See How She Awakens (24 page)

Then it happened, I changed back to myself as fear overwhelmed my anger. I saw the split second I
’
d lost focus. It had given Damali the time she
’
d needed to attack.

In the blink of an eye, Damali struck out, thrusting the blade deep into my back. 

A thunderclap sounded as Aberto ripped through the veil between planes, dragging the ten with him in his wake. 

Damali looked up from my fallen body, terrified as she looked up into Aberto
’
s face.

“
NO!
”
She shouted as Aberto thrust a hand deep into her chest, raising her in the air.

Aberto shoved his other hand inside of her, pulling outward in opposite directions. Damali
’
s body fell broken to the ground, but he didn
’
t stop. He reached out, clasping on to Damali
’
s soul, holding it in place.

“
Mercy!
”
Her soul cried out.

“
Mercy?
”
Aberto
’
s voice came out a thunderous echo.
“
Mercy for the one that has ripped my only happiness from my grasp? Mercy for the one responsible for causing the one I love to suffer such torment?
”
He laughed, sending chills racing up my spine. 
“
There will be no mercy, only pain.
”
 

Aberto conjured a stylus, seemingly out of thin air. He thrust the stylus against Damali
’
s spirit carving deep red runes into the surface. 

I couldn
’
t understand.  She was dead.  How could he be marking her soul if her body was no more? 

Damali
’
s panicked cries pulled my attention back to the scene playing out before me. 

Aberto finished the marks, tossing Damali
’
s soul away from him. 
“
There is only one place for your soul, Damali.
”

“
But what does this mean? Why did you mark me?
”

Aberto smiled coldly,
“
It lets them know you are a willing vessel to be used in whatever way the demons wish.  May your agonies be
endless.
”

The ground opened up beneath her feet, eager cries ringing out as Damali was pulled down by the very demons she’d tried to command.

The present violently snapped back into place. Nausea assaulted me as my mind struggled to make sense of what I’d witnessed.

“No one talks about it, Izzy, but he lost it. After everything happened with Damali, he picked you up and carried you down to the catacombs. He wouldn’t talk to anyone, or let anyone near your body. He surrounded the altar in markings he wouldn’t explain to anyone, and then he disappeared. When we tried to reach him for the funeral, he could not be found. Cristie was assigned to watch over your body, really she volunteered herself. She would find Aberto from time to time, lingering in the catacombs, watching over you.” Ian stopped suddenly, staring at the door behind me.

“I could not accept you were gone.” Aberto’s voice pulled my attention to where Ian’s eyes had been moments before. “I will never accept a world in which you do not exist.”

“Well, I should probably get back to being the Supreme appointed ruler, or figuring out what that means,” Molly said awkwardly, ushering Ian out of the room quickly.

The moment the door closed, the room felt impossibly small. The weight of all I’d seen settled over me. 

I hadn’t fully grasped the truth of Aberto and I until this moment.  I’d known he loved me, he’d told me as much, but I hadn’t really known.  Not the extent of what that love meant. 

Aberto moved toward me, standing centimeters away. Reaching down, he pulled me to my feet to stand in front of him. Staring straight ahead, I struggled to calm my breath. Maybe if I just stared at his well-defined chest I wouldn’t have to deal with the seriousness of what I finally understood.

A gentle finger rested under my chin, urging my face upward. Slowly, I titled my head back, my eyes lifting at the last possible second.

Aberto’s jaw clenched and his nostrils flared as he stared down into my eyes.  The intensity terrified me. 

“I am not proud of what I did to Damali. I allowed vengeance to consume me and dictate my actions. But know this, I would do it again a thousand times over. No more will those that stand against you be allowed to walk this earth. As long as I exist, no harm will come to you.”

“I can’t die, Aberto. I think that I’m safe.”  I struggled to lighten the mood. 

“I cannot exist in a world where you do not,” Aberto responded, dashing my attempts.

“Well, it is done now, and I’m safe. I promise I really am okay.”  I wanted to badly to erase the fear from his eyes, the worry from his brow.  Lifting my hand, I rubbed my fingers across his furrowed brow.  “I’m okay.” 

“Are you?” Aberto still seemed unconvinced.

Wrapping my arms around his waist, I hugged him tightly.  “I really am, or I will be, once I figure out what I am and what all of this new stuff means.”

“Izzy,” Aberto stopped short as though he weren’t quite sure if he should say what was on his mind.

“Just say whatever it is. Or ask. Either way, spit it out.”  I pulled back, resting my chin on his chest to look up. He should try to shrink himself.

“Please do not think ill of me for what I became. I have not been that man in a very long time.” Aberto refused to look down at me.

“For the record, I think what you did to Damali was perfect, but that could be the darkness in me talking.”  I smiled, hoping he would let go of some of the pain he’d been holding in.  “Hey, seriously, I don’t think ill of you. You held your shit together better than I did when Kennan died. I went supernova; you just cursed a chick to be demon crack. If anything, I think you could’ve been a little meaner to her. She did shank me, after all.” 

A laugh rumbled in Aberto’s chest as he finally looked down at me.

“This world would be far too dark without you, Izzy.” Aberto’s eyes held mine for a moment before he released me.  “We should rejoin the others. Plans must be made.”

“This talk isn’t over. I see more questions in those eyes.”

“They will keep.”  Aberto the demanding had returned. 

I wish there was an Aberto mood chart, sort of like the pain chart at the doctor’s office with the smiley face to pain face scale. The many moods of the Old One. My least favorite was probably teacher Aberto. He was ruthless.

The door opened, breaking the tension that filled the room. Standing in the opening was my aunt, but I could tell something was off.

“Izzy, someone would like to have a word with you in private,”  Mona gritted through clenched teeth.

“Is everything okay?”  I hadn’t the faintest idea who would want to talk to me. Everyone I knew was already in the house.

“It’s him.”  Mona was visibly fighting against the angel trying to take her over.

“It’s fine, Mona.  I’ll hear whatever it is he has to say.”  I sat back down on the couch. 

“I will remain.”  Aberto stood his ground, the impassable mountain that he was.

“He is demanding that this be done in private. I’m sorry.”  Mona motioned for Aberto to leave. 

“I’ll be fine.”  It was written all over his face, he didn’t want me out of his sight, but I needed to know whatever it was Uriel had to say. The angel wasn’t exactly a huge fan of me, so I wasn’t quite sure what the message would be. I just hoped there wasn’t more to this damned prophecy. If there was another sub-clause, I was tapping out. Someone else could take on the next part. Early retirement was calling my name.

“I will remain just beyond the door.”  Aberto’s jaw clenched as he left the room.

“What do you want, Uriel?” I asked as the door shut, cutting Aberto off from our conversation.

My aunt’s face shifted, the internal struggle for control over.  Uriel now stood in her place. 

“Seer, I’ve come with a message.” Uriel’s voice made it seem as though he were annoyed.

“What is it?”

“The heavens will maintain the balance. The laws will be obeyed.”

“Let me ask you something, Uriel. You say the heavens will maintain the balance, but at what cost to humanity? You have set rules before the Seers and Guardians, rules that inhibit them. If ever the balance is to truly be maintained, must they not be allowed to do more? There is a war out there, constantly raging. While you fight your own battles, humanity is left to destruction. We were made for a reason, so why is it y’all don’t seem to want us to actively fight?”  I was so tired of the bullshit, the lies, and the rules. I wanted to hear it, from Uriel’s own lips, I wanted the truth.

“If the Chosen should prevail in eradicating the darkness from the world, humanity would never know what it meant to hurt, to struggle. Without the pain, how would humans know to be grateful for the peace? There is a fine line that must be walked.” Uriel face pulled into a snarl as he looked upon me.  “Not that you would understand. You are tainted by the darkness.”

“I think I understand more than you will ever be capable of understanding. The darkness doesn’t care about the balance, about humanity. It cares only for the destruction it can reign down upon the world. As far as humanity, people hurt one another without external influence all the time. The darkness doesn’t have to be present for that. There is plenty of pain in this world without it. So don’t try and tell me you allow this to go on for their own good.”  I stood inches away from my aunt’s body, anger bubbling beneath my skin.

“You will do as you are bid,” Uriel spat.

“I will not.” I replied simply. If I were cursed to be immortal, never allowed to move beyond the world, then I would do all I could to protect it.

“If you set yourself on this course, you will endure great agony the duration of your existence. Why would you do this to yourself?”  The disdain in his voice was replaced swiftly by confusion. 

“If you saw what I’ve seen these past years—the pain, the fear the darkness brings—you would not ask me that. You may be an archangel, and you may be fighting the same battle, but you don’t feel what they feel. The people you’re fighting for, the people the Chosen were made to protect, you’re cut off from them.”

“That may be, but there are rules. Rules that were created for a reason.”

“Rules that were created at the beginning of time. Rules the darkness has changed. While you are all playing by those old rules, following the same path that was set out, the darkness has found loopholes. They are fighting an entirely different game, by a whole different set of rules. If things continue, darkness will fall upon the earth. How long do you think the heavens will stand once the earth has fallen? Change is upon us. I just hope you are willing to see the truth of it before it’s too late.”  I sighed, stepping away. 

I hadn’t thought much about why things had started going south so quickly until now. The world had been spinning on, the balance maintained for a long time. But in the past few years, the darkness had wormed its way into Seers and Guardians, corrupting them. The heavens had been blind, thinking their creations to be infallible. Their arrogance had blinded them, and now the world suffered for it.

“You dare blame us for the mistakes humanity has made?” Uriel seemed to grow angrier.

“I blame you for not paying enough attention to notice. Now, I have some people I would like to see. So, if we are done here, I need to get going.”  Every inch of me knew talking to him about this was useless. He saw what he wanted to see.

“The rules were put in place for a reason, do not forget.” Uriel’s warning echoed in my mind as I reached for the door.

“Izzy?”  Mona asked, returned to her body.

“Everything is fine,” I muttered, not ready to look at her. It was strange, knowing my aunt wasn’t Uriel, but still seeing him in her all the same. Sometimes it was a bit hard to separate what Uriel said from what my aunt did.