Descent - Tara Fuller Page 0,4

to follow through, and she knew it. “I’ll learn to leave the jobs behind.”

Sky tilted her head back to the lavender-tinged heavens and groaned. “Fine!”

I clapped and threw my arms around her neck for a quick hug. Then I turned away and summoned a portal, stumbling back when light erupted from the floor beneath us.

Sky stepped up beside me, shaking her head. “You’re going to get us both in trouble. Tell me you realize that.”

“For what?” I asked, innocently. “Doing our job? We’re just lending a helping hand for the greater cause.”

Sky squinted at me. “What kind of helping hand?”

“We can’t let him leave the coffee shop. We have to keep him calm.” I grabbed Sky’s hand to reassure her. “That’s all. It won’t take long. And just think of how happy they’ll be once he finally tells her how he feels. And we’ll get to be a part of it!”

“It’s interfering with fate.”

“It’s not interfering. It’s just a little adjusting.”

Sky groaned and linked her arm with mine. “For the record, I still think this is a bad idea.”

I grinned and stepped into the light. “You always think it’s a bad idea.”

“She’s coming!” Sky shouted. Her face was plastered to the small coffeehouse window, and sunlight twined around the strands of her long golden hair. I took my place behind Tyler, and joy bubbled up inside me like a living thing. He raked his fingers through his dark curls and checked his phone again. I laid a hand on his shoulder and the tension melted off him. He took a deep breath when April breezed through the door looking windblown and flustered.

“I’m so sorry I’m late!” She rushed over to the table. “Professor Wilson kept me after class and I had the worst time catching a cab. Oh, and you’ll love this. I dropped my cell phone in the toilet this morning—don’t ask me how—so I couldn’t call.”

He laughed and watched her ramble. “Now I definitely want to know how.”

“How what?” She stopped and blew a curl out of her eyes.

“How you dropped the phone in the toilet.”

He grinned up at her and she rolled her eyes, dropping into the seat beside him. “What, and give you ammunition? No way.”

He reached between them to grab her chair and scooted it close enough for her knees to touch his.

“You curled your hair today,” he said, grinning.

“So?” Her cheeks flushed, and Sky giggled beside me. I elbowed her and gave an I told you so look. She could deny it all she wanted, but I knew this was Sky’s favorite part of the job. Playing cupid. Their affection…their love for each other, it was infectious. It defied what evil had worked so hard to create. They weren’t just alive. They were happy. And that on its own made every part of me spark and buzz with undiluted joy. It was a high. A rush. And for a few moments it made me forget that something in me was missing.

The boy I’d pulled from the depths of despair reached out with shaky fingers and traced the edge of her jaw, turning her face toward him. “April…”

“Tyler…just don’t—”

“I love you,” he blurted out. “I…I’m in love with you.”

Her eyes flooded with tears and she clutched her sweater in her fist. “W-why?”

“You saved my life,” he said, simply. “You save my life every day.”

Joy didn’t just spark, but exploded inside April, and a dazzling display of color radiated from them both before wrapping around me like a warm blanket. I stumbled back from the force of it, grabbing my chest, which was filling to the point of cracking with warmth. Sky skipped around the table, clapping and grinning, colors clinging to her so bright, they wisped around her like ribbon as she moved. It was beautiful. It was more than beautiful. It was why we existed.

“It worked!”

“I know.” I smiled, watching April throw her arms around Tyler’s neck, crying tears of joy. “Look at them. What did I tell you?”

“You want me to say it.” Sky cast me an irritated look. “Don’t you?”

I tapped my finger to my lips, pretending to consider that. “Yes.”

“Fine.” She folded her arms across her chest and sighed. “You were right. I was wrong. They were worth the extra effort.”

“Thank you.” I closed my eyes and enjoyed the tiny pulses of happiness that rippled out from April each time Tyler’s hand would brush her fingers across the table. Slowly but surely, the black chains of loneliness were loosening, freeing her