Fate's Revenge (Twisted Fate, Book 4)

By Sasha Leigh

After giving her life and sacrificing her safety, the betrayal Alyssa Frank finds waiting for her when she returns to Glory Academy is too much to bear. Now, determined to find out what she's at the centre of, Alyssa once again puts her safety aside and enters the Void in search of the Sisters of Fate.

Is she ready to learn the truth?

Finding deception all around and danger in every corner, she pushes forward and discovers that what she wants to know has the capability to tear her world her world apart. Will Alyssa sacrifice herself and the love she has for David to do the right thing, or will she deny the role she was destined to fill?

No matter what she decides, everything is about to change.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sasha Leigh
• Release date: Dec 2, 2018
• ISBN: 9780463186084

Sasha Leigh

Sasha Leigh is a self-diagnosed dreamer. When she isn't stuck in worlds of her own making, listening to characters squabble for attention in her head, she's immersed in stories created by others. A lover of all things "weird", Sasha's world is considered complete when she has her daughter at her side, her sketchpad, notebook, and something to write with - even if it's just a piece of chalk. Working by day in the insurance industry, she spends her evenings and weekends devouring or writing new tales of magic, mythology, and all things supernatural (except dragons).

Book preview

PROLOGUE

Dark and light.

Good and evil.

Heaven.

Hell.

A few weeks ago, this seemed like either-or, black or white. It isn’t. Heaven has a new generation of angels: the Pure Souls. They are humans who die as teenagers and begin an afterlife enrolled at Glory Academy, Heaven’s school run by angels to teach them to be angels. Each Pure Soul was born with a portion of purity—from me. The light that had been born with my conception was too strong. The outer layer fractured to land in new souls disproportionately, small and large. Some souls don’t have enough purity. They are the Dark Souls—Heaven’s rejects, if you will—and attend Hell’s Fire, Glory Academy’s counterpart just outside of Hell.

They all exist because of me, live through my light instead of Heaven’s Glory, and expect me to lead them. To what, I don’t know. Against Darkness? Against each other? Realizing their existence was like becoming a mother without having to endure the labours of childbirth. How was I supposed to choose which group to lead? Meeting both groups didn’t help. Dark didn’t mean bad and light didn’t equal truth. Death, which I’d experienced three times before the boy I loved died so I could live, was easier. But even then, love was the simplest of all the mysteries I’d found myself at the center of.

That’s where I thought my answers would be when this started—after I got my memory back. The boy I loved was an angel—a Brother, which was the group at the top of the angel hierarchy—who couldn’t die because he was never born, but created. My soul discovered his identity whilst disconnected from my body, but when I opened my eyes upon returning, I found betrayal. The boy, the angel forbidden to love, was kissing my best friend. That felt worse than anything Darkness could provoke and I realized that death wasn’t just easier. It is kinder.

CHAPTER ONE

In Hidden Springs, children can learn to figure skate when they are three. For two years, I lived on the ice during the winter months, either at the rink or in our backyard where my father flooded it with water and waited for it to freeze. When I turned five, I prepared for my first recital. I was so excited that the skates were on my feet as soon as I entered the building. After all, I’d prepared for two years. But even with guards on the blades, it was hard to walk. I fell going to the washroom and escaped the embarrassing ordeal with a cut lip, a bump on my head, and the discovery that I was what my parents lovingly referred to as a bleeder. I never went skating again. Doctors called it transference, like somehow the bathroom was at fault for my short-lived figure skating career.

When I woke to find that Mike was kissing Suzie, I felt like that. Their betrayal felt like Heaven’s sin, and it was the last I was willing to bear. They weren’t even trying to hide it. To be fair, neither knew that I was aware of what they were doing, never mind the fact that they were doing it right in front of me, but still. It didn’t change the fact that they were doing it at all. It made me want to disappear again. Become blissfully gone. But to leave, I had to figure out how to escape. More importantly, I had to determine what to do once I was free. Go home to my parents where the Brothers could find me? Run?

What would I do if I did stay? Pretend it hadn’t happened or had been happening, or whatever? I didn’t work that way, though I was out of the energy it took for another confrontation after fighting so hard to get back to my body. If possible, I felt even more drained than before I had left Hell’s Fire, and that said a lot. I wasn’t stupid enough to think this—whatever this was that I had witnessed—was a one-time thing between them, so what was I supposed to do now?

Opening my eyes wasn’t an option, yet it was unavoidable. Sound and imagination were impossible to shut off. Every breath, every kiss, and every whisper that Mike and Suzie made in my presence while thinking me gone echoed in my head, making me imagine more than I hoped was really going on beyond the barrier of my eyelids. Oh, sure, they whispered about it being forbidden—angels aren’t allowed to be in love with a mortal, not in the romantic sense—but that didn’t deter their actions.

It was inescapable.

I opened my eyes enough to see, but not be seen, and hoped that that would quiet the surround sound of their movements in my head. No luck. While the room was just as I’d left it, all white with just a single bed, a dresser, and a desk, Mike and Suzie were the only spot of color, making them stand out. There was an attached bathroom and somehow, after a special request, a room for my laundry, but I couldn’t even distract myself by looking in there from my perch on the bed. Not when I couldn’t move without giving myself away. Why couldn’t the walls be red? Fiery like in Hell’s Fire? I used to think of white as purity—life—but in some cultures, white meant death. Given what I was witnessing, it felt appropriate. The end.

At least, it was the end of a relationship, though it seemed to be the start of another.

I have to go, Mike said. His words were muffled against Suzie’s blonde hair as he held her near, and her cheek smushed against his chest. The Brothers have a meeting that started about five minutes ago.

I—is it about Alyssa? Suzie asked and lifted her head.

To her credit, she sounded genuinely concerned, which should make me grateful, but I was too numb to process what I was feeling. Never mind their betrayal; I had just merged my soul with my body.

I’ll meet you later, okay? Mike pushed Suzie’s hair from her face as she tilted her head back. They held each other’s gazes and started to lean closer, and I closed my eyes to avoid seeing them kiss again. After a pause, he added, In the garden?

By the roses?

The garden? I bit my pain back before I groaned. The garden was my place, mine and David’s. It was the most beautiful part of Glory Academy, luring me in since I first dreamt of it, long before we’d arrived. How could they? I wished I wasn’t too tired to listen to Suzie’s thoughts. There was no way she would be blocking them right now. Then again, I doubted it would be worth it. Suzie probably didn’t even think twice about how her actions might affect someone else, never mind her best friend, and I didn’t want to read her thoughts to discover how much further her inconsideration extended.

Of course, Mike said, sounding like he was smiling. Just a hint of one, though, the way I liked it when the corner of his mouth turned up and his eyes twinkled with a mixture of mischief and laughter combined.

I can’t think like that now or I’ll start to cry.

Okay. I’ll walk with you, she said. I’m meeting Alyssa’s groups in the library.

Her groups?

I opened my eyes a crack, my interest piqued enough to forget my despair for a fraction of a moment, though their inattention didn’t require such discretion. They had stopped moving towards the door and he looked down to her in confusion with what I knew was an ocean of blue. His dark hair, slightly lightened since I’d last been aware, hung over his forehead to fall into his eyes. With her creamy complexion next to his tan, they were like the contrast of light and dark I struggled to digest emanating from the Pure and Dark Souls.

Hmm. Suzie nodded and licked her lips as she gazed up. "The Pure Souls that were helping Alyssa with her research didn’t want to stop because they want to be able to give her something productive once she is better, but with so many newbies joining in on the so-called fun, it’s like a nursery if they aren’t given direction."

Mike smiled fully and the room grew brighter, like the Glory of his soul enhanced that inside of the walls, which was the only source of lighting inside of the school. You’re a good friend, he said, and guided her out of the room with his hand on the small of her back, making my stomach flip over and over again. I hope Alyssa realizes that when she comes back to us.

Doubtful. With all the talk about their concern for me, Mike and Suzie were too wrapped up in each other to realize that I had even opened my eyes to squint their way. What was there to be grateful for? Betrayal?

Have the Brothers found a way to fix this?

By this I assumed she meant me, but the door shut before I could hear his reply. For once, I was happy to be left with the unknown. It gave me time to figure things out. The building, fuelled by His Glory, held secrets as well as the Brothers and Suzie did. There was no pretence of hiding and no explanation for why nobody could ever tell me whatever it was they were hiding at a given moment. Not even a hint. I was in an information-deprived darkness.

What reason did I have to stay when not even thoughts of David could entice me now?

This time, when I left, I would make sure that I was whole.

I pushed back the white comforter someone had placed on me and gasped. Flipping my hands over—hand-palm, hand-palm—I saw that my skin was blue. Like, blue-blue. I was a Smurf! It was all over, up my arms and on my legs. Only my palms were lighter, like a blue-tinged tan that was fading. Everything else was so dark, not even the outline of my veins could be seen.

Had my body forgotten to breathe? I didn’t feel oxygen-deprived and, from what I could tell, my brain was still firing on all cylinders. Isn’t that the first sign? Losing intelligence? Or was this what Deryk had meant when he said that my body had begun to deteriorate without having access to my soul? Why I felt so weak and why, when I tried to sit up, a wave of dizziness pushed me back down?

Closing my eyes, I took a deep, calming breath, and tried to clear my mind. Think, Aly! It wasn’t like this was the worst thing to have happened to me, right? And so long as it was reversible, my current condition could work to my advantage. I could take the time to rest while I figured out what to do next. I mean, my mind was as alert as my body was tired, so obviously it wasn’t affected. I just needed an escape plan. Glory Academy might be warm, but it was far from welcoming. Not now. As soon as I could, I was gone.

At least it gave me something other than Suzie and Mike to concentrate on.

I closed my eyes and allowed sleep to come, too tired to cry.

Exhaustion kept me from dreaming, though the images of what I had endured before and during my return to Glory Academy from Hell’s Fire haunted me as soon as I woke. Unless I was consciously plotting ways to escape, everything came back to what I had discovered. Even then, my thoughts would inevitably venture back to Mike and Suzie, and the Dark Souls—what Marcus had done. How would I leave without running into Mike and Suzie? What would I do if they decided to pay me another visit before learning that I was whole again?

There was no way I would be able to lay quietly while they smooched in my room.

Not that I wasn’t getting good at it. Learning to get up without showing awareness had been difficult, but the next few times I woke after they left my room, I was alone. Everything was easier with practice and, although my eavesdropping didn’t provide me with what I wanted to know, I learned more over the next three days than I ever could have if they knew I was awake. Not that it was anything important, just what they’d been doing since I had made the uninformed decision to astral project into Hell’s Fire and get stuck there without a way back. It was day-to-day conversation at best. Hi, how are you? Even though I couldn’t answer. School is great . . . We learned the most amazing things today! Not that I cared, but nobody was censoring what they said.

The blue began to fade as my soul healed my body and my body my soul. Soon, I knew I wouldn’t be able to escape detection. Every day I became stronger and exercised in bed when I was alone so that I could pretend to be sleeping in a moment’s notice. But my feet were starting to itch to touch the floor and I really wanted a shower that lasted longer than two minutes in the middle of the night. I couldn’t even chance getting my hair wet to wash it. But even more than that, the better I felt, the more I wanted to be included in the conversations around me. To open my eyes all the way and see the expressions on my true friends’ faces when they talked to me, to touch someone without having to wait for them to reach out to me, and just . . . respond.

I wish I had never brought you here, Gabe said from the side of my bed.

He’d arrived ten minutes ago and I’d only opened my eyes enough when I heard the door begin to open to see him in his usual jeans and polo shirt, his black hair shaggy and tousled, which brought out the depth of his azure gaze. It was hard not to keep them ajar to watch the dips and curves of his mouth as he spoke, every word a musical note to soothe the betrayal in my soul. It wasn’t the sound per se, but the meaning. Why couldn’t Mike say these things? Where was his remorse for ruining my life? Or had he lost it when he had lost his honor to be with Suzie?

Gabe took my hand and began rubbing circles on my palm with his thumb. I’m sorry we made you come. I can’t believe I brought you here to protect you, and this happened. He sighed. It was wrong. None of this would be happening if you hadn’t been forced to come.

It took all of my concentration to keep from laughing as his touch began to tickle my skin. I couldn’t even twitch without my farce coming to an end. Still, his guilt was painful to hear. This wasn’t his fault. If his touch wasn’t so distracting, I might have broken my resolve for silence. None of this is because of him.

How could he be blamed for my birth?

That’s what set everything in motion. Not an angel or anything anyone had actually done, but my existence. Fate. With the Sisters’ interference, I doubted even my parents could be blamed. Destined to exist, I was just lucky to have been placed with my parents instead of another, less loving couple. Like Suzie’s parents. As mad as I was over what she was doing with Mike, I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.

I promise to find a way to fix this, Alyssa, Gabe said, interrupting my silent pity party. I will figure something out, okay? And then I’ll take you home where you belong.

Right. He would just have to turn back time—no biggie. Then he’d have to try to keep Darkness from me, find someone else to lead the new generation of angels—both groups—and betray Heaven. Like that was going to happen. Would I exist without the purity of my soul or would I be so different I wouldn’t want to? Still, his obvious remorse made me feel bad. The guilt my best friend didn’t feel added to my own to weigh me down and, more than anything, I wanted to sit up and tell him that it was okay. I don’t blame you. Maybe one day I would learn how to project my thoughts into someone else’s mind like I could read theirs.

Gabe?

Mike’s voice sounded from by the door and Gabe dropped my hand. Barely keeping the gasp that threatened the quiet that descended throughout the room in check, I held my breath and waited until I heard rustling from the side of the bed before slowly releasing it. It was hard to keep it regulated. More than anything, I wanted to open my eyes, but where they were looking, I couldn’t tell. The two eldest Brothers were almost worth chancing it so that I could see them side-by-side. As the first to be created, He hadn’t held back with divine beauty. If boys could be called beautiful. Divine hotness?

How is she?

The same, Gabe said, and I was surprised at how clipped his tone became. Were they arguing? Less blue, I think.

What do you think that means? Mike either ignored the snap of Gabe’s tone or hadn’t heard it. Do you think that she’s returned? Renalda said—

I don’t know.

Maybe she’s waking—

Shouldn’t you be with Suzie? Gabe asked, cutting Mike off.

Gabe.

Gabe’s chair clunked against the floor and more rustling sounded, like he was standing. Was it worth it? Fighting for Alyssa so that you could turn to her best friend as soon as she couldn’t figure it out?

I didn’t mean—

Was it worth it?

Silence answered Gabe. Opening my eyes just enough to see, I knew I wouldn’t be caught. The fierceness in their tones was intensified by the challenge of their wills. Gabe, still beside my bed but standing, was glaring at Mike, who was leaning in the open doorway of my room wearing dark wash jeans and a white polo shirt. Neither would win and I . . . Well, I had already lost, though having Gabe protect me made that feel marginally better.

What’s going on?

Gabe darted his gaze away from Mike to Suzie, who had just sauntered through the open door to stand at Mike’s side in a trademark skirt and barely there top, and then back. She looked between them with confusion, making herself appear to be the epitome of stereotyped cheerleaders standing by their man. Nobody checked on me, like I didn’t exist because I wasn’t a part of the conversation. They thought they already knew how I was, which made a perverse part of me want to sit up and ask what the problem was. Maybe I was feeling well enough to fight Mike to see if my anger would offset my skill and finally beat him. As much fun as that would be, it wouldn’t allow me to see how this conversation would play out.

You should leave, Gabe said, his voice strained like it hurt to speak, but the rhythmic tick of his jaw told me he was just trying to keep control.

What’s going on? Suzie asked again.

Take her with you, Gabe told Mike. He pointed at Suzie and then let his hand fall to hit his thigh, the sound echoing to reach every corner of the room.

Mike appeared ready to refuse. Suzie, still confused, stared at Gabe with her mouth hanging as his inferred insult began to sink in. Gabe crossed his arms and waited. Everything paused and I was surprised when, after a long pause, Mike nodded. He turned around, placed his hand against Suzie’s back, and they walked away. Together. I was so entranced by their exit, I almost forgot to close my eyes before Gabe turned to face me.

He didn’t sit back down. Instead, he leaned over and whispered in my ear, Wherever you are, I hope you never know about this. He paused long enough to kiss my cheek and stood. Come back, Alyssa.

I opened my eyes when the door clicked shut and let out the breath that I’d been holding, feeling the muscles in my body release the tension their conversation had induced. Counting to ten, I slowly breathed in and out. Once I was sure I was alone, I sat up and dug the vial Renalda had given to me via Deryk so that I could get back from Hell’s Fire out from under my pillow where I’d stashed it so it wouldn’t be tossed out with a change of clothes. Just one drop and I could forget about Glory Academy and all of its darkness. Suzie and Mike wouldn’t exist, and I could stop pretending. Gabe, with his sincerity and unexpected bout of protectiveness, was the one thing I might feel guilty for discarding. And the Pure Souls, who definitely deserved a better leader than I was turning out to be.

I looked down to my hand and sighed.

With just one drop, I could be free.

CHAPTER TWO

The vial of potion had survived my journey back to Glory Academy unharmed. Unlike when it had burst on the way down to Hell’s Fire, I’d placed a drop on my finger and stashed the vial in my pocket for my journey back to my body. There was no smashing, though I had no idea how it transferred from my astral form to my physical one, or how it went from what I was wearing to what I had been changed into. I guess something made from magic to do the impossible didn’t conform to reality’s limitations. I mean, with everything I could do—read thoughts, open locked doors, kill Darkness—it wasn’t a stretch to imagine that a vial of potion that separated your soul from your body could make the transfer with me from Hell to Heaven, even if I would never understand it. Maybe it was a part of me, going where I went in whatever form I travelled?

Right now, none of that mattered.

All I cared about was the fact that the vial was intact.

Before giving myself the chance to think about being caught, I swung my legs over the side of the bed to find a pair of jeans—no way was I going to risk going back to Hell’s Fire in a gown without pockets to hide the vial in. It was my way back to my body, and Marcus would never let me go if he realized I was there. Heck, he’d probably raid my pockets if he was given half the chance—the mental image of him ordering Dark Souls to hold me down while he frisked my pockets made me cringe. No, the only way to survive going back to Hell’s Fire for any period of time was to secure my escape before arriving, but I’d have to chance it with protecting the vial in my jeans. It beat the image of him digging into my bra. Given Marcus’s predilection for caring more for the good of a few Dark Souls than my well-being despite the fact that they lived through my soul, it was definitely something that he was capable of.

I tugged the jeans on under my gown and crawled back under the covers. My skin had nearly returned to normal and I felt strong. A quick trip without helping to heal the Darkness that affected some of the Dark Souls—those that were left to be healed after my last journey—should be fine. In and out, just long enough to find Tyler, the first Dark Soul I had helped, and demand that he tell me what he had learned while possessed by Darkness. What did it want? How was it doubling my friends? What did it really know about me and the things that I was capable of? Did it know that I could do more than exorcise it from someone? Did Darkness—the mind that controlled all Darkness—know that I was capable of killing it?

If I was lucky, I wouldn’t have to see Marcus at all, and I could get back to my body to figure out how to escape fully intact.

The door of my dorm slammed open and I shoved my hands under the covers, placing the vial beneath my thigh. I squeezed my eyes shut before I could identify my visitor, and then tried to look natural so that I wouldn’t give myself away—nobody shut their eyes so tight they crinkled at the corners while they were supposed to be sleeping, never mind while they were in a supposed coma. No sooner did the door close before hesitant footsteps begin crossing the room, stopping at my bedside. The chair legs scraped against the floor and whoever had come inside sighed as they sat, shifting in their seat. I couldn’t tell if they were just trying to get comfortable or if they felt ill-at-ease.

Another sigh sounded. Hey, Aly. Uh, how are you feeling?

Sera. She was a sweet girl. Young but eager, Sera was the Pure Soul who had initiated the groups who’d come together to find the answers we were all dying to know, like who we were and what our purpose was. It was a funny description, considering I was the only one alive. Still, the Pure Souls helped with everything from angels to magic to Fate, all of which they reported back to me. Or, I guess, Suzie now. We’d found tidbits, but no real answers. At least, we hadn’t discovered anything that pertained to anyone except for me. I felt bad about that, not being able to help them like a leader should, yet grateful that they didn’t seem deterred by their lack of results. I couldn’t help but wonder what they’d learned since I’d been gone. Had Suzie encouraged them? Given them better direction? Would it be hard for them to look to me as their leader if I did go back?

You look better, Sera said, and then laughed, seeming tentative. Everyone thinks it’s silly that I come and talk to you, but doctors always say to talk to someone when they are in a coma because they can hear you, right?

She has no idea.

Anyway, we’ve found nothing new. Not just my group, but all of us. She sighed again, and the mattress dipped as though she placed both elbows on the bed to lean forward. Your friend’s been helping and we added trying to find a way to help you to our list of research topics. Oliver thinks that since you’re looking less sky-like, you’ve reconnected or something. I have no idea what it means, but he has a full report waiting for when you’re more . . . you.

If only I knew I could trust her. To have died so young, how could she or the other Pure Souls understand how terrible consequences could truly be? Sure, some of them must have died because of something they did instead of an accident or illness or someone else’s error. Death was death. I didn’t want to imagine how any of their lives had ended—with so many Pure Souls, it stood to reason that not all had a peaceful passing. In fact, given that they had pretty much been destined to die since their conception, I couldn’t imagine how many had had normal deaths, if there were such a thing. How did they manage to keep their optimism? Even with the largest portion of purity, I couldn’t do it. Maybe that meant I was supposed to follow them instead of leading? But to be so well-adjusted? So happy? I couldn’t imagine the consequence they’d endured had really sunk in—delayed shock or something. But, at the very least, they all had my respect. I had been pissed off when I’d died—all three times—and even more so when I came to Glory Academy and met Lachesis, the Sister of Fate responsible for each and every death I had endured in order to gain the experience they wanted me to have before my eighteenth birthday. Then there was the unknown case of amnesia, but I hadn’t figured that out enough yet to truly formulate how I felt about it. I mean, if being pissed off was a two on a scale of one to ten, with ten being the strongest, I would be an eleven. Was there even a word to convey that?

Anyway, I hope he’s right, Sera said, oblivious to my inner debate. We need someone to lead us or we’ll never figure out our purpose.

So Suzie was just there to provide direction? A pretty face? My fears of her being a better leader than I was were assuaged. My bet was that Suzie was happy that someone was listening to her, which would’ve given her that feeling of importance I assumed she’d sought by being a cheerleader and couldn’t get from her inattentive parents.

Sera? The door opened again, but despite the familiarity of the boy’s voice, I couldn’t think of a name to match.

Yeah?

The Brothers are ready for us.

Oh. Uh . . . She squeezed my hand and my finger twitched automatically in response. Sera gasped. Keston! Alyssa—she squeezed my hand!

I doubt it, he said, and sighed. The irritation in his voice made it sound like it wasn’t the first time she’d thought something similar, but despite how much I could hear her now, I didn’t remember anything while I had been away. How many one-sided conversations had she had with me? We have to go. I know you don’t want to, but you don’t have to make things up to avoid it.

No. Really. Aly—

Sera, if we want a chance to be together, we need to seize the opportunity because we aren’t going to get another one. The Brothers are waiting.

Be together? Why did they have to see the Brothers in order to be together? Once I learned his name, I remembered the face, but the fact that they wanted to be together? Not. A. Clue. It explained the irritation, at least, and gave me hope that I hadn’t really missed a whole lot of conversation. It was too bad that I couldn’t indulge in conversation wherever I was while astral projecting, and then come back to my body and somehow just know what was said in my absence. Osmosis, or like, a download.

Sera sighed and dropped my hand. I’m coming, but I swear she moved, Keston. The chair scraped against the floor again, and I heard her clothes rustle as she stood. I started this, remember? I wanted us to take the chance. If I wanted to avoid it, I wouldn’t have done it.

I’m sorry.

Let’s just go, she said, her voice fading. A minute later and the door clicked shut.

I sat up and opened my eyes.

"I knew it!"

I jumped and then fell back against the pillows, the air whooshing out of my open mouth as I stared at Sera and Keston. Damn, but she is tricky. Keston’s mouth hung in surprise while Sera grinned with excitement, one heartbeat away from jumping in place, her black bob bouncing to brush