Albert’s steel blue eyes reminded me of the pure truth in Matthias.’ I closed my eyes, but tears of hopelessness fell anyway.
Leave me alone. I collapsed to the earth, burying my face in the rough bed of fallen pine needles beneath me. My fingers clawed. Dug. Maybe I could bury myself, and die.
My mind conjured up a dark abyss, a place where I stood poised to abandon myself to, not caring where I ended up.
“Do it.” Albert’s voice slithered into my consciousness.
No. No. No. I ground my face into the needles scratching my cheeks, chin and forehead. I had to get away from him.
Mustering every muscle, I lifted myself up and forced my legs to run.
Through my sobs, I heard my name, the call faint, distant as a dead leaf falling to the ground. Luke and Weston. Both were shouting for me, over and over.
Part of me wanted them to find me; another part wanted them safe—far away from Albert and the gaping jaws of hell.
Albert stood in the middle of the darkened path in front of me. I tore left. He was there, waiting. Each direction I turned to flee I found Albert.
I stopped in a clearing, my breath heaving, blowing white plumes into the air.
Albert strolled closer, his hands clasped behind his back. Hordes of black spirits materialized from the night, surrounding the clearing. “You’re content to leave him? With Violet?”
More lies? My breath stopped. I swallowed, and drunk in more air.
Albert drew closer, so close, if he’d been mortal—had a body, I would have smelled him. Felt his breath. Around us, the circle of evil closed in.
I blew a large plume of breath in his face. He squinted. The corners of his lips lifted. “Bet you can’t do that,” I gasped out.
In the distance, my name grew louder. Weston and Luke were getting closer.
Albert laughed, but when no sign of breath came from his mouth he stopped, shock flashing briefly in his eyes. “You can’t,” I began, fueled by truth, “because you don’t have a body. You’re nobody.”
Albert’s eyes narrowed. His jaw twitched. The evil hosts he’d brought with him continued to inch closer, pressing me from the outside in, an overpowering fear that squeezed breath from my lungs and caused every fiber in my body to paralyze. Brady was nowhere in sight.
“Zoe?” Weston’s voice was closest. My heart leapt with hope.
“Here!”
“Zoe?” Luke shouted after hearing my response to Weston.
The forest air grew thick and so cold, I grabbed myself, shivering uncontrollably. My teeth rattled. Ice instantly erupted from Albert’s black shoes, jagging out along the forest floor like frozen claws. White death formed on every surface, dripping from tree branches, coating trunks, traveling across the forest floor, upward shrouding the woods in suffocating frost.
Albert stepped closer. “They’ll freeze to death before they can save you.”
No! I tried to shake my head, but my body was consumed in violent shudders. My knees locked. My eyes burned from the plunging temperature.
“Zoe? Where are you?” Weston’s call echoed. All of this suffering.
Because of me.
“Now, Zoe,” Albert hissed in my face. “Now.”
It seemed I was destined to die at that moment. If I died, at least Luke and Weston would be safe. Matthias would be free of his father’s efforts to destroy him. We’d be together in Paradise. Pressure became so great I crumpled over, my soul buckling. I opened my mouth to acquiesce, but my voice froze in my throat.
A light formed to my left. It grew larger and larger, until its radiance spread out, illuminating the area around me and Albert. The black spirits disintegrated instantly.
Matthias. His presence caused the ice to crack, the sound filling the forest like fallen trees as each branch, tree and surface was freed from Albert’s arctic grasp. Instantly, I warmed from head to toe. The thunder of feet running my direction snatched my attention to my right.
“I’m here!” I shouted.
Weston appeared in the clearing first, panting and wide-eyed, but he came to an abrupt halt when he saw the light. Luke came seconds later and ran right for me, wrapping around me in a relieved embrace. Weston remained statue still, staring Matthias’ direction.
Did he see him?
Matthias’ gaze locked on his father. “This has to end.”
Albert shielded his eyes from Matthias’ aura. “You know very well that’s not going to happen,” he said.
He said you were being punished, that I’d gotten you in trouble.
Lies, Zoe. I heard Matthias’ thoughts, but his gaze remained fixed on Albert as if, with his eyes, he held the devil in place.
Luke and I clung to each other, for safety, for support. Weston hadn’t moved since he’d come upon the scene, mouth open, his arms hanging at his sides.
“Take me.” Matthias reached out a hand to Albert. “And this will end.”
“No!” I lunged toward Matthias but Luke held me back. “No! Don’t!” I struggled, unable to break free of Luke’s hold.
Albert’s arms slowly lowered from his face. How he was able to endure Matthias’ presence, I didn’t know, except that the menacing on his face had shifted to utter shock at Matthias’ offer. Father and son stared at each other for tenuous moments until another light illuminated through the black sky above.
Bright as sunlight, the power bathed the forest in purifying white so blinding, everyone except Matthias had to shield their eyes.
A faint hum filled the air. The sound accompanied the light, and soothed and comforted instantly.
I squinted, trying to see details. A silhouette was centered in the light.
Albert dropped to his knees and buried his head in his hands, his shoulders shaking. Was he crying? I couldn’t hear over the hum filling the forest air.
Matthias’s gaze stayed on his father for a moment, then his blue eyes met mine.
I drew in a breath. Something was going to happen, gravity nearly sucked me into the powerful center where Matthias and the silhouette stood.
Then, Matthias was gathered into the light and the beam burst.
The forest was dark, save for the moon breaking overhead through the clouds, radiating. I tingled from head to toe. Warm. Comforted. Safe. Luke, who hadn’t moved since the second being appeared, stepped back, his arms lowering to his sides, his stare fixed on the place where Matthias just stood.
Weston’s face lit with a soft glow. His open mouth formed a gentle smile as his eyes met mine across the clearing.
The only sound was Albert’s wretched sobs. He’d fallen to his knees when the light had appeared and there he remained. Only his suit wasn’t black anymore. The color was lighter now—a shade of gray.
I ran across the clearing to Weston who met me halfway. His arms gripped me, lifting me from my feet in an embrace. Words seemed irreverent.
I didn’t want to speak. I didn’t know what to say, feeling inadequate to follow the experience with anything that might tarnish what had happened.
I felt Luke’s familiar hand on my back and lifted my head from Weston’s chest and smiled at him. Weston and Luke’s eyes filled with questions and they studied me as if I had all the answers.
Chapter Eighteen
____________________
At home, Weston, Luke and I sat in the family room, the three of us on the floor in front of a mild fire burning in the fireplace. We hadn’t exchanged words as we’d hiked out of the forest. Weston had taken my hand and led me, and Luke had stayed at my back. I hadn’t felt vulnerable or unsafe. Albert hadn’t followed us.
We left him on his knees, weeping.
Now, hours after seeing Matthias taken up in a stream of light, we were still speechless. I supposed each of us was pondering the experience and none of us wanted to go to bed, though the hour was way past midnight.
Most of the lights were off in the house except for the flickering flame, and the fire cast each of us in a warm, amber glow.
Weston kept staring at me, breaking out in a smile of admiration whenever I caught him. Luke’s gaze rarely left the dancing flames.
“Thank you for finding me.” I finally broke the ponderous silence.
Both Luke and Weston looked at me. Luke’s mind was filled with thoughts, I’d seen that distracted look on his face before—but usually he was distracted by how to score the next bowl. This distraction actually had the wheels in his mind churning with pure purpose.
Weston brought his knees to his chest. “When you ran out of here, I knew something serious was up. Zoe, I felt that same feeling I felt that time in the hotel room. You weren’t lying to me. I knew you weren’t. I only said that because—I was angry. I didn’t mean it.”
Angry and taunted by Brady. “How did you get rid of Brady?”
Luke’s shocked, curious gaze shifted from me to Weston.
“So he was here.” Weston swallowed.
I nodded. “I told you he was.”
“I—I felt him. Like the other day with my mom. Rage like I’ve never felt pushing me. I remembered what you told me about him not being able to make me do anything. Once I wasn’t angry anymore, I didn’t feel his presence.
He must have left.” He glanced around, a thread of panic in his voice.
“Right?”
“He’s not here now.”
A tremor shook Weston’s body. “I hope he never comes back.”
“Brady? As in the Brady whose mom tried to shoot you?” Luke asked.
Weston gave a sober nod. “Yeah.”
“Holy.” Luke’s blue eyes remained huge. “Z, what happened out there?
I was searching for you and suddenly the whole forest became arctic. Man, I couldn’t believe how freezing it was.”
“Yeah.” Weston nodded. “Thought we were going to die.” He looked at me with rounded eyes. “And never find you.”
“Albert.”
Luke swallowed. “He turned the forest to ice?”
I nodded. “He was there, in the bedroom with Brady and… dozens of other black spirits.” My blood chilled recalling the evil that had surrounded Weston and me on the bed. “They followed me.”
Weston touched my hand. “Don’t talk about it.”
“Bedroom?” Luke’s brows arched.
“It was my fault,” Weston piped.
Luke’s eyes flashed at Weston testily. “How the hell did the spirits get there?”
Weston’s mouth opened, but I spoke before he had a chance. “It doesn’t matter. They were there to stir trouble and when I ran out of here, they followed me. Weston got rid of Brady on his own.”
“And the big bad wolf followed you out into the forest,” Luke observed, his tone still feisty. “You put her in danger, man. Not cool.”
“I put myself in danger,” I corrected, sharply. I wanted all of this to be over.
“Sorry,” Weston put in. “You’re right. It wasn’t the place to—”
“No details, dude.” Luke held up a hand. “She’s my sister.” A brittle silence followed, but quickly dissipated. “Z, what else happened?”
“What do you mean?”
“With Matthias.”
Both Weston and Luke waited for my answer. “What did you guys see?”
I asked.
“Matthias,” Luke said. Weston nodded.
“So you saw him too?” I asked Weston.
“Yes,” Weston said around a thick swallow. “I—I’m still—I don’t know if I can describe what it felt like to be there. It was… amazing.”
Luke bobbed his head in agreement. “The coolest.”
“Matthias’ father was there. Albert. Did you see him?”
Weston and Luke shook their heads. Luke gestured to my face. “Did he do that to you?”
I touched the scratches on my face and winced. “No. I fell, and my face hit the ground. Albert told me Matthias was being punished because of me. That I’d gotten him in trouble. He told me I had to give myself to him to make it right.”
The fire crackled and a log split, falling to the hearth floor. Gold parks escaped up the flue.
“I thought I was going to die, that somehow Albert would kill me and take me with him. I was willing to go to free Matthias. But I was terrified.
Then, Matthias came. He said Albert was lying. And you guys showed up.” I took a deep breath. I still couldn’t believe Matthias had been willing to give up his soul for me.
Weston’s eyes grew larger. “Wow.”
“Yeah.” I nodded, shivering in spite of the fire. “But then, the other being—I don’t know who—came down.” The gravity of wondering who had come to save Matthias linked us together in a bond of awe.
Luke nodded. “We saw him.”
“You think… it was… God?” Weston whispered.
The idea sent a flush of warmth through my spirit. “I don’t know,” I said.
“Maybe Matthias has a guardian of his own,” Luke suggested. “Blows me away,” he murmured.
“Seemed to blow Albert away, too, because he fell to his knees, crying.”
“Seriously?” Luke asked.
“I expected him to disintegrate, like he usually does,” I said. “The other black spirits did. The second the being showed up, they were gone.” Weston’s mouth dropped open. I realized he didn’t know about how Albert came and left. “Albert can’t be around purity—it causes him to disappear.”
Weston’s Adam’s apple rolled up his throat. “Oh.”
“So I expected that to happen, but it didn’t.” I was perplexed that Albert’s suit had lightened with the event. “When we left, Albert was still there.”
Luke shuddered. “Yeah, I heard him.”
“I did, too,” Weston added.
A tingling of thrill raced along my skin. How fascinating that both of them had heard Albert, but not seen him. Albert’s cries of hopelessness and realization would haunt me for a long time.
Weston’s open mouth, wide-eyed expression was that of a child discovering the secret of Santa Claus. “Will Albert be back?” he asked.
“Matthias told me he’d fight me for my soul—to get to him.” But where was Matthias now? Was Albert still after his soul? “I don’t know who that was that came and took Matthias, but someone is watching out for him.”
The silence between us prickled with unanswered questions. “This is huger than anything I’ve ever seen,” Luke mumbled. He rubbed his face.
“You’re something else, Z. I’m glad you’re okay.” He patted my shoulder.
I leaned over and hugged him. “Thanks bud.” He held me a moment, and I enjoyed the connection. The evening, dangerous as it had been, had also brought us together in a way I knew none of us would ever forget.
“Don’t know if I’ll sleep, but I’m gonna hit the hay.” Luke stood, stretched, eyed me, then Weston. “You staying over?”
Weston’s cheeks flushed. His gaze met mine and fire danced in the reflection of his eyes. “Maybe I can take the couch?”
Somehow, I was able to sleep. A shower helped. Fresh pjs. Restlessness wasn’t as much about Weston sleeping downstairs on the couch as it was the lingering vision of Matthias ready to give himself up to his father. For me. And I couldn’t stop replaying the moment he’d been surrounded by that light and taken up.
I jerked upright in bed, heart pounding as the night before played out in my head: flashes of the moment in bold scenes, over and over and over. Was Albert here? Heart leaping in my chest, I searched the room with my gaze, every corner, even leaning over the side of my bed for a look beneath.
No Albert—thankfully.
My pulse started to slow and so did my rapid breathing. What had happened to Matthias?
Would I ever see him again?
The thought of never seeing him hit me like a tidal wave. I refused to let the morbid idea drown me. Until I knew for sure, I wouldn’t fixate on something I didn’t understand.
Then there was Weston, who’d remembered what I’d told him ab
out how to dismiss evil and had gotten rid of Brady. Pride, and respect, both flowed through my heart at that moment for Weston.
I grabbed my phone to check the time: almost noon. Thank heavens it was Saturday.