He knew what she was thinking. She was wrong. “Nothing. They can’t touch us, remember? Old protocols. They wanted me out. I was polluting their domain but here’s the thing. I refused to leave.”
“But what—I thought—”
“Within seconds of entering the Voids my skin started smoldering. But that’s nothing to what that place did to my wings. It was like acid seeping into the root of each feather, corroding it from the inside. Agony like nothing I’d ever imagined. And I embraced it.”
Her fingers tightened around his, trying to give comfort. Did she know that just being here, listening to him, was giving him more comfort than he’d known in millennia?
“With Eblis’s help, Zad, Mephisto and another archangel, Az, finally managed to track me down. It’s not easy breaking into the Guardians’ realm. By the time they found me I was half mad with the pain but still refused to leave. But they’ve always been stubborn bastards.”
“But you recovered.” He heard the anguish in her voice. He pressed her hands against his heart and offered her a tired smile.
“I was a mess. Not just physically. I’d gone beyond anything our archangelic powers of rejuvenation could handle. In the end they took me into the astral planes. The ultimate realm of healing and renewal.”
“The astral planes healed you.” Awe threaded her voice.
“It was a long shot but nothing else had worked. It took years. My soul in the astral planes, my physical body here, on this island, absorbing the healing vibes through the spiritual connection. Eventually I healed enough to return to my body but there’d been an unexpected side effect.”
Chapter Thirty-eight
FOR a moment she looked confused, and then awed comprehension illuminated her beautiful blue eyes.
“This island’s protective shield.”
“I was like a nuclear reactor in meltdown. We didn’t know it until later, but when I returned to my body the essence of the astral planes couldn’t be contained in a physical entity. It flooded into the atmosphere, encasing this island. The Guardians can’t ascend into the astral planes, and that’s why they can’t gain access to this island. But equally, it acts as an effective barrier against anyone wanting to ascend into that realm from the island.” He sighed heavily. “Like I told you before. I’m responsible for the protective force field but I can’t manipulate it. It just is.”
She slid her fingers from his and tenderly cradled his jaw. Such a light touch, yet he could feel it deep in the heart of his being.
“But your wings . . . were beyond repair?”
His wings. Ancient sorrow surfaced but it was no longer all-consuming.
“They were gone long before I was dragged from the Void. There was nothing left to salvage. When I finally regained my senses I was bitterly glad they’d gone. They were the one thing our goddess loved above all else about us. Our glorious wings. Her own unique creation.” He rolled his shoulders, felt the phantom tug of long-destroyed muscle and feathers. Yet still the dull ache did not consume. “That’s how we discovered the Voids weren’t archangel friendly.”
Her thumb caressed the corner of his mouth. He resisted the urge to suck her inside, to finish this discussion, to try and scrub his soul of the knowledge that he had failed to save a child who was, perhaps, the last but one Nephilim in the universe. Evalyne was so small, so fragile, how could she possibly have survived more than a few days in the Voids?
“You didn’t know before?” Aurora’s whisper curled through his jagged thoughts, dragging him back to reality.
“Why would we? We never traveled beyond Earth. We knew of the Guardians but not through personal experience. And of course we were protected as the Alphas were protected, not because we were beloved but because our DNA was pure first-generation Immortal.”
“But Evalyne’s bloodline is diluted,” Aurora said, and he instantly understood her meaning. Evalyne’s mortal heritage might be the one thing that had kept her alive in the Voids. The knowledge crucified him. To know she might still be suffering and yet he had no way of finding her. “And now I’m protected through you.”
He stared at her as disbelief thundered through his brain. Did she seriously still think they stood a chance of saving Evalyne?
“No, Aurora.” His voice was harsh. He had to make her understand the impossibility of her conviction. “Dark Matter doesn’t behave in the same way as the rest of the universe. It’s not easy entering those vast sectors of space, and even if I did manage it, I’d still have to break into the Guardians’ Voids. The chances of finding Evalyne in that endless abyss are virtually nonexistent. The only way Zad and the others found me was because the Guardians were so desperate to get rid of me they laid an energy trail. Even then it took a couple of years. Evalyne, if she’s still alive, doesn’t have that kind of time on her side.”
“But if there was some way of pinpointing her location, couldn’t you just teleport in quickly and grab her?”
Hadn’t she been listening to anything he’d said?
“There’s no way of discovering where she is.” Frustration hammered through every word. “And even if by some miracle we could, teleportation doesn’t work in the Voids. Their physics are completely alien to ours.”
She pulled back, gripped his hands and there was a strangely wild look in her eyes.
“I have an idea.” Her voice was breathless and he could hear the elevated beat of her heart. He stiffened, not sure what was on her mind but certain he wasn’t going to like it. Why did she have to be so stubborn? Why could she never accept his word? And knew, if she did, she would not have captured what remained of his heart. “Hear me out, Gabe. When I tried reaching my mother’s dimension I was in the exact place where she’d entered our world. I had the flower she’d worn on that day and I was focusing on that flower and the meadow of flowers she used to talk about. Do you see what I mean? I was attempting to psychically connect this world with hers.”
He did see what she meant. Could it be possible to locate Evalyne in a similar way? But even as hope flared, reality crashed down.
“But that’s different. Your DNA is of two dimensions. You’re talking about trying to create a connection between two points in this universe.”
“I know there’s no guarantee of success. But I think there’s a good chance of finding her this way.”
She sounded so hopeful. But there were so many drawbacks to her plan he hardly knew where to start. “Just because you could connect with your mother’s world doesn’t mean you could even penetrate the Dark Matter, never mind locate Evalyne in the Voids. We know the Guardians can’t enter the astral planes. It might be impossible for a connection to exist between that realm and the Dark Matter.”
“It’s got to be worth a try, hasn’t it?”
Frustration coiled deep in his gut. “For any hope of success we’d need some kind of gateway to exist in the physical world.”
“But we would have.” She sounded surprised, as if she’d thought he already knew that. “The breach is simultaneous in both the astral planes and here in the physical world.” Of course. Now he remembered she’d told him that before. “There’s no reason why I couldn’t have breached dimensions without entering the astral planes at all.”
“Then why bother with the astral planes?”
Her eyes widened. Had that thought never crossed her mind before? “Well, I don’t know. The idea to find my mum’s dimension came to me when I was there and it just seemed the right place to attempt such a journey. I find it easy to concentrate there. Besides, I like the astral planes. They’re . . . beautiful.”
It didn’t matter where Aurora made the connection. So long as she could. Was he seriously contemplating such a crazy idea? “Do you really think you can do this?”
“Yes. But.” She hesitated for a second, and looked unsure as to whether she should continue. “It would help if I had something to focus on, something unique and precious, something to connect with Evalyne.”
“There’s
sure to be something we can use in the chest of belongings her father gave me.” What kind of thing did Aurora need? “If we’re going to do this we can’t waste any more time. Every second in that place could be her last.”
“Yes.” For some reason he couldn’t fathom, Aurora sounded nervous. “The thing is I don’t think there’s anything in that chest that has the kind of connection I need.”
He frowned, his mind clawing through the possessions Jaylar had sent. “What do you need? Whatever it is we can get it.”
“That’s not what I mean.” She cleared her throat and he stared at her. What was she finding so hard to say? “Honestly, please believe me. I’d use mine if I thought it’d work but we both know it’s only a cheap fake of the real deal.”
For a second he continued staring at her and then icy suspicion inched through his veins. No. She couldn’t mean that. She didn’t even know about that. What was she talking about?
Except he knew what she was talking about. Guilt seeped from her every pore, from her every breath. But still he couldn’t find the words to articulate his tangled thoughts.
“I’m sorry.” Her whisper drifted through his mind, strangely disconnected. “I discovered the picture of you with your family the day I arrived. I saw your daughter wearing her necklace.”
Aurora held her breath as Gabe’s eyes slowly refocused on her. Her timing sucked. She’d never intended letting him know that she’d poked through his most private things. Would never in a million years have brought up the fact that she knew he’d once had a daughter.
But, although she couldn’t explain it, she knew if they had any chance of rescuing Evalyne they needed that precious archangelic artifact. It was a link across time and the cosmos between two beloved Nephilim.
“She was four years old.” The words were bleak and pain stabbed through her heart. She had been little more than a baby. “We never expected we’d have a child. Nephilim could conceive with mortals but not easily. What were our chances, when we were both cursed by the same vindictive goddess? But finally—finally, we held our baby in our arms. And I couldn’t save her.”
“Because your goddess betrayed you. It’s never been your fault, Gabe.”
“I was sworn to protect them.” Had he even heard her? Would he ever hear her, when it came to trying to assuage the guilt that corroded him? “Would’ve torn the universe apart to snatch them from danger. They were my beloveds. I’d have laid down my immortality for them but instead”—he gritted his teeth and his eyes glittered like raindrops bathing a fractured rainbow—“they died and I survived.”
A tiny piece of her heart withered. He would never forgive himself. No matter what she said. The necklace was too precious to him. He’d never allow her to use it for something that she couldn’t even prove would make a difference.
“Evalyne is only four years old.” He sounded as if he was speaking to himself.
“Yes.” She’d find something else to use. There had to be something in that chest. Something that called to her. Something she could get a psychic grip on.
He brushed his lips across her clenched knuckles. “I’ll get the necklace.”
—
THEY TELEPORTED TO Kala’s planet, to the underground headquarters of the pirate cell that had abducted Evalyne. According to the information Gabe had extracted, this was the exact place where the Guardians had come to collect the child.
The place was wrecked, and Kala’s warriors looked pissed at having to cut short their plans at total demolition. But finally she and Gabe were alone and with infinite tenderness he removed her necklace and placed his treasured one around her neck.
With a sense of awe she curled her fingers around the ancient pendant. Its shape was familiar but an ethereal vibration seemed to emanate, as if it possessed a fragile heartbeat of its own. Her breath caught in her throat and instinctively her fingers tightened as a surreal glow of tranquility washed through her.
After years of nurturing a poor substitute, she felt she had finally discovered a long lost piece of her soul.
“Do you want me to come with you into the astral planes?” Gabe’s husky whisper against her ear dragged her back to the present. He stood behind her, his arms wrapped around her, and she leaned her head against his shoulder.
“No, it’s okay.” If Gabe was right and a connection was impossible to forge between the astral planes and Dark Matter, she’d try again on the physical realm. But one way or another she was determined to succeed. And when she located Evalyne, Gabe would reach through the gateway she created and rescue the child.
—
THE ECHOES OF chaos that had disturbed the astral planes the last time she’d been there had vanished. She concentrated on the precious angel wing necklace Gabe had entrusted to her, the token of devotion from an immortal to his beloved. And simultaneously focused on the image of Evalyne in her mind, anchoring her with an identical angel wing necklace.
This time no raindrop-encrusted spiderweb materialized. Instead energy, raw and primal, throbbed and instinctively she knew it originated from Gabe’s necklace that she cradled in the palm of her hand. A blazing trail of starlight shot from the necklace and collided with an identical glowing trail that emanated from a place beyond her comprehension—from Evalyne’s archangelic artifact.
She was aware that Gabe loosened his hold on her and moved toward the shimmering darkness that had materialized on the physical plane. Waiting for the moment Aurora’s psychic energies connected with Evalyne.
Distortion took on form and the terrifying sensation of nothingness receded. And there, in a stark tomb-like chamber, was the child restrained by her wrists, hanging from a wall.
Chapter Thirty-nine
GABE plunged into the Void and Aurora gripped the psychic connection with such fierce concentration her mind trembled. She watched him stagger toward the child and was horrified when his skin began to smolder.
He’d assured her he would be fine for the few moments it would take to rescue Evalyne. But he was wrong. He wasn’t fine. He wasn’t going to make it.
For a few agonizing seconds she continued to watch as Gabe ripped the restraints from the wall and pulled Evalyne into his arms. He turned and stumbled back toward the fracture, then fell to his knees. She heard his agonized groan, saw him lift the child and catapult her through the rift before he fell onto his hands.
God, no. Without conscious thought she tumbled back into her body. Disoriented, she lurched toward the rapidly shrinking rift and fell into the deadly Void.
Panting, she gripped Gabe’s biceps. “Move!” she screamed, but she didn’t know if she screamed only in her mind. The oppressive atmosphere tightened her throat and seared her lungs but still she tugged uselessly at Gabe.
“Get out of here,” his voice rasped as if his vocal cords had been burned through.
“Not without you.” Her palms scorched with the contact but she refused to let go.
Looming, shadowy creatures from primeval nightmares swarmed in her peripheral vision, their hideous psychic hisses shredding her brain. She was still wearing the demonic earpiece, and she could understand them. And their hate-filled vitriol wasn’t directed at her. It was directed at Gabe.
He bared his teeth, gripped her wrist and shoved her forward, and together they fell through the narrow fracture. The jagged edges slashed through her flesh and blood trickled down her arms but they were out. From the corner of her eye she saw the violet fracture seal shut. Obviously the Guardians couldn’t wait to be rid of them.
“What the hell do you think you were doing?” Gabe panted, propping himself up on one hand as he gently brushed Evalyne’s tangled hair from her face. “You were supposed to stay out of the Voids. Can’t you ever do as you’re told?”
She peered at Evalyne’s face and saw the child’s eyes flicker. Relief spun through her. The little girl was going to be all right.
“You fell down,” Aurora whispered, turning to look at him. Her heart squeezed at his scorched fl
esh, but at least he didn’t seem about to collapse. “I thought you needed some help.”
He pushed himself back onto his knees and gripped her shoulders. “You were helping. Until you jumped through and scared the shit out of me.”
She huffed out a shaky laugh. “I’m sorry. I was just afraid of losing you. I didn’t want you to be trapped in there again, that’s all.”
For a moment she thought he was going to retort that they were both almost trapped inside the Voids because she’d abandoned her post. And now she thought about it she couldn’t believe she’d done something so incredibly stupid. Not only had she put both Gabe and herself in danger but what would have happened to Evalyne?
“Gods, Aurora.” He dragged her into his arms and buried his face in her hair. “Just promise me you’ll never do anything like that again. Don’t ever put yourself in danger for my sake. Do you hear me? I’m a fuc—I’m an archangel, remember. I can take care of myself.”
She sniffed into his neck. She was not going to cry. She would wait until Evalyne was safely reunited with her parents before she indulged and slid into relief-induced shock.
He exhaled, as if it hurt, and then lifted Evalyne in his arms. “Hold on,” he said, looking at Aurora. And then he teleported.
—
“MY LORD GABRIEL.” Jaylar sank to his knees in the luxurious room where they’d met before, and kissed Gabe’s feet. It was an ancient custom of homage. One he’d never thought twice of before. But now, with Jaylar, it felt wrong.
His gaze slid to Evalyne, who was wrapped in her mother’s arms. The last shred of doubt as to the child’s heritage had vanished in the Voids, when the Guardians hadn’t tried to reclaim her. Gods and goddesses might not acknowledge their descendants or care what happened to them. But no archangel would turn their back on a Nephilim, no matter how diluted the heritage—and now the Guardians knew that, too.
“Thank you.” Jaylar looked up. Tears glittered in his eyes. “My soul is yours, my Lord.” And again he bowed his head. Waiting to pay the price.
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