Chapter 42 To Die, but Only Temporarily
Chapter forty-two
To Die, but Only Temporarily
“It requires more courage to suffer than to die.” - Napoleon
Hailey blinked hard as Giselle’s voice faded in to her ears.
“…but you’re not going to find anything helpful in a library, and I already read these magazines the last time you dragged me in here, so how much longer do you want to stay in this pulverized-tree crypt?”
Hailey finally focused on Giselle. She was holding The Banshee’s Guide to Handling a Soul in one hand and pointing to the magazine rack with the other.
“What’s the matter with you? Did you just have a vision?”
“I did!” She shot out of her chair. “Oh my God, Giselle, I have to find Fin!”
Hailey swayed shakily, leaned against the table to steady herself, and straightened to leave, but an explosion in the reference section threw her back into her chair.
Matthew, who had been snoring peacefully next to Hailey’s desk, was thrown toward Mysteries, and Hailey scrambled to her feet only to find herself face-to-face with Cobon’s rotten sneer.
Staggering back, she bumped into Giselle, who grabbed her arm and shoved her aside, wedging herself protectively between her and Cobon.
“What’s this?” Cobon laughed. “Do you mean to protect the human? You? A demon abomination?” Cobon tossed his head back and cackled.
Then without warning, he backhanded Giselle across the face, sending her careening across the room until her body slammed limp against the stone wall and crumpled to the floor.
“No!” Hailey screamed, and she lunged toward her roommate.
Cobon grasped her by the hair and jerked her back, flinging her against a bookcase, which he then toppled over on top of her.
All six hundred and eighty-seven books, which Hailey had meticulously counted, thundered down, thumping her head and neck and back.
She scrambled as fast as she could against the onslaught, but when the heavy oaken shelf crashed down, it smashed her legs above the knee into the cold marble floor.
She couldn’t force air to scream.
Cobon grabbed Giselle up by the neck and held her high.
“My work here could be done,” he said over his shoulder to Hailey.
“But I’d much rather stay until you expire completely, my dear, you’re losing blood at a fatal rate, did you know?
If you can speak, please tell me why you care about this one—I’m curious—she’s an abomination, which I should happily rid from this wretched planet. ”
“No,” Hailey gasped. “Don’t—” Pain stole her breath.
Cobon poised his hand over Giselle’s chest, and then he turned, smiled, and winked.
“Ah, Hailey…” He shook his head, clicking his tongue in disapproval.
“Quite a spirit you have. Imagine my disappointment when Asher told me you were reconsidering our little arrangement. No matter, we don’t need Asher, do we?
He’s had second thoughts as well and is no doubt right behind me, so I’ll be quick.
Embrace your fate, my dear. Your death is only temporary.
And I’ll spare this demon. What do you say?
” He plunged his hand through Giselle’s chest, and she let out a guttural, agonizing screech.
Hailey’s mind fogged with pain and desperation.
Six hundred and eighty-seven. She frantically focused on her consciousness.
If she passed out, she’d die—or he’d kill her—he’d kill Giselle for sure—no, she had to stay awake—keep him talking, figure something out.
She knew she’d never killed an Envoy, but Cobon didn’t. Maybe she could scare him. But how?
Six hundred and eighty-seven. It kept intruding—rattling in her head—she’d shelved these books, which now buried her—all six hundred and eighty-seven of them. That number. And Tomas was wringing his hands in the polished marbled floor next to her.
Tomas—the ghost trap—the frequency Asher abhorred—690 Hertz—it was too annoyingly close to— Mrs. Spitz is clairvoyant!
In all her frenzied anguish, it made her giggle.
“Six hundred and eighty-seven,” she sputtered, and Giselle nodded, her eyes determined.
The banshee opened her mouth and let out a howl that made Hailey’s ears bleed. The library windows shattered.
Hailey squinted against the noise.
Cobon dropped Giselle and slammed his hands against his ears. He kicked the wailing banshee against another bookcase with such force, it fell over on her, and then he bolted.
Finally the commotion stopped and Hailey scanned the area, finding the overturned shelf where Giselle had been.
“Giselle?” she cried frantically. “Are you alright? Giselle…”
A low moan rose from the rubble, and Hailey held her breath.
“Giselle?” she breathed hesitantly.
A hand emerged in a loose fist, which stretched toward the ceiling. Very slowly, she raised her middle finger.
“You’re alive,” Hailey breathed. She was never so happy to be flipped off. “I’m stuck under this shelf,” she added and laughed painfully.
“I really hate libraries,” Giselle muttered flatly as she struggled out of the pile. “How did you know Cobon’s death frequency?”
“What? I didn’t.” Not for sure, anyway. Hailey blinked back the darkness. Was she making sense?
Giselle froze. “You didn’t? You told me to wail his death frequency. It made him think he was going to die. How did you know his death frequency?”
“That was…” she breathed. “…the number of books on the shelves.”
Thank you, Mrs. Spitz!
Hailey wanted to laugh, but realizing the gravity of her injuries, thought better of it.
“Giselle,” she moaned urgently, pushing away the darkness that eclipsed her periphery. “Can you call an ambulance? I think I’m hurt.”
“You’re under a bookcase, bozo,” Giselle noted as she scrambled across the books toward Hailey. “You’re probably crushed.”
“It’s on my legs,” Hailey breathed, feeling nauseous.
Giselle pulled several books off of Hailey, tossing them this way and that until she’d uncovered her enough to assess the situation. She grabbed the bookcase and heaved, but she might as well have been trying to lift the pavement off a road. The bookcase didn’t budge.
“Hailey!” Giselle barked. “Wake up!”
“Still here,” Hailey responded, her eyes heavy.
“Shit,” she grunted. “It’s too heavy for me.” Then she rested her hand gingerly on Hailey’s back. “Do you want me to wail for you?”
“No!” Was she kidding?
“Fine. I’ve got to go and get help, then.” Giselle’s voice dripped with worry.
“Okay,” Hailey bleated, trying not to think of dying alone.
“Before I go, guess what?”
“What Giselle?!”
“I still have my soul,” she smiled. “Cobon grabbed it—you know, if I leave you, you might die alone.” She was stalling. She actually was worried, and that worried Hailey.
“Giselle!” she huffed. “Go!”
“Alright,” she said. “Just don’t die, okay?”
“Okay,” Hailey breathed, and Giselle sprinted away.
Shortly after she left, Mrs. Spitz strolled over, paused in front of Hailey with her hands on her hips, and shook her head in disgust before she continued on her way, calling over her shoulder as she strode off, “The three of you will clean this up, Hail…” Her muffled voice faded, and darkness pushed Hailey’s eyes shut.
“You’re badly wounded, my dear.” Asher’s voice pierced her mind. But it wavered, and Hailey wasn’t sure it was real.
“Do you want me to heal you?”
Did he really have to ask? That was exactly what she wanted.
“Yes…heal…” she moaned painfully, her voice barely a whisper.
Her eyes half-open, she watched Asher touch the bookcase, which instantly turned to ash and crumbled with a puff into nothing. She didn’t feel any weight lift. She didn’t feel anything except the muffled darkness poised over her head, ready to drop like a guillotine.
Kneeling beside her, he placed his hands on her back.
“You’re close to death,” he told her in his velvety soft voice.
With one swift tug, he pulled her out from the pile of—she couldn’t remember how many books—and into his lap, cradling her gently against his chest.
“It’s time, Hailey.”
Time for what? Was he going to pull her soul out? Or… Her breath came in labored hitches. Oh, no…he’s letting me die…no, no, no, not yet. I have to see him…
“Fin…?” That’s all she could manage. His was the only face she wanted to see.
Asher stroked Hailey’s cheek and pressed his thumb against her lips.
“Shhh. Hush Hailey,” he murmured. “Don’t be afraid. You know what’s happening. You’ll live again. I cannot stop this.” As he gazed lovingly at her, a single, iridescent tear ran down his face. He drew a breath, and his expression hardened into one of focused determination.
He’s letting me die.
Comprehension hit her like the bookcase.
This man—no, this monster—his was the last face she’d ever see.
The last voice she’d ever hear. She didn’t want him touching her.
He’d taken from her the one person she always wanted when she was scared—forced him away—forced him to hurt her.
Asher was a monster. And she hated him—hated him for taking Fin, for watching her die when he had the power to save her…
Darkness crumbled around her.
Count to eight, she recalled Fin’s soothing voice, and she held her breath.
Then she looked up at the Envoy, his face etched with some mix of torment and resolve.
Despite her anger, she was grateful she wasn’t alone.
As monstrous as he was, he comforted her, and she let him.
She convulsed once and fought the permanent night that pushed through her mind. But she was so tired. So cold.
Still holding her breath, she turned her thoughts to Holly. Would she be waiting for her on the other side? Had she been this cold when she’d died? She fixed an image of her smiling sister into her mind’s eye and waited.
She shivered once more and stilled.
Asher rested his hand on her cheek, and kissed her gently.
“I’ll see you soon,” he whispered to her ear, his words echoing into a lifeless hush. And then, the light left her, the air left her—it was the long exhale.
Asher pushed his hand through her chest, poising it expectantly over her soul. Patiently he waited to catch it as she expired in his arms. She—his beautiful girl, lying motionless, helpless in his lap as his love for her mixed with rage.
She’d cried out for him—that wretched, defiant human. Even so, he would still rescue her, still heal her beautiful, broken body. And now that he’d removed his defiant challenger, he would court his love without Pádraig’s constant interference. And Hailey would finally be his—only his.
And Cobon…Cobon had harmed his girl, but he’d deal with him later. Right now, his focus was singular—protect Hailey.
He would shield her from death, rebind her soul.
She was looking up at him with the primal fear of impending death.
He knew that look. It wouldn’t be long. Cobon’s attack had left her at death’s door.
It might’ve been a blessing, really, sparing her the searing pain of a pulled soul.
Now, he need only wait a few moments longer, and her soul would free itself—shed its Earthly body, and when it did, Asher need only grasp it and rebind it.
She’d been holding her last breath, clinging to life, and he could see the desperate fear in her eyes fade into death’s infinite stare.
Her soul loosened itself, and he clutched its luminescence, gently pulling it away from her limp body, which lay like a rag doll in his lap.
With his free hand, he pulled the stone from his pocket and watched as it glowed and pulsated an ever more intense and bright purple.
He launched it a safe distance through the broken window and quickly returned her soul to its home, gathering the binding energies from the universe to fix it in place.
At the same time, he rebuilt her broken body, readied it for life, which lit her eyes in an Aethereal lilac.
As life returned and colored her cheeks, she drew a hitching breath, her eyes finding their focus on his.
“Welcome back,” he murmured, and she blinked—his girl.
His girl. Finally, he could have her, touch her, love her. The others would leave, and she would be his.
From outside grew a rumble, and Asher’s face hardened. The stone exploded, quaking the Earth and throwing bright rays of violet ripping through the window.
The vortex arrived next, and feeling its pull, Asher scrambled to escape its reach. This wasn’t right—it was too close—too powerful.
But how?
He had whipped the black rock a hundred miles across campus—more than a sufficient distance, yet it opened just outside the library, as if it had boomeranged back, or…
Someone betrayed him.
“Cobon!” he screeched, but his brother ignored him, and there was no time for revenge anyway. He was caught in the slow, unyielding pull—an iron filing to an electromagnet, powerless to escape the grasp of the Aether.
In desperation, he grabbed Hailey tight.
The Aether would incinerate her body, but he could keep her soul…hold her there with him forever. He couldn’t fathom letting her go—not now—not when he was so close to winning her heart.
This will hurt her. He pushed the thought away, and she cried out.
“Asher…?”
Her slight, barely conscious voice pleaded for reassurance as fear once again etched in her eyes…those big, bright, uncertain eyes. He gazed into those innocent eyes with a plea of his own—a regretful, aching want for forgiveness for what he was about to do.
“No!” he shouted against his selfishness. His eyes ignited into a firestorm as the Aether drew him in—he couldn’t bear to let her go. But to save her delicate, human body, he had to.
For the briefest moment he dared to hope. He hoped he might find her again, and he thought of the gem, dug out of the Earth—its awful power; its terrible allure. But there was no time. No time to encourage her. No time to warn her.
“I love you, Hailey,” he breathed.
As the vortex pulled them both outside, he grabbed her roughly by the head and pressed a deep, mournful kiss onto her exquisite mouth, pouring all of his hate, all of his love, all of his heartache and regret into her.
Scrambling against the increasingly powerful haul, he drew a great breath and with it, as much energy as he could muster.
And he shoved her away…far away…miles away…
away to safety, out of the Aether’s reach, and out of his arms—forever.