Chapter 3

“I'm not allowed to do anything for anyone anymore,” he said under his breath. He then let out a deep, irritated sigh because he had to say it out loud. “No matter how much I wish it weren't true.” His expression shifted briefly as he continued, “The moment Stephen died, my people became completely dependent on me alone since nobody knows what I've been through or what's waiting ahead of us. Nobody except for you!” He jerked his head and saw her eyes with tears: “You have to trust me, baby girl—because this is the truth! You're still naïve and sheltered; you don't know any better because you haven't lived life the way I have. But if you were going to learn something about me before our relationship was doomed to fail, then I hope it's this one lesson.”

“Love can be dangerous if you care too much,” he said, his voice breaking like a broken heart.

Amelia told Gabriel he couldn't say anything else, especially after she found out he wasn't sharing all his personal information with her yet. She really wanted to believe what he had already told her about himself and did not want to hear anything else, but her heart told her not to. There were still a lot of things she should have known about the new guy in her life. Up until now, nothing seemed impossible for them to overcome. But despite having problems and arguments along the way, they were able to get through every tough time together. While they worked to fix up Silverwood over the next few weeks, Amelia longed desperately for their relationship to work out before it all fell apart. If only she could tell him that instead of letting her fear stop her, but she just couldn't find the words.

“Anyway, it's not important anymore,” she said in a strange voice. “Everything ends eventually, no matter how hard you fight against fate.”

For once, Gabriel closed his eyes tightly when he heard someone else say something so painful. Without being able to stop himself, he knew he shouldn't have let her see how he felt in this way. The thought of never seeing or touching her again hurt too much for him to bear after everything that had happened in the past week. Being separated from her for all time by a wall of lies hurt too much. “No matter how hard I try, I can't stop loving you, Amelia. You're my reason for living. But we need to put these feelings aside because they're tearing us apart so that we can save the rest of our people,” he whispered. His pain was getting worse as he tried not to cry.

For some reason, Amelia still felt the same way about him, so the words broke her heart. Since the first time they met on Earth, they had been soul-bound and unable to be apart. Why was it now impossible for them to be together? Sharing private information with each other had made their relationship stronger, but now nothing made sense because love should have been the answer all along. When Gabriel said what she knew had to happen next, she looked up into his sad eyes and felt pain grow inside her:

There would be nothing between us after this is over. Don't look back.” His voice broke for a moment, then came back. “Just forget you ever loved me... just leave everything behind.”

Amelia wouldn't believe that he meant what he said until he turned towards the portal and unlocked the door to Silverwood. After that, he told her to follow him:

“It's better this way! Our people will understand in time!”

He was correct. There would never be another chance like this again, as long as a mage like Amelia lived outside the Dark City's walls. This meant that once they got to Earth, everything would end. It looked like Gabriel had to leave Amelia behind, but now that he knew how she would react to such a disaster, he could not do it. Gabriel promised himself that he would never let anyone get close enough to care about him. By the time they got back to Silverwood that night, he was too tired to help anyone else get inside before they took turns sleeping alone. They lay there together in silence, not saying a word, and a memory of a time when their lives were in danger faded away.

When Amelia woke up in the morning by herself, she tried to tell herself that Gabriel would come back in thirty minutes. But then she remembered how Gabriel had told the group to break up the day before. Because he hadn't told his sister or brother about their connection, only Amelia knew the truth. They had to deal with the consequences. She wasn't allowed to make any mistakes, but there wouldn't be time for anyone else to get used to a new world between when they got to Earth and Stephen's death. She shouldn't even try to build a future for herself when everything could fall apart in days or months. A tiny group of people on Earth knew what was going on around her.

She had been sitting under Silverwood by herself in the dark for several hours, listening to the rain hit the leaves overhead over and over again. This morning, her head felt clearer than usual. With sadness on her face, Amelia looked up at the sky and wondered if they would ever get to see each other again. The sky was getting darker by the second. She thought about the past and how Gabriel's power was different from hers the first time she saw him:

He asked her seriously, “I know you have the gift, so don't tell me you're one of those mages like my family.” She told him, “My mother never approved because she wanted more for me—something I wasn't willing to give her.” His eyes burned with silver flames, making him look dangerous. My father did everything he could to tell us the truth about our abilities, but we chose to follow our hearts instead. “If only things had gone differently,” he said, “maybe my mother would still be alive today because she worked so hard to hide it from everyone else. She thought I couldn't survive without your help, so she gave her life to keep my secret.”

“Do you get that now?” Gabriel asked as he reached down to brush her cheek lightly.

Amelia was shocked as he went on. She didn't say anything else, but what she was thinking confirmed what she already knew deep down: Gabriel had always known that she loved Stephen more than anything else, and that he would also give up his life for her if he had the chance. But she also saw hope in his heart-shaped eyes that shone brighter than any light or candle. She knew that there was a way for them to stay together, even if it was just by seeing each other once a year while they were still on Earth. When she noticed how special their relationship really was, she felt like her whole body was shaking with happiness.

And they were soul-bound. No matter what happened in the weeks that followed, they would always belong to each other, and they could live without anyone else. No matter how bad things looked for them right now, Amelia chose to take each day as it came because she thought that things would work out in the end, even with everything they had to deal with tonight. She couldn't stop thinking about the chance to hold him again instead of just picturing his warm breath on her neck at night:

“We'll find a way,” she told herself, and looked up at the sky with longing. “And then we'll love each other forever.”

While Gabriel was hunting in the woods early one morning, just after dawn, she got home and her mind went back to earlier times, even though she knew the sun wouldn't rise for another few hours. He moved quickly through Silverwood and got close to the tree line to get a better look at Amelia. She was sitting under a nearby tree, watching everyone who had come to stay the night. He used the chance to tightly wrap his lover's arms around him in the hopes that they would finally get to spend more time together before everything fell apart like a sky full of lightning bolts. However, neither of them had expected what would happen. She opened her arms and gave him a small smile, but she didn't say anything.

Amelia woke up by herself with a gasp that was loud enough to wake up Stephen's ghost and everyone else sleeping close in Silverwood. She turned her head to look at the stars and saw the silvery moon hanging above them, as if it were waiting for something in the dark that she couldn't see. That's when she felt Gabriel under the tree and heard his voice telling her not to move. He put a strong arm around her waist and kissed her softly on the head. He quickly told her, “Stay right where you are because I won't be long.” His warm breath tickled her ear.

She didn't answer right away because she knew Gabriel would make her cry by telling her what had to happen next and that they were no longer together. She also knew that Gabriel would never come back after they went to Silverwood to deal with Stephen's death without even saying goodbye. He reluctantly moved away, though, so he could get a good look at her eyes before she could say anything or promise anything:

“I'm going to do this tonight...” “But please understand that nothing will change unless we save our people first!” he said, his voice shaking with anger. He held her hand tightly, and his face turned dark. “If it's the last thing I ever do... let me know how much you really care about me before my life is taken away from us forever,” he said.

He had only ever told her about these fears, so what he said sent a sharp pain through Amelia's heart and into her soul. Even though the chances were against them, she felt a little bit of hope as she thought about all the reasons why this might not end yet. She still remembered every moment they had spent together when they met on Earth for the first time. Her mind was racing faster than the wind because of an unknown force that took over her body and made her believe in their love no matter what:

If Amelia had known that was the last time they would see each other before everything went wrong, she would have stood next to him and done nothing until he got back safely in the morning. Gabriel left her standing still under the silver moon, with a pain in her chest that was worse than anything she had ever felt. Amelia's heart broke right away, and she was left heartbroken. As dawn crept across the sky, the Dark City looked so far away. She knew she had been wrong for not doing more to save St47, and at this point, she only wanted to die because the world fell apart when he died without her saying goodbye or hearing his last words of love:

“Amelia...” Gabriel's voice kept going through her mind as he walked alone towards Silverwood, telling her of the things he needed to do before Stephen could finally fall asleep. “I'm sorry I can't take you with me.” When Amelia thought back to how Stephen had said something similar right before they met a year ago, the last memory of how their lives were in danger came back to her. What was wrong with them that they couldn't stop what was going to happen? They were never supposed to lose each other's hearts before their soul bond was strong enough to handle an unknown future.

When Gabriel finally got home, he found everyone sleeping soundly under the tree where he had left Amelia. The moment went by too fast, even though Gabriel knew it would not affect their futures. Stephen's body could not be buried anywhere else, so he made sure everyone was safe while they slept for a few weeks. Stephen's body was finally buried deep inside Silverwood.

Somewhere hidden inside Silverwood, since there wasn't anywhere else left to bury him.