happened.”
He pauses and something enters his eyes. Fear. But it’s only there for a moment before it disappears. “It’s supposed to be a key, Evie, not a weapon. You have no idea what you looked like, do you? When I saw you on the ground, I expected to see your soul rise from you at any moment. You were bleeding from your eyes and your ears—I could hear your lungs filling—you were drowning in blood internally.”
“I’m fine,” I say to the morbid question I see in his eyes.
“How are you fine? I thought you were dying.”
Brennus’ last few words resonate within me: I’ve healed ye...now wake up and banjax whoever banished ye here...
I give him a ghost of a smile. “You don’t know everything about me. Learn my secrets if you want to stay ahead of me.
That makes him angry. “You shouldn’t have opened the doorway to Sheol! It could’ve sucked you in.”
“I didn’t know what it was.”
“Your father told you it was a key!”
“He failed to mention it would possess me the moment I touched it!” I retort.
“None of us knew you’d react to it as you did. Heaven has been keeping secrets from us all!”
“Welcome to my world, Xavier.”
“You knew the tone to use to open the doorway! Tau said you whispered something just before you used the key.”
I rub my forehead anxiously. “I...when I picked it up...I knew the way to enter. I wanted to go, but it made me sick at the same time—but I knew I had to go. They need me.”
“Who needs you?”
I shake my head. “I don’t know.”
“Do you remember what you said?”
I think for a second. “In your hideaway, towers grow, so far away, in the dark of Sheol...” I groan, and look around like I’ve lost something. “There’s more...it’s on the tip of my tongue...arrrghhh,” I growl in frustration.
“Using the key to close the door almost killed you. It’s like you were meant to go to Sheol and the fact that you remained here almost destroyed you.”
“Why would I need a key anyway? Don’t angels go in and out of Sheol all the time?”
He looks at me like I’m completely naïve. “There are gateways between this world and Sheol but they’re all known to us. We guard them from this side and Sheol guards them from the other side. Sometimes there are tears in the fabric between your world in which demons and Fallen slip through. But mostly, there’s balance—small doors that close and don’t open again for long periods of time. The boatswain creates a gateway where none existed. You could theoretically control the flow of beings in and out of Sheol with it.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means if you were to open the gateway big enough, you could march an army through it.”
I shiver as all the hair on my body stands on end because he’s speaking the truth. “Where’s Reed?” Pieces of the ceiling fall to the bedroom floor as I force Xavier harder against it in panic. “I need him.” He’s the only person that can drive away the fear that threatens to overwhelm me.
The set of Xavier’s jaw indicates that he’s done talking.
“You don’t like that question? Here’s a different one: Where were you?” I ask, choking on betrayal.
His expression loses some of its defiance. “When?” he asks.
“When I was Simone and being tortured by Emil.” I hiss. “You made me go back to him in Lille. You wouldn’t let me leave Emil until I found out his next position, would you? Even with everything you knew about him! You knew he was a complete monster! You knew what he was doing to me! The brutality I suffered at his hands!”
A smile forms on Xavier’s lips “You remember me—you remember us?” His elation is eclipsing his pain.
“I remember being tortured by Emil and abandoned by you! It’s a theme with you!”
His smile is gone. “I never abandoned you! I’ve never walked away from you!”
“You let him have me,” I whisper, wretched with the knowledge of what he allowed to happen to
He pauses and something enters his eyes. Fear. But it’s only there for a moment before it disappears. “It’s supposed to be a key, Evie, not a weapon. You have no idea what you looked like, do you? When I saw you on the ground, I expected to see your soul rise from you at any moment. You were bleeding from your eyes and your ears—I could hear your lungs filling—you were drowning in blood internally.”
“I’m fine,” I say to the morbid question I see in his eyes.
“How are you fine? I thought you were dying.”
Brennus’ last few words resonate within me: I’ve healed ye...now wake up and banjax whoever banished ye here...
I give him a ghost of a smile. “You don’t know everything about me. Learn my secrets if you want to stay ahead of me.
That makes him angry. “You shouldn’t have opened the doorway to Sheol! It could’ve sucked you in.”
“I didn’t know what it was.”
“Your father told you it was a key!”
“He failed to mention it would possess me the moment I touched it!” I retort.
“None of us knew you’d react to it as you did. Heaven has been keeping secrets from us all!”
“Welcome to my world, Xavier.”
“You knew the tone to use to open the doorway! Tau said you whispered something just before you used the key.”
I rub my forehead anxiously. “I...when I picked it up...I knew the way to enter. I wanted to go, but it made me sick at the same time—but I knew I had to go. They need me.”
“Who needs you?”
I shake my head. “I don’t know.”
“Do you remember what you said?”
I think for a second. “In your hideaway, towers grow, so far away, in the dark of Sheol...” I groan, and look around like I’ve lost something. “There’s more...it’s on the tip of my tongue...arrrghhh,” I growl in frustration.
“Using the key to close the door almost killed you. It’s like you were meant to go to Sheol and the fact that you remained here almost destroyed you.”
“Why would I need a key anyway? Don’t angels go in and out of Sheol all the time?”
He looks at me like I’m completely naïve. “There are gateways between this world and Sheol but they’re all known to us. We guard them from this side and Sheol guards them from the other side. Sometimes there are tears in the fabric between your world in which demons and Fallen slip through. But mostly, there’s balance—small doors that close and don’t open again for long periods of time. The boatswain creates a gateway where none existed. You could theoretically control the flow of beings in and out of Sheol with it.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means if you were to open the gateway big enough, you could march an army through it.”
I shiver as all the hair on my body stands on end because he’s speaking the truth. “Where’s Reed?” Pieces of the ceiling fall to the bedroom floor as I force Xavier harder against it in panic. “I need him.” He’s the only person that can drive away the fear that threatens to overwhelm me.
The set of Xavier’s jaw indicates that he’s done talking.
“You don’t like that question? Here’s a different one: Where were you?” I ask, choking on betrayal.
His expression loses some of its defiance. “When?” he asks.
“When I was Simone and being tortured by Emil.” I hiss. “You made me go back to him in Lille. You wouldn’t let me leave Emil until I found out his next position, would you? Even with everything you knew about him! You knew he was a complete monster! You knew what he was doing to me! The brutality I suffered at his hands!”
A smile forms on Xavier’s lips “You remember me—you remember us?” His elation is eclipsing his pain.
“I remember being tortured by Emil and abandoned by you! It’s a theme with you!”
His smile is gone. “I never abandoned you! I’ve never walked away from you!”
“You let him have me,” I whisper, wretched with the knowledge of what he allowed to happen to
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