ten across, five deep. They were all soaked from rain and sea.
I looked back at Levi. “Don’t kill anyone. Promise me.”
Levi winked. “I will do my very best, love.”
Paolo cackled, a frightening sound even through the rope gag across his mouth. “They’re coming for you,” he said, his words muffled. “And then for her.” His accent had changed, his voice low and hoarse.
I’d heard the voice of a demon before, but the sound coming from Paolo’s throat was more than one voice and so different from human that it was unnerving.
“Silence, Nybbas,” Levi barked, unfazed.
Once Levi called the demon out by name and commanded him, he recoiled and cried out.
Levi winked at me. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of this.”
I forced a small smile. “I believe you … Levi.”
His eyes fluttered, and then his entire body tensed, his back arched. “No … no!” His voice bellowed, filling the entire house. “I said no!” He didn’t sound like himself as he commanded whatever was attempting to take over his body. He strained, the veins in his neck and forehead bulging.
“Levi?” I cried.
He grunted and crouched over, breathing hard, still struggling. I reached out to him, but he held out his hand, signaling for me to stay away.
He fell to his knees, and then he was still.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
He nodded.
“What was that?” I asked, horrified. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
Levi gripped his knee with a free hand and then stood, seeming fatigued. “They tried to shell me.”
My eyebrows pulled in. “Which one?”
“All of them.”
Paolo laughed again, his body trembling in delight. His fingers curved in like a primate, his back was bent, and his shoulders hunched. He was soaked in his own sweat, his hair dripping as if he’d been ou
t in the rain.
Levi approached him. “Silence, demon.”
As Paolo continued to laugh, Levi bent his elbow high in the air, and then letting go, his fist met Paolo’s face. Blood spattered as his nose exploded with the blow, and his head fell backward, his body limp.
“Will they try it again?” I asked, worried.
Levi rolled his shoulders back and blew out a cleansing breath, offering a comforting smile. “Even as one, they aren’t strong enough.”
“You’re sure?”
He nodded and smiled, trying not to look as unsettled as I felt.
“Good to know.”
“They’re here,” Levi said. “Your family is docking the Katherine. Let’s move.”
I nodded and pulled open the door, pointing my gun at the dozens of shells standing in the pouring rain. I cocked my weapon and pointed it at the woman standing in the middle, her eyes like large obsidian marbles, her skin pale and thin as paper. A human would become very sick after being shelled, and they would never be quite the same after. I scanned their faces, knowing each innocent life would be forever changed because of me and this enduring bid for power.
“Step back, demon,” I commanded, cocking my gun.
The rain pelted my face and eyes, causing me to squint. The demons would use our compassion against us, many times forcing the death of a shell, but I wouldn’t allow that.
She bared her teeth, her white nightgown translucent, highlighted intermittently by the beam of the lighthouse. I imagined how horrified, how cold and ill, she would be when the demon left her.
“Leave her!” I said.
She twitched, the dark spirit inside of her struggling to keep hold.
A shell attacked Levi, and he easily struck down a man twice his size. With limbs sprawled out in every direction, the man’s body slid along the ground and stopped in a shallow puddle.
“Last chance,” Levi said to the creatures standing before us.
My hair swelled with rainwater and formed droplets at the tips, sticking to my jawline. Within the first two minutes, I was as soaked as the woman before me. I wiped the water falling from my lashes and into my eyes, and just as my focus was broken, the woman sprinted toward me, followed by the dozens of shells around her.
I threw punches and kicks, ducking from their grip, but they were many. They succumbed to the blows I dealt, but they were as strong as Claire and Bex. Soon, they piled on top of me—punching, biting, scratching, and pulling at my hair and skin.
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