Every Moment Holy Volume 3 Novels & Stories

Four minutes. The LED timer blinked: **03:57**. The sterile hum of the HVAC unit became the drone of doom. Martin Shale’s vacant eyes stared past Leo, lips moving soundlessly: *"Purify… cleanse…"* The purple canister in Leo’s hand felt like a live grenade. Dominic’s synthesized voice still echoed in his comms earpiece, a serpent coiled around his thoughts: *"A fitting dilemma for the keeper of broken things."*

*** When I woke up, Johan was sitting on the edge of the bed, shirtless and smoking. He heard me move and looked back. A check landed on the bed in front of me. I stared at it. He only said a few words. "I'm bored with you." Something inside me cracked. Like porcelain shattering, sharp pieces cut across my heart. Still, my voice came out calm. I even smiled. "I've got less than three months left. Couldn't you wait a little longer?" Johan frowned. "Yara Yelton, you should know your place."

The Holy Guard merely sidestepped my attack, his movement effortless, and with a measured thwack of his staff, he struck the pressure point on my neck. A blinding spike of pain, and then—oblivion. Third Person POV Xian'na's small frame crumpled to the ground before the golden gate, the Holy Power in her core sputtering out like a snuffed candle. The Holy Guard stood over her, his amethyst eyes unmoving. Then, the oceanic blue of her eyes snapped open, blazing with an intense, powerful coldness. The air around her changed; the soft, hesitant scent of jasmine and confusion was replaced by the overwhelming, singular force of a raging storm.

An invisible force clenched my heart in a merciless grip. Beads of sweat rolled down my forehead like raindrops. Every tick of the clock hammered against my chest, each second a tormenting reminder of the passing time. I picked up the paper card with trembling hands, my lips quivering as I forced myself to speak. "There's still time," I said, my voice shaky but desperate. "We're withdrawing money from different banks. The amount you're asking for is too much—it takes time to gather it all."

A god had been touched. And it had not liked it. A priest dropped to his knees with a broken whisper. “Mercy of the divine…” Somewhere behind the council rows, a child began to cry before being hurried out by a trembling noblewoman. Several wolves lowered their heads instinctively, ancient fear moving through blood older than memory. Good. Let them understand what this moment costs. Kael’s hand was still wrapped around mine, unyielding, warm, grounding me while the world tilted toward something irreversible.

Elysia, reaching out to touch a tree that seemed both ancient and newly sprouted, whispered, "It's beautiful and bewildering. A testament to the myriad possibilities of time." Suddenly, a gentle voice, seemingly coming from the very air around them, said, "Welcome, guardians, to the In-Between. The realm of moments lost and found." Niamh, her senses always attuned to the subtler energies, questioned, "Who are you? Are you the guardian of this realm?" The voice, carrying a tone of timeless wisdom, replied, "I am Aeliana, the Keeper of Moments. This realm is a sanctuary for moments that never were, or might yet be. And now, it is in peril."

Or should I say old reality, considering Euphoria twenty-three was the oldest period in time known to, well, time itself. Losing themselves to the murky surrounding lit up by only themselves and the energy they possessed, they floated in space accompanied by complete silence while watching the universe almost replay its creation. The supreme beings, the energy they so sublimely combined, every single detail. Observing what took millennia in just a couple minutes. As time passed on, as they both delved deeper and deeper into this sacred region, but Elly forced herself to snap out of it. “We should be getting back now. I’m sure we’ve both seen enough” she said, about to reach for his hand.

As the hall filled with anticipation, Isla stood at the podium, her heart racing with a mix of excitement and nerves. The atmosphere was charged with energy, and she could feel the weight of the moment pressing down on her. The priest, an elder of the pack, stood beside her, holding the Moon Goddess’s holy book, its pages worn and filled with wisdom passed down through generations. The flickering candlelight cast soft shadows on the walls, creating an almost ethereal ambiance that heightened the significance of the occasion.

The stiff voice of the system stopped the countdown and started working. Adela's body suddenly felt light, she was floating in the air, in front of her were options to choose the reverse timing. She glanced longingly at the moment before William's family fell from the man's fatal blow. "The system is reversed. The moment before William's fall. Confirmation can be done, and immediately reversed. Time shock can make the owner uncomfortable, please hold your breath for a minute!" The system took Adela's command and started running the data right in front of her eyes.