“I do.” It sounded final. I didn’t understand Leo’s statement, but before I could ask him to elaborate, Enid continued, “But so many things could still go wrong. If I end her life, I will be certain. I will have my sister back. If I don’t, things could change.”
“If you end Jessica’s life, there will be needless death and destruction for far too many, and Pandora will not stand by your side,” Leo stated. “Letting Jessica live is preferable to all, and in the end, you will get both sisters back.”
“Perhaps,” Enid said as she stepped off the altar and strode up to me. My mate growled, but she paid him no attention. It was like he wasn’t even there. If she hadn’t been pursuing me, kidnapping my friends, and in general trying to kill me, I would’ve considered her fairly reasonable. She was hardly the cruel and conniving Hag I’d envisioned. “My hunting you happened for a reason, don’t doubt it for a moment. It is because of my actions that we stand here today, and nothing else. You are as you are, because of me.”
Huh? That was more than a little confusing.
“I don’t doubt it,” I said, deciding to roll with it. “I am well aware that everything happens for a reason. But, ultimately, my purpose here is to get back on track.” Our eyes locked, and I saw compassion there, which I hadn’t expected. But I also saw anger and resentment. “Am I close to achieving that?”
“You might be,” she answered, turning and striding back up toward the altar. “But I’m not entirely certain you will be able to make the sacrifice that is needed to complete Pandora’s vision.”
I took a breath in. “I don’t know if I am either,” I replied, the words once again tumbling out before I was ready to speak. She spun around, her face registering something close to surprise. I kept going. “I can’t stand here and tell you, in all honesty, that I’m willing to do absolutely anything, which is what you expect me to say. If I don’t know what it is I must give up, how can I tell you I will?” Enid picked up a small chalice and focused on it, not me. I took that as a sign that she was listening and kept going. “In this moment, if you asked me to take my mate’s life, I wouldn’t do it. No matter the benefit. Even if it would ensure the greater good for the entire supernatural race. I’m not wired that way. I love too deeply and care too much. I would never be able to kill someone I love. So if you asked, I would say no. But that doesn’t mean I will fail all tasks. If you want assurances that I will make a sacrifice, tell me what it is, so I can give you an honest answer.”
“That’s the quandary, then, isn’t it,” she stated. “I must wait a long time—possibly too long—for you to fulfill this sacrifice. And in the end, if you do not, time will have passed and your death might not set things to right. I will no longer have a guarantee, and I will be stuck.”
“Stuck is perhaps not the correct word,” Leo said gently. “Your sister will be alive, and maybe that will have to suffice. Is that not the end goal?”
“No.” Enid’s voice was sharp. “The end goal is for me and my sisters to be reunited. For us to stand by each other’s side until the end of time. It is not to have her alive but unreachable, for her to love others more than she loves us. She was taken from me, and I will have her back as she was.”
I wasn’t getting the whole gist of the story, but I did understand what Enid was worried about. I cleared my throat. “Um, if your sister is reborn, I don’t think it’s possible for her to be exactly as she once was. She will be reborn, just as Pandora was, but with a different set of experiences. As we grow, we’re shaped by our environment, by what we experience. Things are vastly different today than they were five hundred years ago. It’s not possible for her to be the same, but,” I pointed out helpfully, “she will still be your sister.”
“You don’t know that,” Enid said, tossing the chalice aside. It skittered across the floor, making hollow clinking sounds. “You have no idea what she will be like! Or how she will think, or what she will remember. We are powerful supernaturals! The most powerful. Bianca is strong and courageous. She will weep when she finds out how long she has been away from us. When we reunite, we will be as we once were.”
“That’s a fairy tale,” I said as Rourke tensed beside me. I had to speak up, no matter the cost. “Something you’ve conjured in your mind after all these years. And I don’t blame you for it. If Tyler was gone, and then I found out he was coming back, I would fantasize about picking up right where we left off too. But if Tyler was reborn to a new family and grew up with a different set of experiences, there’s no way he would be exactly the same as the brother I once knew.” I met her gaze. “But I would love him just the same, and I’m certain we would forge a new relationship, one that was just as fulfilling.”
“Your opinions mean nothing to me,” Enid replied snidely. “You don’t know our ways, who we are, or where we come from. I will not allow you to influence my decision. I will have my sister back the way I want her, nothing less!”
Before I could respond, the church door flung open with a loud bang.
Leo, Rourke, and I turned, surprised by the intrusion.
“If her opinion means nothing to you, maybe mine will.”
22
“Juanita!” I raced up the aisle and embraced my friend. She laughed in her good-natured way. “I guess I should call you Pandora now, since that’s your real name. It’s so good to see you. I wasn’t sure if you would come.”
“I wasn’t sure either, Chica,” she answered in her same Spanish accent. “If it had not been for Leonardo, this wouldn’t be possible.” She beamed at the angel who had also come to greet her. “I thank you from the bottom of my heart for making this happen.” She settled a small, perfectly manicured hand over his. This time, her nails were colored a bright fuchsia. “I know the life you have chosen, as a mortal, has given you much peace. And now that peace has been interrupted. But you have provided a great service to us—one that neither myself nor my sister foresaw. Fate has always been tricky, and it has proven to us once again that it is the one who is powerful, not us.” She bowed her head to Leo.
“Even though I play the mortal, which I do enjoy,” he said, “I am not one, or am I without my wits. When Jessica entered my sanctuary yesterday, I knew what had to be done. She is special. Her aura is bright, unlike any other I have ever seen. You were right to protect her. I only hope that your sister sees the same thing before it’s too late.”
Pandora nodded as she made her way past us, walking slowly toward Enid, her heels clacking against the stone floor. “I know you have seen the same thing as I, dear sister. And I am here to assure you that even though Bianca will be reborn, as I have been, she will retain the same memories, feel the same love, and be connected to us as she once was. But Jessica is correct.” She turned and flashed me a brilliant smile. “I am not exactly the same as when I left you, as you can see. This life has given me many new experiences and has made me the richer for it. There is value, where before it had been waning. There is love, were none was before. I am stronger, the weakness that lingered all but flushed out. I would not trade it for anything.” She spread her arms wide. “I stand before you, remembering our life together, yearning for your love and companionship once again, and it will be the same for Bianca. You must believe it.”
Enid’s face was hard to read. Then she frowned. “It has been a long while since you sought me out. Why is that? If you are the same sister I remember, and you have retained your whole soul, why not come to me before this? It’s been over fifty years. Make me understand.”
“I could not see you without interfering in Fate’s plan.” Pandora shook her head. “You and I were given different visions on that day for a reason, as well as each day afterward. What I see is not always what you see. Fate has not tested us, it has changed us. If I had come, it would have interfered with getting Jessica to this very moment, right where she needs to be. Maybe you would’ve understood, maybe not. Or maybe you would’ve killed her before you saw the proof standing right in front of your very eyes. It was not my place to make you understand, until today.”
What proof was she talking about?
“I come to you in love,” Pandora went on, “and implore you to let her live. Allow her to make the sacrifice she needs to make things right again. Save the world from the chaos you know will descend upon us with her death.” As I watched, Pandora’s visage wavered, changing into something else. Her hair became thicker and longer. She grew a foot taller, and her short skirt and blouse morphed into a long white dress, much like what her sister wore.
Enid’s expression changed from angry to satisfied. “Now you look as I remember you. It seems your human bonds are not that strong after all.”
“Do not let the human guise fool you. I glamoured myself by choice at a young age,” Pandora said. “I wanted to mirror the family and the culture I grew to love. It allowed me to live as Leo does”—she gestured to him—“to fully immerse myself in the human world. I will be sad to see it go. But my place is here with you and our beloved Bianca.”
“Bianca will not be with us for some time,” Enid stated, turning to pace.
“That’s true,” Pandora replied, heading up to the altar by her sister. “But if you allow Jessica to live, it will save us one thousand years of heartbreak and even more waiting. Why do that when we have already waited for five hundred years? In the scope of things, what’s another twenty?”