Fallen (61 page)

Then,
I saw Gershom. He lay sprawled against the side of
a
building, his head
hanging
, his eyes closed,
and
his chest not moving.

I ran for him, dodging lights as I made my way down the alley
toward
him. When I reached him, I slipped my hand underneath his back and lifted him to a sitting position
.
Then
I drew back my hand
and
a scream
escaped
my throat
.

It
was covered in blood.

“Ger
shom! Gershom!” I yelled at him
, my voice choppy
and
broken.

His eyes fluttered, focus
ing
and land
ing
on me. “I’m sor…sorry…” he panted.

I shook my head, tears
welling up and
streaming freely down my face.

“
Your parents,” he reached for me and
I to
ok hold of his hands, clasping them between mine
. M
y insides
felt
as if they were being ripped apart – one side with anger and one with regret
– but I held on, unable to
bear
the fear of letting Gershom suffer in such pain alone
.
He gasped and I realized it was too late for him.
“
Harry and Alisa Tanner
died
…
Helena
…
Montana
…”

I
struggled to breathe
,
understanding instantly what he was telling me. H
e
used
his last moments
, his last breath
on earth
,
to arm me with the knowledge I needed to find
my parents
.

A
nd then he was gone.

I felt a deep pain at the base of my skull and a burning sensation spreading up, covering
the back of my
head and
then
my
face. I slumped forward
, unabl
e to empower my body to respond
. The last thing I saw before eve
rything went black was my face slamming
into
Gershom’s still chest.

When I woke up
,
the alleyway had disappeared. The bright lights were gon
e,
too
.

There was, however, Gershom
kneeling
over me, his eyes lit with
anticipation
.

“I didn’t believe it was possible…even when others told me. I didn’t believe you could do it…
”

I sat up, wondering wha
t had happened to Eran. “Gershom, where are we? Where’s Eran?”

With my new position, I could see that we were on the top of a mountain range, overlooking a winding river
that cut
a path through the green valley below. The sk
y was
lit orange in the distance with wispy clouds
d
otting the horizon.

“We’re in my
private paradise, my heaven
. Just the way I left it.” He laughed to himself, turning to appreciate the view. “You carried
me here.”

“Did I carry Eran too? And Ezra and Felix and Rufus? Where are they?” I
asked
, anxiou
sly
.

“Don’t worry.
”
He was
blissful
,
content
in a way I’d never
seen him
before
. “They’re safe.”

He then turned and faced me, imploringly. “How could I ever repay you for this?”

“
Gershom,
I still don’t know what I did.”

“
I can see that,” Gershom replied, staring at me with unreserved gratitude. “
Maggie, you have the ability to carry not just messages
but souls
back with you
.
” He paused and drew in a shuttering breath. “
I didn’t think it was possible. Not after what I’ve done. I’m not sure it would
have been possible without you…
you
carrying
me
here
.”

I glanced around again, realizing I hadn’t woken up in the Hall of Records.

“Am I…dead?” I asked.

Gershom shook his head and smiled. “Listen…”

I did
,
and from a distance, I heard voice
s
so familiar
and
so missed that I spun around, looking for them.

“Eran? Ezra?
” I called out.

Suddenly, I was no longer standing beside Gershom. I was laying down again, this time on something bumpy and protruding, far less comfortable than when I’d first woken up. My eyes were closed and they struggle
d
to open, as if someone had weighted them down with
heavy
blocks.

“
Will she be okay
?”
I heard Felix ask, his voice
filled
with anxiety.

“
She got a good whack but I think so
,” Ezra replied, a little closer. I thought I felt her
hand
brush by my cheek.

I heard a shuffling noise like a skirt’s fabric moving against its own folds and then
a grunt – Ezra’s – as she stood up.

“Magdalene…”

At the sound of this voice I struggled
much
harder to lift my eyelids.

“Magdalene,” said Eran again, coaxing me, guiding me. “I feel you trying. You
can do it
.”

I used every bit of power to open my eyes,
concentrating so hard I forgot
to
inhale
.

Light…I could see light. Then blurred colors. Finally, the hazy outline of Eran’s face came
into
view.

I
sighed
.
He was more handsome than I remembered.

He reached out and touched his palm to my cheek,
tenderly,
its warmth giving me renewed strength.

“Eran…” I gasped.

He smiled
.

“I was hoping to hear that beautiful voice of yours again.”

“Hoping?” I asked
.
My voice sounded unfamiliar to me as I pushed myself up. Eran helped me and then kept his arms around me, securing me. Sensing a nervous longing from him, I realized he probably couldn’t have let go if he tried.

“We were unsure for a
moment
…”
he said, brushing my cheek with the back of his finger and sending chills through me.

I sat
up
, moving closer to his hand as if I
was being
drawn by a magnet
. “What happened?”

When I looked around, the alley was empty. Th
e bright lights were gone, the
Fallen One
s
,
too. Ezra, Rufus, and Felix stood encircling us.

“Sarai…
while
the rest of us were engaged in combat,
she attacked you.”

“Oh…” I said,
unable to think clearly still. I rubbed
the back of my head
, which pulsed lightly but without as much pain as I would have expected
. “How did I ever survive that?”

Eran smiled amusingly at me
, lifting his eyebrows
.

“Oh…” I
said again, understanding
. “You…”

“At least you have your cognizance back.”

“It’s good to see you awake,” Ezra said softly, smiling down at me in her
maternal
way.

I smiled awkwardly
back
. “Barely…”

Eran’s hand
came
over mine, gently drawing his thumb along my pulse there.
“You’re going to be fine, actually. I’ve been checking you regularly. Most of the swelling has already dissipated.”

“You…checked me?”

Eran nodded and smiled at me reassuringly. “One of
the
many abilities
I’ve brought with me
…”

“That
’s good to know
,” I said and he chuckled.

I froze, realizing that
I was talking to Eran with Ezra, Felix, and Rufus standing
over me
watching
. I
glanced
up at
them
, figuring
they
must think I had really damaged my head good if I were holding a conversation with
an
invisible
person
. 

Rufus must have understood what I was thinking because he said, “This the wanka
’
you were tellin’ me ‘bout?”

“You…you can see him?” I asked
hesitant but
amazed.

“We
can
,”
Ezra
smiled lightheartedly down at me. “
Good thing
,
too. We needed someone
to explain all that
just
happened
.”

“Ay, ya been keepin’ quite a bit to yerself, Ms. Sneak…” said Rufus,
shaking his head, admonishing me
.

“And if we ever learn of this ha
ppening again…” Felix reprimanded
me
but
didn’t bother to follow up with a threat of punishment.

“Let’s just make certain it doesn’t happen again,” said Eran, giving me a sharp nod of conviction. “You knew I couldn’t find you if you didn’t have any emotion and you weren’t fearful at all
. W
ere you, Magdalene? You knew exactly what you were doing.”

I
grinned
,
sheepishly.

“
I thought so.
That’s why it took me so long to find you. It wasn’t until you were fearful for your friends’ lives that I could signal in on you.
That was a brave…and
very
foolish
…
thing you did.
But you
’ve learned now, haven’t you?” h
e a
sked,
clearly
worried. “We’re not going to give you up that easily.”

I smiled, meekly
,
up at him. “I have learned my lesson.”

“That’s good to hear
,” Felix said,
“
because if that Sarai or
that
Achan come back…” He allowed his voice to fall away. His concern was evident.

“What do you mean?
What happened with Sarai and Achan
?”

It was Eran who filled me in on
how the fight had ended
. Apparently,
the
only ones to escape were
the ones who I had attended school with the longest, the ones who knew me the best.
Sarai and
Achan
.

The news was unsettling but I knew there was nothing we could do about it at the moment
.

“Abaddon?” I asked
,
tentatively
.

Eran drew in a breath and released it slowly. “Abaddon…
H
e will no longer bother you. My friends have made sure of it.”
Eran
tightened his grip on my hand that he’d been holding in a comforting way
.
“I will protect you.
At all costs.
”