Page 28 of Light

“The moment I laid eyes on you, I saw the error of my thoughts. I understood why we gave a part of ourselves so you could live. And it's all I want for you.

“I don't want it back. I would give you every last shred of my soul and lay down my eternal life so you could know peace.

“An eternity with me would be torture. A torture I could never want for the only being who has ever truly been worthy of my soul. In my endless darkness, you are the only light.

“Don’t go, Light. Find your way back to me.”

He closed his eyes, a single tear sliding down his cheek.

Her chest rose steadily, dipping beneath the weight of his arm only to rise again. Her soul pulsed, growing warmer under his touch. It was weighing his confession, considering his words.

Would it choose to be reunited with one who had acted so cruelly? He lifted his head and pressed a kiss to her cheek.

Although her soul was reviving, her body was still.

He rested his head on her shoulder, curling his arm more tightly around her frame and closed his eyes again. Time. She needed time.

And that was something he had in spades.

Chapter 22

Gabriel

Days stretched into weeks, and though her soul danced joyfully at each touch, her still form was cool. Dina had come and gone, offering her healing magic; to take his place; prayer. He’d turned them all away.

Adalaide’s soul had chosen, but her mind was in a state of limbo.

He’d seen it in mortals before. The soul made its choice to stay or go, but the mind had not, so the body lingered in a form of stasis, waiting for the two to come to terms with one another. In cases where the soul left, the body eventually withered and perished. When the soul chose to stay, but the mind did not, a ghostly echo of their former selves remained.

Helping souls cope with their new state was not something he had much experience with, that was Phanuel's mission.

If her mind chose to leave, but her soul remained, what did it mean for their bond? Would his other half be trapped on the Earthly plane, unable to pass on but unable to bond as well? Would her human body die, leaving her soul behind?

He lay a hand gently on her cheek. At Dina’s recommendation, he’d cast a time bubble, allowing her body to remain unravaged by lack of food and water while her mind chose its path forward, but he could only maintain this bubble in time for so long. Its effects would be felt once she woke. If she woke.

“Come back to me, Light. The world is dark without you.”

Her perfect pink lips were parted, soft breath disturbing the air around her face. As her pale skin flushed under his warm touch, he marveled at how alive she seemed even in this state.

Light brown freckles dotted over the bridge of her nose, and he smiled softly as he noted their symmetry. Lifting his hand from her cheek, he ran a finger lightly over the tiny dots, tracing their shape.

Gabriel gasped, sitting back. The freckles bridging her nose formed the Hyades cluster and splashed over her cheek, Aldebaran sat at the midpoint. He tracked the constellation across her face, swallowing the lump rising in his throat.

Now more than ever, he wished he could wake her, ask her what day she was born, but perhaps the date of her birth was not the lynchpin of the end times. Perhaps it was a girl, marked by the Taurus constellation, sent at the appropriate time, meant to be bonded to the strongest angel yet remaining in Alaxia.

Gabriel stood, moving to the window. Even this small distance sent pain radiating through him. The bond was anxious for them to resolve their connection as if his soul sensed hers desperately in need of him.

He paused, glancing back to her serene form.

Would it be enough to wake her?

The thought of performing the act without her consent made him sick. The fact that he was debating the action left the most vile taste on his tongue. No part of him could reconcile it as an act meant to save her.

It was uncomfortably close to thoughts he had all those years ago of taking back what was stolen from him and discarding the body.

Perhaps a bonding under such circumstances wouldn’t take. Perhaps her soul would reject him for even considering such deceit. Humans, after all, had free will. They could choose to reject their bond.

Had she posed it to him directly, he would not have had the option.

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