“What in the Hell else on a shit stick did that pompity ass-jacking buttknocker want?” a higher angry female voice demanded.
“That we swear on our lives this never happened and that if something goes awry we are to destroy… ”
“Stop,” the woman with the flat voice snarled. “I won’t hear this.”
“You have to,” the loud man insisted. “Are you willing to end him if he’s not who we want him to be—who we knew?”
“Again,” she ground out. “I won’t hear this.”
“Fine. Did they find the other bastard yet?” the loud male asked tightly.
“No, but there isn’t a corner of this earth where he’ll be safe. The entire army of our race and that of the Angels are searching,” came a terse reply.
“When they find him, he’s mine,” the woman in pain growled. “The Holy Ones have promised to mute his power and have given me permission to destroy him… slowly.”
“As is your right, my child,” the gentle voice of the kind male told her.
“I want everyone… to leave,” the broken woman said haltingly. “I want to be alone.”
“Is that safe?” came a new voice. “We don’t know… ”
“I know,” she whispered in reply. “I will always be safe in this place. Go. Please.”
The hesitant pattering of feet leaving faded away slowly. Whatever the woman was waiting for she clearly wanted to wait alone.
“Are you sure?” a solitary and grief-filled voice asked.
“Yes. I’m sure.”
The quiet was nice and I hoped the woman would be okay. She was so broken and so sad. I wished to comfort her, but I wasn’t really here. My physical and spiritual self was balanced somewhere in limbo. It was tiring, but it simply was what it was. Helping was out of the question as I was set to leave to go somewhere. I didn’t know where, but I knew the time had come for me to depart this plane.
A cool hand touched my face and drops of warm water caressed my lips and chin. The flat voice of the woman wasn’t as lifeless now that she was by herself.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “I’ve prayed constantly that what I’ve done hasn’t caused you pain… but I simply couldn’t let you go. I spent over two hundred years running from you because that’s what I thought was best for you. But I was wrong and stupid. The Angel owed you and I made him pay. What he did was unnatural and he didn’t want to do it, but Pam kept hissing like a snake and eventually he caved.”
The sound of soft sobbing pulled at my heart and again I wanted to comfort this sad woman, but again… I wasn’t really here.
“That’s why I did what I did. Maybe it was selfish, but I found a loophole and I took it. You hadn’t turned to ash yet. I begged on my knees and I’d do it again. The Angel told me there was a fifty percent chance it wouldn’t work—that you would permanently die anyway, but I didn’t care. If there was even a one percent chance of you coming back to me, I would have taken it. It’s okay if you need to go—I’ll let you go,” she said in a choked voice. “But I’ll follow you. This life means nothing to me without you in it. Nothing. I love you, Heathcliff. I will always love you and I’ll be with you soon.”
I heard the swish of what sounded like a wall opening and the clanking of metal. The presence of the woman drew near again and I caught a faint whiff of her scent. It was familiar and made me want to stay even though I knew it was time to go. Maybe I could delay a little while longer. She was kind and strong and smelled so damned good. This Heathcliff was a very lucky man to have her love and devotion.
I’d stayed for such a long time even though there were others that pulled for me. For some unknown reason I was still here. Maybe it was the woman.
The feather light touch of lips on mine soothed me and the thought of leaving was less appealing. Suddenly I longed to kiss the lips that pressed against mine, but I was trapped in a place that held me tight.
“I’ll wait for you to turn to ash and then I’ll take my own life with this sword. It’s a beautiful sword. You would like it. It’s not frilly or girly. It’s a piece I wanted to give you as a gift. I had it made for you over a hundred years ago knowing I’d never give it to you… and sadly I was correct.”
She was quiet for a few moments and then I was aware of a slim hand holding tightly to mine.
“It’s only fitting that I use this sword to kill myself. It feels full circle,” she explained with conviction.
It was lovely that she wanted to die for me. I wondered what I had done to inspire such loyalty.
Wait. What the fuck? She was going to kill herself?
Was I dead? I didn’t feel dead. I mean I couldn’t move or talk or see… but I could hear her. I could smell her. She was mine.
I couldn’t remember her fucking name, but her face was clear and beautiful behind my closed lids—her red hair, her full lips, her soft skin.
Goddamn it, was I dead or not?
“I heard that shit,” a different female voice huffed as I heard her march back into the room. The voice sounded vaguely like one I should know. “He would be furious if you offed your ass after he died saving your sorry butt.”
“I said I wanted to be alone,” the one who was mine snapped.
“And I want world peace and stiletto heels that don’t crunch my fucking toes and give me blisters.”