"Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good." - The Bible, Romans 12:9
Asher held the deadly quill. But what he saw in his hand was the end of his suffering on Earth; he saw a way back into the Aether; he saw his home.
As Hailey convulsed and struggled for breath on his observatory floor, he pulled from his pocket a shiny black stone. That such a small trinket could slice open the great barrier between realms seemed fantastic. He had but to hold onto it for another minute to find out if it would work. That’s all it would take for the poison to rob the Earth of his girl. And while she writhed in agony against the floor, no doubt silently pleading for his assistance, Asher hesitated to give it.
The Envoy yearned for his home almost as much as the man he had become yearned for Hailey’s affection.
Asher replaced the stone in his pocket and knelt down next to his love. The comfort inside the Aether tempted him still, but the temptress before him commanded his heart. Taking her into his arms, he placed his lips against her forehead and repaired her delicate body, compelling beads of poison to drop from her eyes like tears.
Gradually, her breath came in an easy rhythm, and her heart beat in a slow, effortless cadence. She slept in his arms, and in holding her there, Asher found his home.
Hailey’s college career was off to a fantastic start, she despaired as she woke up with a misty-eyed giggle.
At the world’s premier school of paranormal studies, she’d already managed to fall out of a Luftzeug, survive a vacuum-glazed in-between, experience a tunneling earworm, live with a roommate from Hell, lose her clothes to a mal-tempered poltergeist, step on a carnivorous splinter, rehabilitate a moaning bookworm, and be shot in the back by a poisonous quill.
And she was only two days into her freshman year.
Before she opened her eyes, a tear escaped, and as it coursed across her temple, she imagined her bedroom in Pittsburgh, with Holly sleeping peacefully in her bed near the window and Uncle Pix cooking up the breakfast bacon. She could almost smell it.
Wait. She did smell it.
Hailey opened her eyes and confronted a splitting headache. Letting out a curt moan, she snapped them shut again and pinched the bridge of her nose to keep her brains from leaking out.
“This will help,” said Asher, who sat next to her.
“If I open my eyes, the light is going to crack my head open.”
Asher tenderly kissed Hailey’s forehead and an electric tingle enveloped her face. It was like he’d hit a release valve on her cranium and let the pressure out of her skull.
“That’s much better,” she said when he moved away. “Where am I?” As her eyes adjusted to the light, she realized she was in a strange, but richly beautiful house. She sat on a large, plush couch under a vaulted ceiling, facing a grand stone fireplace.
Asher set a plate of fresh fruits, bacon, eggs, and toast on the ornately rough-cut coffee table in front of her.
“You’re in my home next to the observatory,” he explained with low volume, which Hailey greatly appreciated. “You’re weak from the poison, but food will help.”
With arms of lead, Hailey reached for the bacon and nibbled it slowly.
“I must leave you, but I’ll return soon,” Asher said getting up. He turned to go but turned to her again with pleading eyes. “You’re free to leave this place while I’m away, but I wish you wouldn’t. Stay and eat and rest. I’ll escort you back to your room when I return.”
“Where are you going?”
“To tend to the one who hurt you.”
“You know who did this?” she asked, and Asher dropped his eyes.
“I knew before the quill hit you,” he confessed.
Hailey dropped her bacon, waiting on the edge of the couch for his explanation. She only spoke when he moved to leave without giving one. “What? How? Why didn’t you stop it?”
Asher stood with his back to her. “The human soul is not naturally evil,” he explained. “When a man or a woman begins down a path of bad behavior, it causes a disruption in their energy. It’s a lot like discord in music or clashing colors. An Envoy can hear and see it right away if one cares to. I’m always listening to my campus for such evil.” He faced Hailey as he continued. “Joanne had been plotting this for days, and she encourages others with this malevolence.”
“Joanne?” she said skeptically.
“Do you know her?”
“No, not really. I was sitting with Fin when she slapped him…”
Asher studied Hailey for a moment. “I’ve delayed confronting her to see you wake, but I must go now. She will tell me her motivation before I destroy her.”
