by S. J. West
“Does Lora believe Sariah can stop the storm?” she asks me in a rush of words. “Is that why you’re here?”
Lora ends up answering the question before I get a chance to. With Sariah in her arms, she floats down from the second floor. Lora must have snatched Sariah right out of bed since the girl is still dressed in her pajamas.
“What do we do now?” Lora asks me.
“Uh, you make a wish.” Isn’t the answer obvious? I really thought Lora was sharper than this.
“I’ve already used up my wishes.” Lora looks at Lilith. “You’ll need to do it.”
Sariah hands Lilith a colorful stone.
Lilith wastes no time. “I wish—”
“Wait!”
All the girls turn aggravated and hostile glares in my direction, but my interruption of Lilith’s wish was for a good reason.
“Remember, you can’t just wish for Sariah to get rid of the storm.”
“Why?” Sariah asks. Being new to a djinn’s powers, I can’t blame her for her stupidity.
She isn’t stupid. She’s just inexperienced. Cut her some slack and tell her what she needs to know.
“One djinn can’t cancel another djinn’s wish fulfillment,” I explain to them all since everyone seems confused. “You have to wish for something that will counteract it in some way. Do you understand?”
“Yes.” Lilith squeezes her hand around Sariah’s talisman. “I wish for there to be an impervious dome created around everything and everyone the storm might harm.”
“Your wish is my command,” Sariah says, clapping her hands together.
Silence fills the air between us.
“Did it work?” Lora asks Sariah.
“I think so?” Sariah looks as uncertain as her words.
Amateurs. I grab Lora’s wrist and phase her back to the hilltop near Halo Harbor. Even before I look up, I know Lilith’s wish has been granted. The wind has vanished but the massive water spout is still churning over the ocean. It’s like an undulating creature swaying left to right, clearly confused by the dome now blocking its path. There’s no doubt that someone wished for the academy to be destroyed. Since the water spout is no longer able to reach its target, it’s acting confused.
After a few seconds, the weather phenomenon breaks up and the shield protecting the surrounding area disappears. One wish failed. One wish granted.
“There you have it. Congratulations on averting what was sure to be the total annihilation of your school and friends. Mission accomplished.”
Lora looks at me like I have two heads growing out of my shoulders. I reach up and rub my neck just to make sure that isn’t the case.
“You’re unbelievable sometimes.” The look of total disgust in her eyes confuses me.
“Normally such a statement would be a compliment, but I surmise by the death look you’re giving me that it wasn’t meant that way.”
“You surmise correctly, you dolt!”
Why is she so angry with me? I aided her in her time of need. Shouldn’t she be more grateful than this?
“I don’t understand. Did I or did I not help you solve your problem? If it wasn’t for me, this whole place would be underwater by now. What exactly did I do to make you mad at me this time?”
“You treated this like it was a game.” Lora’s wings stretch out as far as they will go and her eyes blaze with fury. I have to admit that she’s even more beautiful when she’s mad, but I would rather her wrath not be directed toward me. “My friends could have been killed! The man I love could have been killed! And all you can do is congratulate yourself for something that was caused by you.”
My back stiffens. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. I didn’t wish this to happen. Earlier, you said the Wardens did.”
“They did!”
“Then why are you mad at me?”
Well, this quickly devolved into a shouting match.
“Shut up, Caleb! I swear to my Father that I will figure out a way to snatch your soul right out of this body and send you back to the Void.”
Out of pure frustration, I grab my hair with both hands and pull. I don’t yank it hard enough to pull out any strands but just enough to cause pain to distract me from my anger.
“I hope you do,” Lora says in a much calmer voice. “I hope you find a way to release him from you because I can only imagine he’s in a living Hell with your thoughts and emotions mixed with his. He was a good person. You’re just a selfish one. You’ll only ever do what serves your best interest, and that’s the biggest difference between you and most humans. A lot of them will fight to the death for what is right and for one another. If there’s one thing I hope you learn from them, it’s that.”
“I would die to protect you.” I watch for her reaction. All I see is uncertainty. “Why do you doubt me when I say that?”
“Because I find it hard to believe. Besides, you don’t really know me, do you? All of your memories of me come from Caleb. He’s the one I care about, not you. So don’t confuse my feelings for him with how I feel about you.”
“What can I do to change how you see me?”
She appears perplexed by my question. “Why do you care?”
Good question. I’ve never wanted anyone’s approval before, not even my Father’s.
“To tell you the truth, I’m not sure. I just do.”
Lora looks out over the ocean as she considers my words. After a few seconds, she looks back at me, lowering her wings and tucking them against her back.
“Help me find a way to keep my friends safe,” she says. “That would be a good start.”
“I promise you I’ll do my best.”
Lora holds her hand out to me. “Take me back to the academy so I can make sure everyone there is all right.”
I do as she asks and return us to the front rotunda. Leaves, dirt, and other trash litter the floor. It’s a complete mess that I don’t intend to help pick up.
As soon as we arrive, Silas calls out her name. Lora turns, sees him, and runs into his arms as fast as she can. When he hugs her, I feel a tightness form inside my chest that’s suffocating. I phase back to the hilltop unable to bear the sight of them together.
“How are we ever going to break them apart?” I ask Caleb.
You can’t, and if you truly care about Lora at all, you won’t even try. For one of the first times in her life, she feels loved. We can’t take that away from her. I won’t let you destroy what she has with Silas just because you want her.
“Big words for someone who has no control over what I do,” I boast. “Besides, as you know, I already have a plan devised that might help sway Lora’s feelings our way.”
No matter what you do, she’ll never stop loving Silas, or have you forgotten he is her soulmate?
“Soulmates, schmolmates,” I scoff. “That’s the most ridiculous concept I’ve ever heard of. Are you sure my Father didn’t just make all that up? It sounds ridiculous.” I hold my hands over my heart and bat my eyelashes in rapid succession. “There’s only one perfect match to my soul. Give me a break. That’s like saying there’s only one planet in all the universe that has intelligent life on it. The odds are astronomical that every soul has one perfect match and they just happened to find one another through space and time. It’s ludicrous.”
You may believe that, but soulmates are a real thing. Even if Lora and Silas weren’t soulmates, they would still be in love. He’s loved her since I’ve known him. She was just in denial of her feelings for him. I was lucky enough to hold her interest for a while, but he will hold her heart forever.
“So says you.” The boy’s certainty feels real, but I have my doubts. “I have an idea that might earn us some good will with our fair Lora.”
I hope it works but not because I think it will sway how Lora thinks about you. I hope it works because I know it will save lives.
“Getting paired with such a goodie two shoes must be my Father’s cosmic humor at play. For His sake boy, stop pre
tending you don’t want Lora for yourself. I know you do. Why are you trying to fight me every step of the way to win her for us?”
She’s not a prize, Azrael. Her heart isn’t something you can win. Her love has to be earned.
“Ugh, please, spare me from your platitudes.” I smack my lips together as a bitter taste enters my mouth. “I think I just threw up a little bit.”
You’re horrible. His disgust for me is plainly obvious since I can feel everything he does. Why is it that some angels are good and some are like you and Levi, rotten to the core?
“We all fulfill whatever purpose our Father designed us for. I’m not really sure what Levi’s purpose for being is, but mine is leading souls to the afterlife, as you well know. I’m quite good at it too.”
Until you started killing people to get off on the residual energy their souls discharge. Then you killed whoever was convenient when you needed a fix.
“So judgmental, Caleb. Why don’t we put a pin in this discussion for now? Or do you want Alred to let another Warden make a wish and possibly destroy this whole planet next time around because they don’t understand what they’re dealing with?”
What do you mean? Why would they wish to destroy their own world?
“Djinn wishes are fickle things. They don’t always go as planned. If someone wishes the wrong way, they could inadvertently destroy everything because the djinn doesn’t have full control over how that wish is carried out. Do you understand?”
Yes. Are you sure your plan will work though? There’s no guarantee that the leader of the Wardens Lora mentioned earlier will cooperate with you.
“She’ll either tell me what I need to know or die. It’s really quite simple.”
Before the boy can distract me again, I phase down to the dungeons of the castle. It doesn’t take me long to find the Warden in question. She and I share a special connection with one another. We both know how she’s supposed to die, but I’m here to show her the fate she saw for herself is never a certainty.
I find her sitting on the cot in her cell. She has her elbows resting on her thighs with her torso leaning forward. Her head hangs low as she thinks about the safety of her family. My connection to the Wardens not only helped me pass the time while I was trapped inside my cage, but it also gave me a front row seat to the way their minds work.
“Hello, Maggie.”
Startled, Maggie jumps off her cot, holds up her fists and dares me with her eyes to come closer.
“Who the hell are you? Some kind of angel, I’ll bet with your phasing in and out wherever you want. Can’t you give me a moment of privacy?”
She’s so hostile without even knowing who I truly am. What will she do when I tell her the truth?
“Don’t you remember me?” I stand completely still, appearing as non-threatening as possible. “I’m Azrael.”
Maggie lowers her fists. Her eyes fix mine with a hard stare.
“What are you, crazy? Delusional? You look nothing like Azrael. You can’t be him.”
“Oh, I assure you. I am who I say I am, and I can prove it. Would you like a small demonstration?”
Without waiting for her to reply, I stretch out my hand in her direction and slowly bend my fingers toward my palm, one by one. With each bent finger, Maggie’s heart loses a beat. By the third finger, she seems to realize what’s happening and clutches her chest before having to sit back down on her cot.
“What are you doing to me?” she gasps, drawing in ragged breaths to make up for the lack of oxygen her heart should be providing to her body.
“Slowing your heart.” I bend in the last finger, only leaving the thumb. “Do you believe me now, Maggie? Or should I reap your soul earlier than the vision of your death showed us?”
“It doesn’t matter, does it?” she says in disgust. “My days are numbered. I don’t have much longer to live if what you showed me is true. I’ve tried my best to change my fate, but nothing seems to work. If anything, I seem to be helping it come true.”
I open my hand and release Maggie from my hold. She takes in a deep breath and rubs her chest before resting her hands in her lap and waiting for me to say my piece.
“Alred failed to fulfill your wish.” I earn the reactions I thought I would. First surprise, and then utter devastation.
“I guess I shouldn’t feel so shocked by that.” She hangs her head in disappointment. “Simply making a wish to solve all of our problems seemed too good to be true.”
“Djinn wishes aren’t foolproof. They’re chaotic at best. It’s always hard to tell how the wish will take shape. By the way, yours took the form of a giant waterspout. Unfortunately, the good guys have a djinn on their side too and were able to counteract your wish.”
“The good guys?” Maggie stands again, appearing quite offended by my remark. “Are you saying we’re the villains here? All we’re doing is defending our home and families from those invaders.”
“So, potentially murdering hundreds of innocent children at the school isn’t a bad thing as long as you can justify it to yourself?”
“This is war,” she says heatedly. I think I actually see a little spittle fly out of her mouth. “We do whatever is necessary to protect our own.”
I sigh in aggravation. “However you want to defend your actions is your business. I’m only here to get some information out of you so I can help a friend.”
Maggie squints, staring at me with a great deal of suspicion. “What information could I possibly have that you don’t already know?”
“I want to know where Alred is hiding. I assume you put him up somewhere since he doesn’t know another soul on this planet who would be willing to help him.”
“And if I give you this piece of information, what do I get in return?”
Maggie’s bravado returns since she seems to believe she has the upper hand here. That was a big mistake.
I hold my hand out palm up this time and quickly make a tight fist. Like a limp noodle, Maggie falls to her side on the ground, dead. I silently count to five before opening my hand. Maggie drags in a loud, deep breath and remains on the floor where she fell.
“Did you like that little taste of death?” A self-satisfied chuckle resonates in my chest. “Was it all you feared and more?”
“You are a horrible person,” she says, continuing to catch her breath.
“True, but I did warn you not to test me. Now, unless you want to make me get really mad and end your life permanently, tell me where Alred is and I’ll leave you alone.”
I have no memory of Maggie’s interaction with Alred. In fact, since Caleb and I merged, I haven’t been able to connect with any of the Wardens I once shared so much with. Apparently, his presence inside my body—
It’s actually my body.
Whatever, boy. The point is your soul is causing a blackout with my other connections. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have to be here trying to get the information I need from Maggie.
“He’s not far. Alred is staying with a family in town named the Jacobs. Eli Jacobs is a fisherman. He has a boat anchored in the marina, and that’s where Alred has been staying.”
“Thank you, Maggie. You’ve been very helpful.”
Maggie sits up, propping herself with a hand on the floor. She seems confused by me, but I’m not sure why. I’m practically an open book.
“I thought you hated God for trapping you inside that cage all these years,” she says. “Why are you trying to help His people?”
“You may see the angels on this planet as your enemies, but there is a worse one coming. If I were you, I would think about what you saw in your death vision. Which side of the battle were you fighting on? Who were your allies and who was the enemy? Consider your next actions wisely, Maggie. Or you may die with regret.”
I phase to the marina to find my quarry.
“Good heavens, what is that atrocious stench?” I cover my nose with both hands unable to stomach the mixture of smells along the wharf.
It’s cal
led fish guts and the open sea.
Caleb is definitely laughing on the inside at my expense.
“It’s disgusting.” I gag as I make my way to the docks. There have to be at least fifty boats out here. How am I going to find the one that belongs to the Jacobs?
“Can I help you, son?” A crotchety white haired old man eyes me curiously. He adjusts the black captain’s hat on his head. “Ain’t you in the wrong place? The academy is that-a-way.” He swings his head to the right, indicating where I should be instead of where I am.
“I’m looking for Eli Jacobs’ boat.” I choose to ignore what he said. “Do you happen to know which one of these belong to that family?”
The man spits some sort of grotesque smelling brown liquid from his mouth onto the wood planks at our feet. Some of it splatters onto my boots causing me to shiver in revulsion on the inside.
“What would a fancy dandy like you be wanting with Eli?”
“They’re hosting a mutual friend on their boat. I simply wanted to drop by and say hello to him, but I forgot which berth is theirs.”
“Ya sure you’re not here to cause any trouble?” The man lifts a dubious eyebrow at me. I have no idea if he’ll believe me or not, but I tell him the truth.
“No, sir. I’m just here to visit and talk. Nothing more.”
After scratching his snow-white beard, the man points off to the right. “Dock twenty-three. That’s where you’ll find the boat.”
“Thank you!” I hurry away from the old fart before he spits at me again.
Dock twenty-three ends up being located on the other side of the marina. The smells seem to get worse the farther I go, and I end up gagging a few more times trying to get there. When I finally arrive at my destination, I find Alred standing on the bow of the fishing trawler looking up at the sky.
“How in the world can you stand the stench of this place?” I ask him while stepping on board.
Alred whirls around and pins me with his eyes. “Caleb? What are you doing here? Rayna told me what happened to Rose. My condolences on her passing.”
Damn Alred for reminding the boy about his dead sister. A twinge of sorrow courses through my veins, but I shake it off so I can do what I came here to do.