The Next Chance

by Shannon Reber

  Ian didn’t speak. Instead, he got to his feet and picked up Noah’s plate, beginning to clean up the mess.

  Noah sat still for a few moments before he went to do as he’d been told. Fear continued to roil inside him. What if Ian was right?

  What if the only reason Madison had survived long enough to make him was because of the demon? What if she died while he was there? Would he cease to exist before he could help to stop the demon uprising?

  He thought back over everything Quinn had taught him. She had told him that most of the time, the right thing was the thing that was hardest to do, hardest to understand. He knew he had to do the right thing.

  He closed the door of the bathroom and turned to look into the mirror. He’d seen his mom’s picture a lot, so he knew his eyes were the same shade of brown hers had been. As he looked into the mirror, those brown eyes turned black. Demon eyes.

  SIX

  The day was hot and sticky, my least favorite kind of summer’s day. All I wanted was to go home and sit in the air conditioning with my laptop. Emma had insisted, though.

  “Come on, Maddie,” she said, pulling off her tank top and shorts as she swayed toward the pool.

  Everyone turned to watch her. Her bikini was small but it was the way she carried herself that truly drew attention. The guys wanted her and the girls wanted to be her.

  She knew it and reveled in their appreciation. It probably shouldn’t have bothered me. I had known Emma my entire life. She had always been good at drawing people’s attention.

  The thing was, I didn’t feel as close to her as I had most of my life. She was family to me. She was not my best friend anymore. She was the reason I had survived my childhood. I had other reasons for survival now.

  Imogen and I were far better friends. We had more in common and her friendship didn’t come with strings attached like Emma was so fond of.

  I rose to take off my overshirt, a little startled to find someone standing very close to me. I hadn’t realized they were there. My stomach clenched in a discomforted way as I saw it was Dylan.

  His eyes were fixed on Emma in a way that made me uncomfortable. He looked at her as if she was a possession.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked, trying not to sound as thorny as I was feeling.

  He glanced at me and sat down in the chair next to mine. “Swimming. Isn’t that what people usually do at a pool?” he asked, turning his eyes back to watch Emma.

  “Dylan, it’s time for you to go. You didn’t come to swim.”

  He turned to look at me, his eyes traveling slowly up my body. “I didn’t, you’re right. I’m here to look at hot chicks who aren’t wearing much. You’re the one who should leave. You’re hot but you think you’re so much better than the rest of us, so why would anybody want to look at you?”

  “No, Dylan. I don’t think that. What I think is that Emma is too good for you. At some point, she’ll figure out what an error code you are and she’ll dump you. I’m looking forward to that day.”

  He swore at me and got to his feet. He was only a couple of inches taller than me. I knew better than to underestimate him. He was no one to be trifled with. I balled my hands into fists, ready for anything from him.

  He sneered at me, leaning in to whisper in my ear. “And Ian will figure out you’re just like your mom. He’ll drop you like the cold brick you are.”

  I opened my mouth to speak, closing it when I saw another girl watching him. I recognized her as Spencer’s sister and the sight of her made my skin crawl. Spencer was such a good guy. It was odd that two people who had grown up in the same house had such different ways of looking at the world.

  The way she was looking at Dylan made me feel certain there was something going on between those two. The fact Dylan would cheat on Emma wasn’t really a surprise. That didn’t make it any less appalling.

  I looked back at Dylan and gave him a tiny smile. “I used to consider you a friend. I didn’t like you most of the time but I thought you had a few redeeming qualities. I don’t see those at all anymore. What I see is a misogynist who’s hanging onto his friendship with Ian simply because Ian is the golden boy we always called him.”

  He sneered. “That’s rich coming from you,” he spat out, his expression changing as Emma sauntered over. “Hey, beautiful. Thought I’d surprise you,” he said, leaning in to kiss her.

  He wrapped one of his arms around her waist, his hand rested possessively on her hip as he stuck his tongue down her throat. It was such an obvious way of giving me the finger, it irritated me that Emma let him do it. She didn’t complain in the least. She put on a show for everyone around us to see.

  I flicked my eyes toward Adrian, finally understanding why Emma and Dylan were rounding second base right there at the public pool. Emma knew about Adrian. There were a lot of things I did not understand about my friend. That was weird, though.

  Emma had always seemed confident in a way that could come off as arrogant. I didn’t understand why she would stay with a guy who was cheating on her. I couldn’t comprehend it in the least.

  I had no interest in watching the show. What I cared about was getting away from them. I wished I hadn’t come at all.

  I could have been at home, hanging out with Quinn, Ian, Imogen, Daw, anyone who made sense to me. It wasn’t only that Emma’s decision to stay with Dylan baffled me, it was that we weren’t as close as we had been. We were very different people, one who didn’t mesh as well as we used to.

  I gathered up the few things I’d brought along and rose. Not too long before, Emma would have paid attention to the fact I was leaving. She didn’t even notice that day. She was too busy trying to show Adrian who was in charge.

  I paused as I got to the parking area. We had driven my car, so if I left Emma, she would have no way home. With Dylan there, he would obviously give her a ride.

  Just in case, I sent Emma a text. I told her to let me know if she needed a ride and then, took off.

  A prickling feeling passed over the back of my neck. Some kind of internal warning system shrilled inside me. I didn’t know what it warned me of. What I knew was that something was off.

  I’d had that feeling so many times recently. Whatever was going on, my subconscious mind knew about it and wouldn’t share with the rest of the class. Maybe there was a way to figure it out.

  I thought about it as I drove, my mind spinning its way through possibilities. I had done some research the evening before on out of body experiences. That wasn’t exactly what was happening to me.

  I was experiencing my life through my own eyes. What was wrong was that it was a dream version of my life. Something was off. That was all I knew for sure.

  “Madison,” a voice said, one that came from everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

  I looked around, surprised to find I wasn’t in my car anymore. I was nowhere.

  Everything around me was black other than a single spot of light. That spot grew closer and closer until a figure began to materialize in front of me.

  A creature of ethereal beauty. Gossamer wings. Aldora. Holy blue screen of death. A Valkyrie had come for my soul.

  Aldora stopped next to me, a beatific smile on her perfect face. “Madison, it is good to see you,” she said, holding out her hands to me.

  I hesitated, unsure if I should touch her. Valkyries were the choosers of the slain. If I laid my hands in hers, would she transport my soul to the afterlife?

  Like she’d read my mind, Aldora shook her head. “I am not here for your soul at this time, Madison. I have simply come to be certain you are well.”

  My heart rate spiked. I had thought something was wrong and Aldora came to check on me? I really was dying.

  An explosion sounded through my mind. Blood pooled around me. Pain ripped at me. A man’s eyes were fixed on me. Sheenan. He had shot me.

  I had woken up in a world where Emma and Dylan were both alive. What did it mean? Was I in a coma or was I in some kind of holding area, waiti
ng to die?

  I looked at Aldora, my heart and mind one big question. I wasn’t sure I actually wanted the answer, though. Wouldn’t it be better to live the rest of my life under the impression it was my life? Could I live a lie, though?

  SEVEN

  I stood quietly as I contemplated my situation. Luken had kept me from dying after Sheenan had shot me. Where was I? Was I in danger?

  Okay, that one was obvious. I was dying. Was there a way for me to stop it?

  Sheenan was a big shot from the Axis Mundi until Gabe had nixed his father’s magic and turned him into a human. Sheenan had begun working for the PSA. What if that wasn’t all?

  It was true that I had unbound everybody from the magical contracts that bound them to the PSA. It was also true that I had turned several key players against them. The thing was, I had also trapped the demon who had been in charge of the PSA since its beginning, in one of Quinn’s ghost-boxes.

  “Aldora, do you know anything about the guy who shot me?” I asked, folding my hands in a prayerful pose.

  She sighed and turned, sitting down on some kind of seat that wasn’t visible to me. “I know that he is imprisoned inside the PSA. I also know that he was working with Bhesaj to bring about the end of the world.”

  I gaped at her, my mouth working silently for a few seconds before words would come out. “He STOPPED working with Bhesaj?” I squeaked, trying to make sense of everything else.

  Aldora inclined her head. “I was given the task of transporting Bhesaj’s soul to his afterlife after he was murdered by Sheenan. As I guided him to the underworld, he told me that Sheenan recruited him into his vile group of apostles by telling him that his daughter’s soul was taken to the underworld by Hades.” She stopped, taking my hand to pull me down onto whatever it was she sat on. “Nona Zeurst was Bhesaj’s daughter.”

  And the world fell out from under me. Nona Zeurst had died in the first case I had ever worked with Erkens. It had been months since that case had ended. It was the one that truly kept me up at night.

  If I had worked harder, thought faster, not trusted so easily, we might have been able to get to Nona before she was sold. I knew that guilt did no one any good at all. It was hard to tamp it down. I didn’t believe it was my fault. I knew where the fault lay in that case.

  The man and the incubus who had teamed up were where the blame lay. That wasn’t all, though.

  We had taken down the sex-trafficking ring but not all the participants were found. Why would Bhesaj blame me for that? There were so many others who held far more responsibility than I did for what had happened to Nona.

  Aldora laid her hand on my back. “Bhesaj used his grief as an excuse.”

  “Wait.” I held up my hands like a little kid playing red light/green light. “Is that why he got me to open the portal to release the demons? Making me responsible for starting the apocalypse was his revenge for the fact I didn’t save his daughter?”

  “I believe that was his reason, yes.”

  “How . . . does that possibly make sense?” I asked, tears forming in my eyes.

  Aldora smoothed her hand down my back as though I was a skittish cat. “It does not make sense. Destroying the world should never do so in any good person’s mind.”

  I sat for a few long moments, slowly turning to look at her. “If Sheenan killed Bhesaj and there are ‘Apostles’ who want this apocalypse to happen, they’re not going to like it that my group won’t stand back and let it happen.”

  She nodded. “Attempts have already been made on Tiberius and Patrick Erkens, as well as Dio Simms and Balroydenhauvre.”

  “Are they okay?” I shrieked, my eyes so wide they stung.

  “They are well. None of them are easy marks.”

  I closed my eyes and took in a slow breath, counting to three a few times before my heart settled back into place. “Is Ian okay?” I whispered, a knot of fear pulled tight in my gut.

  “Ian is safe for the moment.”

  I blew out a relieved breath, then turned to face her. “Aldora, I need your help. I need to be out there. I need to help fix this mess.”

  She gave me a sad smile. “There is nothing I can do to help you, Madison. My only ability is to transport your soul to its afterlife. I have no power to heal your body.”

  “Is there something more wrong with me than just the bullet wound?” I asked, curious how bad off I truly was.

  Aldora pursed her lips. “The bullet that Sheenan used to shoot you was coated in poison. He shot you in the heart, which has carried that poison throughout your body. You do not have long before your body succumbs to its effects.”

  “Do you know of anyone who can save me?” I asked, desperation filling my voice.

  “Only the mightiest have the power to heal. You must ask yourself, though, is your desire truly to save the world? Are you certain it isn’t more of a desire to be with the man you love?”

  I started to answer, then closed my mouth. Was that the reason? Was I so desperate to get back only because I didn’t want to leave Ian?

  I can help you, a voice said in the back of my mind.

  I looked around, not sure where that voice had come from.

  Let me help you. I can heal the damage done to your body. I can fix you. I only want one small favor in return.

  And the light dawned. The case that Daw and Erkens were working on in my coma-dream had to do with demon deals. My mind was trying to warn me . . . unless it was Erramun who was doing the warning.

  Lanac. He was the demon who had possessed an archangel. He was powerful . . . and he was speaking inside my mind. Holy blue screen of death.

  EIGHT

  Everything had changed again. I was no longer in the black place with Aldora. I was in the kitchen with Daw and Quinn.

  It only then occurred to me that the house wasn’t mine. It was Quinn’s house, though now, it was my house too. Whatever dream I was in, it had made Quinn my roommate.

  I liked the idea very much. It seemed like such a good way to get to know my sister. And the fact Daw was there as well made things easy.

  Daw was that kind of guy. He was a mix of family and friend. I had jokingly called him my brother on the day we’d met. It had become the truth.

  Our family was strong. It had been forged by trauma. We were unbreakable because of it. No matter what happened, I knew Daw, Dawson, and Quinn would stand with me.

  I laid my hand flat on the table in front of me, feeling the texture of the wood. It was cool to the touch and the grain could be felt as well.

  Even the air felt real. I could smell coffee and toast, with a light whiff of cinnamon under it all. It was a comfortable scent, something that spoke of home.

  I didn’t understand what was going on. I knew I was in a coma or something. So all the things around me were simply in my head. Yet it all felt so real.

  I dug my fingernail into my palm, feeling the pressure on my skin as well as the slight pain. I picked up the cup of coffee in front of me and took a drink. The rich flavor with the hint of acidity to the aftertaste was all as it was in the real world.

  That was when it hit me. Luken. He had the ability to keep a person from dying, not to heal them but to hold their soul to earth.

  That must mean my soul was basically in holding. I remembered seeing Erramun standing over me, so maybe he was trying to pass messages to me through those dreams or whatever they were. Unless it was Luken himself.

  Then again, maybe they truly were dreams. I knew that dreams occurred during certain stages of sleep and that they were images, feelings, and ideas the subconscious mind brought up. The thing that surprised me most was how I hadn’t noticed something being wrong before.

  I knew Emma was gone. I knew Dylan was dead. I also knew that Adrian Ezra was, if not dead, then in a cell.

  And I didn’t live with Quinn. My mind, or someone else’s mind had taken the puzzle pieces of my life and fitted them back together in the wrong places.

  Still, all the pieces wer
e there. If I could think my way through the problem, I might be able to figure out some kind of solution. Hopefully.

  Quinn raised her brows at me. “What’s on your mind, Madison?” she asked, her hands folded on the table in front of her.

  I rubbed the back of my neck, trying to figure out how much to tell her. Then again, if this conversation was inside my head, I could tell her anything. “I need to do some research on poisons and antidotes,” I told her, hoping we’d be able to figure something out.

  “What kind of symptoms are being shown?”

  I blew out a long breath. “I don’t know. The person is in a coma. She was shot in the heart by a bullet laced with poison.”

  Daw’s eyes went wide. “Who are you talking about?” he asked, picking up his own cup of coffee.

  “Let’s call it hypothetical,” I said, lifting a finger to begin my list. “The first thing we know for sure is that the man who fired the bullet is human. He does have at least one demon in his corner and he was formerly of the Axis Mundi.”

  “You mean the land of portals?”

  I nodded.

  Quinn lifted a single shoulder. “Could he have a friend from there who got him a poison from another realm or is it more likely the poison is from this realm?”

  I thought about it. How would I know? I didn’t even know what poison had been used. Or did I?

  Okay, so my body was in the hospital. My soul was in some other place. My soul was part of me, so I should be able to find out what was wrong with me. In theory, anyway.

  I closed my eyes and concentrated. All I needed was to see the real world for a few moments. Even the slightest glimpse might make the world of difference.

  I felt a tug inside me and a light glowed from somewhere in front of me. I opened my eyes, startled to see a golden-white, luminous cord extending out in front of me. It was a tether. I didn’t know what it held me to.