The Siders Box Set

by Leah Clifford

  Eden watched as Gabe pressed his lips together.

  “Forgive me. Please. Give me this one kindness.” Michael clutched at him, but Gabe stepped back.

  “No,” Gabe whispered.

  In front of her, the dozen Bound angels all spoke at once. “He killed the girl? She was a mortal? He stole their lives. Then he’s Damned. Damned.”

  Stumbling back, Michael pushed through the crowd, past Eden, and broke into a run. Eden watched as he stumbled away, his shirt tearing apart as wings sprouted from his back. His scream curdled as the wings smashed against the metal railing and then shed their feathers. He writhed toward the stairs, his back a lacework of raised pink scars, the wings gone.

  “Luke will make sure he suffers. For Madeline.” Kristen’s words were a whisper. “And for Az.”

  Eden stared in silence as he crawled. She wanted to feel vindication. Relief. Anything. She didn’t realize she was collapsing until Kristen caught her, leaning her against her shoulder.

  While she’d been watching Michael, Gabe had gone on speaking. “All they need is time,” he was saying from the room. “We can help Rachel find the Siders, and she will cure them. They’re no longer a risk to the mortal paths.”

  Sounds of agreement filled the air.

  “Are you all right?” Kristen asked.

  It’s over, Eden thought. The Siders, the strange life she’d carved out for herself. Az. “I don’t know,” she managed.

  Chapter 33

  As the Bound wandered off, dazed, Kristen passed the sobbing Eden to Gabe. She watched the crowd, anxiety flooding through her as she realized what would come next.

  Luke still stood beside her.

  “We need to leave,” she whispered to him. “Now.”

  He shot her an intrigued look, following as she took his hand and led him away from the others. Kristen only looked back once, to see Eden staring after her. She ducked into the stairwell with Luke, dragging him down two at a time.

  Finally, four floors down, Luke stopped her. “I have weapons to retrieve.”

  Kristen spun on him, exasperated. “Make new ones!”

  He raised an eyebrow.

  “Please, Luke. Let’s just go.”

  “Why?” he asked. “We’ve no reason to run.”

  The lump in her throat made it almost impossible to get the words out. “They’re going to have that girl make us mortal as quickly as they can. They want the Siders ended.” Luke didn’t react. She shoved him with all her strength. “I don’t want to be mortal,” she yelled.

  Her voice ricocheted through the stairwell, kept itself company in echoes. Voices on top of voices. The thought only made her more frantic. “What do I have to go back to? An expiration date and a mind . . .” She closed her eyes. “And a mind that sours.”

  “Kristen.”

  She felt Luke’s hand cupped the back of her neck. When she opened her eyes, she thought he was going in for a kiss, but his forehead met hers. “You avenged Sebastian and the others, yes?” he asked quietly.

  She wasn’t sure. Two of the Bound had died at her hand, but it hadn’t changed anything. She felt no better. The empty hole where Sebastian belonged was still an open wound. No amount of death would fill it. “I guess so,” she said.

  He tilted his head back and locked eyes with her. “Then we’ve accomplished what we came here to do.” His voice was filled with heat. “Mortals are playthings! You deserve so much more than that. It’s beneath you now.”

  “They’ll come for me.” She twisted one of his curls around her finger. “The Bound won’t let me stay a Sider.”

  “Why would they have a choice in the matter? You’ll do as you please.” Luke’s irises swirled muddy and then blackened, bits of the Touch she’d passed him still working through his system. One of his arms snaked around her, dragging her closer until her chest pressed against his. She glanced up at him. “And whatever you choose,” he said, “all the powers of Hell will protect you. This world is yours, Kristen, as long as you remain mine.”

  She licked her lips as if considering his offer. “And if I get sick?” Without an angel, Fallen or Bound, her schizophrenia would only worsen until she was lost to it.

  “In sickness…” His mouth pressed against her temple. “And in health.”

  She laced her arms around his neck and nuzzled against him.

  “Be with me,” he murmured. “No more of this half in, half out shit.”

  She paused. Protection, health, and so much more. Again, she heard Luke’s voice that night at Aerie when she left him. This is everything you wanted. For the first time, she was willing to admit it. “I’m in,” she said, her voice sure and strong.

  Luke took her hand, his grin infectious as he led her down the stairs, to safety, to freedom. At the bottom of the stairwell, he raised her hand and twirled her in a slow spin that ended with her gazing upward into his eyes.

  His smile flared as he dropped an arm over her shoulders. “Let’s go see what kind of Hell we can raise.”

  Chapter 34

  Eden snuggled in closer, the blanket holding her to Gabe’s shoulder, around them both. His shirt was cool against her cheek, wet with the tears she’d cried for Az. She felt safe here in her room, with Gabe. He hadn’t left her side since last night.

  “I guess I should go out. They’re waiting for me,” Eden said. When the Bound insisted Eden be turned mortal immediately, Gabe had refused them. Now, his arm tightened around her.

  Gabe stroked her hair. “Let them wait,” he said softly. “How’s your ankle? I don’t want them turning you until you’re at one hundred percent.”

  Under the covers, she rotated her foot, expecting pain, but it moved easily. “It’s better,” she said.

  She shouldn’t have been surprised. Healing her wounds had been able to burn up some of the Touch she’d taken in from Rachel. Siders had begun showing up just past midnight, and Rachel had started turning them mortal again. Even now, seemingly dead bodies filled Jarrod’s room, laid out on the beds and the floor. It took three hours for them to reanimate, at which point they were told to spread the word and shown the door. Eden wondered what kind of lives they’d have. If they’d just end up starving on the street. She wondered what kind of life she would have.

  “When Rachel makes me mortal, she’ll be taking in any extra Touch left in me,” Eden said. “And Sullivan’s. All the other Siders coming here. It’ll be too much for her.”

  “We’re working on that,” Gabe said. “Some of those at Kristen’s did escape injury. They’ll be dosed and given time to get well before they’re made mortal. There are two other Siders, Annalise and Donavan, who I trust to spread it safely.”

  “And when there are no Siders left? What happens to her then?” Eden asked. Without taking in some Touch, Rachel would die. Slowly. In pain.

  “You have my word, I’ll figure out a way to make her mortal before time runs out. The Bound are no threat to her. Not anymore.” Gabe held Eden close.

  The blanket enveloped them like a cocoon, warm and safe. Fresh tears stung her eyes. She wanted to stay like this forever, not having to think. Not having to face Az’s death and whatever the future held for her. When she tried to snuggle in closer, though, Gabe lifted her off his shoulder. His eyes were nearly as swollen as hers must have been. “You’re going to be okay. You know that, right?” he said.

  For a long time, she couldn’t answer. She wanted a new start far from New York and all that had happened here. Teaming up with Jarrod and Sullivan, she knew it could work. She’d find a job. Maybe go to college.

  Grow older.

  “I’m scared,” she said finally, because it was the truth. Because in every plan she made, Az crept in. She pictured mornings and saw breakfast in bed with him. She thought about watching a movie on the couch and she pictured him cuddled up next to her. Saw them growing old together.

  Except, now, that wasn’t going to happen.

  “Eden.” Gabe stroked her hair. “That was never
going to happen,” he said gently.

  He’d picked up on her thoughts. She hated him for saying it and hated more that he was right. “I wasn’t finished,” she said. “I’m scared, but I want to do this. He would want me to be mortal. He would want me to have a good life.”

  “Yes,” Gabe said.

  Eden sat up slowly, a smidgen of her stubborn self coming back. Even though the Bound had taken him, she was still alive. Well, at least she would be shortly. I can do this, she thought.

  “Are Jarrod and Sullivan ready?” she asked.

  “Sullivan is. Jarrod said he won’t go through with it until you’re both mortal and have woken up.”

  A ghost of a smile passed across Eden’s lips. He was going to have a hard adjustment to being normal again. Eden turned to Gabe suddenly. “Kristen,” she said. “Is she here?”

  “No,” Gabe said, looking pained. “We think she ran off with Luke.” His face went bitter. “She’s a smart girl, though, and his game’s obvious this time. She’ll come back.”

  “What do you mean?” Eden asked, confused.

  Gabe waited, as if he wanted her to figure it out herself, but Eden was too tired to try. “Eden, Luke only needs one Sider to start this all over again.”

  A knock on the door interrupted before she could respond. Jarrod opened it. “Sorry,” he said, looking from her to Gabe. “Raphael said to tell you it’s time. They won’t wait anymore.”

  Against her, Eden felt Gabe tense. “You tell him I said he can wait until she’s—”

  She laid a hand on his and gave it a squeeze, cutting him off. “No, it’s okay,” she said, braving a smile. This is it.

  This is the start.

  Eden peeled back the blanket and dropped Gabe’s hand as she stood. “I’m ready,” she said.

  Epilogue

  Jarrod ditched his cocktail-sauce stained apron in the bin and took off his work shirt, stripping down to a white tank. One of the cooks shouted a goodbye as he passed on his way out. He lifted the balled-up shirt over his head, shook it once back and forth in a makeshift wave.

  At the hostess station, he spun to give the gray-haired woman there a smile. “Hey, thanks again for switching shifts, Sarah.”

  She rolled her eyes as she cleaned off the seating chart with watered down Windex. “Yeah, yeah,” she said, flapping the paper towel at him with mock exhaustion. “Don’t you worry about it, darlin’. Six months. Huge milestone,” she teased. “A lifetime.”

  Jarrod beamed. He couldn’t help it. “I owe you!” he called, backing out the door.

  After an afternoon stuck in the blast of air conditioning, outside felt like being dunked in a bucket of liquid heat. But he took his time, walking slow, soaking in the day.

  In half an hour, Sullivan would get off from her own waitressing job a few blocks down. He started toward the bench they met at when their schedules were close enough to walk home together. A quick shower and then he’d surprise her with the reservations he’d splurged on for that night, a restaurant classier than the dives where they both worked. Something special to celebrate the six months they’d been together.

  “It’s weird to see you without gloves.”

  No. Jarrod slowed to a stop but didn’t turn around. Not today, he thought. He’d known the moment would come, some part of him.

  “I just wanted to say hi.”

  “Just in the neighborhood, Gabe?” Jarrod said as he turned. “Because we’re a hell of a long way from New York.”

  Gabriel chuckled, the sound sad. “Yeah, I kind of got the impression you wouldn’t be real open to company.”

  Jarrod shrugged. “It’s not that,” he said carefully. “We just don’t want trouble. We have a life here, Gabe. A real one.”

  “And how’s this brand new real life going? Still waiting on your happily ever afters?”

  When Jarrod didn’t answer, Gabe stared off into the park. He seemed transfixed by the trees, the Spanish moss that swayed from their limbs. “I know I shouldn’t have come,” he said quietly. “I’m supposed to just let things run their course, but… Sit with me a minute?” He gestured to a bench positioned between the road and the sidewalk.

  Jarrod hesitated and then sat, Gabe following him down.

  “Are you guys doing okay?” Gabe asked.

  “We’re fine.” Keeping the edge out of his voice was harder than Jarrod expected. He tried to tell himself he was just being paranoid, going back to old habits. But if Gabriel was after a quick update, why had he come all the way here to get it? “Next time check our paths, save yourself the trip.” He paused, suddenly leery. “You’ve still got access Up There, right?”

  Gabriel held his hand out in front of him, wobbling it back and forth with a Cheshire grin. “I pointed out a lot of bad stuff going on. They don’t like to face that they’re not all sunshine and light. But they’re grateful the Siders were stopped and to know what caused them. I mean, if the Sider epidemic had gotten past the tipping point, the whole human race would have been infected.”

  “How’s Rachel?” Jarrod asked, toeing at the ground.

  The Siders had, for the most part, gone quietly mortal with Rachel working her voodoo back-from-the-dead magic.

  The Bound had insisted Eden and her crew be in the first round. A day later, Eden, Sullivan, and himself were mortal. They’d taken off immediately, leaving everything behind, afraid somehow that the Bound would change their minds about letting them go. Sullivan had talked to Rachel a couple of times in the first months, but other than that, there was no contact. It was the way they all three wanted things. A new life. A new start.

  “Rachel’s holding up. She’s taken care of, has a nice place in the city.” He gave Jarrod a small smile. “Company phone and all that jazz.”

  He scoffed. “Must be nice.”

  “I think she’s getting worried about what the Bound will do to her when there aren’t any more Siders. But I’ll make sure she’s okay.”

  With every passing minute that Gabriel avoided saying Eden’s name, Jarrod grew more certain she was the real reason he’d come.

  “I think Kristen texts sometimes,” Gabe said awkwardly. “Never more than ‘hello’ from a restricted number, I think just to let me know she’s out there somewhere.” He laughed but it sounded fake. Kristen had left with Luke. Gabriel had been crushed—at least, that was what Sullivan had heard. From the look of him, it hadn’t been an exaggeration.

  “Sounds like we got the same messages,” Jarrod said, and then winced as Gabriel’s face fell. He could practically feel Gabe’s disappointment, the specialness gone.

  I’m such an asshole, Jarrod thought.

  “He’s only keeping her so he can start the Siders over if he wants,” Gabriel said. “I’ve got no way to reach her.” He lifted his head, searching Jarrod’s eyes. “Eden…she’s…?”

  “She’s okay,” Jarrod said reassuringly. “She wasn’t, for the first few weeks.” He dropped his elbows back onto his knees. “To be honest, I thought we were gonna lose her.”

  Their first weeks in Georgia had been some of the scariest of his life. It wasn’t like before, when they could just have Eden take out a couple Siders and get some extra rent money. They’d had to find jobs and plan and budget for the food they suddenly needed to eat again. And the whole time he’d watched Eden struggling.

  The worst part had been how hard she tried. How she’d fought to smile and forced herself to go outside as the weather warmed and wouldn’t let anyone see how broken she was. But he’d heard her sometimes. Horrible sobs not quite covered by the spray of the shower.

  “She started seeing a counselor around April. I mean, obviously she can’t tell him everything, but, she’s…different.” Jarrod paused, didn’t know how much Eden would want him to say. “She can talk about Az now,” he added, not knowing why. It seemed to matter.

  When he looked up, there were tears in Gabriel’s eyes.

  “That’s good. That’s really good.” Gabriel cleared his thr
oat and swallowed hard. “Az…he would have wanted her happy.”

  “How are you, Gabe?” My God, Jarrod thought suddenly. We all left him. Even Kristen. With Az dead, Gabriel had no one.

  “I knew him a long time,” was all Gabriel said. Finally, he straightened, plastering on a smile. “Listen, I took up enough of your time. Pretend it never happened.” He moved to stand, but Jarrod grabbed his arm.

  “Hey, wait,” he insisted. “Talk to me.”

  “No. Just forget it. I think that’s enough,” Gabriel said, wrestling his arm away, a strange yellow cast in his eyes.

  A chill ran down Jarrod’s spine despite the heat. He dropped the shirt. “Did you come to see Eden? That’s why you came, right?” His heart slammed in his chest. Something was wrong. That was why Gabriel had come. “Tell me what’s going on. Right now!”

  Gabriel winced, his lips moving like he was counting down. His head shot up. “Car.”

  Jarrod followed Gabriel’s line of sight as the Mustang passed, eyes finding Sullivan at the same time she saw him. Her whole face lit up, radiant as she broke into a jog, her long black hair trailing behind her. She smiled at him, not looking as she crossed the street.

  No, please! his brain screamed. Flash of chrome on a side mirror. Jarrod threw his hands up convulsively, as if to push the oncoming car away and took off toward her.

  A horn sounded, tires screeching.

  The car stopped.

  Jarrod tripped, almost spilling onto the asphalt as she waved an apology at the driver and crossed to him.

  “Hey, Tiger, how was work?” she asked, dropping her arms onto his shoulders. She kissed him, pecking him twice on the lips when he didn’t kiss back. Confusion filled her eyes. “What’s wrong?”

  For a second he could only stare at her, his breath caught in his chest. “Oh my God,” he murmured. Wrapping her in his arms, he rocked with her in the middle of the street, not caring about the car waiting to pass, what anyone thought. “Oh God, I thought… If you…” He forced a breath, his head swimming as he kissed her. “Give me a minute, okay?”