Brennus shakes his head. “I do na know. He took some of me memories wi’ him ta Sheol. Finn speaks of tings in our past—sometimes I have no memory of dem. And now dat me soul and I are apart, I do na know whah he has experienced in Sheol. But I tink dat I made a deal wi’ Heaven before all o’ dis began.”
“It’s the same with me. Russell remembers so much more than I do. For some reason, you and I are not meant to know.”
“Ye see. We’re much da same,” he murmurs as he grasps my hand and tugs me along beside him once more, leading the way through the labyrinth. Neither one of us speaks for a long time, lost as we are in our own thoughts as much as in the twisting path. We reach the center of the maze where it opens into a small circle. Upon the floor, a majestic, tiled tree is spread out, it’s branches reaching in every direction, winding into the borders of the path from where we had just come and extending out to form other paths that were invisible to me when I’d been outside the circle.
Brennus looks around at the floor. “We are both on da same path, Genevieve, precisely where we need to be.”
“Precisely the right path for what?” I ask breathlessly.
“For us,” Brennus says as he bends, kissing me tenderly on my forehead.
Before he pulls away from me, his firm lips ease and become feather light. His presence wavers to transparency, a dark silhouette against the water falling over the walls surrounding us…and then he’s gone.
Waking up from my all-encompassing dream with Brennus, I’m standing in the middle of the labyrinth. Xavier is in front of me. His mouth is white-lipped with anxiety. “Evie,” he sighs my name while gathering me to him. With my cheek resting against his chest, I watch water flow down the ice wall. It disappears into the grates in the floor, just beyond the Power angels who have stopped everything to watch me. Brennus is gone. I must’ve come here in my sleep, following him wherever he led me. “I’ll take you back to your room.”
“Emil’s my evil soul mate—” I pull away from Xavier’s chest as I strain my neck to see his eyes, “and you knew—you’ve always known!”
Xavier stiffens. “He’s not your soul mate, Evie. He’s your inescapable.”
“My what?”
“Your inescapable. You’ve sworn to protect the world from him. You fight him in every one of his lifetimes.”
“Emil is my inescapable?”
“Yes, but this time, I have to find a way to not only annihilate his body, but also destroy his malicious soul so that he cannot return. I know that now. It will be my mission, Evie,” Xavier answers, barely breathing. “I will eliminate him for you, and then we will be together for eternity.”
BRENNUS
Me eyes open ta a high ceiling above; exposed stone beams hold up a barrel-vaulted ceiling, shedding its discolored, crumbling plaster. Light from several half-boarded-over windows dispels da shadows from da room. I bring me hand ta da bridge of me nose, pinching it in an attempt ta ease da ache dere. I feel as if I’ve slept in da arms of an aingeal, only ta awake in Hell. Me head spins around as me blood jumps tru me. I’m na accustomed ta dat—me blood flowing freely in me veins—liquid and on fire. Me heart does na pump it; it still lies dormant in me chest. Nevertheless, blood is circulating tru out me body now, making me stronger dan ever before. ’Tis just one of da ways I’m different since Genevieve changed me.
Rising upon me elbow, it sinks inta da soft mattress. One corner of da clean, linen sheet comes untucked; I ignore it. I wait until da pressure in my head eases, and den I drop me hand ta see Finn eyeing me from his poppy-colored, winged chair in a corner of da bedroom. Finn had located dis defunct seminary in a falling down part of Detroit—Genevieve’s city.
“Any problems?” I ask Finn, wondering why he’s here in me bedroom.
“Plenty, but none pressing,” he replies, shooting out da white cuffs of his dress shirt from beneath his black suit jacket before smoothing his dark sleeve.
“How far are we wi’ da move?”
He smiles. “We’re better dan expected—’tis a sound location—easier ta keep hidden dan our place in Ireland.” I nod. Da six-story Norman Gothic Revival building Finn found for us is spacious, constructed of brown ledge stone wi’ smooth granite window sill courses. Me room is on the top floor of a turret of sorts wi’ a pointed copper roof. Finn chose the location because it has several attached buildings in da same style. Dey encompass a few city blocks. At da same time, da structures afford us a great deal of privacy in dis abandoned neighborhood.
“Any complaints?” I ask.
“Truth be told, dere were a few,” Finn says wi’ a barely suppressed grin.
“Eh?” I respond with a raise of me eyebrow.
Finn’s eyes twinkle. “Some o’ da neighbors took offense ta da paleness of me flesh.”
Both of me eyebrows rise now. “Whah did ye say ta dat?” I smirk despite me aching head.
Wi’ a cheeky grin, he replies, “I told dem ’tis difficult ta get a tan when one’s undead.”
“How did dey take it?”
“Och, Brady ate dem before dey could respond. He was leppin’ wi’ da hunger.”