Forsaken by Daniele Lanzarotta

where he is less likely to be.  You, Hunter and Chase
     will go to the others.  Some of the places are tricky, with warded doors and doors
     that take us into illusions.  You must be careful.”  He pauses.  “Whether you sense
     them or not, don’t let them know you’re there… just come for us and let us know what’s
     happening.”  
    I shake my head.  I don’t trust Xavier enough to take the chance of him finding Trent
     before we do.  “No, we will go to all places together.”  
    Xavier nods.  “Very well, then we start with the most difficult place and work our
     way to the others.  We need more weapons.  Hunter, would you come back to the Academy
     to help me get them?”  
    Hunter agrees and as soon as they are gone, Ethan comes to sit next to me.  
    He watches Jennifer with such adoration.  Then he looks from her to me, “Kayla, what
     you did for the Forsaken… do you think you could heal Jennifer too?  Make her an angel
     again?”  
    She gasps.  “Ethan, that is not necessary.  It doesn’t matter.”  
    He looks at her and his tone softens.  “You’re right.  It doesn’t matter to me.  I
     love you whether you’re fallen or not, but I know it matters to you and you deserve
     better than this.”  
    She stands up and walks over to him.  She kneels down in front of him and puts her
     hands over his.  “It doesn’t matter, love.”  
    “Please let her try this for you,” he begs.  
    I shrug.  “It won’t hurt to try.”  
    Jennifer looks into Ethan’s eyes.  “I’ll try, but I’m doing this for you, not for
     me.  Ethan smiles down at her.  He then stands up, helping her up as well and gives
     her his seat.  Jennifer sits next to me and I close my eyes, and when I’m finally
     able to get into her head, it’s not a memory that I see, it’s a message.  “Please
     tell him that you can’t.  I know what will happen if this works and I couldn’t bare
     him wanting to stay away because he is afraid of me becoming a fallen once again.”  
    I slowly open my eyes.  “I can’t, Ethan.  I’m sorry.”  
    I can see the disappointment all over his face.  He shakes his head.  “But you were
     able to do this with beings from Hell.  I don’t understand.  Jennifer deserves this.
      It should be easy…. It should be much easier than it was for you healing the others.”  
    I look away from him, not knowing what to say.  I also don’t want to lie to him.  It
     was hard enough to say that I couldn’t do this without even trying.  
    “It’s okay, love,” says Jennifer.  “It’s not meant to be.”  
    Ethan kneels down in front of her.  “But I know it in my heart that it is.  The dark
     wings don’t belong to you.  I see goodness in you everyday and it kills me to see
     you being cursed with this darkness of your wings.”  
    Jennifer leans closer to him and puts her hand against his cheek.  He closes his eyes
     and takes a deep breath.  
    “I see the same in you, Ethan.  This is not fair to either of us, but reality is that
     we fell.”  He opens his eyes and a tear runs down his face.  She wipes the tear away.
      “What matters to me is that we’re still together, Ethan.  I miss being able to help
     humans and our kind like I used to, but I wouldn’t be able to focus on any of that
     without you by my side.”  
    He smiles up at her then looks at me, “Thank you for trying.”  
    When Xavier and Hunter return, everyone’s mood is down, but they don’t ask why and
     we offer no explanation.  
    Once everyone has a weapon, Xavier transports us to a cabin in the middle of a forest.
      I stand a few feet away from the front door, holding my dagger.  Xavier masks our
     presence.  I can sense that Ezra has been here.  We all can.  I shiver just thinking
     about him.  
    “Can you tell if he’s still there?” Hunter asks Xavier.  
    I close my eyes.  I know that he is here.  Without so much as a word, I rush