Severed Hearts (Severed Wings Book 2)
Author: Carrero, Kelly
Date: 2017-04-28

Severed Hearts

Kelly Carrero

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Connect with Kelly Carrero

Also by Kelly Carrero

Copyright © 2017 by Kelly Carrero

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Created with Vellum

1

Someone wanted me dead and no one knew why. And what was worse, I only had fifty-six days to figure it out before Marcus would have to once again drive that dagger through my heart to end my eternal suffering that not even he would be able to stop.

I paced the length of the lounge room unable to sit still as Marcus sat on the sofa with Abby, filling her in on our latest discovery. When Justin admitted that I was never meant to die all those years ago, I’d wanted to kill him for lying to Marcus for so long, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I owed my life to him. If Justin hadn’t palmed the collection of my soul off on Marcus, then he would’ve taken me through the veil and left me in Purgatory without giving it a second thought.

What I didn’t know was why someone wanted me dead. I wasn’t anything special. I was a normal human without any special powers or abilities. Apart from my empath curse, I was ordinary in every possible way. Yet for some reason, I had a target on my head, and Soul Scrapers were watching my every move, trying to get their decrepit hands on me again.

I swallowed hard at the thought of what they’d done to me earlier that night. They had dragged me out of the club and tried to suck my soul out of my mouth, before Marcus came to my rescue. I could still feel the slick, tar-like substance they’d shoved into my throat. It made my skin crawl, and there was nothing I could do to make it go away.

“You’re joking, right?” Abby asked, her gaze flicking to me.

I continued to pace the room, too frustrated to speak.

When it became apparent that I wasn’t saying shit, Marcus said, “I’m not. And I don’t know whether to thank Justin or kill him.”

“I say kill him,” I said, breaking my vow of silence that lasted all of ten seconds.

“Don’t go making any rash decisions.” Abby grabbed her glass of red wine off the coffee table. “I mean, what he did was total bullshit, but…” She looked between Marcus and me, and I knew she’d come to the same conclusion as I had. “He didn’t have to say anything. And if he didn’t ask you to do him a favour, Marcus, then I’m pretty sure we wouldn’t be sitting here having this conversation.” She slouched back in her seat and twirled the wine in her glass. She peered over the rim as she raised the glass to her lips. “And I think everyone can read between the lines on that statement.”

I came to a halt. “I’d be dead.”

Unfathomable rage coursed through Marcus’s gaze, turning his eyes into the purest shade of amber. I could only imagine what he was thinking. Justin had been keeping a secret for the past few hundred years, letting Marcus continue to blame himself for the pain I’d endured because of Marcus’s decision to spare my life.

“Ease up, demon boy,” Abby said, placing her hand on Marcus’s forearm. “Lucy doesn’t need to see…”

See what? I wanted to ask, but something told me that I was better off not knowing. I began pacing again. Adrenaline surged through my veins without any sign of being able to release the pressure of trying to contain myself from completely losing my shit.

I couldn’t believe what was going on. I had a hex on me, and I barely had any time to figure out how to stop it. No matter how much I wanted to throttle Justin, it was essential we saw him again. We needed to get all the information out of him in the hope we might come that much closer to figuring everything out. The problem was, I wasn’t sure I could trust myself, and by the rage still consuming Marcus’s gaze, he couldn’t trust himself around Justin either.

We needed another option. We needed to see the witch. Marcus thought she was crazy, as did all the others of her kind, but I had a strong feeling that it was all an act and she knew more than she was letting on.

“We need to pay Mava a visit," I said, coming to an abrupt stop.

Marcus and Abby just looked at me. Anger was still swirling in Marcus's eyes and Abby… Well, Abby was Abby, open to everything that had anything to do with me and Mava. I think she secretly liked all the conspiracies and figuring out all of Mava’s cryptic messages. But more so, she probably was enjoying the fact that after all these centuries of feeling completely helpless about my curse and supporting Marcus through his years of pain every time he lost me, she was finally able to help play a part in figuring out how to put an end to it all.

Holding my gaze, Abby sauntered over to me with her arm outstretched. “I think I better take that.”

I scrunched my eyebrows together in confusion as I followed her line of sight down to my hands. I was holding Marcus’s knife that was capable of destroying most of those within the supernatural world. For a second, I considered keeping it for myself but I snapped to my senses. I couldn’t be trusted with such a powerful weapon around Justin. And knowing my luck, I’d probably be the one to wind up dead if I went up against Justin.

Begrudgingly, I handed it over.

"Thanks," she said with a bemused expression.

Turning her back to me, she leaned down to place the knife on the coffee table. Marcus snatched it out of her hands as he stood.

“I’ll take that.” He tucked the knife into the pocket of his jeans as he strode over to me, then grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the open back door.

Marcus came to a halt midway through the back door then turned around, a mixture of anger and something else I couldn't quite place swirling in his eyes. Maybe he’d momentarily forgotten he no longer had wings and had mistakenly taken me to the quickest route to the outdoors because of his natural instinct to fly, which thanks to me he was no longer able to do.

I waited for Abby to direct one of her smart-ass comments toward Marcus, but her lips were sealed, and the look on her face made me think she pitied him. It must’ve been truly horrendous to have his wings severed from his body. I couldn’t imagine the pain and loss I’d feel if I ever had a limb removed.

I had no idea if Soul Collectors felt pain the same way a human did, but either way, it wasn’t something I’d wish on my worst enemy. Scratch that, I wanted to do more than remove a limb from the one who had ordered my kill and put Marcus through a life of living hell ever since he had met me.

Marcus pushed me back a little, then stealing his gaze away from mine, slipped around me and headed toward the front of the house. “Abby, we'll meet you at Mava’s."

“The hell you will." Abby pushed past us and led the way. “Bad shit happens when I leave the two of you alone."

I smiled, but Marcus didn’t seem to find it half as amusing as I did. The sad thing was, Abby was right. Bad shit did happen when she wasn't around. And the worst of it was when she’d had to go to work instead of coming to the Devil’s Playground with us and the Soul Scrapers had gotten their demented hands on me.

A chill ran up my spine. I didn't think I'd ever get over what they did to me.

"Oh," Abby whispered as the front entry came into view. The door was still embedded in the wall from where Marcus had thrown Justin into it when we’d found out that I was never meant to die.

Abby turned to us, eyebrows raised. "I'm not even gonna ask what happened here.”

Marcus let go of my hand and yanked the door out of the wall as Abby and I ducked outside, careful not to get in his way. Marcus lined the door up and pushed it back into place. It stood tall for about two seconds before it tilted back then crashed onto the floor.

"Leave it," Abby said, placing her hand on Marcus's shoulder.

Frustration still brimming in his eyes, Marcus gave a slight nod and strode toward the car.

I leaned closer to Abby as we followed him, staying a few steps behind. "He's pretty pissed, isn't he?"

Abby snorted out a laugh. "That's putting it mildly." The smile dropped from her face, as she sighed. “Honestly, I think he's taking it pretty well—all things considered."

Drawing my brows together, I wondered what exactly Marcus was capable of if everything he’d done so far was mild.

As if hearing my thoughts, Abby grabbed my forearm, pulling me to a stop. She whispered, “He’s fighting his natural urges to—”

“Abby," Marcus warned, his tone no longer light-hearted like it had been the other times he’d wanted Abby to keep her mouth shut.

God! He could be infuriating. I didn't understand why there were still things about him he didn't want me to know when I clearly remembered so much. I wasn't afraid of what he was—or Abby, for that matter. What I wanted was the truth, which was exactly what Marcus wanted as well—except when it came to him and his secrets. Those, he was happy to keep to himself.

No matter how much I wanted to pull him up on it, this wasn't the right time.

When we reached the car, I hopped into the front passenger seat as Abby slipped into the back. Marcus started the engine then turned to me, a small smile lifting the corner of his lips. Only, I knew it was forced. His eyes were doing that whole fiery amber, predator thing they’d been doing since Justin’s confession. The strange thing was, Marcus wasn't a predator. He was a Soul Collector, not a predatory demon. Soul Collectors were supposed to be impartial, and unable to be manipulated.

I scoffed internally. All of that was a big fat lie. Justin had palmed my “collection” off to Marcus, and Marcus had gone against orders to deliver me to Purgatory.

So far, both Justin and Marcus had proved just how much a Soul Collector could be swayed and go against everything that was supposedly ingrained into their very existence. I wasn’t sure if every Soul Collector had similar discrepancies, or if I was the one who broke their mold.

Marcus put the car into gear, and we peeled around the tree-lined driveway then came to a stop at the gates. The thick iron bars inched opened to allow us through. I waited for Marcus to continue, but he didn't move.

I glanced in his direction, the hairs on the back of my neck standing up the moment our eyes locked. His fingers clenched the steering wheel, as he returned his focus to the trees across the road. A moment later he looked up at the rearview mirror. I twisted around just in time to see Abby giving him a barely noticeable nod, urging him to go forward.

“What's wrong?” I asked, knots forming in my stomach.

Marcus slipped the car into first gear. “Soul Scrapers.”

2

My skin crawled at the mention of their name. Just knowing Soul Scrapers were in the same vicinity as me made me want to turn back and lock myself away in Marcus's estate where the Soul Scrapers couldn’t get in. But I was done running. We didn't have any substantial evidence, but I knew within my heart that whoever had placed this curse on me, were using them to do their dirty work.

Up until the moment we walked into the Devil’s Playground, the Soul Scrapers had remained at a distance. For whatever reason, something had changed at the club, and they were coming closer, instilling perpetual fear into my soul.

Marcus slowly accelerated as I kept my eyes on the woods surrounding his estate. I couldn’t see what both Marcus and Abby could, but I wasn’t about to look away.

As we merged onto the road, my mind raced with questions I prayed Mava could answer. She was the one person who knew the most, yet no one could get a straight answer from her. All she spouted was riddle after riddle that none of us could figure out.

Then she’d handed me that vial filled with God knows what, expecting us to trust her, when in reality she could’ve been trying to kill me with some evil potion—if that were even possible. Yet, something about the old witch did make me trust her. It probably had more to do with the fact that nobody else believed her—including her own kind. They all saw her for the loony witch she let everyone believe she was.

Glimmers of the sane person she’d let me see made me realize that maybe it was all just an act. What the act was for was beyond me. Actually, that wasn’t true. I had my suspicions and the more I thought about it, the more it made sense.

Abby had once mentioned an old prophecy that none of the other witches believed. Maybe it really did have something to do with us—or me. And Mava was leading everybody to believe that she was just some crazy witch so nobody would take any notice of her. After all, we’d uncovered more truths in that riddle of hers, yet none of us understood what it all meant. It was only after we’d unraveled information from unlikely sources that we were able to put any of it together.

My stomach churning, I squinted at what looked to be black fog heading towards us at an insanely fast speed.

“Step on it." Abby twisted around in her seat to look out the back window.

A moment later, I could make out the mangled faces and hands of the Soul Scrapers as they swirled through the air, heading straight for us.

As we rounded the corner, I caught sight of someone standing in a middle of the road. I expected whoever it was to move, but they remained completely still, their attention focused directly on us.

As we got closer, I realized that the idiot standing in the middle of the road was Justin.

“He’s not moving,” I muttered.

My heart raced as Marcus shifted down a gear, tearing toward Justin as if he planned on mowing him down.

Darkness folded over the sky, turning the day to night. I knew it had to be the Soul Scrapers but I was too terrified to look.

“Get ready to take her," Marcus said calmly.

Before I could ask what he was talking about, Abby slipped her hand under my arm and gripped me tightly. We were about five seconds from squashing Justin like a toad and Marcus wasn’t slowing down. I may not have liked Justin, but I didn't really want him dead—especially when he may have held answers that we desperately needed.

“Stop,” I yelled at Marcus.

Marcus ignored me and floored the car.

I opened my mouth to plead with Marcus to stop, but I was too late. We didn’t have time to stop. It was inevitable.

Everything went into slow motion as we were about to collide. A split second before impact, Justin pushed off the ground and leaped into the air, one foot coming down on the hood. Then he disappeared over the roof.

A blinding white light shone through the back window, lighting up the inside of the car before darkness took over the sky.

My blood froze as the Soul Scrapers swept through the air, smothering the brilliant white light in the thick of their fold.

“Shit.” Marcus lifted the handbrake then swung the car sideways as he clicked my seatbelt free. “Now.”

My eyes widened in horror as a car came racing toward us, the headlights shining right on me. The screech of their brakes reverberated in my head, followed by the deafening thud as the metal of my side door crumbled.

3

My life flashed before me, and I prayed that this wasn’t the end again. This was not how I wanted to die. Not in some stupid car accident because Marcus irresponsibly spun the car into the wrong lane. In that split second, I wasn’t angry with him. I was sad. If this were it, then he’d once again have himself to blame for my death.

My heart was in my throat as I waited for the impact to crush my body, but it never came. Somehow, I was thrown from the car without smashing through any window.

Strong arms wrapped around my chest but they weren’t Marcus’s. That much I knew for sure. I wanted to see if it was Abby who had me but I couldn’t take my eyes off the scene below as we flew into the sky.

Both cars were a complete write-off. I wasn’t sure if whoever was in the other car was still alive, but when I saw Marcus emerge from his vehicle, I barely gave it a second thought.

He glanced up at me, momentarily locking eyes with mine. Then he turned, flicked out the wicked-cool liquid metal blade from his knife, and raced into the thick of the Soul Scrapers. I definitely wanted one of those babies on me twenty-four-seven if they were able to protect me from those monstrous Soul Scrapers.

“Don’t worry about him,” Abby said, leaning down. “He’s just going to help Justin out then meet us at Mava’s house.”

How she knew all that was beyond me. Those two knew each other better than anyone. It kind of infuriated me, but I knew I had nothing to be worried about. Marcus and I had a much deeper connection—if I only could remember just how deep it actually went.

My chest constricted. Not from being one-hundred meters up in the air without anything more than Abby’s arms wrapped around me stopping me from plunging to my death. It was because of Marcus. I was afraid he wouldn’t survive.

Abby had said that he would be okay, and I knew that she was more than likely right, but I just couldn’t shake the sickening feeling that something was wrong.

The temperature of the air around us had dropped. Icy wind whipped against my face as I shielded my eyes with my hands, blocking my view of wherever we were heading. I needed a pair of damn goggles to see, yet Abby didn’t seem the slightest bit fazed by the wind. For all I knew she had an extra set of clear eyelids that closed over her eyes, protecting them during flight. I wanted to laugh at the absurdity of that thought, but all that exited my mouth was a small gurgle.

The cold wind lashing against my face eased into a subtle breeze. Removing my hands covering my eyes, I searched the ground, trying to figure out why we had stopped above a deserted field surrounded by trees. It took me a moment to realize that we'd actually reached our destination. However, Mavas’s rundown little shack was nowhere to be seen. What was even stranger, it looked as if her house had never been there in the first place.

“Shouldn't Mava’s…” I began.

"Yeah, it should," Abby replied, her tone cold.

Descending a few feet, Abby circled the area slow enough for me to see without the wind stinging my eyes. There was absolutely no sign of Mava’s house. All that remained were trees, vines, and overgrown grass where the shack once stood.

Abby tightened her grip on me as black shadows slithered through the trees, matching our pace.

Soul Scrapers.

Coming to a stop, we hovered above a small burned out clearing in the woods with a symbol in the middle of the charred ground that didn’t look like anything I’d seen before. I knew Abby had spotted it as well because her grip tightened on me even more. She lifted us higher into the air and then darted straight ahead.

Pulling up, Abby hovered over another symbol surrounded by charred earth. It was similar to the first one, but the markings were slightly different.

She took off again, finding yet another symbol, then another as we continued to circle Mava’s property.

Abby pulled up as we spotted the fifth symbol and she drew in a shuddered breath. “We better get you back home.”

She didn’t mention anything about the symbols, but it didn’t take a genius to work out that they had everything to do with the disappearance of Mava’s house—or so I assumed.

The flight back to Marcus’s remained uneventful. Soul Scrapers slithered through the forest, trailing us. They steered clear of the more populated areas of Byron Bay then came back when there was coverage away from the humans’ watchful eyes.

I wondered why they were staying away from the humans now when they’d been more than happy to get amongst people when they’d taken me from the club. They also didn’t seem to have a problem when they were in the hospital I’d been brought to after the last time I’d slit my wrist. I hadn’t known it at the time, but I wasn’t just experiencing the ice-addict’s hallucinations. Real Soul Scrapers were watching me then. And for some reason, the addict was the only one who could see them as well. His unbridled terror of the shadowed creatures was far too real for me to ignore.

Abby’s arms went rigid, bringing the fear of God into me. We were coming closer to the stretch of road where we’d left Marcus. I couldn’t see clearly, but I knew Abby could.

Squinting, I forced myself to look through wind whipping my eyes, as I barely made out the cars below surrounded by flashing lights, which I presumed were police cars and ambulances. At this height, I couldn’t tell if anyone was injured, and I prayed Justin hadn’t been waiting there, knowing what was going to happen, so he could collect the souls of whoever was in the other car.

Both Marcus and Justin were nowhere to be seen. And apart from the Soul Scrapers that were following Abby and me, the place was deserted.

Abby flew around the perimeter of Marcus’s compound without bothering to tell me why. She didn’t have to. I knew what she was looking for. And if I had wings, I’d be doing the same.

My heart stopped as my suspicions were confirmed. The same five symbols that were charred into the ground surrounding Mava’s home, were strategically placed around Marcus’s land as well.

I still had no idea what the symbols meant, but one thing was clear: the force surrounding Marcus’s house remained impenetrable. The Soul Scrapers that had been following us were meticulously looking for a way in, swarming the perimeter and not a single one was able to cross the invisible barrier Marcus had around his place to keep unwanted supernatural species out.

I wasn’t sure if all humans could get in, or if Marcus had only made an allowance for me to get through. What I found strange was that Justin was able to get through the barrier last night. After everything that had gone down between Marcus and him, Marcus still let him have access to his home.

I wished that I could remember their relationship, and when exactly it fell apart.

Justin must’ve been riddled with guilt having to watch his best friend spiral into the pits of hell every time Marcus had to drive the knife through my heart, killing me to prevent eighty odd years of torture.

It sickened me to think that Justin had only just now come out with the truth. If only he’d told Marcus earlier… Maybe things could’ve been different.

Flying just over the pool, Abby lifted up momentarily before gliding down, landing a few feet from the back door.

I no longer had the urge to kiss the ground when we landed. Flying was the least insane part of everything that was going on. The Soul Scrapers had changed me that night at the Devil’s Playground, in more ways than I wanted to acknowledge.

Abby folded her wings behind her body. A moment later, they disappeared as if they’d never been there—just like Mava’s home.

“Well, that was unexpected.” She flicked her red hair over her shoulder then opened the back door and walked into the kitchen as if that were all that needed to be said.

The hell it was.

4

Following after her, I closed the door behind me in a pathetic attempt to keep another barrier between the Soul Scrapers and me. I tapped my nails against the bench as I watched Abby pull out a bottle of wine, remove the cork, and then pour herself a glass.

“Want one?” she asked, looking up at me as if it were any other ordinary day and she was playing host to her guest.

“That’s it?” I asked, completely dumbfounded.

Abby had never appeared to be the type to let anything go. She was into every intricate detail of all the conspiracies surrounding Mava, and all things to do with Marcus and me.

Abby placed the bottle of red on the bench, a fake smile plastered on her face. “Would you like a glass of wine, too, Lucy?”

I raised a brow. I’d done my fair share of trying to block out my senses from going into hyper-drive to get away from other people’s problems. But now was so not the time to be drinking. Now was the time we needed to keep level-headed.

Abby sighed. "If Marcus asks, you forced me to have this conversation, okay?"

I nodded, relieved that I didn’t have to try to squeeze a demonic creature into talking about something she clearly was trying to avoid. However, Marcus I could handle.

"It's all my fault,” I said. “I get it. I made you talk."

"So again, do you want a glass?” Abby gestured to the wine bottle.

I shook my head. "No, thanks."

"Suit yourself." She grabbed the bottle and glass then headed into the lounge room.

Curling her way-too-perfect legs up on the couch, she propped the bottle between her left hip and elbow and held the glass in her right hand.

I sat on the couch opposite of her as she downed the glass of wine then refilled it. Normally I wasn't one to judge, but Abby appeared to have a real drinking problem. And I just hoped it didn’t affect the next fifty-six days.

As I stared at her, I once again found myself with a million questions. And the biggest question that had been driving me insane for the last ten minutes wasn't what was going on with the Soul Scrapers, why Justin was standing in the middle of the road, what was the prognosis of the people in the car who'd crashed into us, or what the symbols were. My biggest question was where the hell was Mava’s house?

"Please tell me you know where Mava’s house has gone," I said, leaning back on the couch.

Abby traced the rim of the glass with her finger. “I have absolutely no idea where that old shack went." She took another sip of her drink, downing half the contents. "That witch has done some crazy stuff in the past, but this eclipses it all." Lost in thought, she shook her head. "I've got nothing."

"She can't just disappear. Houses don’t just vanish into thin air," I said, getting a little exasperated. "I mean, you did take us to the right place, didn’t you?"

Abby barked out a laugh. "Yeah, that was her place, all right. And last night her decrepit old home was still standing right where it should’ve been today." She took another sip while holding up her forefinger for me to wait for her to finish the glass. "But, I'd bet my life that one of those other witches has something to do with it. Those symbols weren’t there last time we were there."

"So, does that mean one of the other witches can tell us where she has gone?"

“Any witch strong enough to cast a spell like that isn’t going to tell us shit. The only way we might find out where Mava’s house disappeared to is by going back to Devil’s Playground and hope we find someone drunk enough or high enough to talk."

Abby paused as she studied me. "But something tells me you're in no hurry to go back there anytime soon."

I ran my hands down my thighs. I definitely didn’t want to step foot in that place ever again. "You got that right. But you can go by yourself, can't you?"

Maybe she couldn’t get into the club without Marcus. I had no idea how any of their lives worked and who was welcome where.

"And leave you here?” Abby asked, as if it was the dumbest thing she’d ever heard.

"Well…yeah. Why not?"

"Because Marcus would kill me if he found out that I left you here alone—or anywhere, for that matter."

"But there’s that force field thing around his property keeping everyone out. No one can get in that he doesn’t want here, right?"

She raised a brow as she poured another glass of wine. “That doesn't matter when it comes to Marcus’s obsessive protection he has over you."

As much as I wanted answers, a huge part of me was relieved that Abby wouldn’t leave me here by myself. The truth was, I was afraid to be alone. Those Soul Scrapers scared the absolute crap out of me. I was completely powerless against them. I’d never felt so helpless, and I never wanted to experience it again. Abby was like my safeguard against those hellish creatures.

"Fair enough," I muttered, fiddling with a small strand of plaster that had come away from the cast on my wrist. It seemed like a lifetime ago that I'd had the cast put on to stop myself from ripping apart the stitches on my wrist.

“None of those bastards are getting to you on my watch,” she murmured over the rim of her glass.

Drawing my brows together, I looked up at her. "If the Soul Scrapers can take on a fog-like form, why don’t they come and get us when you're flying?"

"Because they're bottom crawlers. Their range of movement is limited. They can get in through any cracks or crevices as long as it's a couple of meters from the ground. The same goes when they’re in purgatory. They don't need to be up with the higher beings."

I scowled, trying to make sense of her words.

"Don't worry about it,” she said. “You’ll get it all sooner or later."

I seriously doubted I would. The more I found out about this other world, the less I seemed to understand.

"So what was the go with Justin?” I asked. “I mean, what was he doing standing in the middle of the road?"

Abby shrugged as she took a sip. "My guess is he was waiting for us."

"Do you think he knew about the Soul Scrapers?"

Abby nodded. "We can feel them when they’re nearby—especially the Soul Collectors. They have an inbuilt detection system for those things. Actually, we know when any one of our kind is around. Some more than others," she muttered then raised her glass and downed the rest of her wine.

I was about to ask her something else about the symbols around the house when my phone rang. Hoping it was Marcus, I shoved my hand into my pocket and retrieved it.

I sighed. It was my mother.

There was no way on earth I wanted to speak to that woman. She’d probably heard that I’d left rehab early, and worse, left with a guy I’d only just met. She was probably calling to threaten me with some legal action, making it out as if I was incompetent and couldn’t look after myself. The first thing my mother would do if she ever got the court to agree to deem me unable to care for myself would be to stick me in some psych ward for the rest of my life, so she never had to deal with me again.

I sometimes wondered why she didn't just leave me to my own, but then I remembered just how fanatical she was about keeping up appearances. If she could hide me away in a psychiatric facility where nobody would know where I was, I wouldn't have the chance to ruin what she thought was her perfect reputation. The woman acted as if she was an A-grade celebrity when in fact she was more like D or maybe even a Z.

Nobody cared about her or what she was doing. My father was more in the spotlight, not her—and even he barely made the news. It was only during election times or if he screwed up on some policy that the media covered him. The rest of the time he went unnoticed. But of course, my mother always did want to feel more important than she was.

After staring at the phone for three rings, I sent the call to voicemail. This was only the start of things to come. My mother wasn’t one to give up. She’d hunt me down if it were the last thing she did.

I would deal with her later.

"Should I ask?" Abby said as I dropped my phone on the seat beside me.

I held back a groan. "It was just my mother."

Thankfully, Abby didn’t ask any further questions. I really didn’t want to go into the complexity of how screwed up my relationship with my mother was. I half wondered if she actually was my mother if I had been reincarnated. Maybe she was just an incubator, cursed to spawn me in this lifetime. That possibility made sense. And for the first time in my life, I kind of pitied her—for about two seconds.

I was still a human who deserved to be loved by the person who’d carried me for nine months.

The next twenty minutes, I watched Abby finish off another three bottles of wine while I listened to her spouting on about humans and their family dramas. How humans weren’t happy with their lives, they were all searching for something that would make their lives complete. How they would tread on anyone to get what they wanted and allow the stupidest of things to come between them.

She actually spoke many truths. It must’ve been weird for their kind to watch us over the years, to see how the human race evolved but no matter how many luxuries we had, everyone was still striving for more.

My tummy groaned loud enough to make Abby stop talking.

"Hungry, hey?" Without waiting for me to answer, she got up and stumbled into the kitchen.

Deciding I should probably help out, I stood and followed, arriving just in time to see Abby grab another bottle of wine. She popped the cork and filled her glass. I was surprised that she bothered to use a glass at all.

Tapping my nails against the counter, I asked, "Shouldn't Marcus be back by now?"

"He's a big boy. He can take care of himself." Abby downed her glass of wine then refilled it.

I suspected she was even more concerned than I was, which only made that nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach grow tenfold.

Abby lowered her glass. “You know, I never used to drink this much." She lifted the glass and finished off the remaining wine.

She twisted around, staggered over to the fridge, yanked it open, and perused the shelves. With her empty glass in one hand, she managed to pull out three containers stacked on top of each other, then kicked the door closed with her heel and placed them on the counter.

"You know," she started as she unstacked the containers, placing them in a perfectly straight line next to each other that anyone with OCD would’ve been satisfied with. "I started drinking way back in the day just to be supportive of Marcus, which was pretty stupid because I could have supported him without the drinking. But that wasn’t as much fun. It started out as just a few glasses of wine to take the edge off his pain."

"Marcus?" I asked.

“Yep.” Abby peeled the lids off the containers and placed them into another perfect line to the left. Then, she grabbed two forks out of the drawer and handed one to me. She dug into the first container filled with various cut fruits, moving around the pieces absentmindedly.

"Marcus was able to stop when you came back, but me…" She shrugged.

"I wouldn't have thought you guys could get addicted to anything,” I said, pulling the container filled with leftover lasagne toward me while watching her to see if she cared that I messed up her perfect line. She didn’t.

"I wish." Abby stabbed a piece of watermelon and put it into her mouth. “It’s only because of you that Marcus can switch it off."

I hated to think of what Marcus was like during those times, or how much alcohol he’d consumed from the moment he had ended my life until the time we were reunited in my next life. This life.

It was easy for me. I was the one who died. I was the one who was reborn not knowing anything about my previous lives or the loop that I was on.

Sure, I was cursed with the torture of feeling everyone's bad emotions, addictions, and pain, but that was nothing compared to having to live with yourself, knowing that you were the one who killed the love of your life and you were powerless to stop it—and will inevitably have to do the exact same thing in another eighteen years.

I was determined to never let him go through that again—even if it meant doing things I shouldn’t.

5

Night had fallen, and Marcus still wasn't home. Abby had switched the wine for coffee and was lying back on the sofa watching TV as she tried to sober up. Every so often, I caught her looking outside as if she could sense things I could not. Each time I waited for some flash of recognition to register on her face, telling me that Marcus was nearby, but it never happened.

Picking at the cast on my wrist, I tried to ignore the feeling that something was terribly wrong. For all I knew, the Soul Scrapers had dragged Marcus and Justin down into the depths of Hell and were keeping them hostage so we couldn’t figure out the answers in time.

"Maybe we should go look for him," I suggested for the third time in the last hour.

"Like I told you last time, he’ll know to come back here."

"Maybe he's lying half dead in the bushes, and we're just sitting here waiting, wasting time when we should be out there looking for him. He doesn’t even have a car. How will he get home?"

Abby glanced at me sideways.

"Maybe we should take one—” She trailed off, turning her head towards the front door.

I followed her gaze, my heart pounding in anticipation for what I prayed her look meant, that she could sense Marcus coming. I hoped she wasn’t just listening to a possum or a koala scurrying up a tree.

My heart skipped a beat when I heard footsteps approach the front door. I felt ridiculous for missing Marcus as much as I did. He’d only been gone for a few hours, and I was acting as if he'd been gone for days. However, the moment he walked into the house all rational thinking disappeared. I wanted to run into his arms and squeeze the hell out of him while telling him never to leave me again. Instead, I forced myself to keep cool and not act like the pathetic girlfriend I was.

Girlfriend. That word didn’t sound right. We’d never exactly said what we were to each other, but girlfriend didn’t even come close.

Soulmate.

That was what we were. We had a love that lasted through every single one of my lives.

Marcus strode into the room looking beyond frustrated. His hair was dishevelled and he looked as if he’d been to Hell and back. I just hoped it was because of the fight with the Soul Scrapers and he hadn’t actually been dragged into the fiery pits.

Abby twisted around in her seat to look at him. “Where the heck have you been?"

Marcus’s gaze found mine, then dropped to my arm with the cast resting in my lap. All the frustration on his face vanished. “I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. We get it,” Abby said. “Luciana missed you. I thought Titus nailed your ass. And you're sorry. Now tell us where the hell you've been?"

Titus?

Ignoring Abby, Marcus strode over to me, leaned down, and grabbed my good hand. Pulling me to my feet, he tucked me against his chest and wrapped his strong arms around my shoulders.

I melted into his embrace, the anxiety of the last few hours slowly fading away.

Marcus leaned down and whispered into my ear, "I'm sorry." He kissed the tender spot below my lobe. "And you don't have to worry about Titus nailing my ass. Abby is just being overdramatic as usual."

She scoffed "Yeah, whatever, demon boy. You and I both know what he can do."

Thanks, Abby, for telling me this earlier. It was probably for the best. My cast wouldn’t have copped the damage; instead, I would’ve gone straight for the stitches.

Marcus ran his hands down my arms and turned to Abby. “Go get me something to eat. I'm starving."

She snorted. “Go get it yourself, demon boy. I’m not your slave."

Marcus shrugged. “Worth a try."

Lacing my fingers with his, Marcus led me into the kitchen, then pulled away to open the fridge and scan the shelves.

I leaned down, folding my arms on the cool stone bench, and waited for him to say something, anything about where he’d been the last few hours.

Empty-handed, he closed the fridge, then opened the door under the bench and pulled out a pile of takeaway menus. He fanned them out then pushed them toward me. “What do you feel like?"

Dumbfounded, I shoved the menus back at him. “Where have you been?"

“See! I'm not the only one who wants answers," Abby called from the sofa. She got up and sauntered over to us. Taking a seat on the stool next to me, she twisted back-and-forth, tapping her fingernails on the bench. “Well?"

Marcus gathered the takeaway menus and flicked through them, stopping on a Chinese restaurant’s flyer. Ignoring us, he retrieved his phone from his pocket, dialled the number, and ordered four dishes.

“You could have called," Abby said. "It’s not as if you lost your phone or anything."

She looked directly at his phone as Marcus placed it on the bench.

He spread his hands out on the counter. “Julius told Justin that he was just following orders given by Titus, so we went to see Titus.”

Abby raised her eyebrows. “And?”

Marcus lifted his gaze to meet Abby's. “We couldn’t find him."

"You were gone for all that time, and you’re telling me that you didn't find him?" Abby reiterated.

“That’s what I’m telling you.” Marcus shrugged. “Every time we opened a veil, it took us to the wrong layer. It was as if someone with way too much power and way too much to lose didn't want us talking to Titus."

“How is that even possible?" I asked, still not understanding how the supernatural world worked. Abby had done a terrible job of explaining things so far, and Marcus hadn’t done that much better. Between him, Abby, and Mava, I was going out of my mind trying to understand it all. “I thought these veils took you to whatever area you wanted them to."

Abby twisted around to face me. “It’s not possible to alter the veils. Or I should say, it shouldn't be possible."

"It’s true. I’m not lying," Marcus said, getting a little defensive.

I bit down on my smile.

The corner of Abby’s lips tipped up. "Don’t get your knickers in a knot, demon boy. I believe you."

Marcus leaned down and reached for my hand. Entwining my fingers with his, he kissed the part of my skin just above where he’d drawn the infinity symbol on my cast. "It got Justin and I thinking. Who would have enough power to manipulate the veils? Maybe Titus.”

“If it were possible, maybe one of the higher-ups from my side,” Abby said. “Which, let's face it, there are quite a few that would be happy to tip the scales. What they’d get out of doing this to you two is beyond me."

No one had an answer to that one.

Marcus ran his thumb over the back of my hand. "What did Mava have to say for herself? Did she give you another cryptic riddle?"

“She’s disappeared," I said. “I mean, her whole house just vanished into thin air."

Marcus narrowed his eyes at me, then turned to Abby for confirmation.

“I don't know what type of magic was used, or if Mava had just decided to relocate her home during what could be the very moment in time that she had been waiting on for the past hundred or so years.” She leaned back in her seat and strummed her nails on the counter. “But she was gone. Completely. As if she was never there."

“And the same symbols that were surrounding Mava’s land are also surrounding yours,” I added.

Marcus’s grip on my hand tightened. “What symbols?"

I forgot Marcus wouldn't have seen them because he would've had to come back in a car. Except he’d walked through the front door, not the garage. And his car was totaled.

"How did you get back?”

“Justin brought me home.”

Abby glared at him. “You let Justin fly you? You won't even let me fly you anywhere.”

“I didn't say he flew me anywhere. He drove me home."

"But Justin doesn't even own a car," Abby said, confusion written all over her face.

“I never said it was his car." Letting go of my hands, Marcus stood and stretched his back.

“Justin stole someone's car?" I asked.

Marcus shrugged. “I didn't ask where he got the wheels from.”

“So, where is Justin now?" Abby asked, not letting up on her endless line of questions.

Sure, I was also curious about the details, but right now I wanted nothing more than to enjoy the fact Marcus wasn’t lying in a ditch somewhere. And he was in one piece—minus his wings.

“He’s still trying to get through to Titus," Marcus replied, his gaze remaining fixed on me even though he was answering Abby. Something told me that he wanted to enjoy the moment just as much as I did.

“So, you and Justin are all good now?"

Marcus scoffed. “I wouldn't go that far."

“At least he’s trying to redeem himself." Abby pointed out. “I’ve got to hand it to him. Justin’s got guts."

“It'll take a goddamned miracle for him to redeem himself after lying to me for so long."

“Or him figuring out who's doing this to you."

Marcus didn't say anything. Part of me agreed with Marcus. I didn't want to forgive Justin. He deserved everything Marcus was throwing at him, and probably more. Except Justin was also the reason why Marcus and I had crossed paths. And no matter how angry I was with Justin, I still had to give him credit for that.

6

A loud, drawn-out beep came from somewhere in the house.

"Food’s arrived,” Abby said, swivelling in her seat again.

“Can you go and get it for us?" Marcus asked.

“Your food, you go get it."

“Please?”

Abby’s jaw hung open in surprise. Apparently, that wasn’t a word Marcus used often.

“I want to speak to Lucy,” he added.

“Fine.” Abby slid off the stool, looking pointedly at Marcus. “Just for the record, I'm doing this for Lucy, not for you."

Something told me that Marcus could be a little bit bossy at the best of times, but I was glad Abby had agreed. I desperately wanted to hear what he had to say that he didn't want her hearing. And now I didn't have to wait until she went home to find out.

"Thanks, Abby,” he said with sincerity. “I owe you one."

"You owe me a million."

Abby was probably right. She had an addiction that, although it was no one's fault but her own, Marcus’s and my situation certainly was a huge contributing factor for getting her started.

When Abby had gone outside, I asked, “What is it you want to talk to me about?”

“You." Marcus walked around the bench and took my hands. He gently twisted my injured wrist around, revealing the part of my cast that I had picked at while I waited for him to return. “You were worried, weren't you?"

He ran his thumb over my cast.

That was the understatement of the century.

“No,” I said, not fooling anyone.

He raised a brow. “Really? Because your cast tells a different story."

I sighed. “Abby started drinking, and I mean really drinking, and I guess I figured it was because she was worried about you and didn’t want to say anything.”

“I’m sorry.” Letting go of my wrist, he raised his hand to my face and caressed my cheek. “I would have called if we weren't stuck in the veils. The phones don't work once we leave this veil. And before you go thinking that I could’ve just come back through, called you, then continued our search, I wasn’t able to. We spent just as much time getting back here as we’d spent trying to find Titus."

I bit my lip.

He brushed his thumb over my mouth. “Stop that."

I released my lip from my teeth. “Sorry. Nervous habit."

“You don't have anything to be nervous about."

“Don't I?"

Curling his fingers around my elbow, he nudged me into a standing position, my body inches from his. “I promise I'll never disappear on you again. This was a one-time only situation. Justin had word where Titus was, and we didn't have long to get to him."

Not trusting my voice to come out even, I nodded instead.

He cupped my head in his hands. “I know how precious our time together is, and believe me when I say that I will never leave again without telling you first.”

I bit my lip again. I didn’t like it when people made promises that they may not be able to keep. If it happened again, I would go out of my mind thinking that something terrible had happened to him.

“I thought I told you not to do that,” he said, his gaze focused on my lips.

Before I could respond, his lips were on mine, slowly prying them apart, making me forget all my worries. Right then, there was no hourglass counting down the seconds we had remaining. It was just us—and an eternity to figure out the other stuff.

“You know…" Abby trailed off. “I'll just leave these here."

Tearing his mouth away from mine, Marcus turned to Abby who was placing the bags of Chinese food on the bench. “You don't have to go."

Jesus, he was a good friend. I was more than happy to see the back of her—at least for an hour.

Abby snorted. “Ahh, yeah I do."

She gave me a wink then slipped out the back door and disappeared over the garden wall with much more grace than she had done the first time I saw her.

A smile spread across Marcus’s face. “Now, where were we?"

“You were going to have something to eat."

“I can think of something I'd much rather be doing." He grazed his lips across my jaw, stopping at my ear. “Eating is overrated."

Bringing his lips back to mine, he showed me just how overrated eating was.

7

The next morning we headed outside in search of the symbols that were surrounding the estate.

“I thought you said the symbols were around here?” Marcus asked as he trudged through the dead foliage covering the ground under the canopy of the trees.

I tilted my head to the side and glared at him. “I was in the air when I saw them, and everything around here looks the same. Besides, if you’d just let Abby take you up, you’d find them in seconds.”

Marcus didn’t respond. Lowering his head, he ran his fingers across a two-hundred-year-old gum tree as he headed away from me, disappearing amongst the dense bushland.

Obviously, that was a touchy subject, and I could only guess it was because of his wings that had been severed. Plus, Marcus was a little stubborn at the best of times.

I smiled thinking back to the memories I had of him before this lifetime. Previously, he’d never pushed for me to remember him and was happy just to make the most of what little time we had together. This time, he was so different. He was showing me another side of him—raw and vulnerable.

As much as I wanted to go after him, I was stuck hiding inside the safety barrier surrounding his property, in case any Soul Scrapers were still around. Even though I hadn’t seen a single one since Abby flew me into the estate, I wasn’t about to take any unnecessary chances.

Coming back into view, Marcus said, “It’s not here.”

I put my hands on my hips and scoured the landscape, searching for anything that looked remotely familiar. It had been night, and all I remembered were those big crop-circle-like symbols burned into the earth. “One of them have to be around here somewhere.”

Marcus came through the protection barrier and dropped his arm over my shoulder. “We’ll keep searching.”

Falling into step with him as we walked along the boundary of the estate, I asked, “And if we still can’t find them?”

He smirked. “Then it’ll just confirm my suspicion that you and Abby are both going out of your mind.”

“Hey.” I jabbed my elbow into his side.

Marcus chuckled. “Houses disappearing? Imaginary symbols? Next thing you’ll be telling me is that you want to take that crap Mava gave you.”

I forced a small laugh even though I hadn’t completely ruled out drinking Mava’s concoction. If we hadn’t worked out what was going on in fifty-six days, then that vial was something I would seriously consider taking. I had nothing to lose by drinking her concoction that would supposedly help me see because Marcus would kill me anyway.

Snuggling into his side, I tried to hide my sorrow. I’d attempted to kill myself so many times, but having Marcus drive the knife through my heart was killing me in ways that death couldn’t erase.

Marcus came to an abrupt stop. “I think this is the place.” He strode away from me, hopped onto a small boulder, and came to a halt as he looked at the ground in front of him. “Shit.”

“Did you find it?”

He drew in a deep breath. “Sure did.”

“Let me see,” I said, stepping closer.

“No.” His hand shot out toward me. A force of wind came out of nowhere, pushing me back then disappeared as if it had never been there to begin with.

My eyes shot open as I steadied myself. “What the hell was that?”

“You need to stay inside the barrier.”

Folding my arms across my chest, I slowly rubbed them. “I meant, the wind.”

“What about it?”

I glared at him. “It was you, wasn’t it?”

He stared at me, jaw clenched.

“I’m not afraid of you, or what you are. You’ve got to know that, right?”

His features softened. “I keep forgetting you’re different this time round.” He stepped down from the boulder then strode toward me. “Something like that would’ve freaked the hell out of you before.”

I smiled, remembering the time when I’d apparently thought Abby was trying to possess Marcus with her devilish charms. Her wings had scared the crap out of me. I wished I remembered more of my other lives. I wondered what I’d thought of his scars on his back, and what I’d initially thought of him when he came for his collection. He must’ve had wings when we first met. Maybe he even flew with me. That was something I wished I could've remembered.

I also desperately wanted to know who I was back when we first met because something was telling me that part of my life was crucial to figuring out how to stop this curse that keeps taking me away from him.

Standing in front of me, Marcus grabbed my hands and tugged me toward him until my chest was flush against his. “As much as this time ’round scares the hell out of me, I’m loving who you are now.”

He leaned down and placed a tender kiss on my lips.

“I’m still the same person, aren’t I?”

“Of course you are. But that’s not what I meant.” He gave me one last kiss then headed back to the symbol. “It’s like you’re becoming more…” He turned back to face me and drew his brows together as he studied me. “Whole.” He nodded. “I think that’s the best way to describe your changes.”

“Whole? As in how?”

“You’re more confident and willing to accept what you don’t fully understand. In the past, things like me pushing you back would’ve made you run as far away from me as possible.”

I smiled, thinking of how crazy I must’ve driven him over the years. My thoughts went back to the few times at the rehab where dark clouds had rolled in out of nowhere. “Can you control the weather?”

He shook his head. “Not the weather. But my emotions can control the air around me.”

“Is that normal for Soul Collectors?” I couldn’t imagine an instant where that would be needed to collect a human’s soul.

“Some of us were created with a little extra than others.”

“Right,” I said, wishing he’d give out a little more information on his own rather than me having to drag it out of him.

I took a few steps closer to him, stopping when he gave me the look, telling me I was close to the boundary. With my palms up, I reached toward the barrier, hoping I would feel some sort of tingle or something when I made contact. I felt nothing. “Did you actually put this barrier around your place?”

“I can’t do magic.”

“So, only witches can do magic?”

He nodded. “An old friend placed a spell around our estate.”

My heart skipped a beat at the mention of our estate. I hardly thought of Marcus's home as mine, but he sure did, which only made me love him that much more. After spending my life with parents who most certainly never made me feel at home, it soothed my soul knowing I always had a place with Marcus.

I shook my thoughts away. “Aren’t you worried that whoever placed this protection spell may have deliberately hidden a weakness, which is what the symbols were created to activate?”

Marcus chuckled. “No. I trust this witch. She may not know what’s going on with us, but I do trust her.” He kicked at the dirt surrounding the symbols. “And by the look of it, my trust was placed with the right person. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be standing there without a swarm of Soul Scrapers around you.”

Something about what he’d said niggled at the back of my thoughts. Why would a witch try to get through the protection layer? And more importantly, what if anything did they have to gain from getting to me?

8

Sitting on the couch, listening to Marcus fill Abby in on the phone as he paced the length of the lounge room got me thinking about the witches even more. I didn’t know anything about them, yet they seemed to be coming up everywhere I looked. Maybe it was a coincidence, or maybe we were onto something. Either way, it would be virtually impossible to find out if I was right.

Marcus hung up and pocketed the phone. "I have to go out for a bit. Abby has to work but should be back here as soon as she can to keep you company."

“Where are you going?" I asked, dread pooling in the pit of my stomach. "You only just got back, and now you’re leaving me again?"

He walked over to the hallway table and selected a key from the pile in a bowl. "It's not safe for you out there."

I jumped up from the lounge and strode over to him. I didn't want to be left alone. This was my fight too, and I didn't want to just be sitting around waiting while everyone else tried to save my ass.

"And you think it's safe in here?” I threw my hands in the air. “Because we just spent the last hour walking around outside looking for the spells the witches cast to try to get into your place. Now, does that sound safe to you?”

Marcus ran his hand down his face then let out a slow breath.

He was clearly frustrated, but I wasn’t giving up. "You can't expect me to be okay with just sitting around waiting, hoping that you're okay."

He shoved the keys into his back pocket then placed his hand on my hip. "You're right. But I can't let the Soul Scrapers get anywhere near you. Last time, we had Abby to get you away if the situation called for your escape."

A shiver ran up my spine. I wondered if I’d ever get over what they did to me.

I bit my lip as I tried to figure out what to do. I didn't want to let him go without me, but I didn't want to be anywhere near those Soul Scrapers without an exit strategy.

Marcus gave my lip a gentle tap with his finger then cupped the back of my neck in his hand. "I got an idea."

He leaned down and placed a soft kiss on my forehead. Then he reached into his pocket and retrieved his phone, pressed the screen a few times, and put it to his ear.

A few seconds later he said, "Don’t suppose you can come here for about thirty minutes before you go to your next job?" He remained silent for a moment then said, "Thanks. I owe you one."

He disconnected the call.

"I'm guessing that was Abby?" I asked.

"Yeah, that was Abby." He put the key back into the bowl then wrapped his arm around my shoulders and ushered me down the hall toward the bedrooms. "She'll be here as soon as she can to watch over you while I pay someone a quick visit."

“By ‘pay someone a visit,’ I hope you don't mean you’re going to be searching for somebody in another veil."

"No. I promise I’ll be staying in this dimension, and I'll be back within an hour."

He opened the door to his bedroom and led me over to his bed. For a moment, I thought he planned to spend the next—however long it would take for Abby to get here—in bed with me. Instead, he said, “Wait here.”

Then he disappeared into the closet.

Not knowing what to do with myself, I sat on the end of his bed and looked around the room. As much as I liked my own room, it didn't quite compare to the comfort of his. I wondered if I'd ever moved into his room in the past, or if I’d stubbornly remained in my own completely oblivious to how much every second that we had together counted.

I ran my hand over the charcoal cover, memories of our time together flooding my mind. Right now, my thoughts were too consumed with the love that we had for each other and the moments we shared, or the heart crushing moment Marcus ended my life to try to remember any details that could be useful to us. There had to be something in my memories that potentially could hold the key to the mystery that surrounded our curse, but no matter how much I tried to look past my feelings for him, I couldn’t. I was completely consumed with every emotion Marcus and I shared as one.

He came back into the room holding something hidden in his closed fist. He sat beside me and unfolded his fingers, revealing a pendant attached to a rose-gold chain. "Do you remember this?"

Taking the pendant from him, I inspected the smooth lines of the quartz as I waited for the moment of recognition to hit. It didn't. "Should I?"

Marcus sighed. "It was yours." I twisted around to face him, resting my knee on the edge of the bed. "When?"

"You mean, when was it yours?"

I nodded.

"It was given to you in your last lifetime. I don't know who gave it to you because you never told me and you refused to take it off.”

I drew my eyebrows together. "Why wouldn't I tell you?"

He shrugged. "Honestly, I have no idea. All you said was that someone gave it to you, but you couldn't remember who it was."

"Well, maybe I was telling the truth. After all, someone's been screwing with my mind for the past few hundred years."

Marcus took the pendant from my hands. "Maybe you're right. But it was just strange how you refused to take it off ever since you got it."

Not a single thing about the pendant looked special. I couldn’t imagine why I would’ve been so attached to the rock. It wasn't even pretty, and it didn't look to have any real value.

Marcus slipped it into his pocket.

"So, what are you planning to do with it?” I asked.

“I don't want you to get your hopes up, but I might be able to get a protection spell placed on the pendant that will help ward off the Soul Scrapers from getting their hands on you."

My eyes lit up with hope. Part of me wondered why Marcus was only thinking of this now, but I was grateful all the same.

"As I said, don't get your hopes up. I’m not sure if it's possible.”

I nodded. "Are you taking it to the same witch who placed the protection spell around your house?"

"As soon as Abby gets here."

“And then I'll be able to come with you?"

"That's the idea.” He spread his hand over my thigh, and rubbed down to my knee. “Unfortunately, we won't know if the spell works until you come into contact with a Soul Scraper."

The thought of being in the same vicinity let alone within arms reach sent chills racing down my spine. This was only the beginning of our quest, though. I needed to push through the fear and do whatever was necessary before we ran out of time.

Marcus shifted back up the bed and leaned against the pillows with his arm raised for me to snuggle under. “Come here.”

I crawled over to him and curled up beside him, my head resting against his chest.

Wrapping his arms around me, he planted a kiss on the top of my head and breathed in deeply. “I just want to hold you forever.”

I tilted my head back so I could see his eyes and smiled. That haunted look was no longer there. It had been replaced with hope and sheer determination. I prayed to God that he was right and I’d finally be free from the Soul Scrapers clutches.

9

True to her word, Abby arrived in no time. She was wearing the tightest dress I’d ever seen, and it was short enough to give any guy over the age of fifty a heart attack. Those long legs of hers instantly made me feel subconscious about mine. She was a goddess.

Once again it got me wondering what Marcus saw in me. And why he was drawn to me to the point that not even someone like Abby could sway him? Not that I knew if she would even go there if he were interested. To me, Abby saw him more like a best friend—and nothing more.

For the first time since I had met her, Abby didn't have a bottle of wine within arm’s reach. I hoped the little conversation we’d had earlier had hit home to her. Drinking was never going to solve anything.

Once Marcus had left, Abby made herself comfortable on the couch, switched on the TV and then groaned. “When is this shit ever going to end?"

I turned my attention to what was on the TV. It was yet another broadcast of the war that was going on in the Middle East. Another group of innocents had been kidnapped, demands were being made that would most likely never be met, and all the faces they were showing would one day wind up dead. What I didn't get was why Abby had a problem with the war when she was a form of demon herself. I thought corruption, pain, and misery was part of her daily life.

"Why do you care? I thought you would be all for the wars?"

Tearing her gaze from the TV, she looked at me with an eyebrow raised. "What? Because I'm a demon?"

It looked like I’d hit a sore spot, but I wasn’t backing away. "Well, yeah."

"Just because I’m a Succubus doesn't mean I wouldn't switch sides if I were given half a chance. The scales have been tipped on our side for long enough, and are way overdue to go the other way."

I remembered what Marcus had told me about the scales. He’d said that the scales tipped both ways, evening out the scale between good and evil over the years. There was no heaven and hell like society had depicted, just one big balancing act. I wished to God that there were some sort of good vs evil bible that I could find out all the information about this world of theirs, because, between Abby and Marcus, I was confused as hell.

"Does someone tip the scales?"

Abby scrunched up her face. “Huh?"

"I mean is there a peacemaker—angel or demon—that looks over the scales of good versus evil, and balances the lines between the two?"

"No. There is no one entity that overlooks it all. We each have a job to do, and in the past, that’s been enough."

I thought about what she said and how they had all seamlessly worked together over the years. Sure, there had been horrendous moments in time, but none of them had gone on for too long. Something had changed, and the world was going to shit.

"How long overdue are we?"

She thought for a moment then said, "If you’re talking about the war in the Middle East, we’re about five years overdue. But when you take into account all the other things that have been going wrong in the world, I can’t even begin to estimate." She flicked the channel repeatedly, then settled on a light-hearted comedy. Her expression brightened, and she hopped up from the couch. "Want something to eat?"

It seemed she was always either drinking herself silly or shoving food into her mouth. She was lucky that it never showed on her body.

“Well?” Abby asked again, taking a few steps toward the kitchen.

I shook my thoughts away.

"Ah, yeah. Thanks,” I said, realizing just how hungry I was. “Want a hand?”

"Nope. You stay here, and I'll go get it." She disappeared into the kitchen then returned a few minutes later with two boxes of the Chinese Marcus had ordered last night and not touched, and two sodas.

She handed me a box and a fork.

"Thanks." I opened the container of steaming hot noodles.

Abby placed the sodas on the coffee table then claimed her position back on the couch. "Did Marcus say who he was going to ask to put a spell on the pendant?"

I shook my head as I twirled the noodles around my fork. "He didn't say the person’s name, but he mentioned it was the same witch who’d placed the spell around this place."

Abby barked out a laugh. "Good luck in getting anything from her."

She shoved a forkful of noodles in her mouth.

"What do you mean?"

She held up a finger while she finished chewing. "Astrid stopped practicing years ago."

"How can you stop being a witch?"

"Oh, she is still a witch—and a bit of a bitch, but any witch can stop practicing any time they like. Not that it happens very often because they're so damned power hungry. But for those that do, they just choose not to use their powers. So now Astrid’s just running around in a crystal shop, selling shit to tourists."

All my hope that I’d get to leave this house completely vanished. Marcus was wasting time we didn't have and it was all just to appease me and my desire to not sit on the sidelines while he was out searching for answers.

Abby was about to shove more food in her mouth, but paused, staring up at me. "You know, maybe Marcus will be able to convince her."

By the look on her face, not even she believed her words, though.

Settling back in my seat, I moved the noodles around the box with my fork, no longer having an appetite.

It wasn't long before the garage door clattered open and a few moments later, Marcus walked into the room. I couldn't read his expression, which I took as bad news. If he’d been able to convince the witch, he would’ve been grinning from ear to ear.

Abby stood and handed her box of Chinese with the fork wedged inside to Marcus. "I take it things didn't go as hoped.”

Marcus placed the box on the coffee table. He slipped his hand into his pocket and retrieved the pendant. "Actually, it didn't take as much to convince her as I thought it would."

Abby's jaw dropped.

Beaming with happiness, I jumped up from the couch and grabbed the pendant from him.

"Oh, my God,” I said with a small squeal in my voice. "After everything that Abby said, I didn't think you had a hope in hell of getting her to do this for you." I wrapped my arms around Marcus’s neck and pressed a kiss on his lips. "Thank you so much."

I opened the clasp and secured the chain around my neck.

Then, I lifted the pendant from my chest and rubbed my thumb over it. "Let's just hope it works."

10

“Well, I’ll leave you guys to it.” Abby headed for the door, but paused by my side and reached for the pendant. “Ouch.”

She recoiled her hand as a fine stream of smoke came from the stone—or Abby’s finger. I wasn’t entirely sure which one.

Abby put her finger in her mouth then pulled it out to inspect it. Her eyes narrowed then widened in astonishment. “What the fuck?”

She twisted her hand around so we could see her finger. Right on the pads of her thumb and forefinger was a black mark the size of a pinprick.

“Holy hell,” I said, guilt sweeping over me. I’d never considered for a second that Abby would be affected by the pendant I’d just assumed it would only work against the Soul Scrapers. “I’m so sorry.”

Marcus chuckled. “Guess we know it works.”

Abby slapped his chest—hard. “Guess who just lost her wings?”

The smile vanished from Marcus’s face. “Shit.”

It took me a moment to realize what she meant. Then it dawned on me. If Abby was no longer able to touch me, that meant she could no longer fly me anywhere without being burned. As much as that news would’ve been a blessing a few days ago, now I was bummed, knowing I’d never be able to get up in the air again while wearing the pendant.

“Touch her,” Marcus said. “See if it’s just the pendant or if it’s her skin, as well.”

“I’m not touching her.” Abby took a step back, taking with her my hope of flying. “You touch her.”

My heart skipped a beat. As horrified as I was that Abby couldn’t come in contact with me again, the thought of Marcus never being able to touch me while I wore the pendant was too much. I was ready to rip the damned thing off my neck and take my chances with the Soul Scrapers.

“I’m not a demon. It won’t do anything to me,” Marcus said with complete confidence.

I held my breath as he snaked his arm around my waist. He must’ve had complete faith in Astrid because if he were wrong, he was going to have one hell of a burn.

Relief flooded through me when he didn’t recoil in pain like Abby had.

Marcus smirked. “See.”

Abby scowled at him then pointed to the pendant. “Touch it.”

With one arm still around me, he reached for the pendant. Unlike Abby, he was able to hold it without being seared.

"I guess it’s only meant to deter demons and Soul Scrapers." Marcus chuckled, letting the pendant fall back against my chest.

"Ha, ha, ha. Very funny." Abby grabbed my forearm. “Shit.” She shook her hand as if she’d just stuck it into a fire. She inspected the faint charcoal color of her skin where it had touched mine. "This is not going to be good for business."

Abby held the palm of her hand up for us to see. "How am I going to be able to keep the boss happy when I can't even—"

"Abby," Marcus warned, cutting her off.

"What? I wasn't going to say anything that might offend your precious Lulu." She looked at me apologetically.

I gave her a smile to let her know that I wasn't the slightest bit offended.

"Why did the bitch make it so you can touch it and I can’t?” she asked. “And don’t give me any of that crap about me being a demon and you're not because we both know that you collected for our side before any of this shit happened."

That was news to me. I thought Soul Collectors weren’t aligned to good or evil.

"You know that's not how the rules work."

"Yeah, whatever, demon boy." She waved him off with her good hand. "You probably got Astrid to add me to the spell just to piss me off and give you a good laugh."

Marcus grinned. "As much as I wish I had thought of the idea, I can not take credit for it." When Abby opened her mouth to say something, he held his finger in the air and added, "And, I will be sure to go back to her when we get a chance and see if there's any way we can keep the spell but allow you to still touch Luciana."

Abby pointed at Marcus as she walked backwards toward the front entrance. “You better."

She flicked her hair over her shoulders as she turned her back to us, her hips swinging as she disappeared around the corner.

I twisted around in Marcus's arms, eyebrows drawn together. "You didn't do that on purpose, did you?"

"And get rid of my only way to get you out of immediate danger? Not a chance in hell."

As much as I believed that the two of them had pulled crap on each other over the years, I knew that this wasn’t one of those times. There was no way Marcus would risk my safety.

Slipping his hand into mine, he led me toward the garage. I thought he was taking me to the car, but he stopped beside a giant metal cabinet and opened it.

Expecting to see more guns or some other weapon used to kill supernatural beings, I was surprised to find actual tools in the cabinet.

"You don't plan on using that on the Soul Scraper, do you?" I asked as Marcus picked up a hammer.

He chuckled. "Hardly." He grabbed a container of nails and some brackets then closed the door. "I just want to fix the door before we go out."

With the hammer dangling in one hand and supplies in the other, he headed to the front door. I had no idea if he was handy or not but by the look of all the tools he had in the cabinet, I guessed he was, which only made him that much sexier in my books.

I followed him inside to the front door.

"Hold this." He handed me the hammer then lifted the door into place.

Five minutes later, the door was relatively back where it should be. It wasn't operational, but at least there was no gaping hole where bugs, animals, or anyone else could get through.

Remembering how Abby had left the house to meet the Chinese delivery guy at the front gates of Marcus’s estate last night, I asked, "Can humans get through the barrier around your estate? Or does it just ward off evil entities?"

"No one, not even humans or animals, can get through the barrier without my permission," he replied, shutting down the bug theory as to why he wanted to repair the door.

"Okay," I dragged. "I get the whole human thing, but what could an animal possibly do to me?"

"Ever heard of a Hellhound?”

I followed him back to the tall cabinet in the garage. "I thought they were just fictional."

"Of course they exist. Just not in this dimension," Marcus said as he put the tools away. Once he’d finished, he turned to me. "Now let's go get you something to protect yourself with just in case that thing doesn't work."

He gently tapped the pendant resting against my chest.

My eyes lit up. “You mean a weapon?”

He laughed. “I really didn’t expect you to take such a liking to them.”

“What’s not to like?” I could barely contain my excitement as we headed down the hall to the room that contained all of his arsenal.

For some reason, I had a huge fascination with anything that could take down Soul Scrapers—or anything else, for that matter. Whether I should be trusted with a weapon that could end the life of someone so easily was another story. But of course, I wasn’t going to tell him that.

Once inside the room, Marcus closed the door, plunging us into darkness so he could access the weapons.

He squeezed my shoulder. "Just stay right where you are, and I'll be back in a second."

"How can you see in here?" I asked, holding my hand up in front of my face. I couldn't even make out the outline, and it wasn’t even two inches in front of my eyes. It wasn’t the first time we’d been in the room, but it still surprised me.

"Just a perk of being a Collector."

I breathed out in frustration. Why was I born with the curse of feeling other people's pain instead of something cool, like being able to see in the dark?

A few minutes later, I heard Marcus’s footsteps coming toward me. At least I hoped it was Marcus because really, I had no idea if he’d disappeared and somebody else was coming to off me while I just stood there, waiting for it to happen.

God, I had an overactive imagination. But who could blame me when I had creatures that weren't supposed to exist, clawing their way to get at me?

A sigh of relief escaped my lips as I breathed in Marcus’s unique scent.

Placing his hands on my hips, he turned me around then opened the door.

The light in the hall temporarily blinded me. I had to blink a few times before everything went back into focus.

"Are you okay?” he asked.

I nodded, my gaze landing on the items in his hands.

He handed me a five-inch silver knife that looked more like an ice pick.

I screwed up my face. "What am I supposed to do with that? Poke their eyes out?”

Marcus chuckled. "Don't let the size fool you."

I tucked the weapon safely inside my pocket. That sucker wasn't going anywhere. It was going to stay right within arm’s reach—exactly where I needed it.

Nervously hopping into another of Marcus’s cars I held my breath as I feared that we’d once again have a bunch of Soul Scrapers waiting outside the boundary of the estate. I was immensely relieved when it became apparent that we were on our own, and I let out a slow sigh.

Glancing over to Marcus, I could see he too had relaxed. The hard set of his eyes had softened, and his hands that had been gripping the steering wheel so tight that his knuckles turned white, had now returned to their normal color.

A few minutes later, Marcus pulled over to the side of the road and killed the engine.

I looked around, expecting to see the Devil’s Playground. Instead, a bunch of dingy shops lined either side of the street, trying to sell items to tourists that they didn’t need.

I glanced at him. "Where are we?"

Marcus cocked his head toward a shop with a big neon tarot sign out the front.

"You're going to get a tarot reading?” I asked, dumbfounded.

Tarot readers never gave any solid information. Their readings were always vague, allowing each person to come to their own conclusion, convincing them that it was true when in reality it was a pile of bull crap.

Marcus looked at me with humor in his eyes. "Just wait and see."

He got out of the car and waited on the footpath for me to join him.

"Why can't I get any straight answers?" I mumbled as I joined him on the sidewalk.

I ignored the strange looks of the few passers-by as we headed into the tarot shop.

The interior was exactly like I imagined it to be. Rich burgundy curtains lined the back wall of the small room. Three chairs stood to the left and on the right were tall burgundy shelves running the length of the wall, holding various sized crystal balls, books, and pentagrams.

Marcus slipped his arm around my shoulder. "Don't look so freaked." Then he turned to face the empty room. “Paege! I know you're in here. I can feel you."

No one replied, and he let out a sigh of frustration.

"Come on." He ushered me toward the back wall.

Gripping the side of the curtain, he yanked it back, revealing a whole new room.

The walls were lined with shelves containing bottles filled with contents that looked straight out of Mava’s kitchen.

"Now, this is more like it," I mumbled.

"The tarot shop is just a front for what this place is really about,” Marcus explained.

A moment later, a woman with raven black hair, wearing a long flowing black dress, entered the room with her hands clasped together. "What do I owe the unfortunate pleasure of having you in my store today?”

"I think you know exactly why I'm here," Marcus replied.

She raised a brow. "Do I?"

"Cut the crap.” Marcus dropped his arm from my shoulder and stalked toward her as if he was a predator and she was his prey. "There's a bunch of symbols surrounding my place, and I want you to tell me what they mean."

Paege stilled before regaining her composure. "I have no idea what you're talking about.”

She turned her back to him and started neatening the already perfectly aligned items on the shelves.

"The hell you don't.” He grabbed her arm and twisted her around. “Now, I’m going to give you five seconds to start talking, or I'm going to —"

Biting my lip, I shuffled my feet, unsure if his excessive force was warranted or if I should try to stop him or at least calm him down. But I trusted Marcus. He wasn’t the type to use unnecessary force—at least I thought he wasn’t.

Paege crossed her arms. "Or you're going to what?" she asked with serious attitude.

"Or I'm going to destroy every precious item in this place. It will take years to get some of this stuff back, and you and I both know that there is more here than we see in this room."

She sucked in a sharp breath, her eyes going wide.

Marcus raised his hand and flicked the glass jar that she had just fixed into position off the shelf, sending it smashing on the floor.

Paege’s gaze darted from her precious ingredients to Marcus, fear written all over her face. "They were trying to get in!"

"Why?" Marcus knocked another jar off the shelf.

She reached out, trying to catch it, but missed by half a second. It hit the floor, smashing the glass into hundreds of tiny pieces "I don't know why," she sobbed, her hands trembling.

With a swoop of his arm, Marcus sent the rest of the items on the shelf crashing to the floor.

"I don't know why," she cried almost hysterically.

With his back to me, Marcus knelt down, his hand stretched low, hovering a few inches above the floor. I couldn't see what he was doing but whatever it was brought the fear of God into the witch’s eyes.

A second later, fire ripped across the floor.

11

I jumped back, hitting the wall behind me. The witch rushed over to the shelf on the opposite side of the room. She fumbled with the jars until she found one containing what looked to be silvery-black ash then threw it over the fire as she chanted something under her breath. A few seconds later, the fire completely vanished, leaving scorch marks on the floor.

Marcus rose to his feet and stalked towards her, his eyes still doing that whole predatory thing. "We can play this game all day, but we both know who will win."

Oh, shit. Adrenalin pumped through my body with every step he took.

Paege swallowed hard, panic evident in her gaze. "I told you—"

Marcus’s arm whipped out in a blur, his hand wrapping around the witch’s neck, pinning her against the wall. "Now we can do this the easy way, or...”

A bloodcurdling scream ripped from Paege’s mouth. Her hands grabbed Marcus’s arm, trying to free herself from his deathly grip.

I couldn’t sit still any longer and watch what was going on between them. No matter how much I wanted to figure out who had placed this curse on me, this woman didn’t deserve to become collateral damage. For all we knew, she had absolutely no idea what was going on and Marcus was torturing her for nothing.

I raced over to him and desperately tried to pull him back by his shoulders. But Marcus wasn't going anywhere. He was an unstoppable force, hell-bent on breaking the witch.

"Your choice," Marcus said, completely ignoring me.

"Okay, okay." She sobbed. “I'll tell you what I know."

Marcus released his grip on her, revealing a black singe mark in the shape of his hand on her skin around her throat.

What the hell!

Paege swallowed hard as she tried to get herself together again. "All I know is that they want her." She pointed to me.

Marcus’s gaze darted to me, fear consuming his eyes. "Why?" He returned his attention to the witch. "What do the witches want with Luciana?"

"I have no idea,” she cried. "I'm telling you the truth. It's the Priestesses. They won't discuss it with the rest of us."

Marcus stared at her for the longest moment then gave a curt nod. "I won't let them know what you've told me today." He turned away from her and headed straight to me. "Come on. Let's get out of here."

My feet felt like cement as I followed him out of the shop. I had never seen that side of him and feared what else he was capable of that I wasn’t aware of. Abby had warned him not to show whatever side he was about to release when he found out what Justin had done, and I prayed what he had done to the witch wasn't a taste of more scary surprises to come about the one my heart was bound to for all eternity.

No matter what Marcus did to others, I knew within my heart that I would stand by him. I wasn’t sure if that made me stupid or if it was beyond my control. What I did know was that I trusted him and would have to learn to control my emotions and what I considered to be right and wrong. The rules of the human world that I grew up in didn’t apply to me anymore.

This new world was scary, and something told me that a wolf could be hiding in plain site, disguising himself as a vulnerable puppy that wouldn’t hurt a fly. The only thing was, we weren’t talking about wolves and puppies. The world I was now living in held demons, angels, and those hellish Soul Scrapers.

I don't know why I was surprised that Marcus didn't bother mentioning what happened back in the store on our way home, because he never seemed to tell me anything about what he could do. Why he was still concerned that I would freak out was beyond me. What I wanted—what I needed—was transparency, which was exactly what I wasn’t getting.

"So I guess we’re just going to pretend what happened back there never happened," I said when we were about halfway home.

Marcus's grip tightened on the steering wheel. He had no problem displaying transparency when it came to his frustration, and I just wished he was that way with the rest of his life.

"I did what I had to do for us," he eventually said.

"I get it. I really do. But what I don’t understand is why you neglected to mention that you’re able to set things on fire with your hands when you filled me in on some of the other stuff you could do.”

He glanced sideways at me. "Does that scare you?"

I thought about his question. "No. It doesn't."

I was just as surprised by my answer as he was considering how I felt when it happened.

"But I saw the way you reacted."

I strained a laugh. “What did you expect? I had no idea your hands that are so gentle on me can be so deadly to others. You shocked the hell out of me, and I didn’t know if Paege deserved your torment or not.”

“Do you really think I would hurt an innocent?”

For a moment back at the shop I had, and now I felt guilty for doubting him.

“You did, didn’t you?” he said. “That’s why you tried to pull me off her, wasn’t it?”

“I didn’t know what to think. One second you were the sweet, loving man that I know, and the next you turned into this predator that lets fire rip from his fingers.”

He folded his hand over mine and squeezed it. “I’m sorry you had to see that. But I want you to know that I would never do anything to harm you and as much as it might make me sound like an asshole, I will do whatever it takes to stop your pain. I will never apologize for that.”

“I would never ask you to.” The truth was, I knew when it came down to it, I would do the same for him. No regrets.

I relaxed back into the seat and stared out the window at the trees passing by. "So is there anything else I should know about?"

"As far as my abilities go, yes."

His response sounded as if he was still hiding something that had nothing to do with his abilities.

"And things that don't relate to your abilities?" I added.

"There are thousands of years worth of information you know nothing about, some of which may be relevant, and a whole heap that isn't. I've got a large library at home filled with information that you are more than welcome to look through at any time you feel the desire to know more about my history."

I wasn’t sure if I was excited or dreaded the prosperity of sifting through countless books pertaining to the workings of his world. After all, just a few snippets of things that he’d told me was already doing my head in.

"I'll keep that in mind," I said.

The corner of his lips tipped up. Something told me he knew exactly how I felt at the prospect of searching through those books.

"Where are we going?" I asked, realizing we weren’t heading home.

"I want to go check out Mava’s house for myself and see if the symbols match the ones found around our place.”

My heart warmed once again as he mentioned that it was our place. I still couldn't bring myself to call it mine, but it was good to know that he could. I longed for the day that I could truly feel at home in my own skin because as much as Marcus made me feel whole, there was still something missing.

It wasn't long before I was getting out of the car and staring at the grassy field where Mava’s house had stood.

"I don't get it," I said, making my way through the long grass that hadn’t been there a couple of days ago.

"Either do I,” Marcus said, walking beside me. "All I know is that someone has gone to a lot of trouble to keep Mava away from you.” He tilted his head to the side. “Either that, or she's been toying with us this whole time to create some sort of diversion to keep us from finding out the truth.”

As much as he didn’t trust the witch, I couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was keeping us from Mava.

Marcus came to a standstill. "Do you remember which direction the symbols were in?"

I snorted out a laugh. "You're asking me after how long it took us to find the symbols around your estate?"

"True." He slowly turned around in a circle, as if trying to decide which way we should head. "Let's try this way."

Within moments, we came up on a symbol.

"No freaking way." I picked up my pace, heading toward it.

He grabbed my wrist, jerking me back to his side.

I twisted away, then glared up at him. "What the hell was that for?”

He gestured to the ground in front of me.

Following his gaze, I just about pee’d myself when I realized how close I came to stepping on a two-meter Red-bellied Black Snake.

Three more emerged from the scrub, heading toward us. Snakes weren’t supposed to slither toward people. They were supposed to be scared and try to get away unless of course, someone was stupid enough to try and attack them, leaving them no other choice than to defend themselves.

These snakes were different.

12

I backed up against Marcus as the snakes lifted their heads in unison, their beady little eyes completely focused on us. "What are they doing?"

Marcus grabbed my hand, lacing my fingers with his. "Come on. I'll explain in the car."

Not needing to be told twice, I made a dash back to the car, praying I wasn't going to get bitten in the ass. I yanked open the door, ducked inside, and slammed it shut. Marcus slid into the driver seat. The snakes slithered after us, then lifted their heads, as if getting into position to strike. Their eyes remained focused on us as they swayed from side to side.

Marcus started the engine. "Snakes can be used as windows into this world.”

A shiver ran down my spine. I not only had Soul Scrapers to worry about, I now had the slithery demonic creatures watching me, as well.

"But at least we can take one positive out of this."

I looked at him in surprise. “Such as?"

"I think it's safe to assume that it’s not just the witches that are involved. The only ones who can control the snakes are demons."

Great! That was all I needed to know. I’d thought witches were bad enough, but demons… That was taking it to a whole other level.

When we arrived back at the house, Marcus headed straight to the kitchen. His appetite was crazy similar to Abby's. The two of them could eat all day long and never get full, or put on any weight.

I sat on the stool and watched him search through the fridge, my appetite non-existent thanks to our encounter with the snakes.

Marcus's head jerked to the side, his gaze remaining on the back door. I opened my mouth to ask him what was wrong when I saw through the window massive black wings engulfing the area between the house and the pool.

"Justin." His name rolled off my tongue with distaste.

Marcus looked at me sternly. "Do I need to ask you for your weapon back?”

My hand went to the knife that was still in my pocket. There was no way in hell I was giving it up.

"I won’t do anything." When he looked at me dubiously, I added, "I promise."

Justin folded his wings away then entered the house looking more than a little nervous.

"Okay." Marcus walked around the bench and strategically put himself between Justin and me. Yeah, he trusted me—not.

I didn't blame him. I didn't even trust myself.

"Any luck?" Marcus asked, reaching behind him for my hands.

Yeah, he really trusted me.

Moving out of his reach, I twisted on the stool then hopped off and stood beside him. I crossed my arms over my chest to keep me from reaching into my pocket and finding out exactly what the weapon could do.

Maybe Marcus should’ve taken it from me.

"Justin," Marcus said.

"Do I need to arm myself?” Justin asked with a small laugh as he looked at me.

"You do, and it will be the last thing you do," Marcus warned him. He slung his arm over my shoulders, bringing my back against his chest. That was probably a good idea because I was two seconds from getting the ice pick knife out.

Justin held his hands up in defense. "Okay, I'm sorry. I was just joking. You know, trying to lighten the mood. But I guess we’re not ready for that yet."

"Far from it,” I said through gritted teeth.

"So, did you find Titus?" Marcus asked.

"Not exactly." Justin pulled out a chair at the dining table and took a seat. "What I did find out, though, is that Colton is planning to meet up with him later tonight.”

“When?”

“Well, Colton’s got a meeting to attend to first at Devil's playground at about eleven, and then he will be going straight from there."

"Good. We’ll make sure we’re there before he leaves the Playground. And until then, you might be able to try and help us figure out what's going on with the witches."

Justin narrowed his eyes. "The witches are now giving you trouble?"

I snorted out a laugh. "That's the understatement of the century."

Releasing his deathly grip on me, Marcus slipped his hand into mine and led me to the table. He pulled out the chairs opposite to where Justin was sitting and directed me to sit.

Justin leaned back in his chair, arms by his side as if he didn't have a care in the world. "So, what's been happening?"

"Well, for one, Mava’s house is no longer there,” Marcus said, taking a seat next to me. “And two, the exact same symbols that are surrounding her house are also surrounding my estate."

"Oh, and don't forget about the snakes that were watching me," I added.

Justin shifted forward in his seat. "What do you mean her house is gone? Houses don't just vanish."

"That's what I thought too," I said. "But sure enough, it has."

Justin looked at Marcus. "When did this happen?"

“Abby took Lu there while I stayed back to take care of the Soul Scrapers with you. Mava’s house was gone when they arrived. So, who knows how long it’s been gone for.”

Justin slowly shook his head. "That can't be possible."

"Oh, but it is,” I said getting a little irritated that he still doubted us.

"I'm not calling you a liar," he said. "I just don't get why she would do that."

Marcus breathed out harshly. "That makes two of us."

We spent the next twenty minutes discussing the ins and outs of the symbols. However, we were no closer to figuring it all out. Even though Justin had played a major part in how we got into this mess in the first place and kept a hell of a secret for so long, he had no idea why the witches were involved and what they wanted with me—or so he claimed. With Justin, no one could ever be certain. He was a lying piece of shit whom, for all we knew, was playing us again.

"And there was no note?" Justin asked for the tenth time.

Marcus glared at him. "Like I said, there were no notes and no other evidence of her disappearance. There was no evidence that her home was ever there."

Marcus hadn't brought up the riddles Mava had given us, or the vial she’d insisted on me taking. I didn't feel it was right to bring them up when he was so clearly avoiding them. He obviously didn't fully trust Justin, either.

Justin folded his hands over the back of his head. "Mava has been spouting on about that old legend for as long as I can remember. Why would she all of a sudden disappear?” His hands dropped to the back of his neck. "It just doesn't make sense."

"None of this shit makes any sense," I said. "Especially the reason why you’re still here."

The corner of Justin’s lips turned up. "Are the symbols still there?"

Marcus nodded. "You want to check them out?"

Justin pushed back his chair as he stood. "Got nothing better to do while we wait until Colton’s meeting tonight."

Marcus placed his hand on my thigh. "Do you want to stay here or do you want to come with us?"

That was probably the stupidest question that ever came out of his mouth. There was no way I was going to stay here by myself while there was not only Soul Scrapers out to get me, but also those possessed snakes, which were being used as surveillance cameras for God knows who.

Of course, I wasn’t going to say that, though.

"I may as well,” I said with a shrug. “I've got nothing else better to do."

We slipped out the back door then headed down the steps toward the beach. Stopping short of hitting the sand, we ducked between the fence and the railing then made our way through the gardens. This time we knew where we were going.

"What's with the pendant?" Justin pointed to the crystal on my chest.

I grabbed hold of my pendant as a thought popped into my head. "It's supposed to protect me from those with evil or bad intentions," I explained. "Want to touch it?"

"Nah, it's okay."

"I wasn't asking. This might just prove how much of an evil snake you really are or it might prove your innocence."

I had no idea if it worked that way. Abby wasn’t able to touch me and as far as I knew, she had the best of intentions for me. My main reason for wanting Justin to touch it wasn’t because I wanted to see him burn—although that would’ve been a bonus—I just wanted to know if he was willing to give it a go or if he would try to worm his way out of it.

"Okay,” he responded, taking me by surprise. “If it will make you see that I’m not trying to screw you over, I'll do it."

He reached for the pendent and touched it—without getting zapped.

"Shit," I said.

Justin smiled. "You were hoping that I'd get burned, weren’t you?"

I shrugged.

Justin chuckled.

"This symbol is the one facing directly east,” Marcus said, breaking me from my thoughts of how badly I wanted to smack that smile off Justin’s face.

Justin crouched beside the symbol and ran his finger along the markings. "This stuff is heavy shit." He looked up at me. "Someone desperately wants to get their hands on you. We need to move fast."

13

Justin hung around like a bad smell. No matter how awkward it got, he wouldn't take the hint and leave us alone. We were only just able to convince him to stay outside by the pool while we went inside to gather the ingredients to make a pizza.

"Can't you just ask him to leave?" I bumped the fridge door closed with my hip.

Marcus grabbed two trays out of the drawer and popped them onto the counter. "Believe me I would if it weren't for the fact that we need him tonight.”

I groaned as I leaned against the counter, then put one of the pizza bases that Marcus had made onto the tray in front of me.

Marcus scooped the second base up and dropped it onto the other tray.

Turning to me, he tipped my chin up with his fingertips. "Just a few more hours and then we can get him out of our hair."

He leaned down and kissed me.

“And then I’ll never have to see him again?” I asked with a hopeful smile.

“Never is a very long time.”

He picked up the trays and handed them to me. "Take these outside, and I’ll bring out the rest of the stuff."

I wasn't going anywhere near Justin without Marcus. I still didn't trust myself around him. The mere sight of Justin made my skin crawl, and I wouldn’t hold myself responsible if I accidentally pulled a knife on him and stabbed him through the heart.

“I'll wait.”

The corner of Marcus’s lips tipped up but he didn't say anything.

Once he’d gathered the rest of the prepared ingredients for the pizzas, we headed outside to the bar area, which was fully equipped with not only a barbecue, sink, cupboards, and a wine fridge, but also a pizza oven.

Justin stood from his stool. "I'll take them for you." He took the trays from me then got busy putting the dough into the oven.

Apparently, the bases needed to go in there by themselves before we could put the topping on them.

Happy to hand over cooking duties, I sat on the stool farthest from Justin and watched the men prepare dinner.

Justin grabbed the bases out of the oven and placed them on the stone bench. "So, Lucy, how has everything been since you left the rehab? Bet you like not feeling any of our emotions."

I was about bring up the fact that I actually had felt the smallest emotions from him back in the rehab when I remembered why he'd been there in the first place. Justin wasn't there for me. He was on duty, ready to collect the soul of my only friend there.

"How’s Sophia?"

Justin looked up at me through hooded lids. "She’s dead."

I closed my eyes. Even though I had only known her for a couple of days, she was one of the nicest people I'd ever met. Most people ran for the hills as soon as they found out how crazy I was. Not Sophia. Then again, she didn't know exactly what I was either.

"I meant, how… How did she die?"

Marcus paused halfway through loading the cheese onto the pizza. "Do you really want to know?"

No, but it was eating me up. "Yeah, I do."

"Okay," Marcus said, breathing out harshly.

Justin picked up the container of olives and began placing them one by one on the pizza he was decorating. "They found Sophia in the bathroom. She’d slit her wrist."

"Oh, God," I whispered, putting my hand over my mouth.

Sophia had once confided in me that she used to cut herself and I’d seen the white scars on her wrist. I really thought Sophia had passed those days. She’d looked so good, so in control.

Looks can be deceiving. I of all people should know that.

"Where did you take her?" I asked, praying she wasn’t going to spend eternity in hell—even though Marcus had said there was no such place as the Hell the churches had led the masses to believe in.

Justin put down the olives and picked up a bowl containing mushrooms. "I took her through to Purgatory where she will be cleansed before moving on."

I gulped as my imagination went crazy with what I thought Purgatory would be like. I didn’t know much about it except there were Soul Scrapers there. And really, that was all I needed to know. Purgatory wasn’t going to be fun.

“On to where?"

"I shouldn’t be telling you this, but you already know enough about our world, so I guess it doesn't really matter. Sophia will be safe. She’ll be happy.”

The tiniest bit of tension lifted from my shoulders, however it was short lived when my thoughts returned to what exactly was in Purgatory. "The Soul Scrapers are going to do to her what they did to me, aren't they?"

Justin drew his brows together. "What did the Soul Scrapers do to you?"

In all the confusion about what had happened to Mava and the symbols surrounding her house and Marcus’s estate, we had forgotten to tell Justin about my encounter with the Soul Scrapers.

I was about to explain when Marcus butted in. "They came after her when we were at the Playground. Lucy had run off by herself —"

"I didn’t just run off. I was flooded with not only everyone's bad emotions but also their good, and it was all too much for me. I needed to get out of there. I needed to get away from all the people."

"You felt good emotions?" Justin asked, the pizza forgotten.

I wasn't sure if I was supposed to be telling him this but hey, the cat was out of the bag now. "Yeah, and it was pretty intense.”

Marcus grabbed the pizzas, not bothering to ask if Justin had finished preparing his, and put them both in the oven.

"And this is the first time you’ve felt good emotions?" Justin reiterated.

I nodded. "First and last.”

"Well, that's interesting." Justin walked over to the sink and washed his hands. "And what did the Soul Scrapers do to you?"

I could still feel the slick tar like substance in my mouth. No matter what I did, and how many times I brushed my teeth, it was there. It was like it was etched into my soul.

“They took me outside, shoved some slick tar-like substance down my throat, wrapped me in their web, and carried me off. Then they put their putrid hands on me, spilled more blackness into my mouth from theirs, and that’s when Marcus walked in and saved my ass.”

"Shit." Justin grabbed the back of his neck with both hands. "Do you know if they were able to get anything from you?"

"Ah yeah, lets see, they got my dignity, my sense of safety, oh, and let’s not forget that they also got a shitload of fear out of me.”

Justin glared at Marcus. "I thought you were supposed to take care of her."

"I am. I have." Marcus took a few steps toward Justin. “Why do you care so much?"

Justin held his hands up in defense. "Hey, I'm not accusing you of anything. I was just wondering why they were able to get that far with Luciana."

"I was busy catching up with Colton—I was distracted." Marcus glanced at me. "I've gone over it a thousand times, and I still can’t figure out why I couldn’t feel Lucy."

Justin leaned down, opened the bar fridge under the bench, and pulled two bottles of beer out. He handed one to Marcus. "At least everything turned out okay."

That I could agree upon. Still, something told me Justin knew much more than he was leading on.

14

Curling his hands around my waist, Marcus lifted me on top of the garden wall near the pool, as I tried not to spill the pizza from the plates I was holding.

Satisfied they weren’t going to slide off, I swung my legs over and took in the scenery before me.

From this perspective, I could see the long coastal stretch reaching from one end of Byron Bay to the other. Thick, dense foliage obscured the view of Abby’s house next door and I couldn't see any homes on the other side either. His home was a secluded piece of paradise.

Marcus jumped up on the wall then sat beside me.

I handed him his plate then dug into my pizza.

"Thanks." He picked up a slice and took a bite.

I'd hoped Justin was getting the hint and would leave us alone, but like the bad smell he was, he followed—and just my luck, he decided to sit on the other side of me.

"How did you start to feel—" The rest of his sentence was muted by the flapping of wings as Abby landed perfectly on top of the wall, squeezing between Justin and me. I could’ve kissed her for helping me avoid whatever question Justin was about to fire at me.

She folded her wings behind her, retracting them between her shoulder blades, leaving no evidence that they were ever there. She settled onto the wall.

"Looks good." She grabbed Justin's plate, picked up a slice, and quickly took a bite. "Thanks,” Abby said through a mouthful of pizza.

Justin glared at her.

"You're welcome," he said sarcastically. He hopped off the wall and headed to the bar area.

Abby nudged her shoulder against mine. "You owe me one."

Something told me I was soon going to owe her just as much as Marcus did. She’d already proved her weight in gold.

Abby spent the next hour keeping Justin caught up in meaningless conversations, allowing Marcus and me to slip away and finally get some time alone. I guessed that was another one I’d owe her for. I could see why Marcus was already so indebted to her. She was a good friend.

Marcus and I sat in the lounge room near the bedrooms trying to put as much distance as possible between Justin and ourselves without having to leave the house.

“Are you sure you’re going to be all right while I’m gone?” he asked.

I was still going with them to the club, but Abby was going to come back to the house with me because we couldn’t be sure if the pendant would keep me safe in another dimension.

"I'll be fine." I tucked my legs up onto the couch, my knees resting against his chest. "I'll miss you, but I'll be okay."

He ran his hands down my calves. "We shouldn't be gone for too long. But if we get stuck like we did last time, I want you to promise me that you’re not going to do anything stupid."

"Me? Do anything stupid?”

He glanced down at the cast on my wrist.

"I think you're forgetting that only you have the power to kill me."

"That doesn't mean to say that I want to see you try to hurt yourself."

I sighed. "I promise I won't do anything stupid. And I expect the same from you."

"When we’re this close to figuring out what is going on, never. I would never be that foolish." He leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on my lips. "I will never do anything to jeopardize you.”

"Us."

"Us," he agreed, running his hand down to my ankles. "As much as I'd love to stay here with you, it’s time for you to get ready."

"It can't be…" I trailed off as I looked at my watch and saw just how late it was. "How did you know?”

There were no clocks in the room, and he couldn’t have seen my watch from his position. It was the first time I’d noticed his uncanny knowledge of the time, something Abby seemed to share as well.

"We have an inbuilt sense for it.”

I scowled. Yet another ability I would have preferred. Except I didn't have any abilities. I wasn’t special. I was just plain old cursed. I needed to stop thinking of myself as a special entity, even though I felt like one around Marcus.

* * *

I didn't bother disguising myself like I had the previous time we'd been to the Devil's Playground. All the paranormal beings knew who I was after the last time I was there, and there was no use pretending I was anything but the girl who Marcus refused to collect.

Abby and Justin had flown off and were going to meet us at the club, while Marcus and I were stuck using good old human transportation. God, I longed to fly.

Something about it woke a part of me that craved to feel the air rustling my wings, which was stupid because I would never have wings. It wasn’t possible. All I could do was imagine what it felt like for Abby and Justin. And what it had felt like for Marcus.

My heart felt heavy knowing he had to go through the rest of eternity without his wings all because of me. He had fallen in love with somebody he didn't know and lost everything.

I shook my thoughts away as we pulled into the club’s parking lot then into a car space directly in front of Abby and Justin who were sitting on a park bench. They’d obviously been there for a at least ten minutes and were clearly bored out of their brains.

"Finally," Abby said when we got out of the car. "You know there are two of us and two of you." She gestured to Marcus and me. “We could’ve just flown you guys with—”

"Never going to happen." Marcus grabbed my hand and entwined my fingers with his.

"So you keep saying." Abby stood.

Justin looked away. As much as I wanted to say that it was all his fault, I kept my mouth shut for Marcus’s sake. Marcus didn't need another reminder of what he had lost.

"We saw Colton go inside about ten minutes ago," Abby said falling into line as we headed to the club.

"Good," Marcus replied. "Hopefully this will mean we’ll get some answers tonight."

"Hopefully it's not another—" A massive force hit my whole body knocking, me back. I stumbled back a few steps, but thankfully Marcus caught my fall, saving me from falling flat on my ass.

"What the hell?" I said, steadying myself.

Abby laughed. "Had a bit too much to drink, hey?"

The look on both Marcus’s and Justin’s faces was the polar opposite of Abby. They knew exactly what had happened.

15

"This can't be happening." I stepped forward with my hands up, praying that had been a one-off and this time I’d get through.

My hopes shattered into a million pieces when I felt the push of the invisible barrier banning me from getting any closer to the club.

The smile dropped from Abby’s face. "The pendant’s stopping you from getting in, isn’t it?"

"Shit,” Marcus cursed under his breath. "This wasn't supposed to happen." He looked at the club momentarily before returning his gaze to me. "We don't have time to get this fixed."

I could remove the pendant, but that left me vulnerable to Soul Scrapers. Not happening.

I stepped away from the force field. "Don't worry about it. I'll be fine out here."

Marcus gave Abby a look, asking her to stay with me.

"Yes," Abby said with a huff. "I'll stay outside with Lucy while you boys go inside and have all the fun."

"Thanks," Marcus said. "I owe you —"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. You owe me yet another one," Abby said. "But we aren’t going to stand around here waiting for you."

"Good. Just keep a close eye on Lucy. Don't assume that pendant works properly." Marcus lifted the crystal off my chest and studied it as if he could see the magic that was held within. "Take her home."

God, he was bossy.

Marcus let the pendant fall against my chest, then caressed the side of my face with his hand. "I promise I won't be long."

The corner of my lips tipped up. "And I promise not to do anything stupid."

He leaned down and kissed me. All too soon it was over, and I was watching him walk inside the club taking with him his ability to stop me from feeling other people’s pain and torment.

I started to turn away, but caught a glimpse from the corner of my eye of a woman staring at me from the entry of the club. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. I tried to act nonchalant as I stole glances of her.

She had porcelain skin framed by straight hair the color of a raven, falling perfectly down the length of her back and looked as if she were shooting a hair commercial. But that wasn’t what unnerved me. It was the smirk on her face directed at me. There was no mistaking it. She knew me and she was following Marcus inside.

I was cast back into what I presumed was another memory. Unimaginable pain shot through my head as I gasped for air.

I was laying on my stomach amongst the orange and red leaves that had recently fallen from the trees surrounding me. Not more than a few feet in front of me stood the same raven-haired woman, muttering something unintelligible under her breath.

Her devilish smirk was like a knife to my heart, twisting it deeper as all my hopes shattered into a million pieces. She opened her mouth, and the words “forget-me-not” spilled from her lips, followed by a beautiful, haunting laugh that only she seemed capable of.

My arms trembled as I attempted to push myself up from the ground but no matter how hard I tried my body had been too weak to oblige.

The woman with the raven black hair gave me one final look filled with twisted satisfaction then turned on her heels and glided away, leaving me where I lay as if I were garbage.

The blinding pain vanished the moment I was back in the present. With my heart in my throat I scanned the area for any sign of the woman who I’d just seen in my memory. She was gone.

“I have to go inside," I said, panting.

Abby scrunched up her nose. “What?”

Ignoring her, I tried to push my way through the force field, but it was too strong. I wasn’t getting through. Marcus was inside and I feared that so too was the woman who had done something to me in one of my previous lifetimes. I was terrified that she was now going after him.

I grabbed my pendant to rip it off so that I could get through and find Marcus. Something in the pit of my stomach screamed at me to get to him now—no matter the cost.

Abby grabbed my arm, stopping me before the chain snapped. "No, you don't. Marcus would kill me if you took that thing off.”

I looked at her, wishing she’d instantly understand because I didn’t have time to explain. “I need to get to Marcus.”

"Don't give me that look.” Abby pried my fingers open, letting the pendant fall from my hand. "Whatever you need to say to Marcus can wait until he gets back."

I shook my head fiercely. "No, you don't understand. This can't wait."

“Well, it’ll have to wait,” Abby said. "They’ve already left this veil.”

I closed my eyes as my whole body filled with an unrelenting anxiety. I was overcome with the fear that Marcus was walking into something he wasn’t prepared for.

"You don't understand, Abby. I recognized somebody who I think did something to me in one of my past lives and she just went in after Marcus and Justin. I think she’s going to do something to them. Don't ask me how I know. I just know."

All playfulness dropped from her face. "You're serious, aren't you?"

I breathed in deeply, trying to force myself from hyperventilating. I was scared out of my mind for Marcus. I knew in my gut that woman was serious trouble and I was powerless to stop her. All I could do was pray that Marcus would be okay and come back to me before we were out of time.

"Let's get you—" Abby’s pupils dilated as her gaze darted to the side.

I didn't need her to tell me what was wrong. I could feel it for myself.

"They're here," I whispered as a chill ran down my spine.

16

Abby's vice-like grip latched around my wrist as she pulled me until I was practically sprinting right toward the Soul Scrapers. I didn’t understand why we were running straight at them when my instincts were screaming at me to run the other way.

But Abby was too strong.

"Move," she yelled at me.

I couldn't respond. It was taking everything out of me not to collapse to my knees.

Soul Scrapers twisted through the trees in the distance, heading toward us. Others wound their way through cars parked outside closed shops and café's.

In the split-second, before we were about to collide with the demonic creatures, Abby yanked on my arm, switching directions. My feet slipped out from underneath me. Before I hit the ground, Abby flung me a good twenty feet up into the air.

The Soul Scrapers reached for me, their icy tendrils latching onto my ankle. I screamed as fear ripped through me. This was it. The pendant hadn't worked, and Marcus wasn't here to save me.

Remembering the otherworldly knife in my pocket, I reached inside and grabbed the weapon, ready to fight them myself.

Before I could get it out of my pocket, a force propelled me further up into the air. For a moment, I thought it was the Soul Scrappers wrapping their slick web around me so they could take me to the underworld. Then I realized it was Abby’s arms wrapped around me, lifting me into the air as we flew higher and higher, leaving the Soul Scrapers behind.

Relief flooded through me as I relaxed in her arms and tried to ignore the strange urge I had to break free from her clasp, dive down, and skim the tops of the trees. It wasn't like the other times when I had tried to kill myself by jumping off a cliff; this time I didn't want to die. Instead, I wanted to feel the rush of the wind not only against my face but also through wings that I clearly did not have.

The thing that scared me the most about my new-found desire to fly wasn't that I was going insane. I feared my curse was developing to include supernatural beings’ emotions, as well. And if that was the case then I was seriously screwed.

The moment we landed next to the pool in Marcus’s backyard, Abby recoiled in pain. “Shit, that hurt.”

I whipped my head around to see what she was talking about. “Oh, my God. I’m so sorry.” In all the commotion, I’d completely forgotten that she wasn’t able to touch me without getting burned.

Angry welts covered Abby’s hands and arms. I couldn’t see how her torso was from where her body pressed against mine while she carried me home, but if her posture was anything to go by, I could only assume that her clothing had done nothing to protect her from my touch.

Abby reached behind her back and unzipped her dress then peeled it from her body, leaving her wearing nothing but her bra and panties and heels that emphasized her long legs. She looked every bit the goddess she was—if it weren’t for the welts that covered her perfect body.

“Holy crap,” I said, partly because of the welts, and partly because I was in awe of her and once again wondered how the hell Marcus was so into me when he could’ve had her.

“You and Marcus owe me big time for this one.” She kicked off her heels, then dove into the pool.

Guilt flooded me. I couldn’t imagine how much it must’ve hurt to hold onto me all the way from the club. She must’ve gone through hell.

“I owe you everything,” I said when she resurfaced.

Abby smirked. “Be careful what you say to a demon.”

My eyes went wide.

Laughing, she swam to the edge then pulled herself up onto the pavers surrounding the pool. The welts no longer looked as fierce as they had a few moments ago.

“I heal fast,” she said. “Plus, the salt of the pool helps speed up the recovery.”

Abby leaned down and scooped up her clothes and shoes then headed inside.

17

Once Abby changed back into her clothes, and was no longer severely damaged from my touch, she yet again stuck her head in the fridge.

While she decided what to eat next, I took the opportunity to ask her about the woman I’d seen at the club. "Please tell me you know who I'm talking about—or at least that you saw her."

Leaning back, Abby peered at me around the open fridge door. “I saw a lot of people go into the Playground. You’re going to have to be a bit more specific." She grabbed a tub of yoghurt out of the fridge, closed the door, then went over to the cupboard. “Maybe if you describe her, I can figure out who you're talking about."

“Okay, she was about your height, slim, with almost black eyes, and her hair was the color of a raven, just like it was in my memory.

Abby stilled then grabbed a packet of chips out of the cupboard and put them down next to the yoghurt on the bench. "Are you sure it was the same person?"

I thought about the woman in my memory, and even though she was from a different time, there was no denying it. "I'm positive.”

Abby nodded then opened the drawer and pulled out a spoon. "There is no way to be certain, but from what you're saying about seeing her in your memories, I think it's safe to say that you’re describing a witch." She opened the yoghurt and dug her spoon in. "Not just any witch either. The raven hair only belongs to one group."

I didn't need her to tell me that the group she was referring to was bad news because I already knew. I could feel it. Everything about that woman chilled me to my core.

"We have to warn Marcus," I said.

"No can do."

"We have to,” I begged.

Abby put the tub of yoghurt down, then planted her hands on the bench. “I don't like this any more than you do, but I can't leave you. Marcus would literally kill me if anything happened to you. And before you start freaking yourself out, just remember that Marcus can hold his own. Marcus isn’t like the other Collectors. He’s faster, stronger, which is lucky for him having no wings.”

As much as I hated acknowledging defeat, I had to trust Abby. I couldn’t follow Marcus to wherever he’d gone. And for all I knew, we could’ve been walking into a trap if we went after them, and we’d wind up dead. That was not something I was prepared to lay on Marcus or Abby. My gut told me that the witch was trouble. I just had to trust Abby that she was right and Marcus and Justin could hold their own. After all, they were paranormal beings, and I was pretty sure they were above witches on the hierarchy. Plus, they could defeat Soul Scrapers, and I couldn’t imagine that witches could be any more powerful.

Abby picked up the tub and scooped some yoghurt onto her spoon then smiled. "Hey, at least we know the pendant works."

I scrunched up my face in confusion. "No, it didn't. I felt them. They had a hold of my ankle."

"Yeah, for about two seconds before their asses were fried."

I tilted my head. "Huh?"

Abby sighed. "You're seriously telling me that you didn't feel them let go?"

"Well, yeah, of course, I did, but I thought that was because you had taken me out of their reach."

"Nope. They let go first." She shoved another spoonful into her mouth.

I licked my lips. I was so thirsty from everything that happened tonight, or maybe it was just the thought of how close the Soul Scraper had been to sticking their tendrils down my throat again. I shook my thoughts away, grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge, and downed half the contents, but it did little to quench my thirst. It was as if the Soul Scrapers had ingrained themselves into me and nothing but time would make the feeling go away.

I screwed the bottle cap back on. "I'm going to take a shower.”

"Good idea,” Abby said. "Might help get rid of stench that the Soul Scrapers got all over you." She waved her hand under her nose.

I gaped at her. “I don't seriously stink, do I?"

She gave me an apologetic smile and nodded.

"Seriously?" I lifted my hands to my nose and sniffed. Apart from the lingering odor that went along with having a cast, I couldn't smell a thing. "I can't smell anything."

She shrugged "You may not be able to, but I can. And I can tell you that you reek of the bottom crawlers."

I furrowed my brow. "Why didn't Marcus tell me last time? I mean, they barely touched me this time, and you’re saying I stink. I can't even imagine how bad it would have been after they got their hands all over me and down my throat."

"That's because you’re his precious Lulu. You could forever be tainted with their smell, and he’d love you all the same."

Biting down on my smile, I turned around and trotted down the hall. There was nothing like knowing someone loved you even if you smelled like shit.

I closed the bedroom door behind me and switched the light on. Lying on the pillow of my bed was an old, leather bound journal.

I scowled. Where had that come from?

I placed the water bottle on the bedside table then crawled onto the bed and picked up the journal.

Leaning against the pillows, I sat cross-legged then opened the book and flicked through it. Page after page of handwritten notes with various drawings of creatures and symbols that I had never seen before stared back at me. I had no idea why Marcus hadn't mentioned leaving this book for me to read before he left but I was grateful for the distraction.

I decided to start at the beginning and work my way through. The first few pages were notes of some of the entities that walked this world and the next, some of whom I'd already heard of and others I was learning about for the first time. The journal then went on to describe a bearer of light who was to be born into this world, right the wrongs, and give back things that had been taken.

My mind went to the poem Mava had given me, and how it mentioned something about light. I put the book face down, so I didn't lose my page, leaned over, and opened the bedside drawer then pulled out Mava’s riddle.

“The moon rises, and

Light and Dark eclipse.

An ancient one will impede,
and memories will forget.

Time stands still until
the light will bloom,

And shines on the key that
unlocks the door to Destiny.”

No matter how many times I re-read the riddle, I couldn't make any headway with it. Yet, something about it niggled away at me. Mava believed in the prophecy and maybe what was written in the journal about the bearer of light, was it.

I re-read the riddle, focusing on the part pertaining to the light.

"And shines on the key that unlocks the door to destiny," I said under my breath.

I spent the next twenty minutes staring at the pages of both the riddle and what appeared to be a prophecy about light. No matter how much I tried, I still couldn't find anything that tied the two together.

I folded the paper with the riddle and put it back in the drawer, and was about to finally go and have my shower when I was overcome by a not so niggling feeling urging me to continue. It was like a magnet pulling me back to the journal, and the information it contained.

Giving in, I propped myself up against the pillows, bent my knees, and leaned the book against my thighs then continued reading through the journal.

The next few pages contained various notes and symbols that looked interesting but held no power or connection to me. However, the pages that followed appeared to be a spell of some sort that could take someone's memory away.

“Holy shit,” I murmured.

With my heart practically beating a hole through my chest, I jumped out of bed and raced into the lounge room where I found Abby sitting on the couch, stuffing chips into her mouth while she watched TV.

I held the journal tightly against my chest. "You are not going to believe what I found!"

18

Abby rolled her eyes from the TV over to me. As soon as she saw the journal in my hands, she sat up straight. "Where did you get that?"

"It was on my bed. But that's not important,” I said in a rush. “What's important is that I found a spell that’s able to take someone’s memories away."

Abby got up so quickly I barely saw her move.

"Let me see." She grabbed the journal from me before I had a chance to hand it over. "Holy shit."

With her finger bookmarking the page with the spell, she flicked through the rest of the pages then looked up at me. "You said this was just lying on your bed? This couldn't have just appeared on its own. This isn't one of our books. And by ‘ours’ I mean those of us who are able to walk this world and the others."

"The book belongs to the witches, doesn't it?"

Abby nodded. "That's what I don't understand. There is no way they would let this fall into one of our kinds’ hands." She tapped the front of the cover. "This can't be from Marcus's collection.”

I shrugged a shoulder. "Maybe it is. I mean, Marcus did tell me that I should do some reading to try to help me catch up on all things about this world I’ve landed in. He could have easily put the book on my bed. And if you think about it, that's the only plausible explanation, because who else can get access to this place? You said that the only people who can get into Marcus’s house are those that he has allowed." I strained a laugh. "Even bugs can’t get through the magical barrier surrounding this place." I gestured around me.

"You've got a point, but I don't understand why Marcus would have kept this one from me." She drew her brows together. "Maybe it was Justin. He could have easily put it in your room at any time before you guys left tonight."

"That could be all well and true except for the fact that he never left us alone for a second. From the moment that asshole arrived, he didn't leave our side—not even to go to the bathroom."

I furrowed my brow. “Although he did stay outside with you for a while.”

“He didn’t leave my side either.” Abby frowned then returned her focus to the spell in the book. "This is huge."

"I know," I said, bouncing from one foot to the other. "Which is why I’m hoping you will agree to what I’m about to ask you."

Abby slowly lifted her gaze to meet mine. "Something tells me Marcus isn’t going to be happy with whatever it is you’re about to say."

I drew in a deep breath. “I’m hoping you'll agree to take me to see Astrid. I know she is not technically practising anymore, but she must know something about this. And, Marcus did say she easily agreed to put the protection spell on this for me." I picked the pendant up off my chest and rubbed it between my fingers.

Abby slowly shook her head. "As much as I'd love to see what Astrid has to say for herself, Marcus would kick my ass if he knew that I took you out without his permission."

I scrunched up my nose. "Who says Marcus has to know?” I felt guilty for going behind his back, but it was his back I was trying to save. “Besides, it's not as if the Soul Scrapers can get to me. We know the pendant works."

"As much as I'd love to see the look on Astrid’s face when I thank her for these,” Abby said, holding up her palms still covered in red burns, "I promised Marcus I would keep you safe, and he would kill me if he found out that we hadn't waited for him. Besides, it’s after two in the morning. Astrid is not going to be in her shop, and the bitch would probably light me on fire if I tried going anywhere near her house at this time of night."

I breathed out harshly. I didn't want to wait, but I could understand Abby's point. “Fine."

"You’ll have much better luck seeing her tomorrow with Marcus, when I'm not around.”

“Why without you?”

Abby returned to her spot on the couch. “Astrid has always lumped me in the same category as all the other demons."

"What about Marcus?"

Abby smirked. "Marcus is a special boy."

"But you always refer to him as ‘demon boy?’"

Abby chuckled. "That's just my little nickname for him. Marcus isn’t really a demon. Soul Collectors don't fall into any of the categories. They’re immune."

Abby leaned back, making herself comfortable again. "Now, you may as well go to bed. There is nothing we can do tonight—apart from driving yourself even more insane with different theories."

Begrudgingly, I nodded. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Night," she replied.

I returned to my bedroom with no intention of sleeping. I was too wired about the book to even think about going to bed. I was also still worried about the woman who had followed Marcus into the club. Between her and the spell I’d found, I didn’t think I was going to get any sleep that night.

After finally taking a shower, I curled up in bed with the journal and continued to read through its pages. There wasn't much in there that made sense to me. One section contained symbols similar to the ones we’d found around Marcus’s and Mava’s houses, which were labeled as the five elements—earth, air, fire, water, and spirit. It confirmed my suspicions that witches had tried to penetrate Marcus’s estate.

19

Light flooded the room as the sun rose over the water, concealing the shadows of the night and pretending that everything was okay again. Everything was not okay, though. Marcus still hadn’t come home, and that unnerving feeling that something was terribly wrong was growing stronger by the minute.

I hadn’t slept a wink and fatigue was starting to take over my body. Sometime in the last few hours, I had migrated from my room into Marcus's, hoping that his subtle smell that lingered on his sheets would’ve been enough to settle me and allow me at least a couple of hours sleep. It didn’t.

Leaning against the headboard, I pulled the pillow against my chest, lowered my head, and breathed in deeply.

The leather-bound journal was still open on my lap, and I was once again staring at the pages that mentioned the spell that would wipe someone's memories, praying that it would all just suddenly make sense.

Alas, it did not.

Mava’s riddle spoke of light and memories forgetting. She also spoke of the prophecy which I was sure was contained within the first portion of the book. What I needed was something like a big slap in the face telling me exactly what someone had done and why they wanted me dead.

I needed to find out more about the riddle. Everything Mava had said to me was based on me being the one the prophecy spoke of. The problem was, from what I could see, it was a witch’s prophecy, therefore, getting my hands on the information just became that much harder.

That damned little voice on my shoulder continued to whisper the words that Mava had spoken to me when she handed me the vial. I had no idea what the vial contained or even if it was safe. And no matter how much Marcus wished I would just forget the vial existed, I couldn't ignore her words that if I drank the contents, I would see.

There were a lot of things I didn't see—Mava’s house, for one. However, trusting her came with a monumental risk, with a cost that very likely was too much.

I didn't have long. My time was almost up in this life, and I was afraid that if I did take the chance and trust Mava, then there was a huge possibility that I was going to cut my time short with Marcus. I almost slapped myself. I had no idea what I was worried about when history had proven the only way I was capable of dying was from a knife to the heart at the hands of Marcus and only Marcus.

But that didn’t mean to say that I shouldn’t be afraid. They may not have been able to kill me, but they sure could screw me over, stealing any chance for Marcus and me to stop the curse in this lifetime. We had limited time, and I wasn’t about to do anything that could jeopardize our chances.

Placing Marcus’s pillow onto the mattress beside me, I climbed off the bed and went in search of Abby. I found her asleep in the exact spot I had left her in the night before, splayed out on the couch, with her head slightly tipped back.

No matter how much I wanted to go over there and shake her until she woke up, I didn't know her well enough to do something so forceful. For all I knew, she would go all demon on me the moment I touched her. Plus there was also the fact that I’d burn her thanks to my pendant. So, instead, I wandered into the kitchen and got busy making two cups of coffee.

Looking out the window, I prayed I'd see Justin come crashing out of the sky. I never thought I'd pray for such a thing about Justin when all I wanted to do was see the back of him last night. But seeing him meant that Marcus would be nearby—or at least it would confirm my fears that the woman from my memory had done something to him.

When the coffee machine finished doing its thing I carried the mugs into the lounge room and placed one on the table beside Abby.

It wasn't long before its aroma worked. She breathed in deeply, and then lazily opened her eyes, her gaze going straight to the coffee.

"I didn't know if you’re a morning coffee drinker, but I thought it would be a bit rude if I just made one for myself," I lied. The truth was, I had hoped that the smell would wake her up, and thankfully it did.

Twisting into a sitting position Abby grabbed the mug. "Thanks." She took a long sip then settled back in her seat. "Marcus isn't back, is he?"

I forced myself to take a seat on the edge of the sofa when all I wanted to do was get our asses out of there. I wanted to take action. I was so sick of sitting around waiting for Marcus to come home.

"No, he isn't,” I said, trying to sound calm. “He hasn't called either."

Abby swallowed hard.

"He should be back by now, shouldn't he?"

"Yeah, he should.” Abby glanced at my face, then added, "Or they could just be following another lead. Marcus has a tendency to get so focused on something he forgets the time."

I shook my head. "Not after what happened the other night. He promised me he would call before disappearing again."

"Well, maybe he's just stuck between veils like they were last time."

"Maybe," I said, quickly dismissing the idea. I had a feeling in my gut that something was terribly wrong. "Or, maybe that woman from my memory has something to do with it."

Abby studied me for a few moments. "She really got to you, didn’t she?"

"Yeah, she did. I don't know what she’d done to me in my memory, but whatever it was, it wasn't good."

Abby breathed out harshly then took a sip of her coffee.

We sat in silence for a few minutes before I finally worked up the courage to ask her about going to see Astrid again. "I know you said that we should wait for Marcus to return but—"

"You still think we should go see Astrid, don't you?"

"Yeah, I do. Maybe she might be able to help me figure out who this woman is that I saw last night."

Abby groaned. "Fine."

"Are you serious?" I figured it was going to take much more effort to convince her to take me to Astrid.

"Yes," she replied. "But I must warn you, Astrid doesn't really like me, so I’m not sure how much we’ll get out of her."

I jumped up off the couch, almost spilling my coffee. "That's okay. I'll do most of the talking. I'll go get dressed."

I dashed back to my room and changed into a clean pair of shorts and a tank top. Then, I grabbed the journal and tucked it into my bag.

"I'm ready," I said, practically skipping back into the lounge room. I was full of energy after staying stagnant for so long last night. I hated feeling helpless. I needed to be in control—even if it was just an illusion.

Abby stood from the couch and stretched out her arms. "Excited much?"

Ignoring her comment, I said, "So, how are we doing this?"

"As much as I'd love to fly, there is no way I'm putting myself through that kind of pain again. So, you drive, and I'll direct."

Guilt swept over me. I hated to think about how much pain Abby had been in when she’d rescued me from the Soul Scrapers last night.

"I'm so sorry," I said for what felt like the hundredth time.

"As I keep telling you, it's not your fault. Astrid is the one who did this to me, and I have more than a few words to say to her about it."

"As long as we get all the information we need before you have a go at her."

"Agreed."

It wasn't long before we were standing on the sidewalk, looking through the window of a store packed with customers searching through shelves and stands filled with crystals.

"This is it," Abby said.

I leaned closer to her.

"There are people in there. How can we talk to her about this?" I tapped the spine of the leather bound journal.

"We'll find a way." Abby went to touch the door handle, but the second her hand came in contact with the metal, a spark of electricity shot out toward her. She jumped back in surprise. "What the…"

20

I could practically see steam coming out of Abby’s ears as she glowered at the door of Astrid’s shop.

"Astrid!" Abby inspected the black singe marks on her fingers and palm then dropped her hand by her side. "Astrid! You better get your ass out here."

I grabbed Abby's arm to quiet her down, forgetting I had the exact same effect on her as the door did.

"Shit!" Abby jerked her arm away from my clutch.

"I'm so sorry," I said. "I didn't mean to. I just…" I sighed. "I'm sorry."

"I'm gonna kill that fucking bitch," Abby said through gritted teeth.

"But not before I show her this." I tapped the cover of the book in my bag.

"Fine," she conceded.

"Thank you." I reached for the door, praying that I wouldn’t be zapped as well. Relief flooded through me when nothing happened. I pushed open the door, then glanced back at Abby. “I won’t be long.”

Before she could respond, I slipped inside.

Negative emotions swarmed my senses as the customers searched for the perfect crystal that was going to make their problems go away.

Yeah, right.

Most of their emotions I could manage, particularly the ones searching for something to bring them good luck with winning the lottery or getting the job they desired. But the couple searching for a cure for the disease that would ultimately take the life of their only child was almost too much to handle. Cancer was a vicious evil that didn’t discriminate between wealth, color, creed, age, or gender. This family’s pain was one of the worst I had dealt with.

I swiped away the tears that had welled up in my eyes and searched for Astrid. It didn't take long for me to recognize her. She was staring at me with emerald eyes as if I had a glowing sign plastered to my head declaring who I was.

She swept through the crowded store, her wispy tie-dyed dress billowing from her sides. She looked like the definition of the Byron Bay hippie, not at all like Mava. Astrid was beautiful.

Cradling my elbow in her hand, she ushered me to the side.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, her voice barely audible.

"Um, I came here to ask you something. But, I don't think here is the right place." I looked around the room, trying to find somewhere a little more discreet. There was a door behind the register, which I assumed was a storeroom of some sort. "Is there somewhere we can go to discuss something?"

Astrid shook her head. "I'm too busy, as you can see." She gestured toward customers.

"I know. And I'm sorry, but it’s really important. And I promise I won't take up much of your time."

She glanced out the window at Abby who looked as if she were about to lose her shit at her. "The demon should’ve told you that I don't practice any more."

"She did. And I respect your decision. All I'm hoping is that you'll just give me some information about this." I pulled the journal out of my handbag.

Astrid's eyes lit up. "Where did you get that?

"Someone left it for me on my bed."

"You shouldn't have that." She went to grab it, but I moved it out of her reach.

She stared at me with as much frustration as Abby was displaying toward her.

Finally, she said, "Wait for me in the back.” She gestured behind the counter. “There is someone in here that I desperately need to help, which I'm sure you know exactly who I'm talking about."

I nodded. "Thank you. And I don't just mean about speaking with me."

The corner of her lips tipped up and she gave me a slight nod. Astrid wasn't nearly as retired as she was making everyone believe. I wasn't sure if it was just for extreme cases like the couple in the store or if it was something she did regularly, which would explain why so many flocked to her crystal shop. Either way, she had my respect.

Making my way through the crowd, I headed for the storeroom door. When I slipped inside, I sighed with relief at being able to distance myself from the emotions.

I stepped around the boxes stacked on the floor that looked as if they’d just been delivered and she hadn’t had a chance to put them away yet, then made my way to the shelves on the other side of the room.

I ran my hand along the smooth white counter as I studied the various crystals packaged in clear plastic drawers on top of the bench, until I found the crystal that resembled the one on my pendant.

“Tibetan quartz,” I said, reading the label.

My hand instinctively went to my pendant, a sense of security rushing through me, which I hadn’t felt before and wondered if it had something to do with being in the shop, surrounded by other crystals.

Curiosity brimming, I opened the drawer and picked up one of the Tibetan quartz. There was no rush of power like when I touched mine. It felt like any other rock.

I returned it to its spot, and pulled out the next drawer.

The door behind me opened, and Astrid walked in. I stifled a yelp, like I was a child caught with my hand in the cookie jar.

“I was… I was just looking,” I said, closing the drawer. “I promise I didn’t take anything.”

Astrid smiled wearily, her eyes no longer vibrant. She looked worn out as she made her way to a chair and collapsed into it. If I had to guess, it had everything to do with what she had done for the couple with the dying child who, I knew without asking, would make a miraculous recovery.

Blinking my tears away, I tried to ignore the emotions of the remainder of the people in the shop and focus on what I came there for.

Retrieving the journal from my bag, I opened the page containing the memory spell.

“As I said before, I respect that you’ve retired from the witchcraft you were involved in before.” I held up the book. “But, I was hoping you could tell me if I’m right in thinking that this spell will wipe away someone’s memories?”

Ignoring my question, she asked, “Where’s Marcus?”

“That’s what I want to know as well.”

She furrowed her brow. “What do you mean?”

Lowering the book, I decided to get the whole ‘where’s Marcus’ thing out of the way first because that was clearly where the conversation was heading. I didn’t want to be rude to the person who potentially was the only one who could help us.

“Marcus went somewhere last night to try to find out what happened all those years ago when he first met me, and after promising he would keep in contact with me, I haven’t seen or heard from him since.”

“Oh,” she said, tilting her head. “And that worries you?”

God, she sounded like every one of my shrinks. “Yeah, it worries me because he wasn’t meant to be gone for this long. And I know this might sound silly, but I saw a woman follow him into the Devil’s Playground last night and I don’t know who she is but I remember her.”

Her steely gaze pierced mine. “What did she look like?”

“She was Abby’s height with hair the color of a raven, porcelain skin, and dark brown, almost black eyes. But in my memory, she had an evil presence about her that even a human would feel.”

Astrid gripped the arms of the chair as she nearly stopped breathing.

21

Nerves rolled through me in waves as I watched the expression on Astrid’s face turn from shock to fear.

“Who is she?” I asked.

Astrid looked to the side, as if she were trying to figure out how to respond. Eventually, she raised out of the chair and took two steps toward me then whispered, “If it’s who I think it is, I’m going to warn you to stay away from her. Don’t do anything foolish. Just stay away.”

“Who is she?” I asked again.

“It doesn’t matter.”

I was about to say “the hell it doesn’t” when she continued.

“Mava’s disappearance is only a facade. You must look within yourself. You are blind, and you need to trust your instincts in order to see.”

“That sounds a hell of a lot like something Mava said to me.”

“She’s not as crazy as everyone believes.”

“Yeah, I kind of figured that one out already.”

“Good.” She nodded. “Well, then you need to trust yourself that you’ll make the right decision.”

“Decision about what?”

She took my hand in hers then placed her other hand on top. “When the time’s right, you’ll know.”

What was with witches and their riddles? Why would no one give me a straight answer? I was about to pull her up on it when she reached forward and touched my forehead while mumbling something under her breath. A jolt rushed through me, and I gasped.

Astrid swayed on her feet then collapsed to the floor. I wasn’t sure if I should touch her or if that was what set her off in the first place. I was cursed beyond anything I could comprehend.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, bending down beside her. “Are you okay?”

“I’ll be fine.” She waved me off. “And you didn’t do anything.” She raised her shaky hand and grabbed hold of my pendant. Her lips moved, but I couldn’t hear a word. A moment later, she said, “She can touch you again.”

I didn’t need to be told whom Astrid was referring to. I knew she’d meant Abby, and I was eternally grateful. “Thank you.”

Astrid drew in a shallow breath. “Go.”

“I can’t just leave you here.”

“You don’t have a choice,” she said, pulling herself up into a sitting position then leaned against the box behind her. “I’ll be fine in a few minutes. But you… You need to leave. You need to remember what I said, and trust in yourself when the time comes.”

I nodded then looked at the journal, realizing I hadn’t even spoken to her about what I’d come there for.

Following my gaze, she said, “Everything in there is true. Memories can be taken, and in order for you to find out what was taken from you, you’ll need to do as I said, and trust yourself. You need to open your eyes, and I don’t mean the pretty brown ones on your face.”

She took another shallow breath then closed her eyes. “Don’t mention to anyone what I’ve said. I know you think you can trust Abby, and you’re right, but this must stay between us.” She opened her eyes and looked at me with a sense of desperation. “It’s imperative.”

I didn’t respond. Nothing she said made sense.

“Promise me,” she said.

Not really understanding why it was so important, I nodded, anyway. “Okay. I promise.”

“You are much more than you realize.” She gave me a weak smile.

“Are you sure you’ll be alright?” I asked.

“I’ll be fine in a few minutes.”

“Okay.” I backed up to the door. “Thank you.”

I wasn’t exactly sure what I was thankful for. Hell, I had no idea what had even happened in the last few minutes. Whatever it was, it took almost all of Astrid’s energy out of her and for a supposedly retired witch, that was huge.

“Trust in yourself,” she whispered as I closed the door behind me.

As I exited the store, Abby practically jumped on me but pulled short of actually touching me. "What did she say?"

We started walking back to the car.

"Not much," I said keeping my promise to Astrid. "She confirmed there is a spell that has the power to take away my memory, which we already basically knew thanks to Mava.”

"Does she know where Mava disappeared to?”

I shook my head as I got into the driver's seat and started the engine. "Astrid really didn't tell me much. She kept going on about how she no longer practices, but she did confirm that this is a book of witch’s spells and didn't seem at all happy that I had possession of it.

"I knew that bitch wouldn’t give you jack shit."

I pulled out of the parking spot and onto the road. "She may not have told me anything really useful, but she did do something else for us."

"What? Did she tell you where Marcus is?"

"I wish. But no, she didn't know anything about Marcus or where he might be. However, she did do this for us." I placed my hand on her arm.

Abby's eyes widened with a mixture of fear and anticipation, then I could practically feel the relief flooding off her when it became apparent I could once again touch her without zapping her.

"Oh, thank God," Abby said. "If I had to keep driving around in these things I’d go out of my mind." She gestured to the car.

I started to laugh, but stopped when I realized Abby hadn’t been able to use her wings for not even a day and she was already going out of her mind; I could only imagine how hard it had been for Marcus when he'd gone without his wings for centuries.

During the remainder of the drive home, I couldn't stop thinking about the conversation I'd had with Astrid. Even though she hadn't come right out and said it, I believed she somehow knew about the vial that Mava had given me and was telling me to trust myself.

Deep down I knew what I had to do. I’d promised Marcus I wouldn't touch the vial and although I’d had every intention of keeping the promise at the time I’d made it to him, things had changed. Marcus was missing and whoever that woman was spelled trouble with a capital T.

“Pull over!” Abby yelled, yanking at the steering wheel.

The car fishtailed as I slammed on the brakes and tried to recover. Thankfully, we didn’t end up in the ditch on the side of the road. I opened my mouth to have a go at Abby when she cut me off.

"Get out," she practically screamed me.

I didn’t have to be told twice. I could feel them myself.

I threw open the car door and climbed out. Four sets of blood-red eyes stared at me through the darkness of the forest as they bounded towards us.

Abby didn't bother to expose her wings before she grabbed me around the waist and pushed off the ground. The red-eyed monsters became more visible, running at us on four legs, yellow teeth bared. They bounded on top of the car and hurled themselves into the air, jaws snapping and claws slashing as they tried to get us.

22

Abby's massive black feathers blocked my view of those hellish creatures as she pounded her wings, taking us higher into the sky.

I wasn't sure if I’d taken a single breath from the time the creatures attacked to the moment we touched down safely inside the dome of Marcus's home.

It took me a few seconds to work up the ability to ask, "What the hell were they?"

"Hellhounds." Abby tucked her wings behind her, and they disappeared into her back. "I'm sure the pendant would’ve kept them from taking you, but that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t have done some real damage before they got zapped.”

I thought about those rancid sharp teeth. They didn't look like any wild cat or dog teeth I’d ever seen. The Hellhounds teeth were razor-sharp, jagged needles of pain. More like shark teeth.

"Thank you," I said. "Although ‘thank you’ really isn’t enough."

A new round of guilt rushed through me after what she’d just saved me from. I didn't like lying to her about what Astrid had said to me and I just hoped that I wasn't going to regret it.

Abby and I tried calling Marcus again but just like the other times, he didn't answer. Abby even tried to call Justin, but he didn’t pick up, either.

With the vial Mava had given me consuming my thoughts, I made an excuse of being tired and headed to my bedroom. I closed the door behind me then opened the drawer beside my bed to get out the vial.

It wasn’t there.

Furrowing my brow, I ransacked the drawer. I didn’t find it. “Shit.”

Hoping I’d got my hiding spot wrong, I opened the drawer above it and sifted through it. The vial wasn’t there, either.

I headed over to the closet and spent the next five minutes rifling through every nook and cranny, but still no luck.

Fear ripped through me, and I prayed whoever had put the journal on my pillow hadn't also taken the vial, which potentially was the only thing that could’ve helped me find Marcus.

"Marcus," I whispered.

I slipped out my room and tiptoed to his, careful to quietly close his door behind me.

I pressed my ear against the door and listened to see if Abby was coming this way. The last thing I wanted was to be caught snooping through Marcus’s stuff.

Satisfied that Abby wasn't coming, I went over to the bedside tables in turn, opened the drawers, and sifted through his personal possessions as I searched for the vial.

Coming up empty, I headed into his closet. It was even bigger than mine. I went through the built-in drawers, but again I couldn't find what I was looking for. I then went through the various compartments moving around ties, boxers and socks but still came up empty handed.

The last place left to search was the top shelf, which of course I couldn't reach. So, I dragged the ottoman over from the centre of the closet, climbed on top, and reached up. I was almost convinced that there was nothing to be found when the tips of my fingers brushed against something hard. I tried reaching further, but it was no use. I couldn't get a good grasp on whatever it was to pull it down.

With my hands on my hips, I looked around the closet, trying to figure out how I could make myself that little bit taller so I could get to the mystery item. There were no other chairs, tables, or anything else I could drag over. The only other thing I could do was climb.

"Ah, what the hell," I muttered.

Carefully, I placed my foot on the shelf then pulled myself up just a bit higher, allowing me to get my hand on what appeared to be a box, and dragged it toward the edge. It was heavy, and I needed to use two hands.

Bracing myself for a quick grab, I let go of the shelf I was using to steady myself and grabbed the box then landed back onto the Ottoman, with the big black box in my hands.

Stepping onto the floor, I sat, and rested the box on my lap.

As I lifted the lid, my gaze fell on a photo of Marcus and me. My heart constricted with a deep sense of longing. I didn't remember ever having our picture taken, but I could tell we were happy. By the condition of the photo, I figured it must have been taken sometime in my last lifetime.

I picked it up and traced the lines of Marcus’s face, wishing I could feel him once again. My heart ached to touch him, and I hated feeling helpless. I needed to find the vial.

Taking one last look at the photo, I placed it back and did my best to ignore all the other memories Marcus had kept of us as I searched through the contents. A smile broke across my face when I saw the glistening liquid inside the vial.

Relief flooding through me, I wrapped my fingers around the glass and held it tightly in my hand.

Figuring I needed a safe place to hide the vial until I was ready, I tucked it into my cast. It was a snug fit, but it would do. I smiled at the small infinity symbol Marcus had drawn on my cast. So much had happened since the day he’d gone with me to the hospital. I had been clueless to our relationship, and I now knew that the disgust I’d thought I’d seen in his eyes was actually torment. He was consumed with pain and a deep sense of responsibility for what I was putting myself through. It must’ve been so hard for him to see what I’d done to myself and not be able to say all the things he wanted to tell me.

I sighed. I wished I could’ve gone back in time and stopped myself from wasting my time with him. I wished I could’ve trusted my feelings toward him and had known they were mine. It hadn’t taken me that long to give in to my connection with him, but I’d still missed out on precious moments. And moments were all we had.

I shook that thought away. I was over moments. Marcus and I were going to have forever.

With the vial safely stored within easy reach, I went to check on Abby. I desperately wanted to see what else Marcus had in the box, but I knew that once I’d started, I wasn't going to be able to stop until I’d read and looked through everything within it.

With all intentions of pretending I needed a drink, I went back into the main living area where I found Abby with a half-empty bottle of wine in her hand.

"Don't say anything," she warned then took a swig.

As much as I didn't want her drinking, the fact that she was drunk was going to play well for me.

"I wasn’t going to say anything." I continued to the kitchen. "I came out here for a drink myself."

"Not alcohol, I hope!" Abby called out to me.

I grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge then made my way back into the lounge room.

"Nope. Just this." I unscrewed the lid and took a small sip. "But why are you trying to warn me off alcohol?"

Abby took another sip then lowered the bottle to her lap. "I already have one alcoholic on my hands; I don't need another."

I drew my eyebrows together trying to figure out what she meant. Then it dawned on me; she wasn’t referring to herself. She was referring to Marcus. Only he seemed to be able to quit cold turkey as soon as I was ready to come back into his life again.

"I’m going to go and lie down for a bit," I said, deciding now was a good time to go through the box. "Is there anything you need?"

"Nope. I got everything I need right here.” She patted the neck of the bottle.

Feeling a bit guilty for leaving her there to drink on her own, I turned on my heels and trotted off toward the bedrooms.

Once safely inside Marcus’s room, I grabbed the black box and carried it over to the bed, climbed on top, and sat cross-legged in the middle of the mattress.

Carefully, I lifted the lid then removed the photo and placed them both on the end of the bed. I then picked up a piece of paper that had been folded in half. Opening it, I instantly recognized the writing as my own, although the name I’d signed off on was one I’d never heard before. It was a letter from my previous life dated nineteen-nighty-nine.

Marcus,

You have lifted the darkness that consumed my soul, but I would give it all back if I was able to release you from your demons. I know you tell me it’s okay, but I’ve seen the way you look at me… It’s as if you’re fighting something you can’t control and it’s killing me. I wish you’d let me save you as you’ve saved me.

Please let me in.

Cassie

I bit my lip as I placed the letter back in the box and pulled out what appeared to be a photo album. I set it on my lap, then opened it. There on the first page was a sketch of me from a different time. I looked the same as I did now only I wore clothes from a different era.

I wondered if that was of me in the beginning, when we first met. The look in my eyes told me I was in love and I wished with all my heart that I could remember that moment.

Flipping the page, I was welcomed with more sketches and photos of Marcus and me spanning the years. In most of the pictures we looked happy, although there were a few that made me think I wasn’t as in love with him as he was with me. Those photos were my undoing. I was so mad at my previous self for wasting time that we didn’t have. And now I was losing time again.

As I removed a photo from my last life, a tear slipped from my eyes as I saw how happy we’d been. We were sitting on the edge of the pool, laughing about something I didn’t remember. And even though there was that darkness in Marcus’s gaze, I knew it was only because of what was coming.

With a heavy heart and the photo of the two of us in my hand, I dialled Marcus's number again, praying that this time he would answer. But like the other times, he didn't. He didn't even have a message so I could listen to his voice.

I dropped the phone on the bed and curled up with his pillow as I looked once more at the photo of the two of us during happier times.

Tears slipped from my eyes as a new memory came to me. I remembered the day we had the photo taken so clearly. I was so happy that I’d found Marcus. I couldn't believe someone so perfect for me could exist. He’d still had his demons, which of course I hadn’t understood what they were at the time. I’d just thought he'd had some bad experience that was going to take years for him to be able to confide in me. The sad thing was, at the time, I thought we had years left. I had no idea that within months, I was going to die at his hands.

I squeezed my eyes shut as more tears slipped out. I wanted to feel him in my arms more than I'd ever wanted anything in my entire life. Fear that it may never happen again in this lifetime choked me.

Opening my eyes, my gaze went straight to the tip of the vial hiding in my cast.

I pulled it out and held it next to the photo. I knew what I had to do. I had no other choice.

Pulling myself into a sitting position, I grabbed my phone and tried Marcus one last time. Again, he did not answer.

With my heart beating erratically, my stomach lurched as I opened the vial and stared at the gooey, glistening contents. I knew I had to do it, but that didn't make it any easier. I was scared out of my mind, but I had to be brave for Marcus.

I couldn't live with myself knowing that he needed my help and I was too afraid to do what was necessary. This was the only way I could help him. Astrid had said that I needed to trust I would make the right decision and that was exactly what I was going to do.

With shaky hands, I lifted the vial to my lips and slowly tipped it up until the bitter contents spilled into my mouth and rolled down my throat.

Within seconds, my vision began to sway and my head felt fuzzy. My heart rate began to lower until I could barely feel a beat and I collapsed on the bed.

I tried to lift my arm, but it wouldn't move. I tried to scream out to Abby, but my mouth wouldn't open. I was completely paralyzed. I couldn't even move my eyes.

Mava had screwed me over.

23

I lay on the bed for what seemed like an eternity, my mind trapped in the decision I’d made to trust the crazy woman and break my promise to the man I loved.

Night fell, and the moon no longer hovered directly above. I had never taken notice of how the moon moved through the night sky just like the sun until I had no choice but to stare, unblinking, at the sky through the window of my room.

Abby didn’t come to check on me once. She probably didn’t want to disturb my sleep.

Everything Mava and Astrid had said to me played like a movie on repeat in my mind. Then there was Marcus pleading for me not to touch the vial. He knew there was a huge possibility that Mava wasn’t as trustworthy as she wanted us to believe. He knew that something could’ve gone wrong. Yet I did it, anyway. And now I was left completely aware, with absolutely no control over my body.

I wanted to scream, I wanted to cry, but mostly I wanted to take back my reckless decision to drink something I knew nothing about. I had trusted the wrong person, and now, it wasn’t just me that would pay the price. Marcus was still gone, and there was nothing I could do to find him.

Light started to fill the sky, then the sun began to rise over the water as the waves rolled onto the shoreline. It was another deceptively perfect day. One that would bring—

My thoughts were interrupted by Marcus’s voice coming from the other end of the house, followed by another man’s muffled voice, which I presumed was Justin.

My chest tightened with a mixture of relief and fear. Marcus was okay. Marcus was safe. But—and there was a big but—Marcus was about to find me. He was going to think I was dead at first, but then he had to see that I was still alive and be able to find help to right the wrong. I knew it would only be moments that he would think the worst, but it would be real for him all the same.

A few seconds later, I heard the pad of footsteps that stopped outside my bedroom door. There was a faint knock, and then another when I didn’t answer.

He continued down the hall, then opened the door to his bedroom. I couldn’t see him as my head was facing the opposite direction, but it made no difference. I could feel the shift of energy in the room almost instantaneously.

“Lucy?” He hesitated. “Lucy?”

Marcus made his way around the foot of the bed and froze, his eyes wide. Then fear took over.

In a panic, he rushed to my side. “Lucy?” He caressed the side of my face. “Please. No. No. Please, no.”

My heart smashed into a million pieces as I watched, completely unable to stop him from spiralling out of control as he dealt with what he thought was my death. I wanted to hug him, and tell him it was okay—I would be okay. But I may as well have been dead because I couldn’t do or say a single thing. All I could do was watch him go through something no one should ever have to. And I was powerless to stop his pain.

Shock turned to rage as tears welled in his eyes. “This can’t be happening. It’s not time. It’s not fucking time!”

He climbed onto the bed and cradled me against his heaving chest as his heart ripped in two. “It’s not your time. It’s not…”

Marcus rolled me with him as he reached for something across the bed then brought it in front of his face. It was the vial.

“I’m going to fuckin’ kill her.” He threw the vial, smashing it against the wall.

Marcus wrapped me in his embrace and placed tender kisses on my forehead as Justin and Abby practically flew into the room.

“What’s wrong?” Abby asked. “What was that—” She rushed over to us and climbed on the bed. “Oh, no, no.”

“Shit,” Justin said, his gaze falling to the floor.

Abby placed her fingers on my wrist, checking for a pulse. “Come on,” she said. But no sign of a heartbeat must have come because all hope dropped from her face. “This can’t be happening… I didn’t know.” She placed her hand on Marcus’s forearm and slowly rubbed it. “I swear she was okay last night.”

I pleaded with her through my vacant eyes to realize I was alive. She didn’t.

Abby turned her attention to Marcus, sorrow filling her gaze.

“She drank the vial Mava gave her,” Marcus said through tears.

I wanted to scream out to him that I was still alive. How could he not know? He was a Soul Collector. He was supposed to be able to see souls, and I was pretty sure that my soul was still locked away in my body because I was still alive!

He leaned down and rested his lips against the top of my head and breathed in deeply. “This is all my fault. I never should’ve gone after Titus. I should’ve accepted what we have and not try to change it. Because…”

I wanted to know what was after the “because,” but he never finished his sentence.

“It’s not your fault,” Abby said. “This is no one’s fault.”

Marcus lifted his head, looking toward the closet. “Yeah. It’s Justin’s fault.”

With rage coursing through his expression, Marcus gently laid me on the bed then rushed toward Justin’s direction, disappearing from my view. “This is your fault.” Something crashed that sounded a lot like when Justin had gone through the front door.

“Marcus!” Abby screamed. “Stop.”

As much as I hated Justin, I had to agree with Abby. This was not his fault. It was my fault for trusting Mava and Astrid who I’d only just met. I 'd let fear drive me to do something I would forever regret.

Another thump, followed by a grunt then something broke as it crashed to the floor.

“Marcus!” Abby practically flew off the bed toward the boys.

Giving it everything I had, I tried desperately to get up, or at least turn my head so I could see them but once again, I was staring out the window.

“I’m sorry,” Justin said. “But I couldn’t have known she would listen to Mava. I didn’t even know Mava had given her anything.”

“So you’re saying this is my fault?” Marcus practically screamed at him. “If you hadn’t fucked up from the start. If you had told me the truth then maybe this wouldn’t have happened. Maybe I would’ve figured this out by now, and Lucy wouldn’t be lying there dead.

“She’s dead,” Marcus repeated, sounding as if he were breaking down again. “And you’re right. It’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have left her.”

“It’s not your fault,” Abby said, soothingly. “None of us could’ve known what Luciana was going to do.”

Marcus climbed onto the bed and once again pulled me into his arms as he leaned against the headboard.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered. He caressed the side of my face with his hand. “I’m so sorry.”

I pleaded with him to see that I was still alive inside my head. I needed him to see me. All this time Mava and even Astrid had gone on about me needing to ‘see,’ and look where that got me. I could see. That’s all I could do.

Abby came into view and placed her hand on Marcus’s shoulder. “We’ll be in the lounge room if you need anything.” She gave him a sad smile then left the room, closing the door behind her.

24

Marcus cradled me in his arms for what felt like hours before Abby came back into the room with a bottle of scotch in her hand.

Great. She was drinking again.

Instead of lifting it to her lips, she handed the bottle to Marcus. “Here you go.”

I wanted to scream at him to stop. I needed him to be sober. To figure this out and save me, not drink himself into a stupor. But that was exactly what he did.

Abby left us alone, coming back every so often to hand Marcus another bottle. On the fourth trip, she brought one for herself and another two refills, as well. She put two bottles on the bedside table then climbed onto the bed and sat beside Marcus.

“Tomorrow we’re going to figure this shit out,” she said. “But for now…” She lifted her bottle as if she were giving a toast. “Now, we’ll drink.”

She pressed the opening against her lips then drank until at least half the bottle was gone.

Marcus raised his bottle. “To Lucy.”

She clinked her bottle against his. “To Lucy.”

They both finished their bottle then Abby replaced them with the ones she’d brought in preparation. This time they took it a bit slower.

“You know,” Marcus said, hitting his knee against Abby’s, “I thought this time would be different. I mean, I really thought it would be different. And now I don’t even know if there will be another life for her. She’s only meant to be able to die by my hands.”

“This doesn’t make any sense.” Abby’s eyes glistened under the light.

“Hold this.” Marcus handed his bottle to her then softly pressed his fingertips against my eyelids and slid them down, taking away my vision.

No, no, no! As much as it hurt to watch Marcus go through this pain, I wanted to see him. I needed to see him. Now all I could rely on was my hearing.

In the darkness, I relished the feeling of his warm embrace. That was what I needed to focus on because I had no idea what was coming, but one thing I knew for sure, Marcus would not hold onto me for the rest of eternity.

As if hearing my thoughts, Abby said, “Justin said he’d take her for you.”

Fear ripped through my soul. Marcus couldn’t be that foolish. He couldn’t let me go. He had to figure out that I was still alive. He just had to.

“Screw that,” Marcus replied, relief washing over me. “He’s not putting a finger on her.”

“You know this really isn’t his fault, right?” When Marcus didn’t answer, she said, “Right?”

Marcus breathed out harshly. “Doesn’t make me want to blame him any less.”

“If that’s what you need, then blame him all you want, but it doesn’t change the fact that you shouldn’t be the one to bring her in. You’ve never done it so far, and now we have even fewer people we can trust.”

Marcus strained a laugh. “And you’re saying we can trust Justin?”

“I’m saying that maybe Justin should be the one. He’s willing—and he’s sorry. That guy is sitting out there tearing himself apart. He blames himself for everything that’s happened, and no matter how much he has pissed you off, he’s still here. He was once your best friend, and the only thing he’s guilty of is the fact that he palmed off his collection onto you and didn’t tell you that he’d later found out that she wasn’t meant to die.”

“And I’m now supposed to feel sorry for the guy?”

“That’s not what I’m saying. What I’m trying to say is that maybe you should put yourself in his shoes for a second and think about what you would’ve done if the situation were reversed and you found out that your best friend was stuck in a loop of hell and was never meant to be that way. If he had collected her soul then maybe you and Lucy wouldn’t be going through all this.”

“I would’ve told him,” Marcus said. “No matter what.”

“Well, now he has.”

Marcus remained silent, and Abby didn’t push any further. All I could hear was the guzzling of the alcohol as they both drank themselves into a stupor.

25

Marcus stayed with me all through the night. I kept hoping that the potion would wear off and I’d at least get my voice back, so I could tell him that I was still alive.

That didn’t happen.

I stayed in my paralyzed state, listening to the heart wrenching pain he was experiencing from losing me again, topped with the fear of not knowing if that night at the Devil’s Playground was the last time he would ever get to see me again, hold me in his arms, feel my warm lips against his, and hear the sweet sound of my voice.

Marcus told me he would not only make Mava pay for what she’d done, but also that if he was lucky enough to be given the chance of me coming back into his life, he was going to spend the next eighteen years figuring out who’d placed this curse on us, what they had to gain, and make sure that when the time was right for us to be reunited, he would be ready for us to put an end to it all.

I was absolutely heartbroken by the time Justin came knocking on the door.

"Let me know when you're ready," he said, his voice full of sorrow.

Marcus stroked the side of my face. "I'll never be ready." He sighed. “I wish I could see her soul."

"No, you don’t," Justin said. "Because if you could, that would mean Lucy is really gone forever."

A few moments had passed before Marcus asked, “Do you think she’ll come back?"

"I have no doubt," Justin said with a small smile in his tone that pricked my curiosity. “She’ll be back before you know it.”

The door closed, leaving Marcus and me once again alone.

He continued to stroke my cheek. “I hope he’s right.”

Oh, Justin was right. I wasn’t dead. I was alive and listening. And what I heard Justin say wasn’t what Marcus had heard. Marcus was stuck in the loss of me, and couldn’t read between the lines. Me, on the other hand, all I could do was focus on the words. And something told me that Justin knew I was still alive.

The light from the sun had long disappeared before Justin and Abby came back.

“It’s time,” Abby said, her voice sounding as if she were standing beside the bed.

Marcus tightened his grip on me.“I can’t.”

“I know,” she replied, her tone filled with warmth and understanding.

“This Luciana is gone,” Justin said. “And she’s already alive, waiting until the time is right for you two to be reunited.”

The hell I’m gone!

I wanted to punch him in the face. He knew. I don’t know how I knew he knew, I just did.

“I love you,” Marcus whispered into my ear then kissed my forehead. “I’ll be ready and waiting for you. I promise.” He loosened his grip on me.

I wanted to scream at him not to let me go. He couldn’t trust Justin. He should never have trusted Justin. I was terrified of where he was going to take me, and I needed Marcus to save me. I needed him. But he thought I was already gone.

My hope surged when I felt Abby take me in her arms. We could trust Abby. She wouldn’t hurt me. She’d spent the last few hundred years helping Marcus cope with our vicious cycle.

All my hope shattered as she passed me to Justin.

“I promise I’ll take care of her,” Justin said as someone opened the sliding door to the back patio.

Please don’t let him take me! I tried to yell to Marcus. If we were so connected, then maybe he could hear my thoughts.

Yeah, that didn’t work out.

We may have been connected, but that didn’t mean either of us were telepathic. Even in a world filled with supernatural creatures, that shit just didn’t exist.

The cool night air enveloped me as Justin stepped outside. A moment later my stomach dropped out when he took off into the sky, carrying me to an unknown destination. My nerves were a complete wreck. I was petrified of what lay ahead.

Justin raised me in his arms, brushing his face against mine.

“I know you must be terrified right now,” he said. “But I promise you’ll soon understand. Everything will be alright.”

My blood froze. I was right. Justin had planned this all along.

26

It wasn't long before I felt the jolt that came along with the landing. Justin rearranged me in his arms.

"Now you can see," he said lifting my eyelids.

Before us stood Mava’s house, the one that had disappeared only days before. It was right back where it was supposed to be.

Justin chuckled. "It's pretty amazing, huh?"

Pretty amazing was the understatement of the century. And as much as I tried to wrap my head around what I was seeing, the fear of what he was about to do with me consumed my thoughts.

Still carrying me, he walked right up to the front door, gave a little tap with his knuckles, and then entered.

"There she is," Mava said, not sounding the slightest bit insane as she drifted closer to me. She caressed the side of my face with the tips of her fingers. "Don't worry, dear. I will explain everything to you in a few moments." She stepped back and pointed to the side. "Go on through.”

Following Mava’s direction, Justin carried me into to the lounge room then walked straight through a wall. A freaking wall!

Panic reared its ugly head as I feared that I was no longer in my dimension and Justin had pulled me through one of the veils. If that was true, I had no hope in hell of getting back to Marcus. For all I knew, he was about to hand me over to the Soul Scrapers.

As if sensing my fear, Justin said, "You're safe. No one is going to hurt you."

He already had.

The room was dark. I could barely make the outline of the objects surrounding us. Shadows danced in the corner of my eyes, and I had no idea if it were the Soul Scrapers, or if it was just plain old shadows. Either way, it still set my nerves on edge.

"Let there be light," Mava said.

A soft glow emitted from a mystical ball that hovered just above our heads in the center of the room. A second later it intensified to a warm white light, which flooded the room, chasing away the shadows.

Justin carried me to the end of the room and laid me on a plush couch. He then took a couple of steps backwards, allowing Mava to get closer to me.

She leaned over the top of me so I could see her face. "Justin believes we should leave you in this state while I explain what we have done to you and the reasons why. But, I believe that you are ready for the truth, and even though you are upset, I have complete faith in you. I know you will do the right thing."

Oh, God, I wanted to prove Justin wrong. However, all I wanted to do was scream at the top of my lungs so Marcus could save me from these two crazy people who were holding me captive. Except Marcus wouldn’t be able to hear me.

I was on my own, and I had no hope in hell of getting back to my own dimension. I couldn't control the veils. I had no idea how any of the supernatural world worked.

"She'll stay," a familiar voice said from somewhere in the dark shadows of the outskirts of the room.

Astrid.

Coming into view, she said, "Luciana knows what’s at stake. And she will do whatever it takes to make sure she and Marcus have their forever that she so desperately wants."

The bitch knew. Everything she’d said was a setup. If I hadn't found the journal, I wouldn’t have gone to see her that day, and I wouldn't have drank the vial. I would be at home right now curled up in Marcus's arms. Instead, he was at home mourning the loss of me.

I sighed internally. Who was I kidding? Something deep inside of me was telling me that drinking the vial was exactly what I needed to do.

Mava sat on the edge of the couch and placed her hand over mine.

"Please let us explain." She reached behind me, retrieved a small bowl of water, and sat it on her lap.

She dipped her finger inside then placed it on my forehead, right between the eyebrows. She then murmured something under her breath, and within seconds I had control of my body again.

She jumped back as I jerked myself into a sitting position, gasping and filling my lungs with air.

There were a million questions that had been running through my head, but there was only one that I desperately needed to say.

"You have got to tell Marcus that I'm still alive,” I pleaded, glancing between the three of them.

Marcus was beyond devastated, and he didn't need to be. These three people had the ability to make his pain go away. By the look on their faces, not a single one agreed with me.

"We cannot do that, Luciana," Mava said, as if it was set in stone.

"The hell you can't. You drugged me. You lied to us. And now Marcus is at home going out of his mind because he thinks there isn't going to be another chance for us. He thinks this is it and you're telling me that you won't? You're telling me that you think it's okay for him to go through absolute hell while we all know I'm still alive?"

"It’s a necessary evil," Justin said.

"Shut up!" I darted over to him. "You of all people should know what he’s going through. You were there. You saw him! And you’re refusing to tell him that I'm okay? You're supposed to be his best friend! Best friends don't do that to each other."

I turned away from him, unable to look at the asshole any longer.

"Don’t take this out on Justin," Astrid said." "This is not his fault. And we’re lucky that he was able to help."

"Help?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing. No one was helping. They’d friggin’ kidnapped me after putting me in some type of paralyzed state.

I glared at her, anger boiling inside of me as the steps she’d taken to make sure I’d listened to her became clear. "That's why you wouldn't let Abby into the shop, wasn't it?"

Astrid nodded. “I don't hate Abby like she believes I do. In fact, she has been an integral part of this plan—"

My eyes practically popped out of my head. "She knew?"

"No," Justin jumped in. "Abby knows just as much as Marcus, which is zip."

I scowled at him. "Like I’m going to believe anything that comes out of your mouth."

I was seething with rage and I could barely hold back.

"Why don’t you come sit down and have some tea? It will help you calm down." Astrid gestured toward the couch.

"I don't want tea. I want answers!” I threw my hands in the air. “More importantly, I want someone to tell Marcus what is going on here!"

Justin shook his head. "I knew we should've left her paralyzed until we had a chance to explain."

I breathed out in frustration, trying to refrain from running over to him and shoving the ball of light down his throat. No matter what I said, not a single one of them planned on helping me. Being angry wasn't getting me anywhere, though. If I wanted to get out of wherever I was, I needed to listen to what they had to say.

I needed to play them just like they’d played me.

"Fine. I’ll Listen,” I said, barely managing to control my anger as I paced the length of the room. I couldn’t sit still. My body was in flight mode, and I had nowhere to go. “Explain to me why you’ve all lied to us, why you've drugged me and made everyone believe that I’m dead. Why you kidnapped me, and why the hell it is so important that Marcus believes I'm dead."

"I'll go make us some tea," Astrid said.

Mava nodded then turned her attention to me. "I understand this must be hard for you, but I truly believe that once you hear everything we have to say, you will be more than happy to stay here with me. And you’ll understand how necessary it is that Marcus continues to believe that you are dead."

"What could be so important for you to go to all this trouble?" I waved my hands around the creeptacular room.

I’d thought Mava’s shack was creepy, but this room was taking it to a whole new level. Unlike Mava’s, this place was furnished with classic pieces that must’ve dated back centuries. None of that old and crappy stuff either. Everything in the room had to be worth a fortune. And I didn’t even want to get started on that orb hovering just below the ceiling. That was enough for me to lose my mind—especially if I looked at it for more than a second.

I shivered as my eyes darted to the orb and I saw movement within that looked way too much like souls.

Mava glided over to the couch and lowered herself onto the end seat.

Their witchcraft was real. And it was scaring the crap out of me. What hope did I have against a freaking witch who had powers above my comprehension?

“I have been planning this for many years, and I’ve been waiting for the moment you were ready." Mava chuckled. "It wasn’t easy making everyone believe I was crazy for this length of time. But it was necessary.”

I came to a standstill and put my hands on my hips. “Necessary for what?”

She tilted her head slightly to the side and smiled. “For you to discover who you really are and what your purpose on Earth is. Far too long you’ve been living a lie, not knowing who you truly are, and what you were created for.”

“Hold up,” I said. “I was created?”

Mava smiled again and I wanted to rip it off her face. Now was not the time for smiling. This was serious. I needed answers, and I needed to get back to Marcus.

“Yes, dear. You have made some enemies through no fault of your own,” Mava said as Astrid came back into the room carrying a tray with a teapot and four cups. “And it is our duty to help you find what was taken from you.”

“My memory?” I asked as Astrid placed the tray on the mahogany side table.

“Yes, dear.” Mava smiled again. “An evil has lurked among us for far too long and has done everything within its power to make sure the scale stays where it is for their own selfish reasons.”

I slowly shook my head as I tried to make sense of what she just said. Of course, I couldn’t.

“You are lucky that Justin was off goofing around when he was supposed to do your collection, otherwise…” She sighed. “Who knows what would’ve happened.”

Mava picked a delicate rose covered cup up and took an elegant sip. She was far from the woman I first met with Abby. It must’ve been hell to keep up the appearance of such a crazy woman if this was who she really was.

“Did you figure out my clues?” Mava asked.

I scoffed. “You mean that riddle that made absolutely no sense?”

She smiled—again! “There were so many clues in what you read. The biggest of all is that you are the light.”

I raised my brows. That was not what I was expecting. “If that were true then who’s the dark?”

“Isn’t that obvious?”

“If it were obvious I wouldn’t be asking.”

That smile of hers spread across her face. “Marcus.”

I practically snorted. “Marcus is a lot of things, but darkness is not one of them. He’s one of the kindest, most caring, honest individuals that I know of.”

“Hold up,” Justin said, butting his nose in. I was going to punch him if he planned on telling me otherwise. “Mava never said anything about Marcus being evil. There is a big difference between darkness and evil. And we both know that kindness can come from the darkest of places.”

“I thought Soul Collectors were neither dark or light?”

“That is true,” Mava said. “And Marcus isn’t one of them.”

27

I jerked my head back in shock. “What the hell do you mean that Marcus isn't a Soul Collector? He found me because he was there to collect my soul. Justin asked him to collect my soul. This is all because he was supposed to collect my soul and didn’t. And now you’re trying to tell me that he’s not a Soul Collector.”

“That’s exactly what Mava’s saying,” Justin said. “I always knew there was something different about him—even Abby could sense it. Just no one thought to question why that was.”

“He is not one that walks amongst the dead or the living.” Astrid took a seat next to Mava, leaving a wide-open gap on the other end for me to sit.

That so wasn’t going to happen.

“I could tell he was different the very first time I met him,” Astrid continued. “He is why I went into retirement. I’d always heard about the legend that spoke of you but never fully believed it until I met Marcus. It was instantly obvious that you and he were the ones who would bring order back to the world—and I’m not just talking about your dimension. This goes far deeper than you can ever imagine. There are those that will do whatever it takes to keep the two of you from remembering.”

“But only I have the memory problem.”

Astrid shook her head and gave me the same smile Mava did. It must’ve been a witch thing that they’d practice every night in the mirror just to drive me insane.

“Marcus has forgotten as well.” Astrid raised a brow. “After all, he still thinks he’s a Soul Collector.”

“If he’s not a Soul Collector, then what is he?”

“Only Marcus truly knows. And until you remember and fulfil your destiny, he will remain in the dark.”

“Then how can you be so sure that he’s good and that whoever did this to us isn’t actually stopping something really bad from happening?”

“Even you can see the light that’s buried under all that darkness.”

I closed my eyes as tears began to well. Marcus was my light. He was the only one who could make all the pain go away. And if what they were telling me were true, he had a much bigger purpose than keeping my curse at bay.

I opened my eyes and wiped the tears away. “Who’s doing this to him? Who’s doing this to me?”

“You already suspect one of them,” Astrid said.

I drew my brows together as I tried to figure out whom she was talking about, then it dawned on me.

“That woman I saw following Marcus into the club. The same one who I saw in my memory.” I let out a shuddered breath. That woman scared me to my very core. “Who is she?”

“Morgana,” Mava replied. “She’s a high priestess who lost her way a long time ago.”

“You mean she’s a witch?”

Mava nodded. “The very highest of them all.”

“And what does she want with me?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Justin asked. “She wants you dead.”

Okay, so that was a stupid question. Of course, she wanted me dead. This was never about me. It was all always about Marcus.

“Don’t think this isn’t about you, my dear,” Mava said.

I jumped. “Did you just read my mind?”

She shook her head. “No, dear. I cannot read minds. What I can do is read your soul.”

I didn’t even want to think about what that could mean. While I really did want to know what it all meant, there were bigger things at play than my curiosity.

“Okay, so you said that Marcus isn’t a Soul Collector and no one but he knows what he is, right? But he doesn’t remember who he is, or even know he’s missing any memories.” When they nodded, I continued, “So how does his severed wings come into play?”

Mava gestured to Justin to answer my question.

“Right,” he said. “I know this may sound weird, but for some reason, I can’t remember the exact details of his wings. I know he had them, and you’ve even seen the marks. But everything else is a blur that my brain is telling me that I’m okay with.”

“So you’re saying you can’t remember his wings. What does that even mean?”

“It means that there is a possibility they are not like mine—or even Abby’s. He may very well be something entirely different.”

I screwed up my face at him, and he sighed.

“Think of it this way: each group of entities has their own unique fingerprint that helps others differentiate them at first glance. Now, you have to wonder why out of every single entity that has a pair of wings and have committed far worse crimes than Marcus, why were Marcus’s removed?” He let that sink in then added, “Why is Marcus one of the only entities to have had his wings severed?”

“Because they needed to keep his identity hidden,” I said more to myself than Justin.

“Correct,” Justin said. “Whoever is Morgana’s partner made sure that no one would ever know who Marcus really is, and have tried to do everything within their power to make sure that you and Marcus never met.”

“Except they weren’t expecting you to palm off your collection.” My jaw hung in disbelief. “Holy shit.”

“I’d never missed a collection. I was their star player.”

“So, does this mean that Titus knows the truth about it all?”

“I believe he knows something, but even after all these years he won’t admit it,” Justin said.

I rubbed my temples with the tips of my fingers as I tried to let it all sink in.

Then I went over to the couch and melted against the soft fabric. “So what do I need to do?”

Mava and Astrid looked at each other and smiled.

“Now, we need you to remember who you are,” Astrid said, her grin like a permanent fixture on her face.

“What do I do?” I asked. “Do I just drink something?”

Justin chuckled. “No, Lucy. You can’t just drink something. What you need to do is either going to break you or make you. And only you have the power to decide which it’ll be.”

“Okay,” I dragged, wondering what they had in store for me. “Let’s get this over with so I can get back to Marcus, let him discover who he is, then save the day and we can finally have our happily ever after.”

Astrid placed her hand on my forearm. “No, dear. It will not be that simple.”

“Have you ever heard of astral traveling?” Justin asked with a serious expression.

I blinked at him. “Um, no.”

“Well, believe me when I say the tunnel isn’t a place you’ll ever forget—no matter how much you’ll want to.”

I stood, prepared to run to hell and back if it meant being able to break this curse we were trapped in. “Where’s the tunnel?”

Justin chuckled. “There’s no physical tunnel.” He strode closer to me and pointed his finger between my eyebrows. “It’s through there.”

“Good one.” I batted his hand away then turned to Mava and Astrid. “Now can someone please show me to the tunnel?”

They both smiled—again.

“I’m afraid Justin is right,” Mava said. “There is no physical tunnel. The vortex is only accessible through your mind.”

I breathed out harshly. “How the hell am I supposed to go through some magical tunnel when I can't even see it?"

"We will guide you," Mava replied.

Astrid stood. "But first you need to be ready."

"I'm ready."

"Not yet," she said. "You must gather your strength and prepare for what is to come."

I was about to object when Justin jumped in, “If you think Soul Scrapers are the only things you need to fear then you’ve got a lot to learn. What you experience in the tunnel will probably make what happened to you at the club look like child's play."

A shiver ran down my spine. That night was the most terrifying experience I had ever gone through.

Knots formed in my stomach as I thought about what creatures lay ahead of me and what some entities had already done to me. My instincts were to rush in and get it over and done with, but my brain was telling me I needed to listen to the three of them and prepare myself for what was to come.

I had to do this right. I may not ever get a second chance, and I owed it to Marcus and me to do this right the first time.

I snorted internally. I couldn't believe they had changed my mind in just a few minutes. I came out of my paralyzed state prepared to go back to Marcus the second a chance arose, and now that I had the opportunity, I was going to stay.

Marcus would understand once he found out the truth. No matter how much my death was killing him now, it would be worth it in the end.

"Okay. I'll do it." I walked over to Justin and pointed my finger at him. "But I want you to promise me one thing."

"Sure."

"I want you to promise me that you'll go back to Marcus and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid while I'm gone."

"That I can do."

I smiled for the first time, and it was an actual genuine smile filled with a warmth for Justin I had never felt before.

"Thank you,” I said quietly. “I really mean it, thank you."

“You may not believe me still, but please know that I do care about both you and Marcus, and I will do whatever it takes to see this through,” he said.

Something told me he would. Call it gut instinct, or something entirely different. Whatever it was, I was ready to not only forgive Justin, but I was also thankful for everything he’d done. Because if what they were saying were true, someone very powerful would stop at nothing to make sure I remained in the dark.

I bit down on a smile. There I was spouting Mava’s riddles.

Justin put his arm around my shoulders and ushered me toward the archway Astrid had come from when she’d brought in the tea. “Let’s get you fed, then we can discuss how we’ll approach the tunnel.”

On the other side of the archway stood a rich mahogany table. It was already filled with various meats and vegetables roasted to perfection, fresh bread, salad, and glasses filled with red wine.

“Wow,” I said, taking it all in.

“Nice, huh?” Justin gestured for me to take a seat at the round table.

I slid onto a chair. “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.” He sat on the chair beside me.

“Back at the rehab?”

“Yeah?”

I picked my napkin up and ran my finger along the sharp edge. “Why did you try to keep Marcus and me apart if you knew we were part of something much larger that you were apparently in on and are trying to help me discover who I am?”

After the words came out, I realized they barely made sense.

“I had to make sure you remembered,” he answered without giving it a second thought. “There were rumors that you were different this time around. And I needed to make sure that we didn’t waste any time.”

“But you tried to pull us apart.”

He chuckled. “Ever heard of wanting what you can’t have? Or how if a parental figure forbids their teenager from doing something, you can be sure that teenager is going to try to do exactly what their parents told them not to?”

I whacked his arm. “Are you saying that I’m like a rebellious teenager and you’re my father?”

The corner of his lips turned up into a smirk. “That’s exactly what I’m saying—except for the father part.”

Mava and Astrid joined us, and we all dug in. It wasn’t until we neared the end of the meal that Mava brought up my mission.

“In order to prepare you for the tunnel, we’ll need to make sure that your mind is ready. What you’ll see in there will be those things you fear the most. Demons will stop at nothing to make sure you don’t make it through to the other end.”

I swallowed hard. “What’s at the other end?”

“You spiritual guardians will be waiting for you to help open your eyes and enable you to discover your true purpose on Earth.”

“Why do I have to go through the tunnel? Can’t you just open a veil or something?”

The three of them gave me that smile as if I were an ignorant child.

“No,” Astrid said. “There is no veil to the guardians. Only those with strong minds and souls can make it through. And that’s why we need you to prepare. Most humans aren’t able to reach their guardians because they can’t ignore those who are trying to stop them. Fear takes over their souls, and traps them in their state until they’re pulled back to this plane.”

Planes? Veils? Dimensions? These guys were doing my head in. I rubbed my temples.

“Okay, so what you’re saying is that I’m going to encounter my worst fears, and I have to block them out and keep moving until I reach the end of this metaphoric tunnel? Easy.” I groaned.

I’d spent my whole life running from everything that made me feel anything, and now the only way I could make it all stop was to ignore and run. The running part seemed like something I was good at, but the ignoring part… I imagined that was going to be hard.

If what they were saying was correct, I was in for a world of unimaginable pain and suffering because that was what I feared most. Actually, it wasn’t. I feared life, I feared death, and most importantly I feared losing Marcus to this curse—and Soul Scrapers. Those things potentially could be the death of my mission.

I looked up at Mava. “There’s going to be Soul Scrapers, aren’t there?”

She set her fork down. “If that is what you fear, then most likely, yes.”

“Oh, she fears them,” Justin said.

“Then that is what you must work on.” She dabbed the napkin against her lips then placed it next to her plate. “What you must remember while you are in there is that they can not hurt your physical state. You must remain strong. You must ignore them and keep going.”

“We will do what we can to help.” Astrid picked her glass of wine up and swirled it around. “But ultimately, it will come down to you.”

“There is only so much we can prepare you for,” Justin added. “And I know you don’t like the sound of that, but it’s the truth.”

“I will help cleanse your soul. But unfortunately, I can only do so much.” Astrid glanced at Mava. “Even with our powers combined, we are no match for Morgana and the spell she cast on you all those years ago.”

“Do you have any idea who she is working with?” I asked.

“No,” Justin answered. “That’s why it’s imperative we keep this all between the four of us.”

“Will I know after I see the guardians?” There was no way I was going to say “if” because I’d already made up my mind. I was not going to fail. I was going to meet these so called guardians, and I was going to get the answers I needed.

“You may, you may not,” Mava said. “We do not know what they will say. All we know for sure is that they will give you the direction you need to complete the journey and unlock whatever mysteries lie bound within your mind.”

“So, when do we start?” I asked.

“Now.”

28

“Is all this really necessary?" I waved the smoke away from my face as the smell of sage assaulted my nose. We had retreated back into the lounge room and I was once again stretched out on the sofa as Astrid performed one of her rituals.

"Keep your hands down by your side," Astrid instructed as she moved the burning sticks from my head to my torso and then back up. "And yes, it is necessary. We have limited time to prepare you, which means you have to do your part and do what we tell you to do—even if it does seem ridiculous to you.”

She continued waving the sticks around. “What I'm doing now will help ward off the negative energy that is surrounding you, keeping you locked in this curse. We’ll also need to start the process of cleansing your soul from all the pain that you've endured over the years."

I frowned as Mava placed five lemons on the couch beside where I was laying. "What are those for?"

"To confirm you are cursed."

I choked on a laugh. "I thought that was already obvious."

"We have no doubt that you are cursed. The question is how badly this curse is affecting you now." Almost as soon as she finished speaking the lemons started to rot, and within seconds they looked as if they'd been sitting there for years.

“I'm guessing that's a bad thing?"

"I'm afraid so." Mava gathered the lemons then disappeared toward the kitchen area.

I looked up at Astrid. "How bad is it?"

"Let's just say that they were the worst rotted lemon’s I’ve ever seen."

"I wish I could say that surprises me, but honestly, what did you expect?"

She shook her head. "We expected that outcome, but it doesn't mean to say we didn't hope that the curse had worn off a little by now."

Justin stretched his legs out as he sat on the armchair to the side of the couch. "I would’ve loved to have seen how quickly the lemons rotted before Lucy started remembering."

Astrid laughed. "This is the first time we've been able to do it correctly. In every other lifetime, we couldn't get close enough to Luciana to perform the ritual the right way.”

"So how did you do it?"

"Mainly lemons in your water," Mava said entering the room. "As soon as you came within a ten meter radius of the lemons they rotted and the water turned black and murky. And the smell was something I’ve been trying to forget ever since.”

I sighed. “I’m still cursed.”

“But not as much,” Justin reminded me.

Once Astrid was done making me smell like a giant sage stick, she instructed me to take a break while they prepared for the next cleansing ritual. I groaned internally as I stood and headed to the kitchen to grab a drink.

“That bad, huh?” Justin said, coming up behind me.

I turned around to face him and leaned my hip against the counter. “Am I that obvious?”

He nodded. “I think they’re just happy that you’re allowing them to do this—and that you even believe them.”

Justin grabbed an apple out of the fruit bowl and took a bite.

I wondered if the apples were supposed to be used in some concoction on me but I figured if Justin was eating one, they were okay and grabbed one for myself.

All that lying around was making me tired and being tired probably wasn’t something I should be when I had so much at stake. I needed to get my head together but it was pretty hard when thoughts of Marcus kept pushing to the front of my mind.

“When are you going back?” I took a bite of my apple.

“To Marcus?”

I nodded as I chewed.

“I have to time it right, otherwise he’ll know something is up. In saying that, I’ll be leaving in about fifteen minutes.” He took another bite.

Suddenly, I didn’t feel like eating any more. All I could think about was what Marcus was going to say when Justin arrived back. I hoped he wasn’t going to rip into him and blame him for what he thought had happened. Although, theoretically, it was Justin’s fault—and Mava’s and Astrid’s.

“Don’t look so worried.” Justin threw the apple core into the trashcan. “What Marcus is feeling is only temporary. And you and I both know that he’ll be completely okay with our deception once he knows why we had to deceive him.” He tilted his head to the side, a small smile playing on his lips. “He may try to kill me for it, but he’ll get over it.”

I laughed. “I can so see him trying to kill you.” The smile dropped from my face as guilt swept over me. How could I be laughing while he was at home trying to mend his heart? “Promise me that you’ll make sure he’s okay.”

Justin’s face softened. “I promise I’ll do whatever I can to make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid. He’s probably sitting at home, drinking his sorrows away with Abby. That’s what they usually do.”

I looked to the floor. “Now I feel like an ass.”

He moved beside me and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. “None of this is your fault.”

“That you know of.” I looked up at him, eyebrows raised. “For all we know I’ve done something that instigated all this mess to begin with.”

“I highly doubt it.”

“Do you?” I asked. “Because there is a very real possibility I might find out exactly that. I may have made a deal with the Devil for some reason that we’re yet to find out.”

“Not a chance,” he said then quickly added, “And before you think of something else to make this all your fault, remember that Morgana doesn’t make any deals that don’t benefit her—”

“Exactly. For all we know I was stupid enough to make a deal with her and whoever else is helping her keep us this way, and there was a gaping loophole in our agreement that I was too dumb to see.”

“You wouldn’t be cursed to the extent you are if that were true,” Mava said, coming into the kitchen. “For this type of curse, the soul must be pure. And I don’t mean like a child. I mean that the pureness of your soul is beyond that of a newborn baby.” She looked at me pointedly. “You are not like other humans. You are something so much more.”

I sighed. “Yeah, I’m cursed to feel the pain of others.”

“That might only be the beginning. Something Morgana has used to cloud the truth of your true identity.

“Have you ever wondered about the meaning of your name?”

I frowned. “Luciana?”

She smiled. “Luciana is the Latin meaning of light.”

“And you think I’m the light that will unlock the door to destiny.”

“I do not think, Lucy. I know,” she said. “And I think deep down you know it, too.”

I bit my lip as I thought about what she said. As much as I had to agree with her that yes, I was Marcus’s light, I couldn’t get past the darkness I brought him as well.

Justin dropped his arm from my shoulders to my waist. “As much as I’d love to stay here and chat, I have to get back now.”

I turned to him. “I want you to tell Marcus that I love him and miss him but I know that’s not possible, so can you give this to him instead?” I removed the chain from my neck.

“Of course.” Justin held out his hand.

I looked to Mava before I handed it over. “I don’t need this in the tunnel, do I?”

Mava shook her head. “Material possessions can’t help you.”

“I didn’t think so.” I placed the pendant on Justin’s palm.

He folded his fingers over it. “I’m not going to lie, this will probably break him a little more, but maybe this will make it easier for him to remain at home, drinking it up while you’re trying to save yourself.”

“You couldn’t have kept that one to yourself?” Mava frowned at him. “Luciana doesn’t need to know all the details. She has enough to worry about without you going and telling her how her gift will hurt him that much more.”

I frowned. “I thought it might bring Marcus comfort, not break him. And if you're saying it will, then maybe I should take it back.”

“I think you know Marcus better than me,” Justin said, and I couldn’t help but think he was just telling me what I wanted to hear. “Good luck. And I’ll be rooting for you.”

He waved his hand, the air in front of him rippling as he opened what I could only assume was a veil.

“Wow!” I shook my head in disbelief as he stepped through, disappearing from sight.

With my eyes wide open I turned to Mava. “Can you guys do that?”

“Open veils?” she asked as the air in front of us returned to normal.

“Yeah.”

“Only the one from here to my home in your dimension.” She grabbed my hand. “Come now. We have lots to prepare for.”

She led me back into the lounge room and gestured toward the crystals lined in the shape of a rectangle on the ground.

I narrowed my eyes at her. “What’s that for?”

“It’s a grid,” she answered. “It’s used to perform a protection spell.”

“Protection from what?”

“From what lies ahead.”

29

I stepped inside the rectangle. “Okay. What do I do now?”

“You do nothing. We are the casters,” Mava said.

Putting my hands on my hips, I sighed. I felt so stupid just standing there surrounded by crystals. However, I knew both Mava and Astrid held powers I didn’t fully understand and I had to lay my trust in them to do their thing, which would allow me to do mine.

Astrid came into the room carrying a tray filled with more crystals. “If you could lie down, that would be great.”

“Right.” Feeling even more stupid, I lay down on the cold wooden floor.

Astrid knelt beside me, holding a cushion in her hand.

“Here.” She lifted my head and placed the cushion under it. “That should be a little more comfortable.”

“Thanks.”

Mava began chanting unintelligible words while Astrid held various crystals above different parts of my body, moving them in strange patterns as she spoke phrases that made absolutely no sense to me. I was sure she was speaking another language, which I was left trying to decipher.

Of course, I couldn’t.

Eventually, I gave up and closed my eyes. A few moments later, I jolted awake. I blinked a few times, realizing I was filled with a newfound energy that I wasn’t sure if it was because I had caught a few minutes shut-eye, or if it was thanks to Mava and Astrid. Either way, I was grateful I had the energy to carry on.

Getting to my feet, I surveyed the room. The crystals were gone, and the room once again looked like a rich old person's home, rather than a witches’ coven.

Raising my hands above my head, I stretched out my muscles. “How long was I out for?”

“Fifteen hours,” Astrid replied, her gaze remaining on the open book sitting on her lap.

“What?” I practically spat the word from my mouth.

She closed the book and placed it on the side table. “The rituals were completed hours before… We just thought you needed the extra time to catch up on sleep.”

“Except now I won’t be able to go to sleep so I can get to this tunnel.”

“You needn’t worry about that.” She uncrossed her legs. “We will help you get through.” She stood. “Now you must eat and then you can be on your way.”

My eyes practically popped out of my head. “So soon?”

“Don’t look so afraid,” she said. “Fear will not help you where you’re going.”

“Easier said than done.”

Astrid gestured for me to head into the dining room. “That is true. But it is the truth none the less.”

Taking a seat at the table filled with a generous spread of roast meats and vegetables, I grabbed a bread roll and began to pick at it. “How am I supposed to ignore my fear?”

“That is something only you can work out.”

I raised a brow. So much for any coaching.

Astrid took her seat and started loading her plate up with items from the spread of meats and vegetables.

“Fear not. We all have faith in you.” She smiled. “There is a reason why this curse was placed on you, and you must remember that the answers you are seeking are at the end of the tunnel. If you don’t make it, then you’ll never find them.”

I nodded slowly. “I will make it.”

Astrid smiled again. “You will.”

I tore a small piece off the roll and popped it into my mouth. “Where’s Mava?”

“She’s preparing for your delivery.”

I scrunched up my face in confusion. “What?”

“When we deliver you to the tunnel.”

“I thought it was in my head?”

“It is, but we need to make sure that you get there the first time round. The moons will be in your corner later tonight, and we must use that time wisely.”

Moons… Righty-O.

Mava arrived just after we’d finished lunch. I didn’t eat much, mostly because my stomach was churning from the unknown.

Mava placed the canvas bags she was carrying on the kitchen bench then pulled out the contents, most of the items I’d never seen before. Even though I was intrigued, I didn’t think my stomach could handle if there were spider eyes or lizard tongues in whatever she was going to concoct and most likely make me consume.

“How are you feeling, Luciana?” Mava asked, wiping her hands on the tea towel.

I leaned back in my seat. “Nervous, but ready.”

“Good. Because this shouldn’t take me long to prepare.” She leaned down, opened the cupboard door, and pulled out a rather impressive mixing bowl that looked more like the top of a giant medieval goblet complete with rubies and sapphires encased in the rim.

“Why don’t you go relax for a bit, and I’ll let you know when we’re ready to proceed,” Astrid said.

“Relax,” I whispered under my breath. “Yeah, I don’t think that’s really possible.”

I stood then picked up my plate, brought it into the kitchen, and placed it in the sink.

Returning to the table, I went to collect Astrid’s plate when she placed her hand over mine, stopping me. “Leave it, dear. I’ll clear up here.”

“Are you sure? I don’t mind.”

Actually, I really wanted a distraction so I could focus on anything besides the tunnel.

“I’m sure,” she said. “Just go into the lounge room and find something to do.”

“Okay,” I agreed, even though I was more than a little disappointed.

Making my way back into the lounge room, I looked around for something to occupy my time. There was no TV, the only books seemed to be spell books, and I really didn’t want to do my head in any more than it already had been. There wasn’t even a window for me to look out.

Frustrated, I sat on the lounge, tilted my head back against the headrest, and looked at the ornate ceiling. Not even that was interesting. And there was no way I was going to focus on the orb and whatever was trapped inside.

I leaned forward, put my elbows on my knees, and rested my head on my hands. Of course, that didn’t help keep my mind away from the tunnel. Neither did it stop me thinking about Marcus. I wondered what he was doing now—probably drinking—and if the pendant had torn him apart that little bit more just as Justin thought it would. Or if it had helped him like I hoped it would.

With my luck, it was the former.

Before I knew it, both Mava and Astrid walked into the room.

“Are you ready?” Mava asked.

My heart practically smashed a hole through my chest. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Good,” she replied. “Just remember that the sooner you make it through that tunnel, the sooner you get to return to Marcus and make all his pain go away.”

I smiled. “That’s what I keep telling myself.” I ran my hands down my thighs. “Has anyone heard from Justin?”

“Are you asking how Marcus is?” Astrid asked.

“Maybe.”

“Do you really want to know?”

“I think she already knows,” Mava jumped in as she carried the goblet bowl closer to me. “But what I will tell you is that he is still at home and has no plans of leaving.”

She placed the bowl on the side table. “Justin will keep his promise to you. He knows what is at stake and the last thing we all want is for you to get through the tunnel only to find Marcus has gone and done something stupid.”

Mava reached toward the table and retrieved something that made my blood go cold.

30

“I hope you’re not planning on using that on me?” I asked, staring at the blade that looked as if it was made sometime in the sixteenth century. Any other time, I would’ve been captivated by the exquisite details of the double-edged knife, but not today. Today I was freaked out.

Mava laid the knife across her palm. “I am afraid I need a drop of your blood to finish the spell.”

“Only a drop?” I asked, knowing how completely ironic I sounded after all the times I tried to kill myself.

“Only a drop.”

I held out my finger. “Okay, then.”

Taking hold of my hand, Mava placed the tip of the jewel-encrusted knife against my skin. Slowly, she pushed it in until a drop of blood formed around the blade.

Withdrawing the knife, she let go of my hand, then quickly but carefully moved the blade over to the goblet and waited for the drop of blood to fall. It rolled free like a single teardrop.

“It’s done.” She stood and picked the goblet up. “We must be fast.” She turned to Astrid. “Are you ready?”

“Yes, everything is in place.”

“Good.” She walked toward the door near the bookcase. “Follow me.”

“Me?” I asked, making sure I didn’t make a fool out of myself by presuming she was talking to me. In reality, I made an ass out of myself, anyway. Of course, she was talking to me. No one else was going in the tunnel.

“Yes, dear.” With a flick of her hand, the door opened.

I stood and headed through the doorway with Astrid following close behind. We entered a dark room, the only light coming from a blue orb floating in each corner—except there were five, not four like most rooms. There was nothing else in there except for crystals forming a rectangle on the floor again.

“Wow,” I said, taking it all in. “This looks like something you’d see in movies about witches.” I pointed at the crystal formation. “Is that for protection?”

“You’re learning,” Astrid said with a smile. “Now, we’ll need you to lay down in the center of the crystals.”

I did as I was told. “Now what?”

“Now, you must lie still while I open your third eye.”

“My what?” I asked with a nervous laugh.

“Each of us are born with a third eye, right between our brows. And we need to awaken yours to enable you to enter the tunnel.”

“I hope you’re not planning on cutting my head open to let it out.” I’d seen those movies, and there was no way I wanted to go through that.

Hell, who was I kidding? Of course, I’d do it, if that meant being with Marcus again. I’d do anything.

“No, child,” Mava said with that smile of hers as she kneeled down beside me. “Be still, and I will show you the way.”

She dipped the knife into the goblet then held it above my forehead.

“It’s not going to burn a hole through my skin, is it?”

“Lie still,” she instructed.

Breathing out harshly, I did as I was told as I watched the blood-red liquid slowly drop from the blade. I waited for the pain to explode as it hit my skin but… Nothing.

Mava set the knife beside her on the floor then placed her finger over the droplet on my forehead. She began to chant something that sounded Latin or something else that wasn’t English as she drew lines over my forehead.

I kept waiting, expecting to feel some divine awakening but time progressed and nothing changed. “It’s not working, is it?”

“Shhh,” Astrid said in a soothing voice. “It’s working.”

Mava sat back and placed her hands on her knees. “Luciana is right. It’s not working.”

“How is that possible?” Astrid asked.

Mava wiped her finger on her skirt. “Maybe it’s already open.” She shook her head. “Or maybe she doesn’t have one.”

“But all humans have one.”

Mava tilted her head to the side. “Maybe she is not human.”

“Say what?” I asked, jolting myself into a sitting position.

“Relax.” Mava closed her hand over my shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze. “We still do not know everything about you. And this could just be another anomaly. Maybe your third eye exists, but it can’t be opened without the help of your guardians.”

“Then how am I supposed to reach them if I can’t enter the tunnel without a third eye?”

“You can still enter.” Mava gently pushed me down, so I was once again lying in the center of the crystals.

Something burning awoke my senses. Astrid was burning sticks that smelled… I wasn’t sure what the smell was, and at that point, I didn’t care. I was seconds from entering the tunnel, and those things weren’t important anymore.

Astrid waved her hand over the sticks, directing the smoke in my direction. Tendrils of smoke billowed from the sticks, reaching toward me the same way the Soul Scrapers had done.

Fear gripped my heart as my consciousness was pulled into the unknown. My eyelids snapped shut, and the witches’ voices faded until there was nothing. My body became heavy as if I was falling or being dragged down into the tunnel.

Then, my feet touched the ground and I was looking at a soft grey light in the distance. It was drawing me toward it.

“This doesn’t seem—” I started to say.

Something grabbed my ankle and tripped me over. Spreading my hands on the ground, I looked behind me.

A deformed hand with skin peeling off the bones clutched my ankle, its fingers digging into my skin as it reached up out of the damp Earth.

I screamed.

31

I tugged my leg free, preparing to sprint my way through the tunnel. As I turned my head sheer terror surged through my body when I saw a gruesome face emerging from the ground. The eyes began to bulge then black bugs broke through and swarmed toward my face.

I let out a blood-curdling scream as I pushed myself to my feet and batted the bugs away. But they were relentless. Thousands of bugs surrounded me, covering every inch of my skin as they tried to get into my eyes, mouth, ears, and nose.

I swatted them away as I ran for dear life, only I never got anywhere, and they didn’t stop. The walls started to move, then arms reached for me. A moment later, more heads popped out of the dirt, their faces void of any eyes, and their screams echoed mine.

Something latched onto my foot and brought me down with a thud as my face smacked against the dirt. Pain ripped through me. The ground shifted and the earth swallowed me into its depths.

I’d failed.

I was coming to and could hear the voices of Astrid, Mava, and Justin.

“She wasn’t ready,” Astrid said.

Mava sighed. “I could’ve sworn she was ready this time, but it seems you’re right. She failed, and we’re going to have to wait until her next life to try again.”

“Send me back,” I said, but my voice was mute.

“We’ll be ready next time,” Justin said. “But for there to be a next time, I must take her back to Marcus.”

Yes. Yes. Take me back to Marcus.

“This is going to break him,” Astrid said.

What’s going to break him?

“I know,” Justin said, sombrely. “But it’s a necessary evil if we want there to be a next time.”

What’s a necessary evil? I wanted to stand up and shake them until they started making sense, but I was as paralyzed as when I’d drank Mava’s concoction.

Hands pushed their way under my neck and knees, then I was lifted into someone’s arms. It was Justin. I could smell a small tang of deception. I could feel the betrayal as if it were my own.

Something wasn’t right. Something most definitely wasn’t right.

“Tell him we tried,” Mava said. “Luciana just was not ready this time round.”

Failure flowed through me. She was right. I’d not only failed myself; I’d failed Marcus.

Strong wind lashed me from all sides, and I could only guess that I was in the air, flying back to Marcus. Why, I didn’t know.

The wind stopped, and all that was left was a subtle breeze as the sound of his flapping wings resounded through the air.

“You were right not to trust me. And now you’re going to pay the price poor, dear, Luciana.” Justin let out a sadistic laugh that sent chills down my spine. “Maybe next time you should trust your first instincts about a person.”

My stomach dropped as wind once again thrashed my face. My eyelids opened, and for a second I thought I had control of my body again, but I was wrong. I was free-falling through the sky as Justin’s laugh echoed above me.

He caught me in his arms just before I smacked against the ground in Marcus’s backyard.

“Not going to let you go that way.” He leaned down and brushed his lips over my cheek, on his way to my ear, then whispered, “I couldn’t let Marcus miss out on all the fun.”

I wanted to punch him in the face, but I couldn’t move an inch.

“That’s right.” Justin snickered. “You just stay there and enjoy the show.”

His wicked smirk was replaced by a sombre expression, filled with distraught and sorrow as he landed then headed toward the house.

He opened the door and called out, “Marcus.”

“What’s wrong?” Abby asked, coming around the corner wearing nothing but her panties and bra.

They weren’t any old panties and bra, either. She looked as if she was about to strut down a catwalk displaying the latest lingerie for the sexiest woman in the world competition. What the hell she was doing wearing that was beyond me, but a mixture of fear and jealousy had rooted itself in my mind, and it wasn’t letting go.

“He needs to finish her if he wants any chance at there being another lifetime with Luciana.”

“Oh, no,” she said. “He’s not going to like this.”

“I know. But—”

“What aren’t I going to like?” Marcus asked, sauntering into the lounge room wearing nothing but a pair of shorts hanging from his hips. He faltered when he saw me. “What’s Lucy doing here?”

“They said that if I left her there in this state, then there won’t be another chance for you. It will be the end.”

Marcus’s eyes went wide. He strode over to Justin and snatched me from his arms.

He’s lying! I tried to scream, but my voice never came out. I’m still here!

Turning away from Justin and Abby, Marcus lifted me closer to his face. He brushed his lips over mine as a tear fell from his eyes. He was still gutted.

“What do I need to do?” Marcus asked.

There were a couple of seconds of silence before Justin said, “You need to be the one to drive the knife through her heart to send her onto the correct course she is destined to be on.”

Marcus went rigid as I screamed every obscenity I could think of but of course not a sound came from my mouth. I was as good as dead.

Marcus released a heavy sigh then slowly carried me to his room. He sat on the bed and cradled me in his arms. A shudder erupted through him as he stared at my face. He was completely broken, and now Justin was telling him that he had to put the knife through my heart even though I was supposedly already dead.

I prayed that he would see how absurd the idea was and conclude Justin was screwing us both over. He wasn’t a friend. He was the enemy. Justin was the sheep in wolves clothing. He was evil.

Marcus kissed my forehead then eased me onto the bed. He climbed off and disappeared into his closet. A few moments later, he returned with a knife that looked almost exactly like the one Mava had used. I’d seen it a million times in my dreams, but it was nothing compared to reality.

I cried internally and screamed for him to hear me as he climbed onto the bed, lifted my head, and cradled me against his side.

His breaths came out loud and fast as he gripped the knife in his trembling hand and raised it above my chest. He then rested the tip of the blade over my heart and closed his eyes as more tears slipped down his cheeks.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered.

Marcus opened his eyes, leaned down, and kissed me. I desperately wanted to kiss him back, but no matter how hard I tried my efforts were futile. I was as good as dead. I was just a soul trapped in my body and Marcus was about to set me free.

He released a shuddered breath then whispered the words I’d heard every night since I could remember. “Please let this be the last.”

He drove the knife straight through my heart.

32

Pain ripped through me as the blood spilled from my body. However, it wasn’t from having a knife plunged into my body. The pain I was experiencing was Marcus’s.

Something had gone wrong. For some reason, I could feel his pain. I wasn’t supposed to feel his pain. Yet it was tearing through my soul, severing our hearts as he feared that he would never see me again.

He yanked the blade from my chest, then broke down as he held me in his arms and buried his head in the crook of my neck. There was no rage, there was only heartbreak and fear, and it was completely taking over me.

Every time I’d experienced such loss, I’d always tried to get away. Not this time. Marcus needed me—even if I was nothing but a soul.

I barely gave a moments thought as to why I was still trapped inside my body and still able to think logically as if I were still alive before my mind was once again overtaken by grief and helplessness.

I wished I was able to tell him I was okay and that I was determined to find my way back to him. I wasn’t going to forget him. I would never forget him. We were destined to be together, and the next life was going to be different. Next time, we were going to figure it out and kill whoever was responsible for this curse.

Slowly but surely his breathing became more even, and he was able to look at me without tearing up again.

He swiped my hair away from my face and smiled.

“You are so beautiful.” He traced the lines of my lips with his finger. “Next time will be different. I will be ready—I promise.”

A knock rapped on the door.

“Are you ready?” Justin asked through the door, sounding as if he cared.

“Yes,” Marcus replied.

It was useless trying to speak. He’d driven the knife through my heart. It was the only way I was able to die. I was dead. And yet…

Justin opened the door and entered the room. He placed his hand on Marcus’s shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze. “Can I take her now?”

Marcus breathed out harshly then leaned down and kissed me one last time before handing me over.

Justin grasped in his arms as he carried me over to the sliding door, opened it, then stepped outside. “I’ll be back soon.”

He shifted me so that I was able to see inside the room. I was sure it was on purpose, because there standing beside Marcus was Abby dressed in her lingerie, massaging Marcus’s shoulders.

She leaned down and whispered loud enough for me to hear, “Don’t worry. I’ll help you forget the pain—just like all the other times.”

She placed a tender kiss on his cheek as Justin turned me away.

He opened his wings and pushed up into the sky. Once we were a fair distance from Marcus’s compound, Justin leaned down and said, “That’s something you’ll never forget while your ass is in Purgatory. And I’m not talking about how Marcus stuck a knife into your heart; I’m talking about how Abby plans to make Marcus forget about you.”

He chuckled.

I wanted to puke. Partially because of what my mind was having Abby do to Marcus, and partially because I was terrified of going to Purgatory and what the Soul Scrapers were going to do to me.

Justin waved his hand, and a ripple appeared in the air in front of us. He flew through the ripple, taking us through a veil into a world filled with sorrow and pain.

He landed then let go of my knees, letting my feet fall to the ground covered in thick black ash.

Justin held his hand in front of my face. “Awaken.”

I gasped, taking in gulps of oxygen. Only it wasn’t oxygen. Coughing, I brought up black slime and wiped it off with my hand.

I turned to Justin. “What the hell have you done?” I slammed my hands into his chest. “What the hell have you done?”

Justin threw his head back and laughed. “All this time you thought I was a fraud and when you had the chance to get away and call me out on it, you actually believed me.” He laughed again. “And look where you are now.” When I didn’t do as he asked, he said, “Look.”

I slowly turned my head to the side. My breath was knocked out of me.

I’d feared it was just Soul Scrapers I’d have to contend with, but I was wrong. I was standing at the back of masses of humans being herded by giant Hellhounds.

An elderly man fell out of line, stumbling to the ground.

A Hellhound lunged at him, its jaws ripping into his torso as it picked him up and tossed him back into the heard of humans.

Screams echoed throughout the crowd as they moved forward, away from the ash and through the black sludge that got deeper the further they went, each step draining their energy until they fell to their knees then disappeared as they sank into the sludge.

“No, no, no, no,” I said, backing away. “You can’t do this to me.”

A sadistic grin spread across his face. “I’ve already done it.”

He pushed me forward.

My legs buckled and I fell to my knees, splitting them open on the jagged rocks just under the surface of the dirt.

Justin put his foot on my back and shoved me down, my face landing in the sludge.

Lifting my head, I gasped for air as I wiped the sludge from my eyes. I twisted around to face Justin then pushed myself to my feet.

“This is not happening,” I said, taking a few steps back. “Marcus needs me. I need him, and there is no—”

I screamed as I lost my footing and tumbled over the edge of something.

Justin whipped his hand out and caught me by the arm, stopping my fall. He pulled me up and held on as he laughed. “This is so happening. And frankly, I can’t believe how easily you fell for it all.”

I twisted around to look at what he’d saved me from falling into. All air escaped from my lungs as I saw what had been waiting for me. Decomposing humans and demonic looking creatures littered the walls of what appeared to be a never-ending pit.

The creatures screamed at me to come to them, help them, and release them.

“You don’t want to go down there,” Justin said, leaning over the edge of the pit. “Those things will kill you.” He gripped my shoulder and shoved me forward toward the line of humans. “Get going. You don’t want the Hellhounds to get a hold of you.”

Just as he said it, a Hellhound about ten metres away turned in our direction, its teeth bared and ready to attack.

“It’s watching you. You might want to fall into line.”

“No.” I spun on my heel to face Justin. “Take me back.”

“Never,” he said with a wicked laugh. “Now, you can either go forward with everyone else in the line, or you can take your chances with the Hellhound.”

I gulped as the pleas of the creatures in the pit next to us called out to me. “What about the pit?”

He smirked. “If you go down there, don’t expect to leave anytime soon. You’ll be stuck in the walls, crying out to be saved only no one will save you. Eventually, you’ll fall through the sludge and end up where you would’ve gone had you entered the line.”

I looked at the line then back at the pit. One was an easy road into Purgatory, and the other would take who knew how long to pass through. The sane thing would be to fall into line, but I wasn’t sane. And I definitely remembered what Marcus had said about me going to Purgatory. If I did that, then there would be no next time. I was supposed to die then be reborn, not cross over.

I slowly nodded and pretended to move toward the line. Then I darted to the side and dove into the pit.

33

The creatures in the pit clawed at me with bony fingers, their jaws hanging unnaturally open as they cried out to me.

Every conceivable emotion consumed me as their pain and suffering became mine. There were thousands of souls embedded in the wall, their hands clamouring for me, trying to drag me to them. The harder I fought to free myself from their grasps, the further their fleshless fingers dug into my skin.

The pain and suffering they were enduring and passing onto me were too much for me to handle. I thought it had been the right decision to jump. But I was wrong. So very, very wrong.

I should have fallen into line. I should have taken the easy way out.

Closing my eyes, I shook my thoughts away. No. I made the right decision. I needed to buy time for Marcus to figure out what Justin was up to. I needed there to be a next time. And if that meant having to go through the torture of feeling the heart-wrenching agony of everyone's death then that was what I had to do.

"Help me," the creatures screeched, their voices echoing.

"I can't," I cried, trying to yank myself free from their grasp. “I can't help you."

Excruciating pain exploded throughout my body as their fingers clawed their way through my flesh, digging their way into my bones. They pulled me closer and closer to the wall as if enslaving me would free themselves. I highly doubted that was how it worked.

Resigned to my fate, I let go of all urge to fight and let my mind succumb to their pain and suffering. It was worse than anything I'd ever experienced when I was alive. The way these souls had been slaughtered was enough to consume my every thought until I no longer saw it as their pain, fear, and sorrow. Their emotions had become my own.

Exhaling deeply, I closed my eyes and let it all in, allowing their suffering to completely consume my soul. This was my fate. This was where I was destined to remain until I was rescued—if I was rescued at all.

Slowly, the pain of bones ripping into my flesh started to disappear. I opened my eyes expecting to be locked in the wall with all the other souls. Instead, I was gradually being lowered down. Each soul gently passed me on to the next as the ones above me backed away and disappeared into the wall, no longer screaming for my help. Those below still let out a scream every now and then, but by the time I reached them, they were calm.

I had no idea what was going on, and there was no one to ask. The suffering of the souls surrounding me still consumed my every thought but then there was also a calmness that spread amongst the souls that helped me through their despair.

Fear surged through me when I saw the bottom of the pit. There were only a few more feet and then I’d hit the bottom. I couldn’t hit the bottom. I couldn’t go to Purgatory.

I reached up and tried to hang on to the hands that were passing me to the ones below but their bones were slippery from the black sludge that encased the walls of the pit and it appeared that none of them had any intention of hanging onto me.

“Please help me,” I yelled at the decomposing body directly in front of me. “Don’t let go. I can’t go to Purgatory.”

My pleas for help rang unanswered. The creatures continued to hand me down to the next. Then I was dropped into the sludge at the bottom of the pit.

I tried desperately to swim to the side of the pit, hoping that I would be able to climb back up and lodge myself into the wall but the sludge was sucking me under, and I was too weak to fight against it. The soul who’d dropped me into the pit had already receded into the wall, and there was nothing but sludge surrounding me.

I gasped for air as I kicked my legs, trying to stop the sludge from sucking me into its depths.

It was useless. The more I kicked, the faster I went under until I was completely submerged.

I held my breath, waiting to come out the other side.

There was no other side.

I was drowning in the same tar-like substance the Soul Scrapers had shoved down my throat that night they’d abducted me.

My lungs felt as if they were about to explode. I kept telling myself that was stupid. I was theoretically dead therefore I didn’t need to breathe. Unfortunately, my body didn’t have the same beliefs that my brain did. It was desperate for oxygen, and there was none around.

My lungs and throat started to burn, growing with intensity until I couldn’t help but open my mouth and suck in a lung full of sludge.

I coughed and spluttered as more sludge entered my body. My head went groggy, and I no longer had the urge to breathe. I was done.

Then, the sludge around me began to move. I was sucked down, further and further until I was free-falling. My body smacked against a hard surface.

I pushed myself to my knees and wiped the sludge off my face so I could open my eyes. When I did, I was surprised to find the sludge was gone and I was in an almost clinically clean room, where the walls were covered in drawings for kids.

My surprise was short lived when an onslaught of pain, fear, and helplessness ripped through my soul.

I steadily got to my feet and turned around to see a small child with no hair lying in a hospital bed. A doctor was speaking to a couple that was standing by her side, the woman holding the child’s hand. The man had his arm wrapped around the woman who was crying silent tears.

“I’m afraid it’s time to say goodbye,” the doctor said.

“No,” the woman cried, her voice breaking as the doctor delivered the final blow to her heart, smashing it into tiny pieces that would never mend.

Tears welled in my eyes as the heartache ripped through my soul. I backed away to the wall, trying to distance myself as much as I could from them. I didn’t want to feel their pain. I couldn’t help them.

My back hit the wall, and I turned around, relief flooding through me when I came face to face with a door. I grabbed the handle and tried to yank it open, but it was stuck. I jiggled it then tried finding the lock that wasn’t there as the couple's pain became all too consuming.

However, that wasn’t the only thing I had to deal with. My muscles and bones ached, and there were no drugs that would relieve my pain. It was all too much for me, and I wanted to die. I couldn’t keep fighting. I felt selfish when I heard my parent’s cries, but I couldn’t help it. I wasn’t strong enough. I was too tired.

I inched over to the bed and placed my hand over the child. As soon as my skin touched the girl, I was brought to my knees, no longer able to stand the pain.

I tried to let go, but it was as if my hand was glued to hers. Fear erupted inside of me as my skin pressed against hers turned darker and darker until it was virtually black.

34

Pain exploded throughout my body, crippling me as I collapsed on the bed. I couldn’t move. I was completely succumbed to the girl’s suffering. Then I heard the faint beep of the girl’s heart becoming stronger.

I forced my eyes open and looked at the machine by her bed. Sure enough, her heart rate had picked up and was getting stronger and stronger by the second.

“What’s going on?” the mother asked, a mixture of panic and impossible hope flooding her mind.

“I don’t know,” the doctor said as he fiddled with the machine. “This isn’t right.”

“Don’t tell me this isn’t right,” the mother cried. “I want to know what’s going on.”

“So do we, Kathleen,” the doctor said “But now I need you to go stand over there so I can work out what’s going on.”

Kathleen didn’t look as if she were going to move until her husband said, “Come on. We better let him do his job.”

The girl’s small hand squeezed mine.

Her eyes flutter opened, and my heart skipped a beat. I tried to scream out to the parents to look, but no sound came out of my mouth. I was a ghost. Except to the girl.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

Tears welled in my eyes.

“She’s awake,” the mother said, her voice breaking with happiness that she wasn’t sure was warranted. She was terrified that she was imagining her little girl getting better, only to lose all hope again.

Overcome by joy, I accepted the pain from the girl without giving it a second thought. She was going to be okay. This family wasn’t going to be ripped apart.

The unknown force connecting me to the little girl disappeared, but the black smudges on my skin were still coming from her skin and crossing over to mine. She was still sick. She still needed help, and there was no way I was going to let her down—even if I didn’t know what I was doing. For all I knew this was part of Purgatory, and I was a willing participant and was about to pass with flying colors. But I didn’t care. She needed me, and I wasn’t going to let her down.

I gripped my hand over hers and sucked in her pain. A blood-curdling scream erupted from my throat as I let her sickness consume my entire being until there were no dark shadows floating just below the surface of her skin. It was only on mine. And they weren’t shadows. My hand looked as if it’d died.

The light came back into the little girl's eyes, and she sat up. “She took it away, Mummy.”

“Who took what away?” the mother asked, wiping tears from her eyes.

“The woman right there,” she said, gesturing to me. Only the adults couldn’t see me. “She took my sickness away, and now I’m better.”

The parents broke down as they released sobs of happiness. They didn’t need any doctor to tell them that she was better. They could see it for themselves. And they truly believed that an angel had saved their daughter as she was taking her final breaths.

I closed my eyes and fell to my knees, completely consumed with happiness. When I opened them, I found myself kneeling in a field of snapdragons, a warm breeze blowing the sweet scent under my nose.

In the distance stood a small group of people watching me. It was as if they were waiting for me. Their long flowing white attire brought fear to my heart. They looked like angels. And If I was seeing angels, then that meant I’d passed through the veil.

Everything that had just happened to me was part of Purgatory, and now I was free.

A tear slipped from my eye as peace once again swept over my soul. I didn’t want to feel peace. I wanted to feel pain because peace meant no Marcus and I couldn’t fathom a life without Marcus.

I sat amongst the flowers staring at the unwavering angels not wanting to move forward because that meant I was walking away from Marcus. I couldn't do that. I tried to figure out how I could get back to him but it was useless. I couldn't get back. I was destined to move forward.

I wasn’t sure exactly how long I'd been there because the sun never moved. It was as if I were frozen in time while I got myself together enough to greet the angels.

Slowly, I got to my feet and ran my fingers across the various colored petals as I made my way to the group of angels. There were two males and one female. They were dressed in white sashes, just like I’d seen in so many religious paintings.

I waited for one of them to say something, but they remained silent.

“I guess this is it then,” I said, fiddling with my fingers. “I’m dead. It’s over. No more Marcus.” I couldn’t stop the verbal garbage spewing from my mouth.

The woman smiled in the same way that Mava and Astrid did. “You are not dead. In fact, you are far from dead.”

I narrowed my eyes at her. “But… Justin delivered me to Purgatory.”

“No, Luciana. You, my dear, are unable to die without being reborn.”

“But I’m cursed. That’s my destiny.”

“Ah, but it isn’t,” she said. “Your memories have been bound, but you are not cursed to die.” She slowly walked toward me. “Ever wondered why whoever has been messing with you, didn’t just kill you and be done with you? Why it always had to be Marcus?”

“Ah… yeah.” I’d thought about it a million times and always came to the same conclusion. “They just want to mess with us because it brings a form of sadistic enjoyment to them.”

“No, my dear.” She placed her hand on my lower back. “Come sit down. We have much to discuss.”

She ushered me toward a group of logs that reminded me of the ones I’d sat on with John back at the rehab. My eyes widened as I snapped my head to the side and realized that one of the angels was, in fact, John from the rehab. “What are you…”

John smiled. “I think the question is, why was I at Millford.”

“I think they’re both questions that I would love to hear the answer to. Unless…”

“No, Luciana. I haven’t died. You can’t die if you were never alive.”

I collapsed on the log and put my head in my hands, trying to make sense of what they were saying.

“Okay. So, if I’m not in Heaven or whatever it is you guys call it, then where am I? And why are you here, or back at the rehab, or whatever?” I looked at the other man. “And who’s this?”

“My name is Thomas,” the man said. “I’m your creator.”

35

“My what?” I spat.

“Your creator,” he repeated as if I hadn’t heard him the first time.

Oh, I’d heard him. It just didn’t make any sense.

“Why is it that no one can ever just tell me what’s going on?” I whispered under my breath.

“Because this is something you need to remember on your own,” John said.

The woman sat beside me. “My name is Alissya, and I’ll be happy to fill you in on the things I can. But some truths you have to discover on your own.”

“Right,” I said. “So where am I and why is John here?”

“You’ve reached the end of the tunnel.”

“You’re my guardians?”

Alissya smiled. “Yes, dear. That is what we are.”

I looked at John. “Why were you at the rehab?”

“I was there to guide you,” John replied, taking a seat on the log opposite where I was sitting. “We’ve known for a long time that this lifetime of yours was different. The spell is weakening, and your memories are returning. And I needed to give you that little push in Marcus’s direction.”

I thought about everything that had happened when Justin returned me to Marcus to drive the knife through my heart. “Please tell me that Marcus didn’t kill me.”

“That’s correct,” Alissya said with a warm smile. “Everything you experienced since entering the tunnel was part of the test designed to keep you from us.”

“So, Justin didn’t backstab us?”

“No,” Thomas said. “Justin has remained loyal to both you and Marcus since he found out the truth.”

“What’s the truth?” I asked.

“There are many truths, but the truth you seek is hidden inside of you.”

I groaned. “Why can’t you just tell me?”

“Because that’s not how it works,” Alissya said. “Your truth lies within you. And we are here to help you find your way.”

Thomas, my creator, took a seat a few feet from where John was sitting. “Have you ever wondered why a mere human would capture the heart of a Soul Collector?”

“And why a Soul Collector would be part of an ancient legend?” John added.

“Justin told me that Marcus wasn’t just a Soul Collector,” I said. “Is that true?”

Alissya tilted her head to the side as if she were looking at an innocent child trying to understand the meaning of life. “I think you already know the answer to that.”

“Then what is he?”

“That is what I created you for,” Thomas said.

“To find out what Marcus is?”

He nodded. “You are the key to unlocking his destiny.”

“That sounds a hell of a lot like Mava’s riddle.”

The corner of his lips tipped up. “Where do you think she got it from?”

Wow! “How am I supposed to unlock his destiny? And how am I a key?”

“Isn’t that obvious yet?” Alissya asked.

“No,” I said. “If it was, then I wouldn’t be asking.”

She raised a brow.

“Sorry. It’s just all doing my head in.”

“We are here to guide you. No one said the journey would be easy. But you will find the answers you seek.”

“Okay,” I said. “Help me find them, then. How am I a key?”

“First you must acknowledge your true power.”

“What power?” I asked. “I’m human. I have no powers.”

“That is where you are wrong,” she said. “Did you not learn anything from the tunnel?”

“Yeah, that creatures out of my nightmares are real.”

“Anything else?”

“Think about it,” John added.

Every moment of my journey since I entered the tunnel played through my mind. I shuddered at the memories of the creatures I’d encountered. Absentmindedly, I ran my hand over where I’d thought the creatures had ripped through my skin. There wasn’t even a scratch. It hadn’t been real. And if those parts weren’t real, then what was it that I was supposed to remember?

What was I supposed to get?

The little girl seemed completely out of character. She wasn’t scary. She did, however, break my heart.

“I helped her get better.” I looked each of them in the eye. “How is that possible?”

They remained silent.

Alissya gave me a barely noticeable nod, urging me to continue.

I didn’t do anything to the girl. I hadn’t given her some magic potion, or a miracle drug that cured her illness. All I’d done is hold on to her and feel her pain. “Does it have anything to do with feeling others emotions and pains?”

They all smiled.

“Think about how you passed through each stage, or test if you want to call it that,” Thomas said.

With Marcus, I had done nothing. Although I did feel his pain for the first time ever. The bodies in the pit asked me for help and only let me pass when I gave in to them, and the girl…

My eyes widened as snippets of new memories flashed through my mind.

“I’m not an empath,” I said in disbelief. “And I’m not crazy.”

“No, my dear, you are not.” Her eyes went wide then I felt a pull as if I were being sucked out of their existence. Alissya grabbed my arm and reached for my forehead with her other hand. “You must remember.”

The scenery turned grainy, and everything became distorted as the colors washed together. I couldn’t see my guardians anymore. I tried desperately to hold on, but her hand slipped away as if it were made out of water.

I felt something swipe up my forehead then everything exploded into balls of color surrounded by darkness until eventually all I could see was darkness.

“Take her,” a familiar voice screamed through the explosive noise that made my ears ring.

A hand closed over mine, and I felt my body slip away as I opened my eyes. All I could see was a flash of red before everything turned white. A second later, the colors returned, and I was back in my world being shoved into Justin’s arms.

I didn’t get a chance to see who handed me over to him before Justin whipped out his wings and held onto me tightly as he soared into the air. Adjusting his wings, he glided through the sky. “I’m going to take you back to Marcus’s where you’ll be safe.”

I looked down and saw pieces of Mava’s house scattered in the distance.

“What happened?” I asked, my voice muffled by the wind.

“They found you,” he whispered. “They—”

Something slammed into us, knocking me from Justin’s grasp, sending me free-falling to the ground.

I screamed as the force of gravity took over, sucking me into its clutches.

Twisting my head around, I tried desperately to find Justin, but all I could see was a bundle of white and black feathers tumbling toward the earth. A white pulse that looked like one of those plasma balls exploded from the middle of the feathers, sending Abby flying thirty feet back.

It had been her. Abby had knocked me out of Justin’s arms for reasons I didn’t understand.

From one hundred feet above me, Justin locked his gaze on me, folded his wings back, and darted toward me, with Abby close behind. Only I was going too fast. The ground was getting nearer, and Justin was still so far away.

36

Wind thrashed against my face as I plummeted to the earth. My back began to itch, growing stronger and stronger by the second until pain tore through my shoulder blades. White plasma danced around my vision, wrapping me in its folds.

Terror surged through my veins, as I feared I’d been entrapped in a witch’s magical spell. I didn’t know why Abby had ploughed into Justin, all I knew was that I was going to pay the ultimate price for her actions.

I jerked upwards as arms closed around me, trapping me in their embrace. I still couldn’t see, but I knew it was Justin. He’d caught me.

“What the hell have you been hiding from us?” Justin asked, confirming my suspicion that it was indeed he who saved me.

“Huh?”

“Never mind,” he whispered.

A pulse of electricity surged through my body then disappeared as quickly as it had started. A few moments later, the wind evaporated, and my feet were set on the ground.

I felt something tingle a part of my body that I couldn’t place where exactly it was, then the layers of plasma peeled back, revealing Justin’s face. We were back at Marcus’s.

“Since when did you get wings?” he asked.

My eyes widened as the word wings replayed on a loop in my mind.

He lifted his other hand and peeled back the wing, and sure enough, I felt every bit of his touch.

“Who the hell is that?” Abby asked from behind him, with a drunken slur. “And how did they get through the boundary?”

Justin stepped back, allowing Abby to see me.

“Holy shit,” she said, her eyes practically popping out of her head. “Is that…” She stepped closer and ran her fingers over the plasma. “Are those…wings?”

“Looks like it,” Justin replied.

“On Lucy?” She shook her head, then locked eyes with me. “You’re supposed to be dead.” She backed away until she hit the table that was covered in empty bottles of wine and a few that hadn’t been opened yet. “I saw you.” She grabbed a bottle and twisted the top off. “I saw you up in the sky, and I thought…” She narrowed her eyes at me. “I thought it was you but…” She threw her head back in laughter then turned to Justin. “You’re a fucking traitor.” Abby sauntered over to him as she took another sip. “We trusted you.” She poked him in the chest. “You told us she was dead.” She poked him again. “But you’ve been lying.”

Justin pushed her hand away. “You need to sober up. What you did up there could’ve killed Lucy.” He looked at her sternly.

According to my guardians, that wasn’t possible, but I wasn’t going to bring that up.

Abby rolled her head to look at me. “She didn’t have wings before.”

“No, she did not,” Justin agreed. “But I’m not going to discuss this with you while you’re in this state.”

Abby grabbed a bottle of wine off the table, took a swish, then wiped the back of her hand over her mouth. “What state?”

“Drunk.” He snatched the bottle from her hand and sent it flying into the distance.

“Hey,” Abby whined.

“Where’s Marcus?” Justin asked.

That probably should’ve been the first thing that came out of my mouth. Instead, I was left speechless. I had freakin’ wings. I wasn’t supposed to have wings. I was human…

No, I was not, after all.

“Inside.” She gestured toward the house. “He passed out a few hours ago.”

Finally finding my voice, I asked, “How do I put these things away?”

“You just do,” Abby said, being her usual unhelpful self that she was when she was drunk.

Justin strode over to me. “Just think about them going away, and they should disappear.” He tilted his head to the side. “Although I haven’t seen anyone with wings like yours before.”

“They’re fucking awesome,” Abby added, her pitch going up a notch or two. Then her face slumped. “Why can’t mine be like that?”

“Just ignore her,” Justin said. “Think about making them disappear.”

Doing as instructed, I tried my hardest to get them to disappear. But no matter how much I tried, the suckers stayed exactly where they were.

“This isn’t working,” I said with frustration.

Justin put his hands on my shoulders. “Don’t worry about it. We’ll figure it out.”

I nodded, not believing a word he said. With my luck, we were not going to figure it out. It was just another thing to add to the list of freakish things that are Luciana.

“How about you go see Marcus, and we can work on this after?” he said.

My heart skipped a few beats. “Marcus.”

Without a second thought, I pushed past Justin and rushed through the door. I was jerked back by the stupid wings I didn’t know how to use.

“Come here,” Justin said as Abby cracked up laughing.

Ignoring Abby, I stomped over to Justin.

“Let me help you with that.” He stepped around me and forced my wings behind my back, making sure they stayed in place. He patted them a few times. “There you go.”

“Thanks,” I said over my shoulder then darted inside.

Marcus wasn’t in the lounge room, so I made my way down the hall, stopping at my bedroom. He wasn’t there, either.

Continuing, I opened his door and found him passed out, lying face down on the bed. He looked so sad and helpless. The empty bottles of wine that littered the floor and bed wouldn’t have helped his cause.

I guess I had Justin to thank for that. He’d promised he’d make sure Marcus wasn’t able to go and do something stupid. Well, he sure kept that promise.

I climbed onto the bed and crawled over to him.

“Marcus?” I wiped a lock of his hair to the side, my fingertips brushing against his skin.

He stirred then opened his eyes, drowsily. “Hey,” he murmured, reaching up to cradle my jaw in his hands. “You’ve come to visit me.” He ran his hand over my shoulder. “And you got your wings.”

“Yeah, I’ve got wings,” I said, a few tears slipping out.

“And you can speak.”

I laughed as more tears welled in my eyes. “Yeah, I can talk.”

He sighed. “I killed you.” He lifted himself up onto his elbows then let his head fall on my lap and looked up at me starry eyed. “Please don’t tell me it’s time to kill you again?”

I brushed his hair away from his face. “No, you don’t have to kill me. You didn’t kill me—this time.”

“Yes, I did,” he slurred. “It was my fault. I shouldn’t have left you. I should’ve destroyed the vial.”

God, he was drunk. He didn’t even realize I was real.

He sighed. “I’m going to kill Mava.” His tone was void of any menace. He was broken.

“Marcus,” I said. “I’m not dead.”

“Yes, you are.” He rolled so that he was curled around me, his face buried against my tummy.

He muffled something else that I couldn’t make out.

I nudged him back then slid down so that I was lying next to him. “How about you sleep now and we can talk when you wake up?”

“You’ll still be here?” he asked.

“I’ll still be here.” I pressed a gentle kiss on his lips. “I’ll always be here.”

“Like my own personal angel?” He groaned. “You’re an angel… I’ll never see you or touch you again.”

“You’re seeing and touching me right now.”

Marcus smiled. “I am, aren’t I?” He snaked his arm around my waist and pulled me closer, then buried his head against the curve of my neck. “My own little angel—with wings.” He brushed his lips over my neck. “I love you.”

Nestling down beside him, I slung my arm over his shoulders, wishing that he were no longer drunk. I’d pictured the moment I walked back into his life would’ve panned out a little different but I wasn't going to complain. I was with him and that was all that mattered. “I love you, too.”

I held onto him then noticed my skin, which was touching him was turning a darker shade as if a shadow had fallen over that part of my body. I lifted my arm, and sure enough, there were grey smudges beneath the surface of my skin.

Lowering my arm, I watched in astonishment as black spider veins not only appeared on my skin as it neared Marcus’s, but they appeared on him as well. The closer I got to his skin, the darker they turned. It was just like what happened with the girl in the hospital bed. Only with Marcus, it didn’t cause me pain. It made me feel a little light-headed, but no pain.

I lowered my arm and watched Marcus carefully to ensure whatever was happening wasn’t hurting him either. His breathing remained even, and there was no sign that my touch was affecting him. He was safe.

I must’ve dozed off at some point because I woke to Marcus sitting with his back against the headboard, staring at me as if he was seeing a ghost.

37

“Hey, you,” I said running my hand up his calf, his eyes locked on my hand the entire time.

His gaze shifted to mine. “You’re real? I wasn’t just dreaming?”

Smiling, I lifted myself into a sitting position. “I’m real. And you were sloshed. Good to see you’re back with us now.”

“You have wings?” He still hadn’t moved an inch.

I reached behind my back, a strange sensation flowing through me when I touched the plasma-like feathers. “Yeah, and I don’t know how to get rid of them.”

Marcus sat there staring at me for a couple of minutes before he spoke again. “You’re really here?”

I crawled onto his lap, straddling his hips as I ran my hands up his biceps. “I’m really here.”

Gingerly, he brushed the tips of his fingers across my cheek, stopping at the edge of my lips. It was as if he still couldn’t trust himself that he was actually seeing the real me and I wasn’t just a figment of his imagination.

“I’m here,” I repeated then kissed him, forcing him to acknowledge my existence.

It didn’t take long. One second it was just me in the kiss then the next he was all there, savoring every second of our reunion until one of my wings got free and whacked him in the head as it curled in front of me.

“Sorry,” I said, pulling away.

He laughed.

“How did you get wings?” He ran his fingers across the feathers, sending that weird sensation through my body. “And more importantly, how the hell did you come back from the dead?”

I looked over my shoulder at the door. “Is Justin still here?”

“Yeah.”

God, I wished I could tell who was around. Instead, I just had wings—which I’d been wanting since the second time Abby had taken me up into the air. What was I complaining about? I had what I wanted. I just needed to learn how to use them.

“Why do you want to know if Justin is here?” he prompted.

I chewed on my bottom lip as I thought about how I could answer that without Marcus losing his cool at Justin. Even though Justin had been an integral part of the witches plan to unlock my memories, there wasn’t a possible scenario I could imagine that wouldn’t end in Justin going through a wall.

“Don’t do that.” Marcus tapped my lip with his finger.

“Sorry, nervous—”

“Habit. Yeah, I know. Which has me wondering why you’re nervous about Justin being here when all I want to know is how you’re still alive. I would’ve thought I’d owe him somehow.”

I rested my hand on his bare chest. “Believe me, we owe him everything. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to tell you what’s happened while he’s still around.”

He studied me for a moment then slipped his hands under my butt as he got up and carried me over to the door.

“Justin!” He moved his hands up to my waist and placed my feet on the ground, then opened the door. “Justin!”

I slammed the door closed. “Not now.”

His eyes filled with anger but I knew it wasn’t directed at me. “What did he do?”

“Saved our lives.”

“What did he do?” he asked again.

“What’s going on?” Justin asked as the door handle turned from the other side.

I threw my back against the door. “Go away, Justin. And I mean, leave Marcus’s estate.”

“Why?”

Marcus glared at me. “Because I get a feeling that I’m going to want to kill you if you don’t.”

“You haven’t told him yet?”

“No,” I yelled. “I’m about to, and I really think you should stop asking questions and get the hell out of here.”

Marcus’s jaw popped. “I think you should do as she says.”

“I’m not leaving you to deal with the fallout, Lucy,” Justin said.

“For God’s sake, Justin,” I yelled in frustration. “Would you just get out of here?”

“Fine,” he said. “Call me when you’re ready.”

“Will do,” I replied.

“What did he do?” Abby asked, her voice coming from Justin’s side of the door.

“Oh, God,” I said.

“Marcus, do you want me to pin his ass to the wall?” Abby called out.

I banged the back of my head against the door, the impact cushioned by my wings. “Do not pin his ass to the wall.”

“I didn’t ask you,” Abby replied.

I looked up at Marcus. “Please tell her to let him go.”

“I’m already leaving,” Justin said, his voice sounding a little distant.

“The hell you are,” Abby said.

I pleaded for Marcus to do the right thing and call off his demon.

“Fine,” he said. “I’m doing this for you, not Justin.”

“Thank you.” I stood on the balls of my feet and planted a kiss on his cheek.

“Let him go,” Marcus ordered.

“Are you sure?” Abby replied. “Because I could take him down.”

The corner of his lips tipped up. “Yes, Abby. I’m sure you can.”

“No fair,” she mumbled, bringing a smile to my face, instantly feeling guilty because the last thing I wanted was for Justin to feel a demons wrath.

Marcus’s gaze followed a steady line across the room then lifted up as if he could actually see Justin leaving.

Returning his gaze to mine, he asked, “Now, what was so bad that Justin had to go?”

38

Marcus closed his hands around my hips, as he stepped away from the door, bringing me with him.

“Yeah, what was so bad?” Abby flung the door open. “And why the hell are you alive? Don’t get me wrong. I’m ecstatic that you’re back with us, but I saw you dead. Justin wouldn’t tell me shit while you guys were in here. The bastard kept promising me that he’d tell me when I sobered up. And you can guess how that went.”

I looked between Abby and Marcus, trying to find my words.

“So what was it?” She planted her ass on the end of the bed as if she’d done it a million times before.

I couldn’t help but think of the way she touched Marcus in my tunnel test.

“Did he do a deal with the boss?” she offered.

I scratched the side of my neck. “Ahh… No, it was nothing like that.”

“Then what was it?” Marcus asked.

I breathed out harshly as I tried to figure out where I should start. The usual place to start was the beginning, however, I wasn’t sure that would be for the best.

“There’s a lot I’ve learned over the last…” I scrunched up my face as I tried to work out how much time had passed since they thought I’d died. I came up empty. “How long have I been gone for?”

“Three days,” Marcus said.

My eyes widened in surprise. “Seriously?”

He tilted his head to the side. “Well, if you want to be technical, it was three days, fourteen hours and fifty-three seconds. At least it was that long before I saw you in my drunken state when I thought I was just dreaming.”

“Back to the story,” Abby said. “What’s been going on?”

Marcus ran his hand along the spine of my wings. He was completely mesmerized as he studied the flow of the glowing, transparent feathers. “What kind of wings are these?”

“The kind that just appeared when Abby decided to take Justin out while we were mid-air, making Justin drop me as they tumbled in the sky.”

Marcus raised his eyebrows as he turned to Abby.

“What?” she snapped, screwing her nose up. “I was drunk, and I thought he was messing around with us when I saw a very alive Lucy in his arms.”

Marcus clenched his jaw. “You could’ve killed her.”

“Okay, so technically it may have been a bad idea to go after him while he was carrying Lucy, and while I was drunk, but it looks like I was right about something.”

“Which is?” he prodded.

“That Justin screwed us over. I mean why else would Lucy tell him to go?”

“Because I didn’t want you to do anything you’ll regret,” I said, then added, “Oh, and technically you wouldn’t have killed me. Remember, I can’t die by anyone’s hand beside Marcus’s. And even that isn’t exactly death for me. I’m just reborn until I complete the task I was born to do.”

“What are you talking about?” Marcus asked.

“Maybe you should sit down for this,” I suggested.

“I’m fine standing.”

“Okay. Suit yourself.” I took a deep breath. “First, I’m going to tell you the end. Then I’ll go back and tell you how it all came to be.”

I hated seeing Marcus stubbornly standing there. As uncomfortable as it made me, I couldn’t make him sit.

“I met my creator,” I started. “I don’t know all the details because something happened. All I was able to find out is that I was created as the key to unlocking your destiny.”

Marcus ran his hand down his face. “More of Mava’s shitty riddles.”

“No. I know it sounds like hers, and that’s only because my creator fed her the riddle. He isn’t able to tell me anything more than the reason why I was created. And even that is something I have to figure out on my own to enable me to unlock your destiny.”

“This doesn’t make any sense.” Marcus paced the length of the room.

“I’m not human, and I’m not cursed. My memories have been bound thanks to someone with a lot of power who cast a spell on me. Before I could find out any more, I was ripped from my guardians and—”

Marcus whipped his head around. “You went into the tunnel?”

I nodded.

“Shit.” He walked over to the bed and sat next to Abby. “And your creator was waiting for you at the end?”

I nodded. “Along with two others, one of which was John from rehab.”

“Who?”

“You know, John. The guy who owned the place?”

He slowly shook his head.

“Are you serious?” I asked in disbelief. “The guy I used to go riding with every day?”

“You always went by yourself.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Then again, I had wings.

“No, I didn’t. You may not have seen him, but he was there—and he was nudging me in your direction, telling me to follow my heart, not what my brain was telling me was logical.”

Marcus stared at me, no recognition in his eyes.

I continued. “Anyway, he was there along with my creator and a woman. They told me that you are not what you think you are.”

“Marcus isn’t a Soul Collector?” Abby asked in disbelief.

“Apparently not.”

“Then what am I supposed to be?” Marcus asked, sounding as if he didn’t fully believe what I was saying.

“Hey, buddy,” I said. “I’ve got wings when you thought I was a human and now you doubt that you might not be what you thought you were—even when you’re different to other Soul Collectors?”

Marcus gave a slight nod. “Fair point.”

“More than a fair point,” Abby interjected. “We all knew you were different, demon boy.” She whacked her elbow into his side. “Maybe you’re one of us. A real demon.”

“Something tells me he’s not,” I said. “Whatever Marcus is, there is someone very powerful that Morgana was able to do a deal with to bind your true identity.”

“Morgana?” Abby spat.

“Yeah, turns out that the woman I saw enter the club after Marcus the other night was Morgana.”

“Holy shit,” Abby said, throwing her head back, a strained laugh escaping her mouth. “You were right to be worried. That witch is something else.”

“Morgana followed me into the club the night I went with Justin to see Titus?” Marcus asked.

“Yeah.” I had completely forgotten I hadn’t told him about my memory of her, and the fact that I’d seen her follow him into the club and I doubted Abby would have passed it on while they were in such a drunken state. “I remember her from a time long ago.” God, I sounded as if I were retelling a fairytale, only this was real. “All I remember was lying amongst the fallen leaves as I watched her walk away, and I was unable to get up.”

“Morgana’s responsible,” Marcus said to himself. “That means, this goes way higher than we ever thought.”

“I think you’re missing the point,” I said. “You are more valuable than anyone has ever considered. And I think the question is: why would someone go to all this trouble of binding your true identity? And then have a need for me to be created to bring back order?”

“This stuff is deep.” Abby shook her head, lost in her thoughts.

Marcus grabbed my hand. “What about you?”

“What about me?”

He tugged my hand, pulling me down beside him and in turn, knocking them both with my wings.

“Sorry,” I said as they righted themselves. It was funny how my wings seemed to flow like silk over the bed, yet still had the power to knock both Marcus and Abby over.

“It’s okay.” He adjusted them behind my back for me. “You need to learn how to retract them, but first I want to know what you meant by you’re not human?”

“Don’t the wings give that one away?” Abby joked.

“Not the time for it, Abby,” Marcus warned.

“Geez, don’t get your panties in a knot.”

“This is where I need to go back to the beginning. I’m still trying to figure it all out, and I think I need your help. All I know is that I’m not an empath, I’m not crazy, and me feeling others emotions are not a curse. You need to keep that in mind while I tell you what happened.”

I waited for them to agree before continuing. “When you didn’t come back, I asked Abby to take me to see Astrid—who by the way, doesn’t hate you at all, Abby.”

“Yes, she does.”

Marcus glared at her. “You took her away from here.”

“Back off, demon boy. We thought something had happened to you and when Lucy found that book we thought Astrid might know something.”

“What book?” Marcus asked warily.

“The book that someone left for me on my bed the night you went to find Titus at the club.”

He raised a brow. “Justin?”

“Actually, I’m not sure, but I guess it was him. Anyway, the point is, Astrid needed to see me by herself, which is why she blocked you from entering her shop.”

Marcus glared at Abby. “You let her go in there on her own?”

“She didn’t let me,” I said, getting a little exasperated. “I decided to go in there on my own, and there was nothing Abby could do short of kidnapping me that was going to stop me.”

“Then she should’ve kidnapped you. Anything could’ve happened.”

“It didn’t,” I said. “And if I hadn’t have gone in there then I wouldn’t have drank Mava’s potion, and I wouldn’t be sitting here knowing what I now know.”

“Astrid made you drink the potion?”

I closed my eyes and leaned against his shoulder. “Please stop being so defensive. Everything worked out for the best. And no matter how horrible things got, I’m glad everyone played their part in helping me—helping us.”

Marcus leaned his head against mine. “I’m sorry.”

I curled my arm around his and laced our fingers together. “Between my visit with Astrid, Mava’s riddle, and the spell book that was left for me, I somehow knew that I needed to drink the vial so that I could see. I had no idea what I needed to see, all I knew was that we weren’t going to find out what was going on unless I trusted my gut and drank Mava’s concoction. Which by the way, didn’t kill me as everyone thought.”

Marcus’s head jerked up.

“Say what?” Abby asked.

“It put me in a paralyzed state that allowed Justin to get me out of this dimension without anyone suspecting what they had planned. And before you throw a hissy fit about Justin deceiving you both, it was imperative to the plan. They needed you to believe I’d died so they could help me enter the tunnel without anyone becoming suspicious and stopping me. Only they did stop me, but not before I found out a few truths.

“Anyway, Mava and Astrid helped me into the tunnel where I was met with more than a few creatures I’d rather not know exist. And a few other scenarios that cut me to my core. What I did find out though was that I was only able to get through each stage when I gave in to the emotions that were crippling me, which somehow gave peace to those who were surrounding me.

“I even somehow managed to heal a girl who was about to die—and all I did was touch her.”

Marcus narrowed his eyes at me. “Your skin was black. I mean the parts that were touching me when I woke up, fully alert with absolutely no hangover. That’s why I was sitting away from you. I thought I was hurting you somehow. When I stopped touching you, your skin eventually returned to its usual color.”

So, that explained his unusual behavior.

“It hurt like crazy with the girl… with you, there was no pain. And you seemed okay so I just went with it.” I gave him a small smile. “I’m sorry I scared you.”

“So, let me get this right,” Abby said, breaking up our little moment. “You can take away other people’s illnesses?”

“Seems that way,” I said.

“Holy crap.” She smacked her hand against her lap. “That just confused the hell out of me. I mean why would you be created to remove sicknesses if you were created for Marcus? Which by the way, I just have to say, is really cool. And it explains why Marcus wasn’t able to deliver your soul the day he met you—and why he fell in love with you so quickly.”

“He was never able to deliver my soul. I was created in a way that I can’t be killed. All Marcus has the ability to do is keep my suffering at bay and send me into my next lifetime.”

“So, all this time I’ve been…” He didn’t need to say it. We all knew what he meant. “I didn’t have to?”

His expression was torn, realising he never needed to drive the knife into my heart.

I twisted to the side, my knee resting on his thigh. “It was the right thing to do at the time. The spell was still too strong for me to fulfil my destiny. We had to wait until it was weakened.”

He let out a strained laugh. “Now I know why you sent Justin away.” He shook his head. “All this time he knew?”

“Yep.”

Marcus ran his hand over my knee. “When did you find out what was going on?”

“As soon as Justin took me to Mava’s. I’d been awake, trapped inside my body, since I drank the vial.”

“You were aware of what was going on around you?” Marcus asked in disbelief.

I nodded. “And it killed me to see you that way.”

He cupped my face in his hand and ran his thumb over the side of my lip. “It doesn’t matter now.”

“No, it doesn’t,” Abby agreed. “What matters now is figuring out what exactly Lucy was created to do to you, and who you are.” She stood and came over to me. “And to teach Lucy how to retract her wings.”

I groaned. “I’m open for any tips.”

She ran her fingers across the plasma looking feathers. “These babies aren’t like ours. These are special.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean these wings aren’t seen on the lower-class angels. These are reserved for the upper-class.” She poked her head around my wings so she could see me. “Did your creator have wings like these?”

I shook my head. “They were like yours but white.”

“So your creator was a lower ranked being. That doesn’t make any sense,” Marcus said. “How can a lower-class create an upper-class?”

He directed his question at Abby.

“I don’t know,” she replied. “I didn’t think it was possible.”

Marcus shifted his gaze to me. “What was his name?”

“Thomas. Do you know him?”

He gave me a blank look, which was all the answer I needed. “Never heard of him.”

“Either that or he’s given you a different name to throw us off,” Abby offered.

“You’re probably right,” I agreed.

“Hopefully Justin can enlighten us on that one when he comes back.” Abby shifted my wings, so they were folded nicely behind my back. “And in the meantime, let’s get these wings of yours away.”

I stood. “Sounds good.”

“All you need to do is think about pulling them inside your back in the same way you think about scratching an itch. Your mind should know how to do it.”

I twisted around and glared at her. “Does it look like I know how to do it?”

“Point taken.”

Marcus laughed.

“Okay, demon boy. You teach her.”

Marcus quickly shut his mouth.

“That’s what I thought.” Abby shifted her gaze to me. “There’s no special command to make them go back in. You just need to concentrate and try your hardest.”

Thirty-minutes later, my wings were still out, Abby had gone to get something to eat, and Marcus was watching me, trying to hide his grin as I tried endlessly to do the impossible.

I threw myself back onto the bed and stared at the ceiling, my glowing feathers wrapping around me as if I needed protection from the cold. I wasn’t cold. I was hot and bothered.

“Why is this so hard?” I sat up on my elbows and looked at Marcus sternly. “And don’t laugh at me.”

Marcus sauntered over to me, making me forget all about my wings. He nudged my knees apart and stood between them. “You know, your wings are kind of sexy,” he said, crawling on top of me.

I ran the tips of my fingers down his bare chest, all the way to his abs.

“I’m so glad they do it for you because it looks like they’re not going anywhere,” I said sarcastically.

Marcus lowered himself on top of me, bearing his weight on his hand tucked beside my chest. “Well, I may as well enjoy them while I can.”

He grazed his lips across my shoulder then—

I screamed as he bit down hard on the bone of my wing.

I pushed him off me. “What the hell did you do that for?”

With a smirk, he gestured toward my wings—only they weren’t there.

“What the hell?”

He swung his leg off me and collapsed by my side. “It’s a natural reaction to pull back your wings when they get injured.”

“And if it didn’t work?”

“Then I would’ve apologized profusely.”

“You are so evil.” I whacked his chest.

He caught my hand. “That’s yet to be decided.”

I rolled on my side to face him, our hands joined between us. “You’re not evil.”

“How can you be sure?”

“Because good always triumphs evil in the end, and that’s what we’re going to do.”

He brought our joined hands up to his lips and kissed the back of my hand. “No more cast.”

“Huh,” I said, my gaze falling to my wrist. “I hadn’t even noticed. Mava or Astrid must’ve fixed it.”

“It would’ve been Astrid.” When I narrowed my eyes at him, he added, “That’s who I was taking you to see when you first met Abby.”

“Oh,” I dragged.

“So, you think I’m good,” he asked, a smile playing on his lips.

“I do,” I said, wholeheartedly.

“Then that would mean that you’re the darkness that your creator is referring to in Mava’s riddle.”

My eyes widened, and I whacked him again.

“I’m kidding,” he said, laughing. “You could never be anything but light. Even your wings are made out of light.”

“Well, at least now we know that we have more than a month left to figure this out.”

He drew his brows together as sadness folded over his features. “You don’t want me to end your pain before it’s too late for me to stop it, do you?”

I shook my head then kissed his knuckles. “I’m not afraid anymore. What I have is a gift, not a curse, and I’m not going to let anything stop me from figuring out how I’m supposed to save you.”

And that was the truth. I was no longer scared. And I certainly wasn’t going to let anyone tear our world apart again. We were going to take control and find out what I was created for.

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