but steadied myself by grabbing onto Arcturus’s arm. Emeria looked harder, more complex than me. She had way more drama, for sure. And she seemed to go out of her way to get people to think she was dangerous. Emeria stood before us, outfitted in swords and other weapons, eyes fixed on Arcturus. The two blocked me from hearing their silent conversation.
Angered by the disregard for my feelings, I imagined crushing water, like a dam breaking, and its water forcing itself through a town, smashing buildings and large structures. It worked. It broke their block on me. From the looks of it, they had no idea that I heard the rest of the conversation.
She has, Arcturus replied with caution. His words were strained, his body taut.
Devious little one, aren’t you? Why’d you summon me here?
Had she never met Arcturus before, I wondered? She would regret referring to him that way.
“Reveal yourself to Grace and do not leave anything out,” Arcturus ordered, placing a hand on the top of his sword.
“Is this really necessary?” Emeria shot back and used both hands to draw attention to her many weapons. She must have known Arcturus had no intention of letting her go until he’d gotten what he wanted.
I wasn’t prepared for what happened next. Emeria grabbed me into her arms as if doing so to a ragdoll, covering me completely with her dark wings. I couldn’t hear or see anything at first. Then the visions came.
They blew past me quickly. I saw myself, reading Praefatio, picturing Gavin in my mind as I read. I sat thinking of how much I loved him and wanted to be with him. After slamming the book shut, I began to dance and twirl around the room as intense feelings of love and affection overtook me. My closed eyes watered as I watched the vision unfold and listened to my racing heart. I hugged the book to myself while envisioning a life with him, marrying him and having a family. A knock at the door interrupted my rapture. I placed the book on my bed, then answered the knocking. My birth mom stood in the doorway, beautiful, and angry. A gasp forced itself out of my mouth when I laid eyes on her.
The vision and the feelings that accompanied it were so real, vivid, and painful. But the memory could not have belonged to me.
They’re her memories, Arcturus suggested, and the thought floated around in my brain like a ball in a pinball machine: hitting, fast, slowing, swirling, hitting, score.
It felt like I’d gotten the wind kicked out of me. My heart sank into a deep and physical sadness when I realized what I had been witnessing. Emeria was in love with Gavin. The depths of her emotion were great enough that I could literally feel her pain. My breathing became labored.
I turned to face Emeria in my mind’s eye and saw the rest from her point of view.
The angels whose job it was to give other angels talents, posts, or purpose were focused squarely on me when we were created. Since my purpose (to be born on earth as a human and ascend to high Archangel), talent (had yet to figure that out), and post (earth) had already been determined, and Remi had been hand-picked to be my sibling, Emeria was all but forgotten about once my birth mother, Rosa, Fell to have me. Emeria had never been given a post or any particular talents. She had no real purpose. So she unwittingly created her own purpose: to win Gavin’s heart.
Her post? Wherever Gavin was.
The problem? Gavin had been promised to another. Me.
Jealous of my future with Gavin, Emeria was determined to have him, even after she realized the visions she had were of my future, not hers. It was too late by then. Emeria was deeply in love. When our mother pointed out the true nature of the situation, Emeria’s heart became filled with rage, envy, and a desire for vengeance. She aimed to rid the world of me, to clear the way for her and Gavin to be together.
Emeria set out to win Gavin’s love by appearing to him as me in an attempt to manipulate his affections. I was not ready for what happened next. Images of Gavin, with Emeria posing as me. There was something about it that seemed real, tangible, and full of raw emotion. I tried to turn away, but her hold on me was too strong. She forced me to