Page 155 of In Between Death and the Devil

“Well, it has to be.” I wouldn’t leave him with false hope. I wouldn’t lie.

His lips curled into a snarl and for a moment I thought he’d yell at me, but then his expression fell. He leaned forward, touching his forehead against mine. “I love you.”

His admission set off a fluttering in my chest, and a tear slipped down my cheek. “I love you, too.” The admission was easy. Faced with success or annihilation, the idea of never saying those words to him was unacceptable.

His mouth crashed down on mine, and we lost ourselves in each other for a long moment. I savored the taste of him, the feel of his lips and tongue against mine, the way he held me in a grip both possessive and gentle. Those four perfectly harmonized notes hummed to life, our Death Chord alive between us.

Our kisses slowed but we stayed close, letting our breaths mingle. I counted to three before pulling away, knowing if I didn’t I never would.

Hauling the strap over my head, I removed the Orb and handed the bag to Fen. I gave him one last look, then turned and walked to the altar.

The Guardian said I needed to use the Orb to create a new pomegranate tree, as if it were a seed. Choosing a place twenty feet away, I drew on my light to create a large hole to plant it in.

As I bent down, the Orb lit up in my hands, and I felt an urgent nudge at my consciousness. The touch was familiar yet foreign. Frowning at the sphere in my hand, I straightened. Was it coming from there?

Another nudge, this one with an affirmative tinge, made my eyes widen. Could it understand me?

I felt a flicker of amusement.

“You don’t want to be planted?” I thought directly at the Orb.

A definitive negative was pushed in my direction, followed by an image that made my eyebrows rise.

“I’m supposed to create a new tree. How⁠—”

The image in my mind shifted, showing me more. I stared at the glowing sphere in my hands. After months in the In Between, I didn’t know why a sentient object surprised me.

It wasn’t in my nature to blindly trust anything, but this felt different. The Orb’s instructions felt like they had emerged from deep inside me, from a place I wasn’t consciously aware of. Like it was something I already knew. It was somehow both unsettling and comforting at the same time, a knowing impossible to deny, yet I hesitated.

Fear of getting it wrong, and a voice whispering that I couldn’t trust myself, assaulted me. That, at least, was familiar. Except I was tired of it. For once, the answer was clear. All I had to do was act on it.

I took a calming breath, nudging the voice and feelings aside. The Orb lit up, as if in support. Then, I summoned my power.

A glittering ribbon spilled from my hands, lifting the glowing sphere until it hovered in front of me. The contact sent a wave of warmth through me. It felt like coming home to myself, its pulse as familiar as my own. I let myself linger, soaking in the connection.

Then, I sent a sharp bolt into the heart of the Orb, shattering it. Thousands of pieces hung in the air for a moment, before swirling into a vortex that stretched and grew until it was easily twice my height. With a flick of my fingers, it flew several feet, coming to rest on the spent soil. A crack echoed through the space as it made contact. The top of the vortex flew apart, dispersing into a wide cloud until it formed the shape of a tree canopy.

One more deep breath, another pulse of light, and it solidified into a fully grown tree. Green leaves and full, red fruit sprouted, the colors vibrant and startling amidst the endless gray. Golden light flared, spreading out from the tree into a sparkling dome around me, stretching all the way up to the barrier between the grove and the void and out to just before the former tree line, defining the battle arena.

Pride flowed through the bond from Fen, making the chord in my chest sing.

A shift of the dirt behind me made me turn.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Death asked.

CHAPTER 41

“If you’d taken my offer, none of this would be necessary,” Death said. She stood on the other side of the altar wearing all white, as usual, but instead of a dress she wore pants, a shirt, a sleeveless tunic, and boots. Her hair was plaited in a tight braid pinned up to form a crown instead of her gold circlet. Aside from the color, it was all practical, perfect for the forthcoming battle. Almost as if she’d been expecting to be transported here at this exact moment.

My eyes narrowed. I wondered if she’d taken to dressing like this as a precaution after the bridge broke.

“You can surrender and I will make sure the people you care about are taken care of,” she continued, her expression one of concern and reason, like I was a wayward child that needed disciplining.

I tried not to bristle. It was just an act. I knew what she really was. “Me serving as an anchor won’t fix things. There’s no way for you and Fen to share power.”

“Let the witnesses remember, I tried to resolve this peacefully,” she called, ignoring my logic. “I have no wish to fight. Maeve is the one insisting on this ridiculous confrontation.”

“Your benevolent act fools no one,” I said, unable to let her odd behavior slide any longer.