AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It makes me wonder just how old Finn is. I knew he helped train Kai as a child. He grew up with him and somehow along the way they became best friends. But Finn doesn’t look much older than me, and every time I’ve tried to poke for more information regarding his age orwhathe is, he talks around it. Eventually, I gave up my prodding all together.
“I didn’t know that… I won’t lie and say fighting his shadow puppets is cake, but it has been a great way to get used to my actual sword. It’s lighter than these.” I tip my blade at him before setting it on the ground. “I can have at it and not worry about hurting anyone.” I tease him with a wink.
“Hey now! Maybe if I had known you’d been sparring with the Devil, I’d have gone a bit harder.”
“So, you were going easy on me?” My chest deflates. And here I thought I was getting decent at this.
“No. Definitely not. I tried hard during that last one. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were casting wartime spells on yourself or something. I swear you knew every move I was going to make before I made it. You can hold your own, that’s for sure.”
I breathe deeply, filling my nose with the scent of woods and dewy earth before dragging out the exhale. “Tell that to Kai. Maybe he’ll actually agree to let me leave the castle alone.”
We’ve come here countless times in the last year and still the view awes me. This plateau overlooks Hell Hold, the daunting obsidian castle in the distance. The little merchant stands and stores look like sprinkles on top of a golf course sundae from here, and the green foliage of The Forest of Lost Souls is like a blanket of emerald cotton balls.
“Don’t do that.” Finn grabs a blade of grass and plucks it before twisting it through his fingers.
“Do what?”
“He’s not keeping you hostage, Alice. He’s worried and wants to keep you safe. While I don’t agree with his tactics, it doesn’t mean I don’t understand why he uses them. The prince doesn’t see what I do every day, and he needs peace of mind when he’s gone. He needs to know you’re protected, or else he’ll never be able to focus on his job.”
“Then maybe he should train with me, even if it’s just once. I’m sure he can carve out enough time for one fight.”
“He would if he could, but with Lucifer nearly shoving all the king’s responsibilities at him, he doesn’t have the time.”
Story of my life. Out of the last year, Kai has been gone for half. Well, what I’d assume to be half if you added it all together. Maybe even more. He’s constantly visiting the Lords, and when he’s not off doing that, he’s in meetings, or working in his father’s office. We make the most of the time we have together, but lately it’s far and few between.
“I know… Sometimes it’s easy to forget.”
Finn lifts his eyebrows up in a knowing look. “I’m surprised you’d want him in your business since you’ve taken matters into your own hands.” My eyes pop wide and every muscle in my body goes rigid. “Don’t pretend for an instant that you don’t sneak out.”
“Of course you’ve noticed…” I string the words under my breath. Closing my eyes, I ready myself for the upcoming lecture.
“I notice everything. It’s my job to keep you safe.”
My fingers thread through my hair. “I assume you know where I’ve been going?” He doesn’t say anything, just gives me a curt nod and scrunches up his lips. “Are you going to tell him?”
“Have I told him yet?” Obviously he hasn’t. If Kai knew I was searching the logs in Limbo for my parents, he’d shit a brick.
“No…” I sit down beside him, resting my chin on my knees, and pulling them to my chest.
“Alice… Belphegor told you they were in Heaven. So, why search Limbo?”
“Because my gut tells me otherwise. There are no records of my father and I get that, but there should be something for my mom. There should be transport papers saying that her soul was sent to Heaven, returned, or reincarnated. There’s nothing. It’s like she never set foot here.”
“That’s because they’re in hiding. Wherever they are, as long as they haven’t been reincarnated, we’ll find them once Michael is out of the way. For now, you’re just looking for answers where there are none.”
I shift, jutting my legs out in front of me. “You’re probably right. It doesn’t hurt to look, though.”
“I’m always right,” he shoots me a mischievous, crooked grin and nudges my shoulder. “Don’t you know that by now?… Still, I know it hurts.”
“What do you mean? I wasn’t the one who took a sword to the femur.” Lifting my head, I scan his features. The color of his eyes has clouded as he stares into the distance, a stoic sort of emptiness etched on his face.
His lips mush into a firm line. “Not what I meant. I know it’s difficult having Kai gone. Especially when you’re still going through so much yourself. It’s easy to feel like some fragile doll in a glass house…. to think that everyone is scared to be the rock who shatters it.”
Biting my lip, I tear my gaze away, letting it settle on the bare spot he’s left in the grass. Finn isn’t wrong. I have felt that way. Some days I’m glad to be left alone. In those moments, my sanity feels like it’s hanging on by a thread, just waiting to snap. Others, I’m more myself than I ever was on Earth.
“You were spellbound, Alice. That’s gone now and you’re still adjusting to your power. Whereas Kai had centuries to grow with it, the dam burst and you were flooded all at once. It’s overwhelming. Yet, you managed to do it with such grace.” He shakes his head. When his eyes meet mine, they’re full of pride. “Others have had their minds warped by a lot less. Remember that, and just know I see you.” We’re silent for a beat before he turns to look at the setting sun, watching it dip behind the castle. “Hell, even Kai lost it for a moment. He was a teenager when the majority of his power came in. The boy nearly destroyed the castle.”
“Really? I don’t think I can see him doing that. He seems so in control of his gift, even when he’s furious.”
