by Abra Ebner
I stepped from the pedestal. “You know who I am?”
She nodded. “You are Maximus Gordon. I watch over you each day the sun shines.”
“And who are you?” I was so bold to ask. I felt as though I should know more about her, but myths weren’t worth indulging. The thing was, she was no longer a myth.
“I am Soleil. The Pixie of the Sun. A very special Element pixie, as I’m sure you’ve come to understand?”
I shook my head. “I understand only a small part, the part where you fell in love only to have your light taken from you.”
She smiled. “That was so long ago, at the very beginning of human life on Earth.”
“And you’re still alive?” I felt compelled to ask despite my knowledge that pixies were immortal. Many still passed away in time, giving into war or suicide, but this was their choice. It just seemed so long to live. How could she do it?
“I am still alive, as you can clearly see. I have not taken the risks many do. I am too important to the lives of this world, particularly that of the human’s. You see, I am the sun—the most important light there is. To risk my life in the world risks more than I fear I have the permission to.”
I looked back at the sun outside the windows, realizing that it had not shown itself until her arrival in this room. “But is it true? Someone once stole your light?”
She nodded. “The Pixie of the Moon, Lune. I fell in love with Lune and he fell in love with me. Together we are each other’s perfect match, this I am certain. Still we spend some days together, but he is but a silhouette to me now, reminding me of our importance apart. You see, if we were to leave this world and descend happily into the Ever After, Lune and I would deprive the Earth and this universe of day and night. Without day and night, this universe cannot survive. Lune broke my heart when he first orbited away from me. I grew dark, and I no longer cared what came of our universe. To me there was no purpose without him. Lune, in his desperation and love for Earth and the other planets, worked hard to supply as much light as he could, but without me, he had no light to reflect. This was when the fever of the vampire began. My selfish sadness spread disease and despair across the globe. The world as we know it changed.”
“So, how did you get your light back?”
Soleil approached me, grasping both my hands. Her hands were warm, filling me with such hope. I felt all my apprehensions begin to fade—anything was possible. “Lune explained to me how our love, though perfect, could never exist in the Ever After. We were made to be selfless, but selfish at the same time. He showed me Earth in a way I’d never seen it before, as our children. He explained that though we could not be together, our children would bind us together. We would nurture them night and day as though nurturing our very love for all of eternity. Words like that could not help but ignite an ember inside me that soon turned to a powerful glow as I saw our love change the world back. I let go of the selfish anger, and I forgave Lune. That is all it took to change my fate.”
I was surprised. “It sounds so simple.”
“It does.” She let go of my hands. “But who do you know that can truly forgive? Who have you ever met that can turn back time and let go of all bitterness?”
I shook my head. Even I knew I would never be able to let go of some of the bitterness I felt about certain things. Greg and I would never be able to return to the brother’s we once were, not after all that had happened. How does someone forget?
“You see. Forgiveness, true forgiveness, is an elusive thing. It takes a lot of self confidence and awareness to get past those things that hurt us.” She tilted her head and lifted her frosty brow. “Why are you so curious?” She asked this as though she already knew the answer.
“I took a pixie’s light once, and I fear it has turned her into a force that could destroy this world once more.”
Soleil nodded, looking unsurprised. “Avery.”
I nodded. “If I can bring her light back, I think I can stop her.”
Soleil unhooked her robe and it fell to the ground, just as the sun fully emerged from behind the hills, filling the nave with bright light. She wore a matching sheer silk dress that allowed her light to shine through. I was transfixed as she stepped past me and onto the pedestal. There, she sat in an invisible chair that hadn’t been there when I stood upon the space. She looked quite comfortable, petting her finger across an invisible arm and revealing to me the shape of the undetectable object. “I think you can do more than stop her. I think you could make her the new advocate for all that is good about the human world.”
I couldn’t stifle the laugh. “The human world? Avery embracing the human world?”
Soleil nodded. “Yes. I think she is the perfect leader. After all, she makes the perfect leader of the Black Angels. Who’s to say she can’t simply apply those skills elsewhere?”
She had a point and perhaps a good bargaining chip in my attempts to persuade Avery back to our side.
“Find a way to convince her that being apart is better than being together. Find a reason that will persuade her as Lune found with me. It shouldn’t be too hard. After all, you and Avery aren’t even true matches. Her match is someone far different, but not at the same time. She eyed me slyly, a half smile adorning her lips.”
I narrowed my gaze, taking nothing from the hint she was trying to give. “How can you be certain she’s not my true match?” It was something I had battled with, despite the way I knew I felt for Jane. So many things had happened that it was hard to think straight any longer.
She ushered me closer to her pedestal. “I’ve seen the way you and Jane look at each other, like Lune and I do. Love like that can’t be fake.”
Her affirmation instilled even more hope than her touch already had. Jane was worth fighting for. It’s just nice to be reminded of that after so long doing so. It helped calm many of my doubts.
Soleil giggled at me, I could not assume why. “For heaven’s sake, you’re far too serious about this. Worst case scenario make a vow to Avery if all else fails. Promise to help her find love before your time here on Earth ends. Vow to work at that task tirelessly. Hope like that just might be enough to bring her back from the brink. Hope is the root of all lightness, I’ve found, and women thrive on it, whether it has true merit or not.” Soleil gripped the invisible arm rests of her throne, tilting her head back and closing her eyes as though bathing in sunlight.
“But, then I’d be lying to her. That could only end badly.”
She sighed, rolling her head on her shoulders as though to stretch her neck. “It’s not lying. Help her find her true love. I think if you put your mind to it you’ll be surprised at how easy it will be. She is prime to meet her true love very soon, I believe. This lifetime is the right lifetime for her to find him, after all.”
“Can you just tell me who he is?”
She laughed sarcastically, only to shut her mouth and seem to doze off.
I took it as a sign that my time here had reached a climax. I’d learned all she was willing to give and now I needed to apply it. I pressed my lips together for a moment before summoning a goodbye. “Thank you,” I offered at last, though Soleil didn’t seem to hear me. I backed a few steps away from the pedestal before turning and walking my way down the nave and out the door.
Outside, the world felt as quiet as it had when I arrived. I gently latched the door behind me, resting my hand against the wood before gathering my thoughts and turning back to the task before me. Walking over the bridge, I hardly noticed the figure that was now standing in the corridor to my left. He was just outside the light from the dimming lanterns, held in the shadows where he seemed to belong.
From across the pond I saw his outline reflected in the water, blue and powdery. I followed the outline as it melded with the figure itself, looking just the same. Dancing sunlight off the water gave his skin an ethereal light, a borrowed light that seemed to cloak him. He leaned casually against the wall, watching me as I walked, unafraid of what I thought of
him.
It had to be Lune.
I allowed myself to watch him in return, and for a moment I let myself imagine his life. I saw him stalking the grounds of a love he could never have. Sometimes graced to be in her presence, yet distanced enough that love was but a glimpse from afar. I admired his strength. Here was a man that could practice patience. Here was a man that put others before himself, always seeking the better outcome for those he protected.
I wanted to be that kind of man.
EMILY:
Wes looked at me sideways. “What do you mean skip school? You haven’t been in two weeks. I understand you’re still upset about everything, but at some point you’ve got to try and move—”
I grabbed his arm. “Stop. No. That’s not what I’m saying. That’s not what I’m trying to do.” I felt cold and weak, as though I hadn’t eaten in hours.
He shrugged away from me. “Well, we can’t go find Max. He’s already left. He said he had a lead on his brother yesterday at the funer—I mean—at the thing for Jane.” He looked flustered. He knew I didn’t like the term funeral.
I put my hand on my forehead, finding it dewy with a layer of cold sweat. I had to tell him and I had to tell him right now. “I did something I shouldn’t have,” I blurted, looking at him directly. “And it did something to me I didn’t expect. I found a bottle of pills this morning. They must have been left over. I stupidly took one thinking it would help ease me into the day but . . .”
The look on Wes’s face was instantly full of disappointment. His body sank as his thoughts turned to anger and failure—he hadn’t been able to save me.
I was overwhelmed with guilt, knowing this wasn’t his burden to carry, or to blame himself for. I tried my best to ignore this feeling and go on, hoping further explanation would help. “They were the Angel Blood pills Greg had given me. I thought they were a generic thing, never did I expect that they were actually made of his blood. That’s the only explanation for what just happened.”
Wes pulled slowly onto the shoulder. I watched him, judging his facial expressions, his mind—the anger, betrayal, confusion. “What happened?”
The silence in the car felt magnified. “I think the pill got me into Greg’s head. I heard Avery and Greg talking to each other as though they were right here in the car with us.”
Max discreetly looked around the car. “Can you still hear them?”
I shook my head. “No. No, it’s faded. I think the pill already wore off.”
His mind was still angry, but intrigue outweighed it at this point. “Do you have more?”
“More?” I gasped. I was not about to relive that moment. “I can’t believe you’re asking me that when you’re mad I even did it.”
“Of course I’m mad. You promised me you’d never do that, and I hoped you’d tell me when you did feel that way so we could talk it through. I thought we were closer than that.”
“We are close,” I argued.
He grasped the wheel and looked away from me. I read his mind. He didn’t want to fight, he just wanted to get to the bottom of this. He wanted to know if this whole thing was real. The only reason he asked about the pills was because he wanted to know if it could happen again, perhaps with Max there to witness it, so that he could get into my mind and hear the voices for himself—as much as Wes didn’t like the idea—having it happen in a controlled setting could be useful, given the state of things.
I was surprised by the direction his thoughts were going, and fast, too. “Is there any way we can find Max?” I tried to go with what he was thinking, hoping this would take the heat off how disappointed he was in me.
Wes brought his attention back to me. “I’m not sure. I’d have to ask Jake.”
“Then we should go see Jake.” I know he hated it when Jake and I were even in the same room, but . . . “He can help,” I reassured.
Wes shifted the car back into gear and turned away from the shoulder to make a quick u-turn. “As much as I don’t want to, I have to agree. I want to help Max even if he won’t let me. I can’t pretend that our world isn’t facing something big.” He sighed, gazing at me speculatively. “School can wait, for now, but if all this turns out to be useless, then come tomorrow, we’re both going to back school. Got it?”
I rolled my eyes. He was so by-the-book, but that’s why I loved him.
“I can’t believe I’m pushing this, but are there more pills?” he asked again, though our conversation already pointed to the fact that there were.
“A few. At home.” I felt bad about the fact that I had replaced them to the drawer I found them in instead of flushing them down the toilet where they probably belonged.
He took a deep breath. “Then we’ll stop to get those first. You’re mom is already gone to work. She doesn’t have to know about this.”
I agreed. Even though my mother and I had grown close since Jane’s death—sharing what we knew of my father—I wasn’t ready to tell her about everything.
STELLA:
After a long drive through the woods where Jake attempted to convince me that we really were headed somewhere and, no, he wasn’t going to kill me, we arrived at a gate. On either side stood two tall, stone obelisks, weathered and aged over many years—though the wood of the gate seemed almost new. I looked at the strange symbols adorning the wood. For some reason, I was able to make sense of them and read it as I had many other things in the hunter’s cabin. It read: Winter Wood.
“There you go. See, you can read. We just need to teach you how to speak.”
I felt calmer now, trusting Jake more and more with each moment that passed in which he didn’t attempt to murder me. I looked back at the gate. There were more than just the words I recognized. Looking at it as a whole, I felt like I’d been here before.
Jake nodded. “If you’re who I think you are then yes, you have been here before.”
I crunched my brows, wishing I could keep some of my thoughts to myself.
“I’ll teach you. You seem to get the concept but your follow-through is poor.”
I must have looked overly relieved because he laughed when he saw my face.
“It’s good. You need to learn this now. You have to delineate your thoughts. It’s all about learning to think before you think, if that makes sense. You need to indicate to yourself the actual boundaries of what’s in your mind. I’m explaining it to you in a far more complex way than I had to explain it to my friend Wes,” he joked. “I’m glad you seem to be intelligent.”
Wes? Wes sounded familiar.
Jake nodded, smiling a little as though he knew something I didn’t. “Might be beneficial for you to learn to hide your thoughts before you meet Emily, too. I have an inkling that a problem may arise, just based on what happened before.”
Before? What happened?
“It’s not worth mentioning. Just do yourself a favor and avoid irritating Emily when I introduce you to her.”
Now that name, Emily. That definitely struck a chord each time he said it—an angry chord. Why, I wasn’t sure, but I assumed it had something to do with Jake’s vague suggestion that she could read thoughts and was going to dislike me if she knew what I was thinking. What would I be thinking and how did he know I’d think it?
Jake pressed something on his dash as the gate before us opened mechanically. “The more I read into your thought the more I am beginning to believe you really are who I think you are. I can’t wait for you to meet my friends—should be sufficiently entertaining.”
I was frustrated and found myself having to remind him of the training he was giving me about hiding my thoughts. The point was that I didn’t want him reading them anymore.
He drove on through the gate. “Right. Like I explained to Wes, imagine your mind as a house and in that house there are rooms, each room represents a different topic of thought. Perhaps the kitchen is for thoughts about food, the bedroom thoughts about being tired,” he laughed. “Or being in love.” He wiggled his brows offensively.
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br /> I leaned away from him, trying to portray disgust in my thoughts and with my expression.
“Now take all those rooms and shut the door tight. There you have it. Your thoughts are now your own. Just simply being aware of the possibility of someone breaking into your home of thoughts will make your thoughts instinctively more wary and hidden.”
I tried to imagine my mind as he instructed, closing each door one at a time.
Jake began to bob his head. “There you go. You’re getting a hang of it.”
I didn’t really feel much different, but I took his word for it. I began to think mean things about him that weren’t necessarily true—he didn’t seem to react to them, meaning he didn’t seem to have heard them at all. I felt freedom again, a feeling I had missed since leaving the forest. Looking out the window I was content within my own head.
“Well, this is no fun,” he murmured.
I looked at him inquisitively.
“I can’t read your thoughts anymore,” he divulged. “It’s too quiet.” He reached for another button on his dash, pressing it as melodic sounds began to emanate from every corner of the car.
I felt unease again, not able to pinpoint just where the noise was coming from. I wasn’t able to understand what was happening—at least the animal part of me couldn’t.
Jake didn’t seem to care about my noticeable discomfort, now reaching for another device that was stashed in the area between us. It lit up when he touched it. His fingers slid across the smooth surface, then he held it to his ear.
“Oh, hey. Didn’t expect that you’d pick up so fast.”
Was he talking to me? I narrowed my gaze at him, willing him to look at me but he didn’t. Again, a part of me wanted to accept what he was doing while another part of me still didn’t understand. My self was at war.
“Really?” He sounded and looked suddenly surprised. “Wait, what? I’ve never heard of that before.” He paused.
