10. One Final Gift
“Helena, please, I need you now more than I’ve ever needed anyone. Please come back to me. I implore you.”
I heard him and felt the pull. I had to go to him. I didn’t want him to face whatever it was that would happen — is he certain he’ll be cast out and not die? — alone. I didn’t want him to think I’d abandoned him.
“I’m here,” I said.
I brushed his cheek with my fingers and he twisted his head to kiss my palm.
“How do you know that you won’t just die?”
He sighed. “Because I’ve seen this before, an eternity ago, when the last of the angels fell.”
“There’s really no hope then?”
A single tear rolled down my cheek and I wiped it away with the back of my hand.
“There’s no hope for me, but for you, there is forever.”
“I can’t,” I wailed, and more tears followed th
