The Rose Witch - Chandelle LaVaun Page 0,74

wasn’t even water. It just disappeared into the ground. I moved forward until it was right in front of me, but even with squinting my eyes, I couldn’t see beyond it.

But then I registered what he’d just said. “Did you just – did you just say that’s the entrance to the Garden of Eden?”

He nodded.

“Are we going in there?”

“Only the worthy may enter…and only with permission.”

“That didn’t answer my question, Malachi,” I said through clenched teeth. My heart pounded in my chest. That was the Garden of Eden, he couldn’t be so blasé about it. “That look on your face isn’t making me feel better.”

A soft blush covered his cheeks. “I do not know that we’re going in there, but I have...it’s an angel thing, okay?”

“Okay.” I stomped over and stopped right in front of him. With my heart in my throat and far too many emotions to process, I yanked on his shirt. “We’re here. The unexpected stop. This must be where we can get the locket off, right?”

“I don’t think—” he sighed and cupped my face in his big hands. He dragged me to him, then pressed a kiss to my forehead. He rained kisses down the side of my face as his warm fingers grazed my neck at the nape of my neck. I felt the chain tug on my skin, then he cursed and stepped back. “It still won’t come off.”

“Bloody buggery bollocks.” I reached for the clasp behind my neck.

The metal chain was cold to the touch. I just needed it off. We’d followed all the clues to get here. It would make sense if this was how it happened. My father hadn’t expected me to deal with it being stuck, but I vividly recalled him giving the locket to me, hooking it over my head and letting it hang on my chest. It’d been a special moment between us. I tugged and yanked on the chain yet found no relief.

He reached out and tried again to unhook it. I felt his finger pull and tug. His warm breath brushed over my face and through my hair.

“It’s not coming off. It’s going to take more than just being here.”

I opened my mouth to say something when the ground rumbled under my feet, sending hot energy vibrating up my legs. I frowned, glanced up, and found Malachi’s eyes closed. All around me, leaves and broken bones rose from the ground. The crystals on the Garden’s side pulsed and glowed within from where they hovered a foot off the ground. The earth warmed, burning like hot summer beach sand through my Uggs. The crystals, leaves, and bone particles spun in tight circles so fast they were a blur of color.

Light flashed. I gasped and jumped back. A man shimmered into existence right in front of me. He was taller than Malachi’s six foot three. His eyes were white and surrounded by gold irises. He had some kind of metallic material wrapped around his hips. Just like when I saw Malachi in his angel form, this one was completely covered in the same vine-like tattoo. Over his bald head and down all of his limbs. My eyes widened. While I watched, the vines changed colors and moved like they were alive. Directly over his heart on his chest was a huge crystal-looking mark that sparkled like it was three dimensional.

Just like our soulmate glyph.

He cocked his head to the side and arched one eyebrow. Wings as white as snow shot out from his back. They had to be six feet long. They looked soft. I had the ridiculous urge to touch them even though I knew how soft Malachi’s wings were.

“You are an angel,” I heard myself say.

“Yes. I am Gabriel.” He smiled, and it seemed genuinely kind. “The messenger.”

I bowed my head. It seemed the appropriate way to greet an Angel. Though not at all how I’d greeted Malachi. “It is an honor to meet you, Gabriel. I am —”

“Chloe Lancaster,” a deep voice boomed from behind me, echoing off the tall slates.

I blinked and turned toward his voice – and my jaw dropped. The man was huge. He had to be eight feet tall. I bowed again, this time a little deeper. “H-h-h-h-ello—”

“Michael,” Malachi breathed the archangel’s name. My soulmate walked up to him and exchanged a strange secret handshake looking thing, then they embraced.

Michael stepped back and patted Malachi’s shoulder. He glanced left and right…then he turned, and his white and gold eyes found me