Fate's Revenge (Twisted Fate, Book 4)

Chapter Six

"I didn't know."

"Yeah? Well, you know what happens to angels when Darkness is ejected from them. The Glory that doesn't diminish isn't enough to help them heal because they are disconnected from Him. When you healed Tyler, whatever you gave him kept him going, slowly restoring him to what he'd been before Darkness found him."

"So, when he helped me..." I sighed, slowly letting out my breath as I nodded, and realization dawned. "Then the witches tapped into the Dark Souls. Tyler was weak because he'd given away what had been helping him."

"Wanna ask why I'm mad again?" She looked down to the floor.

Seriously? I crossed my arms and shifted my weight. When she met my gaze, I said, "I was dying, Justine. You didn't see it because Marcus only let the Dark Souls that he expected me to help into my room. I told him that I would come back and help when I recuperated enough to do so without risking death."

"I visited you while you were sleeping a few times," she said and looked to her right.

"Then you already know why I had to leave, so why are you mad?"

"First, I didn't know how bad you were. You were asleep." She darted her gaze back to me and raised one finger, and then flicked a second up. "Second, you have a life to spare as the only one of us still alive. Tyler doesn't."

"I wasn't aware of what he did for me until after it was done. My afterlife"—I made finger quotes in the air between us— "isn't guaranteed. I could have one, sure, but what if I don't? Hmm? What if, because I'm the first, my purpose remains with the living and if I die, I've failed? What would happen to the Dark and Pure Souls then? I don't think my life means more than Tyler's, but it may mean everything to all of yours."

"Don't you care about him at all? I can't believe you're our leader."

"And I can't believe you're forgetting why I am!"

Being proven wrong was one thing, but to stand around and be insulted? Unacceptable. Justine might be the one who the Dark Souls trailed after, but I wasn't just another student, and I'd put up with way too much to get to where I was now to listen to that. Knowing about Suzie and Mike alone was enough to put me in a foul mood, and this... tantrum was more than I was willing to put up with. When had babysitting become a part of what I was meant to do?

"Oh, whatever. You're the first. Who cares?"

I stared at her and tried to catch my breath, trying to count to ten before I said something that I would eventually regret. She was like a sullen child without her favourite toy, sulking with her arms crossed and refusing to meet my gaze because she knew she was being completely inappropriate. How had she ever masked this snotty attitude behind what I'd thought to be innocence? Sweet? Bah! If I ever figured out how to really use my abilities outside of the Mortal Realm, I'd love to show all the Dark and Pure Souls exactly why I was their leader, the only one who possessed magic. As if my light and the fact that I fuelled them wasn't enough.

"Okay, seriously? I don't know what crawled up your butt and broke ground while I was away but helping all of you while disconnected from my body was killing me. Tyler chose to help me because that helps all of you. Do you get it?"

"I—"

"No, Justine. Whether you understand this or not, I am telling you to grow up and respect it. I didn't make the decision to leave lightly—I hated that I had to go. But I was running out of time. Deryk and Tyler knew it, and even Renalda had told them to make sure I was returned to my body right away because without my soul, it was deteriorating. I mean, I woke up with blue skin! If that doesn't tell you that something was wrong with me being gone, then I have no clue what you want me to say."