“— Are we really at risk of taking separate paths?” Charlie blurted. He voiced aloud what I’d been thinking, and the anxiety that we both shared.
Hemlock gave us a kind smile. “Neither of you should be worried. I wouldn’t have married you if I thought your relationship was doomed to failure. I believe that you two have a divine path to take together that was set by yourselves and the gods. What that is, I can’t be sure, but your union is a crucial part of that. I married you on the pretense that I was doing what was best for both of you, and for the world.”
“Thank you. That’s good to hear,” Charlie said.
I nearly let out a sigh of relief. Charlie and I had been through so much already. I couldn’t imagine being separated from him after enduring our breakup. Another would be unimaginable.
I could tell Charlie was still thinking about what we’d learned when we left class later. It was a nice day, so we went to the prison yard to sit on the benches and enjoy the sunlight— which was rare on Darke Island. The yard was pretty deserted, considering vampire inmates could only come outside when there was thick cloud cover overhead.
“What Hemlock said about spiritual contracts is compelling. It’s gotta be real,” Charlie stated. “What do you think we signed up for?”
“Whatever we decided to do together, I want to see it through,” I said, and I squeezed his hand. “Though I’d love to get some real answers on this whole twin flame thing.”
“So what do you think it is in the case of our soul? Did it split when I was born, or were we already separated at the beginning of time?” Charlie asked.
“Why don’t we ask Oberi?” I turned toward the dog.
Oberi huffed.I’m not too sure about that. I believe that would be before my time.
“Why not? Don’t you have any idea what our divine path is, or what we’re supposed to do?” I asked.
Not particularly. The answers should be in your prophecies,Oberi replied.
“You’re super old, Oberi, and you came from the spiritual realm. At the very least, you must’ve been there when Charlie and I decided what our path would be before we were born,” I argued.
Of course I was there, but it’s not like I remember. That was years ago,he complained.
“Twenty or so years compared to the thousands you’ve been alive!” I shouted. “You can’t say you have no idea.”
Listen, Ava, there’s a reason our memories are wiped clean when our souls incarnate on earth. I recall some things, but not all, Oberi argued.When I left the spiritual realm to find Charlie, and find you, my understanding of the universe changed. I can no longer wrap my mind around things my spirit can. The answers are on the tip of my tongue, and yet, I can’t explain them. I feel awful I can’t help, but at the same time, my mortal brain doesn’t comprehend the big picture. I can’t give you the answers.
“Why the hell not!” I threw my hands up.
Because the whole objective in this life is for your soul to grow and learn, and how do you learn anything when you have a cheat code? He shook his whole body, and his hat went flying off.Oh no! My hat! Avaaaaa!
I fixed the pirate hat and sighed. “Guess we’re not getting any answers out of him.”
“We should do what we can to keep studying twin flames,” Charlie said. “I bet what Hemlock knew was only the beginning of what we can learn.”
“I doubt we’d find that kind of information lying around the Institute.”
“Well, what about your intuition? You’ve been working on it all semester. Let’s start there.”
That was a good idea. I made a mental note to meditate on it as soon as I had time.
We had to split up for our next class, so we didn’t meet up again until it was time for lunch. I plopped on Charlie’s lap immediately when I got to the cafeteria and saw he already had a plate made up for us. “Ooh, tamales.”
“I know they’re one of your favorites.” Charlie nuzzled my nose, then kissed me. I heard an audible groan several spaces down as his lips pressed against mine.
“You guys are gross,” Ez complained. “I don’t want to watch my sister make out.”
Didn’t care. I hadn’t gotten to kiss Charlie in months. I was making up for lost time.
“Hey, you two! I don’t care if you’re married. I’ve given you enough warnings about PDA,” a guard snapped as he passed. “One more, and it’s an infraction!”
I rolled my eyes and slid off Charlie’s lap. These rules were really killing me.
Kallie had a new addition to her Halloween costume. It was a black leather collar with a metal loop hanging in the middle, a blue gem dangling from it.
