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Aiden struggles with his binds, trying to get to me, and yelling my name repeatedly. But it’s too late. Pain rips through my chest, but not from the gun. It’s from the thought that Aiden will be alone again.
With my last breath I look into his tear-filled eyes and whisper, “I love—” Before I can finish, the world goes black.
27
PLAN B
NOT THAT ONE
Aiden
“No!” I hear Director Taevian yell out. Pain is etched in that one word. Pain that only a father who has lost his daughter twice can feel. Once before she was born, and now again. But this time, there won’t be a third.
For me, it is different. Every single emotion—rage, hurt, shock, pain—explodes inside of me. I couldn’t do anything. I can’t breathe. I can’t move. I can’t make a fucking sound.
The woman I adore, the woman I worship, the woman I fell in love with—
I just watched her die.
No.
This is beyond death. She didn’t die. There’s no Heaven or Hell for her. No reincarnation. Her soul was destroyed. I watched her get hit. Watched as she fell back. As she disappeared. I didn’t do a single thing. I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t protect her. I heard her that one night when she laid on my chest and told me that when she was with me, she felt safe. I let her down.
I haven’t even reacted yet and I won’t. There’s nothing to react to. It’s over for me. It was over the minute she disappeared. Destroying that bitch who took Joyce wouldn’t be enough. This place can burn for all I care. It could crumble to a million pieces, and it wouldn’t be enough.
I want to take the weapon and shoot myself with it, but it won’t work on me. It only works on non-reaper souls. For me, it would just cause eternal soul-wrenching pain.
I can’t even fucking follow after her.
My chest tightens, making every breath hurt worse than the last one. If I could die from suffocation, I would. I would accept it with a smile, too, because it would mean I wouldn’t have to exist another second without my Joy.
Director Young looks at the gun in her hand, then to where Joyce just was, and yells, “No! Fucking hell! That bitch ruined my plan.” She aggressively taps her head with the gun and starts to pace, mumbling to herself about what she’s going to do.
I look towards Taevian and see his head bowed and shoulders shaking. His daughter, who he just got back, the daughter who he fought to be able to love, is gone.
Director Young stops pacing and looks at us. Her face set in determination. How is she so cold to the fact that she just destroyed someone? By taking away Joyce, she destroyed us as well.
“Well boys. Plan B.” She walks over to Taevian and lifts his head up using his chin. “Since your daughter decided to ruin my plan, I’ll probably have to delay my ascension for a couple of years. However, to ensure you are kept quiet, you will be taking the blame for all the disturbances at Eden. I will have my reapers plant all the evidence to show it was you. With all the evidence pointed against you, no one will believe a word you say.” Taevian doesn’t reply. His eyes are void of any emotions.
She walks over to me, running her hand through my hair. “I can make you forget about her,” she whispers as she smiles wickedly at me.
I look up at her, my lips curling in disgust. “Get your fucking hands off of me.” I yank my head away from her.
She snatches her hand away. “Fine. I already had other plans for you anyways.” Mac walks into the room. That fucking traitor. He is part of the reason Joyce is gone.
She commands, “Take Aiden to Hell and lock him up. You’ll be there, well, forever. My access enables me with the ability to tuck you away in a corner of Hell to never be found again. Can’t have you running your mouth about my plans.”
Mac walks up to him with sad eyes. “I’m sorry about Jo—”
“Don’t you fucking say her name,” I growl. “When I find a way out of Hell—and trust me, I will—I’m going to find you and make you wish reapers could die again. That’s not a threat. It’s a fucking vow.”
“Aiden—”
“Stop talking to the prisoner and take him to Hell!” Director Young yells. He obeys her, cutting my binds, and grabs me from the chair. Mac guides me to a door to the Hell department I’ve never seen before, our journey here a blur. One of the reapers who works for the department lets us in. Well, there goes another reaper who turned evil.
They drag me through the door and keep their promise of throwing me in the corner of Hell.
My Hell?
