“You got your Gemini mark already, right?” I peered up at him.

  “Yeah?”

  “Well if you do, she does too. Hasn’t anybody talked to her about it?” I stood up, arranging the flowers into a pretty bouquet.

  Julian shrugged.

  “Has she even asked about it?”

  “I keep trying to look at her wrist, but she hides it. I don’t know if she realizes it’s me, or what. I’m sure she doesn’t know what this all means if you haven’t told her.”

  “Sorry, I don’t know what my role is. From what I knew, we were going to be gone on our honeymoon by now, not me marrying off my best friend or matching Firstborns. I’ll ask Gabrielle.”

  I blew out a breath and sat back down amongst the flowers.

  “What’s wrong, boss?”

  “I don’t know. I guess I expected this to be different. Magical.”

  Julian crouched down in front of me. He cupped his hands together and a second later, opened them. A tiny hummingbird fluttered its wings and flew off into the meadow. “It is.”

  “Hey, how’d you do that?” I narrowed my eyes.

  “It’s the magic of Aravot, baby.” He winked, sitting down beside me.

  “Cade and I didn’t get any time together in Chicago. He kept badgering me to go away with him, and I kept putting it off like an idiot. Now when I want to go, we can’t.”

  “Why not?”

  “I don’t’ know. I have a feeling there’s something going on nobody’s telling me.”

  “Yeah, there’s stuff going down. I’m sure boss man will tell you.”

  I peered over to my Tree, and a bulb burned brightly, calling me over.

  I absentmindedly stood and wandered over, picking the burning bulb. It glowed brightly, lifted off my hand, and disappeared into the meadow.

  I’d never get enough of that.

  Julian’s hand touched my shoulder. “You okay?”

  “Yeah. I know it’s my job and all, but I just got Cade back. I just want some time alone with him.”

  I glanced down at the trunk of my Tree and spotted a small black speck of something at the root. I bent down and rubbed my fingers against the goop on the bark. The black stuff stuck to my finger. Sticky, like tar.

  “What’s this?”

  I turned to Julian, but he’d walked off a few feet away, probably talking to somebody in his head.

  I’d have to ask Cade about the Tree.

  I turned and walked over to catch up with Julian.

  “Ready?” He asked. “Phoebe and Remie probably want to get this over with so they can do the dirty.” Julian wiggled his eyebrows.

  “Julian.” I rolled my eyes.

  “Hey, it’s true. Humans do that, right? They wait till they’re Converged? I mean, married. No wonder Phoebe didn’t want to wait. She’d literally be dead before that happened.”

  “What?” I narrowed my eyes.

  Julian sealed his lips, and his eyes went wide. He realized whatever it was he said, he shouldn’t have as soon as it left his mouth.

  “Julian?” I set my hands on my hips and narrowed my eyes.

  “I…” his mouth stood open for a second. “I can’t. You need to talk to boss man about this one.”

  “No, you started it. Tell me.” I moved closer and got in his face, despite the fact he was a good inch or two taller than me. “I’m Chayah. Now tell me what you’re talking about. What do you mean, she’ll be dead?”

  His face scrunched up into all sorts of weird shapes, then he turned around and stomped.

  “Damn it, why do you have to pull the Eternal Mother card?” He put his hands on his hips, staring at his feet, and blew out a hard breath.

  “Because I can. Come on, Jules,” I tilted my head. “Everybody keeps shit from me. Don’t be that way. What do you mean?” I bent down, practically upside down, and peeked at him. “Please?”

  “Fine.” He growled. His eyes went wide, as did mine. “I’m sorry, Chayah.”

  He lowered his face, doing his Respect his Elder thing. Despite the fact I wasn’t liking this conversation, I was beginning to figure out how to get what I wanted with these Eternals.

  “I’ll forgive you if you tell me what you mean by dead.”

  “You already know. You’re just refusing to admit it.”

  “Know what?”

  “Think about it, Chayah.” He stared. “How does a human become Eternal?”

  ~

  “Remie Samuels and Phoebe Kinkaid, you have drank of the Fountain of Life, sealing your Divine union for this time. As leader of Genesis and by authority of the Elder Council of the Eternal realm, I now pronounce you Gemini, Twin Souls. And as Chayah, Eternal Mother of humanity, I pronounce you husband and wife, for this time. And all Eternity.”

  I held back a tear.

  “Remie, you may kiss your beautiful bride.”

  Remie took Phoebe’s cheeks into his palms and gave her the sweetest damn kiss I’d ever seen.

  I melted watching my family seal their Eternity. And at my hand.

  Phoebe and Remie were so adorable together, eyes closed, foreheads resting against each other.

  Phoebe opened her eyes and peeked over at me. “Thank you,” she mouthed under her breath.

  I bowed.

  “May I introduce Mr. and Mrs. Remliel Samuels.” I got a wave of goose bumps at my own declaration. “And as my gift to you, Remie, you are off Eternal Duty for one week. Take your wife somewhere nice.”

  “We have a gift for the Gemini.” Gabrielle came up to Phoebe, handing her an envelope. She leaned over and whispered into Phoebe’s ear.

  Phoebe took Remie’s hand, and they strolled down the aisle toward the exit of the Great Hall.

  I blew out a hard breath as they disappeared out the door.

  “You okay, love?”

  “No.” I sighed as Cade wrapped his arms around me. “We need to talk.”

  “Yes. We do.” He kissed my cheek. “Come. Let’s go home and take a walk. Aperiesque ostium.”

  Lacing his fingers with mine, Cade created a portal into Aravot. We moved through the bridge wind, landing on the terrace of our home.

  I inhaled the warm air, breathing in the amazing scent of my flowers in bloom. I wondered if they were always blooming.

  The lavender sky in the Eternal realm was unreal.

  “Why is it purple?”

  “What?”

  “The sky. I know why earth’s sky is blue. Why is Aravot’s purple?”

  Cade squeezed my hand. “Because it’s your favorite color.”

  I smirked.

  Cade led me down a path toward the Angel’s Arch. “It’s true.”

  I eyed him and smiled. “Okay, wait. So, explain how Aravot works. If there are different levels of the dark realm, are there different levels of the Eternal realm, too? This can’t be all of it.”

  “Of course not, there is so much more to the Eternal realm, but this plane is ours.”

  “Ours, as in yours and mine?”

  “For Genesis.” He nodded. “When you chose to Eternalize, you were permitted to design your own plane. It represents all the things of the earthly plane you loved. Including wildlife, vegetation. Even the color of the sky.”

  “Wow. That’s so weird. Why isn’t there night?”

  “I’m unsure.” He narrowed his eyes.

  I couldn’t help but laugh. His faces were comical, to say the least.

  “What about my name. Why Zoe?”

  He grinned.

  “What?”

  “You allowed me to give you a new name.”

  “You named me?” I chewed on my lip. That was seriously sweet.

  He nodded. “We agreed our time as Adam and Eve had come to an end. We had evolved. So our titles and our names should as well.”

  “So why Zoe? And do I always come back as Zoe?”

  “Yes. Zoe means giver of life. And wisdom in some languages. I couldn’t think of a more fitting name for the Eternal Mother.”

  “Aw.” I pulled him close.

  Cade was amazing. Sweet. Loving. Learning about all the things my head still couldn’t remember was pretty cool.

  “As I’ve said, there are perks to this life, many you’ve yet to discover or recall. In time, your memories will return. When you’re ready.”

  “What do you mean, when I’m ready?”

  “We believe you’re blocking them out. Perhaps even blocking me out for some reason your soul cannot recall.”

  Cade led me down the stone path toward the Chayah Fountain while Journey flew overhead, watching.

  She was always watching.

  “Why would I do that?” I stopped walking and turned to Cade. “That doesn’t make sense.”

  Cade shrugged. “In the meantime, I will protect you and nurture our growing bond as best I can. And when your Origin is ready, your memories will return.”

  I let out a sigh. “So, I was talking to Julian. He kind of reminded me about Phoebe. Is she really going to die?”

  “Damn that boy.” Cade growled. “You have enough to concern yourself with.”

  “Don’t be mad at him, I played the Chayah card.”

  Cade grinned. “Look at you.” He put his arm around my waist and pulled me close as we started walking again.

  “So, Phoebe. She’s going to die, isn’t she?”

  “Please don’t worry. First of all, yes. She is going to die. She’s human, love. They die. If she truly is Remie’s Gemini, once she does pass, you’ll be there to match them.”

  My heart was in my throat. The idea of losing Phoebe sent it sinking into my stomach. I sure hoped I was right about them being matched. I couldn’t imagine losing my best friend.

  “Listen to me.” Cade stopped and pulled me into his arms. “All life is fleeting in the human form. Yours was. You have died many times, but you are still here. Yes?”

  “Huh. Yeah, I guess so.”

  “Don’t concern yourself with things you cannot control. When we died, we moved on to the Eternal realm. For all intents and purposes, we are both dead in human terms. But look at us. We’re very much alive.”

  He had a point.

  “Phoebe’s human life will end, whether she becomes Eternal, reincarnates, or goes on to rest with the Evolved. Every soul transcends. It’s humanity. You’re legacy. All life is Eternal, in one manner or another.”

  Cade always had a way of explaining things so they made perfect sense.

  And made me feel better.

  He pulled me into his arms. “I’m confident when she passes, you’ll be there to match her with Remie, as you’ve done with all Eternals.”

  “I have no memory of how that works. I kind of feel like a failure.”

  “No, Chayah.” He ran his hands over my cheeks. “It’s I who’s failing you. As your Gemini, one with my memories intact, it’s my responsibility to train you. To prepare you for your role, but we’ve had so little time together, I’ve not done my job. I will do better. I promise.”

  He kissed my nose, and I nuzzled into his chest, listening to his heart beat beneath my cheek. It calmed me, hearing it beat. Feeling it sync with mine in my wrist. In my chest.

  “What were you guys talking about when I interrupted today?”

  Cade sighed. “Too much.”

  “It’s getting bad, isn’t it?”

  “Yes. Border breaches are constant, and we don’t have enough forces to continue fighting them off. We must train the Newborns and form a strategy.”

  “Should we really be taking a vacay right now?”

  “Vacay?” He narrowed his eyes, scrunching up his nose.

  Cade made the cutest faces when he didn’t get my lingo, I just wanted to squeeze his cheeks and kiss those sexy lips of his.

  “Vacation. It’s called a honeymoon after humans get married.”

  “Ah, yes. Terminology changes so often.” Cade squeezed my hand.

  “I just don’t understand where we’re supposed to find time for all this. I feel like I’ve failed you. You tried so hard to get me to go away with you, and I kept pushing you off. Now that I want to spend time together, there is none.”

  “Gemini must make time. It’s always been a struggle, but we’re committed to each other, so we take time to forge our bond when necessary. Stolen moments or longer, as we’ll have with our holiday.”

  “Well, I’m going to do my part. I promise now that I’ve got my head on straight, you’ll always be my priority.” I stared into his eyes, running my hands through his disheveled chocolate brown hair. I could get lost in his cerulean eyes. “Cade?”

  “Hmm?”

  “I know I can’t remember everything yet, but—my body must’ve missed you, because I keep getting these tingly feelings that won’t go away.”

  I blushed.

  Cade smiled that sexy crooked smile of his. He pulled my hips against his and ran the back of his hand across my cheek, whispering into my ear, sending goose bumps racing through my entire body.

  “I know just what you mean.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Zoe

  “Man, I hate winter.”

  After another epic fail at a bridge wind, Cade and I landed on the balcony of my apartment back in Chicago.

  “It’s okay, love.” He tried to hide his laugh. “You’ll learn. It simply takes repetition. Better focus. We at least landed in the same city?” He kissed my cheek and pulled open the sliding glass doors, leading me inside.

  I followed him in, wandering through my now lifeless apartment. Everything was exactly as I’d left it.

  Empty.

  It was weird being back here. Definitely wasn’t home anymore.

  A second later, keys jingled outside the front door, and Micah and Julian strolled in carrying boxes with Rainah, Remie and Phoebe in tow.

  “What are you doing here?” I sprinted over to give Phoebe a hug. “You’re supposed to be honeymooning, darling.” I pointed at her.

  “You’re here, and you should be off, too. So we came to help.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You and Cade have better things to do,” Remie said. “So we figured if we all helped get things sorted out, you could be off on your honeymoon, and we can be on ours.”

  “Aw.” I smiled. “Thanks, guys.”

  I wasn’t happy about being here, but the eradication of my former life had to be done, if nothing more than to move forward. I was glad my family was here to support me.

  “Micah’s got boxes. We’ll start with your room, so you two can get out of here.”

  “Thanks, Rem.”

  “I’ll help in your room.” Phoebe grabbed my arm. “Come on, Rainah. Girl talk time.”

  I shrugged back at Cade as Phoebe dragged me down the hall and pulled me into my old bedroom.

  Rainah came in and shut the door behind her.

  There were boxes lined up along the walls, waiting to be filled with my junk.

  Rainah went over to my closet. “What do you want to do with your clothes?”

  “Donate them?” I shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t fit into any of them.”

  “Yeah, I noticed you’ve grown a few inches, in more than just your height.”

  “Hey.” I glared at Rainah.

  “Oh, but in all the best ways.” She smirked.

  Phoebe laughed.

  She was positively glowing, as cliché as that sounded. Her aura was brighter than ever. Married life definitely suited her.

  “What do you want to do with this stuff?” Phoebe sorted through boxes piled up in the corner.

  “I kind of don’t think I need anything.” I sat on the bed, shoulders slumped. “I have a fully furnished house, and I’m not going back to school.”

  My iPad, MacBook and iPhone lay on the bedside table. Dead.

  “There’s no internet in Aravot. My cell is dead. What’s the point of any of this?” I shook my head, leaning back onto my bed.

  Phoebe and Rainah turned and stared at each other, unsure what to say.

  “Good point,” Rainah said, jutting out her foot, her dark auburn hair swinging around her shoulder. “So? What do you want to do?”

  “Get rid of it.” I threw out my arms. “All of it.” I stood. “Keep the electronics, everything else that didn’t come from Sophie can go. Time to purge.”

  “You sure?” Phoebe scrunched up her face.

  I blew out a breath and nodded. “Yep.”

  “You have some cute clothes in here,” Rainah said, sifting through my closet.

  “I know.” I huffed. Yeah, that kind of sucked. “If anything fits, it’s all yours.”

  “Really?” She got excited, pulling things off hangers and tossing them in a pile on my bed. “Hey, why don’t we go shopping before you leave, Zo? Seriously. It’ll be fun,” Rainah said, never taking her focus from my closet of clothes. “I need to make a VS run.”

  I raised my eyebrows. “Oh really. Lingerie, huh?” I wiggled my eyebrows.

  She got a secretive grin on her face.

  “Anything you need to tell me?” I leaned up, tilting my head to the side, widening my eyes.

  She rolled hers. “It’s not like you don’t already know.” She swung her hair around her shoulder. “Yes, I like Julian. We’ve been…” She tilted her head back and forth.

  “Yeah, no. You can’t hide that either. So, what’s up between you?”

  “We’ve been hanging out. Making out.” She bit her lip. “Man, is he a great kisser. And hot.” Her eyes rolled up, and she grinned. “And that accent of his?” She pressed her lips together, a far off look in her eye. “Mmm.”

  My eyes went wide, and my smile broke my face.

  Rainah’s cheeks turned pink as she stared blankly at the wall, biting her lower lip.

  “Rainah loves Julian.” I taunted.

  “Shut up.” She rolled her eyes.

  “Isn’t this awesome?” Phoebe sat on my bed. “We all have our Gemini.”

  I sat beside her. “One more Firstborn, and my work here is done.”

  “What?” Rainah stopped closet shopping and glared.

  “What?” Phoebe glanced at Rainah, then to me.

  “What are you talking about?” Rainah put her hands on her hips.