Page 72 of Widow

I rushed forward, falling to the ground next to Lia. I pulled her halfway in my lap and tried to heal her. Souls could come back to bodies if too much time hadn't passed.

She was gone.

I had thought Ric would immediately attack the shaman. Instead, he fell to the ground next to me. “Save her.” I shook my head, and he grabbed the arm of my shirt. “You’re a fucking archangel. Fucking. Save. Her.”

Kai was still standing in the exact same spot. He finally blinked a few times, his eyes landing on the shaman. Then he lunged forward and took him to the ground, getting a few punches in before he was thrown backward with magic.

“You killed her! You fucking killed her!” Kai lurched back to his feet and stumbled towards us.

I couldn’t hold it in anymore. The sound ripped out of me with so much force and so much pain that the trees nearest to us burst into flames.

Why did I always have to lose what I held dearest?

Kai fell to his knees next to me. His arms went around me, pulling me into a hug. I tugged at Ric’s shirtsleeve, pulling him into us.

I’m not sure how long we sat there. Minutes. Hours. Days. We would have stayed there forever, but a squeak came from Ric’s pocket.

I had done all I could to restore Picard’s light magic. I could only do so much. He was barely holding on.

Ric gingerly pulled him out, and Picard lay on the palm of his hand. He was talking to Ric, and judging by the look on Ric’s face, what Picard had to say wasn’t good.

“I refuse to let him take you.” Ric’s voice was growly, like he was about to shift into his wolf form. “But you’re my best friend. I can't lose you too.”

The shaman was watching the exchange as if he could understand every word that came out of Picard’s mouth.

“No. I don’t want you to die. There has to be another way.” Ric brought Picard closer to his face, and Picard put his tiny hand to his cheek. More words from Picard and then Ric shut his eyes in resignation.

Ric slowly stood and handed Picard to the shaman.

“It’s the only way, Alaric Rowsan of Black Forest. I will protect him. His kind should have never been separated from us to begin with.” He put his hand on Ric's shoulder. "Prince Reve can break the oath."

I stood, and in two strides, I was in the shaman’s face. “I should have killed you when I had the chance.”

The shaman laughed. “You can’t kill me. In the same way that I can’t kill you. No one can kill us.”

In a way, I believed him. When I had found him at the top of the mountain, he had been sitting right out in the open. No protection. No worries.

He had been meditating, not worrying about when his past would catch up to him.

“You three should go now. A storm is coming. A lot of light magic was used here today.” The shaman backed away from us, cradling Picard in his palm.

Picard raised his hand in a wave, and then they disappeared.

I ran my hands over my head and then turned back towards Kai, Ric, and Lia’s lifeless body lying on the ground.

We needed to get her body back to Earth. I needed to go to Heaven and find her.

I bent down and scooped her body into my arms. If my calculations were correct, and I went to the barrier at the current location, we would be somewhere in the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Hopefully, not at the top of a snow-covered peak.

“Hold on to me.”

They both grabbed onto my arms, and then I took us home.

* * *

I punchedin my code to open the elevator doors to the top floor of the main skyscraper in the Great City. I was left with no other choice. It was either this or be forever forgotten by Lia.

I was owed something by this... man.

---