Chapter 16
Chapter sixteen
Palmer
The spirit room engulfed me in a way I wasn't prepared for.
The moment we crossed the threshold, I felt it—a deep, visceral pull like hooks in my soul.
The air vibrated with trapped energy, thousands of spirits pressing against their glass prisons.
Their silent screams rang in my ears, a desperate chorus that made my skin crawl.
"What is this place?" I whispered, though I already knew. This was where Asrael kept his collection—the souls he'd harvested over centuries.
Something caught my eye among the swirling masses—a familiar shimmer, a resonance that struck a chord deep within me. Without thinking, I moved toward it, drawn by an invisible thread.
"Palmer, wait—" Jasper called, but his voice sounded distant, underwater.
The spirits in their containers seemed to reach for me as I passed. And then I saw them—two spirits side by side, their energy signatures instantly recognizable even after all these years.
My heart stopped, then lurched painfully against my ribs. I couldn't breathe, couldn't think. I just knew. The sound of breaking glass was quiet beneath the sound of my rapid breathing. They’d already started freeing spirits, breaking the bondage that had held them captive for who knows how long.
I spun around to my demons, my eyes wild and my voice breaking. "I found my parents."
I didn't wait for a response, couldn't wait. I barely registered the questions and the shocked replies, so focused on what I needed to do.
The already freed souls swirled around us in a dizzying dance of light and shadow, their ethereal forms weaving intricate patterns across the chamber ceiling.
Some appeared almost jubilant in their newfound liberation, spinning and twisting with frenetic energy, while others moved with a haunting slowness, as if still processing their release from captivity.
The air itself seemed to vibrate with their presence, charged with an otherworldly electricity that raised the fine hairs on my arms and sent a chill down my spine.
Brilliant flashes of silver-blue light punctuated the darkness as spirits collided and merged momentarily before separating again, creating a mesmerizing but unsettling spectacle that made it difficult to focus on anything else.
I was suddenly surrounded by my support system as we moved toward the cluster of spirit orbs where I'd seen my parents. Through the ethereal haze, we could make out their figures—my mother and father, their forms flickering like candlelight in a storm.
"Mom? Dad?" My voice cracked as I reached for their container. My fingers trembled against the glass, and Rhodes steadied my hand with his.
"Let me," he said gruffly, channeling his telekinetic energy to carefully crack the seal.
The moment the barrier broke, my parents' spirits burst free, swirling around me in what felt like a desperate embrace. Tears streamed down my face as their energy touched mine for the first time in years.
"Sweet girl," my mother's voice echoed, barely more than a whisper. "You found us."
Jasper materialized beside us. "We need to move. The magic holding this place together is unraveling."
I could feel it too—the wrongness in the air, the way the walls seemed to pulse with unstable energy. The other spirits we'd freed were becoming agitated, their forms colliding in chaos.
"Everyone out!" Ashland commanded, already herding the others toward the exit. "Now!"
But I couldn't move, my eyes locked on my parents as they tried to maintain their forms. "I can't leave them," I insisted. "Not again."
"You won't," Misha growled, grabbing my arm. "But we need to get somewhere safe first. Somewhere we can actually help them."
A violent tremor shook the chamber, and several empty containers shattered, before the sound of cracking stone filled the air as the ceiling began to give way.
"Misha is right," Jasper said urgently. "I can guide them, keep them together, but we have to move."
My father's spirit flickered violently. "Go, sweetheart. We'll follow."
Before I could argue, Misha wrapped an arm around my waist and practically carried me toward the exit as the chamber started collapsing behind us. The other spirits streamed past us like a river of starlight, with Jasper shepherding my parents close behind.
We burst into the tunnel just as the ceiling gave way completely. The sound was deafening, but Misha didn't slow down. I could feel the tension in his body, the fierce protectiveness radiating from him.
We emerged into the cool night air, and he finally released me. I immediately spun around, searching the darkness until my parents' spirits reformed beside me. Jasper appeared as well, his form stronger now that we were away from the chamber's corrupted magic.
"What happened in there?" Felix demanded, moving to check me for injuries. "The whole place just... imploded."
"Asrael's death broke whatever spell was holding it together," Talon theorized, his eyes tracking some of the freed spirits as they dispersed into the night.
I embraced my parents' ethereal forms, feeling their familiar energy wrap around me. After all these years, they were here. They were with me. The relief was so overwhelming that I could barely stand.
"We need to get them somewhere safe," I said, turning to face the group. "Somewhere we can figure out how to help them fully manifest like Jasper."
"First, you have to help them," my father instructed firmly but lovingly, pointing at the group of spirits that seemed to keep growing with each blink of the eye.
I shook my head, panic rising in my chest. "What do you mean? How am I going to do that here? Now? I can't."
My dad smiled warmly. "This is what you were made to do. You can, and you will."
Understanding crashed over me like a wave, leaving me breathless with awe and terror. "A portal? There’s so many of them…" I whispered, my voice trembling. "Dad, I don't even know how to—"
"Yes, you do," my father's spirit interrupted, his form brightening with conviction. "This power has always been inside you, waiting. Why do you think Asrael was so interested in you? He knew what you were capable of, but he wanted to twist it for his own purposes."
The growing crowd of spirits pressed closer, their ethereal forms creating a silvery dome around us. I could feel their desperation, their longing for release.
"They're suffering," Felix said, his voice rough with emotion. "I can feel it, too. Can't you, Palmer?"
My gaze met his and then Jasper's, and understanding passed between us. I nodded slowly. "They're so tired. So ready to rest."
"Then help them," my father urged. "Focus on that connection you feel. Let your magic rise naturally—don't force it like Asrael taught you."
I closed my eyes, evening out my breathing. I felt the magic within me—not the controlled, channeled power Asrael had trained me to use, but something wilder, more ancient. The air around me began to shimmer.
"She needs an anchor," I heard Jasper murmur. "Someone to ground her while she channels this much power."
The magic built within me, rising like a tidal wave I couldn't control. My eyes snapped open, now glowing with intensity. "I need... I need..." I reached out blindly, desperate for something to ground me before I was swept away.
Rhodes' fingers wrapped around mine, and the power that surged between us nearly brought me to my knees. His energy melded with mine, strong and steady.
"That's it," my father encouraged as the air began to ripple. "Now picture a doorway, a passage to peace. They'll know what to do."
My grip on Rhodes' hand tightened as I reached out with my other hand.
"I need you all, please!" My body was shaking from the intensity of the power flowing through me.
One by one, the demons grasped my hand or touched my shoulders, lending me their strength.
The spirits swirled faster, their forms blurring together until the very fabric of reality seemed to bend and warp.
A soft light began to emanate from nowhere and everywhere at once, growing brighter with each passing second.
"Fuck," I heard Talon whisper, his hand tight in mine. "Are you seeing this?"
"I've never felt anything like it," Felix yelled over the growing noise from the spirits. Mixtures of screams, whoops of happiness, groans of pain, and cries of disbelief. Every single emotion seemed to be building as the tornado of souls picked up speed.
The light I created coalesced into what looked like a shimmering curtain, transparent yet somehow solid. Through it, I glimpsed something beyond description—beautiful and terrible and not meant for living eyes to comprehend.
"Be free!" I screamed, strands of my dark hair whipping around my reddened cheeks. "You're safe now. Step through and find the peace you deserve!"
The spirits surged forward eagerly, their forms becoming more defined as they approached the passage. Some looked almost completely living again in those final moments, their faces peaceful as they stepped through.
I swayed on my feet, and Talon wrapped his free arm around my waist to steady me. "We've got you," he growled, his voice distant and strange. And they did have me. As a group, we all collapsed to the ground, each one of us connected.
"Thank you," I breathed, leaning into their support as spirit after spirit passed through my gateway. "Thank you for being my anchors."
My eyes met Rhodes', and for the first time, he didn't look away. Something passed between us—understanding, recognition, acceptance.
My strength gave out suddenly, and I slumped forward, my entire body trembling from the massive expenditure of power.
The veil shimmered one final time as the last spirit passed through before dissolving like mist in the morning sun.
The sudden silence was deafening after the cacophony of souls we'd just witnessed.
"Mom? Dad?" My voice was barely a whisper as I tried to lift my head. I was so weak I could barely move, but panic gave me strength.
"We're right here, sweetheart." My mother's ethereal form drifted closer, radiating a warmth that felt like home. "I'm so proud of you."
I struggled to sit up straighter in Rhodes' arms, panic flaring through me. "Please don't go through! I just found you, I can't—"
"Shhh," my father soothed, his spirit brightening. "We're not going anywhere right now. That's not our path."
"Promise?" My voice cracked with emotion and exhaustion.
My mother's spirit reached out, and though she couldn't physically touch my face, the gesture carried all the love of a real caress. "We promise, baby. But right now, you need to rest. What you just did... it took more power than most beings possess in their entire lifetime."
I felt my body growing heavier as exhaustion overtook me. My magic, which had been a raging inferno moments ago, was now barely a flicker.
"Listen to them," Rhodes growled softly, adjusting his hold to better support my weight and to make space for Misha, who also needed to feel me safely in his arms.
"You're safe. We've got you," Misha assured me.
My eyes were so heavy, but they saw me. Really saw me.
"Don't let them disappear while I sleep," I mumbled to nobody in particular. "Please."
"We won't," someone promised, and I believed them. "Just rest now."
I fought it for a few more seconds, my body literally shaking with the effort to stay awake. But eventually, biology won out over stubbornness. Darkness swept over me, and I surrendered to it, knowing I was safe in the arms of these demons who had somehow become my family.