me.
“It was our purpose, Evie! It’s what we do. We subvert evil. I couldn’t touch him in that lifetime—I’m an angel and he was human. It had to be you, human verses human. It’s how things are done. You knew going into that lifetime what could happen to you. What ALWAYS happens!”
“And what always happens, Xavier?”
“There is always a consequence—a price to pay! You die at the end. Period. Every time. You were human and that’s how it always ends.”
“Simone didn’t know that though, did she?” I ask. “She had no idea she was there to take one for the team. She thought you were her savior—her human British soldier who’d rescue her from the sociopath who wanted to destroy her—to take her apart piece by piece—inch by inch. You abandoned her to Emil—to that evil bastard!”
“You used to understand that once you were sent to Earth to live a life, I couldn’t reveal who or what I really am to you. This is the ONLY lifetime in which that no longer applies. This was going to be the first time I could reveal who I am to you while on Earth because you’re angelic now, too,” he explains. “But to answer your question: NO! My plan was to extract Simone before he killed you. I never meant to leave you there with Emil. Our plan went wrong. Evil won that time. Some missions end that way, Evie. You used to know that!”
I feel so hurt by him that I’m nearly overwhelmed by it. “I must’ve forgotten, Xavier, but you know what? Screw your missions! I don’t care about your missions! This is about you and me.”
“You’re exactly right! It is about you and me. It’s about you being with me. And it has everything to do with this assignment and Emil!” I release Xavier from the magic that has him pinned to the ceiling. He falls toward the floor, but his wings unfurl from his back, shredding off his shirt; they beat hard, saving him from crashing into the floor. He hovers for a moment in the air before touching down at the foot of my bed.
“Emil is back, isn’t he?” I ask, as fear starts to choke me.
“He was just at the house in Crestwood,” he affirms. “You didn’t recognize him?”
“His particular brand of darkness was familiar,” I admit, “but I didn’t know who Emil was until Tau blew that whistle and sent me into my memory.”
“You scared me when you were unconscious. I thought you were never going to wake up,” he says, inching closer, touching the footboard of my bed. He looks so dangerous without his shirt on to hide the sinew and power beneath his skin.
“The last whistle blow—the one that closed the door to Sheol—it made me go back—I was Simone again. I was living her memories.”
“You had a dream?”
“No. I was her—I was there—in Simone’s body.”
“What did you see?”
I feel bleak. “I saw how Emil was with me—obsessed, but not with love—with hate.”
“He saw his opposite in you and pretended that you were the same—that he was like you. He always tried so hard to break you—to terrify you, but you’d been through it all before—pain, slaughter, death—you have lifetimes of experience with it.”
“What happened to her? To me?” I amend. “How did Simone die?”
Xavier tenses. “I don’t know. I was hoping you could tell me,” he says with an urgency that startles me.
“Why don’t you know?” I ask in confusion.
“I was called back at almost the same moment that Simone died. When I arrived in Paradise, you wouldn’t tell me what happened between you and Emil in the last hours of your life and I couldn’t remember much of that last day there.”
“Why not?”
“Something went more wrong than just you dying—it was like you were protecting something—a secret. I asked you to tell me—begged you. You wouldn’t say—no, it was more like you couldn’t say. You were called then—soon after.”
“Called?” I ask.
He smiles again and my heart beats faster. I want to be indifferent to him, but
“It was our purpose, Evie! It’s what we do. We subvert evil. I couldn’t touch him in that lifetime—I’m an angel and he was human. It had to be you, human verses human. It’s how things are done. You knew going into that lifetime what could happen to you. What ALWAYS happens!”
“And what always happens, Xavier?”
“There is always a consequence—a price to pay! You die at the end. Period. Every time. You were human and that’s how it always ends.”
“Simone didn’t know that though, did she?” I ask. “She had no idea she was there to take one for the team. She thought you were her savior—her human British soldier who’d rescue her from the sociopath who wanted to destroy her—to take her apart piece by piece—inch by inch. You abandoned her to Emil—to that evil bastard!”
“You used to understand that once you were sent to Earth to live a life, I couldn’t reveal who or what I really am to you. This is the ONLY lifetime in which that no longer applies. This was going to be the first time I could reveal who I am to you while on Earth because you’re angelic now, too,” he explains. “But to answer your question: NO! My plan was to extract Simone before he killed you. I never meant to leave you there with Emil. Our plan went wrong. Evil won that time. Some missions end that way, Evie. You used to know that!”
I feel so hurt by him that I’m nearly overwhelmed by it. “I must’ve forgotten, Xavier, but you know what? Screw your missions! I don’t care about your missions! This is about you and me.”
“You’re exactly right! It is about you and me. It’s about you being with me. And it has everything to do with this assignment and Emil!” I release Xavier from the magic that has him pinned to the ceiling. He falls toward the floor, but his wings unfurl from his back, shredding off his shirt; they beat hard, saving him from crashing into the floor. He hovers for a moment in the air before touching down at the foot of my bed.
“Emil is back, isn’t he?” I ask, as fear starts to choke me.
“He was just at the house in Crestwood,” he affirms. “You didn’t recognize him?”
“His particular brand of darkness was familiar,” I admit, “but I didn’t know who Emil was until Tau blew that whistle and sent me into my memory.”
“You scared me when you were unconscious. I thought you were never going to wake up,” he says, inching closer, touching the footboard of my bed. He looks so dangerous without his shirt on to hide the sinew and power beneath his skin.
“The last whistle blow—the one that closed the door to Sheol—it made me go back—I was Simone again. I was living her memories.”
“You had a dream?”
“No. I was her—I was there—in Simone’s body.”
“What did you see?”
I feel bleak. “I saw how Emil was with me—obsessed, but not with love—with hate.”
“He saw his opposite in you and pretended that you were the same—that he was like you. He always tried so hard to break you—to terrify you, but you’d been through it all before—pain, slaughter, death—you have lifetimes of experience with it.”
“What happened to her? To me?” I amend. “How did Simone die?”
Xavier tenses. “I don’t know. I was hoping you could tell me,” he says with an urgency that startles me.
“Why don’t you know?” I ask in confusion.
“I was called back at almost the same moment that Simone died. When I arrived in Paradise, you wouldn’t tell me what happened between you and Emil in the last hours of your life and I couldn’t remember much of that last day there.”
“Why not?”
“Something went more wrong than just you dying—it was like you were protecting something—a secret. I asked you to tell me—begged you. You wouldn’t say—no, it was more like you couldn’t say. You were called then—soon after.”
“Called?” I ask.
He smiles again and my heart beats faster. I want to be indifferent to him, but
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