CHAPTER ONE #2
“There’s nothing for me here. I wish there was, but there isn’t.
” Ash seems to want to say something, but I continue before he has a chance, “I appreciate everything that you and Sloane have done for me. I really do. But you know as well as I do that if I wasn’t your brother, there is no way in hell you would want me to run The Black Door. ”
Shaking his head, I watch as a slow grin creeps across Ash’s face. “Maybe that’s true. But you are my brother, and we’ve already lost so much time. You belong here. It might not seem like it right now because you haven’t given it a chance. You haven’t given your family a chance.”
Family. The word hits me like a punch to the chest. As Elite Archangels, we are taken from our families before the age of three to start our training.
Ash and I were lucky to have each other.
Our family became the other warriors we trained with.
Men I have stood shoulder to shoulder with in battle, eager to give my life for theirs.
But that was so long ago, it might as well have been someone else’s life.
“It doesn’t have to be forever. I can still come back and forth,” I reply, and I instantly regret it by the look on his face.
Even if we weren’t twins, I would know exactly what he was thinking.
So, before he can argue the point, I continue, “There isn’t any reason for the gate to close.
I’ve gone back and forth hundreds of times. ”
“And can you honestly say that one of those times isn’t going to be your last?”
“Would that be such a bad thing?” I hold up my hand before he can answer.
“Think about it before you answer because you have so much more to consider besides just yourself. And maybe if it were just you, I would reconsider. But I have so much love for Sloane and your daughter that if anything happened to them because of me, I would never forgive myself.”
Ash lets out a loud, audible sigh as he processes what I’ve just said. “And if Pestilence follows you, who will have your back there?”
Leaning against the bar top, I give my brother a genuine smile.
“I don’t think she can. From what I’ve learned over the last few years, the split in reality happened the day Gabriel destroyed mankind, and Themis damned him and Pestilence to this one.
There is no evidence that Gabe ever fell or that any of you have.
Of course, that’s just a theory that Michael and I have been toying with,” I add.
Ash lets out a long whistle. “That is some far-fetched conspiracy theory shit you got going on.”
“I can feel it Ash. She’s been too quiet for too long, biding her time, waiting for the right moment.
Whatever her plan is, she needs me to make it happen, and I have no intention of standing by her side.
I’ve got some loose ends to tie up here,” I add as a vision of Kennedy once again enters my mind and begins to cloud my judgment.
She is the only woman that I would change the world for, in this reality or any other.
But the thought that Pestilence could and would use her to get to me only makes my decision to leave that much easier.
“How will we know you’re okay? You know Sloane isn’t just going to let you waltz off into the sunset.”
“I won’t let you go where?” A distinctly feminine voice echoes through the bar as Sloane walks in carrying my niece in her arms.
For a woman that claims to be nothing more than human, she has the most uncanny ability of intuition that I have ever seen. I pity her children when they start to get old enough and think that they can pull one over on their mother.
“Where are you going,” she repeats with a smile. Ash chuckles as he watches me squirm under her gaze.
Clearing my throat, I hold out my arms, hoping that she’ll hand me the sleeping Emma. Instead, she hands the baby to Ash, who cradles his sleeping daughter in the crook of his arm.
“Go ahead, tell her what you just told me,” Ash whispers so as not to wake up his sleeping daughter.
For the next few minutes, I have no option but to repeat everything I already told Ash. Yet somehow, speaking to Sloane, I feel much less confident in my decision.
“Hmmm,” is her only reaction as she looks back and forth between her husband and me. “First of all, I want you to know that I think you are absolutely right in your decision to leave.”
Her words shock me. I didn’t expect Sloane to be the one that would agree that I should leave. But then again, she is a mother who will protect her child above all else. Before I can say anything, she holds up her hand.
“I’m not done. I need you to know that I don’t want you to go, but I understand your reasoning.
I’ve also learned that when it comes to the two of you, you’re like two peas in a pod, too stubborn to get out of your own damn way.
The two of you will do what you need to do to protect your family.
But make no mistake, Reaver, you are part of this family, and we will do what we must to protect you in turn.
Even if that means having to let you leave… temporarily.”
I watch as Ash’s mouth hangs open in shock at his wife’s agreement with my plan. I have to say I am also in shock, but happy that at least one of them can see my reasoning.
“When do you think you’re going to go?” Sloane inquires just as her daughter begins to fuss in her father’s arms. Reaching over the bar, I pluck the infant from Asher, and she instantly snuggles into me and falls back asleep.
“Well, I am going to miss how you can calm her,” Ash says with a smile. “You have a gift.”
“It will take me about a week or so to settle everything here. I won’t leave without letting you know.”