What if this was the last time I ever got to hang with all of them? What if one or more of us died tomorrow?
I wanted to lock them all in a cage to protect them, but we were in this together. The second Cael and Aurum had charged me with my mission, my friends had had my back. Unfortunately, this whole situation was bigger than us. If Apollyon were to consume Harley’s and my soul, then he would be free to roam Earth and take it over. I just couldn’t let that happen.
My eyes were just rolling shut when the cafeteria door swung open. My heart jumped, then relaxed when my mother walked through the open doors. She didn’t have any wings, but white swirling angel marks danced across her neck and face and she was grinning ear to ear.
“Hey, kiddo,” she whispered, seeing everyone asleep.
I stood and crossed the room, emotion clogging my throat as I pulled her into a hug.
“You’re a Lumen,” I croaked.
She nodded, her chin digging into my shoulder as we held each other tightly.
“Gran is pulling an all-nighter and baking up a storm. I’ve never seen her so happy,” she said.
I chuckled, pulling back. I expected to see joy on her face, but instead I saw worry.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
She grasped my hands in both of hers. “Aurelia told me your plan. I want you to know something about Apollyon that I learned in my nearly two decades of marriage to him.”
I steeled myself.
“He’s a short tempered and prideful man. He’s powerful yes, but if you can play off of his emotions, you can get him to make a mistake.”
I nodded. It was good advice if I needed to distract him.
“I’ll be okay, Mom. I promise,” I lied.
Her bottom lip quivered, but she bit it to hide her emotions. She knew it was a lie too. That wasn’t something I could promise. But we both pretended it was true.
“I love you, Tatum. You turned out to be a more special woman than I ever expected.”
“I love you too, Mom.” I gave her another hug, and when I went to pull back, she held on for an extra moment.
“All right, I think we both need rest. Aurelia will be waking us all up soon,” she said when she finally let me go.
I didn’t want to say goodbye, so instead I wished her goodnight and she left through the doors she’d come through.
If that was to be my last memory of her, with Lumen angel marks and a somewhat sad smile, then I was happy with that.
I spun to go and take my seat next to a sleeping Gage when I saw Skye standing against the back window of the cafeteria, looking out at the street below. She must have been giving me privacy to talk to my mom, something Skye rarely did.
“I’m surprised you didn’t try to scare me,” I said as I stepped up next to her.
She stood there motionless as she watched the cabs driving by below, probably with highly intoxicated passengers. She didn’t say anything.
“Skye?”
When she turned to look at me, I saw the tears running down her cheeks and I knew it was bad.
My chest heaved as I looked out at my sleeping friends. “Is one of them going to die?”
She shook her head, pursing her lips together as more tears fell.
“Harley? Dash?” I asked, panicked.
“No,” she croaked.
