by Tamar Sloan
Something feels wrong…
There’s a click behind me, and I spin around, thinking the doors are about to open. Except, just like the rest of the room, there’s nothing but empty space between me and the frosted doors Kadence just went through.
Suddenly, being separated from Kadence feels wrong. Anything could happen to her, and I’d be even more useless than usual.
I step forward, but the door remains closed. Another step and I’m flush against the white glass. The doors still remain closed. Uneasiness is weaving its way through my limbs as I step backward, then forward as I’ve seen people do.
The doors don’t open.
Maybe there’s a button somewhere, and my inexperience with this world means I’ve missed it.
But the walls are nothing but smooth cream. I take a step back, then another, only to see more of the same.
“Micah?” Kadence’s voice reaches through the barrier between us.
“Kadence! The doors, they’re jammed.”
“I know. I don’t like this.”
Jamming my fingernails into the crack where the metal doorframes meet, I try to grit my teeth and pull. Pain shoots up my fingers as the nails feel like they’re about to tear off, but nothing shifts.
“I can’t get them to open, Micah.”
The note of desperation in Kadence’s voice matches the panicked feeling that has me slamming my fist against the glass. “They’re locked tight.
“Micah!” Kadence’s voice is muffled through the thick glass, but the urgency is unmistakable. “I spoke to Haven. You can’t go through the photo booth. We can lose our souls.”
What? “But we’re—”
“Haven was very sure. You can’t go through it.”
Instinctively, I glance down. My gray outline is resting on the ground, the edges made fuzzy by the thick carpet.
“Just don’t move. I’ll find a way to get these doors open.”
Not liking the feeling of being trapped and liking the idea that I have to be rescued even less, I press my head against the door. Anger slowly morphs to foreboding.
I shouldn’t have come.
A choked gasp spears from behind, and I spin around.
The person standing there, mute and still, only reinforces the knowledge I’ve made the wrong choice.
Damien Black raises his hand. It hovers, outstretched and trembling, before dropping to his side again. A single tear slips down his cheek. “Matthew?”
My body feels like a live wire that’s been stretched too tight. I shake my head once. “My name is Micah.”
He blinks, swallows, then blinks again. “She said she never liked Matthew.”
I want to move. I want to run. But I’m rooted to the spot.
He’s talking like he knows who I am…
“Micah.” I spin around at the sound of Kadence’s voice on the other side of the glass doors. “Stand back. I’m going to smash these damned doors.”
The determination in her voice is unmistakable. I look to my father. “Are you able to open them? Because she’ll do it.”
Damien’s eyebrows shoot up. From his pocket he removes a remote. One press of a button and the doors whoosh open behind me.
Kadence is standing there, a chair held high above her head.
Dropping it, she rushes into my arms. Her hands flutter over my arms, chest, then up to my hair. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” I grasp her face, holding her as I scan her features. “You?”
“Of course.”
Tucking her into my side, I deduce to enjoy the relief. “We need to leave, Kadence. Now.”
Damien steps forward, his face panicked but smiling. “Wait. Kadence. It would be an honor to meet anyone who would so fiercely protect my son.”
Kadence
The door whooshes shut again behind us with an audible click.
Micah spins around, keeping himself in front of me. “We’d like to leave now.”
My heart is thumping as I twist my hand in his T-shirt. I realize suddenly that Damien Black must’ve had this place cleared out when he discovered Micah was here. My eyes flicker to the floor, and I’m almost surprised to see he still has a shadow.
Damien Black isn’t a Shell.
What’s more, he’s staring at Micah like he’s found the golden fleece. “Micah. I like that name.”
Micah takes a step back, taking me with him. “You can’t keep us here.”
I should’ve kept the chair. Dammit. I shouldn’t have let Micah come in here.
Damien takes a step forward, his wide eyes devouring Micah. “Please. I’ve been looking for you since the moment you disappeared.”
Micah’s already shaking his head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. You have me confused with someone else.”
Damien shakes his head, too, “Your date of birth. Your place of birth. They match, Matthew—ah, Micah.” He shrugs slightly. “Apologies, I’ve spent your whole life calling you Matthew.”
Micah swallows and my heart aches. I’m barely processing this—this must be so much harder for him.
I’m suddenly struck by their similarities. Micah may have his mother’s blue eyes, but he has his father’s dark hair and strong jaw. Standing so close together, it’s undeniable they’re father and son.
Matthew…I suck in a startled breath. Matthew’s Health and Wellbeing Center. Surely not…
I step around Micah. “You built these centers to find Micah, didn’t you?”
Damien nods. “When Moira disappeared with our son, I had every private investigator I could afford trying to track her.” Damien swallows, the memory obviously painful. “But she, just, disappeared.”
Because she took Micah to Elysium.
Damien takes another step forward, his gaze never leaving Micah. “Then I met Jade and her daughter, Hiroko. Jade was so supportive of my search for Matthew. She helped me build these centers. Hiroko was so interested in their management.”
I bet she was. I glance around. “Where are Jade and Hiroko now?”
Damien’s lashes flicker. “They left. Packed up and walked away, leaving nothing behind but divorce papers.” His jaw clenches. “I always suspected my obsession would one day kill my marriage.”
Micah’s hands clamp into fists. “You built health centers purely to collect information about people?”
Damien’s gaze slides away. “I know. It was a desperate act by a desperate man.” His shoulders drop as he takes in the center we’re standing in. “I told myself that by helping the thousands of people I have, that by never using the data for anything but finding you, that I wasn’t doing anything wrong.”
Thousands…how many of those have had their souls stolen?
“It was wrong,” Micah grinds out.
Damien’s head snaps back, eyes blazing. “Taking my son from me was wrong.” As quickly as the anger flares, it dies. Damien’s lips soften, then twitch in a way that’s far too familiar. “In the end, it worked. I found you.”
Holy crap. Damien built these health centers to find his lost son. I doubt he has any idea Jade and Hiroko were using them for a completely different reason.
I can feel emotions surging through Micah, but I have no idea which ones. He’s spent his whole life believing Damien Black is evil.
“You’re lying! You never wanted me!” The words explode out of Micah. He hurls them at his father, his body vibrating with rage and denial.
“That’s what Moira told you?” Damien’s face is wide open with horror. “That I didn’t want you? Micah, I fell so hard and fast for your mother, I proposed the moment I found out she was pregnant.”
My heart aches. Moira could never have stayed with a mortal man.
“She refused, saying this unplanned child wouldn’t change anything—she couldn’t stay. She never told me why, no matter how much I shouted, begged, or bargained. In the end, the only consolation prize was she was going to leave you with me.”
Micah freezes, the stillness as
complete as if I’d stopped time. I press myself against him, curling around his side. I can’t take the pain of these words away, but I can let him know he’s not alone.
When he finally moves, it’s a slow shaking of his head. “I don’t believe you.”
Damien holds out his hands, palms up. “I don’t lie, Micah. It’s the one rule I’ve built my life around. Honesty is my integrity.”
And that would have to be the final nail in this revelation.
Micah believed it was his mother and Elysium that founded his honesty. But it seems Moira has lied in ways he could never have conceived.
“Open the door.” Micah’s voice is hoarse and raw.
Damien shakes his head. “I’ve spent your entire life looking for you, Micah. I can’t let you go.”
Micah’s eyes close. “I’ll return. I need some time to think.”
“How do I know you’re not going to run?”
Micah’s eyes flutter open to stare at his father. My heart aches as his shoulders droop. “I don’t lie.”
Tears sting my eyes as my throat aches. So much pain has filled this room.
Damien pulls in a steadying breath, his own eyes moist. The connection between these two is deeper than the years that have kept them apart.
Out of his pocket he pulls a small remote. His eyes never leaving Micah, he lifts it and presses the button.
A soft click punctures the weighted air.
Micah looks down at me, and everything tightens by the look in his eyes.
“Son.” The knowledge that Damien has found the child he’s spent millions of dollars and countless hours looking for is weighted in that one word.
Micah doesn’t turn around. “Yes?”
“I’ve always loved you.”
Micah stiffens like he was just shot between the shoulder blades. Gripping my hand as if he’s worried he might collapse, he strides forward without turning around. Stiff-legged, he leads us through the sliding doors, out the building, and down the alleyway.
The moment he stops, I wrap myself around him. I can feel Micah trembling. I want to tell him I love him, that this means it will all work out. If Damien isn’t working with Hades, and he’s no longer searching for his son, then we can convince him to lose the photo booths. Without them, Hades loses the ability to steal souls.
Before I can speak, though, Micah has the world disappearing around us. In a blink, we’re standing beside the dozer again.
The sun is blaring down on us, warm and bright. If I pretend hard enough, it’s like we never left. But the pain on Micah’s face, as if something is tearing inside him, makes that impossible.
“Micah.” I press my hand over his heart. “I know this hurts. But—”
“You don’t understand, Kadence. This started with me.”
I frown. What’s he talking about? “This started with Hades and his need for power. And now we’ve found a way to stop it.”
Micah looks away. “I need to talk to my mother.”
Nodding, I let my hand slip away. “I know.”
I almost offer to go with him, but I stop myself. This is something the goddess of fate put into motion over seventeen years ago.
But instead of pulling away, Micah moves in closer. His hand comes up to brush my cheek, his touch a sweet graze over my skin. His eyes, Mediterranean pools so deep I’d willingly drown in, are full of tenderness.
He leans down, and I arch up, lips parting.
He stops a hairsbreadth away, nothing but his warmth caressing me. “I love you, Kadence.”
My heart takes flight, soaring on the joy those three words trigger.
“Micah,” I breathe.
Those words. He said the words. Micah has shown me in every way so many times, it was something I intuitively knew, but hearing them…
The touch of our lips seals the words, fuses them with a promise. I know deep in my soul that this love is as endless as time and as enduring as destiny. I melt into him, wanting our bodies to fuse as indelibly as our hearts.
When Micah pulls back, I almost follow him, hating that this isn’t the time to honor what has made my world complete.
The gravity in his eyes is what reminds me there’s still so much to be resolved. I brush his lips with my fingertips, amazed at the power they have. “Micah. You don’t have to tell me.”
I know why he’s held back. It was his way of not binding himself too tightly to Earth.
He smiles slightly, his Mediterranean eyes soft. “I wanted to.”
With the softest of kisses, he disappears.
I’m left with nothing but summer air holding me, so I collapse against the dozer. I didn’t admit it to myself, but my heart was yearning to hear those words.
But now they’ve been said, when their truth has been set free, I realize something doesn’t feel right.
Why did Micah say them now?
Crossing my arms despite the heat, I try to figure out what has me rattled. Damien’s revelation would’ve been heart-shattering for Micah to hear. The talk he’s about to have with his mother is going to be intense.
So, why? Why did he say them now?
I jump to my feet, heart hammering frantically. And why did they feel like goodbye?
“Kay? You’re back already?”
Nev comes around the nose of the bulldozer, her smile fading away when she sees the look on my face. “Is everything okay?”
I thought it was…
Nev slips in to stand beside me. “Kay?”
I scan the ground, as if the answers I’m looking for can be found in the dusty, compacted soil. “Nev, something happened, and I don’t think I understand what it means.”
She frowns, her brow crinkling in concern. “What do you mean?”
I look at my best friend. She now knows I’m a demigod. My guess is she suspects Micah may be one, too. I open my mouth, then close it again. I’ve kept all this a secret for so long, I don’t even know where to start.
Or whether I should…
“You know you can trust me, Kay. I’m the one person who’s been through everything with you.”
She’s right. From the day after my mother died, Nev has been there, helping me hope. Telling me to believe.
This time, when I open my mouth, the words come and come and come. In the end, I tell her everything. I tell her about Kronos and my ability to stop time. I tell her about finding Micah and almost losing Micah. I tell her about Hades and Shells and how we thought it was impossible to stop him.
Throughout it all, Nev is the friend I need her to be. She holds my hand through the tumble of tears and words, squeezing it when I hiccup to stop, relaxing when the torrent starts again. Just like the first time, she takes it all in stride.
When they finally trickle to an end, we sit there in silence. I’m not sure how much time has passed, but I do know I feel drained.
I think of Micah and wonder if he’s spoken to his mother yet. The lies she’s told him would be tearing him apart.
Nev lets out a breath. “So what are you going to do now?”
“I have no idea. Wait and see what comes of this talk, I suppose?”
“Are you sure that’s not the old Kadence talking?”
Her question takes me aback. “What do you mean?”
“You’ve always wanted me to be honest.” Nev smiles, probably trying to take the sting out of her words. “I think you’re holding back. You don’t want to totally commit to this in case you get hurt again.”
My jaw slackens. Has Nev been listening to everything I’ve told her? I already decided to fight this even before Micah returned. I’ve given this my all—every heartbeat knows this is the most important thing I’ve ever done.
Except, it’s not just human souls trapped in the Underworld needing us to succeed.
If Hades wins, I lose Micah.
And this time around, it would destroy me.
Oh, no. Have I spent so long holding back that I didn’t even realize I was still doing it? My heart scream
s a denial, but the seed of doubt has been planted. The thought of losing Micah is one that I instinctively shy away from…
Nev shrugs. “You could stop time.”
Shock spears down my spine. Maybe I didn’t explain it as clearly as I thought. “I can’t stop time, Nev. Hades will only harvest more souls.”
“Maybe those in the health centers. But it’ll give you the time you need to come up with a solution. With a solution, you can save all the souls.” She shrugs. “Plus, it’s not like anyone will be living as a Shell while time has stopped.”
I shake my head. She’s talking about being frozen in time herself. “No. That’s not a solution.”
I don’t care if I never stop time again.
Nev nods like she thought I’d say that. “You’re right; it’s a stupid idea.” She angles her hand on her hip. “Then what are you still doing here?”
“What do you mean?”
“I would’ve thought you’d be going after Micah in a flash.”
I frown. “Micah’s stronger than you realize, Nev. I think he’s spent his whole life underestimating himself.”
“But you’re worried about him…”
I rub my upper arms. “I am.” Micah’s words of love felt so…final. “That’s what makes this so hard.”
Nev nods in agreement. “He knows you’re here. He’ll be back when he’s ready to talk.”
I bite my lip. Am I doing exactly what Nev just said I was? Am I holding back to protect myself? “Maybe I should wait for him there…”
Nev slaps her thigh. “I knew it, bestie! I knew you weren’t just going to sit back and let this happen. You’re going to fight for it.”
Once the decision is made, it feels right. I won’t intrude on what’s happening up in Elysium, but I’ll be there when it’s done. “I’m going.” I’m even a little proud that my voice doesn’t tremble.
Nev throws her arms around me. “You’ve got this, Kay. I know it.”
“Okay, give me some space. I’ve only done this once before.”
Nev steps back and I pull in a deep breath. Micah’s strong enough to face this, and I’ll be the first person to tell him that.
I close my eyes, bringing the image of the gates of Elysium to mind, my pulse picking up at the thought of arriving there.
