Love Beyond Lies

by Rebecca Royce

  “What do you want to do?” Colin asked Leonardo.

  Leonardo visibly swallowed. “We didn’t plan for this. We’ve never had a final battle with no preparation that we’ve not lost. What I want to do is… put this off. For as long as we can. Pair off. Everyone with your other half. Run. Hide. I know. It sucks. When we spread them out… we’ll find each other. Marina will work on telling who the good voices are versus the bad ones. She’ll let the good ones in and somehow Drew will start pulling us back together. We’re not cowards. The smart move is to live to fight another day.”

  It burned in Colin’s gut to run, but Leonardo was right. Live to fight another day.

  Ten

  Gia

  She quickly got the impression that this crowd was sick to death of running. There was a general feeling of discontent that flew through her before people started vanishing. Those who could pop away did, but neither she nor Colin had that ability. Her love took her hand and they ran, fast, disappearing into the woods together. This must have been one of the reasons the others had picked this spot as the place where they would stay.

  The woods were a great hiding place. And yet they didn’t stop there.

  “Colin, we’re going with you!” It was Christophe’s voice that caught her attention. This didn’t surprise her at all. At the end of the day, those two would always be connected whether Colin thought it or not. Her love always doubted his importance to his identical twin. But when it came down to it, they were always together.

  Someone had hidden a car for this kind of event. Or at least that’s what she was going to assume since Colin seemed to have the keys.

  “No.” Christophe looked at Ruby. “We can do better than this. I don’t want them following us. Come on. We’ll use my powers. Like we did to chase Gia before. Everyone hold onto me.”

  Colin scrunched up his face. “Are you sure? I don’t want to… kill you.”

  “It won’t kill me. Might knock me out for hours.”

  Ruby, holding onto Christophe, kissed his cheek. “We’ll take care of you.”

  He gritted his teeth so tightly, Gia could see a muscle move in his jaw. Colin did that too when he was really worried. Gia swallowed. There was movement. The demons were coming, the zombies with them, and…

  They whooshed through space. Technically, Christophe’s powers related to objects, not people, so in doing this he was seriously stretching his abilities beyond what they were meant to do. Or at least more than she’d ever seen him do before. It was a jerkier means of travel than when Drew or Gabriel had done this. Still, they managed to come back to solid ground with a thud. Christophe groaned, grabbing his head, and they all surrounded him.

  Gia gave the area a quick perusal. They were in some kind of apartment. She didn’t know where, and it wasn’t necessarily safe. Christophe groaned, rolling around on the floor, holding his head. Ruby murmured to him and Colin held his hand.

  “This is going to be okay, brother.” He shook his head. “This is too much. Why did he do this?”

  Gia wasn’t sure who he spoke to, but it wasn’t her. It might have been to Christophe.

  It was Ruby who answered. “Because he feels like he’s always letting you down. All the things you endure. He wanted to save you for a change, instead of the other way around.”

  “What?” Colin sounded incredulous. His voice lifted at the end of his question, like he made the word two syllables instead of one.

  Christophe passed out, held in Ruby’s arms. Gia got to her feet. She squeezed Ruby’s shoulder. This was the time for truth, but not just between her and Colin. He needed to talk to his brother. There had been so many lies of omission, and that was true of more than the four of them in this room. They had to start telling each other the truth.

  Love was going to fuel this battle. It was the only way to win.

  She blinked. Where had those thoughts come from? They felt real. They felt true. Had she always known or just remembered something? Gia rubbed her eyes. Where were they?

  Ruby looked up, her hand running through Christophe’s hair. “I think this is the apartment he lived in when he lived in Manhattan. Near me. We didn’t know each other, really, but we both lived here. I was never here. His parents keep paying the rent on it, in case we ever needed to come here. He hated asking, but we just knew there might be a chance we had to run.”

  Gia needed air. “I’m going to look around.”

  In the amount of time she’d been back, she’d seen cities burning down everywhere. They were lucky that the apartment hadn’t burned down.

  Gia ran a hand over her face. That kind of thinking wasn’t helpful. Except… maybe it was…

  She turned to look at Colin and Ruby who both sat on the floor. Christophe was still out cold. Gia took a long breath. She had to get her head together.

  The window revealed a burning city outside. The three blocks around them seemed okay—for now. The fire could travel this way anytime, and given that they were Outsiders it likely would since that was just how things went for them. She chewed on her lip as her stomach rumbled. Yes, she was hungry. Whatever she was doing with this new use of her power used up a lot more energy. Her days of surviving on little food were behind her and she was going to have to figure something out soon.

  She walked back to the group. “No fire for three blocks but I don’t know for how much longer.”

  Colin nodded. “We’ll keep an eye on it.”

  “Hold on.” Her body buzzed, goosebumps on her arms hurting. “Something is happening.”

  Her love was on his feet, fast. “What is it?”

  She grabbed onto her head and would have sunk to the floor if he hadn’t caught her. “It’s the ancestors. The real ones, I think. Not the demons. Of course, I can’t really tell. Colin, I have no choice. I have to let them in.”

  He held her close to him, a warm strong presence in the midst of the chaos invading her mind. Lights flashed in front of her eyes, the room swam and then she saw them. All of the Outsiders—their group—the ones who had chosen to come down and fight this endless battle.

  Gia spoke to all of them. It was bizarre to see herself like that, watching herself speak. Not that she could remember doing it. But still, this was the definition of strange, and Gia lived in a world where she did strange on a daily basis. Weird was her normal.

  “Listen to me, we have to be ready for the end. It won’t come from battle. We know that and I can see it.” She tapped her head and in her current state Gia could feel it in her own head. “The end isn’t because we lose battles, it’s because we lose ourselves. Things are hard. They always are and we can’t be afraid of saying and doing things that will hurt. That’s how we’ll grow. I’m not saying this to be cruel but to be honest. We lose because we—sorry for the repeat of the word but it matters—lose ourselves.”

  She rushed back into her body, blinking into awareness. “That was weird.”

  Colin rubbed his nose in her hair. “That’s one word for it.”

  “I saw myself. It keeps coming down to talking about truth. I… I’m not sure how this is supposed to work. You and I have sorted things. What truths aren’t we admitting?”

  Ruby rose from the floor as Christophe sat up, holding his head. His soul mate walked toward Gia and Colin. “Maybe it’s about more than our personal soul mate relationships. We got into serious trouble and the first thing Leonardo did was split us up. We’re supposed to be a team. We win when we’re all together. Now the four of us are, but where are the others? I can almost guess. Kal and Isabelle are with Charma and Kal. Marina and Drew are alone. Leonardo is probably by himself. Alexa is alone. They’re both obsessing. I’m sure Gabriel has Loraine off somewhere, and Eden and Samuel are probably with them. Boom. We’ve all divided up into the lines that work for us.”

  She made a face and Gia tilted her head. “You have more to say and you held back. Come on. This is about truth. Do it. Finish your thought even if you think it might be… insulting.”
<
br />   Ruby visibly swallowed. “Well…” Her voice trailed off.

  “We’re not human.” Christophe rose. “We have picked up habits from them in this life. And not hurting the feelings of the person you’re standing in front of is one of those things. This is going to be hard. Ruby, if you don’t wish to do this, then don’t.”

  She smiled at him. “That’s okay. What I was going to say, and I don’t mind saying although it’s impolite, is that we’ve divided into the groups that are the most comfortable for the men in our lives. Christophe, you’ll always pick Colin—both because he’s your brother, and because you worry you are always letting him down.”

  “You keep saying that. Christophe, you’ve never let me down, ever.” Colin shook his head. “So whatever…”

  Christophe lifted his lids. “We’re telling the truth right? Have I never let you down, brother? Is that true?”

  Colin went very still. He took a deep breath. Gia knew those motions. He was trying to calm down. This was a man who could hit Sebastian even when he wasn’t corporeal. Gia supposed it wasn’t a good idea to make him angry unless you could be sure that he wasn’t going to explode. She wasn’t afraid of him, but that was different. Remarkably, Colin’s shoulders sagged. That wasn’t anger posture.

  “Okay. There have been some times that I have been disappointed in some things but I know you. We see the world differently. I punch, you… think things through. I can go invisible and you never hide.”

  Christophe stepped toward him. “And there you go again. Like it’s an excuse. I don’t need you to do that. I’m comfortable with myself. The world—the universe—needs both of us. But I have twice let you down and for that I am sorry. Sebastian took you because of me, and I didn’t do right by you when you came and got me. You fight and fight. I’m always on the sideline. Just once I wanted to rescue you.”

  “Christophe.” Colin put his hand on Christophe’s arm. “You saved all of us from Sebastian. You’ve translated and interpreted endless texts. You keep saving me. Saving all of us. I don’t need you to keep worrying about that. Whatever has gone between us, we’re brothers. We fight. We get over it.”

  Christophe hugged him. From where she stood, Gia could see that Colin stiffened before he hugged him back.

  Gia sniffed, elbowing Ruby. “I’m not crying.” Although she obviously was.

  Ruby snorted. “Me either.” She wiped at her eyes. “But my point wasn’t so much about this, although I love it.”

  That was right. “You said divided by the men. How would the women divide us?”

  “We wouldn’t. I mean, I realize it goes against the stereotype, but the truth of the matter is that the female Outsiders do not clique the way the men do.”

  Colin stepped away from his brother. “I don’t know if I’d call it a clique as much as natural alliances.”

  “Well our natural alliances have almost gotten us killed a lot and they’re tearing us apart now.” Gia liked how Ruby thought.

  Gia was going to run with this. “Ruby is right. We don’t fight, not really. This tension between Marina and Alexa is new. We’ve always had each other’s backs. You guys fight… we manipulate. I guess. Except for Raquel. She fights.”

  Ruby shrugged. “We can all fight. But, yes, Raquel fights better. I don’t know why I just said that. Why it matters.”

  Gia grinned. “Because it mattered. We have to start telling the truth. And we have to get out of here. As soon as Christophe is rested. Fuck hiding. We’re Outsiders. We face all our problems. And now that I’ve had this little vision the Outsider ancestors nearly cracked open my head to give me, we’ll face this one as well.”

  Colin

  This had to be the most uncomfortable day Colin had ever had. Christophe had gotten all emotional, and now Colin was having to put everyone through emotional hell. They all had to tell the truth. Well—not everyone—just the ones who were his responsibility, thanks to Gia and Ruby’s a-ha moment. They’d headed back to the beach in Maine where Eden had first stayed. Sure enough, Eden and Samuel, plus Gabriel and Loraine were all there.

  “We need to tell the truth.” He’d said this three times and it wasn’t getting any easier. Gabriel and Samuel still looked like they’d rather be choked to death than do this.

  Loraine cleared her throat. “Why is this hard, Gabriel? Tell the truth.”

  Gabriel sighed. “I don’t know why drudging shit up is going to helpful.”

  “Because Gia says it is.” Loraine lifted her eyebrows. “And I don’t know about all of you, but I felt really recharged thanks to her. So, I’m going to listen to her.”

  Colin smiled. Why hadn’t he noticed how loyal the women were to each other? Gabriel sat back in his chair. “That came from fucking Colin. Not from sharing feelings.”

  “Hey.” Colin nudged him. “Watch it before you piss me off. And if you aren’t sharing feelings during sex, Gabe, you’re missing out on some of the best parts.”

  Gabriel groaned and put his head in his hands. “Fuck me. Okay, truth time. I’m a talented person in a lot of ways, but I really was dense and ridiculous when it came to Alexa. I didn’t see what was happening with Sebastian as a violation. No, let’s call it what it was. It was rape. I just thought she was being an idiot. Now we’re fucked. I’ve lost us this war. How’s that?”

  Loraine wrapped her arms around him. “Honey, that is not true. You saved us countless times.”

  “When it came to it…”

  Colin had to interject. “When it came to it that was Leonardo’s problem. Not yours. We each have our soul mates. I failed mine, too. I think we’ve all done that.”

  “By the moon, I have.” Samuel stepped forward. The normally quiet guy finally spoke out.

  “What?” Eden grabbed his arm. “You have never failed me.”

  He drew her to him. “Darling, you are blind. I think I failed you. I think I failed you the first second I stepped into that situation where I let Sebastian burn off my face. I… I failed you.”

  She buried her face in his shoulder. “You are why I survive. These things that happened to us. They happened because they were always going to happen. Or some version of them. I see fate in front of us. We only have so much of a role we play in deciding things. Some events just are. I’m the lousiest prophet ever.”

  “That is not true. You have been totally hindered by what we now know was false prophecy, and we needed Gia to figure that out.” Loraine sighed. “And I am useless at this point.”

  Gabriel jumped up. “You’re not useless. You saved the day with Raquel, talking to the rats.”

  Colin would be damned. Gia had been right. They did need to have these conversations. Even if this sucked big monkey balls.

  “People are always breaking my wards.” Now that they’d started this, Colin wasn’t sure it would ever stop. Marina wiped tears away from her eyes and Gia hugged her close. “I keep trying to save the day. That’s what I do. I save the day. And yet here we are. About to lose. Does anyone have any chocolate?”

  Drew put his hands on his hips. “You are why we’re alive.”

  That was a running theme. Amazing how it kept going in circles. How were they supposed to win anything big like this final battle if they were carrying so much baggage into every fight? It was almost like they needed a… reboot.

  Was such a thing possible?

  Sebastian

  They were getting stronger. If Sebastian had a nail to chew on, he’d be biting it now.

  This wasn’t how it was supposed to go.

  Sure, he wanted his father gone and was happy to help to do that, but they weren’t suddenly supposed to power surge like they could take Sebastian out. He floated toward where they were gathering.

  When last he’d looked, Leonardo had sent them all to hide. That was good. They needed to regroup if they were going to take on his father. Rest. And yet… they were coming back together way too fast for Sebastian’s taste. What had happened that brought them a sudden burst of
confidence? Whatever it was, Sebastian didn’t like it. He wanted them strong enough to take his father, but not powerful enough to win against him. He wanted them depleted.

  That was what was going to happen.

  One way or another.

  He floated away. Maybe he just had to point the fighters in the right direction. He was nothing if not duplicitous. Always had been. He was a demon, after all, in an endless battle he fully intended to win. This was going to be his finest hour.

  Sebastian closed his eyes, moving his energy. How had they managed the shadow problem? That should be rearing its ugly head to cause issues very soon. There was no way they’d gotten away from that thing just yet.

  Yes, they’d be calling him in soon and then he’d be able to take control of the situation. And what was going on with Colin’s ability to touch him? Well, he didn’t give a shit. Colin would be killed first.

  End of story.

  Colin

  The time had come. If he had to guess Leonardo’s thoughts, the other man knew he was about to be emotionally battered. He sat, his elbows on his knees, his head bowed, for a second, before he raised it to look at everyone. Next to him, Alexa wouldn’t make eye contact with anyone. She shook her leg and kept her arms crossed over her chest.

  Leonardo was repentant. Alexa defiant. Or at least that’s how they were posing. Colin walked toward them both and Alexa looked up to meet his eyes. Gia was much more emotionally focused than Colin was, other than how he felt about her, but he could see remorse in Alexa’s eyes contradicting her posture. And Leonardo wasn’t necessarily sorry enough to endure what was about to happen here.

  “We’re all telling the truth.” Colin strung his fingers into Gia’s. “My love had a vision. It’s important. Omission is the same as lying. And lying is eating us alive.”

  Leonardo tilted his head. “So this is where you tell us all the things we need to say that you think we haven’t said to each other, or that we don’t understand.”