Origin (Eternal Sacrifice Saga Book 2) (40 page)

He started to interrupt, but I put my finger to his lips and shook my head.

“Just listen. If something happens to me, if I don’t make it back from the Seventh, please. Talk to Gabrielle. There are things happening, and…” I swallowed. “She’ll see you through them.”

“You’re returning, love. Because if you don’t.” He shook his head. “Neither will I.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but he put his finger against my lips, just as I had his a second ago.

“Shh.” He held my cheeks. “Through the good and the bad, in darkness or in light, we are Twin Souls. We belong together, Chayah. And I will not allow you to spend Eternity alone.”

Tears spilled like a waterfall. Not just baby tears, huge alligator ones. The kind that ruin your make-up.

I wrapped my arms around his neck so tight, reminding me in that moment, all of this was worth it.

The deaths and rebirths. The heartaches. The sacrifices. It was all worth it.

Cade was worth it.

“Zoe Adams.” He held my cheeks, running his thumb along my bottom lip. “You. Are my life. I’m incomplete without you. Whether in heaven or in hell, we will spend Eternity together.”

Butterflies circled in my belly.

No matter how many times we’d kissed, touched. Made love. Everything about this man brought my Origin to life.

We would return from the dark realm, because we had an Eternity to look forward to.

To live. To fight.

And to love.

Cade

While I held Zoe, nearly all her secrets came to light. How she’d kept things from me, from Raz and the Council. And why.

Every stage in this incarnation had been strategically planned from the start. Each move. Each motivation.

Every step.

My heart ached for my Gemini, for all she’d endured on her own, simply because I did not trust her when she came to me with concerns of an uprising.

I would never make that mistake again.

Zoe was the strongest soul I’d ever known. From the beginning of time, she’d held hope for humanity. Her time as a human was the touchstone that brought the Gemini Doctrine to life, and I would not allow her to fail.

I would not let my Gemini fall.

We would rise up, together. From today until Eternity.

Elijah and Lailah stepped into our room.

Zoe released a distressed breath. “I need to know exactly where the dagger is, Eli. We can’t afford to be stranded in the Seventh. We need a time clock. Literally. Two minutes.”

“Let me ask Raz for his help. Please.”

Zoe nodded.

Moments later, Raz and Sophie arrived.

“There’s much preparation one must make before descending into the Seventh. Unfortunately, we don’t have that kind of time, so you’re going to get a crash course.”

“Then let’s get to it.” Zoe pulled from my embrace. “Every minute Phoebe spends in the Sixth is leading her soul to darkness. I can only imagine the horror she’s feeling, her empathy being used against her.”

“Rule number one of the Seventh. Everything you think you see? It’s an illusion. To distract you. Keep your mind clear,” Raz said. “Above all else.”

Remie came in. “Raz said you needed me.” His clothes were disheveled, his skin was pale, and his shoulders slumped. It had been far too long since he’d seen his Gemini, and it had taken its toll on him as well.

“We’ve discovered that Remliel has the gift of projection. Like you, Chayah,” Raz said.

“I’m learning.” He shrugged. “I’m not that good yet.”

“Doesn’t matter.” Zoe moved beside him. “You’ll need to be there to find Phoebe. Her mind is slipping into darkness and only you, your Origin can bring her mind back.”

“What do I need to do?” He stood straight.

“First, you must understand the problems of the Sixth,” Raz said, setting his hand on Remie’s shoulder. “It’s the second lowest level of the dark realm. A mind can go mad there. You could lose your soul to the darkness. Zoe believes your soul to be strong enough to withstand it. She believes with Phoebe present, along with your family, you’ll be able to resist. Do you agree?”

“Even if I didn’t, I wouldn’t care. I need her back. I’ll die trying.”

“So will Zoe, all of us, for that matter.” I braced his shoulder.

“What do I need to do?”

“There’s something you need to know.” Zoe stood and walked over. “First, please. Forgive me for involving you and Phoebe in all this. I did what I had to do.”

He shrugged, pursing his lips, expression narrowed. “Doesn’t matter anymore. I just need her back.”

“I know. I don’t expect you to understand my motives yet, but you will. And I hope when you do, you’ll recall our conversation in Chicago about sacrifice. This has been yours. And there will be more. This life is full of them, but I promise, you won’t have to do it alone. Phoebe’s a gift. An unexpected gift, one we didn’t intend on being yours, but destiny chose you to be together, and I’ll make sure you get her back.”

He nodded. “Okay.”

“You’re not going to like me much, but I’m on your side. I’m doing this for both of you. All of us, even if at first, it doesn’t appear that way.”

“I need a moment with my Gemini,” I said. “She needs to focus.”

They all nodded and filed out of the room.

Zoe and I sat on the bed beside each other.

She picked up my hands and ran her fingers over mine then turned over my wrist and traced the Gemini mark etched on it. “Remember in Chicago at the diner on Navy Pier? Geez, it seems so long ago.”

I held her hand against my chest so she could feel my heart beating. “Feel that? It’s my heart. And it beats only for you.”

Zoe laughed, leaning her forehead to mine.

“I’ve fallen in love with you, Zoe Adams. You’re mine.” I held her cheeks, gazing deeply into her blue-green eyes, the same color as the Chayah Fountain. “Ab Aeterno, ad infinitum.”

“I love you too, blue eyes. For Eternity.”

Zoe

Eyes closed, I visualized Phoebe. My beautiful, sweet girl stuck in the Sixth, trapped mostly by her own mind.

The plan was in motion, no going back.

Of all the missions I’d led in my five millennia as the Eternal Mother, to date, this was the most daunting.

Sure, I’d saved souls from the dark realm, but never one so closely tied to my own. Never one with so much at stake.

The dark realm stole our secret weapon in the looming war against the darkness. And I was going to get her back.

Cade and I held hands, focusing our hearts, our minds, and our bodies on uniting as one Origin.

Converging was easiest to do after sex. Sure, that sounded strange to a human, but it was the one moment Cade and I were completely together. Body and soul.

Doing it this way was much harder. Especially for Cade. His gifts weren’t grounded in the mind like mine.

Cade and I may not have bonded as we should have this incarnation, but my memories had returned with a vengeance.

I remembered everything.

Felt everything.

And to Converge, I had to shut it all out and focus on us, this moment.

The beating of Cade’s perfect heart.

Thump.

Thump. Thump…

“Cade.”

“I’m with you, love.”

We managed a conversion into the Seventh plane, and a second later, our bodies materialized.

We both took a somewhat relieved breath. We were here, though getting in was the easy part.

Getting out—that could be our undoing.

“Eli, where are we going?”

We glanced around the Seventh, inhaling shallow breaths.

We landed in the middle of a desert. Literally. There was nothing but miles of red skies, black sand and the scent of death. A heat wave rushed through the vast nothingness, nearly suffocating me.

I inhaled a sharp breath, gasping for air, falling to my knees.

“Get it together,” I mumbled.

“Zoe.” Cade helped me to my feet. “Elijah, where are we going?”

In a matter of seconds, the desert surrounding us whipped up a dust storm. A tornadic wind blew black sand around us, making it impossible to even see where we were going.

The blood red skies turned dark, playing tricks on my mind. On Cade’s.

“You’re exactly where you need to be,”
Eli said in our heads.
“It’s the games of the Seventh, messing with you. You need to focus. Close your eyes, Chayah. See the vault. It will show itself to you.”

We took a second to get our heads together, then Cade grabbed my hand and we began walking through a sea of bones and dead flesh and blood. The path we took grew walls hundreds of feet tall around us, blood seeping out, thick sludgy tar oozing through the cracks.

My body felt as if we’d walked for miles, though in reality, we hadn’t. My head spun—voices screamed out from the walls. Begging to be set free.

“Cade.” I gasped, stumbling over my own feet.

The walls surrounding us faded, and a cave appeared a hundred feet ahead of us beside an old wooden cabin in the middle of the now otherwise empty desert. Approaching the tiny cabin, the dead world we’d jumped into transformed into Eden. The field outside the invisible Aravot gates.

Man, this place was freaky.

“Adam?”

I squinted, focusing ahead on a familiar silhouette of a man standing hundreds of feet beyond me, just inside a cave beside the Great Hall.

“Holy shit.”

I took off running, Cade calling my name, his voice growing more distant the further I ran. I reached the entrance of the cave and stepped inside, immediately falling to my knees at the sight.

Lilith sat above Adam. Naked. Straddling his waist. Leaning over, holding his hands. She moaned, screaming his name.

“Adam.”

Over. And over.

I couldn’t breathe.

“Zoe, it’s not real,”
Eli said.

“Make it stop.” I squeezed my eyes shut, gripping my head, curling into a ball. “Please.”

“It’s not real. Wake up. Focus. Find the vault.”

“I can’t do this.” I chanted repeatedly beneath my breath.

A hand braced my shoulders.

Screams pierced the air, forcing my eyes open.

Lilith was gone, but Adam wasn’t. He stood beside Eve.

She was pushing.

Sucking in air, desperately trying to deliver her baby.

My baby.

I got to my feet and moved closer as Gabrielle delivered the baby then passed the child to Eve.

“Her soul is dark,” Michael said. “The Tree is empty.”

“What?” My eyes went wide. “No. Not again.”

Sharp pains pushed into my chest, a million knives plunging into my heart.

The child’s aura grew to life. Black and dense. Smoky.

The darkness.

It’s here.

“No.” I rose to my feet and moved closer, my gaze locked to the child’s eyes, changing colors. Red. Then black, then red. Then amber.

Michael moved closer, taking the baby from Eve’s arms. “We must dispose of her. She’s impure. Dark. Without a soul.”

Eve reached for the child. “No,” she cried. “Stop.”

“Will you die for her?” Michael asked.

Adam stood behind Eve, whispering into her ear. Words I can’t hear but echo in my mind, nevertheless…

“No, my love. You have endured enough. I will die for her.”

“No.” Eve wept for her family. “I can’t lose you.”

“Will you die for them?” Michael asked. Over.

And over.

“Will you die for his love?” A voice rung so loud, my ears hurt.

“Yes,” Eve screamed out in agony. “Yes.”

My heart shattered into a million pieces, all over again.

My family. My love. My child.

Humanity.

I’d lose them all if I said no.

I could come back. I could recreate life. Be reincarnated.

Adam couldn’t.

I’d lose him for all Eternity. I would never allow that. Couldn’t.

“Yes, stop.” I begged. Cried. Fell to my knees. “Please. Just make it stop.”

“It’s not real. Zoe. Wake up.”

“Make it stop.” I rocked back and forth, head into my knees. “Please.”

Reel after reel of memories from Eve’s life streamed through my head like a bad binge of Netflix. Over nine hundred years of painful memories. Mistakes. Heartbreaks. Deaths.

I squeezed my head, my temples throbbing, a thousand knives jabbing into my skull.

“Shake it off, Zoe. Focus. You found the vault.”

Cade crouched behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist, pulling me to rest into him. “Shh. Quiet, love. Everything’s as it should be. We’re together. I’m all right.”

I focused on his heart beating behind me, on the hushed breaths he took, steadying my rapid pulse.

“It’s over now. We’re safe.”

I let out a slow breath and opened my eyes.

The vision was gone, and the vault laid ahead of us.

We’d made it.

The Vault of Darkness was the place of nightmares. It held the Origin of all evil. It sealed away the darkest of souls for all Eternity.

And now it held the dagger that would save Phoebe’s life.

“I’m going to kill her,” I yelped, skipping a beat, rising to my feet. “If Azriel doesn’t beat me to it, I’ll fucking kill that backstabbing bitch myself.”

“Forget Lilith. Focus.”
Eli reminded me.
“You’ll have to dive in. Just know it’s not what it looks like. It’s an empty pit. An illusion. Just find the dagger and get out.”

“Elijah’s right. Let’s get this dagger and get the hell out of here. I’ll go, Zoe. You’ve endured enough.” Cade stood beside me, touching my shoulders. “Stay here.”

I shook my head. “No, let me.”

“No arguments.” Cade demanded. He gave me that look. The one that said I won’t get my way this time.

“Fine.” I scoffed, crossing my arms over my chest.

With a quick kiss, he turned and dove into the pit, disappearing beneath the surface.

The Vault appeared to me as a deep tar pit. Like a pool with red and black sludgy water, although in reality, it was an empty hole in the ground.

I stood there, helpless, staring at the water turning colors from red to black to green.