“This black liquid is called a Cob. It’s a pop-up hideaway. Just drip a few drops on the ground and a camouflaged cave springs up. It holds up to ten beings. This is one of my best sellers. Demons use it to hid from well…you guys.”
Tony drops a few drops on the ground and instantly a large cave pops ups. I am assured that just like the map in my eyes, the only reason I can see the tent is because I know it’s there. We enter and are surprised to find how vast it is.
Tony tells us it can also block sound from reaching the outside. He says we can stay here for a few hours. But he warns us to be careful and remember that we can be seen once we leave the confines of the Cob.
“Us food-dependent beings have to stick together,” Tony says, handing me a granola bar. Like humans, Sellers do in fact need to eat in order to live. I thank him and unwrap it.
Looking around the cave, everyone looks worried and tired. It then occurs to me that even with Wolf here, the Angels are exposed to an unusual amount of darkness. It does make them weaker much faster.
A few feet away from me I can hear Jay swearing to Isabelle that he will do whatever it takes to find out how she “rigged” the Truth stones. She replies that he may need to join some kind of twelve-step program so he can gain control over his flirting “addiction.”
Across the cave from Isabelle and Jay are Ameana and Wolf. I can’t hear what he has said to her but she laughs. It was so spontaneous, it even surprised her. She looks up at him but breaks the connection abruptly. At the end of the cave, the Twins look still and peaceful laying down on the floor recharging.
It takes a few minutes but finally everyone in the cave is resting. Well, that is of course except for Marcus. Since I confessed to wanting to kill myself a few hours ago, Marcus has been trying to find every possible way to avoid talking to me.
“You okay?” I ask quietly.
“Fine. Sleep,” he says in his First Guardian voice. I hate when he takes that tone with me. It means I’ve really pissed him off.
“You don’t seem okay,” I say gently.
“Well, I am,” he snaps. He heads out of the Cob. I follow.
“What are you doing? Get back in there,” he whispers, careful not to wake the others.
“I came because you’re mad and I thought we should talk.”
“Talk about what?”
“You know what.”
“Oh, you mean about how you were planning on ending your life?”
“Yes.”
“Why? It’s no big deal. In fact, that sounds like a great idea.”
“Don’t be like that Marcus?”
“Tell me, how were you planning on doing it?”
“I don’t want to do this with you.”
“Tell me, how you were planning to do it?”
“What does it matter now? I changed my mind.”
“The point is you were going to do it.”
“Yes, okay? I was. My mother was brutally murdered in our own home. She was everything I had. So, yes, I was going to take my life. I’m sorry if I’m not as strong as Marcus Cane.”
“You really don’t understand what is it you have, do you?”
“What are you talking about?”
“You’re alive. Do you know how many of us Guardians would give up our wings if it meant that we get to live again?”
“Look I—”
“How dare you even think about taking your life? What kind of heartless little girl are you?”
“I am not a little girl and you need to watch how you talk to me!”
“Oh, so I can’t raise my voice to you but you can end your life?”
“I am not gonna do it anymore, so what’s the problem?”
“The problem is you’re selfish. You have everyone’s love: the team, The Sage, Ben, your uncle and me. And you were just going to leave us? You were going to leave me?
”
His tone is so wounded, it cuts through me. I lean in close and brush the side of his face with my fingers.
“I’m sorry.”
“You have only one job as a human: Hold on. That’s it. When life gets terrifying, cruel and unbearable, hold on. Death will come soon enough.”
“I know.”
“NO, Emmy. You don’t know. I died. I died
. And what no one tells you when you’re human is this: So long as there is breath in your body, nothing is that bad. Nothing. You must remember that.”
“Okay.”
“Promise me.”
“I promise.”
Marcus pulls me in to kiss me but instead he throws me to the ground. Confused, I look up and see a massive fire spring up where I stood just moments ago.
The air is filled with Fire Swans. The only way to make them out is by the stream of fire they are hurling at us from above. Marcus calls on the team and everyone rushes out to us.