When he met Ella’s gaze, she beamed at him, her radiant smile lighting up the whole room. “You care a great deal for her, don’t you?”
“Of course. She’s my best friend.” When he used to say that, romantic feelings were attached, but now, not so much. He didn’t need her in his life because he loved her, not anymore. He would do anything for her and wished every happiness on her, but he’d meant his words. Jasmine was his best friend and only his best friend. It took him a long time to realize that. Now that he had, a weight fell from his shoulders.
Gazardiel came in next. “I told everyone to stay out of the way, so they are either upstairs or outside. Beau, I want to thank you for going after Amon and Jasmine. And Charmeine. Where is she?”
As Beau opened his mouth to tell him she flew off, Charmeine barreled through the door, a big smile plastered on her face. “The party’s here. Calm down, grump-ass.”
“I didn’t think you’d make it back in time.” Beau smirked. “Since you lost your ever-so-important control.”
Charmeine slapped him a little too hard on his back. “Well. That’s kind of what happens when another angel makes me go against everything I believe in to follow his juvie angel butt down to Earth and make sure he doesn’t die.”
“Touché.” Beau turned to the others. “Okay, we’re all here now, yes? Can we get this started?”
Gazardiel nodded. “First, reach inside and blast her with your angel sleep power again. Make sure she stays out for this. It will hurt if she wakes up, and I don’t want to cause her pain. She’s already been through enough of that.”
Beau agreed and did as he was asked. He rammed a blast of his angel power into Jasmine, ensuring she wouldn’t open her eyes. “Okay, done.”
“Stand in a straight line in front of her.” Gazardiel pushed the coffee table behind them to ensure they had enough room as they moved in front of Jasmine. “And join hands.”
Beau grabbed Charmeine’s hand and Gazardiel’s, and he took Ella’s hand so they were all one power, one unit.
Angel powers worked in mysterious ways. A thrill shot through him as his own power mingled with the other angels’, something he hadn’t expected. But he should have. The Angel Blessed could join powers. He’d never seen it, only heard of it happening. It would stand to reason if their powers could combine, real angels’ powers could do the same, and more.
Gazardiel, after several moments of choked silence, dropped his hands away. “This won’t work. New plan. Beau and I will hold Jasmine still. Charmeine and Ella, are you okay healing her on your own?”
Charmeine raised her eyebrows. “What do you think, Grumpmaster G? Of course we can do it. We are the pure-blooded healers, after all.”
Beau scrunched his forehead. “What? I thought I could help.”
Gazardiel shook his head. “Neither of us can help, not the way they can. I thought giving them our strength would ensure they didn’t fail, but we will only get in their way. As angels, our powers can mold whichever way we choose. I wanted offensive powers, so I’m not very good at healing. Have you made your choice, yet?”
Beau’s eyes widened. “Huh?”
Charmeine let go of his hand, his other already freed when Gazardiel had moved from the group. “Thanks, G. We haven’t really gotten to that portion of our training yet…”
No, they hadn’t. Beau hadn’t a clue what any of them were going on about, but it didn’t matter. Right now, they had a job to do. This conversation could wait until after.
Beau kneeled beside Jasmine and put his hand over hers.
“Just make sure she stays asleep. If she doesn’t, at least keep her calm. You know how to do that, right?” Charmeine asked.
Beau nodded.
Ella bridged the gap between Charmeine, linking hands and facing each other. After a moment, Ella grinned. “It’s been a long time since we’ve done this.
“It has,” Charmeine agreed.
“Why did we ever stop?” Beau could hear the sadness in Ella’s voice.
The corner of Charmeine’s mouth tilted toward the floor. “You know why. You had a secret. Everyone wanted to know what it was and I never wanted to find out. I wouldn’t betray you like that.”
Ella hugged her.
A tear slid down Charmeine’s cheek. “Sister. It has been so long.”
Wait. What? Did she say sister? Beau ran a hand through his hair. “You guys are sisters?”
Charmeine smiled and nodded at the same time as Ella. “We are.”
“But you look nothing alike.”
Gazardiel touched his shoulder. “Looks are deceiving, Beau. Look at yourself. Would anyone see you and think you are an angel?”
When Beau looked up at the angel who stood behind the couch in front of the big bay window, Gazardiel winked at him, making Beau realize he’d been joking. Good thing, because the gloves were about to come off.
Beau sat and placed Jasmine’s head in his lap. He figured he could keep her asleep and comfortable from here since he could easily touch her.
Ella and Charmeine faced the couch, keeping one of each of their hands locked together. Both counted to three. A golden hue shone from Ella’s outstretched hand and Charmeine followed suit, her hand glowing the same color. From their eyes Beau could see four golden suns beaming toward him.
From each of their outstretched hands, a yellow stream shot into Jasmine. Her body convulsed with the angelic power as it covered her from head to toe. Her eyes stayed closed, but Beau didn’t know how, so he shot a bit of his own power into her, just to make sure.
A coating covered Jasmine’s whole body, like a dusting from a dandelion or fluffy pollen in the summer. Her body continued to shake as she raised an inch or two from the couch.
Charmeine and Ella both had wide eyes and sweat lining their concentrated brows, but they kept going, determination plain to see on each of their faces. They wouldn’t stop until they’d finished the healing or they fell over from exhaustion, whichever came first.
Hopefully, it wouldn’t take that long.
Beau’s arms trembled as he held on to Jasmine, ensuring she didn’t raise up even more. He could make sure she didn’t fall into a table or crash into the ceiling, but if she got away from him…nope. This was a test of strength, one he planned on winning despite his biceps shaking from the force of the angels’ powers.
Jasmine dropped back onto the couch as Ella and Charmeine collapsed in a heap on the floor, their arms around each other the only thing keeping them upright. Beau’s arms felt like jelly sloshing around inside a jar, but he didn’t look nearly as bad as the angels…at least, he didn’t think he did. He didn’t exactly have a mirror handy.
Beau turned to Gazardiel. “Will they be okay?”
He nodded. “They will. They have just worn themselves out. Using our power like this will do that to an angel.”
“What about Jasmine? Will she wake up?”
Gazardiel nodded again. “She will. In time. For now, it’s best to let her rest and recoup. We will find out if the healing worked when she wakes. I will stay with her if you’d like to get some rest.”
Nothing sounded better, so Beau crawled out from under her and retreated up the steps, into his old room. He barely fell onto the bed before his eyes closed.
Chapter 24
Back to Normal, or Something Like It
Jasmine
Jasmine opened her eyes slowly. Sunlight streamed into her face and she snapped them closed again, blinked a few times to adjust to the brightness, and focused. She’d been laid out on the couch at Beau’s. How’d I get here?
“Jasmine.” Ella touched her daughter’s hand. “How do you feel?”
Jasmine sat up, stretched her arms up over her head, and yawned. How did she feel? Her muscles were sore, like she’d just run at least two miles with someone shouting at her to go faster the whole time, but other than that she felt okay.
She shrugged. “I guess I feel fine.”
“And what do you remember?” Gazardiel a
sked from behind her, making her jump. Jasmine hadn’t realized anyone else was there. She wouldn’t have thought there’d be enough space for anyone to slide in behind the couch, let alone a buff angel like Gazardiel. Somehow, he made it look comfortable.
Jasmine had to think about the question. The last thing she really remembered was being at Bael’s, on the floor, as he came in the room. She remembered him making her ingest a small amount of his blood too. Everything after that came in flashes, blurry and not fully focused. Nothing seemed like an actual memory, more like a dream, a nightmare maybe.
She explained what she remembered to Gazardiel and Ella, and afterward they looked at each other like they were having an unspoken conversation.
“What?” Jasmine’s shrill voice bounced into her own ears.
Ella met her eyes. “Jasmine, I don’t want to have to tell you this, but you’ve been controlled by Bael for three days.”
“What?” Jasmine’s jaw dropped. No way. They have to be lying. There’s no way I would forget being under Bael’s control.
Gazardiel walked around the couch and sat on the coffee table, facing her. “It’s true. Bael crawled into your mind, turned you evil, forcing you to act normal to infiltrate us. We saw through your guise, but you fooled us again and we let you go and…”
Jasmine waited. When it became clear Gazardiel wouldn’t answer, she sighed. “And what?”
“And you almost killed Amon.”
Jasmine pulled her legs up, wrapping her arms around them, and rocked back and forth. “No. I didn’t. I couldn’t have.”
Jasmine would never hurt Amon. He’d become so much more to her than just a friend and she knew, deep down, even if she’d been turned evil, she wouldn’t hurt him. Would she? How out of control had she been? And where was Amon? She looked around the room, but couldn’t find him anywhere.
Charmeine strolled into the room with Beau following behind her. “You did try to kill him. Were pretty close, actually. But this one,” Charmeine pointed to Beau, “stopped you.”
“Did you?”
Beau nodded once, pressing his lips together. Jasmine’s heart lightened, sure he didn’t want to say anything to hurt her, knowing her well enough to know how much something like this would do just that.
Jasmine stood, but found it difficult to take steps. Her whole body ached with each one, but she kept going. “I have to go find Amon.”
“He’s upstairs,” Gazardiel said.
The angels didn’t follow her and she didn’t run into any of the Angel Blessed either, a bit odd since the house had become so full as of late. Maybe they wanted nothing to do with her after she’d become evil. Maybe they never would again.
Jasmine had no clue which room Amon was in, so she opened door after door until she found him. He was sprawled out on a bed with a black blanket, making him look heavenly even if he didn’t believe it himself. He would never be evil. Never succumb to it, not like she had. She’d proven just how weak she really was. This war didn’t have room for weakness.
If she didn’t know any better, she’d have thought Amon to be asleep. But he didn’t sleep. Never needed to, something they’d talked about once or twice before. She didn’t let the fact that he played dead stop her, instead traipsing into the room and sitting on the edge of the bed. Not close, but not far away either.
“I’d really like to be left alone.” He didn’t open his eyes as he spoke, but Jasmine saw how swollen his face was. His skin had reddened splotches all over it, especially on his arms and the part of his neck Jasmine could see underneath his white shirt. The worst part…she’d done this to him. She’d broken him. Her heart shriveled in her chest. How would she ever come back from this?
A tear slid down her cheek, dropping right onto his arm, but he still didn’t open his eyes. Not until she ran her fingers over the wetness, wiping it away.
His eyes widened when he saw her, but he didn’t smile like he used to. “Jasmine. I didn’t know it was you.” He sat up, touching her hand. “Are you okay?”
She looked away, unable to meet his eyes, and pulled her hand out from under him, stuffing it under her leg. “How can you ask if I’m okay? Look what I did to you!”
Amon hugged her, causing her to gasp, but she didn’t know if it came from the pain or the shame. “You are you again. They healed you.” She could hear the smile in his voice but didn’t understand how he could be happy to see her.
Jasmine pulled away and stood up, just out of his reach. “You can’t be happy to see me. They told me what I…what I did. To you. You must hate me.”
Amon stood, wincing as he took the few steps toward her. “Jasmine, I could never hate you.” He stopped just in front of her and ran his hands down the side of her arms. “I am sorry I failed you.”
Jasmine sighed, then got angry. “No. You do not apologize to me! I am the one who almost killed you, Amon.” She reached out to touch him, then yanked her hand back. She wouldn’t allow herself to touch him. Not yet, maybe not ever.
Amon wasn’t having it though. He grabbed her hands and placed them gently on his shoulders, making her look up into his eyes. He held his hands over hers to stop her from pulling away. “I thought I wouldn’t trust you. I thought it would be awkward between us, but I’ve been thinking about everything. Jasmine, it wasn’t you back there. Bael had you under his control. I’m still not sure how, but now you’re back. Don’t let the demon get in the way. Not again. Use this experience. Let it light your flame, but don’t let it tear you down. You’re stronger than that.”
Jasmine looked at the ground. “I’m not strong. I let him in my mind, Amon. I couldn’t fight him off. I let him control me, make me see what he wanted me to. It’s all coming back to me.”
Jasmine shook her head as visions came into her mind. Bael making her drink his blood. Her liking it. Bael in her mind, speaking through her and forcing the others to believe she was normal. Every memory from her time as an evil pawn rushed through her, almost toppling her over. If only she could have remained in the dark where the memories couldn’t find her. Now, her stomach hurt. She couldn’t breathe. It had been worse than she’d thought, than anyone had made it sound. The things she’d done disgusted her.
Jasmine tried to fall to the ground, but Amon grabbed her around the waist and held her up. “Look at me, Jasmine.”
She didn’t, couldn’t.
Amon tipped her chin up. He said no words as he brought his lips down to hers. He kissed her with no passion. No intensity at all. But more than those things, it told her something meaningful. He loved her and he’d shoved that into his kiss. Tingles traced down her arms and up the back of her neck.
When he pulled back, he smiled at her, and she couldn’t help but smile back, even if it was harder than normal. Amon loved her. She knew that now. And she loved him. No matter what tried to come between them, it didn’t matter, because they would always find each other through the hard and trying times.
She met Amon’s gaze and gasped. “Amon. Your eyes.”
At the same time Amon said, “Your eyes.”
They both stepped to the mirror on the wall by the door. Jasmine looked into it and immediately widened her eyes. “Oh my God.”
“You can say that again.” Amon reached up and touched his eyelid. “What is going on?”
At that moment, Gazardiel came through the door. “It’s about time.”
“Huh?” Jasmine asked, completely bewildered.
“Your destiny was never yours alone. You two were in it together, linked by more than just fate.”
Jasmine rolled her eyes, then snorted. “Are you saying we are like soulmates or something?”
Gazardiel smiled. “Or something. You’ll have to figure out all the semantics. But know this, since your eyes both glowed the same golden color, it means you are now linked together in more ways than you know. You can share powers with each other, borrow each other’s strength if needed. Whatever one has can be shared by the other. And the best part is n
either of you can be influenced by evil any longer.”
“Well, isn’t that just fan-fricking-tastic?”
Amon glared at her with his golden yellow eyes.
“Or, isn’t that just amazing?”
He nodded. “Much better.”
“You know, I still don’t think it’s right you think I need to change who I am.” Jasmine frowned. “I mean, have I asked you to change anything about yourself?”
Amon tapped his chin, looking toward the ceiling. A few minutes went by in utter silence before he spoke. “You’re right. Be yourself. Don’t let me change who you are. If you want to utter those annoying words, then do so and I will be happy you did.”
Jasmine nodded. It was so easy to get her way with Amon. The events of the past meant nothing now. They were linked together in ways others would never experience, and Jasmine couldn’t wait to test their limits.
Jasmine laughed. “You know what this means, right? We get to do some training.”
Gazardiel chuckled and walked out the door. “That is a great idea. And perhaps you should start now. Follow me.”
Jasmine didn’t hesitate, but she could swear she heard Amon groan behind her as he followed. She didn’t know what his problem was, but she couldn’t stop grinning, even though every part of her body ached. Surely Amon’s did too. Maybe they should find Gemma before they did anything stupid.
***
Outside, when Jasmine joined hands with Amon, she didn’t feel any different. At all. She wasn’t sure how they were supposedly linked when it didn’t feel like she could push her power through him or lend him her strength. It just felt like she held his hand. Nothing more, nothing less. Well, with a little heat mixed in, but that always happened.
Gazardiel raised his arms, gesturing grandly through the air. “Both of your eyes glow when you link hands. I told you already what that means. Now, Jasmine, since you are half-demon and half-angel—”
She cut him off. “By the way, you think we can shorten that just a little? Trying to tell someone what I am becomes long-winded with all of those words. Isn’t there a word people like me are called?”