Page 58 of Living Legend

My father picked up my bowl and walked it over to the sink. He pulled out a plastic container from the cabinet above him and starting spooning chili into it. “So, you need to go to the Divine Library to find your answers? With two demons in tow across the lawn, hoping no one will see you? Son, it’s different if you are maneuvering within the building or heading out into the woods. The Divine Library is in open land. You would be spotted.”

“Yeah,” I admitted, walking over to him. I leaned against the refrigerator. “I might just have to risk it.”

“Or not,” he said, spooning the last bit of chili into the container then throwing the spoon in the sink. He reached his hand inside the cabinet for a lid.

“What do you mean or not?” I pressed.

“I mean, you might not have to risk being discovered, at least not as easily.”

“How? I suppose I could use my portal, but I don’t want to raise any suspicions.”

My father abandoned the food and patted my shoulder, raising a scheming eyebrow at me. “I’ll tell you, but you have to promise me something, just like I promised you earlier.”

I nodded, eager for the knowledge he was withholding.

“You have to promise that you won’t ask how I know this information or even why it exists. Just take it and find what you need.” His voice was stern, almost like a warning.

“I promise.”

He let out a breath and crossed his arms over his chest. His eyes had a twinkle of mischief behind them. “You’ve heard the tales about the secret entrance, haven’t you?”My eyes widened, but I nodded yes. “It’s all true.” My father’s voice went low as he spoke again. “You’re aware of the hall near the dining hall, yes?”I nodded, a map of The Skies forming in my head as he continued. “Start there.” I listened as he weaved the pathway I’d always thought was a rumor.

My father’s past in the world of sentries is only something I knew on a basic level, and I needed more. He grabbed my chin, lifting it up. “I always wanted you to perhaps be an executive one day, to invoke change and forge a path different than those before you, but I don’t know why I thought you needed a title to do it.”

I wanted to be proud of those words, I wanted to honor them. My trust was fleeting and needed a place to land. Maurice Cassial, the man who showed me how to hold a sword, who taught me how to propel my wings out without knocking over everything around me, who always told me that trusting your gut is something to never turn away from, was also the man who wanted me to place that same trust in demons.

I was finding it hard to not be close to one demon in particular. I couldn’t deny itdidn’tfeel unsettling or uncomfortable when she was next to me, or when she smiled at me after one of her flirtatious comments. She was slowly starting to become a distraction, and she didn’t even know it. With my luck, she did, and she was laying in her bed laughing about how my mind drifted to her, my hand so close to stroking my cock. Every single time, I stopped myself. I wasn’t an animal who only thought about my base needs, and I already seemed to have debilitating trust issues, so I needed to prioritize the important things.

The idea that we could work as an actual team was something that needed to be addressed before anything else. I couldn’t turn my trust away from Jonah, even when we had settled back on the couch and my father began to really push me about my first visit to Oculus. If I was going to trust Dani, she was going to have to trust me . My gut was telling me something didn’t make sense. I had to prove myself right by finding this secret entrance.

Present

I rocked back and forth on my heels, moving my weight from leg to leg as Reese and I waited on the lawn. Hundreds of other sentries gathered around, talking amongst themselves. I saw Reese yawn and I found myself mimicking his actions. We were both exhausted from the night before, which turned into us heading to bed around five in the morning. We had laid down on the floors of the Divine Library and listened to executives have a meeting on some development with the new recruits, portal reconstructions, and a whole lot about morale boosting for a few hours before they decided to leave.

We ended up retracing our steps through the tunnel, placing the shelf in front of the doorway before heading back to our rooms. Unlike Reese, I wasn’t the type to sleep in or attempt to make up for the sleep I missed. My mind was too full of everything we’d discovered. Enchanters were willing to give up their powers for the sake of getting out, not knowing if they would ever regain their abilities.

Jonah’s mysterious words hadn’t left me, either. He was hiding something, and last night proved it. I wasn’t surprised, but it was hard when it was so blatant in front of me. I couldn’t make it seem like a misunderstanding when the words were so clear. I couldn’t wrap my head around why he would want to work with Lilith or bring demons among us when he had fought so hard to keep them out. Dani and Elise wanted to make things so black and white, but I didn’t see it that way. My trust was thinning, but it wasn’t completely lost. I could place my trust in them, while also saving a small piece for Jonah.

I felt a shove on my shoulder. Reese pointed ahead as Ariel came walking towards us. The sun had gone down, and the sky was turning a misty purple. A small fog drifted over the trees, making it hard for me to make out the stars.

“Remember to use your light to signal me if anything goes wrong or if you encounter something out of the ordinary. There is guardian training going on, so don’t engage if you notice them. They have a duty, just like you,” Ariel instructed. He looked us in the eyes, as if he was trying to pull something out of us without words.

He shook his head and moved on to the next set of sentries. The Animus Seeking was always something I enjoyed. We’d be whisked away to the human world, dropped in different regions, and then pick out the souls to be taken to Heaven. Those meant to be taken had an aura - a soft white glow. They wanted no mistakes, no soul unspoken for, so we always went in pairs.

“Why do I feel like every time we do this, it’s a competition?” Reese said, wrapping his hair into a messy bun at the top of his head.

“Um, becauseyoumake it into one.”

“I do no such thing. I do have a bet going with Ollie over there.” Reese nodded to a tall sentry who nodded back, flinging out is middle finger.

Reese replied the same way before laughing. I shook my head and zipped up my jacket. “How do you know the truth? That you aren’t lying about how many souls you guided back?”

He let out a hum before responding. “I don’t know. I guess we just trust we’ll be honest with each other. Also, Ollie is a terrible fucking liar, so I’d know.”

Ariel blew a whistle that echoed even in the large open space. He pulled his portal key from around his neck and gripped it tight, twisting and swaying his hand until bright lights appeared. The lights grew until they were wide enough for us to walk through. I lifted my watch - it was 8pm.

“Eight hours until I can go the fuck back to sleep,” Reese said, rushing into the light. I followed him, letting the light wash over me. We weren’t home anymore and everything in me told me we were in the human world. I looked down to see that the soles of my shoes were pressed against asphalt. The transition between worlds never ceased to amaze me. The sky looked like the same sky, the trees swayed and carried a breeze just the same, but there was always something off, something that let me know I wasn’t home.

“Over there.” Reese brushed past me towards a white glow ahead of us. Before I could move, a police car rushed past me with blue flashing lights, followed by an ambulance, its sharp sound blazing through my ears.

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