Kissing fate, p.13
Kissing Fate, page 13
The archangels had warned us that those who spent time in the Other would feel its destruction. They weren’t joking.
I have to trust that the archangels are true to their word in that they got those close to us out before decimating the place. I glanced outside, hoping I’d see Holly and my parents crossing the lawn, but nothing is out there.
I send my senses out, looking for them on this side of the realms. They are not here, so unless the archangels reneged on their end of the deal, our loved ones were behind the pearly gates.
If Zane had that type of reaction, my father probably was just as traumatized. “Where’s Holly’s body?” I ask.
“Out in the garage,” Faith says, and her eyes shine with hope.
I nod. “Bring Holly’s body to the lawn just before the path to Paradise Cove, please,” I say before I head out the door with purpose. I certainly hope they didn’t double-cross us. Because if they have, then I am ripping open my family’s wounds once again.
I get to the edge of the woods and take a deep breath before I head down the path. I get to the lush entrance to Paradise Cove and, as I take a step to enter, I’m thrown back on my ass. The impact jars my teeth.
Wings flutter and I look up into the Archangel Michael’s angry face. He stands on the green moss.
“You do not get to enter Heaven. You know the rules.”
My eyes narrow. “And you don’t get to enter my domain, yet the rules have never stopped you.” I climb to my feet, squaring off.
He glances beyond me. “Where’s your better half?” He brings his sharp gaze back to mine.
“In the house, recovering. I trust you have met all the terms of our agreement?”
He nods once. “Your father is recovering as well. He is with your mother and his parents are doting over him. It’s nauseating.” He rolls his eyes, and I cannot help but smirk. “I do have something for you, though,” he says.
When Michael reaches behind him and then shoves a form through the barrier he won’t allow me to cross, I am expecting Holly. But the stumbling body attached to the golden arm sends a fresh wave of excitement through me.
“Mandy!” I catch her, and she looks up at me, bewildered.
“You did it? You stopped them?”
I smile. “Yes, we stopped them, with the help of my friend here.” I point to Michael.
Mandy shrinks back from the winged creature on Heaven’s side of the barrier.
“I would hardly call us friends,” Michael scoffs and waves us away.
“Uh. Aren’t you forgetting something?” I am not about to let him dismiss me without delivering Holly, but what I want is the least of his concerns.
“No. I’ve met your terms. Your family is safe. So are the rest who died by Heaven’s hands. Now go, before I step through this barrier and teach you a real lesson.” He cocks his eyebrow at me and then turns and dissolves in the air. But his wings still beat as he ascends, rippling the water of the cove and sending my hair back like I’m standing in a stiff ocean breeze.
Well, if the Archangel Michael won’t deliver her, Fate sure the hell will.
I turn and march back to the yard with Mandy at my heels. Holly’s dead body is in Alex’s arms. He lowers her to the ground at my feet, meeting my gaze with a hope so thick it tightens my throat.
“She’s safe.” I glance down at her prone form, wondering for the first time whether this is the right choice. I glance at the living room window and Zane leans on the windowsill, still looking just as haggard as he did when I stepped out of the cottage. He gives me a nod.
The lump in my throat grows to the size of a watermelon and firmly wedges against my larynx. The expectations are clear on everyone’s face. They expect me to raise the dead.
I kneel and put my hands on the ground next to Holly’s stiff form. I close my eyes and envision Holly alive and vibrant and as carefree as she was the night before the world came crashing down on all of us. I can almost hear her laugh.
“Holly Ryan,” I whisper, willing her back. Willing her out of Heaven’s grip. I refrain from adding my parents to the list of the reborn. As much as I wanted them with me, I think they will fare much better living their eternity in peace.
The air around us sparks, creating flashes of light on my eyelids, and the air takes on a distinct ozone quality. Holly’s sharp inhale snaps my eyes open. The body on the ground is still not breathing, and I glance up, staring into Holly’s ghostly eyes.
Mandy steps back as if I’ve just opened the gates of Hell or something equally as horrendous.
I blink and sit back on my heels. I may have pulled her from Heaven, but I didn’t get her back into her body. And I share some of Mandy’s horror. I need her spirit to meld with her flesh. My mind races through the catalog of memories swarming in my head, looking for answers.
A vision startles me, and my gaze jumps to Tom Ryan. He stares at Holly’s ghost. He sees the spirit world and always has. And he’s forced a spirit back into flesh.
“Tom, put her back in,” I snap at him.
He points to his chest and his mouth forms a small O, as if he doesn’t understand my directive.
“Yes, you. You see her just as clearly as Mandy and I can. And you’ve done this before. Please. Put her back in her body, just like you did with your father’s spirit.”
Dawning widens his eyes, and he moves toward Holly without hesitation.
But it wasn’t just Tom’s actions alone. It was the combination of the healing magic that’s been passed to Nana along with his that allowed Ty Ryan to live when he rightfully should have died.
“Nana, push some of that healing mojo into her body, please.” I’m a little more diplomatic in my request with her because I’ve been taught to respect my elders. I’ve never ordered my grandmother around, not even when it’s literally life and Death.
She does as I ask, and the moment she moves away and the healing light sparkles over Holly, Tom grabs the ghost by the arms and forcefully slams her spirit into the stiff form on the ground.
The air tingles and sparks. It’s as if the magic inside Holly has awakened. Then Holly’s body gasps and her back arches as a great inhalation of air nearly lifts her off the ground. Her dull red hair slowly turns vibrant with life as Nana’s healing magic laces its way through her entire form. Her eyes fly open like two broken shades and her eyes glow angel blue instead of the dull shade of death. She blinks at the blue sky above us, repeating gasp after gasp until she falls into the cadence of breathing.
She is still too pale, but at least her chest rises and falls without having to attempt CPR. She slowly lifts her head and glances around at the circle around her.
“I heard Zane’s awake,” she finally says when her gaze falls on me.
I laugh and nod and glance at Mandy. My eyes blur and hot tears leak out, sliding down my cheeks. I capture a salty one in the corner of my mouth and sniffle as I look back at Holly.
When she sits up, I throw myself in for a hug before anyone else can.
“Hey, I just...” She trails off and just hugs me tight, as if the events leading up to her death suddenly surfaced. “I died, didn’t I?” she whispers in my ear.
I nod. “So did I,” I say softly and pull away, wiping my face. “But mine can’t be reversed.” I try to smile, but the corners of my mouth drag down from the tremble in my chin.
Holly cocks her head and sadness fills her eyes. “What happened?”
Something rumbles like thunder in the distance.
I jump back a little and glance at the sky, expecting storm clouds, but then Holly’s stomach does it again. It’s loud enough to make me break out with a shaky laugh.
“I think I’m hungry,” she says.
“Grandpa made crepes, but I don’t know if there are any left.” Faith crouches next to her daughter. The two exchange a quick hug and then climb to their feet.
Alex steps in to embrace his daughter. He looks over her head at me and mouths the words thank you.
I didn’t bring her back just for him. After all, she is my best friend, roommate, and, for all intents and purposes, my sister. I give him a nod just before he breaks the hug and turns toward the house.
“I’m sure your great-grandpa can whip up more of those crepes to silence that stomach of yours.” He smiles.
Holly stops halfway up the hill. “I’ll be just a second. Just make sure Grandpa makes me a plateful,” she tells her parents and then turns to me. She waits until everyone else heads around the corner before she looks at me. “What happened?” she asks again, this time with a little more force.
I glance beyond her at Zane standing in the window and take a breath. “Zane wasn’t quite right when he woke up.” I bring my gaze back to Holly. “The angels had him all that time and they branded him with a sigil that gave them control.”
Her eyes narrow and she crosses her arms, but I catch the sparks of aggravation dancing across her fingertips. She is just like her mother in that way. Both of them spark when they are aggravated. “Zane killed you?” she actually snarls and spins, catching him watching us.
Before I can stop her, Holly launches toward the house with her march of anger. If we were at her parents’ house, the entire foundation would shake with each step.
I hurry after her. “He didn’t know what he was doing.” I grab her arm, but she yanks it from my grip.
“That is no excuse. The bloody asshole died because he didn’t want you to get hurt and he has the audacity to kill you?” She huffs. “I’m going to kick his immortal ass.”
She barrels toward the door.
“Do you want me to intervene?” Mandy says as she matches me step for step.
“No. Why don’t you go round up what’s left of the troops and let them know Purgatory and the reaper realm are finally safe from Heaven’s wrath.”
She looks unsure, as if there could be a sniper in waiting around any corner in our domain.
“If you want to bring Levi with you, that’s fine, too,” I say as Holly steps into the house. That seems to calm Mandy, and I nod for my trusty sidekick to follow my reaper general back to Purgatory. “Hold down the fort until we get there,” I say and Mandy nods, blinking out with Levi by her side.
Holly corners Zane by the window and swings. He parries with his metal arm and when her punch is deflected; she pulls back. I can see her wide eyes in the window reflection as she stares at his mechanical hand.
Zane looks down at the focus of her attention. “I had them cut it off so the angels couldn’t get in my head again.” He splays both hands in the air, trying to placate her. “You know damn well if I was in my right mind, I never would have hurt her.”
“Ten years ago, I would have agreed, but that’s before you became Heaven’s bitch.” She shoves him back against the wall. “I’ll never forgive you for taking her life.”
“What they did—”
Zane is promptly cut off by her as she points a fiery finger at him. “I don’t care.”
Ty, her great-grandfather, leans over the table and places a plate of new crepes on the table. “Hey, hangry hellfire, why don’t you eat something before you decide to set the cabin on fire?” He pushes the piled-high crepes across the table toward her.
She turns toward her great-grandfather and then looks at the offering. It’s like a switch turns off, and all that occupies her mind are those delectable treats. Before another word is uttered, she is sitting and digging in as if she hasn’t eaten in weeks.
That is the Holly I know and love.
Kissing Fate Chapter 17
I PULL ZANE ASIDE while the family is eating their breakfast. “We need to do something important,” I say quietly and pull him outside. Before he can ask any questions, I blink us away from the cottage.
When we get to our destination, the first thing that hits me is the smell. But then again, when you leave dead bodies in a basement for a few days, the smell is going to be vile.
“I don’t want them coming home to this mess.” I glance at Zane.
It’s the first time he’s really seen the damage he caused with a rational mind. He covers his nose with his wrist, grimacing as he scans the carnage.
While he’s preoccupied with being disgusted by the bloated bodies, I conjure two beautiful urns inscribed with Kylee Andreas and Gabriel Andreas, respectively. I know it isn’t nearly enough, but at least Michael and his family will have something solid to pay their respects to without having to clean up the mess.
“You need to do your clean-up thing, including wiping out the stains in the carpeting, but I need you to put their ashes into these urns.” I cross and put them on the coffee table, closer to where the bodies rot, trying not to gag.
He stares at the damage he caused, turning a little green, but he nods and splays his good hand, closing his eyes.
“Try not to mingle the ashes,” I say when the bodies reduce to ash.
A crease appears between Zane’s eyes as he concentrates. Kylee’s ashes rise into the air and swirl across the floor before siphoning into the urn with her name on it. Then Gabriel’s ashes do the same into his urn. That left the bloodstains on the floor. Blood from Kylee, from my mother, from Gabriel and from Zane stains the carpet.
He opens his eyes and stares at the stains before he glances at me. “I don’t know if I can get the smell out.”
“I’m sure they can air it out in some way.” I’m not sure they can, but with Papa’s magic, maybe he can get rid of it. In the meantime, I conjure a dozen of those pine-scented car fresheners and pin them to the ceiling.
Zane closes his eyes again and this time ash particles lift from the carpet in spurts, as if Zane’s power is waning. It takes some time, but he finally has all the blood and bodily liquids evaporated from the room. Although the stench still hangs in the air, mingling with the pine air fresheners, the cause of it is now scrubbed from the room.
I take his hand and force the transition back to the cabin. The cool breeze flows through our clothes like a giant eraser, giving us a clean forest smell instead of the gagging aroma of death.
The task weighs on both of us. The lighthearted banter inside the cabin just seems wrong in retrospect, but I understand the Ryans. They helped save the world. They have a right to be jovial. It just doesn’t jive with the act of interring Kylee and Gabriel to their respective urns.
Holly glances at me from the couch. Her color is back, and so is that sleepy look of a healthy food coma.
“Where’d you go?” she asks.
“We needed to do a bit of a clean-up before you all head home.” I meet Papa’s gaze.
He slowly nods. “I appreciate that.”
“Missy conjured some air fresheners, but you might need to do something a little more extreme.” Zane stares at the floor, shifting from foot to foot. He seems like he can’t quite meet anyone’s gaze.
“Why?” Holly asks.
“We will fill you in on the way home,” Alex says, saving Zane from more of Holly’s fiery wrath. His voice carries a warning to not push for more information, but Holly isn’t in tune with her father. She never has been, or she just ignores his cautionary tone.
“What happened at Papa’s?” she asks me, because it’s clear no one in the room wants to answer her, at least not while in our presence.
“People died, and it wasn’t pretty.” That’s pretty much all I need to say. Holly meets my gaze and I try to convey to her not to pursue this line of questions.
“Oh.” She blinks and gives me a subtle nod, and then a miracle occurs. She lets it go.
I guess it’s inevitable that I’m more readable than her father. I could finish her sentences and she could finish mine. Living in the same space and sharing a bedroom for twenty-six years kind of does that to people. Even though we don’t share the same bloodlines, we have always been on the same wavelength.
The water turns off in the kitchen, and Ty and Jessica step out, wiping their hands. “We’re ready to head back home whenever you are.” Ty glances at Papa.
I can’t blame him for wanting to bug out now that the danger has passed. This isn’t their home. They want to go get into comfortable clothing and kick back and watch a football game on television. Or have a family dinner together to celebrate they are still alive. I get it. If I were in their shoes, I would want to do the same, considering all we have been through.
Unfortunately, I don’t get to go back to my old life, and I guess my expression must show that because Holly bites her lower lip and twirls a piece of her hair as she studies me.
“You’re not coming back with us, are you?” Holly asks.
“No. I need to address some things in Purgatory and the reaper realm, along with locating any portals that were opened by leveraging your mom’s time jump powers. But I’ll be around soon. I promise.”
“What about your job? The apartment?” she asks, reminding me of things I have to address in the mortal realm, too.
“You’ve got the apartment.” I smile. “And I’m sure my boss will be happy if I never show up to work again.”
She smirks at me. “So, what do I tell him if he calls the apartment?”
“Tell him I died.” It isn’t a lie. Besides, I could use some downtime now that the world isn’t in danger of ending. I’ve never really discovered the possibilities with Zane, and ten years of fantasy scenes in my head are just itching to be explored.
She gives me a huge hug, squeezing me tight. “I get it. You want to be alone with him,” she whispers in my ear so only I can hear. “I’d be shuffling everyone out of here if I were in your shoes.”
I smile and hug her tighter for a minute. This is why she is my sister, even without the blood connection. She reads me so well. “I love you, sis.”
“Love you, too,” she says. When I pull away, she gives Zane a side eye and points her finger at him. “Take care of her,” she orders.
“Always.”
It’s such a simple answer, and it warms my soul.
“Don’t be a stranger,” Alex says when he steps in for a hug.
“I won’t. And you know how to call me if you or anyone needs our help, right?”
