Soul Symmetry

by J. L. Weil

  Since everyone was here and I was on my second cup of coffee, it seemed as good a time as any to devise a battle plan. Zane, Crash, and I caught the group up to speed, mostly. “Okay, so now we need to figure out what our next step is, what we’re going to do.”

  “Simple,” Crash smirked, forking a piece of French toast. “We search the manor from top to bottom, leaving no cushion unturned, no room unscathed, and no panty drawer untouched.”

  I snorted. “You go anywhere near my panty drawer and I’ll zap you.”

  Zane cut Crash a dark look.

  “Then we grab the relic, re-energize with a shot of Red Bull, and save the world. Boom.” Crash threw his hands up in a makeshift explosion.

  “What I think Crash is trying to say,” I said, shooting Crash a frown, “is, we need to start by finding the relic. Then we can worry about what to do with it.”

  “Is it powerful? Will it really restore the veil?” Zoe asked, taking dainty bites off her plate, unlike her twin who wolfed his food in two minutes flat.

  “Let’s find it first. We can figure the rest out later. If this thing is real and at the manor, we have to find it.” Zane voiced, again casting doubt Crash could be trusted.

  Crash leaned back in his chair. “Okay, but there is one problem, sunshine. Where do we start? Have you seen the size of this joint you live in?” The manor was like a museum. It would take hours—days even, to leave no room unturned. We didn’t have hours or days.

  “You’re the expert.” Zane pinned Crash with a glare. “You tell us.”

  I sighed. We’re doomed. As soon as the flitting thought left my mind, something happened. And not a good something.

  Chapter 24

  The kitchen wasn’t the kitchen. I blinked, but there was still nothing but darkness. No light. No sound. Gone was the chatter and the sarcasm, and in its place was the serene sound of nothingness. For a moment, I did absolutely nothing, and then I freaked. Zane’s name tumbled from my lips, my eyes darting around, trying to make sense of what happened—desperately searching for something…anything.

  Then I saw it.

  A speckle of gray, growing as the darkness faded, revealing I was no longer inside the manor, but outside. Had I transported myself?

  It was foggy, hindering visibility and covering the ground in wispy mists that curled in the cool air. Calm waters, a deep, almost-black surrounded me on either side. I spun slowly in a circle. In the distance, the manor was disappearing into the sweeping mists. There was no way for me to make my way toward home. Straight ahead lay only one path, away from the manor. Guess I was meant to go that way. This was more than a dream, or me day walking, but it had yet reveal its purpose.

  I followed the dark trail, my breath clouding the air as I walked. Thick trees with long weeping branches lined the walkway. The ground was cushioned in moss, muffling my footsteps. I kept my gaze directly ahead, but out of the corner of my eyes I caught glimpses of movement. Flashes really, like faeries drifting between the branches.

  Cautiously, I walked, unsure of where I was going or what I would find, but I didn’t stop. Something pressed me to move on. That something called my name. The soft voice carried in the wind, whispering and summoning me.

  A flutter of light caught my gaze, standing out in the otherwise drab environment. It was familiar, oddly comforting and lacking any sense of danger.

  Piper. Again, I heard my name. Going with my gut, I sought the direction of the voice.

  The pathway abruptly dead-ended, opening into a massive glade, where spheres of glowing blue light dangled in the air. They lit the treetops. The only thing I could compare it to was the Northern Lights. It was beautiful. I hadn’t expected such beauty to live in the middle of nowhere. Take away the otherworldly glow, and it looked eerily like the circular grounds of the council.

  A tingle skated up my spin right before a voice said, “Welcome to the Grove.”

  I recognized the voice at once. “Mom?”

  “Hey, sweetie.” Her voice was the most tender sound in the world. She looked regal in a silky dress of white, plain, but she didn’t need anything flashy to be beautiful. Her beauty was all-natural.

  Relief crossed my face. I wasn’t alone, thank God. “The Grove?” I repeated. “What is this place?”

  “It is the sanctuary for those who have passed on,” she explained. “Only a person with a pure heart and the power of a reaper may pass through the guards.”

  “How did I get here?” I wasn’t dead. At least I didn’t think I was. That would be my next question.

  Her dew-colored eyes softened. “Real power is inherited from women. You know by now our bloodline is supreme. To walk between realms is one of your gifts.”

  What did she mean, walk between realms? “I thought I could only summon the banshees of the past, my ancestries? It doesn’t explain how I’m here.”

  “I know this is a lot to absorb. We didn’t want to overwhelm you all at once.” Translation, they had withheld information, leading me to believe something that was false. “It’s you who comes to us. Prior to the destruction of the veil, we could not pass in any form to the living, but you, Piper are able to pass over to the other side. Not with your physical body, but with your mind.”

  Say what? My eyes glanced left and right, seeing my surroundings in a different light. “I’m in the afterlife?” I asked, staring at her.

  She nodded. “You are.”

  My time in the otherworld was like a dream, hazy and ethereal. I finally understood. Rose, Mom, Celeste, they weren’t coming to me on Earth. I was traveling to them. Not physically, but with my mind. I bridged the gap between here and the other side.

  It was like Inception.

  I glanced down checking out my form. “So this really isn’t my body?”

  “It’s the form you gave yourself.”

  Hell’s bells! Why hadn’t I made myself taller, with bigger boobs?

  She laughed, seeing my distressed expression. “You are beautiful just the way you are.”

  “Don’t tell me you can read my mind?” I muttered.

  “No,” she said, brushing the hair off my forehead. “I just know how your mind works.”

  “Lovely,” I muttered. “So, this place, is it made up as well?”

  “The Grove is never the same, for it is not a substantial place. It’s what you create, pulled from a memory or important place that may have impacted you.” She gazed around, seeing the stone circle where the council met. “By the looks of it, you’ve been summoned by the council. And I can guess why.”

  I bit my lip. “Uh, yeah. They’re very persistent in their attempts to marry me off.”

  “Oh Piper, it’s so good to see you.” She pulled me in, wrapping her arms around me tightly. I’d forgotten what her hugs were like. “How’s TJ? I want to hear about everything. Are you okay?” she rambled.

  I opened my mouth and then closed it. If I started unloading now, I wouldn’t be able to restrain the emotions threatening to spill. It was the mom complex. Seeing her broke down my walls. Beside Parker, Mom had been my confidant—the person I leaned onto to make everything better—the one who wiped my tears and kissed my scuffed knees. Maybe what I needed was a good long crying jag. But as I looked up into her slim face, I stiffened my lip and took a breath, forcing back the tears and willed them to freeze inside me. She also gave me strength. There was no room for useless tears, not today. I needed to be a tough chick. “I’m still alive,” I said, with a lame laugh.

  “I can see that,” she smiled. “And TJ?”

  “He’s with me at the manor. I’m doing everything I can to keep him safe.”

  “You were always such a protective big sister. I know you will take care of him.” She reached out, picking up my left hand. “What’s this?” she asked, running a finger over the silver band. “I thought the council wasn’t getting its claws in you?”

  A quick smile came to my lips. “They aren’t. I did get married, but to someone they will never app
rove of.”

  “To the other Hunter?” she guessed. “The half-breed?”

  My nose wrinkled. I dislike the name half-breed. It didn’t matter to me who his parents were or how pure his blood was. “Yes, Zane. His father has declared him his heir.”

  A low chuckle scampered from her lips. “I bet that went over well with the council.”

  “The council thinks I’m incapable of making decisions on my own. They had the nerve to assume I would follow like a dog and drew up a contract between Crash and I.” The idea still made me shiver. “So I went behind their back and wed Zane. I hope you’re not disappointed in me. I just couldn’t be forced to marry someone I didn’t love.”

  “You can never disappoint me. I would be more upset if you didn’t fight for what you believe in, including love. You Piper, behind all the sarcasm and tough-girl shell, are a romantic. Just like me.”

  I don’t know how she figured, but it was true my mom had been a hopeless romantic. She’d married a painter, for criminy sakes.

  Crash?” she repeated, trying to place the name. “He is the son of Heath, overlord of the Red Hawks?”

  I nodded. “The son of king douche.”

  “He was a baby when I left, but Heath has always been a slimy tool. He used to give me the creeps as a little girl.”

  Her comment made me smile. “Same,” I agreed.

  “And his son?” she inquired, wondering what kind of reaper he was, like his father or someone I counted on.

  I shrugged. “Crash is a wildcard. I don’t know if I can trust him. I definitely couldn’t marry him. Actually, he claims there is a relic at the manor that could mend the boundary between us. Do you know anything about that?”

  Her goldish-white locks shined through the mist, but it was the seriousness of her mouth that caught my attention. “I do.”

  “I can’t believe it’s real,” I mumbled.

  “I didn’t say it was real, only that I’ve heard of it. The ground the manor sits on is sacred. It was the sole reason Rose chose to have her grand home built on that part of the island. If the relic does exist, it won’t be inside the manor, but located somewhere on the land.”

  “But you have no idea where?”

  She shook her head, regret clear in her gaze. “I’m sorry, honey.”

  “What about Celeste?” I offered, eager for any information.

  Skepticism crossed her brows with a pinch of surprise. “Where did you hear that name?”

  I shuffled my feet over the stone slab I was standing on. “I saw her. Here, I guess, but at the time I didn’t know it.”

  She lifted my chin with her gentle fingers. “This is why you will be a great leader, Piper. You’re smart. You know what you want. And you’re so strong, more powerful than you even know. I couldn’t stay and face my future. I ran away, and only made a bigger mess of things. But you, my daughter, are going to restore the balance.”

  I swallowed a lump of emotion churning inside me. “You did what you thought was best,” I said, needing her to know I wasn’t angry anymore—just the opposite. “I understand why you left, why you never told me. I might not have a few months ago, but I’m grateful. You gave me a life. You gave me Parker. And TJ.”

  “What of Parker?” she asked. “Is he nursing a broken heart?”

  I snorted. “Um, maybe for a hot minute. I think we both realized we’re better as friends. He’s sort of dating Zane’s sister, I think.”

  “You think?” She gave me one of her secret-all-knowing smiles. “I thought you guys told each other everything.”

  “A lot has changed,” I muttered, including Parker, I added silently. “He wants me to make him a harbinger of death.”

  She looked at me square. “Why haven’t you?”

  I stared at her, seriousness lining her forehead. My eyes widened. “Mom!” I thought she would have been on my side, not for turning my best friend into a reaper. “It’s dangerous.”

  “So is him knowing. Maybe more so.”

  I twined my fingers together. “I’ve been thinking the same thing.”

  “Sounds like to me, you’ve already made your decision,” she mused.

  My heart twisted as I looked at her face. I knew what I was going to do, what I should have done already, but I was exceptional at procrastination. Like now. There were a million things I should be doing, but being in the Grove gave me a quiet calm I hadn’t felt in a very long time. I closed my eyes.

  “Princess,” whispered a voice, heart-wrenchingly familiar, drawing me out of my moment of Zen. There was something sad and painful, bordering on desperate, and it tugged at my soul.

  Zane? Was he here? With me? But even as the thought ran through my head, I knew he couldn’t be here. Zane was alive. This was a place for the dead. I opened my eyes, seeing the mist had swelled, eddying around me from toe to head.

  “Come back,” he murmured, his deep and lyrical voice cutting through the thick layers of fog. “I need you.”

  I was torn, my emotions split down the middle. I wasn’t ready to leave my mom, wanting to treasure the rare moments we were able to see each other, but I couldn’t stay here forever. No matter how much I longed for the solitude and the quiet. Really though, how much could a few more minutes hurt?

  “You can’t,” he pleaded. “If you don’t come back soon, you’ll be lost forever, drifting in the afterlife. Fight, Piper, please.”

  All I did was fight. I was tired of fighting. Nothing but pain and death waiting for me back home. Here, I didn’t feel the agony. I didn’t feel the pressure. All I felt was…nothing really. And that’s what made it so blissful. Emotions tangled everything up. Without them, life was so much simpler.

  “You have me,” Zane reminded, urgency lacing his words.

  What was the big rush? Five more minutes with my mom wasn’t going to kill me.

  “I’m waiting for you. Don’t leave me, princess.” His voice broke off in a shaky sob that rocked me to my core. It was so unexpected, the sheer despair. A trigger went off inside me.

  Leave Zane? I would never leave him. I loved him. Why would he think I would leave?

  “He’s right, Piper,” Mom said, softly sweeping a pale strand of hair off my shoulder. Hair so like hers. Sometimes it scared me how much I grew to favor her. When I looked in the mirror, for a brief second I saw my mom. Then my world would crumble, remembering she was gone, and my reflection was the closest I would get to her…except for moments like this. “You must go back, now,” she rushed, her eyes becoming frantic. The mist grew angry, coming between us. “You’ve been here too long. Time isn’t the same here as it is in the living. If you stay any longer, you’ll risk losing your soul.”

  “I’ll be dead?”

  Her face was solemn and beautiful. “You’ll be trapped, neither living nor dead.”

  There was always a catch. Blood drained from my face.

  “Please Piper,” Zane murmured. “Don’t leave me. Not yet.” The raw emotion hit me, breaking through the mist to reach me. So vital and gut wrenching, it almost brought me to my knees.

  Tears clogged my throat and burned my eyes. My heart lurched. I had to say goodbye. “I won’t see you again, will I?”

  She shook her head, smiling sadly. “Go home, honey. You don’t belong here. I love you,” her voice trailed off.

  “Mom,” I called, but it was too late, my surroundings had begun to shimmer, blurring the stone circle. The mist broke, stirring to darkness. An eternity passed, or maybe it was only a few seconds before the void gave way.

  When it did, I blinked. Zane’s voice calling my name slowly sharpened, until the room around me focused. I latched onto his eyes.

  His hand grabbed me, solid and very real.

  The journey back to the living had been swift, leaving him a little unstable. I leaned on him, knowing he wouldn’t let me fall. Seeing his bright cobalt eyes and how pale his skin was, I understood how much I had to lose here. My mom might be gone from me, but Zane was right here in fro
nt of me. Keeping me anchored. Keeping me sane. Keeping me focused. Keeping me strong. He was my future. I needed to stop looking to the past and concentrate on making sure we had a future.

  I could never go back. I would never see my mom again. Rose. Or Celeste. It was too dangerous. I’d already crossed over with my mind one too many times, to do so again would push the laws of nature. It didn’t stop the sharp ache that overtook me, leaving me gasping for air.

  “Breathe, princess,” Zane murmured, his lips brushing against my temple as he held me to him.

  “Don’t let go. Not yet.” My voice was weary.

  “I wouldn’t dream of it,” he said softly.

  What I’d learned today, about myself, about the relic, and all that I had to leave behind, was like losing my mother over again, an open wound that would only heal with time. I suspected Zane’s love for me would dull the pain. He was my road to recovery.

  “Are you all right?” he whispered, his hands framing my face.

  “I think so.” I had to push my personal emotions aside. We had work to do, but first, I was going to monkey hug my husband.

  His arms automatically went around me, and he dropped a kiss on my forehead. “Don’t ever do that to me again.”

  My eyes glistened as I looked up at him. “I won’t,” I promised.

  “Good, because you took ten years off my soul.”

  “Is someone going to tell me what just happened?” Zoe demanded, a frown deepening her dimples.

  I let my heels touch the ground again, but didn’t move completely out of Zane’s embrace, and turned slightly to see everyone staring at me, their faces ranging from concerned to baffled. “I think I know where to start looking for the relic,” I announced.

  “How?” Parker was beside me, leaning against the counter.

  I bit down on my lower lip. “I crossed over.”

  “To the afterlife?” Zane stated in a way that said he was hoping I was joking.

  Sorry, Zane. No joke. I nodded. “The one and only.”

  “Piper,” he scolded. “Do you know how dangerous that is?”

  I rolled my eyes. “I didn’t do it intentionally. It just happened.”