by Ciara Knight
Gabby leaned against Alexander. Something told her this was going to be shocking and would impact them both. She clung to him tighter, hoping no matter what words were uttered, he would still love her.
Herak picked up a stick and stirred the fire. “I think I will begin. You see, I fought each of you, including Samantha during the war, but I was once friends with some of you. Boon, for instance, was a messenger from Heaven. You need to understand I started as a man wanting to help others. It wasn’t until all the power I’d accumulated corrupted my intentions that I became who you believe me to be. I was a man of wealth, a husband, a strong-minded individual who wanted to change the way things were done. At first, it was for the greater good. However, when challenged by the powers that be, I thought I knew better and disobeyed their laws. When they discovered my treachery, they tried to strip my powers. But I had other plans.”
The fire crackled and Herak moved to a long table and retrieved a pot. Hanging it on the iron rod stretching over the fire, he then ambled back to his seat.
Alexander furrowed his brows. “We already know most of this.”
“Yes, well, humor me. I turned to Satan to restore my powers, which he did gladly. This time, I ensured no one could strip my abilities. I made a deal with Satan that I’d forever maintain the gifts if I were to take down the two most powerful warrior angels.”
Nervous energy surged through to Gabby’s hands, and she knew if her powers worked, she’d probably blow up the entire cave. “Boon and Grace, right?”
Grace reached over and patted Gabby’s hand. “No, dear. Forras and you.”
****
Alexander inhaled, choking on shock. He fought the seizing in his throat and managed to croak out, “But Gabby wasn’t…and I wasn’t even… No way could Forras—”
Boon wiped his brow and stood behind Grace, his hand on her shoulder. “Yes, Gabby was an angel and yes, you fought in the war. Forras was Gabby’s Guardian and Warrior. You were the healer and confidant of the one who commanded all armies.”
Alexander dropped his head in his hands. He squeezed his temples, trying to rid the pounding. What were they talking about? He’d remember if he were there, and he’d certainly remember Forras being her Guardian. The thought sent shivers down his body. No, it had to be some sort of mistake.
Herak grabbed a cloth, removed the pot from the iron hanger, and poured some hot, brown liquid into four cups.
“I told you, forget about the tea and tell us what the hell is going on.”
“Impatient as ever I see.” Herak offered a cup to Boon who returned to his chair and sipped. Grace took hers and rested it on her lap. Herak held one out for Gabby, but she shook her head.
Herak returned to his seat and slurped some before he directed his gaze back on them. “Now, you need to understand, I was consumed by the drug of power.” He shook his head. “I wasn’t in my right mind.” He shot a glance at Grace then looked back down at his drink. After a poignant pause, he lifted his chin at Alexander. “During the war, you were destined to give your life to protect the warrior. It was a given. If I took you down, then there would be no one left to protect the planet. Heaven would have sealed their gates and given Earth to me. I would’ve ruled over all of mankind.”
Grace wrung her hands in her lap. “Alexander, it wasn’t our decision to keep this from you. I know you must hate me, but we couldn’t tell you before. It was forbidden.”
His fear and sense of betrayal exploded. What could be so bad that they had to keep the truth from Gabby and him? “By whom? Herak? Heaven? Keeping secrets has done nothing but supply Hell’s minions with more ammo. Tell me! What are you still keeping from me?” A twinge of guilt gnawed at him for raising his voice at Grace.
“You were going to sacrifice yourself to save Earth and the Chosen One, the one that was destined to end the war. Your sacrifice would save everyone, including the high commander of all the angels. We never suspected…”
“What?” Alexander clutched the side of the chair to keep from slamming his fists against the cave wall.
“That you two were in love, and that she would make a deal with the devil to save you.”
Gabby pressed her hand to her mouth. “Me? You’re talking about me, aren’t you?”
Grace nodded, tears spilling from her eyes. “Yes, my dear.”
“No, it isn’t possible.” Alexander gave into the urge and slammed his fist against the wall, blood tricked from the torn skin. “She wasn’t an angel. I would’ve remembered her.”
Boon sat stiff, watching them. “You weren’t allowed to remember. Once Gabby made the deal, it was sealed with her death. She sacrificed herself to save you.”
Gabby worried her bottom lip, her eyes distant. “It doesn’t make sense. If I made a deal with Satan then Earth would have become part of Hell and Heaven would have sealed the gate.”
“Ah, but that’s where you betrayed me, too.” Herak snickered. “You offered yourself so that not only Alexander would be spared, but I would be trapped here. Boon made it happen, but Grace lured me here. Satan sent me with a promise, I’d have Grace as a prize for my loyalty. He’d heard rumors of my plans to take over Hell once I’d completed my end of our deal, so he became angry with me. The war ended because of his hatred for me at the time. The ironic part was that I never plotted against Hell. But he didn’t figure that out until much later. Elianna had whispered of my faux treachery in a demon’s ear then sent him back to Hell.”
Gabby leaned toward Alexander. He touched the top of her hand, but she pulled away.
“Elianna, my mother?”
“Yes. When she died in the car crash, and Grace figured out that Alexander and Gabby had been reunited, we knew something big was happening,” Boon said. “The problem was we needed to figure out how to keep you two together, hidden, yet away from bonding.” He leaned against the cave wall and crossed his arms. “Yeah, like that was easy.”
“But you told us we could soulbond after we’d sealed the rift,” Gabby whispered to Grace.
“That was because of my second-in-command from the war,” Herak said. “You refer to her as the Prim. She made a misguided attempt to free me. When she returned to tell me she’d failed, she shared a few interesting things. It turns out Hell wanted Gabby dead, not just because she’s once again the Chosen One, but because it’s prophesied that if the six high warrior angels returned, two united and one died, Satan is destined to fail.”
By the look on Gabby’s face, this was all too much. Heck, it was too much for him. As Grace edged closer to Gabby, Alexander wished his mom had her angelic abilities to soothe her.
“Gabby, dear. We never knew the exact deal you made with Satan and thought there was a chance that your soulbonding would bring back your memories and abilities. We never dreamed it would summon the demons.”
Gabby rocked back and forth on her chair. “Where have I been the last two thousand years? I mean, obviously I wasn’t in Heaven, or Alexander would have remembered me when he got his memories back.”
Grace stroked Gabby’s shaking arms. “I’ve heard that you agreed to remain on Earth, being reborn over and over as penance. But I don’t think that’s true. I think you volunteered to remain to protect the rest of us. Also, Elianna was your confidant during the war. A real mother figure to you. You were both so close. She said you wouldn’t be able to reside in Heaven near Alexander without causing his fall. Apparently, you both were deeply in love and kept it secret from everyone except Elianna.”
“If all this is true, why don’t I remember anything?”
“We believe you don’t want to. That it’s too painful to remember losing Alexander. Even now, with him by your side, you can’t look at him. Elianna told us that you couldn’t breathe unless you could feel his touch.”
Alexander couldn’t hold himself back any longer. He scooted his chair against Gabby’s and pulled her onto his lap, his arms encircling her and holding her tight. “I always knew there was more between us than ju
st this life. The connection between us during our first kiss in the rain. The night I held you and our souls touched. The way I can’t think or breathe without you by my side. Gabby, we’ve been denied each other for over two millennia. Our bonding didn’t truly fail. If you look deep inside yourself, you’ll see a slender, very tenuous thread holding us together.”
Gabby relaxed into his embrace. “I felt it, too. But why would I forbid us from truly bonding?”
Boon knelt before them, his eyes full of compassion. “Because if one dies, you both are sent to darkness. You made a choice to sacrifice yourself. You loved him too much to seal his fate with your own. However, you are being given a second chance and have been chosen to fight to the end to save mankind and protect Heaven. You won’t be able to make a deal with Satan again.” Boon bowed his head. “If I would have known…but neither of you confided in us. We didn’t know until later that Forras hated Alexander so much that he sinned and fell from Heaven because he believed you’d caused Gabby’s demise.”
Gabby clung to Alexander. “You speak as if I’m an ancient, full of experience and knowledge, but I feel like a seventeen year old girl taking her first adult steps into the world.”
Alexander stroked her back. God above, but he felt so helpless.
Gabby lifted her head. “Can we have a moment? This is all so much, I just need to take a breath and process what this all means.”
Boon pushed up from the ground and headed for the cave opening. Grace met him at the doorway.
Herak paused and turned back toward them. “Remember, even though time is a gift here, each passing hour is another minute where more demons join the fight.”
For once, Alexander had no desire to fight. He’d just learned that he’d loved Gabby for eons, but didn’t understand why he couldn’t remember. “Wait, you still haven’t told me why I don’t remember. If the event was blocked from my mind, how were my feelings jammed?”
Herak shook his head. “Love, it is a strange thing. Even in her death, Gabby didn’t want you to suffer. It was part of her deal. While she was cursed to roam earth for all these many centuries, mourning Heaven and the loss of her true love, you remained oblivious, safe behind the gates with no connection to this world. It wasn’t until she was reborn that her memories were gone. She is not only the Chosen One, but a product of all worlds. If her memories were intact, the prophecy would have never been fulfilled.” Herak turned and the three of them disappeared around the cave wall.
Alexander took her hand and guided her to sit on the floor, wanting to hold her the way he had in her bedroom that night. If only for a moment, he needed to connect with her in some way.
Thank goodness Herak’s cave was a safe haven from the nothingness of the land. Alexander kissed her head and inhaled her apple-scented shampoo. It calmed his nerves. He closed his eyes and held her tight.
She sniffled and he curled her closer, pulling her tighter against him. “Alex, I can’t remember anything. Given how much I love you, I also can’t imagine living life all those years without you.”
Alexander cupped her face in his hands and lifted her chin to see her eyes. “You sacrificed so much, Gabby. Listen to me, please. You must promise me, no matter what, you do not sacrifice yourself to save me. No making deals. I know I haven’t proved I believe in your abilities when it comes to Forras, but I promise I will. We need to trust each other and know that our love is strong enough to carry us through anything.”
“Even darkness.” She shuddered. “I’ve been there, Alex. I couldn’t—”
“Shh.” Alexander pressed his lips to hers and thought he’d melt into her. “Darkness is life without you.”
She stroked his cheek and locked gazes with him. “My memory may be gone, but my heart remembers. It’s shattering into a million pieces at the thought we’ve been apart so long. I can’t lose you again.”
“You’ll never lose me.” Alexander heard the fear and lack of conviction in his voice. His only consolation was she knew he loved her and she was in his lap with his arms around her. He brushed his lips across her mouth, tasting her salty tears. He kissed her as if it would be their last. Passion, loss, and desire collided and melded into something beautiful. Nothing had ever tasted sweeter than her love.
The fire crackled across the room. He broke the kiss and gazed at her face. Firelight danced in her beautiful eyes. His finger traced her defined cheekbone, stopping at her swollen bottom lip. “We need to win this war once and for all. We’ve been separated far too long.”
Gabby smiled. “When this war is over, you’re mine. We’ll find a way to be soul mates and marry, or spend eternity in Heaven together. It doesn’t matter which, as long as we’re together.”
“Done,” he rasped.
Shuffles from the cave entrance drew his attention. Boon cleared his throat. “Sorry to interrupt, but there’s a problem.”
Gabby cupped Alexander’s face and, staring into his eyes, asked, “What is it?”
“We have company. Demons, we think. They’ve breached the island’s barrier and are headed up the path.”
Chapter Eleven
No! They needed more time. She wouldn’t get a third chance. They’d have to fight the war and stay alive with no bargain, or all was lost. She squeezed his hand and studied his features one last time. Could she avoid repeating the same mistake as last time? Could she shove her love for Alexander, Sammy, Boon, Grace, and her father aside and let them die for the greater good if required?
“I won’t leave your side.” Alexander gave her a reassuring smile, and she turned to face the outside world and all that came their way.
Barking echoed from outside and excitement filled her. “Patronus?” No, it couldn’t be. He’d disappeared last year when the rift was open.
Alexander quirked his head and arched a brow. “Let’s go find out.”
Leaving the cave, they were plunged once more into the world of nothingness. Herak must have been granted the small space to live in, but with no powers. She blinked, trying to let her eyes adjust to the bright, rising sun. Then she saw four figures standing at the top of the path, a brown, skinny dog growling at them, keeping them from approaching any further. “Patronus! It is you.”
She yanked Alexander to follow her to the edge of the path where Herak, Grace, and Boon stood like a line of defense. “Who are they?” Gabby asked, coming up beside Boon.
Boon clenched his fists. “Demons.”
“They look like regular people to me,” Gabby said, scanning each of them. No leathery skin, hooves, or claws. Just four muscular boys of various heights and weights, standing in front of Patronus.
“They had to take human form to enter the land,” Herak mumbled.
“What do you want?” Gabby yelled at them.
“For the mutt not to tear us apart,” the taller one of the bunch shouted back.
The one with white blonde hair took a step forward, but Patronus bared his teeth and he stumbled back. “We are here to deliver a message.”
“What’s the message?” Gabby called out.
The boy in the middle lifted his chin. “Satan has risen.”
Her body trembled at his words and her knees threatened to buckle. “It’s too late, then,” Gabby whispered. “I failed.” Alexander kept her upright, stroking her forearm with his thumb.
Herak narrowed his gaze. “No, you haven’t. Now, call off your dog.”
Gabby glared at him then shook her head, figuring they had nothing left to lose if Satan walked on Earth. She leaned over and smacked her palms to her thighs. “Patronus, come.”
He growled one final warning then, with his tail wagging, trotted up to her side. Dropping to her knees, she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him. He pulled back and licked her face. Alexander knelt beside her and scratched behind his ears. “Good boy.”
Herak glanced at them briefly then, with his lips barely moving, whispered, “There is more to this.” Straightening, he stared at the four demons. “Y
ou are on my land. Tell me your business here. It can’t be just to tell us that Satan has ascended to Earth, which we would have discovered as much soon enough.”
They looked at each other as if for reassurance. What demon ever needed permission to speak?
“There’s a rumor that the Chosen One has returned and balance could be restored,” the smaller one said.
Why would they care if balance was restored? Demons wanted Satan to rule over the world. They were… Wait, if they were in human form it meant they weren’t just hounds from Hell. “You.” Gabby climbed to her feet. “All of you were human once, weren’t you?”
“Yes,” the one who hadn’t yet spoken answered. His dark eyes penetrated straight to her soul. There was hope in that darkness. Only a flicker, but it was there.
“You wish to return to Heaven or a life you once had?”
The small one nodded.
“Are there more of you?” Grace asked.
Boon shot a sideways glance at her. “How can we trust them?” he hissed. “What if it’s a trap?”
An image of men falling then rising as demons flashed through her mind. Patronus barked. She rubbed her temple and closed her eyes. “No, it’s true. They don’t want to serve Satan.”
Boon scrubbed his chin. “Then who will they serve?”
Gabby knew the answer. “No one. They just want to live in peace.”
“We are tired of the wars and Heaven and Hell’s interference on Earth. There is a group of us who only wish to return to our human forms and live out our days. The Chosen One can grant that at the end of the war. If we fight for you, will you grant us what we ask?”
She searched the dark crevices of her memory, but couldn’t see for sure if she had that power. “And if I don’t?”
“Then we return to Satan and follow his command to slaughter all angels and possess those humans who remain on Earth.”
A dark shadow crossed over her soul at his words. The thought of only darkness and torment frightened her. “If I am granted the right to free you, I promise I will do so.”
