Everything else seemed to fade away as we traded blow after blow. Sweat slid down my back and blood was covering random parts of my body. Bruises would soon bloom, then disappear with my healing abilities now fully fueled by the magic within me.

  Elijiah would snarl and lunge, whipping out with his wings and his strength. A battle raged on around us, but all I could think of was getting him down long enough to find the damn blood ruby and the queen and Priya.

  I knew that I wouldn’t be enough to stop him fully, only to incapacitate him. The only one who could do that was the queen herself. I needed to get to her and destroy the ruby, because she was the only one who could take her creation away. I was merely a conduit, and she was the source.

  I was panting and sweating as we continued to duel. I saw the strain in Elijiah as he continued to fight, and I idly wondered how the other angels were faring. It seemed like the thought dawned on him as well because there was another blinding light. A scream echoed in the chamber, creating a pause in the mania around us. Suddenly the smoke cleared and the scene in front of me was unbelievable.

  Priya stood among the other gatekeeper leaders. Various golden whips, chains, and ropes were around each angel. They were all pacified to sleep or, at least, unconscious. Priya flashed Elijiah a snarky smile.

  “I was given the oracle sight just days ago and it showed me how to stop the angels of death and resurrect the queen.” She smiled. “An ancient charm, long forgotten, on how to forge weapons of mass destruction specifically for angelic beings.” The golden weapons around them seemed to twinkle and sparkle at her words.

  “I couldn’t tell you, Linc, but I already knew what to do. Your message was a beautiful reminder.”

  I wanted to cry but Elijiah was thinking ahead. He grabbed me by the throat before I had time to react and held a knife to my abdomen.

  “If anyone moves, she dies,” he snarled. Suddenly, we were transported to the queen's chamber. She looked as if she would fall apart with a strong gust of wind. Her body was even more brittle, but her eyes were alight with determination. Still, her expression was wickedly content.

  “It’s been unlocked, my child. The end for you is near, Elijiah.”

  He screamed and threw me across the room. I slammed into the queen’s glass cage while she stood tall and proud, despite her crumbling frame.

  Elijiah looked like a rabid beast snarling and foaming at the mouth. He grabbed the crown, moving toward me in a flash.

  “This will have to do, I can’t let twenty-five years of hard work go down the drain because of you and some silly little gatekeepers,” he said as he loomed over me with a wild look in his eye.

  “Elijiah, stop!” I screamed, trying to blast out with my magic, but it seemed to dim and flicker. I looked at my hands helplessly.

  “You didn’t conserve enough energy to wield your magic with longevity. I will teach you how to control it but first, you will take what is left from the queen and you will be joined to me for eternity!” He moved to place the crown on my head. I rolled to the side to try and evade him, but his hand came around my ankle and he yanked me towards him.

  I yelped and tried to claw away. The queen stood there with a ferocity I had never seen on anyone before.

  “Come here, you stubborn girl!” He yanked hard on my hair, whipping my head back.

  “No!” I screamed. But it was too late. The crown was already moving towards my head and there was no path to escape. Horror gripped my chest as Elijiah solidified the grasp on my hair and slammed the crown on my head.

  Everything went black before it burst into technicolors. I screamed again and a crack popped loudly in my ears. I didn’t know if something had finally broken, or if my head actually slammed to the ground as the weight of the queen’s full magic blasted through me.

  White seared my eyes and something was wrapped around me; like a boa constrictor slithering around my arms and legs. The world snapped into focus with a loud pop. My fabric materialized, moving around me like a living being. The queen was smiling at me from her cage and Elijiah looked delirious as he held Priya in a choke hold and wielded a dagger with another hand.

  “Magnificent,” he breathed as I felt the surge of all the power swirling within me. I floated to the ground and reached for the crown trying to take it off my head but it was cemented to my skull. I yanked hard but nothing happened.

  “You cannot take it off Lincoln, it’s a part of you now. The queen has but minutes left to live. Her power is nearly all siphoned away,” Elijiah snarls.“You will do as I say or I will erase Priya from existence and not even you, with the queen’s power will be able to restore her.”

  Priya’s eyes hardened. She didn't look scared, she looked ready.

  I choked back tears, trying frantically to think of a way out of this. I had nothing to break the blood ruby with. All this power, and it was useless against him because I didn't know how to control it. He knew the secrets, the loopholes, and the flaws of the power in my hands. He had years to plan this and I had days.

  “I’m so sorry,” I whispered to everyone and no one.

  “Stay strong child,” the queen said. Elijiah snapped his gaze over to her, and Priya moved slightly.

  For a brief moment, everything happened in slow motion. Priya pushed the dagger in Elijiah's hand to her chest and leaned in screaming. I looked in horror as blood blossomed across her breast, and for one second, Elijiah looked shocked as well. She ripped the dagger out of her skin and took a wild swing at Elijiah who seemed to be just as confused as I was.

  She barely nicked his forearm as he snarled and secured the hold on her neck. She threw the knife in a wide arc toward me and it clattered to the ground with her blood and his mixed together.

  “Take it! Use your blood as the last ingredient and bathe the red ruby in it,” the queen hissed.

  I scrambled for the knife as Elijiah tossed Priya to the side and roared, reaching for it. I closed my hands around the sharp end and cut myself as Elijiah ripped it from me by the handle. I quickly wiped my hand around the ruby and squeezed everything I had into my palm to extract the blood and wait for something to happen. There was a pause in the chaos as if everyone held their breath, but nothing happened.

  Elijiah laughed darkly. Priya was pale and bleeding on the ground. The queen had fallen to her knees and looked seconds away from dying herself. I stood there with my mouth agape, my fabrics swirling around me, the crown still glued to my head.

  I closed my eyes and screamed, sending my fabrics slicing out sharp as knives as one wrapped lovingly around Priya and the other went straight into Elijiah's chest. I manipulated them to snap up the dagger now loose in Elijiah's palm and flung it back to me. I bared my forearm and snarled as I cut even deeper and dug my hand into my own blood, smearing it across the blood ruby willing it to be enough. I wrapped my fabrics, now soaked in Priya’s blood and Elijiah’s, around the stone and pushed with all my magical strength against the crown.

  Something shifted.

  The air electrified and there was a sizzling sound like a lit fuse and then the whole room shuddered. The blood ruby cracked, and a rush of power pushed into the room like a black fog, eating everything in its path. The glass cage shattered and I flew back, throwing my hands up and calling my fabric to protect not me but Priya.

  A hum filled the air like an electrical current and the crown became heavy on my head before it slipped off in a loud thud. The jewels fell off and withered away, breaking into ash as the crown itself melted into molten liquid and disintegrated.

  “No…” I heard Elijiah mumble. The dark light went from black to purple to blinding white. It filled the space and reflected off the millions of glass pieces littering the room creating a disco ball effect. “No!” he screamed again and expanded his wings in one large flap, but the queen rose before him.

  She stood tall in all her grace and her skin, which was once dead and peeling, glowed with a healthy, supple shine. Her eyes gleamed, and her hair floated around her as her rags slowly turned to a gown that was black as night. It sparkled as if lit with a thousand tiny stars. She held out her palms on either side of her and power erupted from them forming two large golden orbs as she walked to where Elijiah had backed up against the wall, frozen by what I can only assume was the queen’s magic.

  “You are no longer worthy of the afterworld, Elijiah. I should have destroyed you like I did Anthonia all those years ago. Except this time, your power will be scattered, never to be corrupted by you or anyone else again!” She slammed her hands towards his chest and the air exploded as he cried out and then nothing. The queen breathed heavily, tears slipping down her cheeks.

  She turned to me and crouched down. “I will take Anthonia’s power from you too, child, but I will leave the deathwalker in you. It was always supposed to be a gift for those who showed courage. I will also take back the seed I have planted of my own power. You served the realms well. And now, I ask that you protect the afterworld and mortal realm as a deathwalker always should.” She placed gentle hands over my heart, and the sensation of cold ice raced through my veins before warmth returned. I felt the absence of the powers, but welcomed what was left behind. “I am sorry my child, it should have never come to this.” She walked over to where Priya lay wrapped in my fabrics. The queen waved her hand, and the fabric unraveled, leaving Priya’s bleeding form exposed. Her chest barely rose.

  I choked on a sob and crawled over to Priya.“Will she be okay?” I asked, suddenly terrified that we had fought so hard to be together and it may not have been enough.

  “Her will to live is strong, it is not her time yet. She will be the next great oracle for many years to come.” With that, she pressed her hands to Priya’s wound and it slowly knotted itself back together. Color returned to her cheeks and her breathing stabilized. “Come child, there is something I need you to do with me before you return to the mortal realm.” The queen reached her hand to me. I looked at Priya, then back at the queen.“I will have some of my attendants come get her and place her in a room,” she said warmly.

  I nodded and grabbed her palm. “Is the border back in place?”

  “Not yet, but it will be.” She guided me out of the room and I looked once more at Priya’s sleeping form.

  It was time to fix the afterworld.

  28

  The first place we visited was The Gatekeepers Grove Elijiah had shown me. The queen released the souls to their eternal rest in peace by singing a soft lullaby that soothed their confused and restless souls. It brought tears to my eyes as their scared forms seemed to sigh with relief. They turned to silky strands of wispy energy as they sailed away towards their finally resting place.

  I felt lighter as we watched each and every form be released, like shooting stars, making their way home. The grove turned into a meadow where tall, soft grass grew and flowers dotted the surface.

  The deathwalkers were next.

  The queen repeated the same ritual and I could feel the balance of the afterworld slowly start to shift. The cages dissolved and a place once desolate and filled with malice turned into another gentle field. The process took longer here, as the queen sang for what felt like hours. Each time, little pieces of their beings seemed to knit themselves back together and release back to their original forms.

  “Shouldn’t we be fixing the barrier first? Not that I am not grateful, I just don’t want any more unnecessary casualties, you know?” I didn't know how long we’d been with the gatekeepers or the deathwalkers, but it felt like hours. I followed the queen into the glass elevator that would send us back up to the manor.

  The queen smiled at me, her full lips stretching. “As my power returns, so does the stability of the realm. It’s like a plant that was close to death and now has the water, sunlight, and nourishment it needs to continue to live once more. The same can be said for everything my magic touched. It’s now no longer dying, but healing.”

  I nodded and allowed the anxiety that had ridden my body for the last several days to finally find a form of release.

  “The manor, the barrier, the stability, and the balance of the afterworld is once again being provided the power it needs to continue to function. It will be a bit unstable for the next few days, but I will make sure nothing else slips through.” She winked, then her features darkened and a look of guilt and grief flashed over her face.

  “Elijiah and Anthonia’s betrayal should have never happened. They were made from me and my own divinity. I believe they became too enthralled with the idea of power and control. They slowly convinced themselves that they were better than others, that they were more deserving of deciding people’s fate,” she said harshly. “Even though I am removed from the mortal realm, I know that much corruption plagues it. I see it in the mortals who come here. Those who think they are better because of the color of their skin, whom they love, and the sex they have.”

  My eyes widened. The queen was quite observant.

  “They perpetuate violence, especially on those they dehumanize and see as less than. My magic was created in a time when those things did not exist. I must admit, I have done little to be proactive about preventing such things from happening, since I cannot leave this place. Therefore, I am tasked with the duty of being reactive, not proactive.” Her voice was somber. “The world cannot be fixed by one single person, despite the power they have. It is not your sole responsibility to teach people to be good people. People have been taught to think this way for centuries. It is everyone’s responsibility to combat it.”

  She sighed and continued on.

  “Society will always want to push others up whilst, simultaneously, shoving other people down. You cannot control the living and the dead, but I do think there are ways that we could be more impactful, as a gatekeeper community, to aid the world in the right direction.” She folded her hands and took a deep breath.

  “There are already a lot of people doing really great work in the mortal realm fighting for the rights of all people. Maybe we could create a special gatekeeper committee, or task force, to create an initiative for something better or something more,” I suggested. “I don’t know if that’s the right answer, but I do know there are some really wonderful people, who have first-hand experience with the injustices you speak of, that would be essential to this work. I can’t speak to everyone’s experiences but I can speak to mine.” I smiled. Who knew I would be talking about social justice with the queen of the afterworld?

  As the glass elevator soared through the levels, I could feel and see the afterworld repairing itself. It was as if Spring was arriving, and everything was brighter with new life.

  “It’s not often a queen seeks advice, but I would love to continue receiving your council and do more to create better balance in the mortal realm any way I can. Thank you, Lincoln. You have more power and strength than you know.”

  “I’m looking forward to being a deathwalker, and helping you and the gatekeepers and the entire afterworld,” I said, grinning.

  “Thank you for showing courage and hope when there seemed to be little left.” She returned the smile, little wrinkles crinkling her eyes.

  Suddenly, another question itched in the back of my mind. “Elijiah said I wasn’t special and that’s why he picked me. Hardly worth noticing,” I whispered, just now realizing how shitty it had made me feel.

  “He was right and wrong. Everyone is a unique and special being in their own way. So in that way, I suppose, none of us are special. But he did not pick you at random. The power called to him and it made sure you were the one to receive it. It was always your destiny, child.” She folded her long, pale fingers in front of her.

  “That’s better I guess,” I mumbled. The queen laughed, the sound loud and bright.

  The glass elevator stopped and the doors slid open to reveal the manor once again. No longer was it crumbling and reeking of decay. It now oozed modernism with sleek lines and details, showing wealth.

  “Shit, that was fast,” I said under my breath.

  The queen chuckled once more as she walked in front of me, and all I could do was follow along.

  “The manor is the closest to my magic and the easiest to repair. I imagine it looked quite archaic before.” Her long, black skirt swished against the clean, white marble tiles as she walked.

  “Will the deathwalker lines be reinstated now that your magic is, once again, fueling them?” I asked as we continued to move through the hallways of her home.

  “Yes, and I will be starting over with my angels of death. I will give eternal rest to those who are still loyal, and banish those who aren’t.” Tears shown in her eyes. “Then I will create something new. I should have been recreating my beloved angels every couple hundred years anyway, but they are my children. Saying goodbye is hard, regardless of who you are. And eternal rest is lovely and desired, but still hard for those who get left behind.” She smiled back at me, her cheeks now wet with tears.

  We stopped in front of two large double doors that looked like the entrance to a grand hotel suite.

  “I thought you might want some time with your beloved,” the queen said, waving her hands to the door.

  “We will talk more about these ideas of yours tomorrow morning. For now, the realms are safe and you should enjoy the one you love.” She nodded and swept away in a flurry of, what looked like, gold glitter. The doors cracked open and the only thing I could see was Priya sitting on a black leather couch. Her brown skin glowed with life once again, and her mess of dark hair pulled back to reveal her slightly shaved side. I wanted to run my fingers across it.

  “Lincoln!” She stood abruptly and we ran, colliding into one another, in a flurry of tears.

  “Priya!” I sobbed against her and we fell to the ground in a tangle of limbs and snotty noses. “Are you okay? How are you feeling?” I asked, prying myself off of her to look into her eyes and hold her face.