Soul Betrayed (27 page)

“Just give it some time.”

I nodded slowly.

Cooper jumped up and I frowned. Even he seemed scared of me.

Father cleared his throat. He and Ally stood in front of me. Cooper helped me to my feet and I drew my hand back, still unsure of my powers.

My father peered down at me with his stern eyes.

I looked at Ally. Her eyes were red-rimmed. And I remembered David.

“Ally, I—”

“Is he still there?” she asked in a small voice.

“I don’t know.”
And please don’t ask me to try and reach him,
I added subconsciously. If Jackson was still inside of me, I didn’t want to bring him out just yet. Because if he wasn’t, I couldn’t be sure enough of myself not to take the rest of Abidan as revenge for killing Jackson again.

Ally sniffed and hugged me.

I squeezed her back, hoping that I’d have an answer for her someday.

She held me at arm’s length, smiling. “I’ll see you soon,” she said, briefly, and left.

I looked up at Father and he sighed, looking at the spot where Ally had been.

“I’m going to go with her,” Cooper said and I nodded in reply.

My father and I stood in awkward silence, the first opportunity we’d had to be alone in quite some time. Instead of speaking, he came closer and wrapped his arms around me. I let go of everything I’d been holding inside and burrowed myself against him.

“I’m proud of you,” he said against my hair.

I choked on a sob. “For what? I ruined a century of your life. I’m so sorry for that.”

“It wasn’t your fault.”

I tilted my head back, searching his eyes. Of course it was my fault. “I pulled the trigger.”

“The chain of events that had brought you to that day weren’t because of you or Jackson.”

“What do you mean?”

“Jackson showed me a memory of his. I was too wrapped up in your relationship to see it.”

“See what?”

He shook his head. “Gemma and Tristan hadn’t come together on their own. They were Influenced. They didn’t know what they were doing until it was too late.”

I shook my head. “What did Jackson show you?”

“When he had discovered who had done it, he took care of the Shadowed responsible.”

What else had he done to protect me? His soul
was
pure. I had to make sure it lived on.

“You made a mistake,” Father said. “All humans do. Including myself. Instead of being there for you, I shut you out. Something I plan on making up for if you will let me.”

Tears blurred my vision. “I’d like to do the same.”

He hugged me again and the weight of the world fell away from my shoulders.

EPILOGUE

I waited by Gemma’s grave, slowly tracing her name with my finger. I’d asked the others to meet me there. I wasn’t ready to go to the After just yet.

A car pulled around the bend and I recognized it as Robert’s. I froze in place until I saw Jamie bound out and start jogging toward me. She stopped abruptly in front of me.

“Hey,” I said.

“Hi!” she turned in a circle, her eyebrows raised. “I’m not in any immediate danger right now am I?”

I shook my head, chuckling. “Hopefully not ever.”

“That’s a relief.”

Cooper and Ally appeared next to us and I stood up to face them.

“Did you talk to Felix?” Cooper asked.

I nodded. Father had taken me to see Felix almost immediately after Abidan was taken captive. “He had a lot of cleaning up to do,” I explained. “But he did offer me a job on the Guard.”

Cooper beamed. “I knew you were Guard material.”

“Congrats,” Ally said dragging the word out. I knew she was the observant one. “You could have told us that anywhere. Why did we need to meet here?”

“I wanted you all,” I opened my hands encompassing Jamie, “to know I turned him down.”

“What?” Cooper looked stunned.

I sighed. “I know what I was meant to be and Felix has given me a chance to become that.”

Cooper stepped toward me. “But this is what you wanted.”

“It’s everything I ever wanted. Until I met you two.” They shared a look. “I discovered that I was meant for so much more. I am a Rodas. My powers are bearable at best but being a Guard isn’t what I was meant to do. I have a more important job.”

“So then be a Rodas…” Ally suggested.

“I will.”

Cooper shook his head, a relieved smile on his face. “Why didn’t you just say so?”

I inhaled a deep breath.
Here goes nothing.
“I won’t be able to see you all for some time. The Rodas are kept separate from the souls and Prognatum.”

“But this isn’t goodbye forever right?” Jamie asked.

“Not forever,” I said. “But a while.”

Jamie stuck her lip out and Ally frowned, swiping a stray tear from her face.

Cooper quirked his mouth in a brave half smile. “I’m happy you will have the chance to make it right.”

“This isn’t goodbye, Cooper.”

He nodded. “I know.”

Calliope popped into existence nearby. Her eyes met each of theirs before settling on mine. “It’s time for me to go.”

I hugged Ally and Jamie again and left Cooper for last. He tightly pulled me against him. “I’m going to miss you.”

“You too,” I said against his chest.

He kissed my head lightly and let me go.

Even though I’d only met them a few months ago, saying goodbye had been more difficult than I imagined. I’d work hard to fulfill my destiny so I could come back to them as soon as possible.

I gave them a small wave and took Calliope’s hand. I closed my eyes, allowing her to take me to my home.

Calliope didn’t take me to the Collections Office as I expected she would. Instead we materialized at the place I remembered Jackson said was his favorite. We were at the base of a mountain with a sharp slope providing the only other way out of there. He hadn’t explained why but I’m sure I was about to figure it out.

“I have to go,” Calliope said. She turned to leave but whirled back around and kissed my cheek. “Thank you for saving us.” She grinned a mega-watt smile and jogged away toward the office.

I kicked the ground with the toe of my shoe, making sure I was actually in the After. Inhaling the sweet scent I spun around, taking it all in. I was in the After and I was a transformed Prognatum. But the price I had paid weighed heavily on my heart.

“Welcome,” someone said.

A woman stood in front of me. She had was tall and thin with platinum-white, pin-straight hair. Her bright golden eyes sparkled. Around her were six other Caeleste, two male and the rest female. They all wore the same gray fabric but in different styles of clothing. The Caeleste who welcomed me was in a long dress that flowed around her like a puffy cloud.

My knees turned to jelly. Not because of their strikingly intimidating physiques, but because of the colorful essences rolling off their bodies. Yet, none of them had the orange color that I possessed.

“I’d like to see yours,” she said softly, as if she had read my mind.

I swallowed. “I’m not sure—”

“We will teach you how to control it,” one of the males said. “This is a safe place.”

I dropped my hands to my sides, opening them and allowing the essence to roll off of them. I looked back and forth checking for Jackson, but I didn’t see him. My heart pounded in my chest.

The blonde Caeleste smiled. “Very good. We have much work to do.”

She turned, gracefully moving her skirt around her. She waved a hand and I had a sense of déjà vu for when Hannah did that to reveal the place where she took her souls. The mountain base shimmered, revealing a secret doorway. She walked through it and the rest moved out of the way. I looked at them and they appeared to be waiting for something.

“Come along,” their leader called.

As I scurried past them, their eyes never left mine. In another circumstance I might have been terrified, but I had never felt more at home in my entire life.

***

Theophilia, the blonde Caeleste, became my mentor. She was one of the few Rodas who hadn’t left all those years ago. I had been right about Abidan lying the whole time. The Rodas who left were taking more than their fair share and only giving it to those who they thought deserved it. It had been a decision by the Caeleste leaders, Felix included, to destroy them. But the order had come too late.

Even though I was a Prognatum, the longer I stayed in the After, the less humanity I possessed. I favored my Caeleste side more than the rest. I worked tirelessly with Theophilia and the others to reunite the rescued Shadowed with their True Souls. The Guard went in search of stray Shadowed who remained on the Living Realm, bringing them to us as well.

Felix worked with us as much as he could to ensure the Shadowed were returned to their proper place. I sensed it was mostly guilt driving his efforts.

It was only once the last Shadowed had passed through our care that I was able to work on what my true purpose was.

“I don’t think I can do it,” I said to Theophilia one afternoon. We were looking over the cliff on top of the mountain. In all the times that Jackson had taken me there, I’d never been on the other side. It was a protected part of the After where the Recycling process took place. Below us was a space like Gate Seven, a swirling mass of colors. That was where the souls were released back to the Living Realm. He had known what I was and had chosen this place to be his favorite. Even with him gone he still surprised me.

“Yes you can,” she assured me.

“I don’t want to lose him.” I had told her about what I did with Jackson. Because he had been struck by the scythe, she wasn’t sure if he would have survived as David and Hannah had.

“We must try,” she urged.

I bit my bottom lip. I had tried several days ago on one of the Collected souls but I had almost drained every ounce of life force from it. From the start the hunger had been uncontrollable and the longer I held back from using the essence the worse it got.

I let go of the essence slowly, Theophilia’s magenta essence moving with mine. We lifted our hands up in sync and I concentrated on keeping the essence only in my hands.

“You’re doing wonderfully,” she said.

Beads of sweat formed on my hairline with the effort.

“Now, I need you to search inside of it for him.”

All I could see was the orange essence rolling around in my hands. “I can’t,” I said through clenched teeth.

“Be positive,” she reprimanded.

“I’m positive I can’t see anything,” I said, attempting to make a joke.

“Think of the last time you saw him. Pull that memory out of you.”

I allowed the memory to take a hold of me. Abidan’s twisted sneer filled my vision and I could almost feel Jackson’s soul against me as I had held him. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I experienced the last moments of his after-life.

“Maggie!” Theophilia’s frantic voice broke through my thoughts.

I opened my eyes. The essence was gone from my hands. What the hell? I whirled around, still feeling it pouring out, but not seeing it. That was until I found it, in the form of Jackson’s soul.

Theophilia’s lips parted in astonishment.

Jackson’s blank expression reminded me of David’s. He
had
still been inside of me, but she had been right. He wasn’t whole. But I could change that. I walked to the edge of the cliff, carefully beckoning him to my side. Jackson’s beautiful face followed me. I wanted to touch him but I didn’t want to risk breaking the spell.

“I’m going to send you back.” I glanced at Theophilia and she nodded encouragingly. I moved my hands forward until he was just on the edge. “I love you,” I whispered. His head jerked in my direction and his eyes met mine momentarily. I touched his neck and removed a piece of his soul that would wait for him until he was ready to return to the After. I let him go and watched his soul free fall until it disappeared from sight. I wanted to fall with him, but this was the right thing to do. His life had been taken from him too soon and he deserved a full one.

Theophilia’s soft hand brushed over my shoulders. “I’ve never seen anything quite like that.”

“Never?”

She shook her head once. “We normally don’t hold onto souls much longer than necessary. Your control is quite strong.”

Something I never thought I’d hear.

I looked across the expanse under us and sent a silent prayer to Jackson. Wherever he ended up I hoped his new life was better than the one with me. And I held onto the hope that when he finally returned to me, his soul would have found peace, just as I had.