He nodded and made the slightest gesture.
Two angels hurried from the throne room.
Mark looked from one Immortal to another. He realized he’d been in shock. Nothing Sharen had said had made sense, but now he realized, and the knowledge was like a hand plunging into his heart. Surcy… she didn’t remember them. Again?
How could it be possible? Were the Fates simply cruel children playing their heartless games?
The doors opened once more and one of the angels came in carrying Surcy in his arms.
Tristan sprung forward and snatched her from the other angel. His eyes were wide, fixed onto her face.
The other angel returned a moment later, leading Daniel. Daniel looked confused. How long ago had the Immortals brought him back?
Daniel and Mark hugged, a hard hug that said what their words couldn’t.
They all three stood together, looking down at Surcy’s face. It wasn’t like before, when she had been confused and didn't recognize them. . It was… blank.
She stared off, as if seeing nothing.
“Surcy,” Tristan whispered, the word torn and filled with tears. “Surcy!”
“She can’t hear you,” The God of Summer said. “She can’t hear anything anymore. She is just a shell. The essence of Surcy—whatever made her at her core—is gone."
“Bring her to me,” Sharen, The Goddess of Hope, ordered.
They moved up to the dais with even steps. If Sharen couldn’t fix her, no one could. That knowledge made him feel as if the world was crashing down on him.
Tristan laid Surcy at Sharen’s feet and the goddess knelt down, touching her gently.
Mark spoke before she could act. “If you can’t restore her mind, I want your word that you’ll destroy mine.”
“And mine,” Tristan and Daniel repeated without hesitation.
Sharen’s eyes filled with unshed tears. “You can’t mean that.”
“Promise us,” Tristan said. “Give us the word of an Immortal.”
Sharen looked up at her father. After a moment, he nodded, but his expression was reluctant.
She took a deep breath, and reached out to touch Surcy’s head. Her eyes closed, and minutes of silence ticked by. Her expression changed, from faraway to frustrated.
Come on. You can do this. Save her life. Bring her back to us.
At last, Sharen’s eyes opened. “Something’s wrong.”
Her father spoke. “I told you. It isn’t possible.”
“It’s not that,” she said, and then her gaze met theirs. “I can’t bring back someone I didn’t know that well. But you all can. Touch my hand.”
They obeyed without question, placing their hands upon hers. One second they were in the throne room, the next they were gone, pulled through their lives with Surcy.
He remembered when they saw her on that farm, many years before, the most beautiful angel in existence. One who let them live for reasons none of them would ever understand.
Their memories ran through every laugh, every tear, every small moment that meant more than the big ones, every piece of themselves that contained Surcy.
Someone drew in a deep, shaky breath, but they kept being pulled through time, pulled through everything, until they reached the end. Until they reached that very moment when they touched Surcy, their hearts in their hands, ready to die for her.
Mark opened his eyes. Surcy was breathing hard, her eyes closed. Her entire body shaking.
His gaze met Tristan’s and Daniel’s. Did it work?
Sharen suddenly collapsed. Her demons—no, her angels—surrounded her, pulling the little woman into their arms. Sharen wasn’t looking at them. Her eyes were on Surcy.
“Come on,” she said. “Come back.”
“Surcy?” Mark said, taking her hand. “We love you. Are you in there somewhere?”
Very slowly, her eyes opened, and they were staring at two pools of the deepest blue. “Mark?”
It was like an explosion in the room. Tears filled his vision, and he pulled her into his lap. They gathered around her, kissing every inch of her. Glorying in the look of recognition on her face.
And then, she laughed.
“What?” Daniel asked.
“You all make the strangest looking angels.”
And then, they were all laughing.
She touched each of their faces. “And I remember. Not just this, but before, before Caine took my memories.”
What must this be like for her?
It was something they’d have to deal with, not now, but soon. But they would be there for her, and they would be there for each other.
The God of Summer came to stand closer to them. “My daughter truly is the Goddess of Hope, and she’s given it back to you. Now I must know, can you serve my daughter as she helps to fix these shattered realms? Can you follow her of your own freewill?”
“Freewill?” Surcy asked, confused.
“You won’t have to obey anyone, angel.”
Surcy nodded. “I can do that.”
“And so can we,” Mark said, without hesitation.
The Immortal smiled. And then, a flash of light came over them.
This time, it wasn’t the end. Just the beginning of something more.
24
Surcy smiled as she stared from her bedroom window. Plants, trees, and flowers spread out in all directions, growing from the ash. It would not be the druid’s sanctuary for Immortals anymore. Instead, it was the place they would train angels and demons who had been placed in the wrong realms by Caine.
They weren’t able to help every demon and angel. Some of them couldn't be pulled from the realms, for reasons the Immortals had not yet determined. They believed it had something to do with the Fates, but none of them were sure.
And yet, they were able to help most of the people and to begin setting things right. It was everything Surcy had dreamed of and more.
Because she wasn’t just an angel bent to the will of new masters. She was working with Sharen, by her own choice.
With her demons… well, her angels, she corrected herself with a grin..
And life, it was actually pretty damn good.
The door of her room opened. Mark, Daniel, and Tristan came in, their dark wings folded upon their backs. Her own wings shivered. She was still getting used to having them back,
