“Sisters,” Gage chuckled from beside me, and that made me smile.
Harley and I were getting closer with each other and bickering was comfortable. I took that as a good sign.
Harley stalked forward and then stood before Aurum. Reaching out, she stroked his wing and then let out a contented sigh.
“Headache gone?” I asked.
She nodded and then looked at Aurum in a different light. “Thanks, man.”
He dipped his head to her. “You’re welcome. Now tell me how you broke through the concealment spell around Tartarus.”
Harley pulled out her talisman. “By blasting it with its opposite. An exposure spell.”
Aurum looked pleased. “Smart. Do you think you could take down the entire thing when the time comes?”
There was a flicker of fear in Harley’s eyes. She glanced over at the hole in the net that she’d made and shrugged. The entire black lacy spell spanned miles and miles. From the sea, it shot up to the sky and covered the land like a dome. It was a big ask.
“Maybe together we could.” I stepped closer and Gage took this as his cue to go and join the others.
“Maybe,” Aurum answered, sitting on his hind legs. “I’ll be right back. I have a theory that I need to test out.”
“Great, test subjects,” Harley growled, and I lightly smacked her arm.
She stuck her tongue out at me and I grinned. I could really get used to this sister thing.
Aurum passed the group, who were excitedly chatting and laughing with Skye, and then disappeared over to a grassy hill.
We waited anxiously until he popped back over the hill and nodded us over.
Harley and I passed the group and walked over the small hill. I expected to see a practice arena of some sort, but instead there was a ghost standing there. Her spirit was transparent and covered in holes like the ones I met in the Netherworld.
“Er. Hey.” I waved at her.
“Tatum, this is Genevieve. I’ve just brought her here from the Netherworld so you can train with her.”
Whoa.
I looked at him in awe. “You can do that?”
He sighed, and for the first time he looked tired. “It took all of my strength but yes, I was able to get just one soul free.”
Oh.
If it took all of Aurum’s strength to free one soul, what would it do to mine to free billions?
Genevieve wrung her hands together nervously and I found it fascinating that she didn’t automatically get healed just by being here. This was, after all, her home.
“Hi.” I waved at her again, feeling stupid and unsure how I could train with her.
Aurum padded over to me and Harley and looked from us to the soul. “As you can see, she has deficiencies in her soul, parts of her that were consumed by Apollyon. Part of your mission in freeing the souls is also to heal them.”
I was going to have to free all of those soulsandheal them? A sinking feeling settled in my gut. I mean, I’d touched those souls before and healed them easily, but I wasn’t sure I could do it forbillions.
Aurum must have picked up on my thinking because he shook his head. “I think it will happen all at once. As your power goes through them to free them, they will be healed and then transported to Tartarus, where they can live in peace.”
I gulped and nodded.
Aurum then looked at Harley. “I’m curious, Harley, if you too have the power to heal. I suspect not, as it’s usually an Avalon power and very rarely found in demons.”
