The pain in my ears had dulled to a low throb. I prayed as I’d never prayed before that this would work.
Hannah’s eyes were like two burning yellow holes in her face; they fixated on me as I walked into the edges of the circle. She threw her head back and let out a howl of pain.
She was absolutely terrifying. There was no demon that I’d faced, no crazed monk with a blade that scared me more than she did. Even in life, she was horrifying. Now in death, as a tortured spirit, she was a pure nightmare. She dissolved into a tornado again; whipping around the circle, coming closer to me.
My heart stopped, my legs begged me to run. Those burning yellow eyes found me, focused, sought destruction.
She was coming for me. Her scream cut through everything, through time and space, right through my body like death’s scythe.
With a supreme effort, I forced myself to face her. And I brought to mind the face of her father.
Bentleigh Savage appeared in my mind’s eye, crying, devastated at the loss of his most prized possession.
Her ghost stopped inches away from me. She hovered, her eyes no longer burning yellow, but dark, like they had been in life. They focused on me. They were fixated, not on my face, but right on my middle, around my heart. The energy that ran off her, the tortured agony that gushed out of her slowed down, and became a heartbreaking river of sadness.
Emboldened, I pushed my vision of Bentleigh out from me, mentally projecting it as far as I could. She could feel it, I could tell, and her expression grew more haunted. A wail escaped her ghostly mouth and drifted away on the wind.
“He was wrong,” I whispered, the sound barely leaving my mouth. “Your father was wrong to treat you like he owned you. Like you were his toy.”
Her shadowy lips trembled, brilliant unshed tears shimmered in her dark misty eyes. Her mouth opened, but no sound came out.
“You didn’t deserve it,” I murmured. “It wasn’t your fault.”
Hannah’s eyes flickered to mine, finally catching my gaze. She recognized me. The haunted eyes widened; her brow furrowed slightly. I could even sense a tiny bit of her pain ebbing away. Her gaze fell back to a spot below my heart, and she focused her attention there.
I didn’t care where she was looking; this was working. I was filled with a wild hope.
“He hurt you,” I went on, taking a tentative step forward to where her ghost floated in front of me. “And in turn, you hurt other people. You have to forgive yourself for that.”
Hannah tilted her head to the side, and she watched me, so confused, so sad.
“I’ve forgiven you.” As I said the words, I isolated the feeling in my heart. I did forgive her. I understood completely why she had behaved the way that she had. I took that feeling of forgiveness and compassion, and I pushed it out from myself, sending it towards her.
Silvery tears fell down her cheeks in a rush, and her brows lowered. “Ohhh,” she moaned, and placed her head in her hands. “Ohhhhhhhhh.” Her spirit floated from side to side, clearly still in unbearable pain.
She was different now. She knew why she felt so bad. She was capable of thinking about the things that she had done that had hurt other people.
She just had to process it.
My breath hitched in my throat. This was working.
I took two steps away from her; she didn’t register my movement. Keeping my gaze fixed on her, I waved my hand behind me, trying to get Alex’s attention.
“Alex! Drop the barrier.”
His reply came through clenched teeth. “Are you out of your goddamn mind?”
I huffed out a short laugh. “Hannah needs help to process the rest of it. Drop the barrier. Nate, call your dad.”
“No way.” Nate’s voice was strained.
I expected to hear Nimue laugh scornfully at the mention of her ex. When she didn’t, I glanced over at her. To my surprise, Nimue lifted her chin and gave me a short nod.
She turned to Nate. “Do it.”
Nate stared at her in disbelief. “I’m not dropping this barrier.”
“We don’t have much time. If I can give your father credit for anything, it’s that he was amazing at helping souls process their pain, once they were capable of processing it.”
“We can’t drop this barrier,” Alex growled. “She will escape. She’ll hurt Eve.”
“She hasn’t hurt me,” I pleaded. “She won’t. She needs help.”
Nimue snarled at Nate. “Call him. You don’t have a choice. I’m about to drop this barrier because your girlfriend is right. When I drop it, you’ll have only seconds to call your father before that poor soul in the circle realizes she can get out.” Nimue’s eyes flashed on me. “She’s processed some of her pain, but she’s got a lot to go. She’s still volatile. It could still overwhelm her.”
I nodded, fear leeching back into me.
“Nimue,” Nate said warningly.
Alex growled behind me. “Well, she’s already in the circle with the violent spirit, so I don’t see how it can get any worse.” He nodded at Nate. “Do it. Call him.”
Nate locked eyes with me for a long moment. I silently pleaded with him.
“Fuck it,” he sighed, and he dropped his hands.
The barrier dissolved. I felt the zing of electricity disappear from the atmosphere; the air felt ordinary, but the danger was still there. Quickly, Nate took two steps back. Working with fast, practiced movements, he pulled a small shaker of salt out of his pocket and poured a line on the ground, forming a quick circle, while at the same time, he used his other hand to wrench at a thin strap around his neck, breaking it. The pendant on the leather strap glinted in the rising sun - a quartz crystal. He unceremoniously dumped it on the ground, closed his eyes, and began the incantation.
Frantically trying to remain calm, I put my hands up to try and get Hannah’s attention. She wasn’t looking at me. Her ghost was slumped, sobbing in front of me, writhing in desolation, with her spectral eyes shut and her hands covering her face. A violent shiver ran through her, and she wailed louder for a moment, before settling back down to piteous cries.
Confused, I looked back at Alex for the first time for reassurance, only to find that he was right beside me.
Of course, he’d come straight to me as soon as the barrier was broken. Gently, he took my hand. His big, hard-muscled body gave me a sense of physical protection; strength surged through me, and I felt his love surround me like a soft blanket. For the millionth time, my heart swelled at how much he loved me. But more importantly, he respected me. Alex, the thousand-year-old almighty warrior, loved me enough to let me make my own decisions that might put me in danger, and encouraged me to do what I thought was right, regardless of what the consequences might be. It was such a pure love; the opposite of what Bentleigh Savage had with his daughter. For him, Hannah was his possession, his prized doll that he did what he pleased with.
Alex was my twin flame. He wanted me to be happy, and he understood without question that I knew my own mind better than anyone. I leaned into him, drawing more comfort. After all, we were still standing in front of a dangerous spirit.
There was a tremble in the air; I glanced around and spotted the light channel opening up in front of Nate. With a scowl, he batted away the fat little cherubs that appeared within the circle.
“There’s more than usual,” Alex said in a gravelly tone.
“More katadonis?”
He nodded. “They’re all on high alert. They’re coming to see what we're doing. They're desperate to find out any information they can.”
The light circle blazed brighter, and a vast body unfurled itself from the base of the tunnel, faster than I’d ever seen before. Malach stretched out, his mighty, night-grey wings flexing, his dark skin glistening and rippling with hard-packed muscle. As soon as he was formed, Nate kicked the salt circle away.
“We need help, Dad.”
Malach whipped around, taking in the scene now that he could see past the circle. His amber e
yes fixed on the spirit of Hannah, now wailing loudly and tearing at her hair.
“She’s unstable,” Malach said in his low, deep tone, his eyes roving around her spirit, examining her carefully. He stepped firmly outside of the circle. “But she’s making progress very quickly.”
A crease appeared between his eyebrows; he was intrigued. “What has happened here? She’s a new soul.” He didn’t take his gaze off her as he stalked forward, his movements powerful but graceful. “She’s processing her pain so quickly,” he said. “Maybe too quickly. I’ve never seen this before. Alex, Eve. Step away from her.”
Alex tugged my hand. I followed him, backing away so I could watch Malach approach Hannah. She let out another low moan as he came closer, her head rolling back. Malach moved closer, his huge body dwarfing her ghost. He was so solid, and he looked so powerful and confident next to her wispy, unstable figure. Malach was overwhelmingly attractive, but this was the first time I’d seen him behave in a way that demonstrated his power.
My eyes flickered over to Nimue. She stood at the edge of the clearing, back ramrod straight and head held high. Her eyes were shining bright. For the first time, I understood why she had loved him with so much passion.
“Young soul,” Malach murmured to Hannah. His voice rolled over my skin, low and resonant, raising goosebumps on my flesh. “You are hurting," he said. "Let me help you.”
She stirred; her head tilted. Malach’s words filtered through the pain that surrounded her. The clawed hands dropped from her face, her movements hesitant. A silver river of tears still ran down her cheeks, and her mouth trembled with unspeakable sadness.
Malach moved closer to her, murmuring softly, but the lilt and flow of his voice was almost as tangible as smoke in the air. I could sense the power in his words moving over her, moving through her, commanding her attention. “The pain will not last, if you accept it.” He bent down so his face was level with her, and he stared directly into her wide eyes. Malach's head tilted; he was intrigued. I can sense you are already accepting it. The pain that your soul carries is being transmuted at an incredible pace.”
Alex stirred beside me. “Eve did something,” he murmured softly, knowing that Malach could hear him. “She forgave Hannah. Maybe that sped all this up.”
“That’s been done before,” Malach said. He leaned closer to Hannah and placed his enormous hand on her wispy cheek. She leaned into it and closed her eyes, her face transfixed. “This is different," he went on. "She mourns for her own soul.”
“Her father did this,” I said bitterly. “He made her what she was.”
Malach gave a rumble deep in his chest. “She knows it now,” he said firmly. He put his other hand around her ghostly shoulders, bringing her in close to his chest. Hannah gave one more piteous cry and submitted to his embrace, pressing her face into his skin.
“You are loved,” he told her. “You are loved so much. You came into this world as a sweet, pure soul, and you have had horrors inflicted on you. You responded to those horrors by becoming hard and vengeful.”
Hannahs’ shoulders shook in Malach’s embrace, and she cried out, but he held her tight and soothed her.
“You understand that now. You are forgiven. Now, you must forgive yourself.”
I watched, fascinated, as the light within Malach embraced Hannah. I wasn’t sure if it was something that he was doing, but I could see the dirty-grey color of her ghostly form leach away slightly. Then I watched as her spirit becoming brighter with each second that past.
“She’s processing all her guilt,” Alex murmured to me. “I’ve never seen it happen this fast. Not ever.”
“Well, this is an unusual situation,” I whispered back. “What is Malach doing to her?”
“He’s stabilizing her. It must be incredibly painful, dealing with all that guilt at once. Malach is an expert at helping direct the flow of energy as it passes through a lost spirit, so it doesn’t overwhelm them.” Alex glanced down at me. “But he's got nothing on you.”
“Me? What did I do?”
Alex flashed me a quick grin. “I have no idea. Everything you did was new. No human has ever called a tormented soul to a circle, faced them, and forgiven them.” He shrugged idly. “None that have lived to tell the tale, of course.”
I gave a slightly hysterical chuckle. “That log almost smashed my head in.”
The grin fell off his face. Alex shook his head, horrified at the thought.
In the center of the clearing Malach still held Hannah, speaking to her in a low, soothing tone, while she cried in his arms.
“You’re loved,” he told her gently. “You are pure and sweet, and I love you very much.”
On impulse, I called out to her. “I love you too, Hannah. I really do.”
She jolted in Malach’s arms. Slowly, she turned her head to look at me. The tears still fell from her eyes, but the desperate, overwhelming sadness was almost gone. No longer dirty-grey, Hannah was now almost the same color as she had been in life, a watery reflection of her former self: dark-chocolate hair, clear tanned skin, emerald eyes. I smiled at her broadly, seeing that while she preferred her artificial, contact-lense colored eyes in her spirit form, her breasts were normal looking. The half-melon implants were gone.
Staring at me, she shuddered one last time as the last bit of pain ran through her body. Her eyes closed tightly, and she breathed in a great, deep breath as the agony within her disappeared.
When she opened her eyes again, they were glowing.
A soft smile appeared on her lips, they parted slightly. Her face was pure wonder; the love emanated from her as powerfully as the pain had done.
“You freed me.” At first, I wondered if I’d imagined the words that she spoke. They didn’t sound like they came from the Hannah that I knew; the tone was different, the choice of words unrecognizable. Then again, this was a different Hannah. I could see that now.
“This is the soul she was meant to be,” Malach said, reading my thoughts. “She is almost completely free from all the pain she has caused.” He kept his hand on Hannah's shoulder and gazed down on her proudly. “It must have been unendurable agony, especially to process it all so quickly.”
She smiled at me again, and her bright green eyes lit up. “It stung a little.”
It was so strange. The only time I’d ever seen her smile before, was in evil anticipation of hurting someone. Now, her smile was cheeky, genuine, and so loving. I basked in it, soaking in all her good vibes. In turn, I could see from her body that she was taking in my love through our bond, and becoming brighter with every second.
“How did you do this, dear heart?” Malach asked her gently.
“I didn’t do it,” Hannah replied, wonder in her voice. “We did it. I feel it in my heart. Eve, she started everything, and you all played your part.”
Her eyes drifted around the clearing, taking in Zel and Nimue standing close together, and Nate, right behind Malach. She smiled at them serenely. “It started a long time ago,” Hannah went on. “And it began with Eve. She’s the key.”
They all turned to look at me. I shrugged awkwardly.
“I must go now,” Hannah said, her voice floating away. “I have work to do.”
Malach placed his hand back on her shoulder. “But, my Precious Soul. You must make a choice now.”
“The choice has already been made,” Hannah grinned at him, light streaming from her face. “I will join the Ascended. I have a part to play in what is to come.”
“You will need guidance.”
She shook her head, her expression serene and confident. “I must explore. There are Guardians around who will assist me.”
She turned directly to face me, her bright eyes swimming with gratitude. “Thank you, Eve. You can’t possibly begin to fathom how much you have done here today.”
“Uh, Hannah, I’m not even fathoming who you are right now,” I said awkwardly. “And to be fair, I’ve got no idea what I’ve done.”
The
serene smile grew wider; it was as if sunlight shone out from her face. Then suddenly, she disappeared.
There was no bright light fading away, or choirs of angels singing. She was there one minute, and gone the next.
The clearing seemed much darker with Hannah gone. We all froze, confused, for a good minute. After the weird pause, Malach straightened up and flexed his immense shoulders.
“Now,” he rumbled, his tone cold. “Is someone going to tell me what the hell happened here?”
Chapter Eight
“She was acting as if she’d been Ascended for a generation,” Malach said to the various supernatural creatures that sprawled and perched around the lounge room back at Zel’s bungalow. “It makes no sense.” He frowned deeply. “Even a newly unburdened soul is hesitant and still slightly confused. It usually takes them a while before they gain the confidence to roam the Earth.”
“I can’t pretend to understand what happened,” Alex admitted. “Nothing about that was normal.”
We were all still shaking our heads over what happened in the clearing. When we had returned back to the bungalow, Metatron was making paella in the kitchen, with the help of two nuntius in their bigger forms. Right now, one giant imp, his horns curling all the way down his back, was expertly tossing the giant paella pan, mixing the saffron rice and seafood and shuffling it back on top of itself, while Met squeezed the lemon in with both hands.
The imps were technically the enemy of the angels, so it was odd that Metatron was using them as kitchen hands. I knew better than to bring it up. Met was friends with everyone. Although, he was still a little frosty with Malach.
Even more surprising to me was the floating fat cherub that appeared, and flitted around on his golden wings, grinning at everyone. Both Zel and Nimue had hissed at it, and Alex had even growled, hiding me behind him. I was frightened at first - all of my interactions with the katadonis had been scary - but Metatron had just waved away my concerns and handed the katadonis a bottle of champagne to pour out to everyone. To be fair, it’s demeanor was far more jolly than the ones I’d previously encountered.
Revelations: The Fallen Page 13