Home > Sins of the Immortal : A Novella (Providence)(2)

Sins of the Immortal : A Novella (Providence)(2)
Author: Jamie McGuire

 It was a moment of mutual respect, him validating my answer without judgment, and I at least didn’t think of him as the enemy.

 “I should’ve…” he began, but just like me, every instance he could point out could’ve been countered by the fact that it was what Eden wanted, and we all knew there was no changing her mind. He shook his head. “Is it just me? Do you feel her, too?”

 “I don’t know what I feel,” I said, wiping my nose with the back of my wrist. “I don’t know if I can feel anything right now. I’m just … numb.”

 “I’m not. I’m furious, and I’m going to take it out on every demon that crosses my path until I see her again.”

 “Do you know what it means if she’s really gone?” I asked, leaning against the wall.

 “I couldn’t imagine,” he said, his eyes losing focus. “Honestly? I’d probably nuke the world, Bex. Then those selfish sons of bitches won’t have anything to fight over.”

 I remembered what it was like to lose Nina’s friend Kim. We’d spent a lot of time together before she'd died. We spoke for hours in the underbelly of Jerusalem, uncoupled, the odd men out. She was quirky and a little weird, but in the end, she felt like family. I was sad when she died, but what I felt for Eden’s loss superseded sadness. I was curious how I would react when the time came that I processed it. Curious, and maybe even afraid.

 Levi’s suggestion might have set off alarms, and I probably should have tried to talk him out of it, but they’d taken it too far. Hell, erasing her for more power, and Heaven, creating her just to die. Not to save millions, the world, or even a city full of women and children. Her story, her life, her purpose, all ended for just one boy.

 “I’m going,” Levi said. “Don’t worry. I won’t get us killed.”

 I nodded to him once, knowing my life was in his hands. He waved goodbye before closing the door behind him, and I sat on the bottom step, barely able to dial my phone. When the voice on the other end answered, I rubbed the back of my neck, trying to hold back tears.

 “Bex? Is that you, son? I can’t hear you,” Mom said.

 “I’m here,” I said, my voice breaking.

 She hesitated. “Is everything all right?”

 “It’s Eden, Mom. She’s…”

 Mom sucked in a breath. After several moments, she finally spoke. “How?”

 “Lucifer took her. He shelled her friend Morgan, used him to… She turned to ash.” I cleared my throat, trying not to squeak, but if anyone didn’t care about that, it was my mom. “She faded into ashes and blew away. There’s nothing left of her.

 It took her a few moments to speak. “And where is Morgan?”

 “Claire and Ryan took him to the hospital.”

 “Where are Jared and Nina?”

 “They left.”

 She cleared her throat. Like always, she was staying strong for us. “Ashes?”

 “Yeah,” I said, staring at the door. My upper lip and cheeks were wet. I could feel Levi’s growing anger and his excitement to unleash his wrath and find my niece. He fully believed he could. “Yeah. Levi went to find her.”

 “Find her?” Her tone changed. A hint of hope whispered in her words.

 “In another plane. He’s convinced he can jump over there and get her back.”

 “Can he?”

 I sighed. “I hope so. He’s the son of Lucifer, and he’s pissed off. And…” My chest concaved as I tried to hold in the pain. “I miss my best friend.”

 “Listen to me, Bex. Levi will find her. He’ll bring her home,” Mom said.

 I nodded, even though she couldn’t hear me.

 “I love you, son.”

 “Love you, Mom.”

 I hung up, letting the phone dangle from my thumb and index finger. Levi was still driving, and the farther he was away, the more my need to protect him fought with whatever silent voice commanded that I stay put.

 I dialed another number I knew by heart, and listened to the ring, hoping for voicemail so I could just listen and hang up.

 “Bex?” Allison answered, curiosity and anxiousness in her voice. “Hello?”

 “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry for calling you. I know I said I wouldn’t.”

 “Are you okay?” she asked.

 “I don’t mean to bother you, but…” I hesitated. If Levi did bring Eden back, and I told Allison she was dead, that would be one more thing I’d have to explain away. Allison was the love of my life, and I’d had to lie to her over and over. She was a law student when we first met and questioned everything. It wasn’t like my father’s relationship with my mom. Allison wouldn’t accept my vague answers and half-truths, so I had to choose.

 “You’re never a bother to me, Bex,” she said, her sweet voice making my heart ache more.

 “I … I just miss you.”

 “I miss you, too,” she said without hesitation. “Having a rough night?”

 “One of the roughest of my life.”

 “Your mom is okay?”

 “Yes.”

 “Eden?”

 I paused. Of course, that would be the second person she’d name. Allison knew how much Eden meant to me.

 “Bex? Did something happen to Eden?”

 “Yeah.”

 “But you can’t tell me,” she said, trying to keep the accusatory tone from her voice.

 “No.”

 Her face made a muffled noise against the phone as she nodded. “It’s okay. We can still talk. Tell me about everything else.”

 “Tell me about you. I just need to hear your voice.”

 “Well, I passed the bar six months ago, and I was hired by Tigges & Fowel five weeks after. I had my choice, and they seemed like the best fit. Tilly and I just got a new place. She’s still nosy, but I would honestly die without her cooking…”

 I leaned back against the wall, listening to the only voice besides my mother’s that would even begin to remind me that I didn’t want to die, too. Allison was my anchor to being human, and so I listened to her stories of her roommate, moving mishaps, and getting settled into her new job as a junior prosecuting attorney in Albany, New York.

 It was easier to focus on her than Eden’s ashes or Levi driving 100 miles per hour to Hell, so I envisioned myself in every story, immersing myself in the images she described.

 “I still love you, you know,” she whispered into the phone. “Tilly says I should get out there; start dating again, but I just … I just can’t.”

 I closed my eyes. “I just want you to be happy, Allie.”

  “That’s you. You’re my happy.” After a few beats she continued, “But, I know… I know that you can’t. So I just wanted you to know. Because I know that you still love me.”

 “And I always will.”

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