Page 19 of Silent Knight

“Ezra,”a woman’s voice called to me softly.

Warmth engulfed me and where I thought there would be pain was numbness.

“Sweet boy, open your eyes.”

Slowly, I did what was asked of me. Dim lights shone above me, and a woman with raven hair and amber eyes smiled down on me.

“You’re so brave, so selfless.” Her fingers caressed my cheek.

“Who…where am I?”

“You know who I am, you called to me.”

Without thought, I gripped her hand and sat up. No pain, huh. I wanted to wonder about that a little longer but I was looking at the face of my mother.

“You’re alive?”

Her head tilted to the side, her smile never wavering. “No, sweetheart. I’m not living nor dead.”

“I don’t understand.”

When she ran her fingers through my hair, I relished the moment. Oh, how many times I wished for my mother’s touch to calm me when I was upset.

“You called to me, to the Great Divine. You woke the light that rests in your soul, my son. Whether the Great Divine wishes for your destruction or not, your plea can’t go unanswered. Your sacrifice was the most selfless of any they’d seen in hundreds of years.”

“I didn’t…I just?—”

“You gave your life for strangers. You wouldn’t let another live a life of servitude that would surely be riddled with torture, you gave up the love of a lifetime. For that not even the Great Divine could interfere with your plea.”

Senon. “Is he?”

“He lives.”

“Am I?”

She chuckled and it reminded me of windchimes in a soft breeze. “You have a choice. One you will never get to make again.”

“What is it?”

“You can stay in the Great Divine, unharmed, untouched. Peace and warmth for all eternity, never feeling alone, never in pain.”

That sounded amazing. “Or?”

“Or you can return to your world and to Senon. I cannot promise others won’t seek you both out at some point, but with the awakening of your light, it would be foolish to harm either of you.”

“I—”

“Ezra.” She held one of my hands in both of hers. “If you choose love, if you choose Senon, you exist while he does. If he dies, so shall you, and vice versa.”

My eyes widened. “Oh, I can’t do that. I’m human. I don’t have the lifespan of an angel demon man…whatever he is.”

She chuckled. “No, sweet boy, his immortality becomes your own.”

Wow. I looked into her honey eyes, her smile, the face of the only woman I ever wanted to know.

“But I won’t ever see you again.”

She pressed her hand to my chest. “I will be with you always, Ezra, no matter where you are.”

---