Pretty Dark Nothing (31 page)

“Whose side are you on, Azrael?”

“My own.”

Quinn’s thoughts had blinked out again, and she lay motionless. Aaron ached to go to her. To make sure she was alive, but Azrael held him with the blade.

“Your time has ended, Kaemon, or would you prefer Aaron. You’ve been nothing but a nuisance. I thought I had done enough to rid myself of you without getting my wings dirty. I had counted on your powers and your bond to her being erased along with your memories, but even in this mortal body you remained her Sentinel. It’s time to correct my mistake.” Azrael dragged his golden blade across Aaron’s throat, slow and steady.

Aaron rasped a cry as his body shuttered and convulsed, the immortal poison burning its way through what was left of his angel soul while human blood spurted from his jugular. He collapsed. His life force ebbed, but he pushed himself to hold on until he dragged himself the precious inches to the pale, half-conscious Quinn. With his last breath, he pressed his lips to hers. Her energy surged as his waned. With a kiss, he gave her the very last of himself, his last thoughts before their link was broken forever.

I love you. Never forget it. I’m sorry.
Don’t trust Azrael.
He pushed the warning deep into her mind as the last of his lifeblood drained away.

“Don’t worry. I’ll take good care of her.” Azrael kicked Aaron’s body over the edge of the outcropping. There was no fight left in him. The river yanked at his lifeless limbs. He let the water overwhelm him, pulling him under, calling him to the depths of darkness, to oblivion.

***

Quinn awoke under a clear sky. “Aaron?” She sat up and touched her lips. Warm, as if she’d just been kissed. She remembered the blinding crack to her skull and being dragged under. Her hand went to her head, and she felt for a bump, blood, tenderness, anything that would attest to an injury, but her scalp was blemish free. The thought came to her like a rushing wind.

So, is this Heaven or Hell?

“Neither.”

A bright and terrible being swooped down and landed in front of her. Dark wings stretched behind him, magnificent and beautiful. Quinn couldn’t help but gawk, too awed to be afraid. Two swords hung at his hips. She stared, mesmerized by their glowing pulse.

“Am I dead? Where am I? Are you an angel?” If he were an angel, was he here to take her away? Quinn trembled. How would her parents deal with finding her floating, bloated and gray in the river? And what about Reese and Aaron? Aaron with his green eyes, always there for her no matter how many times she had pushed him away. If she were dead, he would never know how sorry she was, how much she really loved him.

“I am Azrael.” He held out his hand to help her to her feet.

“Azrael?” Something stirred inside her, uneasiness she couldn’t put her finger on. “Your name. It sounds familiar.”

“I’m your Sentinel, or guardian, as your kind like to call us. I’ve been assigned to you.” His voice was a symphony of peace, layers of deep sound humming out of every syllable, soothing away her concerns.

Quinn had a vague memory of a being of light following her, comforting her, reaching into her mind. It must have been this Azrael. Her guardian.

“You summoned me. I’ve brought you In Between to give you time to choose, away from the demons’ tongues, away from their lies and influence. To give you a clear head. Time to think about what you really want.”

“What are you talking about? What do those things want from me?”

“Your death. Isn’t it obvious?” Warmth radiated from Azrael though his tone seemed cold in contrast.

“Why?”

“For your powers, of course.” His smile masked a slow burning annoyance.

“What powers? I don’t have any powers.”

“Don’t you?”

“No.” Girls with powers didn’t poison everything they touched. And if she had powers, she would have used them already.

“You can see them, can’t you? The dark ones? The demons? No one else can. You’re the one they speak to. Your powers are emerging.”

“That’s crazy. I’m just a girl. Why would they want me dead?”

“Just a girl? No, Quinn, you’re much more than that. It is prophesized that a human baby would be born with the perfect balance of angel and demon souls, someone to restore balance to the world and tame the dark ones forever. You are that human, Quinn.”

Quinn shook her head. “This is a dream. I’m washed up on the beach somewhere, and my imagination is running rampant.”

“This is no dream. Deep down you sense it. Why do you think the demons have tormented you so much? They knew you were vulnerable.” The light radiating from Azrael brightened and dimmed, pulsing with every word.

“So why didn’t you come sooner? Why haven’t you been protecting me?” Quinn gritted her teeth. If he were her Sentinel, why would he let them torture her? “I demand an answer.”

“You didn’t want to see me, you kept blocking me. This was the only way I could get to you and only because you finally called out for help.” Azrael’s wings beat in frustration. “Time grows short. I don’t have time to explain every little detail. It’s taking the last of my energy to hold In Between together.”

“How do I know you’re telling the truth? How do I know you’re not one of those creatures? You could be lying to me, like they did.”

“I could be. But I’m not. You were created for a purpose. Search your heart. Much lies in there, untapped, power that’s been waiting to be awakened.” The ground trembled, and small cracks appeared in the night sky. “I can’t hold you here much longer. It’s time for you to decide. Now, before it collapses and death chooses for you!” Azrael raised his voice in competition as the sky grumbled and cracked.

“Decide what?” Quinn wiped a cold drop from her cheek and shivered. Rivulets of water trickled from the growing fissures in the false world, reality leaking through, destroying the facade.

“Life or death. It’s your choice.” The world faded to black, and then snapped back into focus as if someone had flipped a light switch. “I can teach you how to use your power, to destroy the dark ones and restore balance, if you want. If you live, I will be your greatest ally, be by your side and teach you how to protect yourself. I can’t force you. You’ve been granted free will. You choose.”

“It’s not that easy. I don’t want to go back to that craziness. I don’t want anything to do with the dark ones.”

“Then die.” Azrael raised a hand, and the ground shook.

“Wait! I need more time!”

“There is no more time.” Azrael gave her a fierce look, and she scrambled back, the light inside him dimmed further, flickering as if it might be snuffed out at any moment. “Life is never easy, not for you, not for anyone. But you can choose. I grow impatient. This bubble is about to burst.” Azrael’s words hurled at her like thunder. “I can end it now, and the Light will choose another.” Azrael pulled the golden blade from his scabbard. “I can release your soul from your body. It will be quick; you won’t feel a thing. Maybe you weren’t the right soul after all. The choice is yours. Do you really want to die?”

Quinn pictured her funeral. Her mother, dressed in black, weeping as they lowered her into an open grave. Her father stood beside her, a baby boy in his arms, blond hair, chubby cheeks. Her brother.

“Maybe he would be the better choice. Yes?”

“Don’t you dare,” Quinn growled through clenched teeth.

“You don’t even know him. You secretly wished he didn’t exist.”

“Get out of my head.” Quinn shoved the thoughts of her brother into a mental box.

“Good. You are learning already.”

“Will they leave him alone if I say yes?” The world blinked to black and back again as the cracks widened.

“Yes. But I don’t know what will happen if you say no.” Water tumbled, waterfalls from the edge of the world, churning the once glassy surface of the stilled river.

Quinn stood, shaking in frustration. Her heart felt as if it had been shattered in a million different pieces, and she didn’t know how to put it back together again without getting cut. Saying yes meant going back to face every mistake, it meant facing her demons, her despair. Yes filled her future with the unknown. But saying no? Choosing the pretty dark nothing of death? She knelt on the rock, eyes closed, searching her heart for an answer.

Images of Ami, Marcus, Reese, all her friends, filed past her coffin. Each placed a rose on her casket. Aaron. Would he even come after the way she had treated him? Quinn felt his lips on hers, the squeeze of his hand. She pictured the long, winding scars that snaked up his arms. He had told her he felt as if he had been sent back for a reason, and in that moment she almost believed he had been sent for her. Tears streamed down Quinn’s face. If he would forgive her, they might have a chance. With him, she could get through this. She longed to see him one more time, to tell him she was sorry, that she did love him.

A sudden rush of magnetic wind pulled at her.

“It is done.” The earth shuddered with a loud boom. And with a rush of wind, Azrael unfurled his onyx wings and ascended into the dark sky.

“Wait!” she screamed. “I still have questions.”

“And when those are answered, you will have more.”

“What do I do now?” A tsunami of dark water came at her like a speeding truck and washed her away as the façade crumbled around her.

“Live.” The voice echoed through her mind, reverberating through the nothingness until her head exploded in pain. That same, indescribable pain filled her chest, burning its way up through her throat, followed by an overwhelming need to vomit.

Her head spun as she leaned to the side, water spewing from her mouth. With a sputtering gasp, she inhaled like a baby filling its lungs for the first time. Her chest ached as the air forced its way into her lungs. The foreign liquid exploded outward. Her stomach rolled as she vomited with no control until nothing, liquid or solid, was left inside her.

“Thank you, God.” She relaxed with the sound of Reese’s familiar voice, her hand rubbing her back, comforting her.

“Reese,” she croaked, but didn’t have the strength to turn and look at her.

“Shhh, just lie still until the ambulance gets here.”

Quinn felt her hand on her face, stroking the sodden hair from her forehead. In the distance, Quinn heard the whine of the sirens. Her call to life, to a second chance, to destiny.

Acknowledgements

Pretty Dark Nothing would not have been possible without the hard work of the entire Month9Books team. From cover design, to editing, to marketing, you guys are amazing.

A special thank you to Courtney Koschel and Georgia McBride for taking a chance on my debut and helping me bring Quinn and Aaron to life on the page. I am truly grateful.

Thank you to family and friends who supported me every step of the way. Especially my parents, Rocky and Sherry Reid, for teaching me that anything is possible if you work hard enough. Thank you to my sisters, Kristal Seid and Beth Allen, for being my biggest cheerleaders, and to Preston, Olivia, and Victoria for being awesome and inspiring in every way. A big thank you to my BFF, JaneAnn Morrison, for thirty-three years of friendship, for a lifetime of fights, misunderstandings, love and support that comes from growing up together. Thanks for sticking with me.

Thank you to all of my Scottish family. You welcomed me with open arms and loved me like one of your own. A special thanks to my wonderful in-laws Linda and Drew Innes who let us live in their house, brought me chocolate when I had a bad writing day, and always supported me in my passion. I couldn’t be more blessed to be a part of your clan.

Thank you to my beta readers and critique partners for taking the time to read Pretty Dark Nothing in its early stages and give me feedback. Olivia Allen, Rebecca Niven, Stormie Brown, Dondi Markham, Brian and Marie Cordell, Teresa Hill Berting, Lucy Filmore, Christine Innes, Gillian Caitens, Rocky Hatley, Kim Free, Kortnee Byrd, Vaughn Roycroft, Tonia Marie Harris, and Trey Walpole.

Thank you to all the members of the Writer Unboxed Facebook group who took time to engage in amazing writerly conversation, to Writer Unboxed blog mamas Therese Walsh and Kathleen Bolton for providing an amazing community and space for learning about the craft of writing, and to my fellow Mod Squad members Vaughn Roycroft, Kim Downs Bullock and Valerie P. Chandler for picking up the ball when life got busy.

Thank you to my fellow Hugs and Chocolate founders and co-founders, Tonia M. Harris, Courtney Koschel, Jani Gray, Jamie Raintree, and Rebecca Fields for inspiring and encouraging me every day.

I wouldn’t be here if not for my very first critique group, Dreamcatchers. Each of you helped lay the foundations and for that you will always have a place in my heart.

And last but certainly not least, a special thank you to my loving husband, David Innes, my strength and calm in a storm. I love and appreciate you more than words can say.