Shadow of the Sun (37 page)

Luke nodded. “Fight.”

“
Exactly,” I agreed in triumph.

As the noise level grew in the enclosed space, I focused upon a small slit forming in the door of the Divine Library. I peered over the onslaught of Guardians in surprise. A dim light glimmered through the crack.

“
Luke?” I shook his arm, never tearing my eyes from the goddess that had entered, unbeknownst to the angels inside.

“
Abelie? What is—”

“
What’s your sister doing here?” Carmela asked in disbelief.

“
I don’t know, to be honest,” Luke blubbered. We all gawked in her direction for several seconds before conversations cut off around us, and several eyes followed the path of ours.

Immediately, Andrew, Ehno, and Aiden welcomed her up to the makeshift stage. Ehno had gently taken Lucia’s hand and kissed it. They spoke feverously to each other, their voices too soft to be heard, even through the silence of the crowd.

Finally, Andrew stepped forward. “Lucia has come to join our cause. She disagrees with Liz and Mimi’s plans and wishes to do whatever she can to help us.”

It was silent for several deafening seconds as everyone continued to gawk at the tattoo-covered goddess. She was powerful and respected, and now she was my hero. I began clapping. It wasn’t long before others followed my lead with a roar of approval.

Lucia, the most reserved of the Ladies of Light, advanced to the edge of the small platform. Her presence was powerful, and everyone had their full attention upon her as the clapping faded away.

“
I’ve tried to talk my sisters down from this outrageous suggestion that we’re above mankind and deserve to enslave them.” Her voice was smooth and authoritative. “They won’t listen and refuse to have any more meetings. It’s time we fight back.”

A storm of catcalls and cheers erupted, the noise deafening.

<>

The sun started to descend over the horizon, and the light momentarily blinded me. As I regained my sight, I noticed the two Ladies of Light at the top of a small incline. They were waiting for us.

They knew.

Behind me, hundreds of Guardians lined the horizon. Aiden shouted commands to them as they moved closer to the women. As the sun hit their bronzed metal armor, I turned back to see the two women stare at the scene with pure enmity in their eyes. When did the Ladies of Light become so hateful? What happened to the love and devotion they had always shown? When did they become so corrupt?

Ahead of me, I could see Ehno, Andrew, and Lucia. Their heads were close together as they talked rapidly to each other. Andrew’s golden eyes constantly darted up toward the Ladies of Light who stood there, waiting patiently to see what we would do. Ehno had both of Lucia’s hands in one of his as he reached up and tucked her auburn hair behind her ear. They were in love, you could tell just by the burning gazes they shot each other. Ehno pulled something from his sheath and placed it around her neck. It was the Guardian’s symbol. Lucia nodded to something he said before she broke away from them and walked toward the other Ladies of Light.

Every muscle in my body tensed, as if someone had electrocuted me. My eyes darted around before I looked to my right were Luke and Carmela held hands. The other Elders were on my left. The fear was obvious in their eyes. For the first time I wished I was telepathic instead of a healer, just so I could hear what was going through everyone’s minds.

We watched as Lucia stopped only feet away from the Ladies of Light. Her long auburn hair cascaded down her back as the wind blew it behind her. She was beyond beautiful; she was more goddess-like than I had ever remembered. Her tattoos wove up and down her dark skin. You could easily see through the short, white, silk dress that clung wildly to her with every rush of wind. Around her leg was a knife. It had the Definitive Sun symbol on it, one that showed great power among us.

Mimi and Liz clasped hands together, and a white light glowed between them. Fear gripped me, coiled through my stomach and up to my chest where my heart gave a horrible jolt. What were they doing?

Lucia looked over her shoulder, her light blue eyes warned me to stay quiet. I put my hand out and was about to protest, but Luke grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

“
Luke?” I whispered. “Let me go.”

He shook his head; his eyes stared at me with a tempestuous intensity. This was his sister, his twin sister, and he was just going to let the Ladies of Light get away with this?

Lucia’s head turned in slow motion to stare at Luke. “If it’s a sacrifice I have to make, I’ll doing it for you.”

There was a loud explosion, like fireworks, as tiny white lights descended upon Lucia. She didn’t move away or try to protect herself. As each tiny light hit her skin, she started to glow red.

“
No,” I barely whispered. In that second, I wished that Aiden weren’t responsible for the Guardians behind me because I needed him to hold me, to tell me what I just saw wasn’t true. “No,” I shouted louder this time.

The Elders all turned to look at me, and their eyes begged me to stay quiet. They were scared.

They should be.

“
No!” I screamed this time.

“
It’s too late,” Luke whispered. His eyebrows scrunched together as tears pooled in his eyes. “She’s human.”

My eyes shot around the area. Why wasn’t anyone helping? Behind me, the Guardians all stood with their weapons out. What was the point if they weren’t going to use them? As I turned back to Luke, he stared off toward Lucia. The pained expression never left his face. Carmela held on to his hand with more fierceness, as if she were protecting him. As my gaze followed Luke’s, I took in the two women at the top of the hill, all in their white, like they were pure. In that moment, I wanted to scratch their eyes out and paint them in black. I wanted to burn the tattoos off their flesh. They weren’t worthy enough to wear such divine markings. We were protectors; we were not evil, yet these women were. A chill started at the base of my spine and worked its way up.

Twilight was upon us as the Earth swallowed the sun whole. The shadows of the Ladies of Light extended far beyond Lucia, almost as if they were consuming the place in darkness. No one moved—no one fought. What were we waiting for? This horrible crime was more than I could stand, and I stepped forward, ready to fight, even if it meant my life.

Hands gripped my waist and pulled me back. Aiden’s breath was at my neck. “You can’t fight them alone, love.”

Tears fell down my face. “Why are we standing here watching this?”

His warm lips kissed my neck. “By the time they cast the spell, it was too late. If they have the power to turn her human, they would do it to the rest of us.”

Carmela was no longer able to hold Luke up as he collapsed onto the ground. He sat on his knees as he looked up, and tears drowned his face. My heart broke for him.

“
Lucia.”

Her name was like a sigh upon the wind. Lucia turned toward me again, fear and confusion written all over her face. Tears escaped her eyes as she closed them before she turned back to the Ladies of Light. I realized then that they didn’t turn her human because they couldn’t fight her, they did it to show they were above her—that they were above us all. I’d only heard of that spell, never seen it performed firsthand.

Mimi stepped forward, pulled her long knife from her leg, and held it up in the air. The knife that was meant as a symbol of angelic protection would be used to kill an angel. I gasped. Fear gripped me, and all I wanted to do was run up there and save her, but Aiden held me tighter.

“
No,” I screamed. Rage propelled me forward, though Aiden was stronger and held with a firmer grip. Liz turned her white eyes upon my struggling form, and I froze. A mocking smile crept across her face. I wanted to slap that grin right off her face.

Then everything happened in a matter of a few seconds, as if someone made us move in fast forward.

Mimi put the knife high in the sky and then let it carve through the cool air as it plunged deep into Lucia’s chest. Lucia went down, her head falling back as a torturous sound tore from her lips. I gulped, trying to swallow the bile as I watched her white dress turn a brilliant crimson. Her head fell to the side, and the red blood dripped from her mouth. Her eyes were strangely unfocused. This was her ending. She was dead, and she would never return. And I couldn’t handle that thought. Immortality didn’t always mean forever, and today I knew that better than any other day. Her eyes were lifeless as they stared at me, the glacial blue tainted by the red blood in her veins.

Luke fell forward as his forehead hit the grass. He didn’t use magic during his time of wrath; he used only his strength as he tore away at the ground. Each second his body was consumed with earth-shattering sobs. The tears were relentless as they tumbled down my cheeks. I wiped them away, only to turn my fingers gold with the action.

There was no indecision as I took off. I sprinted toward Lucia. Someone had to help her. Maybe it wasn’t too late for my healing powers to help her. That was when all hell broke loose. I wasn’t the only one that couldn’t take the scene. Ehno took off toward the Ladies, sending curse after curse their direction, unable to do any damage. His movements were swift as he became a blur. Andrew tore after him. When they were both within ten feet of the Ladies of Light, they went down like two large sacks of potatoes. The same spell had turned them human, and Mimi ran forward and stabbed the two in the chest, just like with Lucia. My screams of protest echoed around me. Now their crimson blood joined Lucia’s, turning the grass a dark red. I felt sick as I dashed across the field, knowing if I didn’t reach them in time it would be too late. My gift of healing could save them. Not many knew of my gift, but now was not a time to hold back.

Aiden caught up to me within seconds. He pulled me to his chest. “Let me go,” I whispered frantically into his ear. “Please.”

His pleading eyes bored into mine, and he pulled me into a hug. “I can’t lose you. I’m too selfish to let you go.” He gripped me tighter. I pushed away from him and saw the most pained expression I’d ever seen. Tears rolled down his face.

I went limp in his arms, unable to hold myself together under all the unendurable agony that had gripped my body. He went down with me as he held me. Aiden no longer ordered the Guardians to attack, they were doing it of their own freewill. The movement below their feet made the Earth vibrate.

The Ladies of Light ripped through the hundreds of warriors as if they were nothing more than air. It was all too much.

“
Stop!” I screamed toward the Ladies, the cry scratching my throat. It was as if a rock had decided to lodge itself there.

And that was when everything changed, when everything that was normal and made sense turned upside down and inside out and backwards. The Ladies of Light had joined hands again as they chanted their long streams of spells. I recognized the words that would be the end of them all—the Guardians—all the Halo of the Sun. They were the words of death, repeated over and over as the white glow expanded. It encompassed all those who attacked. When they were all enveloped in the light, Aiden let go and ran toward them, yelling at them to run and disperse. They didn’t listen, and suddenly Aiden was under the light along with them.

“
Aiden. No! Please,” I screamed in a storm of protests. I ran, going toward my husband, my lover. The only reason I had to exist in this timeless immortality. “You can’t leave me.”

As I ate up the space between me and the light, two of the Elders reached out and held me back. “You can’t, Abelie,” Eleanor said.

“
We can’t let this happen. All the Halo of the Sun, all the Guardians—there will be no one left to protect mankind.”

This wasn’t happening. It couldn’t be happening. But it was. It really was.

The white light grew brighter and brighter, the intensity so vivid I had to shield my eyes. The center around the Ladies of Light grew to a deep blue. The sapphire light exploded out from the middle of the Guardians. It overtook them, rays of blinding light bursting from their every orifice right before we all fell to the ground from the spell.

My head hurt as the world spun around me. I stared up at a patch of starry sky, the moon full. Nothing made sense. Everything was wrong, different. Putting my hand to my temple, I sat up to see Shadows scattered across the ground under the pool of the dim moonlight, their skin black as charcoal. When I stared at the biggest one, it looked as though a flame ignited inside him and burned through his eyes. The frightening stories of Shadows slammed into my mind. There had been rumors, but I never believed it. The Shadow looked at me as if we knew each other before he raised his upper lip to expose his teeth. A growl escaped from deep in his chest. I backed away in terror, my world aligning in an unfamiliar pattern.