“You asked for a love of your own choosing. You could choose me.” Could I choose him? Could I deny him Heaven? It’s the only thing he had ever wanted before he found Simone broken on the floor of the carriage house.
My hand reaches out and touches his cheek. “I do choose you. You’re everything to me. It’s your wings that are branded into my flesh, Reed,” I say, tugging the sheet lower, exposing the binding mark of his wings above my heart. “I chose you.”
“There is no heaven without you, Evie. I cannot say it any plainer than that.”
“So we fight?”
“We fight and we win.”
And then we say goodbye, I think, because I know it’s true and my heart bleeds because of it, but aloud I say, “We win.”
Reed leans down near my ear, “This is the beginning of us. I won’t give up. Not ever.” He nuzzles my earlobe. The seductive feel of his body pressing to mine is almost more than I can take. He loosens the sheet around me. His fingertips trace my skin, but his hand stills as a golden light bursts into the room in the form of Russell.
The clone of my soul mate slows when he nears us. His brown eyes, although made of light, shoot daggers at us. “Seriously, Red? I’ve been worried ‘bout you since you left Crestwood and now I find you two goin’ at it.” He throws a disgusted look at Reed. “What happened to ‘Wait for Evie, she’ll contact you’? Meanwhile, you two are gettin’ freaky and I’m a mess ‘cuz I can’t find either of y’all. So thanks! Thanks a lot for that!”
“I’m sorry, Russell—”
“You should be!” he retorts.
“Did Phaedrus locate you?” Reed asks, holding me at his side.
“Yeah,” Russell replies, “he told me he saw you. He said Tau wants peace with you. Is that true?”
“Peace is a subjective term. He wanted me to kill Atwater and retrieve the boatswain we discussed…peacefully.”
“Did you do it?” Russell asks, looking troubled.
“No. I didn’t kill Atwater. He slipped into a portal.” Reed leaves out the part about us having the whistle that opens Sheol. I shoot Reed a sidelong look. He acknowledges my question, answering me with a squeeze to my upper arm that says ‘don’t tell him’. I know that Atwater told me not to tell anyone except Reed about us having the boatswain, but this is Russell—my soul mate. I trust him with everything. Still, I don’t speak of it. Russell doesn’t seem to notice our omission.
“Good,” he says with a look of relief, “I’m glad you didn’t kill him. Anya told me Atwater is my guardian angel. I have to find him. He has a ton of explaining to do.” I search my mind and I know it’s true. Atwater is Russell’s guardian angel, but he hasn’t always been. Russell used to be guarded by a Cherub name Tulie, but Byzantyne stabbed her to death only a few lifetimes ago. Russell wasn’t the same after losing Tulie. He loved her. My soul mate doesn’t notice my complete shock as he continues on. “Okay, what I’m ‘bout to say is gonna sound really stupid comin’ from me, especially given our history with the Gancanagh, but I need y’all to hear me out—”
Reed holds up his hand, palm out. “We need to parley with Brennus because he has a Faerie weapon that will annihilate Evie’s inescapable’s soul. Without that weapon, we can’t kill Emil.”
Russell’s clone blinks—his image straightens up to a taller height. “That’s freaky, Reed. You’re freaking me out.”
“Russell may not know him as Emil, Reed,” I explain. “They never met in Simone’s lifetime. Russell, Emil is Ronan…Ionia…Tasha…Zanzibar—”
“Djet,” Russell whispers our enemy’s name. “You remember.”
“I do, Iah.” For a few moments, my lifetimes with my soul mate spread out in a tapestry before me. I am nearly crushed by the weight of it. In human form, Russell was always the one I wanted. Nothing and no one came between us. When I died and my soul detached from my human form, things were different. I remember everything—I was in love with my angel in Heaven, Xavier. I would do anything for my Seraph guardian, even forget him over and over and die for my angel a thousand times, and then a hundred thousand more, just for a few moments together with him in Paradise when it was allowed—when Russell still lived on Earth and I was in Heaven. I shake my head. There are so many broken pieces of me.
Russell’s clone comes closer to me, his light falling on my face. “I have a dagger that Brennus gave me. If I cut myself with it, it will bring Brennus to me. I can’t use it though. I won’t use it. I can’t allow the Gancanagh to get close to Anya or the Reapers again. We need to meet up. You have to go with me to talk to Brennus. He’ll listen to you. He’ll do anythin’ for you.”
“Of course he will. I’m his queen.” Both Reed and Russell frown. “I am his queen. I have to lead his army into battle against Emil. Brennus will give me whatever I ask for, but even if he doesn’t, I could take it from him just as easily.”
“How?” Russell asks.
“Russell, we’re the most powerful beings on Earth. We don’t even need a reason to take what we want.”