Page 37 of Live Like Legends

Reese shushed me. “Yes, she is.”

Elise looked out the window and up at the sky, inspecting. Her grey eyes darted from left to right as if she was waiting for something. I leaned up against the dresser staring at her back.

“Is this what you do at Natalia’s house? Stare out the window and wait for bad shit to happen?”

She placed her hands on her hips and swiveled around to face me. The sweater she wore was cropped and exposed more of her stomach. “Nope, the witch makes us do helpful things while we are there because we can’t just live there and be lazy, or however the fuck she explained it.”

“That doesn’t sound like a bad trade in exchange for staying at that mansion of a home.”

Elise gave me an unimpressed look. “Sure, whatever you say. Her rules will be the least of everyone’s worries if that rip in the sky gets any bigger.”

“You know it’s getting worse too, hmm?”

Elise pointed behind her towards the window. “Anyone with fucking eyeballs can see that it’s getting worse. That ripple is a lot of dark magic in one place, Dani. That is so much more than Lilith darkness. That’s Hell darkness and I can tell you that they aren’t having a fucking party.”

I leaned my head back, staring at the ceiling. “There isn’t much I can do until I get things under control. Feeling myself being balanced is one thing, showing the act of balance by not creating a chaotic ball of hybrid magic is another. That kind of issue is why they didn’t want half breeds in the first place.”

“I love a good history lesson, Dani, but we are in the present. Present day says maybe being chaotic is worth it.”

I laughed, shrugging. “Sure, let’s go with that plan and I’ll just burn down the entire realm of Heaven’s Gate. Sounds like a great fucking time.”

Elise clucked her tongue. “Isn’t that basically what Lilith and Dimitri want anyway? You’d be doing them a huge favor, or I could do what I wanted to do in the first place and go by myself and take care of everything.” She swiped her palms together as if claiming that was the best solution.

I chewed on my lip. “Yeah, Nick told me about your little hero act.”

“Not a fucking hero…”

I charged up to her, sticking my finger in her chest. “Let me just say this one time, so that you understand. I will push the light out of the way and shove my shadows down your throat if you ever consider that plan of yours again. You are either in this with us or you aren’t in it at all.”

She grabbed my finger. “If I found you repulsive, I might break your pretty finger, but I actually tolerate you so you can keep this finger bone intact.”

A smile slid across my face, but stopped midway when I noticed her apprehension. “What is it?”

“Let me ask you something, when you broke that wall, do you think your power just dispersed? Became a million tiny little fragments that no one would notice outside of that training room unless they were looking?”

I tapped my cheek with my fingernail while I considered what she said. “I would assume so, why?”

She backed up, so she could drop down onto Nick’s bed. “Do not quote me on this, but what if it didn’t? I mean like what if you creating that much of a frenzy turned into some kind of unwanted calling card? Just enough power to alert, but not enough to retain itself. It will eventually disperse, but not quick enough to go unnoticed.”

“That’s a lot to sit with in a matter of hours, Elise.”

“Your kind of power isn’t something you see every single fucking day. It causes a disruption. I’m pretty sure people in Heaven’s Gate noticed it, but Ariel just told them it’s fine, please go back to putting your blinders on and follow me.”

I stared at the floor. “You think I put a direct spotlight on myself?”

“Ugh, I don’t know. It’s just something to consider. More for your boyfriend to fret over.”

I waved my hands in between us making an X with them. “Absolutely not. I’m not going to have him jump to any conclusions based on a theory.”

She lifted her hands up in surrender. “Fine, but if I’m right it’s only a matter of time before they sniff out where the power came from and find out you’ve been alive and well this whole fucking time. Believe me when I tell you that Dimitri isn’t the nicest when he’s pissed off and that’s sayinga lotcoming from me.”

I chewed on my thumb nail. “All I have to do is control it. I actually think I’m getting the hang of it, sort of.” I looked over my shoulder at the speckled black marks on the wall. “Only thencan we go backtogether. Garrett can find his family, Beetee can see her moms, and we can end both Dimitri and Lilith, black sky ripples and all that. Find a way to build a better Purgatory or something.”

“Hmm, I doubt Purgatory will be the envy of all the realms, but fine, for some reason I’m with you.” She rolled her eyes. “You don’t have months or weeks though Dani, from the look of that dark magic and the way I feel, you’ve got days.”

“How youfeel?”

“Must you forget that I was born in Hell.”

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