See How She Awakens (The Chronicles of Izzy #4)(10)

“She speaks the truth. She can’t be saved. The darkness will reign. The world will burn.” Uriel’s matter of fact response sent waves of anger cascading through me. “She is the catalyst of the war.”

“What happened?” Mona returned to herself, her fear evident.

“I’m not your savior, I’m your demise. Let me go!” I pleaded. “You heard Uriel, I can’t be saved. I’m the catalyst for all that is coming.”

They will use you until you are nothing but a shell. End it now, and you still have the control.

“Please let me leave. If I stay, I don’t know what might happen.” I looked at the faces of everyone that had become the world to me. I knew somewhere deep inside they mattered to me, even if the darkness tried to twist the truth.

“What about Molly? Will you just leave her?” Ian stared at me, clearly afraid to come any closer. “She walked through hell to get you back.”

“And I would sentence her to that for eternity if I stay. Would you have me destroy you all? I can’t control this.” Tears welled in my eyes. I wanted him to know, to understand I wanted to help make it right. To fix the one person that had never asked me to be anything more than just Izzy.

“I will help you.” Aberto’s calm assurance did nothing to sway my fear.

“How? You heard Uriel, I can’t be saved.”

“I refuse to accept that as truth.” Aberto looked into my eyes, searching deep into my soul. “You are stronger than anyone has ever given you credit for. You will overcome this.”

He thinks you are strong enough to live with me forever. You won’t survive. Better to just end it now, the darkness promised.

“I can’t stay here.” I wanted to be far from everyone that I still cared about. I didn’t want the darkness twisting them into something grotesque, morphing love into some demented emotion.

“I know.” Aberto placed a hand on my cheek briefly, before pulling me up to my feet. “We must go. Izzy, please wait outside while we discuss what must happen.”

I moved to the hallway, my feet stopping just outside of the closed door. Longing to hear what might be said, I lingered.

“She can’t fulfill the prophecy if she remains as she is. If you want to save your Seer, first we must save Izzy.” Aberto addressed Ian with more sympathy than I’d ever heard him muster for anyone.

“Uriel said she couldn’t be saved. Won’t you just be wasting time trying to fix her when we could be doing like she said, fighting off the darkness ourselves?” Ian questioned.

“Uriel may no longer be able to see her future. Once she began to change, I lost the ability to see the events of her life play out. Perhaps her final change has caused her to be unseen.”

“What if you are wrong?” Conall asked.

“Then the darkness will reign. The prophecy is clear, the Seer must defeat the darkness.” Aberto’s voice lowered, barely audible. “In the dreaming, before I was able to reach Izzy, Kennan was pleading with her. He begged her to remember something important. There is knowledge inside of her we need to fight the coming flames. If we fail to save her, we fail to save us all.”

“What of Molly, will she continue to change?” Ian’s fearful voice asked.

“She is safe in stasis. If she were to reenter the dreaming, more harm would follow. She has no reason to return, as Izzy is now on this plane. Rest easy, your Seer is safe.”

“You never said,” Ian paused, “how exactly did you get her out of the dreaming in the first place? Molly tried and never got even remotely close.”

“Love and sacrifice,” Aberto responded before opening the door to stare into my eyes. “We must leave.”

“What does it mean?” I knew he understood, the pain flickered through his eyes before he was unable to conceal it.

“A question for another time.” His response was abrupt as he led me away from the Seers and Guardians staring at my back.

He is using you to redeem himself. He thinks if he fixes you, he will be able to move on. You heard him, the prophecy is all he cares about. If he’d cared for you at all, he would’ve told you the truth about Kennan. He wouldn’t have let you go on believing Kennan would survive. He knows nothing of sacrifice or love.

“Perhaps…” My reply was cut off, by Aberto’s piercing gaze. “Where are you taking me?”

“Somewhere no one can be harmed, save for us.”





Traversing through space with Aberto was never pleasant. Images flashed by in a blur of erratic motion. A safe place, he’d said. Where could we be safe, away from everyone I might be able to harm? The world stilled once more as we came to a stop.

My eyes opened onto a barren landscape. The stars overhead seemed to multiply, forming a blanket in the sky above. I’d never seen them with such clarity, not even when I’d been in Washington with Kennan. His name alone sent a pain ripping through my being. Everything brought his memory rushing forward, and with the memory came anger and regret, emotions that fueled the darkness.

“Where are we?” my voice cut through the stillness, moving ever outward.

“Do you believe you will be safer knowing?” Aberto’s question caught me off guard. On one hand, if I knew where I was, I would be able to leave if I had to. On the other hand, if I knew where I was, I would be able to leave, and that could lead to me harming everyone. So knowing meant I could leave, and even if I knew, it wouldn’t be good.