by Tamara White
Evie
“Um, Josie, as in your dead wife Josie?” Zach asks Christian, staring at the chick who’s smirking.
Christian looks so pale he may faint, but he stands up and just stares at her. I don’t like the way she’s looking at him. As if she’s won him back. God I hope not. I can’t lose him.
“Christian, are you ok?” I reach out to hold his hand. He grips onto my hand as if it’s the last thing keeping him grounded.
He hugs me and whispers in my ear, “Please don’t leave me.”
My poor Christian, he must be so confused right now. On top of that, I’d imagine it would be all rushing back: everything that happened when she died, and all the guilt that he felt.
“I won’t. I’m here as long as you want me,” I whisper back, hugging him tightly.
“What’s wrong Christian? Not happy to see your wife?” my dad mocks him.
“I’m going to say this once, ‘Dad’, so listen up. If you don’t back the fuck off, I’ll make you. You weasel your way into my life and get me to trust you. You helped my bonded get me back, only to kidnap me from them, and take more of my bonded away. Now you bring my bonded’s dead wife here to taunt him?! No, I won’t have it!” I am furious at his nerve.
My dad starts laughing clutching at his stomach. I don’t know what he finds so funny, but it’s pissing me off.
“Evie, I thought you were smart. You should have figured out by now that I never helped your bonded rescue you. In fact, I knew where you were the whole time, I just delayed your bonded long enough to gain their trust. Once I knew they trusted me enough, things just fell into place. The only person who suspected me was Raphael, and, even then, he wasn’t allowed to interfere. It all worked out perfectly.”
I stare at him, shocked he’s being so callous.
“What’s wrong Evie? I thought you’d be happy your bonded would get his wife back. Afraid of the competition?” he asks, angering me further.
As much as I hate to admit it, I’m terrified he might choose her over me. Even if she’s possessed. They were married before we met, and I have the ability to rid her of the demon. What happens when I do? Will he choose her?
“Get out!” I shout at my father with tears in my eyes. It feels like my heart’s breaking, even though I haven’t lost him yet, I know I will. Why would he choose me when he could have his wife back?
“Oh, Evie, jealousy doesn’t suit you. Maybe we should make Christian choose right now? Would that make you feel better?”
I scream, and he’s thrown back against the wall along with Josie. Zach and Christian are both behind me safe from my power. I want nothing more than to send him to the underworld, but I have no idea how to.
“Evie, calm down. He’s trying to rile you up. Christian won’t leave you,” Zach pleads with me to get control. All the power I have, and I can’t wish us away from this awful place. I just want to be home with my guys and get ready to have my babies. I don’t want to deal with this.
Christian
Why? Why is this happening? I know life isn’t supposed to be easy, but is it supposed to be this hard? I’ve always believed the world won’t throw anything at you that you can’t handle, but, right now, I’m seriously doubting that.
Josie, my wife who I thought I had killed in a moment of anger, is here in front of me, my brother, and my bonded. Never did I dream I’d ever see Josie again, and after all the time it took to move on from her loss. The guilt I felt over her death still haunts me, and here she is standing there looking at me as if she’s happy to see me.
I watch her and don’t know what to do. I feel like I’m betraying Evie by even considering talking to Josie. All I want is answers, but Evie’s hurting. I feel her sorrow in my heart, and it kills me to know she thinks if I had to choose I’d want Josie back in a heartbeat, but that was before I met Evie.
Now that I’ve met her and gotten to know her, I don’t think it’s possible for me to love anyone else, even Josie. I hear Evie yelling at her father, but it’s like background noise to me. All I can think is that Josie may ruin everything.
Evie sends her father and Josie flying back into the wall, while Zach is trying to calm her. I watch Josie get up and know I have to find out how she’s still alive.
“How are you alive?” I ask, causing a hush to go over the room.
Josie faces me smiling as if she’s won, but she’s lost me. I just want answers.
“I wasn’t in the house when it went up. I was outside in the yard and got thrown back. When I woke up, there was a fire crew around, but I couldn’t find you. I asked what happened and they told me a gas main blew up the house, killing your wife. I wasn’t sure what to think. I knew you wouldn’t hurt me on purpose, but it seemed you weren’t affected over my death. They told me you survived, but you left shortly after. So it seemed you intended for me to get hurt, and left as soon as it was done. I looked for you after they had my funeral, but when I found you a year later, you were on a date. She looked like me so I figured you were just trying to replace me, but you slept with her! I watched you go back to her place, and you fucked her as if I was never alive to begin with! How could you?!” Her face contorted in a rage, and I notice something I didn’t before. Her eyes are black.
“What a creep! You watched your husband have sex with another woman, while he thought you were dead, and now you’re blaming him? Just, wow,” Evie says her face a mask of shock.
Zach laughs a burst of laughter that almost has me laughing. The only thing holding me back is the look on Josie’s face. She looks ready to murder. I remember that expression well.
“If you loved him, why wouldn’t you confront him on his date? Why let him go home with her in the first place? It sounds like you have no idea what you want,” Evie says with her head cocked to the side, studying Josie.
She has a point. If Josie saw me why wouldn’t she approach me? I would’ve been happy to see her and there’s no way I would’ve went home with someone else if I knew she was alive!
“Stay out of it, whore! You have no idea what I went through. You have to tell him the truth! I know you’re not his true bonded because I am!”
Dane
My life sucks. The last thing I want to do is work with this dude, but I don’t want Evie to suffer any more than she already is.
“So why did Max kidnap Evie in the first place?” I ask.
It’s something I’ve been having trouble understanding since I saw him. Why would he take his daughter? All he’d have to do is ask, and she’d follow him to the end of the world. She’s been so excited having her father around these past few days. He didn’t need to kidnap her to take her, so there must have been another reason for taking her like he did.
“He needed her and the doctor. The doctor is part angel on his mother’s side, and is extremely powerful in his own right. He needs them to bond before he can sacrifice her. Once they’ve bonded, Evie’s sacrifice will be powerful enough to bring back whomever he wants. He wants them to bond, so she won’t be sacrificed until it happens. If they bond, her light may even be strong enough to rip apart the way to the afterlife, as well as the barrier to the underworld.
You see, in certain situations, I’ll exchange souls of those who have fulfilled their purpose on the earth, for someone who still has work to do but died too soon.
Some souls that die before their time, due to extenuating circumstance, I will allow to be brought back. It’s rare and I’ve only done it once in the past 300 years, but if given enough reason I’ll intervene.
There are, however, conditions around asking me to swap the souls. Once a soul is swapped, it has to travel the journey from the earth, through the afterlife barrier, and back into the body on earth. It has to withstand all that before it can be returned and not many are strong enough to. You also have to have a body ready. The soul needs a body to go into, and depending on the method of death, it is easy enough for an angel, or fallen angel, to repair the decomposition. If the original body, howeve
r, isn’t intact he would have to use the body of the person whose soul he’s trading for.
So, Evie’s mother would go into Evie’s body, and he would need another body ready to accept any other soul he’s bringing back,” the Creator explains solemnly, while I stare in shock.
That is totally gross. A shudder works its way through my body at the thought of him putting Evie’s mother’s soul into Evie’s body. Yeah, I can’t even contemplate that. It’s way too creepy. I hope that’s not his plan, because that would just be wrong on so many levels.
“Why is there a loophole? Why not be a concrete ‘no soul swap unless I say so’ rule? Why is there always a goddamn loophole?” I ask frustrated.
“There’s always a loophole. Without a loophole, Evie would only have one bonded, I wouldn’t have bonded with your mother and you wouldn’t be here. Unfortunately, that’s just the way the world works,” Spencer sighs.
“Ok, then. Well, what are we going to do? Obviously, the Creator isn’t allowed to interfere but what did you intend to do?” I ask, turning to face Zeke. I want to know what his whole idea to help is before I trust him on anything.
“I don’t know. I came here for advice, but the only advice I got was to come meet you. The only way I know to help is to get her out of there before it’s too late. Once she’s bonded with Christian, Max will sacrifice her,” Zeke says hanging his head.
So, what do we do?” I ask the Creator.
He’s deep in thought, and I’m close to shaking him by his jacket in frustration, when he finally speaks, “I can’t interfere, but my suggestion for you, which is totally up to you, is to spend time with Zeke and your father learning how to control your powers. My other suggestion would be to hang around for a bit longer so you might meet an unexpected guest,” he says before literally misting into thin air.
“What the hell?” I ask the others, confused by his sudden disappearance. He left me here with Spencer and Zeke and with no idea what to do next. And what’s with the no interfering but he can make suggestions? Maybe it’s another loophole?
“It’s your choice Dane. I’m happy to teach you how to control your powers if you like. The Creator told me they’ve just emerged? I imagine that was quite a shock,” Spencer says, grinning.
“Yeah it happened when we were trying to rescue Evie. She screamed, and I was so scared of what was happening, that the powers just took over me. The others said lightning shot out from me, striking all the guards unconscious. I don’t really understand too much because it felt like someone had taken control of me. Do you know why that happened?”
As much as I hate being here and not helping Evie, I’d like to know more about my powers. There’s no telling how long I’ll be stuck here, and it can’t hurt to learn why they are so unpredictable.
“How long will it take to learn as much as I can? And when do you think I’ll be able to leave? I’d like to get back to Evie as soon as possible.”
“My guess is you’ll be here as long as you feel is necessary. The Creator can be quite crafty when he wants to be. So, I would do what he suggests because he probably won’t let you leave until you’re done. But don’t worry, time works completely different here. You can be here a week, and only lose a day on earth.
As for your powers, it’s normal to not remember the first few times, or have no control. They react instinctually to your fear, that’s why you don’t remember too much, but with practice we can help you control it. Zeke and I both have similar powers,” he looks at Zeke with pride.
They must know each other? The looks they share, and the way they talk to each other is too friendly to be their first-time meeting.
I sigh and think about my options. I can stay here and do nothing but pine over Evie and the guys until I get back, or I can learn how to use all the new powers of an angel. Spencer’s probably right. If the Creator wants me here for some reason, I’m better off learning as much as I can before he sends me back.
“OK, I’ll learn about my powers. Oh, and before I forget to ask, if I’m your son, does that mean I have to work for the Creator now?” I am curious about my future.
I’m a little scared at the idea of leaving the earth when I’ve just found Evie. I can’t lose her or the others. It will break me.
Spencer and Zeke chuckle, while I stand here looking between them irritated that they’re laughing at me. I don’t see why it’s so funny when I thought I was asking a genuine question. Finding out your father’s an angel would make anyone assume the same thing.
“No, you don’t have to work directly for him, but technically all elementals do. You won’t have to work for him like I do, but, when you die, you will be given the choice of working for him or going to the afterlife. But given that you have access to your powers now, it will be a long time until that happens,” Spencer explains while he and Zeke take seats at the table. I begrudgingly join them, hoping to learn more about these powers and what being an angel means.
“So, how do I control these powers? When they first released it was in a mix of rage and fear that caused me to have no control. I didn’t feel like myself when they took over,” I admit shamefully.
“Hey, man, don’t worry. When I got my powers, I passed out for days, and when I came back to my body, I discovered I had flooded the town I was in. I was lucky no one died. You’ll get a hang of it, and when you do, you’ll be extremely powerful. Your father is one of the angels dedicated to lightning storms,” Zeke says to me proudly.
“Do you two know each other?” I ask curious. They definitely must know each other. There’s too much familiarity between them.
“Yeah, Zeke and I grew up together. We’ve been friends for a long, long time. It’s why I trust that he’s here to help. I know you don’t trust him, considering he took your bonded, but if he says he wants to help, then I believe him.
Zeke has a good heart once you get to know him, he can just be a bit misguided, and he has an uncanny tendency to trust the wrong people. It gets him into a lot of trouble, and it is one of the reasons he fell.”
“Whatever. I just want to learn my powers and get out of here. I hate that Evie and Christian are alone. What happens if she goes into early labour? What happens If she gets stressed and miscarries? I need to learn this stuff so I can get back to them.”
“Whoa relax, Dane. Evie isn’t alone she has Zach and Christian with her, and like Spencer said before, time moves differently here. You don’t need to worry. You’ll be out of here before two days on earth is over,” Zeke holds his hands up in a peaceful gesture.
I’m still stuck on him saying Zach is with Evie and Christian. Zach was supposed to be safe at his place. How the hell did he get there?
It slams into my mind as soon as I question it. Max took him first. That’s the only way to explain it. When the guys went looking for him, he was already gone, taken by Max. I can’t believe Max! What gives him the right?!
“Ok, I’m going to let it slide that you just said Zach is with Christian and Evie, because I already figured something was up when Max didn’t mention seeing him the night he disappeared. You’ve just confirmed that for me, but I want you to know, if anything happens to her, you’ll suffer. I don’t mean emotionally from her loss like the rest of her bonded will, I mean I’ll make you suffer. I’ll remind you every day for the rest of your existence what you participated in. What you helped achieve, and when the demons finally consume the earth, the blame will be on you.”
Zeke
Harsh but true. I admire Dane for being loyal to his friends and his bonded, and I hope one day he’ll feel the same way towards me.
I didn’t realize the demons were as powerful on the earth as what they are, and now I have to deal with the fact that I could have caused the world to be destroyed. The last time I encountered the demons was the worst day of my life, and I figured working with one to get her back would be worth it, but now I know how much I screwed up.
I mean, I knew Josie was possessed, but I thought that was M
ax’s doing, so he could control her. How else would he expect to control her, when she was in love with one of his hostages?
Spencer and I grew up in the last war with demons, so we know how hard it is to defeat them, but we never thought they would be able to get through the barrier. The last time we lost so many of us that it took a long time for the Creator to come out of his depression. After all, we’re his children and over 500 of us died in the war. We can’t let war ravage the earth again.
We knew some demons had survived on the earth after chasing down the last descendant, but once she died and I destroyed the ones who killed her, I thought that would be it. Turns out I was wrong.
“Ok, we can sit around all day with you two arguing like children, or I can teach you what I know to help you save your bonded? Choice is yours,” Spencer says grimly.
Dane seems to consider his options before choosing the right path. “Ok, I’ll put my feelings on the back burner for now. Teach me what you know.”
Chapter 4
Christian
This is my worst nightmare come true. How is Josie alive? I was sure she had died. Even the paramedics told me there was no way anyone could have survived an explosion that massive. It was a miracle I did.
And to top things off she thinks I’m her bonded? She’s human, she always has been, so how would she know about bonds much less think that I’m hers?
I did explain bonds very briefly after I told her what I was. She never seemed to care, saying if I met my bonded then she wouldn’t stand in the way. Not that I ever wanted to meet my bonded while we were together. I thought we would be together forever. It wasn’t until 6 months before she died that I started having doubts, then once she died I felt horrible for having those thoughts in the first place.
The guilt felt deserved, because I thought thinking the way I had, was the reason she died. Now I’m seeing her in front of me, and I’m emotionally numb.