Reckoning (28 page)

“
That is all you will find in Elam’s scroll, that and the substance of nightmares,” he warned, tipping his head towards my hands that still held it.

My mind did not comprehend the warning, though. It was centered on one overwhelming fact. Elam confirmed that all Abaddon was waiting for was a single unifying reason.

“
I gave him that reason, Dominick. The Fallen Ones are rallying because of my hunts, my executions of their kind.”

I exhaled, the reality of the destruction I had caused, will cause, caving in my chest. It felt as if sand had filled my lungs but it was only me…the realization of the destruction I had created coming at me with full force.

With one last glimmer of hope, I challenged Dominick’s assertion.

“
But Dominick, how could Abaddon possibly think he would ever be able to destroy the Alterums completely? Once killed, they can just return to earth in whole again.”

Dominick lifted his eyebrows, allowing me time to figure it out for myself. As it came to me, I sucked in a deep breath of air.

“
Elsics…He’s going to use the Elsics…”

Dominick nodded again, this time a sadness floating across his face.

That epiphany spurred something in me that I hadn’t felt for some time, a deep sense of urgent drive.

“
Dominick? Could you do me a favor?” I asked, trying to contain my emotions.

“
Anything, Maggie.”

“
Could you alert the others here, specifically the rest of Eran’s army? Tell them to get ready…We are going to need them.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN: ACHAN

I never did get the chance to visit Elam’s past life. The nervousness created during my discussion with Dominick sent me back to earth, waking me from my nap, the memory of Dominick’s message running through my mind.

…
gathering the Fallen Ones…

…
going to use the Elsics…

…
dominating that dimension…

No, no.
This
dimension.

Eran came through the door of our room then, disturbing my line of thought.

Before he could close it, I was already sitting up.

“
Eran, I need to train with you.”

He halted in the middle of the room with a tray of food in his hands to stare back suspiciously. Then he verified just how well he knew me. “Did you fall asleep?”

My shoulders dropped. This was urgent, couldn’t he see that? There was no time for questions.

“
Help me. I need to get dressed,” I said, already trying to stand.

“
Oh…no you don’t,” he said, rushing to the edge of my bed and stopping me, which made me groan.

“
Magdalene, do you see any Fallen Ones?” he asked, using his seductive sense of reason.

When I refused to answer, he did it for me. “No, you don’t. Until you do, you will remain in recovery.” He sighed in irritation, bending to sit on the bed next to me. “You did, didn’t you? Picked out another scroll…”

“
I didn’t go through it though,” I said allowing myself the credit. “Dominick stopped me.”

Eran’s face relaxed then. “Thank you, Dominick,” he said out loud, his face slightly tilted to the sky, and then he turned to me. “This isn’t healthy, Magdalene. You’re…unraveled.”

That was when it happened. I felt them coming and fought them back but in the end they won. Tears spilled over my lids and down to the cover.

“
It’s all my fault, Eran,” I said through my weeping. “I brought this war on…I gave the Fallen Ones a rallying cry. All of you are in danger…again…because of me.”

Eran remained still, no movement, no speaking, letting me release the guilt that had built up over so long. Then, when my body had relieved itself of the shudders and tears, I lifted my head.

He was gazing at me, his lips puckered in disapproval.

“
First, you don’t put us in danger. We put ourselves in danger. It’s not your choice. Second, this is not my wife. She would not resort to self-pity when she is needed most. Now wipe off the tears and go find her…because I love her and I want her back.”

Sniffling, I nodded. Then it was him who reached up and with a few soft brushes of his thumb my face was cleared of its streaks. Then he slipped his fingers below the rim of my jaw and drew me towards him until our lips met, brushing against one another, soothing my upset.

“
He’s going to use Elsics,” I said in a whisper, unintentionally, my mind betraying me and reverting back to my conversation with Dominick.

That caused Eran to pull back. “Abaddon is going to use Elsics?”

“
Yes, I don’t know how or when but…but Dominick confirmed it.”

“
Then we can be certain that’s accurate information.” His expression was firm for only a few seconds and then relaxed. “I’ll inform the others. We’ll need to modify our training.” I could see he was already contemplating it.

Elsics would pose a greater threat and a stronger defense. Knowing this, Eran was already formulating a plan. As he did, I watched him, taken by his focus, determination, and the spirit in his eyes.

“
In the meantime,” he said, his attention returning to me. “I see that you haven’t finished your exam.” It was his attempt to redirect my thoughts away from Fallen Ones.

He pointed to the piece of paper that had been so dull I’d fallen asleep while filling it out.

I groaned.

“
Ezra wouldn’t be too impressed to hear you right now,” he cautioned.

“
Then let her take the test.”

He laughed at my retort and then leaned towards me, stopping just an inch away. “Welcome back, wife.”

I smiled back, loving the sound of that name.

“
No more dozing,” he commanded then with a wag of his finger. “If you do, deliver messages. Give yourself a break from reviewing past lives. You need it, sweetheart.”

There was something in his tone or removed from it actually that made me reconsider falling back asleep. As I watched him, I knew what it was. His lack of insistence told me that he was cautioning me but not enforcing it. He couldn’t. He had no way of stopping me once I was back in the afterlife. Therefore, he was relying on my judgment, even though it hadn’t proven to be so good lately. For this very reason alone, I silently promised to follow his advice, or more precisely, consider it.

“
Don’t forget your lunch,” he motioned towards the tray he’d brought with him, which he had set next to me. “It’ll help you get your strength back…even if it was prepared by Felix.”

A quick glance validated it. The plate had three mounds, each of varying degrees of brown hues.

“
What is this?” I asked.

Eran was at the door by then. “Mush.” As I inspected them from afar, he added wistfully, “Don’t worry, they’re edible. He made me try them.”

“
I’m sorry,” I called out.

“
So was I,” Eran replied as the door closed.

The remainder of the day was taken up with studying, visits by my housemates in the evening, and taking messages for Alterums before Eran advised them it was time for my rest. That night, after landing in the Hall of Records, I purposefully ignored the P’s, or more precisely the scroll for Paris, France, and headed for the scrolls that would take me to the loved ones of those I was delivering messages to.

While there were quite a few messages, I was able to deliver them efficiently and by the end of my mental list of names I was back sitting in the Hall of Records, waiting for the morning to arrive.

The hall was resoundingly quiet with not a single soul there but me as I took a seat on my stone bench. After a few minutes I began to tap my feet, then I started to hum, and then my fingers began drumming my thighs.

Then I drew in a deep breath, filling my lungs with the cool, refreshing breeze that consistently floated through the hall. It calmed my agitation but only momentarily.

Before I knew it, I was up and my wings were out. They took me off the ground and across the hall, stopping directly next to the P’s.

There I paused and evaluated my feelings. I was calm, rational, and aware. Still I had the burning desire to visit the past lives of the last of Abaddon’s closest followers. I could handle this…

Pulling the scroll from its pocket, I spoke his name, “Achan Aemilius,” and the scroll began to move.

It stopped at his name, the rows of his past lives lining up with the tip of my thumb. He had been to earth nine times, by far the most of any Abaddon follower.

I couldn’t visit each one. There just wasn’t enough time. I was at the end of my time here, instinct telling me that the sun was just about to rise back in the other dimension.

So, I narrowed my selection down to the last lifetime before eternal death, the one he’d lived after falling.

I swiped my finger across his name and found Achan striding through a long, dark, and twisting hallway carved of mortared stone. Torches lit the way, giving just enough light to see the rats that cowered at the sound of his approach. The air was musty with a layer of decomposition.

He was slight crouched, from the low ceiling as well as an attempt to project casual strength. He did this because he wasn’t alone.

When the voice came from behind Achan, my recognition of it made my muscles from inside Achan’s body tighten.

“
You live this deep,” said Abaddon in French. It was more of a statement, a speculation, than a question.

“
It keeps me hidden from sight,” replied Achan, also in French. A few steps farther and Achan added, “Burials are what bring people down here…and they don’t stay long.”

As he made his comment, his hand swung the torch he carried towards the opening of a room, one filled with bones.

The conversation between Achan and Abaddon was stiff, I noticed, which hinted at one thing. The scroll was showing me when they had first met.

They reached a stone portal, an entryway, with an inscription: Arrête! C'est ici l'empire de la Mort.

Without having to be told, I knew what it meant.

Halt! This is the Empire of Death.

Neither one of them halted.

Achan heaved open the thick, wooden door and entered another hallway, this one lined with intricately arranged bones.

“
How many did you slay atop the Bastille?” Abaddon asked casually following behind.

Achan turned quickly and entered a room off the main hallway, one suspiciously void of bones. “Thirty…maybe forty. I don’t count when they’re not messengers.”

For emphasis, Achan swung the bag of arrows from his shoulder and set it down, along with his bow, propping them against the wall near the door. He then unsheathed a dagger and approached a wooden altar, notched with rows of deeply carved lines. He took the blade and carved one more line and then stood back to observe his work.

“
How many have you killed in total?” Abaddon asked from behind him.

“
Messengers? Count them for yourself,” he said, gesturing to the altar.

My breath caught as I realized what Achan was referring to…for every messenger he’d murdered, he’d made a notch in his altar. In the brief time before Achan turned from it, I counted fifteen notches, fifteen lines,
fifteen messengers
.

I suddenly felt sick.

Abaddon approached and bent forward for a closer look. “Fourteen messengers,” he stated. “A fine job.”

Achan swung around, smirking. “You’ve miscounted. There are fifteen lines there.”

Abaddon shook his head. “The one you killed tonight doesn’t count. She will return.”

“
Return?” Achan laughed. “My arrow found its mark.”

“
It did. They all did,” agreed Abaddon. “But she didn’t die by them.”

Achan crossed his arms, testing him. “Then how did she die?”

Abaddon met his challenge head on. “By her guardian, Achan…the man beside her was her guardian.”

Rage swelled in Achan then, causing his lip to curl back, and his fists to clench together, nails digging through his palms. Clearly, it wasn’t often that he was duped.

Slowly, I began to piece together what they were referring to. Achan had been at the Bastille, killing the rebels, only to be pulled away to execute a messenger.

In my past life, I had witnessed the Bastille burn and I had seen Achan’s arrows break through the glass of the estate where I’d lived, landing where they intended, in me.

I was the messenger they were discussing and Eran was the guardian who saved me.

Abaddon strolled from the altar with indifference towards it and across the room where Achan stood. “But I can make sure you get a second chance…” he promised.

Achan’s emotions calmed, but only slightly. “How?”

“
Join me…Join me and you will have your chance at Maggie again.”

At the sound of my name, I flinched.

Achan assessed his options before answering and then I felt a smile spread across his face. “What must I offer in return?”

“
When she returns, and she will, hunt her. Find her and you may take her life but do not touch her guardian.”