The Beckoning of Broken Things (The Beckoning Series) (30 page)

“Mom?” I say, my eyes filling
instantly with tears. “Dad?”

“Yes, it’s us,” my mom says
, but she doesn’t really
say
anything. It’s like I hear her in my head, whispering like an angel.

“We’re so proud of you,” my dad says in the same manner. “We’re here for you. We’ll be with you on your journey.”

“Really?” I blubber like I’m a child. I sound like I’m back at 15 years old, an awkward, shy, happy girl. It’s like I’m the girl I was before they left this world. “Where’s here?”

Mom throws out her arms. “Right here, darling. Wherever you are, we’re a breath away.”

“We love you so much,” my dad chimes in my head.

“Yes, we love you. Let your choices be informed by love
, and you’ll do just fine.”

As quickly as they appeared, they begin to evaporate. “Wait! I have some questions for you!” I call to their disappearing forms. But I’m too late. They’ve already disappeared.

I take a huge, shuddering sigh and wipe my eyes with my shoulders, still clutching Tom and Betty’s hands. They each give me a squeeze.

“And there it is. We’re done!” Crazy Betty says. She envelopes me in her chocolate chip cookie fragrance and warm, bosomy embrace. “Get over here, you old coot,” she says to Tom. “Give our girl here a welcoming hug.”

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Tom says.

He still sounds a little bit choked up. He pats me on the back vigorously.

“That’s my girl,” he says. “There you go. That’s my girl.”

I look up to witness the Numina begin to fade. One by one, they disappear into the ethers until only the Record Keeper, Tom, Betty, Rafe, Daniel, me
, and Sober remain.

The Keeper of Time and Records v5.5.1 places her hand over her heart and gazes at me with infinite wisdom and timeless love. She bows her head and disappears.

Crazy Betty steps back away from me. “This will be so fun! I’m so excited to be your…your…your crazy guide in this journey.”

I bite my lips and smile.

Tom clears his throat. “Well. We’ll be seeing you around. I expect you over real soon to work with Beelzebub. He’s got a surprise for you.”

I groan. “What, I get to watch him take down a cat?”

Tom splutters with laughter. “You’re a funny one, that’s for sure. Nope, I said it’s a surprise, and we wouldn’t want to spoil old Beelzebub’s surprise. He gets a mite puckish when I do that.”

He leans over and kisses my cheek, making me blush like a BBQ pit of glowing briquettes. Betty plants a kiss on my other cheek. She scoops down to pick up her ghost dog, Buddy and waves as the three of them fade into nothingness.

I’m left standing with Daniel on the right of me and Rafe on the left.

“Well?” I say.

“That’s an understatement,” Daniel grouses.

“Oh, get your britches untwisted. If she’s yours, I’m not going to be stupid about it
,” Rafe grumbles. “No, not the big, bad Night Numen who gets all the attention. He always gets what he wants even if it’s through devious means.”

“
Yeah? Well, you were stupid when you fell in love with her.”

“Yeah, well, who soul bound her without asking?”

“Yeah, well who’s going to try to destroy her if he hasn’t had his fix? What kind of love is that?”

As the two men continue to bicker, I affix
the leash to my dog’s collar, and we wander off to start prepping for our adventure. Boys will be boys. I’m sure not looking forward to this journey, but I doubt either of them are either. But wait. Actually, I’m
really
looking forward to this journey. It’s not often you find out you’re a Light Rebel, you still have a mess of skills to discover, and you’re in love with two of the most badass, powerful men on the planet. Betty’s right - this is going to be fun.