Authors: Laura Kreitzer
“
How can Lucia remember being an angel after being turned into a human?” I asked. “I thought that was a side effect.”
Aiden spoke up. “Sweetie, she died . . . and then she came back to life. If her body could be restored after such an absolute death, surely her memories could be as well.”
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It still doesn’t make any sense. Why can’t they remember everything?” My head started to pound.
Aiden sighed. “I don’t know. I’m sure there’s an explanation, I just don’t have one.”
I peered around the room at the others. None of them said anything for several painfully long seconds. We were all at a loss for words.
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We’re in trouble.” Ehno’s lips dipped into a frown. He muttered horrible curses under his breath. Andrew turned his direction and nodded in agreement.
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I know,” I agreed, snapping them all out of their horror-stricken gazes.
Ehno’s muttering became more offensive. I ignored him as I watched them struggle to comprehend the truth.
“
You mean . . .” Aiden looked down at his skin, his eyes opening widely, dramatically. Then he got this look in his eyes, as if a light had just turned on in his mind. “I’m not a Shadow, and this is all just a . . . a spell?”
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Exactly,” I said.
Aiden looked as if the idea was ludicrous. Then an alarmed expression spread over his face. I could understand—if I hadn’t seen it firsthand I wouldn’t have believed it either. There was nothing but stunned silence after that.
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So why are we in trouble?” Joseph cut in through the dead air. Many emotions flitted across his face before he settled on looking politely puzzled.
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Because,” Andrew said, trying to inject a note of common sense, “if the angels’ minds have been altered, then none of them know the truth, not even the Shadows. We’re in this alone; we have no allies. No one would believe that the Ladies are capable of such brutal means. What we know, and what the other angels know, are two entirely different universes.”
I pulled my hand from under Andrew’s and brushed my fingers against his cheek. Electricity spread from the touch. He turned my direction, and his expression softened.
“
If the Halo of the Sun and the Guardians are Shadows now, then why aren’t humans slaves?” My voice lowered with a determined calm. “Or worse—dead?”
As if on cue, we turned our gazes upon Aiden for the answer. He was the only one who had been around this whole time.
He plunged immediately into his story. “The Shadows have prevented angels from going through with their actions because we knew that with humans on their side—even if they were just slaves—the Shadows might be defeated. All we have ever wanted was to be left alone.”
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What?” I shot up as if fired from a canon. Now I was irate. “You knew all along yet no one ever said anything?”
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We didn’t know that it was only the Ladies of Light who wanted humans to be their slaves,” he confessed. “We thought it was all the angels. That was how I met Abelie.” His eyes were reminiscent. Sad.
Pain seared my stomach at her name. I was jealous of all the time he had spent with her when I had no time at all. Reflexively, my eyes peered over his shoulder toward Abelie’s still form. The image of her death haunted my mind. Her body, motionless and lifeless on the ground, almost overwhelmed me every time my mind replayed the gruesome scene.
Aiden continued, not noticing my distracted state. “My instructions were to gain access to the Divine Library and find any information that could help us defeat the angels. After spying on Abelie and following her for weeks, I realized she was good, moral. She didn’t want to harm humans. She even loved them.
“
Once I revealed myself to her she was terrified, but for some reason she didn’t back away or cast me out. She just stood there in all of her beautiful glory.” His lips twitched up into a small smile. “I spoke to her, and she listened. That was then I stopped trying to destroy the angels. That was thirty years ago.” He glanced over his shoulder at the silhouette of Abelie’s body under the silken cloth.
Andrew reached out, took my hand, and pulled me onto my seat. I had forgotten I was standing. “There’s nothing we could have done,” Andrew said softly.
I knew that, I just didn’t want to believe it. “Why?” I pleaded weakly.
My eyes never left that silken cloth draped over my mom. Andrew put a finger to my jaw and turned my head to face his. The golden color of his eyes hadn’t returned. His eyes were blue, just like Ehno’s and Lucia’s. Just like mine. For several long seconds he studied my face. He brushed his thumb over my lips.
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I wish I could make you smile and laugh like before.” Though he continued to hold my face, my eyes darted down, hoping that his words wouldn’t make me dissolve into tears. “Please look at me, Gabriella.” When I did, he appeared more desolate than before. “We couldn’t have saved her—she was gone before any of us could have prevented her death.”
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I still don’t—”
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If it was anything else, she would have survived. But that was magic. That spell severed her soul from her body,” he whispered, grief evident on his face.
My insides churned at his confession—that she was really and truly gone. I jumped and found myself on my feet, like I was a cork exploding from a champagne bottle. All the air had vanished from my lungs. Andrew pulled me back down to the chair again. I bit my lip, trying to will back the tears, but just like earlier, I was dry. He hugged me to his chest.
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What do we do now?” I asked in a low, anxious whisper. He pulled away and glanced around the table.
Lucia stood, walked toward the other end of the table, and picked up the book on prophecies. She set it down in front of me, the dust floating up in a cloud at the action. “We find the rest of this prophecy. The Ladies of Light didn’t go through all of this trouble to try and kill you if you weren’t a threat to them.”
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She’s right,” Aiden added. “We’re in the Divine Library. There’s bound to be something in here that could answer some of our questions—or possibly provide us with answers on how to stop them.” He gave me a desolate smile. “I have a feeling you’re the one who will have the honor of restoring the minds of the angels. You’re my daughter, after all,” he said proudly. “And you’re part Abelie.”
I couldn’t help it; I smiled for the first time in what felt like a decade.
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Let’s separate,” Lucia said. “We can cover more ground.”
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What are we looking for?” Joseph asked.
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I’m not sure,” Lucia admitted. “But if you find anything that you think could give us answers, grab it. Whatever you find, bring it down here so we can go through it together.”
Everyone stood and made their way to the stairs. I stayed behind, and Andrew hesitated at the edge of the bookshelves. When I didn’t look up from my death stare at the table, I saw out of my peripheral vision that he had nodded to himself, like he had made some internal decision. Then he turned and glided away.
When the room became quiet, I scooted my chair back, which grated horribly across the floor. I didn’t bother pushing it back under as I inched toward Abelie. My hand reached out without my permission to remove the silk cloth from her face. I moved it slowly, as if not to wake her—which was silly. Maybe I was just hoping in the back of my mind that she would come back to me. Her eyes were closed; her skin was almost as white as the sheet covering her, though blood had pooled under her skin in some areas. What happened to her was so horrific it was hard to digest. Any happiness I had left was being leeched from me.
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I didn’t have enough time,” I whispered, afraid speaking loudly would ruin her paradise, because surely that was where she was now. But more than anything, I wanted to get her out of the Divine Library. I wanted to put her to rest. I leaned down to kiss her cold cheek. With much effort, I placed the cloth back over her face. My previously exhausted emotions revived themselves. I closed my eyes and let a single tear escape and trickle down my cheek. In that second, I decided I couldn’t afford to let something like this happen again. I would protect those I loved, no matter the cost to myself.
I followed the path to the stairs and ascended them, listening to my footsteps echo in the silence. On the third floor, I found the place absent of anyone and began searching through the books. The library was like a large splendid hall full of secrets begging to be uncovered.
Hours passed, and not a single book jumped out at me. As I walked through the shelves of books between the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, my mind wandered from one line of the prophecy to the next. Andrew said there was more but not in that book. The pages had been erased. The third floor was full of interesting books and information that I would have normally loved to read, but not today. Not after Abelie, and not after reading that prophecy.
Every time I thought I had figured something out, there was always that one thing that would come in and pull the rug out from under me, turning my life upside down and backwards. As my fingers drifted between the Italian books, I noticed that I had left trails. It was dusty. And as if to prove my point, I sneezed.
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Bless you,” murmured Andrew.
I spun around, startled. He saw the look on my face, the one that was screaming for him to comfort me. He didn’t hesitate. He took two long strides and ate up the space between us. There was just something about his embrace that made me feel whole, like he kept the pieces of me together. His sturdy hands snaked their way around my shoulders, and his warm lips pressed against my hair.
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We will get through this,” he promised.
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As long as we’re together,” I whispered against his chest. It felt odd for me to feel so weak when the power was so obviously growing within me. His arms squeezed me tightly, and I was enveloped in his intoxicating scent.
As we pulled apart, he kept his face mere inches from mine. His warm breath filled the space between us. “I know you’re eager to leave, but I’m worried about what or who will be waiting for us when we unseal the door.”
He could read my emotions so easily. Abelie deserved to be laid to rest.
My hands were on his chest, his arms still holding me to him. By the look in his eyes, I could read that he was just as absorbed by our closeness as I was. “We can’t stay here forever,” I agreed in a whisper. “Abelie can’t stay here.”
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Shh,” he murmured and pulled my hair away from my face with his fingers. His expression was one of torture. “Please don’t cry.”
I didn’t know I was. Dammit. Stupid tears.
With great gentleness, he secured my face in his palms. I stopped breathing. My heart thumped against my chest. He hesitated, but I continued to gaze into his sapphire eyes. He wiped the wetness away from my cheeks and moved in closer. So many emotions raged through me at once: desire, passion, and sorrow. He was only an inch away from my face. I closed my eyes, and electricity flowed between us in a comforting current. Every second that passed a new emotion would flit through my body, sending shivers of passion through my veins. I trembled under his touch.
Finally, the tips of his lips brushed lightly against mine. He pressed against me more earnestly until our lips moved with each other. And for the first time in my life, I could actually hear his heart hammering in his chest along with mine. This kiss was more passionate than before; it had more meaning. There were deeper emotions—stronger desires. My skin warmed under his eager grip. I embraced him back just as fiercely. He knotted his hands in my hair and pulled me closer to him. We were both breathing heavily, and I parted my lips as he deepened the kiss.
The fireworks one would look for during a kiss were nothing in comparison to the bright explosions of euphoria I felt. My desire ignited, and I was immediately aware of the blood that had rushed to my cheeks. There was a peculiar sensation in my midriff. My fingers found their way to his hair, and I pulled him even closer to me. It wasn’t possible, but that didn’t mean I didn’t try.
Andrew must have felt the change in my body because his lips eagerly found their way down my neck as he kissed wildly around my throat. It was in need now. His heart pounded passionately against mine as we clung to each other, my breath rough.
We were approaching a precarious level. He continued to push my restraint to the limits. Normally I would have pulled away, demanded a breather. But I didn’t. We fit together so perfectly, like puzzle pieces. And as cheesy as it sounded, it was true. He was my angel, and I was his. In that second, all I could think about was how I had to have him—all of him. We were destined to be together—there was no other explanation for my intense feelings. I didn’t know how I knew, but I did.
My arms encircled his neck as I lifted myself up and wrapped my legs around his waist. All of my exercise in self-control was slowly losing ground, but it just felt right. He pulled away and stared at me with a look of hunger in his eyes. He searched my gaze for several seconds as his chest rose and fell rapidly with each of his breaths.