agreed. I would allow myself to be bound to this place until a self-sacrificing soul found his or her way to me. He promised to send me souls, and he did for a while, but when given a choice, these souls chose to sacrifice another—a friend or a lover…Each chose to let the other burn. Each chose to save their own skin.”
The ancient souls around me moaned.
Oh, God. “These were the test subjects?”
The divine’s brother smiled wryly. “They have been trapped here for a long time. As the world around us changed and the fallen built their home here, the land was named Limbo. I’ve been bound and waiting. When the Powers came, I was sure I would be free. I realized my brother was gone and that the Beyond needed me. I was ready, but the Powers chose a sacrifice—not a volunteer, but a celestial chosen by ballot. An unwilling soul.”
“So, you turned them into statues?”
He sighed. “I was…upset.”
Okay. “And now? Now what? You’re free because I chose to die?”
“Yes!” He reached across the table and grabbed my hands in his. “You are what I envisioned, Seraphina. A soul worthy of saving.” His smile was beatific. “Because of your sacrifice, the world will continue to thrive.”
Is that what he thought? That there was so little love in the world. “There are others out there, you know? Mothers and fathers who would lay down their lives for their children. Lovers who would die for each other. Your brother sent you the souls he knew wouldn’t. He kept you here.”
A flash of anger crossed his face, and then he closed his eyes and breathed, letting it go. “I had suspected as much. My brother was…ruthless in his pursuit of what he desired.” He looked up at the sky. “I can feel it dying. The Beyond is in pain.”
“Then go. Save it.”
He reached out and touched my cheek. “I could take you with me. You could be a celestial of the highest order.”
The idea of being trapped in the Beyond, confined by their rules, having to associate with the pinched-faced Righteous, wasn’t appealing.
I smiled to soften my rejection. “This is my home, and now that I’ve saved yours, I need to focus on saving mine.”
“You know I cannot intervene. The laws of creation prohibit it. But if I could, I would.”
“Thank you.”
He stood and walked over to Uriel. “This one is mine,” he said. “I remember him, but he…He does not remember himself.”
“What do you mean?”
His smile was enigmatic. “The universe has a way of smoothing out wrinkles. In time all will be revealed.”
His body began to glow. “I hope to see you again one day, Seraphina Dawn.”
And then the world erupted in a blaze of light.
When I opened my eyes, I was standing staring at the stone arch that marked the entrance to Limbo. With Keon and Uriel on the ground either side of me.
He was gone.
It was over.
“What the hell just happened?” Keon sat up.
“My head.” Uriel pulled himself off the ground. “I was…There was music.”
“The spirits!” Keon leaped up. “We have to—”
“Go home.” I turned away from the arch. “We go home. It’s done. It’s over.”
A shadow blocked out the moon, and then a reaper landed a few meters in front of us. He was bloody, and his left wing was slightly torn. He limped over to us.
“Blade, I have a message.” He handed a piece of paper to Keon and then promptly keeled over, hitting the ground with a thud.
Keon scanned the scrap of paper and cursed.
“What? What is it?”
“It was a trap,” Keon said. “Luena tricked us. Mammon ordered her to tell us the location of the pick-up. It was an ambush.”
Oh, shit. “Azazel and Mal?”
“Mammon’s men have them. Their caravan is headed west.”
I locked gazes with Keon. “Then let’s go get them back.”
Chapter Fourteen
Azazel
It was a fucking trap. How could we have been so stupid? The carriage rocks, drawn by clipped drake. The same drake that was parked outside the Den. I didn’t consider the possibility that Mammon’s spies might be in the Den with us. That this whole thing might be a plot.
I didn’t wonder why everything was going to plan. I was still high from my contact with my soulmate. I don’t blame her. This is on me. My mistake.
They attacked from the sky, drawing us into the air, and then more came by land, shooting arrows and picking us off out of the sky.