When We Were Still Human by Vaughn Foster (best ereader for textbooks .txt) 📕

she remembered who had given her the adage. She tore away from the study and, in a single step, was walking into her room. She threw herself onto the bed and pressed her face into the pillow until her lungs begged for air. Flipping over, she closed her eyes and could see the fiery gate inside her mind. The chains were back. The lock was in place. She knew that trying to break them would be a waste of time.

Stretching out her index finger, she began to draw. It started as a long, curved line that ran the width of the bed. Then a head. Next, the legs. The fire cat ran through the air, circling the small room twice. She closed her hand and it disappeared.

“I’ll bring you back,” she whispered.

Apocalypse be damned, she’d break back into the aether. She’d rip every world apart if that’s what it took. Angels couldn’t go into the Spirit World. If they couldn’t enter, then they couldn’t have checked for bodies. There was a chance.

And if he was dead?

She bit her lip and let the smoke blow from her nostrils. Then she’d be sure to join him by the end of this shit show.

Val absently ran her fingers along the wall as she walked down the hallway. It had been chaos when they returned. Apparently, their three-day trip had in fact been an entire week MIA. There had also been buzz about Avia and Gemini finding a spell book that had consumed most of the castle’s attention.

“Who ruffled your feathers?” Vladimir laughed. “The Summit isn’t for two weeks.”

Zadkiel crossed his arms. “You never thought to check in? Believe it or not, when you break into forbidden, strongly warded blood grounds in the Annwn, time doesn’t move naturally. Your ‘I’ll be right back’ turned into an entire week, missing.”

“An entire week?” The vampire mocked a horrified expression. What did you possibly do with yourself without me?”

Val was positive that anyone else would have gotten confrontational or cowered in fear. But not Vladimir. His constant laissez-faire banter crossed seamlessly into his dialogue with the former general. They’d obviously been friends for a long time. Zadkiel’s demeanor had been more present with Vladimir. Unlike her previous encounter, the angel seemed concerned for the Sin of Lust and not just pissed off at being bothered.

Maybe Zadkiel couldn’t help the condescending look, Val mused, stepping back into a medieval themed hall. Resting bitch face was a thing. Maybe he was actually a sweet, caring guy who loved romantic comedies and tended a garden.

The image of the angel and vampire screaming at Ryan Reynolds in The Proposal entered her mind. One was clutching popcorn and the other was far too invested in seeing Sandra Bullock’s plan pull through. The scene brought a smile to her lips, but it was short lived.

Val found herself standing before the last door in the hall. Everything in her screamed to go back to her own room, but she had to do this first. Taking a deep breath, she raised her fist to knock.

Before she could hit the metal, the door slid into the wall, revealing a decent sized bedroom. The space felt wrong. The weight of the air brought a chill that could only be described as haunted. Everything was trimmed in black. Dark wood shimmered and curved like living organisms, and something told her that if she glanced in the large oval mirror, her reflection might not glance back.

There wasn’t much decoration aside from the hillocks of laundry about the floor. The room held a dresser, incredibly comfy-looking chairs, and a loveseat. On the left wall, was the bed.

Avia lay in a beautiful white robe, staring into the ceiling. “What do you want?” she asked without moving.

Val stared back with jumbled thoughts. She’d forgotten how intimidating the woman was and immediately regretted her decision to come. “I— um.” She closed her mouth and straightened her posture. If she was going to do this, she had to do it right. “You were right. What you said about me. I was scared out of my mind and I was weak.”

At this, Avia raised a brow and rolled over. “Okay.”

Okay?

Val sucked in another breath and continued. “I’m not saying I agree with Michael. But the demons are no better than the angels. Neither are humans. I want to make the world better for everyone, the living and the dead. The only way I can think of doing that is from the inside. We have endless resources and, from what I can gather, Michael doesn’t seem to care too much about what we do. I don’t want to make enemies here. Even if you are ‘Team Armageddon,’ I want you to know that I have your back.”

Avia sat up and brushed loose strands of black hair from her eyes. Her head tilted and she stared off in thought. She actually looked normal, Val thought. The aggression and intensity had simmered to reveal someone quiet and only mildly annoyed.

“A better world for the living and the dead,” Avia repeated quietly. “Sounds like a fairy tale.”

Val shrugged. “Maybe. But rumor has it, we’re getting a ghost king pretty soon.”

The Sin of Wrath seemed to think this over as a faint light sparked behind her eyes. “Oh yeah. Did they leave yet?”

Val blinked, taking a moment to process the question. Had they? She’d been so tired and things were getting heated. Zadkiel had actually raised his voice about how Vladimir had put her in danger. Vladimir yelled that she was more than capable of handling herself. Ironically, neither thought to include her in the conversation. When she tried to interject, Vladimir said that she should go, and she went. And now, those two were probably halfway to the underworld.

She made a fist. Two Sins gone meant less people looming over