Page 13 of Death Match

Now that I was alone, where should I go? That was the ultimate question. I hadn’t expected to get this far without having my Guardian shadow turn up. But since he was nowhere in sight, my subconscious was suddenly screaming to get far, far away. And fast.

I needed to get out of here.

My feet walked themselves straight to the place where the elevator had dropped us off when we’d first arrived in Heaven. The actual elevator itself was gone, and all that was left was a small, raised, cement platform with a sign marked with Heaven’s symbol. Like the transportation portals throughout the afterlife.

To leave or not to leave? That was the question.

What did I want to do?

If I was being completely honest with myself, I wanted to get the heck out of Heaven. I wanted to see my friends.

Being here was stressing me out. Between all the pressure on me with the Trials and the upcoming apocalypse, I now had to add Eli to that list.

Great. Just great.

I don’t know why the word “love” freaked me out so much. But it did.

I didn’t take that word lightly. I’d never used it with a guy before because, to me, love was the ultimate. The end all, be all. And I wasn’t ready for something that all-encompassing and final. Not yet anyway.

To have someone care about methatmuch…it was a bit scary. The pressure to say I felt the same, too—it had punched me in the stomach the moment I’d realized Eli had said it. And I couldn’t say it back. I just couldn’t.

I wasn’t even sure how I felt about him. I was still figuring us out. What we were and what we could be.

He may have had memories of us—of me—for centuries before, but I didn’t. Maybe it would be different once the Trials were over and I could remember everything again. But until then, love was out of the question for me.

I had thought he understood that.

Had I given off the wrong signals?

I missed Kay. She would know what to do. She always did.

After hearing from Michael that the Trials could keep me away from them for a long time, I wanted to have at least one last visit before I was whisked away for good. That wasn’t too much to ask for, right? I didn’t think so anyway. If anything, I at least wanted to explain what was happening on my side and why I would be going M.I.A. for a while.

I couldn’t just disappear. Especially from Kay. She’d worry about me. And I had promised Wyatt, Lisa, Simon, and Marla, I would be coming back soon.

So, that settled it then. I’d take a quick trip down to the afterlife and then the living world, pop in where I could, and give everyone the lowdown on me before running back up here to Heaven. Seemed easy enough.

I stepped onto the platform and looked across the crystal blue waters of the oasis. That’s when I realized no one—not a single soul—was out and about this morning.

That appeared to be a common theme around here. There were other angels, other Guardians, and Firsts—I’d seen a couple here and there whenever Eli took me out—but most of the time, the place was empty. Quiet. Reserved.

Some might even say peaceful.

I would, on the other hand, say…irksome.

I knew there weren’t as many angels as spirits but still… Where was everybody?

Dropping my gaze, I stared at the platform below my feet and realized there were no symbols etched into it besides Heaven’s. Like on the transportation portals in the afterlife, the symbols created the magic needed to carry a spirit across the world, sometimes across dimensions. Without them, how could I get the thing to work?

“Styx Corporation,” I said and hoped for the best. When nothing happened, I grumbled in frustration. Was this one of those things that needed to be activated by an angel? And since I wasn’t technically one yet—

I cursed. This was bullshit.

Why did it feel like the pressure of completing the Trials was always breathing down my neck?

“I just want to go down, dammit. Down.” I stomped my foot like a ticked off child. “Can you go down?”

The platform vibrated underneath me suddenly, throwing me off balance. I held out my arms to keep myself steady as everything trembled.

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