Love Beyond Lies

by Rebecca Royce

  He’d never spoken like this before and she couldn’t help herself. She cried. Right there on his shoulder. She soaked him and he didn’t try to stop her. He just held her.

  When she finished, he pressed his hand on the back of her head. “Sorry. I’m tired. I made that so much worse.”

  “We picked this.”

  He pulled back to look at her, a glint in his eyes. “Neither of us has ever been great at decision making.”

  Marina laughed. The same way she’d cried, it came out of nowhere. The wind blew her hair. Somewhere nearby Raquel burned down monsters, but Drew was funny and damn it, she was going to laugh. And laugh. And laugh.

  Charma

  Charma wandered around the rows of people needing help and sent dusts of energy as she went. Rows of beds held the injured and sick. That was all she could give them. She was made to deliver emotional healing, sometimes to the earth itself, but she was tapped out.

  This was all she had to offer anymore and it wasn’t helping anyone. Still, she had to do it like she had to breathe.

  “You’re going to kill yourself.” A man spoke from a bed up ahead and she startled. Was he talking to her?

  The balding, elderly gentlemen nodded to her. “That’s right, Outsider, I’m talking to you.”

  Her heart rate kicked up. It was never good when someone knew about the Outsiders. But she wasn’t getting demon or zombie from this fellow so at least she didn’t have to scream for help.

  “Don’t fear me.” He sat up straighter. “I was saved once by a man named Veli Destrand. He told me about all of you. I think he was just exhausted. I’ve always known I’d see your kind again. I can’t explain it. The way light moves over you is different. No one else will notice.”

  She approached him slowly. There had always been an irony to Veli. He would have beat Kal for telling anyone what they were and yet he’d done it himself. “Well, it seems you were right. You saw us again.”

  “I did. At the end of the world.”

  She wished she could contradict him but she’d never been a liar. Starting now seemed a bad idea.

  “Is there anything you need?”

  He nodded. “I need to give you a message.”

  Charma widened her eyes. It always amazed her that she could be surprised. The person in front of her was calm. He meant her no harm. Dancing around in his head, she felt no malice. “From who?”

  “From Veli. When he told me about you all, he also told me that he’d had a vision. He didn’t have many of them. They were few and far between. His powers were sporadic. But he’d seen this. When I told you I knew I’d see your kind again I hadn’t been lying. I knew.”

  She sunk down on the edge of the bed. Veli Destrand. It always came back to him. Was he going to make her mad now? At the end of the world? “What did he say to tell me?”

  “He said to tell you that Colin needs you. Now. That Gia is in big trouble and no matter how bad it was with Leonardo and Alexa, you couldn’t forget the others. Leonardo will have to take his destiny as it comes. You have to go help Colin. Now.”

  She jumped up. Both Gabriel and Drew were present. With her heart in her throat she ran. “Drew. Gabe. Someone. Now. Help me. Now.”

  Drew appeared in front of her. He looked a little disheveled. His eyes were red rimmed. “What’s wrong? I mean what isn’t wrong? But right this second?”

  “Colin. Now.”

  He took her hand.

  The scene changed in front of her and she was in Colin’s room. He stood over his soul mate, shaking her gently. “She won’t wake up. She’s not dead. She has a pulse.”

  No one was home. No one would have heard him yelling for help. Thank you, Veli. That felt odd to even think.

  “Drew, do you have enough energy to grab Jason just in case?”

  He nodded.

  Charma squatted next to Colin. “Tell me everything. Small details. It all matters.”

  “I’m not sure. We made love. She won’t wake up.”

  Okay, that much would have to do. Colin didn’t talk much. And making love would be so personal to him he wasn’t going to share.

  She traveled into Gia’s mind looking for what had happened. What had her? Was it the shadow? Was it Sebastian? Was it the Father? Was it…

  Charma rushed into her own body. Jason’s hand was on her shoulder. She couldn’t feel him when she traveled, but he still touched her when he was nearby, like an anchor for her to come home to. “She’s not there.”

  Colin was pale. “What does that mean?”

  “She isn’t in there. The shell is there. The soul is not. She’s been removed. I can’t really explain it. It’s not like death. She isn’t traveling away. She’s just missing.”

  Colin took two steps to the window. “The shadow. It has to be.”

  “I see no signs of it. I see just nothing.”

  The strongest of them all, Colin drew back his fist and before she could stop him he put a hole right through the wall of the house. She and Jason both jumped backward as Colin whirled around. “Someone knows. Some member of our group knows where she is. I want Eden and I want her now. And so help me I don’t give two craps about Armageddon. I will burn Earth to the ground to find whatever has happened and fix it. I won’t wait for any demon.”

  Jason held up his hands. “I can’t do that. Eden is unconscious. There is no waking her right now.”

  “Wake her up.” He crossed to Jason until he was in his personal space. Charma knew enough about men to understand the aggressiveness of that.

  Her love didn’t flinch. “Not going to do that and you can stand down because we both know if you piss me off enough I’m going to stop your heart and then restart it after you’re almost dead. You can’t hurt me. Moreover, you don’t want to. You’re not unreasonable. You’re just scared. I get it. I have a soul mate, too. Let’s figure out what to do.”

  Charma put her hand on Colin’s arm. “I hate to even suggest it.”

  His aggressiveness pulsed off of him. So un-Colin. This was fear.

  “Suggest it.”

  She took a deep breath. “We need the demon.”

  Seven

  Colin

  “Sebastian!” Colin bellowed at the sky. The house was warded so the demons couldn’t get there. Jason wrapped Colin’s love in a blanket and sat with her on a bench as Colin yelled. If the ancestors could hear them calling for a lift from Drew or Gabe or, hell, even Alexa, they could hear Colin calling for Sebastian.

  Colin knew this was insane. It was obviously the craziest thing he’d ever done, but damn it he needed that demon and he needed him right now.

  He pointed at the sky. “You find a way to get him to hear me or I’ll… I’ll… I don’t know what I’ll do but it’ll be bad and everything will get so much worse.”

  Charma put her hand on him. “Maybe threatening those who came before us—those who made us—is not the right approach here.”

  He didn’t know anyone who had ever calmed down by having logic pointed out to them when they were in the midst of a rage. “Do they want me to say please? Fuck you, universe, please give me the demon.”

  “I can hear you screaming.” Sebastian was suddenly there. That was the thing about him being non corporeal, he could come and go as he liked. But Colin could touch him.

  He grabbed onto Sebastian’s shirt. “My whole life is that woman. And she is somehow missing from her body.”

  Sebastian raised his eyebrows. “I cannot tell you how disconcerting it is to feel you holding me after so many years of being untouchable.”

  Colin rolled his eyes. “If you think I care at all you’re greatly mistaken.”

  “The shadow took her.”

  Charma approached slowly. “First off, you really are holding him like he’s here. How do you do that?”

  “I don’t know. I just can.”

  Drew snorted. “You’d think I was supposed to have some of everyone’s powers. And yet Colin and Gia do seem to be entirely exempt fr
om that. Why is that, do you suppose?”

  “Can we stay on point here?” Colin really might kill someone. “I’ve never given two shits about metaphysical stuff. If you somehow missed out on my powers, that’s your problem, not mine.”

  Drew sighed. “If I could go back I wouldn’t have taken this particular role. I’m fucking tired of it.”

  “We have to track the shadow. Can you put me down?”

  Colin let go of the demon. Yes, they had to track the thing that had Gia. He didn’t want to waste a single second. Sebastian walked over to Gia’s still body and stared down at her. “Yep. The shadow took her. Depending on how long she’s been gone from her body, we have, maybe, six hours until the body dies.”

  Colin went cold inside. “You’re lying.”

  “Why would I bother?” Sebastian shrugged. “We’re at the end here, folks. I’m not interested in playing games. Either way I have won here. If she dies, I win. If we manage to stop my father from taking the Earth, I win. Then it’s mine. If you all lose and my father wins, I still win. I have no investment in lying to you about Gia. Six hours.”

  Colin took a long breath. They would save her. And then they would kick this fucking demon to kingdom come.

  “Can you get her?”

  Sebastian nodded. “I can.” He pointed at Colin’s head. “You’re going to have to let me in there. That’s the only way this works. I have to get into your head and follow your connection to her in order to…”

  “No!” The shout startled Colin, but not because of the loudness. It was because it came from Ruby, his brother Christophe’s soul mate. “Don’t do that.”

  He sighed. When had she gotten here and why was she involving herself in this? “I don’t love the idea either but I don’t see as I have a choice.”

  Christophe came up on his other side. He was out of breath. “You were very hard to find. We landed in the wrong place and then ran.”

  Drew scrunched up his face. “How did you get here at all?”

  “That’s the thing.” Christophe ran a hand through his hair. “Eden woke up long enough to have a vision, it was relayed to us, and we got to you.”

  “How?”

  Christophe raised his hand. “My powers are a little different. I thought of you and then I was able to bring Ruby here to you. Well, sort of. I mean we didn’t quite land right where I wanted.”

  Ruby nodded. “So don’t let him in your head. Let Charma in your head. Not Sebastian.”

  Charma looked between us all. “What?”

  “You go in his head. Find Gia, his memories of her, then we connect to them and go wherever she is. You have to see her soul. Can you do that?”

  The emotional healer sucked in her breath. “I’m not sure I can do that.”

  “You can, if I help you.”

  Colin jolted. When had Leonardo arrived?

  He looked around. Every Outsider with the exception of Gia was there right that second. Even Alexa leaned against a tree, her expression passive while she watched the scene.

  Their leader walked forward. “I extend powers like a giant battery that makes you work harder. You can do this because I can help you. You hold onto the vision of Gia’s soul and you give it to Christophe. Charma can get in your head and find it. Colin takes us all there. Yes, all of us.” Leonardo answered Christophe’s unasked question. “Again, my powers.”

  Sebastian rolled his eyes which made Colin want to punch him, but that was a usual predicament when it came to this demon. “Even if you do, you can’t get her back. Only I can. Only demons can deal with the shadow people.”

  “Is that true?” Alexa didn’t move. “Can only demons deal with the shadow people?”

  Colin wouldn’t have thought it was true, but there was a sound to the way Alexa spoke to Sebastian that caught his attention and made Colin look harder at Sebastian. The demon had paled. What was going on here?

  He blinked. What did it matter? The world was burning to the ground. Every major city danced in flames. The humans didn’t know what was happening. There was pain everywhere and his job was to fix the problem. But all he could think about was his girl needed him. No one else on the planet mattered. She would always be the most important thing in his world.

  “Alexa, do you know something we don’t?” He had to get control of this situation before it turned into another Sebastian-Alexa-Leonardo scene and Gia got lost in the shuffle.

  She didn’t answer Colin as much as she walked slowly toward Sebastian. “I met Dad.”

  The demon sucked in his breath. What did that mean? “Alexa?”

  She turned to Colin, finally. “Yes, I do know something you don’t. I can do it. I can take her back from the frickin’ shadow thing. Let’s get this done. Leonardo and I have a truce going on here, but I’m going to need lots of breaks. Let’s get back your Gia and get on with this day.”

  Sebastian glared at her and then turned to Colin. “Don’t call me again. I won’t come.”

  Colin put his hands on his hips. “I thought you had already won. You look like you’re sweating, Demon. Little hot around the collar.” Colin pulled at his own to illustrate his meaning.

  The demon poofed away.

  “Tell me you can actually do that, Alexa, and you weren’t just grandstanding.”

  Her eyes turned black before returning to their normal shade. “Remind me why I like you?”

  “Lexa.” Leonardo shook his head and she sighed loudly.

  “Fine, yes, I can do it. Like I can use my regular powers. I can do this. Let’s get to it. Charma, find her soul or whatever. Glad I don’t have to do that. I don’t want to see them together. Some things are better left not thought about.”

  She’d always been obnoxious. It was hard to know if this was because she was bathed in demon, angry at the world, abused, or just her usual self. He’d ask Gia to figure it out later. She knew the woman better.

  After he got Gia back.

  Charma walked up to him. “I’m going to be kind of winging this. I’ve never exactly done it before.”

  Behind him, Jason cleared his throat. “You can do anything you set your mind to, my love. You never fail.”

  She snorted, which was a strange sound coming out of Charma.

  “Seriously,” Jason added. “You pulled me out of my magical coma. You can do this.”

  Charma took Colin’s hand. “I know you don’t trust. Not even people who you should trust.” He jolted. Who did she mean? Christophe? Gia? Charma raised her eyebrows. “I mean you. You don’t trust yourself. But that’s a conversation for another time. Let’s find Gia’s soul. For now, try to trust me.”

  The smallest of fluttering sensations wafted through his mind, like a butterfly flying through his brain. The world tilted sideways. Or maybe just his consciousness did.

  He stood in a meadow. The sky above him was purple tinted and he immediately knew that he wasn’t on Earth anymore. Which dimension was this? The purple skies had always been his favorite—mostly because they had always been Gia’s favorite.

  She walked in front of him and then started running. He picked up his speed to follow her. What had spooked her? The problem was Colin didn’t even remember this incident, not consciously. Where was she running off to?

  “Gia!” His voice sounded like an echo as he screamed her name. “Gia!”

  He was tugged back. Charma stood there. She was translucent, like she wasn’t really there. He pointed ahead to where Gia ran. “We have to catch her.”

  Charma shook her head. “No, this isn’t a memory. That’s her ahead of us. Your mind is doing something, trying to find her on its own. That’s impressive. But not what I need. We can’t catch her so far ahead of us. We need to find her where she left herself inside of you.” She winked at him. “I sound very sure of myself for not knowing exactly what I’m doing, right?”

  Colin stopped. He sort of knew what he was supposed to be doing and he sort of didn’t. His mind wasn’t right. “What’s wrong with me?”r />
  “Stress. The fog of memory. Could be any number of things.” She took his hand. “You’ll be fine. Don’t be scared.”

  Scared? “I don’t really get afraid, Charma.”

  She raised her eyebrows slowly. “Is that so? This is, once again, a conversation for another time. Okay. I want you to picture Gia. It doesn’t have to be a big memory. Just Gia being Gia. A time when you looked at her and you thought, dang, I love that woman.”

  Dang, he loved that woman. Okay, he could do that, couldn’t he? “Charma, I don’t know that there is one moment. There are a million little ones that add up to a lifetime with a person. Plus, we just sort of cleared up a millennium’s worth of misunderstanding.”

  “Well, that’s good. But, I’m sure there is. Like, for me—oh he’s going to be so embarrassed that I talked about this so if you could keep this between us, I’d appreciate it—but when Jason first wakes up in the morning, there is this moment where he reaches for me. He’s not really awake yet, but his arm comes out and squeezes me. I love it. I look at him and every wonderful thing about him hits me in that moment. Nothing about the world ending can intrude on it. Or if I’m annoyed over something with him, in that few seconds I don’t care at all. I can tell you all of Jason’s strengths, all of his soft spots, all of him and I’m consumed with love in that moment. I can really see him.”

  That was beautiful but Colin wasn’t at all sure that he’d ever had that kind of illustrative moment in his life. Even as he thought that, his mind shifted. He traveled, the translucent Charma seemingly along for the ride.

  They were in yet another dimension. Colin gasped. It was the first one. They’d lost this battle. They hadn’t started out really adept at fighting Sebastian. It had taken a little time to find their feet. Then the wins and losses had been sort of evened out. Until the most recent time.