I listened to the music, and thought about the man sitting beside me. The man I’d fallen in love with lifetimes ago. It was easy to see why. I was in love with him still.
“Are we flying back to Gunnison tonight?” I asked. The night had been so magical. Emil had managed to take my mind off of my crazy life and make me feel normal for a few hours. The thought of going back to the secluded mountains where I had to be on constant lookout for shadows and people who wanted to take my soul wasn’t appealing. I really wanted to stay in the city for the night with Emil.
“Yeah.”
I frowned.
“Don’t you want to go back to Gunnison?” he asked.
“No. Not really.”
Emil shifted to the side in the back of the car so he could see me better. “Me either,” he said, running his fingers lightly through my hair, “but, there’s an overnight rule.”
I lifted my chin slightly, looking up at him. “An overnight rule?”
“Yeah. Our dates with you can’t last all night.”
I laughed, thinking that line of thought sounded a lot like the old “the devil comes out at midnight” theory people subscribed to in the Middle Ages. I had a pretty good idea which one of my soul mates had instigated that rule. “Because nefarious things can only happen at three in the morning?”
Emil gave a slow smile. “Alex seems to think so,” he said with a glint in his eye. “That’s one of the differences between us.” He brushed a hand lightly over my check and held my gaze. “I have experience. With you. And I’ll never be predictable.”
I felt color rising in my cheeks and took a breath to calm it. “Good to know.” I leaned my head on Emil’s chest as he continued to play with my hair. I closed my eyes, relaxing from the gentle tugs on my scalp.
Emil pulled me closer as we drove. I snuggled under his arm and sighed. I couldn’t resist it anymore. I wanted to be with him. I wanted to date him. The problem was the next time I was alone with Alex, I’d probably want the same things from him. I was lost in thought and hadn’t noticed the car was stopped until Emil said, “Is there a problem, Aaron?”
I looked out the window. Detour signs had taken us down a deserted side-street. There were no other cars in front of us. I turned in the seat to look out the back window—no one was there either. A sour feeling settled in my stomach and started working its way up my chest. I glanced at Emil, his lips were pursed and his body tense.
Aaron turned around. “I followed the detour signs, but I somehow ended up here and it’s a dead end.” He turned to look out the side windows. “I apologize, Mr. Stone. I’ll find another way out.” He put the car in reverse, slowly starting to back up. I saw his gaze go to the rearview mirror as we moved. Suddenly he stopped the car, his eyes locked on the mirror. Confusion flashed over his face at first, followed by the distinct wide-eyed panic of fear.
Emil and I shared a glance before turning around. Walking down the lightless street headed straight for our car were eight dark figures. It was too dark to tell anything more about them, but the feeling in the pit of my stomach was enough to know this wasn’t going to be an invitation to join them for milk and cookies.
Emil turned back to me. “Whatever happens, stay in the car.”
I opened my mouth slightly, my eyes huge. “So you’re planning to fight them all on your own?”
“Not on my own. I have Aaron.”
I spared a glance up front. Aaron was turned around, his focus shifting from the group outside to me and Emil. His eyes held a thread of guilt and I suddenly realized he worked for the Daevos. Of course he did. The plane was probably theirs too. Emil was wealthy, but as far as I knew, the network of people he counted on were all involved with the Daevos. It made sense that things like cars, houses, and private planes belonged to them too. I’d been so awestruck by Emil’s lavish date that I hadn’t put two-and-two together. “Aaron is a Daevos member?”
Emil nodded, directing his attention forward. “We need to find out what’s going on, and what they want.”
“Uh, maybe they’re a gang that wants to stab us and steal our fancy car,” I suggested.
Emil shook his head. “I doubt it.”
I didn’t. This wasn’t the best part of town and we were in an $80,000 car with tinting so dark we looked like little lost drug lords.
“I just wanted us to have one drama free evening.” He worked his jaw. “It almost happened.”
I didn’t begrudge him that. I wanted a drama free night too. Lately, I considered it a good day if I got a drama free hour.
Emil leaned forward in his seat. “They’re probably the Denver Daevos Clan. Maybe they’re wondering why we’re in their area. We’ll explain, and it won’t be a big deal.”
I snorted. “Yeah, I’m sure that’s exactly what’s going to happen.”
Emil looked at me, worry lining his face. “I don’t want you involved in this, Evie. Let me see what they want.”
“But I can help!” I countered. I was sick of being treated like I couldn’t take care of myself. Especially when I’d saved Alex and Emil from Caleb’s Clan in the Black Canyon cave.
Emil nodded. “I know. But we’re trying to keep your powers a secret. I’d rather not let them find out about your skills unless there’s no other choice. If it looks like we’re in trouble, I’ll raise my hand to signal you. If that happens, get out and do the same thing you did last time: use your mind to tell them to freeze.”
He opened the door. Aaron followed. “And if you have to help, please be careful, Evie. I can’t lose you again.”
The smell of paint hit me as Emil closed the door, and an uneasy feeling settled over me. I watched as Emil and Aaron started walking, large flakes of snow falling softly around them. I wrung my hands, worried. Being outside to help fight would be far better than sitting in the car doing nothing. I did have some Ninja Turtle training after all. I was thinking about getting out of the car when I heard a familiar voice that I’d only heard once before: the day in the cave.
Shadows, it said. The voice was like a whisper.
A jolt of heat shot through my soulmark and I gasped. Breathing deep, I could feel the power coursing through me. The figures Emil and Aaron were walking to weren’t Daevos members. Not at all.
“Emil!” I screamed, pushing the car door open and moving toward him. He stopped immediately, looking back over his shoulder at me. “Get away!” Without hesitation, he turned around and started running to the car. Aaron followed closely behind him. And the shadows weren’t far behind. I thought they’d both make it back to the car without a problem—until Emil slipped. He went down, skating across the ice on the ground, slowing his momentum while the shadows were gaining.
I had to do something. I knew it was dangerous to use my powers outright when no one was supposed to know about them, especially undefined shadow figures. I needed a way to disguise them. I couldn’t do that by telling the shadows to freeze and holding them in place with my mind. Plus, I didn’t think I could hold that many of them off.
Use the air. The voice said.
I furrowed my brow for a moment, but felt a sudden cold breeze hit me. I could control people, could I control the weather as well?
You have the power.
The voice had never failed me before. Trying couldn’t hurt. I knew it would be easier to protect the three of us—me, Emil, and Aaron—than to try and stop the shadows ten feet away. I wasn’t even sure I could stop them. Maybe they were like ghosts and could float through objects. I guessed I’d find out soon. I focused on the air, thinking about the snow swirling faster and faster, attempting to create a blizzard of my own that they couldn’t see us through.
The air grew colder. The wind kicked up as the air froze and snow crystals started to move around me in a circular pattern. The flakes were like pieces fitting together. I watched them fall into place, all the while thinking about protecting me, Emil, and Aaron from the shadows trying to attack us. But instead of a blizzard, I seemed to be bu
ilding a snow wall, barricading the shadows behind it. So my powers worked, but they were about as obedient as a spoiled Pomeranian.
The last flake fell softly into place. A snow wall I built in my mind was handy, though not what I’d intended. I wished there was a better way to control my abilities. Emil and Aaron stared at me in stunned silence as the shadows beyond the wall stopped in their tracks. So they couldn’t pass through it! Evie, one; shadows, zero. I’d built the supernatural equivalent of a road block.
Emil reached me, stooping to pick my pretty blue wrap up off the wet, snow crusted ground. I didn’t even notice it had fallen. He gently placed it back over my shoulders and quickly guided me to the car. The heat from his hands radiated through the wrap to warm my cool skin.
Emil and I slid into the backseat. Aaron quickly turned the Mercedes around, peeling out. I looked out the window. My wall of snow remained in place as we passed the shadows; I got the eerie feeling they were watching us leave. As we turned onto a main road with traffic and plenty of people, I exhaled deeply. I glanced at Emil. His lined expression was less than comforting. His eyes slid to my shoulders again as we got on the freeway, and he pursed his lips.
There were so many things I wanted to talk to Emil about, but wasn’t sure what was legal to say in front of Aaron. So, we both sat with our thoughts for the rest of the drive. We passed a lighted statue of a blue horse with wicked red eyes. I wondered if the devil horse had something to do with the Denver Broncos. Maybe they were discouraging tourists, and wanted travelers to feel like a poorly dyed Ringwraith would be following them home.
The brightly lit tent roof of the Denver airport came into view. We pulled into the area of the airport reserved for private jets. Aaron opened the door. I scooted out, the cold instantly attaching itself to the metal of my necklace, chilling my neck. Emil stood to the side with Aaron, speaking in hushed tones for a few moments before following me up the stairs of the plane.
Jean brought us both water. I waited until we were in the air and alone in the cabin to start asking questions. “Why do you think they were after us?”
Emil shook his head. “I have no idea. I don’t even know what they were.”
“Shadows,” I said. “Like the one I saw last summer.” Emil knew about that one.
“And you thought they were dangerous?”
“I know they were.”
“How?”
I’d told Alex and Emil about the voice in the cave. It was another thing they were trying to research on their own since we weren’t sure who could be trusted within the Amaranthine. “I heard the same voice tonight that I heard in the cave when I was trying to rescue you and Alex from Caleb’s Clan. The only time I’ve heard the voice before was when danger was present. It helped me protect you, Alex, and myself. Tonight, the voice warned me that they were shadows. I didn’t need more evidence than that.”
He considered for a moment. “And you were able to block the shadows with your powers?”
I nodded again. Though, I wasn’t really sure if my powers had blocked them. They didn’t try to break through the barrier. If they had, maybe I wouldn’t have been able to stop them.
“I’m glad. I just wish we understood your capabilities, and the ramifications of using your powers, better.”
“What are the shadows, Emil? How did they know where to find us?”
He took a deep breath. “I don’t know. We’ll talk to Alex about it when we get back.”
I lifted my water and scowled into it. Nothing was more frustrating than knowing we had enemies, but not knowing anything about the enemy, what they wanted, or how to stop them. Luckily, Emil was about to provide me a distraction.
Emil shrugged out of his jacket. When he’d slipped, his jacket had torn. He took it off to look at it. The shoulder of his shirt was ripped too.
Seeing the tear and the peek at Emil’s naked skin made me think about his vowmark—the web-shaped mark every Daevos member had. The size of the vowmark represented how many souls the Daevos member had taken. I’d felt part of Emil’s vowmark through his shirt when we were making out one time, but I hadn’t ever seen it—at least, not in this life.
“Your vowmark represents all the souls you’ve taken, right?”
Emil nodded.
“What did I think it was when we were married?” I asked.
“You didn’t pay much attention to it,” he said, inspecting the hole in his jacket sleeve.
I furrowed my brow, silently cursing the wrinkles I was going to get from all the eyebrow raising and furrowing I’d been doing since Emil and Alex came into my life. “How is that possible? I was your wife! I’m pretty sure I saw you naked.”
He smirked. “At least once a day.”
I rolled my eyes, trying to fight back my embarrassment.
He continued, “I wore long sleeved shirts and jackets at the time—like all the other men. It’s not like the lighting was spectacular at the time; we used candlelight.”
“That doesn’t sound like me. I think I would have noticed.”
Emil tilted his head, grinning. “During the times you might have seen it, you weren’t really interested in my arm.”
I tried to force back my blush…again. I didn’t succeed.
“You did ask about it once.”
“And?”
“I told you it was a scar from my childhood.”
That made sense. I would have accepted that answer now if I didn’t know better, so my Cassandra incarnation wouldn’t have had any reason to suspect Emil was lying. “Can I see your vowmark now?”
“No.”
“Will I ever get to see it?”
He frowned. “I’m sure you will eventually.”
“You don’t seem happy about that.”
Emil lightly ran a hand over the bump on his upper right arm. “It’s not something I’m proud of, Evie.”
“Did it get bigger when you took the souls of Caleb’s Clan?”
Emil thinned his lips. “No, it didn’t. I’m not sure why. All I can think is that it didn’t affect the vowmark because the souls taken were Daevos members.”
“What happens to a soul after it’s taken?” I asked. “Does it just cease to exist?”
“Kind of,” Emil answered. “Their memories are destroyed, but like all things with strong emotions attached, traces of some memories still linger. Those traces are held in a place called the Nothing. It’s said to be so dark that light can’t even penetrate it. Cold and damp, the Nothing is surrounded by blackness, trails of memories snaking by like smoke.”
That didn’t sound pleasant. I liked light, heat, and having my memories intact. “If their memories still exist, what’s to stop a soul from coming back?”
“They’d have to find the remnants from all of their own memories. Since only traces of those memories are held in the Nothing, and there are infinite amounts of those traces scattered around, it would be impossible.”
That made me feel a little better. “What about the good souls who are ready to move on and stop the reincarnation process?”
“They go to the Bliss. I’m told it’s a place of unimaginable beauty. Souls and memories are all still intact. Your experiences from all of your previous lifetimes are there, a part of your Bliss. You can revisit those memories on your own, or relive them with your soul mate. It’s different for every soul, but it’s said the Bliss is a combination of the places your soul was the most at peace. When two soul mates go to the Bliss together, their space is made of a blend of the places where they were both the happiest.”
My thoughts drifted to what my Bliss would look like. There would be mountains, and sand dunes, four-wheelers and Mustangs. I thought about Alex and Emil. I wondered how their worlds, their happiest moments, would fit with mine?
Emil shifted so he could see me better and put his arm around me, pulling me closer. He lightly ran his hand through my hair. “When did your soulmark start changing?”
Damn. He’d probably seen it when he helpe
d me put the wrap back on. I should have been more aware, but I was kind of busy holding off some evil shadows. “I noticed it after we fought Caleb. I think it had something to do with using my powers for the first time. It hasn’t changed since.”
Emil rubbed my neck lightly. “It does have something to do with you being a Tracker, but it shouldn’t have changed until you’re activated by another Tracker.”
I lifted my shoulder slightly. “Maybe the voice I heard in the cave did it. That’s when my powers started to work, so maybe the voice caused it.”
Emil thought about that for a minute. “Maybe,” he said, reluctantly.
We landed after the plane ride and pulled into my driveway five minutes later. The lights were on, so that meant Jasmine was home. After the night we’d had, I wasn’t up for another argument with her. I hated that such a romantic date had been interrupted by the shadows.
I got out of Emil’s Black BMW and he followed me to the door. I unlatched my clutch, pulling my keys out. I moved my hand to put the key in the lock, but Emil’s hand cupped mine, stopping me. I looked up, our gazes held in silence. Emil reached his other hand up, brushing his fingers lightly from my temple to my jaw. “I’m sorry, Evie. That wasn’t how I wanted to end the night.”
Before the shadows had shown up, the night had been perfect. His thoughtful planning, the romantic ice castles, and beautiful music had made me fall even more in love with Emil. I wasn’t happy it had ended with a crisis either. I lifted my shoulder slightly, noticing the warmth of his hand on my face against the biting cold. “It happens. I’m sure it won’t be the last time.”
He looked into my eyes. “I’d like to tell you otherwise, but I don’t want to make promises I can’t keep.”
“Probably for the best,” I said as he moved a little closer.
“But what I can promise is I’ll make it up to you.”
My voice was barely a whisper, “You will?”
Eternal Echoes, Emblem of Eternity Trilogy Book 2 Page 7