Page 120 of Living Legend

I pulled the tiger’s eye crystal from my shirt. The chain felt cool on my neck. I didn’t really know how this worked, since the last time I used my key to portal, I was in a panicked state and bleeding out of my side. I held the tip of the crystal and pointed it out in front of me, but before I could make a move, I heard a door close. I felt her presence before she said anything.

“You still aren’t coming, Dani,” I said sternly.

She let out a tired grunt and grabbed my arm, turning me around. I looked down at her and watched as she looked up at me with the determined expression I admired. “You really aren’t going to tell me therealreason why you are leaving for Oculus without me?”

I had something in the back of my mind telling me that what Dani had been feeling and hearing had something to do with why she’s so special. I didn’t want whatever news I got, if I got any at all, to completely cast her into the dark place I found her in with that demon. I didn’t even know if Natalia could help me out, but she was the only chance I had. I was doing this for her safety. I would not put it past Ariel to send sentries to look for her, strike her down immediately, so staying put would have to suffice for now.

“No, Dani. There is norealreason.” Lies. Lies. Lies.

“I swear, if you are telling me you’re going to Oculus, but you are really going to The Skies to get my dagger, I will kill you myself when you get back.”

I widen my eyes. “Fuck, no. I don’t plan to go back there until we are all together. Oculus is the truth, Dani. Just take my word for what it is.”

She looked down at the ground, rustling dirt up from the ground with her boot. As if an idea sparked in her mind, she shot her head up. “Are you going to talk to Natalia because of what I told you last night?”

Fuck, she was good.

“You told me not to spiral with that, so I’m not.” Lie.

“Right.”

“Dani, our friends are there waiting to hear that we’re fine, so I’m going to do just that . I’ll speak with Natalia about next steps and maybe how this all might end. That is all.”

She nodded, but in a way that told me she didn’t believe me.

“I will come right back and tell you anything and everything. Then, we can portal to Oculus together, since I’ll know what’s going on from that side. Alright?”

She lifted her hands up. “Alright. Just know I think you’re a giant dick for leaving me.”

“It’s not like I want to,” I mumbled under my breath, but she heard me. The corners of her mouth twitch upward.

She punched my shoulder, opening her hand and letting it slide down to my bicep, squeezing. “I’ll be here when you get back. You leave no detail out, got it?”

“Yes ma’am.” I gave her a salute, which she laughed at.

She caught my hand before I could completely turn around. I looked down at where our fingers connected. The spike of electricity was back, and all I wanted was to pull her into me and kiss her.

“Where do angels go when they die?” she asked, as if it was the most normal question in the world. Her expression had morphed into one of slight sincerity, as if this question had played on her mind for some time.

I brought my head back to look at her – that was an odd question. It is an understandable one, but just odd. “Um, why do you want to know?”

She shrugged, as if it was just something that popped into her head. “I wanted to ask you last night, but it kept slipping my mind. I was a bit distracted.” She winked up at me, smirking. “You saw what happens to demons who don’t have a strong enough hold on themselves. They just disintegrate as if they are nothing when they die. The rest of us will rot away if we die and become part of the framework that makes up Purgatory. I know about those human souls that you extract when they die, taking them to Heaven and all, but where do you guys go?”

I took my hand from hers and rubbed my palms together, thinking of the right way to explain it to her. “Well, I’ve been told that their souls remain in Heaven’s Gate, looking over all of us, over those in Heaven, and they are just at peace. Sometimes, there is a special ceremony, depending on the angel. All our angelic powers are threaded within our souls, so once angels die, their powers get embedded into the lands and the body becomes pretty much mundane. The only exceptions are angels like Jonah and those before him.”

She mulled this over. “What happens if you are a shitty angel?”

I chuckled. “From what my father used to tell me, the bad people who claim to be good can’t hide anywhere when the end finally comes. They end up where they belong.”

“You believe that?” Dani asked, her eyebrow arched.

I bit my lower lip, thinking. “I actually do.”

“Jonah?”

“What about Jonah?”

She narrowed her brown eyes at me, crossing her arms over her chest. She looked up at the trees as they swayed back and forth with the wind. It was a relatively warm morning, but the air still smelled like rain. “From what I could tell in that meeting, he seemed a little hurt by your accusations. I’m not saying I trust the guy and I’m not saying I don’t think he is public enemy number one, but if he isn’t the mastermind of all this, then he is still hiding something. Something that has to do with you.”

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