“It all makes sense now…” Nial scratches the scruff on his chin and then gazes at Kai. “When we were recently notified of your question about how living beings can see Guardians at times, we were confused by your need to understand this theory. In reality, you asked because the boy could see you.”
Kai nods slowly, crossing his arms. “Yep. I submitted my question in the drop box earnestly, hoping one of you’d be able toshed some light.” He wiggles his brows, and Annalise surprisingly suppresses a small laugh, covering her mouth.
Heavens, how old are these Archangels? Why are they so enamored by him? For once, I agree with Nial’s discernment.
The Archangels all gaze at one another for a moment.
“Cleo, why didn’t you tell anyone?” Matt whispers as he nudges me, boring his gaze into mine.
“I didn’t believe his ability to communicate with Jasper hindered his mission,” I share nonchalantly, just loud enough so the Archangels could hear me. “I think their shared connection ultimately sped up Iris’s recovery.”
Matt nods in understanding, letting out a sigh. Finally, Luke breaks the silence. “Considering you didn’t necessarily break any Guardian rules by developing this relationship with your living being’s soulmate, you’ve been cleared. You may proceed with your story. You’ve caught our attention.”
Kai nods at them in thanks and continues, oozing with confidence, when I finally connect the dots and understand his plan.No way.
By taking a risk and confessing a risky truth like that, he gained their trust and respect. I’ve seen enough of these trials to know this one is almost over. They likely won’t have any other questions, and then they will award him his wings and send him on his merry way to the realm above. In the meantime, I’ll get to continue working as a Watcher, maintaining an entirely calm existence.
This mightactuallywork. He isn’t as thoughtless as I suspected.
Just as I begin to embrace the calm, an intrusive thought creeps up in the back of my mind: He could still do it—share our little secret and ruin everything. Accepting the amount of power he has over the trajectory of my afterlife makes me dizzy.
“…and they lived happily ever after. The end.” Kai flashes a crooked smile at them, and again, Jessenia claps. Being younger than the other Archangels, she holds a certain youthfulness about her that they don’t have. Odd, considering she’s still hundreds of years older than me.
None of that matters at the moment, though, because he got through his story and didn’t expose us.
I’m free from this nightmare at last. We both are. Relaxing my shoulders, I stifle a shy smile of relief.
Suddenly, the grand doors burst open, revealing someone I would’ve never expected to see.
“Stephen, what an unexpected delight,” Annalise calls out to him. Stephen has a frantic look in his eyes as the angels guarding the door hold him back. The look in his eyes is one I haven’t ever seen. “Guards, you may release him. Is everything quite alright? The realm isn’t falling through the sky in rapid succession as we speak, is it?”
Luke and Nial chuckle, and then Stephen looks directly at me gravely. My face pales. Something is wrong. Something is very, very wrong.
“I do apologize for my interruption, but I’m here to deliver information of the utmost importance,” he says, out of breath, locking eyes with me. “I know about a Guardian breaking the most divine law.”
Some of the Archangels gasp as they rise from their thrones. The sudden commotion is so loud that I can barely register anything happening around me.
Kai remains cool, unfazed by the outburst. I, on the other hand, have stopped breathing.
“That is a grave accusation to make. Which Guardian was it? Where are they now?” Luke presses for more information. Stephen moves his gaze from me to our main subject. Luke’s eyes widen in realization as Annalise begins shaking her head in denial. Nial presses his lips into a firm line, his jaw clenching. Jessenia sits down, looking paler than she did only mere seconds ago. I can’t breathe.
“The culprit is standing in this room,” Stephen drawls, approaching Kai to stand eye-to-eye with him. He looks above Kai’s shoulders to meet my gaze again before hissing, “But you already knew that. Didn’t you, Cleo?”
Six
Kai
Damn, are the Oscars a thing in the Middle Realm? I need to know immediately because this guy just put on the performance of a lifetime. His ragged breathing, his crazy eyes, and thathiss? Get out of town. Watch out, Middle Realm, someone has a flair for the drama.
My eyes drift over to Cleo. Her lips are pressed into a flat line as she stares him down with a serious expression. I can also see a sense of something else in her gaze, something deeper I can’t place.
While standing, she maintains a perfect posture, showing no ounce of fear, but I catch her knee twitching. I act without thinking, running to her side just in time to catch her as her knees give out. I scoop her into my arms and kneel, analyzing her features. As a coach in my previous life and a pitcher before that, I learned what to watch out for on the field—pale skin, imbalanced steps, knee twitches, and more. I’ll admit, I find it odd that herknees gave out, considering our bodies don’t work the way they used to. Perhaps I still have more to learn about the afterlife.
As I hold her in my arms, I take note of the stiffness of her limbs—even her feathered wings feel strained.
How much tension has she been holding in? I didn’t know bodies could be this tense in the afterlife.
“I’m fine,” Cleo says, her eyes darting off to take a look at our audience. For the first time since our archives adventure, I’m close enough to see golden flecks dancing in her eyes again, even as she avoids my eyes. “I just stumbled.”
