Crossroads

by Nicole Coverdale

  Contents

  Also by Nicole Coverdale

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  About the Author

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  * * *

  Crossroads

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  Copyright © 2019 by Nicole Coverdale

  * * *

  Editing provided by M.M Wedin

  Cover art Copyright © Drop Dead Designs

  Interior formatting by We Got You Covered Book Design

  * * *

  This book is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or other unauthorized use of the material or artwork here in is prohibited without the express written permission of the author.

  * * *

  Printed in the United States of America

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  Paperback ISBN: 978-1-5136-4938-2

  E-book ISBN: 978-1-5136-4937-5

  * * *

  www.nicolercoverdale12.com

  Life is full of twists and turns, and no two roads are ever the same. Cherish life. The good. The bad. The ugly, because surprises can come in the most surprising of ways.

  “How’s he doing?” Josslyn asked, stepping up next to Julie and peering into the room, handing her a cup of coffee.

  “Not good,” Julie said taking the cup from Josslyn and sighing. “Oh, that smells wonderful!” she cried, taking a sip of the dark brew. “Thank you, this is exactly what I needed. I haven’t slept in days!”

  “None of us have,” Josslyn said, lifting her own mug to her lips, and taking a sip. “Can you believe it’s been a week since Sky collapsed at the hospital?”

  “And Jasmine still won’t listen to him,” Jade said, hopping up the steps.

  “Jade!” Josslyn spun around. “What are you doing? You have a broken leg for Christ sakes!”

  “Just because I have a broken leg, doesn’t mean I’m not going to at least try to get up the stairs,” Jade said, wincing as she clutched the banister and pulled herself up the steps. “Plus, I want to know what’s going on!” She let out a long breath, leaning back against the banister as she finally made it to the top. “But damn! That was a lot of work!”

  “You should be resting.”

  “I’ve been resting for the last week, Joss!” Jade snapped, her temper flashing. “It’s all I’ve done. I’ve sat. I’ve slept. I’ve caught up on my TV shows, and boy, am I bored out of my mind! I need to do something, especially since I can’t go back to work yet.”

  “Are you going to start whining about hiring that assistant manager, again?”

  “I hate that I had to do it at all,” Jade said, scowling. “That’s my bar!”

  “And it will always be your bar, but in all honesty it’s not a bad idea to have someone help run it,” Julie put in. “Considering all the weird interruptions we have in our lives. Don’t worry, you made the right choice in hiring Bree. She’s smart, educated, and understands your vision.”

  “I hope your right. The last thing I need is to come back to a mess,” Jade said, snatching the mug from Julie’s hand and taking a sip. “Ooh! That is good!”

  “Hey!”

  “But I’m also worried about Sky,” Jade said, ignoring Julie’s cry of protest. “Do you think it’s true what he said?”

  “About him not having a heart?” Julie asked, shrugging as she took the cup back from Jade and cupped her hands around the warmth. “Who knows. There are a lot of things we don’t know about him. Like you said, Jade, he’s still a mystery to us. He knows so much about us. About our powers. About our lives, but we don’t know anything about him. Like what was he like before he died? How did he die? Why did the God’s choose him of all people to be an angel?”

  “Maybe it’s time we did some research on him.”

  “Or, maybe it’s time we start trusting him,” Josslyn interrupted. “He’s done a lot for us since he’s come into our lives, guys. Hell, I can’t count the number of times he’s saved our lives! Plus, he’s an angel. The Gods chose him for a reason. Doesn’t that count for something?”

  “Hardly,” Jade muttered under her breath. “You know how I feel about the Gods, Josslyn. After what they did to Mom, Dad, even Jasmine.”

  “Of course I do.”

  “And let’s not forget, that it’s because of the Gods, Satan got as powerful as he did.”

  “Right.” Josslyn shuddered, bringing the mug to her lips, the warmth not being able to subdue the shiver that washed through her body as she thought back to four months ago. Images flashed through her mind, and she shuddered again, thinking of how close she’d been to dying. “Stupid demonic being, may he forever be where evil beings go.”

  “What she said!” Julie cried. “I don’t ever want to see that demon again.”

  “I don’t think any of us do,” Jade whispered.

  “Would you three shut your mouths and be quiet?” Jasmine cried, poking her head out of the room and glaring at her sisters. “Sky’s trying to rest!”

  “Jasmine, you need to listen to him,” Jade said, glaring back at her older sister. “It’s been a week since he’s collapsed, and he’s still not getting any better, in fact, he’s getting worse! You have to at least consider what he told us.”

  “You mean about him not having a heart?” Jasmine asked, not believing what she was hearing. “Jade, are you insane? He has to have a heart! How can he even function without one? It’s not possible! You can’t eat. You can’t breathe. You can’t walk without one! He’s just delusional. Suffering some sort of heart defect. He’ll be fine. He’s just too stubborn to listen to me.”

  “He’s not the only one who’s being stubborn.”

  “Julie!”

  “Hey, don’t yell at me. I’m just speaking the truth,” Julie said, bringing the mug to her lips and taking another sip. “We’re all stubborn, Jasmine. It’s one of the less desirable traits we inherited from our family, but, you know just as well as the rest of us about the world we live in now. This world is not normal! We’re not normal! This isn’t normal!” She aimed her hand toward the fireplace below them, a streak of fire spreading from her hand, watching as it flew through the air and landed directly in the fireplace. “But it’s who we are now. It’s…”

  “Our destiny,” everyone said in unison.

  “Yes. Our destiny,” Julie said, laughing. How many times had they said that since becoming witches? “We are the protectors of mankind and every day is a new adventure. How many demons have we gone up against already? Remember Satan? And the spider demon? And of course, there was Reptile boy, and let’s not forget about the evil witch. We’ve done good in this world! But we have to remember, there are still things we don’t kno
w about it. Things, like Sky.” She gestured to where he was lying on the bed. “Sky isn’t from this world anymore, Jasmine. That ended the day his life ended, and the God’s brought him back to life. He’s a product of the Gods now, and he’s in pain. Lot’s of pain. He needs help, Jasmine. Help that he can’t get from us, from the doctors, or even from this world.”

  “Then how do we help him?” Jasmine asked, feeling torn. Should I listen to him? Is it true? Does he really not have a heart? No, he had to have a heart!

  “By going up there.”

  Sky’s voice floated through the air, soft and faint. Jasmine startled, glancing over her shoulder, her eyes widening as Sky struggled to sit up in the bed. “Oh my God! Sky!” She raced across the room, wrapping her hands around his broad shoulders. “What are you doing? You need to rest!”

  “I’m sick of resting,” Sky said, grumpily shoving her hands away and wrapping his hand around the bedpost.

  “Looks like I’m not the only one sick of this place,” Jade murmured, smirking.

  “Jade!”

  “Jasmine, I need you to listen to me,” Sky said, struggling to pull himself to his feet and blowing out a long, wheezing breath. “About what I told you.”

  “I am listening!”

  “No, Jasmine, you’re not. Whenever I try to explain to you about my heart, you change the subject, or find some reason to not listen. Well, now, I need you to listen to me!” He wrapped his hand around her wrist, pressing her hand to his chest. “Now tell me, what do you feel, Jasmine?”

  “What do I feel?” Jasmine laughed, as if it were the silliest question ever. “I feel your heart, Sky! It’s beating, like really fast.”

  “No, it’s not. You’re just trying to make yourself believe that. You don’t feel anything, do you?”

  “I…”

  “Don’t lie to me Jasmine.”

  Jasmine blew out a breath. “Okay. You’re right. I don’t feel anything.” She pressed her ear to his chest. “Or even hear anything. How is this even possible, Sky?”

  “The Gods.”

  “They took your heart?” Julie asked, scowling. “Now I hate them even more! Why did they take your heart?”

  “Julie!”

  “What? We’re all wondering the same thing,” Julie said, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “And I want to know!”

  “And right now, you’re going to get your answer,” Sky said, sitting back on the bed and staring at the women in front of him. “You all know the story about the dark angels, right? About what they did to the Gods?”

  “Yes.”

  “Of course.”

  “It was brutal!”

  “Painful.”

  “Well, after that day Aaron swore to himself that he would never allow another God or angel to be killed like that. It’s too painful. To him. To the God. To the angel.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Us angels are very unique, Josslyn,” Sky said, glancing over at her. “We’re all linked. For example, since Aaron trained me, he knows everything I think and feel. Any witch he’s in charge of, he feels their every thought. Their every emotion, and he also feels what the God’s feel, since he’s the only one left after the other Gods were killed. So, when the God’s were killed, Aaron felt every bit of their pain.”

  “Oh my God!”

  “That’s terrible!”

  “So he gave all his recruits a box. Me, and several other angels he was in charge of, and told us to put our hearts in the box. That they would be kept in a sacred place up in heaven, where no one would be able to find them. Except, I think someone’s found mine.”

  “Who would steal your heart?”

  “Hell if I know!” Sky cried, rising to his feet again. “The list is a mile long! But there’s only one place I can go to get my answers.”

  “Where’s that?”

  Sky pointed upward.

  “Up north?”

  “I think, he means higher up,” Jade said, softly. “To heaven. Right, Sky?”

  Sky nodded. “Yup. I need to go back home. To heaven.”

  “Sky! Are you crazy?” Jasmine asked, staring at him with wide eyes. “We can’t go up to heaven! Scratch that, you can’t go up to heaven. You’re too weak. You’ll never make it!”

  “That’s why I’m not going alone. You and Jade are going with me.”

  “What?” Jade’s head jerked up. “Me? Why me?”

  “You said you wanted to talk to someone, didn’t you? About everything that’s happened? Well, I know someone who can help, but the only place to reach them is in heaven.”

  “What about us?” Josslyn asked.

  “I can’t take you with me, Josslyn. I’m sorry,” Sky said, softly. “Someone’s got to stay down here and keep watch.”

  “No fair!” Julie pouted. “I wanted to see it!”

  “And you will. Someday,” Sky told her. “But with a new evil brewing, there’s no telling what would happen if we all went up there.”

  “Which means, you and I need to get some sleep,” Josslyn said, taking the coffee mug away from Julie. “Plus, I really don’t want to go up to heaven right now, anyways. I have a child to find, remember?”

  “Right. I have a niece or nephew!” Julie cried. “How old would he or she be, Joss?”

  “Well, he or she would probably be about fourteen right now.”

  “Wait? What? You have a teenager?” Julie’s eyes widened. “Josslyn! That means you were…”

  “Pregnant when I left here? Yup.”

  “And you yell at everyone else for keeping secrets in this family,” Jade said, rolling her eyes. “Nice, Joss.”

  “I have to have some secrets, don’t I?” Josslyn asked, grinning.

  “You sound like Gram,” Julie muttered under her breath. “Maybe you’re more like her then you realize.”

  “Except, you two can’t turn in quite yet,” Sky said, interrupting them. “I need your help. Jasmine, can you get the book from the attic?”

  “Sure.” Jasmine held her hands out and closed her eyes. The book appearing in her hands almost instantly. “Man, I do love this power!”

  “Jasmine!” Jade narrowed her eyes. “We agreed not to use our powers in the house, remember? The whole personal gain thing? I don’t know about you, but I do not feel like answering to any of the Gods up there!”

  “Chill, Jade. I’m not using them for me, I’m using them for Sky, and considering we are talking about getting Sky’s heart back, I think they’ll give us a pass.” She passed the book to Sky, jumping as the book bounced out of his hands and dropped to the floor. “What the hell?” She stared at it, as it slid across the floor. “Well, that’s new.”

  “It’s just protecting itself,” Sky said, softly. “The book is meant to be touched by beings of good magic, and because I’m weak, the book is confused. It doesn’t trust me.”

  “So… the book can protect itself?” Jade asked.

  “One of your ancestors must have put a protection spell on it, but, yes. It keeps evil at bay, because if an evil being were to ever get their hands on that book, well it could change everything.”

  “Well, at least we know it’s protected,” Josslyn said, picking the book up off the floor.

  “For now, but remember, any spell or potion can be broken.”

  “You sound like Rumpelstiltskin,” Julie muttered.

  “Who?” Sky looked at her in confusion.

  “Just this imp from a TV show she used to watch,” Jasmine said, laughing. “He used to say… all magic comes with a price. Another one of his common phrases was… every curse can be broken.”

  “Well, he’s right. They can.”

  “So, what am I looking for?” Josslyn asked, flipping through the pages. She flipped past the section about the Gods, her eyes landing on the next page. Whoa! No way! “Heaven sent?” she asked, lifting her head. “There’s a real potion to get up to heaven?”

  “Yes, indeed there is. But the ingredients are hard to come by
. You need…”

  “Yes. I see. We need a four-leaf clover, a coconut, an eagle’s feather, some holy water, and…” she frowned, squinting. “What does that say?”

  “Mel,” Sky said. “It’s the Latin word for honey.”

  “Why did they put that in Latin, but everything else in plain old English?” Jasmine asked.

  “Because it’s the most important ingredient.”

  “Honey?” Julie and Jade asked in unison. “Why?”

  “Because of the color. Did you ever notice that when I disappear, it’s in the color similar to honey? That’s because the God’s have a fascination with it. There’s a reason they have an ongoing supply of it up there. But it can’t be just any honey, Josslyn. It has to be the real thing, directly from the bees themselves.”

  “Well, that’s going to be fun,” Julie muttered. “So, I guess we should all pick an ingredient to get?”

  Jade nodded. “I vote Josslyn gets the honey, considering she can freeze things.”

  “I guess I can’t argue with that.”

  “I’ll go to the zoo,” Jasmine said. “Get the eagle feather. Julie should go get the holy water.”

  “What? Why me?” Julie asked, jerking her head up in surprise. “Why do I have to go there?”

  “You used to love church, Julie!”

  “But that was a long time ago!” Julie cried, jabbing a finger at Jasmine. “Hey. Why don’t you go? I’ll get the feather.”