Nasya spun around, as graceful as a dancer, and guided me back to the sand. From there we took a wooded path that opened to a grassy patch.

Uncomfortable silence stretched as we walked down the path until it ended at a round stone slab over the grass. A stone armchair with a high back sat in the center, looking ancient and rough, with symbols carved on its base.

She gestured to the armchair. “Please, my Lord.”

No backing out now. Holding my breath, I sat on the chair. I braced myself for something—a prickling, a jolt, an energy rush—but nothing happened.

I glanced at Nasya. “What now?”

She strutted until she was standing behind the chair. “Now, you relax.”

Easy to say. Relax on a strange island with a woman that had a Soul Oath with Imha, while seated on a prickly chair.

I turned my thoughts to Nadine. This was for her. I could do it for her. I leaned against the back of the chair, rested my arms on the armrests, and closed my eyes.

Nasya’s cool fingertips touched my forehead.

At first nothing happened. Then I felt it. Her power rushing from her fingertips into me, into my mind, prickling and hurting. I gritted my teeth and clutched the arms of the chair as the prickling traveled further into my head. The pain spread, squeezing my mind. I bit my lower lip, and it was all I could do not to scream.

The pain shifted and dizziness took over my senses.

I swayed with it and fell on my knees. I blinked, fighting against the darkness. When my vision focused, I looked around. It couldn’t be …

“What’s this place?” Nasya asked, appearing by my side.

I stood up. “It’s my chambers at the Crystal Castle.”

My crystal bed sat right in the center of the room. Black covers adorned the bed, and black curtains hung from the canopy. On the right a large floor-to-ceiling window led to a crystal balcony, overlooking the bright blue ocean.

By the Everlast, I had forgotten how beautiful this place was.

Startling me, the double door opened and a man paraded inside the room.

“Is that …?” Nasya trailed off.

“Me,” I answered, gaping at my older self. The old me still had my build, my height, my eyes, but his hair was a bit longer, and stubble shadowed his jawline and chin.

Imha followed and threw herself on Mitrus’s back, cackling like a mad woman. “Where do you think you’re going?” she asked, reaching to kiss his neck.

He waved her off, disentangling himself from her. “Not now, Imha. I’m not in the mood.”

She put her hands on her hips. “You’re always in the mood.”

He flopped on the bed, crossing his arms above his head. “Just leave me alone.”

Of course, she didn’t. Imha crawled on the bed, running a finger up Mitrus’s chest. “We need to talk business, dear.”

“Later,” he snarled.

She ignored him again. “Levi and Ceris are impossible. All they want is to wait. Wait for the humans to do what? Destroy themselves while believing in anything but us? That’s so unjust. I want to be there and help them destroy themselves.”

“I want the same as you,” Mitrus said. “I want the humans to know about us, to worship us, to die for us. But we won’t change Levi’s mind easily.”

“Then we make him change.” Her finger stopped moving on the button of his jacket. “We change him.”

Mitrus tilted his head to her. “What?”

But Imha didn’t answer. “Hmm, this would feel better if you were shirtless.”

“Imha …”

She snapped her fingers, for effect of course, and Mitrus’s shirt and jacket were gone. “Now, this is better.” She straddled him, running her nails around his muscles. “Why are you fighting this, dear? You like it.” She dipped into him and licked his nipple.

Groaning, he clasped her wrists before sitting up. “You’re impossible.”

She leaned to him, hovering her lips an inch from his, and whispered, “The way you like it.”

He kissed her, and then flipped her on the bed, trapping her under him.

Disgust and nausea swirled in my stomach, and I shifted my weight, knowing exactly where this was going. By the Everlast, I didn’t want to see this.

“So … you and Imha, huh?” Nasya said. “I heard rumors of her and Omi.”

“She also had affairs with Omi,” I said through gritted teeth. “Can you control this freaking thing?”

Without answering, Nasya took my hand and everything around us became a blur for two seconds, before settling in another place.

We stood to the side of the throne room at the Crystal Castle. Omi was seated on his throne with Imha on his lap; they were kissing as if there was no tomorrow.

“I’m sorry,” Nasya said.

I shook my head. Ugh, good riddance.

Yeah, that was my thought now, but I remembered what I thought then. I glanced to the doorway leading to the private chambers. As Mitrus walked out of the corridor, his gaze found the lovebirds going at it on a throne and he halted. His expression changed from shock to anger, and I could still remember his feelings. Jealousy. Pure jealousy, but not because he loved Imha. He didn’t. He never did. But because he wanted to be the best and the first; he wanted to be everyone’s choice for anything. And right now, Imha was with Omi. She had chosen Omi, and that hurt Mitrus.

He marched back into the corridor, and Nasya took my hand again, changing the picture.

We were still in the Crystal Castle, but it was dark out and soft light emanated from the crystals, creating a comforting place. Levi sat on his throne, and Mitrus paced around the fountain.

“You never listen to me!”

Levi sighed. “I do listen to you, but you forget we are a team. I don’t decide anything, not alone, and neither do you.”

“Then we must talk to the others, decide on something,” Mitrus said. “How many times am I going to have to tell you before you do something? Before you urge the others to do something? The humans are losing their faith. They don’t believe in us anymore; most don’t even know of our existence.”

“I’m well aware of that.”

“Are you? I don’t think you are. Because if you were, you would be doing something about it. Without the human’s belief, our powers will lessen and their precious world will suffer for it. Is that what you want?”

Levi rose to his feet. “Of course not! But we can’t just parade through their cities, expecting them to wrap their heads around the fact that an entire creed of gods and goddess actually exist. Like you said, most of them don’t even know of our existence. That action would cause too much damage, and we can’t afford that.”

Mitrus halted. “What do you suggest, then?”

“I don’t know, brother. I don’t know.”

“You’re losing your touch, Levi. You’re growing weak. Keep this up and soon we’ll be lost forever.”

Mitrus marched out of the throne room, and Levi sunk back on his throne. From another door, Ceris strolled into the room and sat beside Levi, taking his hand in hers.

“We’ll fix this, my love.”

“I know. I just wish Mitrus could see that. I wish he would stop arguing with me and actually help me find a less drastic solution.”

“Maybe you should talk to him again.”

Levi scoffed. “Because that worked well the last three hundred times.”

She leaned forward and kissed his temple. “He’s your brother, love. He’s your best friend, when he’s not acting all righteous.”

“Which is ninety percent of the time.”

Ceris chuckled. “Well, that other ten percent, he’s pretty good at being there for you, isn’t he?”

Before I could hear his answer, Nasya grasped my arm and took us somewhere else.

I froze.

I knew Nasya would want to see everything about me, including my years as a human. I thought I had been prepared for it, but by the way my heart was pounding, I knew I wasn’t.

We were on the back patio of the townhouse where I lived with my human parents in Israel. Little Micah kicked a soccer ball to the high wall surrounding the patio, pretending it was the goal.

“Score!” he yelled, raising his arms to the air. He couldn’t have been older than nine.

My mother walked out onto the patio, and my heart paused. My knees wobbled, and I leaned against one of the high walls.

By the Everlast, how I missed her.

Wearing a long beige dress and a red hijab lowered on her shoulders, she walked to one of the gas lamps hanging from the walls to check it. She hated the darkness in the world and was afraid of the lamps running out of fuel and leaving us—them—in the dark.

“Did you see that, Mom? I scored!”

She smiled a true, wide smile, and my heart squeezed. “I did. It was wonderful.”

“I want to be a soccer player!”

She laughed and approached him, running a hand over the child’s hair. “I know. You say that every day.”

“How old do I have to be to join the country’s team?”

“Older,” my father said, appearing from inside the house. Like my mother, he was smiling at me.

Oh, by the Everlast, this was too much. My heart and my soul couldn’t take it. I underestimated the effect these images would have on me.

From the corner of her eyes, Nasya watched me, her expression deadpan.

“I’ll be older tomorrow!”

“Indeed,” my mother said, leaning down to kiss the top of my head.

My father stopped by her side and put his arm around her shoulders. She leaned into him, and he kissed her cheek.

Meanwhile, little Micah’s attention was back on his soccer ball, and he prepared to kick it again.

My mother turned around, scanning the patio for something, and then I saw it. The necklace around her neck. At home, she wore it over her clothes. When out, she tucked it in. I lifted my hand and pulled the necklace from under my shirt, squeezing it in my palm.

“Does it mean something?” Nasya asked.

My first thought was not to answer her, but she was here judging my past and perhaps any information would help.

“My father gave it to my mother when I was born.”

She leaned closer to look at it. “Odd shape.”

“Not once you see what it actually is. A twisted, closing heart with a smaller heart inside it.” I pointed toward the sides of the bigger heart, closing over the smaller one. “My father said the bigger heart was for their love, and the smaller heart was me. I was surrounded by their love.”

The back of my eyes burned.

Fuck.

I focused on the child, who was cheering a new goal, while my mother and my father clapped at him, encouraging him to do it again. Pride shone in their eyes and their smiles. I felt their pride rushing into me, warming my core.

Without warning, Nasya closed her hand on mine and took us out of there. I opened my mouth to protest, but closed it when I looked around.

Eighteen-year-old Micah was crouched along a wall in a dark alley, a hoodie over his head, shaking like bamboo in the wind.

Pain coursed through my chest. I remembered this moment. It was right after my parents were killed. Right after I killed the men who had killed them. I couldn’t go home, not yet because I would expect to see my parents there and I would break down once I realized they were never coming back.

Micah looked at his hands with disgust. A groan escaped from his throat, and he knelt, bending his torso forward and punching the ground.

The flap of wings echoed through the alley and he shot up, scanning the area.

Rok came into view, slowly approaching Micah, who seemed wary of the bird.

“Shoo,” he said, waving the raven off.

However, Rok was stubborn and kept advancing until he landed on Micah’s shoulder.

“A raven on my shoulder.” He snickered. “That’s random.” Rok, though seemed completely at ease. Micah stared at the bird, and I remembered this part as if it were yesterday. Rok’s name popped in my head, as if I could remember him. “Rok. Hello, I’m Micah.”

Rok cawed, and Micah smiled.

The bird cawed again. And again. And again—the sound becoming more urgent. Then the raven flew up and around him.

“What is it?” he asked, watching as the bird revolved above his head.

“Stupid,” I muttered, watching the entrance of the alley, knowing what came next.

Screams sounded outside the alley, becoming louder with each passing second. Then a girl entered the alley, running and screaming.

“Help!” she yelled.

Micah watched her, paralyzed.

“Help!” she yelled again, running to him.

He looked up, sensing an aura for the first time, not knowing what it was, not understanding what the fuck he was feeling. I looked up too. There wasn’t anything to be seen there, not with how dark the sky was.

The girl kept coming at him, but before she could get too close, a shriek resonated through the air and a giant bat fell over the girl, pinning her to the ground with its sharp talons. It opened its wings wide and bared its teeth into a snarl.

The girl screamed.

I took two steps toward the demon, before remembering I couldn’t do a damn thing here. I turned and saw Micah still frozen in place.

“Wake up, stupid,” I said to myself, as if I could change the past.

The bat lowered its mouth toward the girl’s face, and finally Micah moved. He grabbed a piece of broken wood from the ground and advanced toward the demon, shaking and nervous.

“Get off her!” he said, sounding more confident than he felt—I knew that.

But it was too late. The bat had already sunk its teeth into her shoulder, and its claw tore at her stomach.

Micah took two more careful steps, and the demon stopped ravaging the girl’s body, lifted its head, and stared at him. The demon tilted its head as if it also didn’t understand what it was feeling.

“Get off!” Micah yelled, advancing. “Go away!”

The demon did retreat. I remembered thinking it was because it was afraid of what I could do with my wooden stick. It was only after a few more encounters with them that I realized the demons were actually retreating because of me, though I had no idea why.

Micah swung the wooden stick toward the demon, and it flew away. He looked at the mangled body at his feet and dropped the stick. He fell on his knees and caressed the face of that strange girl.

I crouched beside him, knowing that guilt was eating him alive. Guilt for not having acted faster and saved this girl, and guilt for not having saved his parents. The same guilt that still swam inside of me.

Nasya touched my shoulder, and the world around us changed.

I glanced around, recognizing this place. NYC before the attack that destroyed the city. Nasya and I stood on the sidewalk, one block from NYU’s south gate, two buildings from Nadine’s old apartment.

“What are we looking for?” Nasya asked, also looking around.

I pointed to our right.

Nadine strolled out of the south gate. She clutched her tote tight and looked over her shoulders every few seconds. It was sheer dumb luck that she didn’t see a younger Micah following her.

This had been the first time I saw her, a couple of days before saving her from the demon attack.

When I discovered I could sense auras and repel bats, I sold my parents’ place, put all the money into a bank account, and used it to travel around, searching for auras like mine. I had been in numerous places, but no aura was out of the ordinary, until I stopped in New York and sensed Nadine. I had barely booked a hotel room and bought my Harley Davidson—because I intended to travel the United States with it—when I felt her.

Nadine stopped at the magazine stand beside me and picked up a newspaper. I glanced at it—the cover said something about a volcano, but who cared about that when I could stare at her without looking like a creep?

“That’s the human you want to save,” Nasya said. I didn’t have to answer because Nasya knew. “She’s beautiful.”

Oh, I knew that. Everyone knew that.

This was the moment. The moment everything changed. One, because I had found someone with an aura that resembled mine. Two, because I met the girl who would change me forever.

Nasya took my hand. “Come on,” she said, before changing the picture around us.

I wanted to complain about it because I wanted to look at Nadine some more, but when I saw where she had taken us, I was actually glad.

Micah stood in the middle of a hotel room, wearing only jeans, and Nadine emerged from the bathroom. She stared at him, at his shirtless chest, and her cheeks grew pink. I smiled. Her reaction to me always made me smile.

“Hi, darling,” Micah said.

She stopped in front to the mirror to comb her hair. “It’s not that warm in here.”

“I know.” Micah laughed. “I need your touch and thought being shirtless would make the deal more attractive. Plus, you would want me more.”

She turned to Micah, her mouth open. “Want you more? Are you insane?”

“No.” Micah sat at the edge of the bed near her, his hand shaking. “Could you come here and help me?”

She walked to him and extended her hand. He grabbed her hand and, smiling, he pulled her closer, resting her palm on his chest. As she healed him, Micah closed his eyes and threw his head back, moaning.

Micah opened his eyes and stared at her.

“Are you better?” she asked, her voice quavering.

Nodding, he clasped his free hand around her other wrist and pulled her closer until she was standing between his legs. Still staring at her, Micah rose to his feet, brushing his body to hers. Nadine seemed tense. He leaned into her, but she pulled back a bit.

He put a hand around her neck. “You want this,” he whispered.

“No,” she said, putting her hands on his chest to push him away.

Micah pulled her to him again, leaning down. His lips brushed hers, but a knock on the door made her jump back.

“Take me out of here,” I said to Nasya through gritted teeth. I had forgotten that damn Levi came in and interrupted my good time.

With a party-pooper expression, Nasya grabbed my hand and took us to another place.

We were at Cathedral Rock with Nadine, Levi, Ceris, and me.

Screeches and ruffling of wings sounded overhead.

“By the Everlast, they’re already here.” Ceris turned to Nadine. “Goodbye, Nadine. I hope the Fates don’t treat you well.” She waved her hand toward Levi, and a pink wind enveloped him and her. Then they were gone.

The demons landed around the ledge of Grandmother Rock. Micah helped Nadine stand and stayed beside her.

“What’s happening?” Nasya asked.

“We just found out what we are, and Ceris left with Levi,” I told her, not really in the mood to explain everything.

The demons formed a circle around them, shrieking and growling. Micah held her arm and kept her close.

The creatures moved aside, and Brock stepped into the circle.

“Hello Micah. Hello Nadine.”

Nadine gaped. “You!”

“Yes, me. Am I late? I thought all of your friends would be here too. Where is the third one? All right, let’s change the question. What are you three?”

Micah snorted. “Power Rangers, ever heard of them?”

Nasya shot me an are-you-crazy look and I shrugged, proud of my sarcastic side.

“Amusing.” Brock paced before them. “You see, if you don’t answer to me, I’ll have no option than to take both of you to Lord Omi.” He turned to Nadine, and she shivered. “Will you be a good girl and answer my questions?”

“Never,” she snapped, sounding braver than she was.

Brock shook his head and stepped closer to her.

Micah put himself in front of her and snarled, “Leave her alone.”

Once more, Nasya glanced at me, something like surprise in her eyes.

“I’m afraid we’re going for a ride.” Brock snapped his fingers and the demons advanced.

Micah fought the demons off as best as he could, but there were too many. Soon, he was overpowered, and Nadine was pulled away from him.

“No!” he cried.

I didn’t even feel Nasya’s hand on mine until everything around us shimmered and changed.

The other me paced around the conference room in the shelter in northern Greenland, while Ceris and Levi sat around the table.

“Two days,” Micah said. “Two fucking days since Omi took Nadine. Do you have any idea what they could be doing to her? Oh, by the Everlast. I don’t care. I’m going.”

The other me marched to the door, but Levi stood and spoke. “Calm down, Mitrus. They probably want information, and to get it out of her, she must be alive.”

Micah glared at him. “You mean they must be torturing her.”

Levi averted his eyes.

Ceris stood then. “You can’t march in there, Mitrus. That would be suicide.”

“Do I look like I care?”

The same frustration and powerlessness I felt that day rushed through me, and I leaned against the wall, hating to relive these days.

Nasya glanced at me.

“I care,” Levi said. “We can’t lose you. The creed can’t afford to lose you. We’ll find a way.”

“I have an idea,” Ceris said.

Nasya extended her hand to me, and I took it. The picture shifted. We stood in the shelter’s gym, watching as Nadine and other me made out on the floor.

Lust rippled through my body along with an urge to punch the guy that was touching her right now, even though I knew this was a memory and I was the guy. Oh fuck, I had touched her, I had felt her, I had kissed her, and she had kissed me back; she had touched me back.

Micah thrust into her, and she moaned. By the Everlast, I would lose it right here.

Then when she reached down to his waistband, he pulled away.

“What was that?” Nasya asked. “I thought you loved her.”

“I was trying to stay away from her,” I confessed. “She deserves much better than me.”

She really did. I was a messed up man with a bad past, and I would never be able to make up for everything. She deserved to be with a man who was as perfect as she was.

With a smile, Nasya touched my arm. The gym disappeared, giving away to the cottage on the Croatian island.

The other Micah burst through the door, carrying Nadine in his arms. This was right after the battle in the volcano. Morgan had stabbed Nadine, and she was still bleeding.

Levi gestured to her bedroom. “Lay her on the bed.” Micah did as instructed. “Now, give me space.”

He scooted back but didn’t leave the room. “No, I want to help. I want to—”

“Mitrus.” Levi put his hands over Micah’s shoulders. “You need to calm down, and I need space to work on her.”

Keisha appeared at the door. “Come on, my Lord,” she said, grabbing his arm.

“Levi …”

“I know,” he said. “Don’t worry. She’ll be fine.”

Nasya stepped closer to me and clasped my hand.

“Last stop,” she said as the image changed. We were in the living room of the Croatian island cottage, and Nadine was on the porch, buried under a blanket and hugging Pinky.

The other me spied her through the window, thinking about her birthday gift. She had been so happy about it, and I had been happy to be able to do something nice for her.

“Lord Mitrus, you surprise me with each memory,” Nasya said, smiling.

“What do you mean?”

“While I’m in your head, I’m not only seeing your memories. I can see what you’re thinking too. In the present. While we went through all those memories, I saw them and felt them. I felt whatever you were feeling at that moment, and I was feeling what you were feeling now, while watching it again.”

“Wait. What? Then why were you asking me questions?”

With a knowing smile, she extended her hand to me. “Come on.”

Hesitantly, I took her hand.