Atyantam

  A year later

  I turned down the car stereo as I stopped at the light. Pink Floyd was playing Wish You Were Here. I looked out the window. Outside, standing on the sidewalk, Gemma gazed at me. She smiled . . . and then vanished. I gripped the steering wheel. Her soul lived on inside me.

  ETERNAL PEACE

  I went to the lakeshore to watch the water ripple as the wind caressed it like a lover. Filling my lungs with air, I closed my eyes and smiled. Gemma’s image was still vivid in my mind, a salve for my soul tormented by her absence. I sought her inside me whenever the pain filled my chest as I waited for it all to be over. I’d been waiting for such a long time, but now the end was near—I could feel it. Soon I too would find peace.

  I looked at the lake house and imagined Gemma standing in the doorway, waiting for me with Liam in her arms. It was a lie, I knew it—a lie to lessen my pain. I couldn’t be honest with myself.

  After Gemma’s funeral I’d gathered her things from the family manor, set fire to the house, and watched it burn until nothing was left. Drake, Simon, Ginevra, Liam . . . Gemma. One by one they’d vanished like ghosts, leaving the huge house empty. When all that remained was ash, I’d returned to the house on the lake, seeking refuge in the memory of us, and waited for Death to finally claim me as well. Without having eaten of the Tree, I’d lost first my powers, then my strength. I struggled against gripping hunger and my blood burned with the desperate need for Ambrosia.

  A few days before, Devina had returned to me, proposing I stay with her, speaking to me for the first time in a serious tone. I even noted a glimmer of sadness in her eye. She’d promised me peace, but for me, peace had one name only, and that name had been eliminated from that world. I no longer wanted to be there.

  I’d been left all alone because of the decisions I’d made. That April morning when Gemma had missed her appointment with Death, I’d destroyed the lives of everyone I cared about: Drake, Simon, and Ginevra had ended up in Hell; Gemma and the baby were in Heaven, far from me. I was trapped, exiled from everything I loved. I should have gone to Hell to receive the punishment I deserved, but I wasn’t brave enough. Not because of the torture—I could have withstood the Witches’ torture for all eternity if there had been hope—but I couldn’t live another day knowing I’d lost Gemma and Liam forever. My heart had disintegrated and the crumbs were too small to piece back together. And so I had decided I would dissolve. A few more hours and everything would end in Oblivion. I would have peace—a peace I didn’t deserve, but without which I could no longer continue.

  Ginevra had snuck back for a visit and begged me to eat of the Tree, but my mind was made up. I wasn’t even carrying out my orders any more. What was the point? Even worse, the idea of helping a Soul cross over was unbearable, knowing that everyone could see her except me.

  Since the dawn of time, the sun had risen and set every day and time had moved inexorably forward as millions of Souls passed through life, one after the other. Gemma was one of them. Her time was up. And though I’d tried everything to keep her with me, nature—the nature she’d loved so dearly—had taken her, to restore balance. In the order of the universe, she was but one of countless Souls. To me, she was the whole universe.

  I raised my hand to my neck and took off my dog tag, to which I had linked Gemma’s necklace, and looked at them one last time, reading the engravings.

  Gevan

  Atyantam

  I tied the two chains into a knot that would never be undone, eternal witness to our love, and cast them over the water. At the peak of their arc they sparkled, kissed by the light of the sun as it gave them its blessing. They hit the surface of the lake and sank, settling on the lakebed where no one would separate them ever again. Together. Like Gemma and I could no longer be. A solitary tear slid down my face.

  I lowered my hand and examined it in the morning light. It was almost transparent. I smiled. I was beginning to fade, and there was no better place for it to happen than the lake house, our special hideaway. It was there that we’d made love the first time, there that our child had been born. It was there that I wanted it all to end. I would finish in Oblivion, but a shadow of me would wander the woods for eternity, reliving the magic of our times together. The first time she’d promised herself to me as I held her against that tree. I stroked its bark, where she once had stood, as though I could touch her again . . . just one last time before vanishing forever.

  Her laughter still filled the air. Her gaze burned inside me each time I closed my eyes.

  Are you here to protect me? Is that your mission?

  A reckless Angel.

  My heart belongs to you forever.

  Inside, I was happy because no one could deprive us of our memories. They were a priceless gift. They were my expiation.

  Keep playing for me, Evan.

  Wherever I went, I would take them with me. And even if the two of us were apart, those memories would be eternal.

  Out of the blue, someone grabbed my leg. I spun around and my eyes went wide with surprise. It was a Subterranean, on the verge of vanishing. “H . . . eeelll . . . help . . . me . . .”

  Thoughts crowded my mind. He needed to eat of the Tree. I could help him cross over—but I couldn’t go back there because in my condition the lure of the fruit would be too powerful to resist. I had to decide fast. The young man fixed his eyes on me, pleading for my help. Suddenly I thought of Liam, of the man he might have become, and of whoever one day might have had the power to decide whether to spare him or end his life.

  I reached out and rested a hand on his shoulder. The world around us transformed and disappeared. “Go. Follow your need,” I told him in my mind.

  “Thank you.” I could hear his voice, but he’d already vanished.

  I was back in Eden. Alone. I looked at the row of pillars surrounding me where I’d once been with Gemma. They called it the Celestial City, but inside me everything was dark. Knowing she was there and I couldn’t see her drove me mad. Maybe she was talking to me and I couldn’t hear her voice. I closed my eyes, praying for her to speak louder so I could hear. The scent of the fruit filled my nostrils and I clenched my fists. I had to be strong, one last time. I had to leave before the temptation became too difficult to ignore. Soon I would disappear—it wouldn’t be long.

  I prepared myself to return to Earth, but a sudden stinging sensation spread over my left arm, a pain I’d never felt before. Had Death come to take me? Would I disappear right there, with Gemma so close to me, hidden from my eyes by my curse? It was a good place to die.

  The stinging grew stronger. I turned my hand over and my eyes widened in bewilderment. I wasn’t vanishing. It was the mark of the Children of Eve that was burning. Its claws withdrew like a snare unraveling, freeing me from its punishment. In shock, I examined it, trying to understand what was happening to me.

  A voice broke my eternal silence: “Finally.” I stood stock-still. Was madness claiming me just before I vanished? It couldn’t be. Slowly I turned around.

  She was there. “It took you long enough.” Gemma smiled at me and my eyes filled with tears.

  “Daddy!”

  My eyes shot toward the second voice and Liam ran up to me. I swept him up in my arms and lifted him into the air, my heart bursting with joy. “Liam!” I exclaimed, hugging him tight.

  Gemma watched us, a smile on her lips and her expression radiant. I put our son down and gazed at her for a long, eternal moment before smothering her in my arms. Then I broke down and wept all the tears left in me.

  “We’ve been waiting for you for so long.”

  I closed my eyes at the sound of her voice. “It’s really you . . .” I murmured. I cupped her face in my hands and kissed her as desperation returned to torment me, telling me it wasn’t true, it must be a dream or a mirage my mind had sought refuge in to cope with the pain. I held Gemma even tighter, touching her face, her skin, to make sure she was real. “I’m afraid that if I let you go you’ll disappear again,” I confessed, squeezing my eyes shut.

  “I’m here,” she reassured me. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  “But . . . how is this possible?” The mark of the Children of Eve had disappeared and I could see the other Souls around us.

  “You had your expiation, Evan. Your curse is lifted.”

  “Did you do it?”

  “It’s not every day that a Witch renounces evil and chooses to die in the name of love. I kept my promise: I searched inside myself and there I found you.”

  I held her tight. “What’s going to happen now?”

  “Our souls will be immortal.”

  “You were here and I . . . I’m sorry I kept you waiting.”

  “I would have waited for you for eternity.”

  “Jamie.” I rested my forehead against hers and smiled, my eyes full of tears.

  She took my hand, biting her lip. “There’s someone else who’s been waiting for you too.”

  I looked at her questioningly as a woman in a white dress appeared. My eyes went wide. “Mother!”

  “Hello, Evan.” My mother smiled and walked up to me. It seemed impossible that at last I could hug her again. I held her close and invited Gemma to join us as well. Liam grabbed hold of my leg and we all laughed. I had reunited with my family.

  I was in Heaven. And this time it would be forever.

  EPILOGUE

  High atop our vast treehouse, I rested my hand on a small branch to help it grow as I watched Gemma playing with Liam at the edge of Red Lagoon where the Moon Maidens sang, warming us with their breath.

  The house was almost ready. I’d fashioned a corner of Heaven just for us and soon it would become our hideaway. To build it I hadn’t needed to chop down trees—just the opposite: I’d made their branches grow and intertwine over our heads, leaving ample spaces to watch the light displays in the sky. Inside, everything was made of woven branches, including a large bed I would cover with soft petals, a reading corner for Gemma and, most importantly, a large bookcase where she could keep the books I’d brought for her.

  I leapt down and ran over to them at the water’s edge. “Well? What do you think?” I asked Gemma, stealing a kiss.

  “It’s lovely.” Flowers blossomed on the windowsill, filling it with colors. I lay on my stomach beside her and the water drenched me up to my waist. Gemma looked at me, a little smile on her lips. “Did you really have to take off your shirt to fix up our hideaway?”

  I smiled. “Actually, no. That was for you. I was hoping to arouse sinful thoughts,” I shot back, one eyebrow raised. “Did it work?”

  She bit her lip and sought my mouth. “What do you think?”

  “Daddy! Look what I can do!”

  We both turned toward Liam, who disappeared under the water and attempted a handstand but failed. Gemma and I laughed, but the instant he emerged, bursting with enthusiasm, we grew serious again.

  “That was really good, sweetheart. Keep trying,” Gemma told him.

  For a moment we watched him in silence. Liam was a bright, exuberant child. Not a day went by that he didn’t learn new things or discover new places. He’d grown a year older in Eden—the same amount of time that had elapsed since his death, as though it had never happened. He wasn’t a Soul like the others and none of us could understand why. Sometimes I imagined it was because his soul had been taken by one of the Màsala, but then I would convince myself it made no sense.

  Days had passed since we’d found each other. We both missed Simon, Drake, and Ginevra, but our family was finally together for the first time, and that was what counted most. My brothers and sister had all made their own decisions and our paths had parted, but nothing—neither death nor destiny—could destroy certain bonds, and one day we would all find a way to be back together again.

  On that now-distant April morning, my decision to save Gemma from the semi that was supposed to run her over had changed our fates and led us to that final agonizing battle. In Hell things had come to a head and it had seemed there was no longer any hope for us, but Gemma’s ultimate sacrifice, made in the name of love, had put an end to it all. It had been rewarded with redemption: Gemma’s and my own.

  My fear had never been that Gemma would die, but the fact that once she passed on I would never see her again, since death would separate us due to my curse. As it turned out, the solution to the problem wasn’t Gemma’s immortality but my expiation.

  She’d told me what actually happened during those terrible moments when I’d lost her. Just before she fell to her knees on the battlefield, her mind had flooded with memories: her shrieks of pain filling the forest, the wailing of newborn Liam. My voice calming her. The joy that filled her heart as Liam looked at her. She remembered that I’d been there to squeeze her hand.

  When Sophìa hurled her deadly serpent at me, Gemma had sent a desperate cry for help to the Màsala. Time had stopped as they surrounded her. She asked that I be saved. The Màsala replied that it had all begun with her and that only she could put an end to it all. She could save me by choosing to renounce evil, sacrificing her life for mine. No Witch had ever done so before. Sophìa’s poison had spawned her and in the same way only her venom could break the bond and free her from evil. Sophìa had been both her punishment and her atonement. When time began to advance again, Gemma hadn’t hesitated to pit her serpent against the Empress’s.

  Kill a Dakor and his Witch dies with him. Her sacrifice had saved us both. At that moment, not even she knew that by asking to save me she would also be redeeming my soul.

  “Liam, look who’s come to visit you,” Gemma called to him.

  He emerged from the lagoon, cheeks bulging, and spat out a mouthful of water. “Grandma!”

  “Welcome back, Danielle,” Gemma told her. My mother came to see us often. Liam adored her and she’d stayed with him when I wasn’t there.

  “Hello, Mother.”

  She smiled at me and leaned over to kiss me on the head. “Liam, what do you say? Shall we go for a walk, you and I? I saw some red butterflies down in the valley.”

  Liam’s eyes went wide with excitement and he ran to Gemma. “Can I go, Mommy?”

  “Of course, sweetheart.”

  “Let’s go! Let’s go, Grandma!” he exclaimed, tugging on her arm.

  My mother laughed at his enthusiasm. “I’ll bring him back later.” She and Gemma exchanged a strange look and my mother winked at her before disappearing with Liam.

  “What’s going on?” I asked suspiciously.

  Gemma brushed it off. “What? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Oh, you don’t?” I straddled her and tried to tickle a confession out of her.

  She managed to break free and pin me beneath her instead. “Your mother is happy to see us together, that’s all.”

  “Oh, now I get it,” I whispered, moving closer to her mouth. “Keeping my shirt off worked. You wanted to be alone with me,” I said to provoke her. “I’m warning you, our hideaway isn’t ready yet. They might see us.”

  She ran her hands down my bare chest and her eyes sent me a sensual challenge. “Just because we’re in Heaven doesn’t mean we shouldn’t break the rules any more.”

  I raised an eyebrow and pulled her against me. “Little witch,” I murmured, craving her lips. She obliged me and our kiss grew hot and passionate. I rolled over on the sand and trapped her beneath my body. Her eyes pierced me whenever they rested on mine. Gemma wasn’t a Witch any more, but I was still prey to her spell. My soul was hers.

  “Kiss me, Evan,” she whispered, and I obeyed. The hot water of the lagoon bathed our intertwined bodies as we made love, hidden in our little corner of Heaven, contemplating our eternal love.

  The fire inside us eased into a sweet warmth as we held each other close, listening to the sound of the Moon Maidens. “I told you, Jamie,” I whispered, watching the shimmering particles drift through the air, “in the shade of that maple tree, when we pledged our love for the first time, I told you.”

  “What?”

  “That we would find a world where we could be together. This is going to be our world.” Gemma rubbed her head against my chest and began to hum a little tune. “What’s that?” I asked, curious. Suddenly I remembered Eden was full of trees with trunks that looked like overlapping reeds and produced incredible music. I often stopped there to compose melodies using my power to control the air, and soon I would show them to Gemma.

  “It’s been in my head for a while—a song that’s always made me think of us: Uncover by Zara Larsson.”

  “I’ll show you an incredible place here in Heaven where everything is music.”

  “Is there really one? And can I listen to whatever I want?”

  “Everything. Every form of art is a window to Heaven. We can go there now, if you like.”

  “No, let’s stay here a little longer—just us.”

  I rested my chin on her head. “Sing it, then.”

  Gemma sighed and tenderly took my hand. “Nobody sees, nobody knows. We are a secret, can’t be exposed. That’s how it is, that’s how it goes. Far from the others, close to each other . . .”

  “You’re right. It’s perfect. Please, don’t stop.”

  We were hidden in a dream that was all mine and Gemma’s—a dream that would never end. No one could see us in that new world of ours. Gemma and I were a secret that couldn’t be exposed. Far from everyone else, close to each other.

  A butterfly with transparent wings alit on her hand and she contemplated it, fascinated. I closed my eyes and she began to sing softly again. I never wanted to stop listening to her voice. Being there with her was so wonderful it all seemed like a dream and I was afraid it might end at any moment.

  But a whisper filled my mind, and I knew I had to go. Those were the hardest moments—when I received a mission and the fear of not finding Gemma upon my return came back to torment me. “Evan, can Souls return to Earth?” she asked me out of the blue. “Before you showed up here, I tried to.”