Fate's Revenge (Twisted Fate, Book 4)

Chapter Four

"You're going back?" she asked, lowering her hand. "How? Why?"

"I need answers." I shrugged. It was as simple as I could make it. The fact that going back allowed me to avoid the bad that I had awoken to find was an attractive side effect. "We all do."

"But—"

"I know it sounds crazy, Sera, but I'm the only one who can do it. I can't explain yet, but I need you to trust me, okay?" I looked between them. "Can I trust you not to say anything? If it helps, just think of it as though I am one of the groups in the library, only I am the only one who is able to research this particular subject because of the abilities that only I am capable of using."

They looked at each other and then back to me.

I tried to smile, hoping that would somehow help.

Finally, Sera dipped her head in agreement. As expected, Keston nodded along with her. He didn't believe it, though, and I knew it wouldn't be long before their minds were changed once he voiced his concerns. During their meeting with the Brothers, my recovery would be revealed. Maybe they'd wait until the end or maybe Sera would successfully be able to force Keston to keep quiet until they told me they'd changed their minds. Either way, my secrecy would be short-lived, I knew.

Still, the sooner they left, the quicker I could escape.

Coming back again after talking with Tyler was going to suck, but I would need my body. I would have to deal with my choices later. I hoped that the time difference between Glory Academy and Hell's Fire would allow me the chance to get there and back before my deception was noticed or someone tried to wake me up.

Since an hour was a day in the Mortal Realm, which is how time also passed in Hell's Fire, I might be able to make it work.

It seemed to be my new mantra, as much as reality would allow. Why deal with problems now when they could fester and bite you in the butt later? Not without having learned a lesson first, of course, but nothing was ever perfect. More likely than not, this problem would seem tiny compared to whatever awaited my return, anyway. That was the reality of my karma.

"So, you two are what? In love?" I asked, shaking my head, and tried to change the subject. "Why do you have to see the Brothers?"

Again, they looked at each other, pausing, and then Sera said, "We are. We want to be together, but we aren't allowed."

"What?" I thought that rule only applied to angels, though after catching Mike and Suzie together, I had come to suspect that it only applied to me. "Why? And what do the Brothers have to do with it? They can't stop you."

"We have the same rules as angels, Aly," Keston said and pulled Sera to his side as though he needed to be touching her while he talked about how they were breaking the rules in case someone tried to snatch her away. "The Pure Souls have placement tests to determine what our eventual duties will be—watchers, guardians, warriors, whatever." He waved his free hand through the air and sighed. "We didn't score the same."

"So, you can be together if you placed the same?"

"No," Sera said, and looked down as she kicked the floor.

"If we placed together, we might've been able to see each other after graduation, though that isn't guaranteed. We could have tried keeping it a secret." Keston shrugged. "Placing differently means we won't ever see each other again."

"At all." Sera nodded gravely and covered Keston's hand resting on her hip.

The anger I was already feeling towards the Brothers multiplied and my heart broke to see their turmoil. Who do the Brothers think they are? The Pure Souls were supposed to be my domain, not theirs. Why were they enforcing rules I hadn't even been told existed? It was one thing to stop me from dating, but them? They were kids.