I immediately began shaking my head.“You’re lying.He doesn’t doubt me.”
“Then why is he staying safely behind?”he asked pointedly.“Why are you the only one standing on the edge of what is to come, child?Why are you the only one branded?Why is he still untouched?”
While those were all good questions without answers, I knew for a fact that they had nothing to do with Lazarus’ lack of faith in me.Whatever was said here, I couldfeelhow Lazarus felt about me, so his love for me was a foundation that couldn’t be shaken.
Nonetheless, I knew the answer.
“Because he’s not me,” I told him.“Because he’s not safe from the edge the way that I am, and so what good would he do me if he let you guys take him?”I shook my head condescendingly, a smirk on my lips.“Lazarus doesn’t doubt me, nor is he scared of you.He’s being smart, something that you’re not giving him enough credit for.”
“Elisa, I will not tell you again!”Lazarus yelled.“Get your fucking ass over here now!”
Just then, the ground beneath us shook, and the black smoke coming up from the chasm was white again, and while significant, I wasn’t sure what it meant.However, before I could think about it some more, I felt Lazarus grabbing my arm, yanking me back from the edge, his recklessness causing panic to build deep in my gut.
“What are you doing?”I bit out as I looked up at him.
Instead of answering me, he said, “Let’s go, Elisa.”
“You cannot save her,” the voice called out from beyond the smoke.“You’re a fool to believe that you can.”
Ignoring the voice, Lazarus’ dark eyes stayed glued to mine.“Everything that they say is a lie,” he said.“It’s all a trap to make sure that we lose.Do not listen toanyof them, Elisa.Not even Ramiel.”
That shocked me.“What?”
“Only me,” he said.“You trustonlyme.”
A sinister laugh echoed all around us, and we both turned to see the voice surrounded by six more sets of eyes, only theirs were red like in my earlier dreams, leading me to believe that the voice was important somehow.
“It seems as if you are now being pulled in three different ways,” the voice mocked.“Whatever are you going to do, Elisheva?”
I processed his words, but they didn’t sound right.I didn’t feel as if I was being pulled in three different directions.In fact, I didn’t feel as if I was being pulled inanydirection, right or wrong.Truth be told, it felt as if it was all of them that were lost.If felt as if they were the ones all trying to figure out what to do next, not me.I felt as if my feet were planted firmly on the ground, no threat anywhere.
Then it hit me.
It was God.
Whatever Ramiel was, whatever his message was, he still wasn’t God.Even if Gabriel were to come down and present himself to me, he still wasn’t God.If it was true that I had a direct line to His ear, then it would stand to reason that I had a direct line to Him period.So, I wasn’t being pulled in a bunch of different directions because I couldn’t be.My faith was too strong for that.
“Baby, let’s go,” Lazarus repeated as he looked back down at me.“We need to go.”
“You for him,” the voice said again, his tone no longer mocking.“You for him, Elisheva.”
Looking over, Lazarus said, “I’ll never let you have her.”
“You cannot stop this,” the voice fired back.
“Yes, I can,” Lazarus argued.“I know that I can.”
Just then, Ramiel appeared, making the ground shake again, and unlike at the hospital, he appeared in full form, and Lazarus yanked me back just in time to avoid the swipe of his wings, a sight that had stolen my breath.He looked like a warrior that was more than prepared to go into battle, and though he looked completely different from his human form, he still looked the same.
“You’ve no right to be here,” Ramiel told the voice.“Be gone with you.”
Unintimidated, the voice said, “This began withyourinterference.”
“These are His children,” Ramiel replied coolly.“They are not yours.”
“Not yet,” the voice taunted.“Not yet...”
A scream erupted from my chest as I came awake, and my hands frantically searched for the lamp on my nightstand, and I ignored whatever was falling to the floor as I struggled to turn on the light.Lazarus’ arms were also around me before I could even lean back against the headboard, my chest heaving painfully, the lingering scent of sulfur burning in my lungs.
