Torn Page 0,45

I not? How could I cut you off for being who you are, and doing what you thought was right?"

"I killed him. No, I did worse than that," tears were streaking my cheeks as I spoke. Al's gray eyes met mine but held no judgment. I couldn't understand why. "It was the very worst thing I could have done to him."

She shook her head. "No, that was done a long time ago. And you know it. Stop this. You are what you are, Ivy. You did what you thought was right, did you not?" I nodded at her. "Then stop this. Accept that you made a mistake, and it cost Eric his life. Things like that happen to the best Martis, so it's expected to happen to you - even more so. You'll have to make decisions faster and harder. Sometimes things will work out. Sometimes the price of the mistake will seem to be more than you can bear," I hung my head, feeling like I was drowning in guilt, but she flicked my chin with her finger and I looked up at her.

She continued, "One mistake doesn't define a person - it takes a lifetime of actions to do that. You will not sit here and wallow in guilt over this anymore. Push past it. There are bigger things to deal with, and you need your wits about you. We need to get the poison from your chest before something happens. For us to do that, you need to let go of guilt you feel about Eric. You don't have the luxury of time, Ivy. Grieve for him later. I'm not telling you to forget him, or forget your mistake. We just don't have the time to process all of it now. "

I felt sheepish for a second and nodded, swallowing the lump in my throat. "Does this kill me, Al? I know you've seen it. I know you've seen how all of this ends..." My words hung in the air as she tilted her head, studying my face.

"No," she replied, "you overcome this. The poison does not kill you. But it doesn't end the way you think." She shook her head, looking away from me.

"Then tell me what you saw, so we can fix this," I said. I added, "And I know it couldn't have been giving Collin a demon kiss. I'd never do it. So what else is there, Al? Tell me what you saw in your vision?"

The old nun sat down and looked over at me. She seemed distraught. With her fingers laced together tightly, she said, "You find Satan's Stone. I saw it. That cursed rock does exist, even though most of us thought it was only a fable."

Skepticism washed over me as I arched my eyebrow at her. "I find a magic rock that belonged to Satan?" A smile pulled at the corners of my mouth. I tried not to laugh. I wanted to believe her, but it sounded impossible.

Al shook her head, "Believe me; I know what it sounds like. If visions didn't reveal the truth, I wouldn't have believed it either. The legend of Satan's Stone is a story that's so old that no one remembers it anymore. Some called it the Devil's Rock, while others called it Satan's Stone - either way, it's the same thing. And its power is real. Very real. You find it... And you're healed.

"The last time that rock was seen was during one of the early battles in the Angel Demon Wars. No one won that first battle. It was documented that the fighting just stopped when a young warrior held a stone up in the air. By now you know Martis document everything. The library at Rome is extensive, so I went looking for the document and found it. The section of text concerning the stone is marked as a translational error."

"And..." I promoted, wanting to know more.

Al hesitated. Her eyes were wide, but she quickly blinked her emotions away. Watching her closely, I noticed she hid the fear in her eyes as quickly as she could, but I'd already seen it. Whatever Satan's Stone was, it scared her. "And if it is a translation error, we can see for ourselves, because I know someone who has seen the original document - someone that you and I used to know as well; someone intelligent, cunning, and very resourceful; someone who left you half naked after he tried to give you a demon kiss."

"Damn it!