by Bonnie Lamer
“An Angel? You mean the Seraph?” I ask, dumbfounded. I assumed he couldn’t help her anymore after snatching her out of her universe.
Tabbris’ eyes are fiery orbs, making me want to cringe. She is really pissed. “No, not the Seraphim. One who has found a loophole in his censure.”
I have no idea who she’s talking about. “Um, does this Angel have a name?”
I’m pretty sure sparks actually fly from her eyes as she speaks. “Yes, a name you know all too well.”
All at once, it hits me. “Belial?” I gasp.
Pacing again, Tabbris says, “Yes, Belial.”
“But, I thought he couldn’t take revenge on me.” Fear tears into me. I can’t fight my doppelgänger and Belial. There’s no way.
Tabbris stops pacing and she obviously wants to hit something. Or someone. Hopefully, she doesn’t choose one of the still figures around her as a punching bag. “Technically, he helped you.”
“Helped me?! How did he help me by helping the one trying to kill me?”
Tabbris’ face softens somewhat. I believe in pity. “You are one in the same, Xandra. She is you and you are she.”
The pieces fall into place in my tattered brain. “So helping her isn’t a form of revenge. He’s technically doing a good deed.” How has the universe gotten so screwed up? “You can’t stop him from doing this, can you?”
Tabbris looks like the perfect Indian Princess. Her almond eyes and darker complexion, the colorful sari she wears. She is beautiful. The defeat on her face looks completely out of place on someone so regal. “No.”
“How far can he go? Does helping her kill me count as a good deed?”
A sad smile forms on her lips so I’m surprised when she says, “No, it does not. Rashnu has called him before her to answer for his deeds and warn him against further action.”
Even Belial fears the wrath of Rashnu. She is one scary Angel. “So, this healing was a onetime thing?” I ask hopefully.
“Yes,” she says. “You have nothing more to fear from him.”
I know this is pushing things since she is the guardian of free will, but I can’t help but ask, “Any chance you can tell me where the other me is?”
Tabbris stares at me for a long time. So long, I fear she forgot I asked her a question. Finally, she says, “As she is you and you are she, it seems you should already know she has taken refuge in the Jenolan caves.”
Before it even registers in my brain that she just broke her own rules, Tabbris is gone. The room is once again filled with sound and movement. I, however, am sitting in a stunned silence.
Chapter 23
“Xandra, dear, are you listening to anything we’re saying?” Mom asks, pulling me out of my shock.
“Um, yeah, sure,” I say distractedly. What am I supposed to say now? ‘Oh, by the way my doppelgänger has been aided by an evil Angel who hates me so we better prepare for round five of Can the Xandra’s Kill Each Other’ doesn’t seem the way to go. “Would you guys mind if I have a few minutes alone with Kallen? Please?”
This is not a popular request. There is so much hesitation, I fear I may need to resort to magic to get time alone with my husband. Finally, though, Dagda grinds out, “Ten minutes. Meet us in the war room in ten minutes.”
Ten minutes is better than nothing. Isla and Mom don’t want to leave but I turn pleading eyes to them and they reluctantly depart with everyone else. Kallen closes the door behind them.
Walking back to the bed, he sits down and gathers me into his arms. “Why do I know you are going to tell me something I don’t want to hear?” he asks into my hair.
I chuckle but there’s no humor in it. “Because you know me so well.”
Leaning back but keeping me in his arms, he asks, “What do you want to tell me that you do not want anyone else to hear?”
I bite my bottom lip finding this is a lot harder to say than I thought it would be. “I want to tell you where to find me if I don’t return on my own.”
The beautiful green of his eyes darkens by several shades. “Xandra, what did the Angel tell you?”
Wow, he is getting good at this. “How did you know?” I ask.
“One second you were reclining against the headboard and the next you were sitting up with a devastated expression on your face,” he informs me. “I notice these little details.”
His tone is getting snarky and I have to keep reminding myself that he’s angry because he wants me to be safe. Running off and doing something completely reckless will be contrary to this goal. He knows me well enough to know this is exactly what I am going to do, though. “Tabbris was here.”
His brows rise in surprise. Tabbris doesn’t usually make house calls. “And?” he prompts.
I take a deep breath and use it to push the words out of my mouth in a long jumble. “And Belial healed my doppelgänger because technically he was helping me not taking revenge on me and now she is hiding in some caves and I want to bring the fight to her so no one else gets hurt.”
Kallen drops his arms and stands up. Running a hand through his hair, he growls, “What, so you can stab yourself again?”
“Hey, it was a viable plan. The only reason it didn’t work is because Belial got in the way.” I don’t tell him that the news I had not killed the other me actually lifted a heaviness from my heart. I shouldn’t be relieved she’s still alive. But I can’t help but be relieved I’m not a killer.
Kallen begins to pace as Tabbris had. “What if you cannot make it back next time?” he demands.
“That’s why I want you to know where I’m going.” So he can recover my body is implied in this sentence. If I’m not able to make it home it’s because I lost the fight.
My gorgeous husband knows this as well. “No.”
“No?” I ask, nonplussed. “No what?”
“No, you are not going.”
The hairs on the back of my neck are starting to rise. “You’re telling me what I can and can’t do now?”
He narrows his eyes. “Do not sit there and pretend you would not prevent me from doing something so inane. You would use magic to keep me right where you wanted me.”
I don’t have to admit it if he’s right, do I? I can just pretend I don’t notice. “Kalen, this is the only way.”
“You’ve tried it this way and it didn’t work. It’s time for a new plan.”
Getting off the bed, I stand with my hands on my hips. “And what would that be? I sit back and watch her destroy this realm and everyone in it before she goes on to the next one? None of you are strong enough to fight her. You will die if I don’t take her out.”
“Then we will die together,” Kallen growls. “Fighting side by side.”
Not exactly the response I was looking for. Taking a calming breath, I say, “Kallen, please. I know how hard this is, I do. But there is no other way. That’s why the Seraph came to me and gave me this job to do. I’m the only one who can do it.”
“My god, the way you two are bellowing at each other, I’m never going to get any sleep in here,” Taz grumbles, digging his way out of the nest of blankets. “I’ll just go find a rock to crawl under or something.” He waddles to the door and to my surprise, he opens it with magic. Weird. I didn’t know he could do that. I wonder if he holds onto some of the magic I push through him sometimes. I’ll ask him about it later because I’m not entirely comfortable with the idea if he does.
“I take it he is leaving so he will not be drawn into your inane plan,” Kallen snipes.
“No,” I snipe back even though that probably is the real reason he’s leaving. “He can’t stand to hear us argue.”
“We would not be arguing if you would be reasonable!”
“I am being reasonable! I am going to keep everyone I care about alive and I’ll do whatever it takes to make it happen!”
Kallen’s eyes spark and I’m certain everyone in the palace can hear us. “So, this is a suicide mission!”
If we weren’t shouting so loud
ly at each other, we probably would have heard the click of the lock when Taz closes the door behind him.
Chapter 24 - Taz
“Wake up you scarred half-wit,” I say to my poor excuse for a doppelgänger. “I have an offer you can’t refuse. Literally.” The guy looks like he’s been through hell and back. Considering his Witch Fairy, he probably has.
“What do you want, Goblin-made,” he grumbles, barely lifting his head. I believe this is because he doesn’t have the strength more so than an attempt to seem indifferent to my offer.
“You and I are going spelunking.”
He snorts. “Not going to happen.”
With a clang, I break the lock holding his cage closed. I shudder at the thought it could be me in there. “Get your lazy, brainless body up and let’s go.”
He’s beginning to realize I’m serious. “Go where?”
“To find that Witch of yours and take revenge for each and every one of those scars you have. Unless you love her too much to want to be rid of her. If so, I’ll just be on my way alone.” I turn back toward the unconscious guard lying near the door to the cell. A cell and a cage. Seems a bit like overkill to me. Humanoids. I’ll never understand them.
“I see they healed you. Couldn’t take the pain, I bet. Whined until they took it away.”
I twist my head back to look at him. “I was going to heal you, as well. Now you can go suck a dead toad.”
My doppelgänger snorts. “How could you heal me? You have no more magic than I do.”
Puffing out my chest, I say, “You are incorrect. I hold magic within me.” Technically, this is not true but I won’t quibble over semantics at the moment.
The other me narrows his eyes to beady little slits. “What have you done?”
He almost sounds impressed. “It is not what I have done. Now, are you ready to go or would you rather stay in your cage and be coddled a like baby by the humanoids?” For a moment, I believe he may choose the latter. “Are you truly such a coward you cannot face her?”
His mouth curves up into a snarl. “Are you truly such an idiot you think you can do anything to harm her? Take a good look at me, Goblin-made. You’ll be lucky if this is all she does to you.”
“Yeah, yeah, tell it to my tail.” I turn away from him again and am at the door when he says, “Can you really heal me?”
“Can roosters really knock up chickens?”
“Do it.”
Finally, my doppelgänger has an intelligent thought. “Did I hear a please? I don’t believe I did.”
“Don’t push it, Goblin-made,” he growls, showing me his teeth again.
Peering closer at him, I ask, “Have you ever considered flossing? There are some things growing between your teeth that are definitely not supposed to be there.”
His mouth snaps closed and it barely moves as he grinds out, “Heal me. Please.”
The please was definitely an afterthought, but it is probably the best I’m going to get. Padding over to him, I sit down on my haunches in front of him and concentrate. I must concentrate too hard because he goes flailing backwards and hits the cage. Ouch, I’m glad I no longer feel what he’s feeling.
“I said heal me, not kill,” he gripes.
“Hey, back off. I’m new at this.”
“New at failing? I seriously doubt that,” he grumbles, but he picks himself up and pads over to me. I say pads. I should say he takes an achingly long time to manage to get his scrawny, scarred body over here. Wasn’t he fed in that other universe?
After what must be an hour or so, he is finally sitting in front of me again. I concentrate a little less this time. Reaching out with my healing power, I find his wounds and close them up. I even throw in some scar removals as freebies. He still isn’t pretty but I don’t want to retch every time I look at him now.
Stretching his back and shoulders in a rolling motion, my doppelgänger says, “I haven’t felt this good in years. Nothin’ hurts anymore.”
I try to feel sorry for him over the hell he’s lived through. I can’t muster it, though. He did try to kill me a short time ago and I hold grudges. “Can we go now or did you want a facial and your nails done?”
He snarls again. “Just because you healed me doesn’t mean I won’t kill you.”
“If you are well enough to make death threats, you are well enough to go.” Reaching a paw out, I touch his healed shoulder and think of the Jenolan caves. In a blink, we are there. In complete darkness.
“You should have brought a flashlight, dumbass,” my doppelgänger snarks.
“Or I could just do this,” I say. A ball of light appears in front of me.
The other me scurries away from it. “Are you trying to set us on fire? There could be methane down here or any number of combustible gases and such.”
I do my best to roll my eyes like Xandra does. I do not believe my eyes can achieve the same effect, though. “Are you a chemist now? I thought you were supposed to be the brave one. It’s not fire, Dipweed. It’s magic.”
My doppelgänger still keeps his distance. Trying not to seem like he’s afraid of the glowing ball of light, he studies our surroundings and snarks, “Pretty big cave, should be easy to find her here.”
“Is your sarcasm as underappreciated in your universe as much as it is in this one?” I ask. If we had to simply rely on our senses to find her, it would be difficult. Lucky for us, this ball of light is for more than just illumination. Bobbing in the air a second, it starts to move away from us.
“What is it doing?”
Must he always snarl and bare his teeth like that? They really are hard to look at with that green stuff growing in there. “It’s leading us to that peach of a mistress of yours.”
“So, your plan is we follow the light to her and then what? Let her mince us into tiny pieces and roast us over your magic ball?”
“You know, if you tried with all your might, you still wouldn’t be able to be more of a downer than you already are. Let’s go.” I begin walking assuming he’s intelligent enough to follow me.
Chapter 25 - Xandra
Kallen and I are at an impasse. Both standing with our arms crossed over our chests and glowering at each other. I don’t know how long we would stay like this if someone didn’t knock on the door.
“What?” Kallen growls.
Sindri’s nervous voice says through the door, “Your presence is requested in the war room.”
Dropping my arms to my side, I give Sindri a weary, “Okay.”
Walking to my stubborn, irritating, beautiful husband, I lay a hand on his cheek half expecting him to pull away from me. He doesn’t. “Kallen, please. Please understand why I have to do this.”
Dropping his arms, he does pull away from me. “Xandra, I will never understand you shutting me out like this. But I know I don’t have a choice.” He turns and walks to the door.
“Kallen,” I plead. I can’t go with things like this between us. I can’t let this be our last conversation.
Kallen’s hand is on the doorknob, but he doesn’t open the door. My hopes soar until he says, “Unlock it.”
“What?”
“Unlock the door, Xandra.”
I have no idea what he’s talking about. I walk around him and press my back against the door. “I didn’t lock the door, Kallen. But I’m glad someone did.” Taking a deep breath, I make a decision I know I’m going to regret. “I’m coming with you.”
His turn to say, “What?”
“I’m not going to the caves. I’m going downstairs with you and coming up with a plan with everyone.”
I don’t like how long the disbelief stays on his face, but he eventually realizes I’m serious. Placing his hands on the door on either side of me, he leans forward and rests his forehead against mine. “You have no idea how happy that makes me.” Lowering his lips to mine, he kisses me deeply. Pulling back, he pushes a strand of hair from my cheek, “I love you.”’
I smile. “I love you, too.”
> Reaching around me, he grasps the doorknob. “You can unlock this now.”
My brow furrows. “I really didn’t lock the door.” Turning around, I try to open the door. It is locked.
Seeing that I am truly nonplussed, Kallen draws magic. The lock doesn’t budge. Even when he pulls more magic, it doesn’t budge.
“Let me try,” I say, pulling my own magic. Sending it forward, I am beyond surprised when I feel like I’ve been tazed. Maybe it wouldn’t have been so bad if I hadn’t been thrown back into Kallen and caused us both to tumble backwards to the floor. “Ow,” I moan, rubbing my head where it hit his chin.
“What is going on?” Kallen asks, gently helping me up.
“I have no idea.” Standing up, I’m leery to touch the doorknob again, but I do anyway. Since I didn’t pull magic, I only get a small shock but it still stings.
Kallen walks to the doors leading to the balcony. “Locked.” Again, he pulls magic but the lock doesn’t budge.
Reluctantly, I try this door with magic. At least Kallen’s prepared for impact this time, but I still feel like I’ve been tazed. What’s going on? Did my doppelgänger do this? “We’re trapped,” I say, more to myself than Kallen. Fear flows through me. What is going to happen to everyone else if we’re trapped in here and can’t do anything to help them?
Chapter 26 - Taz
The light is still bobbing in front of us. Up ahead is the entrance to yet another grotto with long, yellow stalactites and stalagmites dripping water into a greenish pool in the center. They are all starting to look the same to me, but I’m keeping that to myself. Dipweed behind me doesn’t need to know we’re probably lost and are going to die a dismal, damp death.
“I think your light is on the fritz, Goblin-made,” my doppelgänger grouses.
“Can’t handle the exercise?” I snap, trying not to wheeze. Maybe Xandra’s right and I should lay off the cookies a little bit.
The click-click of his nails stops on the cave floor. “What was that?”
