Page 29 of Judge of Saints and Sinners

Kharon growled again, positioning himself between he bubbling edge of the Styx and me. “Don’t do it, Nephesh. The river will reject you.”

“No.” I lunged for the shoreline. “She’s coming. She’s coming to me. This is my chance to undo everything. To give her another chance.”

“Nephesh, don't.'' Something deep in Kharon’s voice was pleading now. But I didn’t turn. I didn’t defer from my path. Instead, I continued on until the river’s waves brushed up against my ankles. Again, Kharon spoke, his voice echoing inside my mind. “I can't let you do that, brother.”

I didn’t care. I was staring down the river. She was there, her soul a delicate swirl of muted colors, the features exact to the human I’d held minutes ago. But now, she was a ghost, a nearly transparent version of herself, the core of her being, traveling alongside the thousands of others on their way to the courthouse, to be judged by the jurors and me.

But she would never reach that.

I was going to pull her from the river. To free her from this place and send her back to the land of the living. It wouldn’t be easy, but at the core of my power, I could feel it flickering back to life at her proximity.

Together, it would be easy enough to move through the world once more.

I waded out farther, the ice-cold water at my waist now. As if also drawn to me, her soul seemed to veer ever closer. I could see the shine of the buttons on her dress, the bright color of earrings in her lobes.

I could see her.

I would set this right.

I would free her.

“Anna!”

Her pearlescent eyes blinked and her head tilted, the current continuing to pull her towards me as I moved more quickly into the water. Souls moved around me, hands scraping as they angrily pushed at my lower half.

“Anna!”

Her soul came closer. This time her dear, familiar face was focused on me. And then it was easy to ignore the burning, the water’s way of rejecting me and my presence there. In my head, I could hear Kharon talking, shouting at me through our mental link to get out of the river. That I was ruining everything.

Didn’t he realize I’d already ruined everything? It didn’t matter anymore.

Anna’s soul slowed, her feet planting on the bed of the river as if they were still flesh and bone. Her shoulders rose from the waters, hands reaching out to press against my chest. I could see them there, but I couldn’t feel them. Not anymore.

“Anna,” I gasped, the tingling pain spreading as the river began to eat away at my magic. “I told you I’d save you.”

“Nephesh.” Anna smiled. “And I told you. You already did. I made my peace with this, Nephesh. I know where I belong.”

“You belong with your boys, with your family.”

Anna’s face tilted, her smile growing sad. “My time is done, Nephesh.”

“You are the only person who has ever—” my throat closed “—seen me. Or understood who I am.”

Her hands raised to pat my cheek, the absence of sensation making the knife in my chest twist deeper. “I am merely the only person so far. There will be more, I know it. You have so much to give. Nephesh, you are the dearest friend I’ve ever had.”

A choked sob broke free of my chest, and I let my head hang forward.

“But your journey is just beginning.”

“Don’t go.”

Her gaze roamed to something behind me before returning to mine. “Don’t forget, Nephesh, to see the good.”

Her soul moved away from me, back into the current, where she slowly sank into the waves, rejoining the tide of souls all around us. “I’ll miss you.”

Her smile was brief but beautiful.

And then she was gone.