See How She Awakens (The Chronicles of Izzy #4)(29)

“She isn’t strong enough to fight me. She will never be able to defeat me, Old One. Your soul within her does nothing to fight what I am. My soul was in line for the throne of hell. Do you really believe yours is strong enough to pull me down?” Laughter ripped from my mouth.

“Remember what Molly said, Izzy.” Aberto stared into my eyes, searching for me. I could see him. I wanted to shout, to tell him I was still there, but panic began to well within me. What if I couldn’t fight the darkness and regain control. “REMEMBER!” Aberto’s shout was like a slap to the face.

My focus became razor sharp as I replayed the vision Molly had shown me. This was what I would become; I’d have a front row seat to the destruction, and know it was happening, if I didn’t fight it now. I wasn’t alone. Aberto was here with me. He was my safety net. I could be strong enough.

I struggled, pushing my bright blue light outward, fighting to make myself expand in the murky darkness that surrounded me. Breath by breath, I regained control of myself. A small eternity passing by as the battle raged on. I would beat this. The alternative was too horrible to contemplate. The world would not burn because of me. Not today. Not ever. The darkness could try again in another millennia, but for now, I would win.

“Izzy?” Aberto grasped my shoulders as the darkness faded to the background once more.

“Yeah, it’s me.” I panted, the effort to overtake my own body was more intense than I’d anticipated, but at least I’d been able to do it. “Again.”

“No, you will rest, and we will attempt this again later.” Aberto started to head back toward the cabin, but I refused to move.

“Again. I don’t have time to waste. If you’ve seen what Molly showed me, then you know.” Molly was depending on me, and my stubbornness to get us through this debacle. There was no way I was about to lose this argument. Time was slipping by, and the more it melted away, the closer we got to the darkness taking hold completely.

“Izzy, there is still time.” Aberto pleaded with me as though he were trying to reason with an unruly child. His tone sounded condescending and exhausted simultaneously.

“No, there isn’t.” I paused, waiting to see if he would move. “Aberto, I don’t want to go back there until I have this under control. If I can’t actively repress this, then I won’t be around those I love. I will destroy them.”

“You are overreacting.” Aberto was growing frustrated. I could see it in the way he clenched and unclenched his jaw.

“Come here, I will show you.” His reaction set my teeth on edge. I wasn’t trying to be some drama queen throwing a hissy fit, but if that is what it took, I would do it. Maybe Molly hadn’t given Aberto the truth of why she’d needed to see me. So I would show him. He would see, and then he would understand. Hopefully.

“What?” He asked, his voice saturated with exasperation.

“I’m going to show you what Molly showed me. Maybe then you will understand why I am, as you call it, overreacting.” Anger bubbled within me. The darkness was stirring.

He doesn’t believe you, Izzy.

“Oh shut it. I’m done with you!” I shouted, silencing the darkness. I was done. It felt different, not like a conversation, but like I was completely in charge.

“Izzy?”

“Not you.” I really wished there was a light that went on over my head, or something, letting people know when the darkness and I were having a conversation. “But come here, I will show you everything she showed me, and then I will let you decide what to do next.” Aberto took three long strides towards me, closing the gap. I stood on my tiptoes to reach his face. Placing my hands on either side of his ancient eyes, I stared into them as I focused on everything I’d seen. I opened my mind to him and prayed he would see what I needed him to see.

When all had played out, I dropped my arms and dropped back down to the souls of my feet. Searching his eyes, I looked for an answer, something that would tell me whether or not he’d seen it. His eyes stared back, haunted.

“Again,” I whispered. This time, he didn’t hesitate.



From that moment on every moment was spent pushing me to my limits. Day after day passed. Each one spent with Aberto filling me with memories of long ago pain. The darkness would uncoil within me, taking hold of my body, pushing me to the back, but with each attempt, the darkness grew weaker. Or perhaps I was growing stronger.

Now the darkness attempted to bait Aberto. It could feel itself losing the battle. It wouldn’t be able to contain me, to push me to the back and use me as it chose. I snapped myself back into place seconds after the darkness had taken hold. With little effort, I’d been able to expand myself so the darkness had no place to go except back to its refuge deep within me.

“Do you think I will ever be fully rid of it?” I wondered why I couldn’t push it out.

“I don’t believe you will. The way Uriel spoke, this will be with you all of your days.” Aberto lifted a hand to my cheek as my face fell. I guess if I lived a shorter life, that wouldn’t be such a bad thing.

“Aberto, I think I am ready to go back.”

“If that is what you wish, we will return tomorrow. Tonight, we will celebrate your victory over the darkness.”

You will never be victorious. The darkness whispered, only it was sounding more like a bitter old hag than the terrifying entity I’d once feared.