Chapter 154: The Gray Shield
[Gideon].
His voice is like a cancer, rotting my soul from the inside out. Vincent. I thought I was free of him when he took Esther south when he left our coven behind.
“You can never be free of me,” he laughs in my head. “We were never truly apart. Once you merge a soul with another, you are always connected. I was your coven leader. I will always be your coven leader.”
“Not if I kill you,” I promise aloud, my body struggling against the magical restraints that Evander placed on me.
His cackling laughter fades into the background. He is done with me for now. I can rest and regain my strength so that I can fight him off again next time. Unlike Slone, there is nothing that he can offer me that I want, so there is no way for him to find entry into the deepest parts of my soul.
With Rosie and Evander in my life, I have more than I deserve.
I wake up in darkness. The room is cold, colder than I expected it to be. It is like all the warmth vacated the room through every little crack, dent, and pore, leaving me feeling abandoned and frozen. Even though the blankets placed on me so tenderly by my Evander after he spelled me into this bed, I can feel a chill running down my spine.
The chill is deeper than the feel on my skin, it goes all the way into my bones, pulling on the tether of my soul that connects me to what remains of my coven.
Rosalynd. I can feel her soul calling to mine. She needs me.
Closing my eyes again, I let my spirit carry me to her, following the bit of my soul that is forever tied to hers.
When I open my eyes, I am standing in an impossible space. A darkness so complete that it absorbs all the surrounding light, eating the glow of stars as they twinkle and die above our heads.
There are two figures in the distance. I don’t walk to them. Walking makes no sense in a place that is so vast that it is beyond comprehension. Instead, I let my connection pull me closer.
"What are you offering me, exactly?" Rosie is speaking to a man in a top hat. His white gloves gleamed with an inner light.
His smiling face becomes clearer as I draw nearer.
He doesn’t look like himself with his hair slicked back and an overly elaborate tuxedo. How did he end up here? And why?
"... Marry me, Rosalynd. Marry this body and these souls. Join me and give me an heir, a child that belongs to you and the Void...."
That is not Axel. That is the darkness itself shaped in his form it is no more our friend than myself or Evander. That is some other kind of creature, wearing our family like a coat.
"And if I refuse?"
There is something in the way she leans towards him that tells me she isn’t going to refuse him. He has offered her a chance to fix her problems--all she needs to do is sell herself and let Axel sell his soul.
"Void," she opens her mouth wide as she sucks in a deep breath "I ..."
"Don't do it." I raise my hand as I close the distance between us. “He isn’t Axel. I don’t care what he is saying, the only way he can give you what he promises is to absorb Axel completely. You can’t give him permission to do this.”
Rosie’s eyes are wide with fear. “Gideon, how are you here?”
The Void is watching us interact, his face is amused for some reason and I do not trust it.
“I heard your call, Rosie.”
“My call?” She tilts her head. “I didn’t bring you here? I don’t even know how that could be possible.”
“Of course it is possible,” The not-Axel speaks. “You are the In-Between. Just like the gray of your eyes, you are the space that is neither here nor there, neither black nor white. Didn’t you listen when the Universe spoke, young goddess? In time, you will be just another one of us. Powerful and infinite. When your corporeal life ends, you will be” he waves his hands to emphasize his point. “Eternal. Don't you see," he laughs. "This life doesn't matter. These relationships do not matter. In the end, you will be as I am, just another bit of starstuff."
"He's wrong," I argue, stepping between them. "This life, every life, is important. That includes Axel's life, which this leech is stealing." I point to the fake Axel accusingly. "Axel let him in, but you have the power to stop it. You heard him, you are the Goddess of the In-Between." I smile, almost laughing. "You have the power that you do because you have a bit of both the universe and the void already inside of you, blending into something new."
"He isn't telling you the whole truth. You won't be as powerful as him someday. You will be more powerful."
"It's too late, Gideon." The Void begins pacing around us. "She has already accepted, even if she hasn't said the words."
"He's wrong, Rosie, you can still say no."I insist. "Let me be your shield. Send your essence through our bond and lay claim to my soul. I offer myself to you Rosalynd Elisabeth Reid. Take my soul and make it your shield.
As she takes my hand, I feel a bit of her energy flow through me, erasing Victor's taint and replacing him with her. In my mind, I see her smiling face as I relive every moment we have shared--from the moment we crashed into one another, to the moment we married and created our child. I feel all the joy and wonder, the love and sadness.
"Keep these safe for me," she whispers. "Where I'm going, I won't be able to. I love you, Gideon. Tell Evander that I tried, but I need Axel too. Please try to understand."
I try to pull her back, but I cannot.
Right before their lips touch, I hear the word, "Yes."