Enchanting Wilder (35 page)

“You’re saying they’ll probably be with Maker. Like, watching over them?” Candy questions, her hands wringing on the table.

“I’m almost positive. They’re big game.”

I swallow, leaning against Declan. “Do you know why I play such a big part in all of this?”

Ashamed, Sally refuses to look at me. “I’m afraid I do, but now isn’t the time. Find your family, get back safe and the rest will work itself out.”

“And if it doesn’t? What if we don’t make it back?”

“Thinking like that isn’t going to help.” Sally stands up in a flash, her eyes blurry with tears. “Take Wood and Candy and dissipate to Massachusetts. Go get your family.”

We stand and I wrap my arms around Sally, hugging her with ferocity. I’ve leaned on her—depended on her—my entire life. This could very well be the last time I see her.

“I’ll see you soon,” Sally promises, squeezing my arms when she pulls back. “Keep your sister safe.”

“I will.”

Sniffling, she walks to Candy and engulfs her in a hug. Waving to the rest of the table, she fizzles out, leaving us alone.

“Can you dissipate?” I turn to Declan.

He smiles, the dimples in his cheeks looking cocky. “I can get there.”

I laugh, thankful he can bring a little levity to the situation.

“On the count of four?” Declan asks.

I smile and then frown. “On the count of four? What happened to three?”

He shrugs a shoulder, his mouth turning to the side. “I don’t know. Three didn’t sound as good. I don’t know if I’ll be ready at three. Just come on. It’ll be our thing.”

I snicker and roll my eyes. “Fine. To the count of four.”

I wave to Noah and Sarah, and they smile.

“Please be safe, kids.” They look to Declan and Wood, rising, tugging them into a group hug. “We love you, boys. We’ll see you soon.”

I observe as this amazing family says goodbye and I only hope I get the opportunity to hug my family. Grabbing Candy’s hand, she takes hold of Wood, sure to not forget him. Kai stands next to Declan, his posture ready.

“Everyone know where Gallows Hill is?”

We all nod, the adrenaline tangible in the air.

“On the count of four…” I say.

Declan winks. “One, two, three, four.”

I’m the first to arrive back in Massachusetts, so I sit down on a rock just outside the park.

Flashes of my former life—before Noah and Sarah, I mean—my original life, I guess you could say—pass in my mind’s eye. It runs like a movie reel, playing constantly on repeat. I try to block it out, but the memories continue to slap me in my face.

Especially the last memory I have of Heaven, my fight with the Dominion angel, Apolly, and the way he lied to God about why I refused to kill our brother angel, Angelo. It sticks out like a sore thumb, throbbing and swollen.

Apolly had it out for messenger angels, and Angelo was number one. You know the saying, ‘don’t kill the messenger?’ That came from him. Apolly’s sole purpose in life was to kill messengers. He thrived on it. And it was all under God’s nose, totally unbeknownst to Him.

But Apolly forced my hand when he ordered me to kill Angelo.

Angelo was a brother—a friend—I couldn’t do that to him. When Angelo was set to inform God of Apolly’s wrongdoings, Apolly assigned me to take him out.

“We have to nip this in the bud before it gets out of hand,” Apolly had said, his brow creased in selfish worry.

“This bud?” I questioned with disdain in my voice. “Apolly, brother, you’re wanting to kill an angel who is following the orders of God. He is to report back with any information he comes along. You are the one who is in the wrong. Do you question God Himself?”

Apolly shrugged nonchalantly. “It is my orders and I am your superior. You are to kill Angelo.”

“I will not,” I had said. “You may be my superior, but you are not Angelo’s. I’ll take this up with God and if Angelo is a traitor as you claim, making up false accusations about you, I will do what needs to be done. Until then, I am to hold off.”

I shake my head of the memory.

Needless to say, Apolly got to God first. He had made up a convoluted story claiming Angelo had been trading information with Lucifer to get him back into Heaven. It was all smokescreen for the evil Apolly was actually dealing with.

God was forced to cast me out for not following orders. Apolly was higher on the hierarchy, after all, and angels never lied. I wasn’t even able to tell my side of the story. I was to take my punishment and deal with the consequences.

That’s what we were taught to believe, anyway.

I saw the ugliness that day. I was content to leave. I needed a break. I just didn’t know I’d be sent as a baby to an immortal family.

Starting over was irony. A baby, God? Really? I’d probably find the situation hilarious had I not been the butt of the joke.

Done with reminiscing about my former life, I pick at the dead grass on the ground, throwing the tiny wheat-like tendrils on the ground.

Gallows Hill is nothing like I imagined. It’s not grassy knolls and rolling hills. It’s barren and sad. The trees lack leaves and the hillside is absent of any personality. It’s apparent something tragic occurred here. The scars of the catastrophic time, blemishing the land with heartbreak.

One by one, gusts of wind hit my face as McKenna and Kai snap into view, landing a few feet away from me. Next comes Wood and Candy, Wood shoving Candy’s hands away the moment their feet hit solid ground.

McKenna looks down carefully at her appearance, pulling at her shirt and jacket, her eyes prepared yet scared. She blinks, the now dark sky setting a tone for the evening.

When she realizes where I’m sitting, her fearful expression vanishes and she allows herself to smile a tiny bit. I do my best to comfort her with my own appearance, hoping I look ready for whatever is to come next.

As the group approaches me, I can tell just how exhausted we all are. It’s been such a hellish day with everything moving in fast forward. I’m going to need to sleep for a year when this is all said and done.

I push my grogginess back and grab for McKenna’s hand when she comes close enough to touch, but instead, she wraps her arms around my neck and brings her mouth close, touching mine softly. I feel every emotion she has in the kiss. All the things, I think, we both want to say but don’t have the time to. I cup her face, leaning into her as much as I can.

Crickets chirp in the background and our boots shuffle closer toward each other.

“Everything is going to be okay, right?” she asks, flushed as she pulls away. “We’re going to walk in there and come out the same people?”

I’m already nodding my head. “Yes. Of course.”

She licks her lips and wipes a stray tear falling from her eye. “Are you sure? Because I feel like the moment I step foot into whatever is down there, my entire world is going to change.” She rubs her lips together. “No matter what, I don’t want to lose you. Promise me, no matter what we find out down there, you won’t give up on me.”

I take hold of her shoulders, soothing her. “I promise, Mighty. There’s nothing you do or say that can make me leave you. Each and every one of us is here no matter what. We’ve got your back. You’re going to be okay.”

“Nothing’s going to change,” Candy promises, placing her hand on McKenna’s shoulder.

McKenna’s teary eyes find Candy and she sniffles. “Okay.”

“Don’t worry.”

McKenna scoffs.

I give her a leveled stare.

She huffs and then smiles.

Kai steps in, uneasiness plastered all over his face. “Guys, this is a huge deal. Not to freak you out, McKenna, but we’re trying to fool Maker, this isn’t going to be easy.”

Wood crosses his arms, his stance firm. “We can do this.”

Kai smiles. “I know we can, but we have to go in together and leave together. There’s no other way we’ll survive.”

“We’re a team,” Candy says.

“A tribe,” McKenna offers. “A tribe of badass witches, angels, Pursuers and Thayans. We can do this.”

“Right,” I agree.

“First things first,” Kai says, “we have to find the entrance.”

McKenna points to the hill just beyond where we’re standing. There’s a large wooden cross in the ground on the top, it looks ominous and a little frightening. “It’s there. I can feel it.”

“You…you can feel it?” Kai stutters, his skin turning an odd shade of white.

“It’s just a feeling,” McKenna says, her cheeks becoming a blotchy red. “It’s almost like whatever is there wants me in.” Her eyebrows furrow. “You don’t feel it?”

Kai shakes his head, bewildered.

McKenna shakes it off. “Come on, let’s go.”

Candy and McKenna walk in front of Wood, Kai and I, and Wood pulls me back, his eyes hard. “It can’t be a good sign McKenna can feel Beneath.”

I chew on my lip, and watch as she walks with such elegance in front of me. “One thing at a time, brother.”

He rolls his eyes and walks ahead of me.

“What’s his deal?” Kai asks, watching Wood saunter off.

I shake my head and don’t answer.

When we make it up the hill to the cross, McKenna reaches for it, cautious. “There’s something engraved in the wood.”

“What does it say?” Candy asks, squinting her eyes.

McKenna shakes her head, feeling the indented carvings. “It’s in another language.”

Wood stands in front of it, his brows pulled down in concentration. He reaches into his pocket and produces his phone, turning on the flashlight. “This…this is Deusian. The same language Mrs. Carlson and her son wrote all over the walls in their home.”

I scratch my eyebrow. “Makes sense seeing as how it’s the entrance to Beneath. Kai, can you read it?”

Kai nods quickly.

McKenna presses her lips together, her posture rigid.

“You okay?” I ask, placing my hand on her arm, but she flinches away, taking a tentative step to the side.

“I’m okay,” she says shortly. She continues to stare are the wood, captivated by what’s written there.

“Can you read it, too?” My voice is low because I’m not sure if she’d want to answer the question in front of everyone.

She shakes her head with a tight jaw.

Just like that, she’s closed herself off. Her walls are up, and I hope I can penetrate them enough to pull her back. I don’t know if it’s that she’s scared because this place calls to her, or she can feel herself trying to stray from who she used to be, but she looks like a different person.

Candy moves back a couple steps and allows Kai to stand in front of the cross. “Those who dare cross this threshold shall be held responsible for what lies beneath. Those who taint the grounds underneath, shall be the key to the entrance.” He takes a deep breath. “Open your skin, for what’s needed is more.”

“How much more?” Wood asks.

“A lot.” Kai clears his throat. Producing his knife from his back pocket, he places the sharp blade on his wrist. “I have to offer the ground my life and it’ll grant us entrance.” He winces as the knife cuts into his skin, pumping his hand open and closed to get more blood flow.

The ground underneath us begins to tremor, knocking us off balance. McKenna grabs for me and Candy uses Wood for support.