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“You’re right. I’m sorry. I still can’t get over how brilliant your soul is and how lucky the devils are that you chose them, all things considered. Not many people would.” Cassius keeps his voice low as if he speaks any louder that I might snap again.
I close my eyes and suck in a breath, trying to settle my nerves to have a rational conversation with him even though I know we need to get our act together and find Elias as quickly as possible. “That’s because the angelic army did an awesome job at scaring humanity. I was never truly a believer. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s because deep down, I knew that it was different.”
“Perhaps.” Cassius expands his wings and steps forward, ending our conversation. I’m glad for it. I’m not in the mood for any life and eternity pondering moments with him. I just need to find my soulmate. I need the pain that the angelic army puts him through to stop. He saved me once as Grace. He found me again as Raven. And now it’s my turn to find him. It’s my turn to save him. I won’t let him down.
“Please let us make it through unnoticed. Please allow Raven’s light to suppress her darkness.” Cassius whispers the prayer so lowly that I nearly don’t catch it. If I wasn’t resting my chin on his shoulder, I would’ve missed it. And it’s strange. I can feel the weight of his words as if they will work here. And maybe they will. He has his faith in the Higher Power and in Heaven, just as I have my faith in the devils and in what we want to accomplish.
I have so many questions. I want to know if he hears a response or if he just feels it. I want to know if he has ever seen God or the Higher Power that he works for. I want to know where the pure souls are. I want to see if the angels that don’t go to Earth or become a part of the angelic army stay up here. Up here? I don’t even know why I consider ourselves above the other planes. We are just on an alternate plane. I think we’re all on the same level. Maybe except for Hell. I do feel myself fall when I go through a portal. But that’s only because the devils created that new plane with their descent and the blast of power as they landed.
“This is so empty. Am I supposed to see something? There’s just so much light.” I press my lips to his earlobe, keeping my voice at a whisper. I’m far too nervous to break the heavy silence enveloping us along with the light.
“You can see things as you want. You just have to think about it. Heaven looks differently to everyone. Just like the kingdoms in Hell, we can create our own places.” Cassius shifts me once more to his hip, and I cling to his side, feeling incredibly small and fragile against his muscular frame. I cross my legs and my ankles, ensuring that I won’t fall away from him. The ground looks so strange as if I could just fall into nothingness. I had no idea that I was afraid of the idea. Pure, utter nothingness.
I shiver at the thought.
“Here, I will show you as I see it.” Cassius touches his fingers to my temples, and the world shifts from light to shadows and then a beautiful, brightly colored world comes into view around us.
We stand amid a meadow, not unlike the one that Andre favors to build within my dream world. Fields of rainbow flowers pepper the ground, sprawling into a distant sunset made of pinks and purples and colors I can’t even describe. Colors that I am pretty sure I’ve never seen in my life before. They don’t exist on the mortal plane or in Hell. Hell tends to carry only the warmth of reds and oranges and yellows in the darkness of blacks as fire consumes everything.
The indigo sky remains crisp and clear without any clouds, the bluish-purple hue stunning. I wonder if it ever turns dark here to show off glittering stars or if this world for Cassius is only painted in pure light and colors.
“It’s so beautiful,” I murmur, shifting in his arms, my sudden need to get on my feet to touch the grass consuming my thoughts.
But still, Cassius doesn’t let me. I know that this is just how he views things, and in my reality, it is just made of light.
“But where is everyone? Are there new buildings here? Where do the mortal souls stay?” I never believed that I would be able to ask someone these types of questions. It’s always been one of the things I knew I’d have to wait to find out until I died. Even then, I wasn’t sure. I imagined that it could be completely mind-blowing or nothing at all. Either way, I guess I didn’t really think much about it. I didn’t care. What was important to me was living. I was never going to live like I was dying. But now, I’m living as if it will be forever. It’s why I fight harder.
“I am shielding us from everything. We will not come into contact with any heavenly beings except for Elias.” Cassius strides forward, his feet seemingly gliding over the field of flowers as he heads in a direction where I see nothing. There are no buildings here. There are no portals. It’s confusing as all get out.
“Doesn’t answer my questions.” I press my lips together and peer around, squinting as if I can maybe see through the world he has built around us to discover the answers for myself.
“Those answers don’t matter because this isn’t where you are choosing to belong. All that matters is that we find your soulmate.” Cassius remains expressionless with his words. “Unless you decide to change your mind and ask for me to help you unbind yourself from Hell to come here.”
I grimace at his comment, my annoyance getting the best of me. Swinging my arm, I whack him in the chest. “Seriously? It’s such a dick move. I’d answer your damn questions.”
All he does is tighten his jaw and shrugs his shoulders. “Like I said, it’s not important. Maybe some other time. It’s not as if I can show you right now. We cannot disturb anything in the realm.”
I decide to drop it and focus on the world around us. Cassius glides across the meadow and the world starts to shift and move as if it bends to his will. The meadow disappears and we find ourselves standing in what I can only describe as a long white hallway with portals on each side, glowing with different lights.
I try to peek into the portals, but I don’t see anything. They must lead into the other levels of Heaven created by the beings who take over this realm.
“I need to tap into your soul. To do so, I will have to untangle mine from you, and you might feel the pain again.” Cassius doesn’t look at me with his words, but his lips tilt downward, and I can tell that they bother him. He doesn’t want to release me to feel the burden of being Elias’s soulmate as the angelic army tortures him. But what choice do we have? I knew that this would come. I knew that the pain would return, and I would have to suffer alongside my soulmate.
“I’m ready. There’s no way for me to prepare, so just do it. The faster we get to him, the faster we can get him out of here, and the pain will stop.” At least, I hope that’s the case. It’s strange how there’s no one here. It seems too easy, but Cassius doesn’t give anything away. If he’s worried, he doesn’t show it to me.
“Pain is fleeting. I promise that it won’t last long.” Cassius closes his eyes, and a heart-stopping pain stabs me in my chest. I bury my face into his shoulder, suppressing the sob trying to escape me. It feels worse than before. Much, much worse. I can hardly keep my eyes open. I just want to squeeze them shut and disappear. I want everything to end.
“Hold on, Raven. We are close. I can sense him.” Cassius tenses, his muscles rippling. A gust of wind blows my hair, and I inhale a sweet fragrance permeating from his flapping wings. He smells so good that I concentrate on his scent to help distract me from the pain. It doesn’t do much, but at least I can keep my mouth from sobbing.
A strange cooling sensation trickles down my back, seeping through me and easing the fire gripping at my soul. Cassius isn’t the only one who can sense Elias. My heartbeat picks up pace, and my stomach flutters. That coolness continues to grow until the pain subsides and I can focus on the portal we now stand in front of.”
“I need to set you on your feet. It is heavily protected, and I need to be able to defend you,” Cassius says.
I squeeze him a little bit tighter, hoping that he changes his mind, but Cassius detaches me from him and sets me on my feet. He summons an angelic sword, and the blue glow of brilliant fire erupts. He is using the same power he uses against the devils and demons.
“Are you sure you’re going to be able to handle this? I can see if I can summon a weapon. Or maybe you can give me yours. I know you don’t want to fight against the guardians.” I don’t know why I offer because I know he will deny me. I just feel as if I should because I know how much it bothers him to have to fight against beings that should be by his side. Cassius feels more alone than ever, and I bet he can finally empathize with what Lucian had gone through when Cassius chose not to jump from grace.
“It is worse than I feared. The room that they’re keeping him in is between planes still. It’s a realm that is open to both angels and demons. And Elias isn’t with the angels. He’s being kept by a force far darker.” Cassius straightens his back and spreads his wings, cutting me off from trying to figure how to get past him and into the portal.
