“What do you mean we can’t help her? You owe your freedom to her! We can’t just leave her on that other world.”
Alli’s words echoed through Spirit Cop Headquarters. Ian stirred in his rollout bed. He looked up at the clock on the wall. 7:30. It was way too early for this. Still he rose from his bed, threw on a shirt to go with his pants and walked down the stairs to find Phoebe and Alli already awake.
“I’m sorry,” Phoebe said. “Elsewhere was made to hold Caelus forever. It wasn’t designed to let anyone leave that is immortal. If your friend’s life has been extended, she will be trapped there as well. A dozen scientists and mages from around the galaxy combined everything they knew to make the world inescapable. It was the only way to hold an immortal ethereal being like Caelus.”
“There has to be a way.”
“I do not know of one. But I will look into it. If I can find a way to free her, I will. I truly am sorry for the loss of your friend. I did not wish this on you or anyone.”
“No,” Alli said. “That’s just not acceptable.”
“It must be,” Phoebe said. “I will not give up on her, but it is not a quest I can promise I will ever complete, especially not with this world’s technology. I’m no scientist, just a Gifted with a sense of justice. But I will not let her rot there. She has the wherewithal to survive. And I will see her freed. This I promise.”
“That doesn’t mean much when she’s taken—”
“Alli, you can’t blame it all on Phoebe. We’re all responsible. You rushed us to rescue Marilyn. Peach came up with the method. I found Smith—or Hermes, I guess. We were all suckered into a plot designed by gods, probably for decades. We were all pawns.”
Alli looked between them both. Ian could still feel her anger and frustration as a palpable force. He could understand it. Peach’s loss was an ache deep inside him. Their encounter had been brief, but the impression of those few hours he spent with her remained strong. He knew he would do whatever he could to bring her back.
“Focus on Marilyn. Be glad she’s back. I’ll help Phoebe find Peach. We will find a way to get her back from there.”
Alli shook her head. “What about you? You still don’t know your past. You still don’t know where you came from. Don’t you still want those answers?”
“I will get them sooner or later. The more I learn about my powers and my existence, the more I wonder if I want to know about the person I was before.”
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