AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Abigor had gone home, and so, it seemed, had Julian. It was only I who was displaced, tied now to the consequences of others’ decisions. Frustration and anger tangled in my chest, and I clenched my fists, suddenly furious at Abigor. A kiss, a goodbye—I could forgive both of those. But leaving me with this devastation alone?
I gritted my teeth and set forth at a faster clip, toward the only other being who might yet be able to help. Julian hadn’t disappeared, so there was still hope, however small. My sense of him grew stronger as I approached the lakeside cottage. Though he was wrought with grief and anguish, I could feel a glimmer of optimism running through him like a thin silver cord. My feet grew lighter on the cobblestones as I approached the open cabin door.
“Julian?” I said, stepping over the threshold.
He was seated at the small wooden table in the kitchen, his book of spells open before him, a quill in his ink-stained hand. When he looked up at me, his face was drawn and unsurprised. “Lilin.”
I took in the scrawled writing, still wet on the page, and my heart sank. Surely he wasn’t thinking of trying again on his own? “You’re not—”
“No,” he said, cutting me off with a weary wave of his hand. “I’ve caused enough damage.”
“Then what are you doing?” The question came out far more demanding than I’d intended, but I couldn’t help it: my curiosity surpassed my fear.
“I’m—” He paused, his brow creasing. “Evaluating.” Then he straightened, and put the quill on the table. “Where is Abigor?”
Something constricted in my chest, and I looked away. “Gone.”
“But he can’t,” Julian said, his eyes widening. He stood, almost knocking over the chair in his haste. “Gone where?”
“Back to Hell. Or so he said.” I turned away, folding my arms across my chest and fighting back the tears that sprang once more to my eyes. For a moment, I was so caught up in my own jumbled emotions that I couldn’t feel Julian’s at all. So when I felt his hand on my arm, I started.
“Whoa!” He lurched backwards, arms raised in defense.
I lowered my hand, the ball of electricity in my palm fizzling back into nothingness. “Sorry,” I muttered, swiping at my eyes.
“It’s all right.” Julian straightened, looking at me with a faint frown. “Is he coming back?”
“He didn’t exactly tell me,” I snapped.
“Hm.” Julian’s frown deepened. He sat back down at the table and picked up his quill again, and as the tip scraped over the parchment, I realized he was no longer writing—he was drawing. Gradually, as he worked, a complicated sigil appeared, curving spirals and sharp lines mirrored in two matching halves. Though I’d never seen the shapes before, they were strangely familiar, like the memory of a dream. I lowered myself cautiously into the chair beside him, watching him as he worked.
“Do you think,” he said finally, without looking up at me, “that the villagers can be restored, without Abigor?”
What can we possibly do together, except make things worse?
“I don’t know.” I shook my head, my stomach twisting. “Angels and demons—we’re forbidden to interact. You’ve seen why. We have destroyed so much already—and the spell—”
“The spell was my fault,” Julian said, adding a final flourish to each side of the sigil. His gaze shifted away from the book. It seemed as though he was about to say something else, but then something caught his eye. He reached toward the carved wooden chickens in the center of the table, his brow furrowing. “What’s this?”
“Oh,” I said, feeling my cheeks heat up, “that’s—”
But Julian already had my ring in his hand. “This is yours?” he said.
My right hand automatically went to my left, where the ring had previously been. “It was.”
“You left it here,” he said. “Why?”
I pushed my chair back and stood, embarrassed at the evidence of my sentiment. “I don’t know,” I replied. “It was nothing. Just…just a gesture.”
“No,” Julian said. I could see him shaking his head out of the corner of my eye. “No, Lilin. That’s not the whole truth.” He lifted the ring again, examining it in the candle’s flame. The rubies caught the light and scattered a riot of reflective flashes across the walls and ceiling of the cabin. “This ring contains immense power.”
“No more than anything else from the City,” I muttered.
But he persisted. “What does it do?” he asked, rising from his chair and following me across the room.
I sighed, turning back to him and taking the ring from his extended hand. I rubbed it between my fingers. The familiar sharpness of the stones calmed my frazzled nerves, and I remembered the moment when it had been placed into my possession. They are dangerous, I’d been told. This will keep them at bay.
It had grown warm, almost hot, when Abigor was near. Now the smooth metal was cold against my skin. “It’s meant for protection,” I said softly.
