Page 138 of Living Legend

Even though I wasn't there in real time, I felt the pull of that light around her. I felt an urge to help her. Dani had a light, which meant she was…my stomach did a somersault.

Dani was an angel. Or, at least she was supposed to be.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuckkity. Fuck.

Her light went out. That light that would have let me find her—it was gone.

Dani took one shallow breath after another until she didn't, until there was nothing left for her to do but be still. I blinked and Lilith had pulled away from her, letting Dani's hand drop limply. She turned to Cullen. "She should be in the cell. Make sure you're there when she wakes up."

Cullen nodded and let dark mist surround him as he stepped backwards. The girl in the cloak walked back over to Lilith. "We should go. I can only keep you here for so long. Any longer and the angels will get suspicious."

The officers made their way over to Dani's body and started to call others over. Everything was happening at once and I hardly had a moment to think.

Lilith ignored her words. "We go back. I have a very good feeling about this one. You are still in contact with him, yes?"

Him?

The cloaked girl nodded.

"Keep me updated when you can, and I'll rally my Enchanters when the time comes. He knows what to do, so once he sets it in motion, you'll know what you need to do. I trust you, so don't make me regret choosing you."

"You won't."

"We will get what we want in the end, I promise." She massaged the girl's arm, and I watched as the girl in the cloak created a portal with her fingers. I overheard the officers saying something about the girl in the car. "Are you sure you're alright?" and "we almost thought you wouldn't make it."

I didn't understand any of this. I started to walk over to Dani's body, her eyes closed, but despite the circumstances and setting, she looked the same as the girl I knew. I watched as the paramedics made their way over to her and shook their heads, sullen looks on their faces.

She was gone.

I started walking backwards, pulling at my hair. What did this mean for her? Why did Lilith do this? Why was this accident, this night, so familiar…

"What happened back there wasn't my fault." I heard Reese’s voice.

"Then whose fault was it?" I flinched, as if someone had hit me, when I heard my own voice.

"Fuck if I know, but we're here now," Reese responded, sounding exhausted.

I was waiting for an angel to come and take Dani away, but the angel I was waiting on….was me. My heartbeat thumped painfully, as I tried to remember this night. Eventually, I went back far enough that it was clear. The portal Reese and I had gone through to get here had somehow malfunctioned, keeping us in some kind of portal limbo. I watched us walk to the scene of the accident and knew what the looks on our faces would be.

We would see that one of our angelic pick-ups didn't need us anymore. Reese would say that maybe it was a glitch, and I would say something along the lines of glitches don't happen. He would ignore me. I remembered all of this. I remembered the moment happening right in front of me. I watched as my past self stepped near me and looked down at Dani's body.

"Another one?" Reese asked, standing behind my back.

"I guess?" I said, the skepticism in my voice apparent.

Reese let out a huff. "Maybe it's just a bad night."

I watched as my past self scratched the back of my neck, unconvinced. I knew I felt the light. I knew it was supposed to be here.Shewas supposed to be here.

"Nick, let's go. We still have other ones to get." Reese stuck his thumb out over his shoulder. I followed after both of them, staring at my back. We passed by the totaled car again and I almost ran into my own back. I watched as I tilted my head up and sniffed the air. Reese was walking ahead, but I had stopped right next to the car window, leaning down to peek inside.

My stomach started to churn when I realized what I was smelling. My head started to pound, giving me a sense of vertigo. I knew I would look inside that car and see a cinnamon scented air freshener hanging from the rearview mirror.Cinnamon.

I wanted to throw up. I wanted to scream. I wanted to hit someone.

Everything started to close in on me and I couldn't stop it.

The world was tilting left and right and I knew I was fucking up my own thoughts.

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