“Castor, shut it!” Lila peeked around their feeble fortress, and there, on the ground next to another twitching angel, lay a sword for the taking.
Before she could think, she darted out into the melee, dived for the sword, and scurried back with it in her hand.
Maybe she could get out by herself. Beni and Castor and Eva could stay hidden, and she could go to the Healing Chamber and…and…
That was assuming that the fighting wasn’t thickest in that area, where the warriors were sure to gather. Lila pounded the marble with the heel of her palm. The adrenaline that had fueled her earlier succumbed to her heightened anxiety.
She was out of ideas. There was nowhere to go. And she wasn’t even sure she could use the sword, trembling as she was.
No, no. She could do this. She’d taken lessons.
Lila’s grip on the sword’s hilt slipped. Her fingers were shaking too much to hold on. And besides that, they were slippery. Wet and sticky. There was so much blood. It soaked Castor’s robes and pooled on the ground and slicked Lila’s fingers.
What could she do? What could shedo?
Hold him.The thought came immediately.
She’d never wanted to hold Castor in all of her existence—she’d hated herself for it, but it was true—but she couldn’t help but be moved upon seeing him so helpless. If his soul left his body, at least he’d have what he’d always wanted at the end.
They couldn’t easily shift him from Beni’s arms to Lila’s, so Lila took hisclammy hand in her trembling ones. She pressed his hand between her palms and rubbed warmth into it.
The fighting was thinning out as more and more angels collapsed or fell from the aether. Some angels had tossed their swords away. Many of the angels who had drawn blood were in no better state than Eva, frozen or crying or kneeling over their fallen comrades.
It didn’t matter. Lila couldn’t move. She could only watch Castor’s gaze float down to his stomach; it lingered there, noticing his wound for the first time, then returned to her face.
“Li…” he began in a hoarse whisper. His eyes filled with fear. Drops of moisture collected on his brow.
“Castor, I…”I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.
Castor didn’t reply, didn’t twitch, didn’t flinch, didn’t move a muscle, but suddenly, his eyes were vacant. Not mocking. Not cruel. Not demanding. Just…not.
Wide open, but seeing nothing.
Beni jostled Castor, attempting to wake him up. He shook him, and Castor moaned, but his eyes remained empty. Devoid of…himself.
And that’s when Lila saw it, rising through the aether like an errant flame.
A flicker of gold. There, and then gone.
“Castor!” Beni shook Castor’s limp body. “Castor! Come on, quit joking around!” He shook his body violently. Additional moans passed through Castor’s lips, but the light didn’t return to his eyes.
“Castor!” Beni cried. “Lila, you’ve got to do something. He doesn’t look right. Lila, you can help him. You’re supposed to help him!” he pleaded, but his voice was far away.
Lila wasn’t there either; she was floating above the scene, watching Beni panic and Eva remain still as stone save for the rise and fall of her chest. Lila lingered there, watching them, and at the same time, seeing only Castor’s vacant eyes, asking why she hadn’t done more to help him. Why she had abandoned him. Why she’d never loved him the way she should have.
She’d made him like that. She’d made the light in his eyes fade. She’d rejected his heart, and now she’d made him lose his soul. The one thing that was hers to protect.
And the worst part was, he didn’t get angry. She stared into his eyeslonger than she’d ever chosen to on her own, but they didn’t notice her at all. They didn’t demand or punish. And they should have. She deserved it.
Then she was back in her body, and everything hurt.
Lila had felt the sting of open wounds before, but this pain shot through her so fast and so fierce that she doubled over from it. A thousand swords sliced into her simultaneously, ribboning her body like she’d thought the Void would do.
She couldn’t breathe. Her ears rang. Her limbs gave out, and Beni’s terrified face, mouthing words she couldn’t hear, was the last image she saw before everything went black.
Present Aeon
Luc had outdone himself.
