Sat in the back of the Jeep with Willa, the tension inside the vehicle was fraught as Orion grilled me non-stop. Willa remained quiet, but her silence spoke volumes. She didn't believe me.
"And just like that, in two days. That thing—demon is just going to hop back into you?" he asked for the fourth time.
"I don't know how many ways you want me to say it Orion—yes." I bit back my irritation.
"Why do I feel you're not telling us everything, Pearl?" He didn't mask his sarcasm.
"Like I already told you. It didn't tell me why. But apparently your brother is a pain in the arse and it wants to return to me." Carmel turned in her seat to look at me, eyes narrowing. "Obviously, I'm more fun to be with. What can I say, it missed me!"
Orion scoffed. "Who knew his stubborn ass would save him one day?"
"If that is the case. Then why wait? " asked Carmel.
Fuck!
I shrugged. "It's a batshit crazy demon." I threw my arms up. "How the hell would I know what goes on inside its fucked up mind."
I folded my arms and stared out the window. This was going to be the longest fucking car ride in history.
After a further ten more minutes of questions, they thankfully left me in peace. It also helped faking my tiredness pretending to fall asleep, but somewhere along the journey home, I did fall asleep, as Willa shook me gently.
"We're home Pearl."
Yawning, I stretched out. I was exhausted, both physically and mentally.
"You want to get something to eat?" asked Willa.
I yawned again. "No, if you don't mind, I want to get some rest." Opening the door stepping out, Willa hugged me before letting me go. I knew all three watched me walk away as I headed inside, making a beeline for Cass's study. Locking the door behind me, I hoped no one would come looking for me. Kicking off my shoes, I lay down.
Right now, I needed to convince myself that I could spend time with my family and not have some sort of mental breakdown. My last two days as me on this earth had to be filled with happy memories for them to remember me.
My chest tightened, the very thought of not seeing them again or watching the twins grow, or meet my nephew was a knife to my heart. "Your doing this for Cass, so he can have a life." He would be free. I would save him.
My eyes fell closed, and I slipped into a dominion of unconsciousness,
'Pearl.'
I was half in, half out of sleep.
'Pearl.'
There it was again; someone was saying my name.
Forcing my eyes open. A shadow above me flickered.
My eyes fully open, I blinked. Was I seeing things?
Apparently not.
Another shadow... more shadows. The light on Cassius's table flickered and then it all blurred, fading, shapes became unrecognisable like someone had poured paint over a canvas smudging out the picture beneath. In its place came new shapes, colours.
Trees, to be exact, and the smell... that rich earthy smell.
I'd been here before.
I was now standing but didn't remember rising from the sofa.
Okay. Calm down. It's just another dream and we've been here before.
Wrapping my arms around myself. I closed my eyes. "Wake up, you're going to open your eyes and be back in the study."
'Pearl'
I'd heard that voice before too.
'Pearl.'
It was Luna, the Moon Goddess. "Hello?"
I turned full circle as voices, different ones, all spoke at once.
'The one,' a voice said.
'Death!' another one said, a male voice with an accent I didn't recognise.
'Harbourer of souls.'
"Whoever is here, please show yourselves."
'Pearl.' Her voice, ethereal, drowned out all the other voices. Something soft touched my cheek. 'It is time Pearl.'
Time?
A light, shimmering, almost pearlescent and not one... but many. The voices came from these shimmering beings of light, but I saw no features or discernible outline of bodies... only light.
I spun around. More shimmering light. "Why can't I see you?" She'd appeared to me before. So why not now? I felt a tingle of heat trail from one shoulder to the as if someone ran a finger over my skin. The breeze forced the trees to sway, but as before, there was no rustling of leaves.
'I'm in the veil between realms, you cannot see me but you can hear me as I can hear you.'
"Okay." Weird, but whatever. "What do you want to speak to me about?" Did she already know the deal I'd made with a demon?
'We all have to make choices, Pearl.'
Silence.
Where was she going with this? If she was talking about my choice to save my mate. Then that wasn't a choice.
'Sacrifice.' A whisper in my ear, a brush of air.
Sacrifice. That was a popular word today. And she'd said this to me before. It begged the question. "What do you want me to sacrifice? I don't understand." I twirled around, whispers from different locations.
'The Jinn must be destroyed.' All the other voices spoke as one.
No shit. "Do you know a way I can kill the Jinn?" Her hitching a ride was out the question, but maybe she had another idea.
A swell of hope stirred inside me. She was a goddess, surely she could help.
Something shimmered and a head of long white hair came into view... then it vanished.
'What do all your fables of old tell you, my child?'
Fables—what the fuck was she going on about? "You mean fairytales, stories?"
'What do they teach?' she repeated.
I'd never been into stories, even as a kid. "I don't know." I shook my head, racking my brain. "Good and evil. Choose the right path. Say no to drugs kids?" I threw my hands up. "Never give up?" I was randomly guessing.
'They tell of determination, resolve and sacrifice.'
They did? Okay. "Again, how does this help destroy the Jinn?" I wanted to skip past the chit-chat and get to the good part.
'What would you do to save your world?'
Save the world? Wow, that was on another level.
I knew I'd do anything to save Cassius, as a life without him would be no life at all. I couldn't go back to before, a life where we didn't know each other. But could I give him up to save him? "I'm not willing to end Cassius's life, if that's the sort of sacrifice you mean. We have to find another way." My voice trembled.
'Would you sacrifice yourself?'
There was no hesitation on my part. "Yes, my life for his."
Everything hushed, radio silence. "Did you hear me?" No reply. "Can you help me?"
'It is agreed. Your life for his. That is your choice.'
I resisted a grumble. No matter if I made a deal with a demon or a goddess—the end result was my life. But if it freed Cass and destroyed the Jinn, then this was the better deal. "Will me dying kill this Jinn demon creature?"
'Seek your Elders, young Pearl. I have shown them what must be done.'
What? That wasn't an answer.
The shimmering lights faded... as the trees and smells evaporated into nothingness.
I was back in Cassius's study.
Stripping, I opened the doors and shifted.
.~ ~
The Elders were already waiting outside for me with clothing. "Come inside, young Pearl." She smiled, but there was no mistaking the gloom in her eyes.
Dragging the t-shirt on, I followed.
Freezing in the doorway, Seth rose from his seat at the table. "Pearl."
"Seth?" This was a surprise. "What are you doing here?"
His face was painted with the same gloomy look as the Elders. "The Elders sent for me." He pointed to the chair. "Please sit."
Shivering, Olive closed the door and nudged me. Oh sit, yeah. Seth pulled out the chair, and I sat, squeezing my bare thighs tightly together for warmth. Ester placed a blanket over my shoulders. "Thanks," I muttered.
Seth didn't sit, he walked over to the fireplace, placing his large hand on the surround.
Why wasn't one of them talking? "Someone wants to tell me what they know?"
Elder Ester nodded. "Olive and I walked the Soul Path."
"Okay... and?" Her words came to mind. The ones she uttered when I sat in this same seat. "You told me that I would need to leave Cassius to save him. Did you see this coming?"
Ester shook her head. "I—we" she looked at Elder Olive. "We see glimpses of futures. But as with the weather, nothing is set in stone."
"I saw Luna again, tonight." Esters eyes locked with Olives. "Or at least I think I did. She told me my life for his and somehow I could destroy the Jinn, or maybe she'll destroy it. I'm hazy on the details." I tried to remember her exact words. "She was a little cryptic. Said you knew what to do."
"Sacrifice." Both Ester and Olive said.
"Yeah, she already told me that."
Ester shook her head. "Sacrifice is the one power that we all have within us that even the gods themselves recognise." She sighed. "Its as old as time itself."
Again, with the cryptic. Could no one speak plain english? "But how will my sacrifice kill the Jinn?"
Ester rose from the table, returning a few moments later with a box. Placing it in front of me, she opened to reveal a dagger. I gulped. "This blade is both cursed and blessed by the gods." she picked it up. "Its forged in the in void between what we know as heaven and hell, where there is no night or day—just the essence of all magic."
The bladed hummed in her hand. "You hear that?"
She nodded putting it back in the box, covering it.
"And what? Do I have to stab the Jinn with it?" That made no sense. It didn't have a body... but if I gave it my free will, then it would have my body. Gulping. "I have to stab myself?" I said more to myself.
"No!" said Seth. My head shot in his direction. His fingers gripping the fireplace.
It dawned, the pieces falling into place. Seth was here because I would need someone to stab me. He was the one they'd asked to carry out that fun task.
I took a breath. How would this work? The Jinn was powerful, and I was this soul box thing—Pandora's box. Could this tiny blade really kill me... kill it?
Ester read my mind. "You underestimate the power of what you do, your sacrifice." She looked at Seth and then back to me. "You are dying to save another, give your life for theirs. Love is worth more than a thousand blades."
I would have to trust them and this little dagger. Whichever way this played out. My life ended. Either with the Jinn taking control and being reborn through me, or I died taking the Jinn out at the same time.
Save my Mate. Save the World.
Ester nodded and took my hand. "I'm so sorry Pearl."
Attempting a smile. "Hey, it's not every day you get to save the world and the one you love most, right?"
Turning back to Seth, He looked how I felt. "There won't be a lot of time. You cannot hesitate." I didn't know how I knew this, but I needed him to understand the importance of his role in this.
"And what if it doesn't work?" He looked past me to Ester. "Pearl dies needlessly and the Jinn—Demon, whatever it is— is freed into the world?" It clearly frustrated him, wiping perspiration from his brow. "And when the Alpha sees what we've done. Killed his mate! It will send him insane. You understand that, right?"
"This is the way it has to be," said Ester, sadly.
"It will not fail." I said with confidence. "The Jinn will possess me and you will stab me. I will die. Job done." I took a breath. "Cassius won't understand at first. But you must make him listen." I knew it would be hard on him. But in time, he would heal and hopefully find a new mate.
"Understand, none of us will live long enough to help him understand. He will kill me first and then come for you." He pointed to the Elders.
"We will deal with the Alpha."
Panic shot through me like a bullet to the heart. "You won't hurt him?" I wasn't going to sacrifice myself for them to put him down like some rabid dog.
"No Pearl, the Alpha will not be harmed. But we may need to subdue him for a while."
Phew, okay. I could handle that. It would give him time to calm.
I had an idea. I would write him a letter. Tell him everything I would never get the chance to say to him.
"I don't like this," repeated Seth. "He would not want you to sacrifice yourself for him."
"Dying isn't something I want either, but we have no choice, Seth. The Jinn is evil, and it was my fault it got free." I wasn't sure this was true. "Therefore, it's my job to put it right." His eyes darkened. "I won't allow Cassius to suffer a moment longer. You should have seen him, Seth."
My heart squeezed.
Thick, heavy silence filled the room. I couldn't do this without his help. "Help me put this right and save my mate. Your Alpha."
He winced. I knew his duty was to his Alpha. "I don't like this—any of it. What if we're wrong about this... all of this?"
And I did like it—Hell no! I didn't want to die. But shit happens. I forced a smile. "Trust me Seth."
His jaw clenched, but a swift nod of his head told me he was aboard the crazy train.
~ ~
Arriving back in Cassius' study. There was a knock on the door. I walked and opened to find Hunter glaring at me.
"Where the fuck have you been? Everyone's been looking for you, yeah." He looked me over, his face clearly pissed off with me. "Sage was worried."
"Sorry, Elder business. Come in."
He followed me inside. "Orion told us you talked the Jinn into returning to your body?"
I plastered on a fake smile. "Yes." I said with absolute conviction. "Everything will be back to how it was."
One eyebrow raised. "Just like that?" He rubbed his hand across his chin, his eyes studying me. "I know bullshit when I hear it, Pearl."
I sighed. "Look, all you need to know is Cassius will return unharmed."
He gave me that look, like he could see right inside my head.
"Pinkie-promise. You or anyone else doesn't have to worry. I got this handled."
He shook his head, breathing heavily through his nose. "You're not going to tell me, are you?"
"Nothing to tell. Tomorrow night, this will all have gone away."
Hunter's eyes narrowed. "Yeah, you said. Everything will be back to how it was." He scoffed. "If I find out you're lying Pearl—I won't hesitate to put you over my knee and spank the shit out of you, yeah?"
I barked out a laugh. "Kinky!" He rolled his eyes, but a small smile played on his lips. "Seriously, save your spankings for Sage. There is no way you're getting me over your knee, sunshine."
A full smile tugged his mouth.
Change of subject. "I'm hungry. Let's find Sage and the kids." I nodded, hoping that would be the end of his grilling.