The sisters enter and signal that it’s time for me to leave. I kiss my girl on the forehead and tell her that I’ll see her soon. She smiles sadly, traces my lips with her fingers, then lays down on the table.
As I walk by Chance, I address her with in a steely tone.
“If she dies, you die.”
*********************
The minute she screams, I run to break the door down and go get her. Jay Glides ahead to me. The screaming coming from the room is far worse than back in the castle because unlike the castle, I’ve actually given permission for her to be tortured.
“Move,” I order him.
“Yo, you need to be cool.”
“You need to get out of my way,” I warn.
She screams again.
“Jay, move!”
“Marcus, if you enter now, you could cause Chance to lose focus and injury Emmy.”
“You could do much worse than injure her,” Rio says.
She screams again. Each time her voice cuts me to my soul.
“She needs me.”
“What she needs is for you to stay out here,” Miku says gently.
Emmy screams again. I put my fist through the opposite wall. The cracks spread down the corridor.
“Marcus, enough, let’s take a walk,” Ameana says.
“No. I’m not leaving her.”
“I’m not asking. I’m telling you,” she says coldly.
“Who are you to command me?”
“I’m the second in charge. And when the first guy in charge is punching walls, I have the right to request we meet in private and discuss the situation.”
“Fine,” I snap. I follow her to the garden. Emmy’s cries get further away but I can still hear her.
“What is it?” I ask her impatiently.
“Is this the way you’re being strong for her, falling apart?”
“You don’t understand—”
“Why? Because I don’t cry every second of the day? Marcus, I know more about hurt and loss than you can even begin to understand. You need to stay focused.”
“What if she doesn’t survive this?”
“You girlfriend has a lot of issues. But she doesn’t give up. She keeps going. She’s like a really annoying rash that won’t go away. No matter how many times you try to get rid of it,” she says almost to herself.
“So you and Emmy will never get along even after everything?”
“No.”
“I get along with Wolf.”
“Please, Wolf gets along with Demons, Sellers, telemarketers…”
I laugh despite myself. Then Emmy does something that Ameana and I both know will cause me to stop the procedure: She calls out for me.
“Marcus, Marcus, help me. Help me!”
Ameana wisely steps in front of me. She’s about to argue but before she speaks, I back down, knowing she’s right.
“Okay,” I relent, pacing up and down the garden.
I run my hands through my hair as if it will make this all go away. Then something happens that’s almost as startling as Rage doing a good deed: My ex-girlfriend reaches out for me.
Her embrace feels warm, welcoming, and familiar. The intoxicating scent of her hair causes my mind to flashback to another time. Back when we used to playfully chase each other across continents. Back when we shared ideas and inner thoughts.
Back when we shared kisses and so much more…
We slowly pull apart from the embrace. But the distance between us is too small for Angels who are just friends. I step back.
“I…I should get inside…” I say apologetically.
“Yeah, okay,” she says.
I rush back to the Temple. Before I can open the door, Ameana calls out to me.
“Marcus?”
“Yeah?”
“Nothing…” she says with a sad smile.
I head back inside where I belong.
**********************
The next few hours are a hell that mankind can’t begin to understand. Finally, I see the sunrise through the windows.
“It’s morning,” I announce, still unable to stop pacing.
“How long has it been since she last cried out?” Rio says.
“It been forty-six minutes and twenty seven seconds” I inform them.
As much as her cries pain me, they let me know she’s alive. So her being silent makes me wonder if something didn’t go horribly wrong.
Miku comes over and rests against me.
“She’s gonna be okay, Marcus. It’s almost over,” she assures me.
“Actually, it’s over,” Rio says.
I ask him if he’s certain and he tells us Emmy’s Wave is reading “relieved.”
I slowly enter the room. Chance tells me it’s okay to come all the way inside.
“How is she?” I ask.
“Weak, but otherwise okay.”