Chapter 24

                                    

                                          
The second we heard gravel crunch underneath someone's feet outside, Grey flew off the couch and practically ran over to the door. We'd been here waiting all day for Siena, and it was nearly dusk. Grey wasn't the most patient of people, obviously. 
                          
I followed suit, placing my fourth cup of earl grey on the coffee table before hurrying in Grey's footsteps. He swung the door open and hurried down the steps, taking long strides as he approached a battle-suit clad Siena. Her hair was in three French braids that stretched down her back, rings of gold sewn into them like miniature plates of armor. Her suit was new too- black like it had always been, but now decorated with plates of bronze across the contours of her body. Dove grey wings spread out to either side of her, slowly curling in towards her body as her blazing golden eyes met mine. A frown deepened on her lips. 
                          
"What did they say?" Grey grumbled quickly through gritted teeth. Siena sucked in a breath, dusting herself off. 
                          
"Really? That's how you choose to greet me? Not, 'hey Sie nice suit' or 'your hair is cool' or how about even 'nice to see you, my best friend'," she rolled her eyes playfully. 
                          
"You're my only friend," Grey snipped impatiently. 
                          
"You have high standards," she shrugged nonchalantly, but then her molten gaze turned cold. "The Archangels have agreed that her power is being drained to you now that she is no longer in Heaven. Anytime she uses her soul, she puts herself at risk." 
                          
Grey tightened his jaw. "So I will complete the bond," he huffed. Siena eyed him for a moment, then she looked to me. 
                          
"That's the issue," she replied gently, her gaze steady on me. 
                          
"What do you mean?" I furrowed my brows together in confusion. 
                          
"New York City is reporting increased seismic activity, severe weather, and hospitalizations. Exponentially more than any other location we've been watching across the globe. I'm on my way to Scotland now to recruit what Angels and Fallen I can from the U.K and Ireland. Zadkiel is meeting me after he recruits Europe and we're going to head to New York. The Archangels believe the Reckoning will start any day now," Siena explained tightly. 
                          
I could feel the air turn cold within my lungs. This was it. It was starting. At last, the moment my soul had been created for was here. I guess Grey really didn't have much time to make a decision now. If he was going to complete the bond and save my soul, he needed to do it as soon as possible. 
                          
"So we complete the bond and Greene and I can head over there," Grey said as if it were obvious. 
                          
"There's one part of completing the bond that it seems God forgot to mention," Siena added, pressing her lips together anxiously. "When one human soulmate dies, the other will shortly follow. It's what happens when souls are tethered together. Wherever one goes, the other must follow." 
                          
I could've sworn I felt my heart stop beating. 
                          
"You mean-," I began quietly, but Siena answered my question before I got to ask it. 
                          
"If you die, Jordan, you will kill Grey too. Right now, because it's only one sided, Grey's death would mean yours, but not vice versa. If you died, Grey could live on," she explained, watching me cautiously as the news hit me like a bomb. 
                          
If Grey completed the bond, our fates were tied. My death, which could very well happen given that my entire purpose of being was for the Reckoning, would kill Grey. 
                          
Numb tears welled up in the corners of my eyes as I turned to Grey and shook my head. "I won't let you," I whispered. 
                          
"That's not your choice to make," he ground out fiercely, turning to look back at Siena. "Is there no way that the bond could bring her back? That it could act as an anchor to life rather than a death sentence for the both of us?"