See How She Awakens (The Chronicles of Izzy #4)(42)

The weight of her was ripped from my back as the souls of the ten began to pop into existence throughout the room. My vision blurred as the last of them appeared.

Weakness filled my limbs, my mind still struggling to catch up as I fell to the ground, no more than a crumpled rag doll.

I wasn’t supposed to die.

This wasn’t supposed to be my end.

“Izzy, NO!” Aberto rushed forward, lifting me into a cradle against his body. “No. No,” he breathed, over and over again, as tears streaked down his cheeks.

I wanted to comfort him, to tell him it was all right. I’d died saving the world. There was no better end to my story.

“Do not leave me here alone,” Aberto pleaded.

Slowly, I lifted my hand to his face as he had mine countless times before. My vision faded as I told him the words I hadn’t fully admitted to myself, “I do love you.”

Blackness began to consume my vision until all I saw was a vast empty plane. In the distance I heard shouting.

Damali was dying. It was over. Molly would be safe now.



Death wasn’t what I expected it to be. I thought there would be lights, or some sort of vast cloud opening. Instead, there was nothing but the inky black. No light.

I supposed the fact there were no flames was a good sign. I could’ve ended up really becoming the darkness. I was cool with avoiding a tea party with the devil. I wasn’t even sure what one might wear to such an event.

The never-ending expanse of black prevented me from seeing anything. Not even my hand in front of my eyes. Maybe I didn’t have a hand anymore?

There was no point in walking, or moving for that matter. I couldn’t see what was ahead or behind me. My luck, wherever I was, I was perched upon a cliff, and the first step I took would be straight over the edge. Lowering myself down to the ground, my thoughts began to wander.

It was surprising that the darkness wasn’t cold. I’ve always thought of the dark as being a terrifyingly cold place. Strange that not being able to see out, or around me, wasn’t causing me to panic. Usually enclosed spaces did. Weird.

On and on my thoughts tumbled. Nonsense playing out in my mind, unable to focus on any one thing for more than a breath. Every time I tried to think of how I’d gotten here, my mind would turn to something else.

Each time I began to feel anything of any real import, my mind would drift away to another thought, erasing the previous notion completely. My mind tumbled endlessly from one place to the next, never resting.

A blinding light burst into life on the horizon, breaking the relentless thoughts. It grew larger, as though it moved toward me. Illuminating the void as it went. There was truly nothing here. Nothing but the inky black. The light came to rest a hair’s breadth from where I stood.

Standing in the center of the light was a familiar face. I knew this creature. Uriel looked down upon me, disgust and irritation warring for dominance in his eyes.

“Come to take me home?” I laughed. Being in the dark for so long must’ve gotten to me. How long had I been here? Has it been days, seconds? Maybe I’ve been here for years. Did it matter?

“You are a quandary. Heaven will not accept you for the darkness within, and hell rejects you for your light. Thus, I’ve been sent to usher you back to the only place in which you can exist.” Uriel seemed completely put out by the whole thing.

He acted as though he were the one hearing that he couldn’t die because there was no place for his soul. What did that even mean? And seriously, he was sent to get me? Who sent him?

“Are you saying I am going to be immortal? I mean, I wasn’t sure if I could die or not before, and this place doesn’t really feel like death, but still. Eternity on earth?” Anxiety welled up within me. I’d known when Aberto had changed me there was a price to pay. I knew I would be harder to kill than most, well supposedly. All Damali had to do was thrust a knife through my heart. That seemed to do the trick just fine.

“You will exist where there is a place for you.” Uriel replied before thrusting a hand into my soul. His light grew infinitely as it expanded within me.

The void flew past, twirling around me as I was thrust back into my body.



I shot up from the slab upon which I was laid. I could feel the cold of the stone sinking into my skin. Looking down, I saw I’d been dressed in a deep green gown. Carved all around the stone were symbols. Some for safe passage, others of love, on and on they went. Swinging my legs over the side of the table I sat, dumbfounded for a moment.

Where was I?

Who had put me in this ridiculous dress?

More importantly, what in the hell had happened at the Council?

“Hello?” I tried to shout, but my throat felt raw.

When no one came forth, I tried to lower myself off of the table. The icy floor met my feet as I struggled to stand. I didn’t feel right. What had happened to me?

“AAAAAAAH!” A shocked cry came from behind me. I turned to find the Seer, Cristie, standing with a very shaky candle in her hands.

“Can you tell me what in the heck is going on?” I pushed through the pain in my throat. I wanted some answers.

“Um, um. Hold on,” she mumbled, as she whirled and ran, almost dropping the candle in her haste to exit the room.





My legs felt like wet noodles as I attempted to stand, so I gave up and sat down on the floor next to the stone upon which I’d been laid. All around the room candles danced, their flames casting eerie shadows as they moved.