“Shouldn’t you stay in bed?” she asks in what was meant to be a scolding voice, but comes out more like a sigh.
“I don’t have a shirt. They cut it off of me,” he says ignoring Keely. She hears the zip of his pants and turns back to scowl at him. He rolls his eyes. “Keel, I am not going to miss this,” he says firmly.
Elijah pulls his tee shirt over his head revealing a white tank top. The kind she always refers to as wife beaters. He hands the shirt to Bryon.
“I’m sorry miss, you can’t go in there,” Micah says from the hallway.
“The hell I can’t. Who are you? Where’s Bryon?” Lila’s voice rises to near hysterics. Nick and Elijah run toward the door as something hits it with great force.
“She hit me. Hard,” Micah says rubbing his cheek with a bemused expression. “It kind of hurt.” He smirks at Lila as she pushes past him into the room.
“What the hell is going on? Why are you out of bed?”
“Calm down, Lila.”
“What did you just say to me Nicholas Wallace?”
“Lila? Lila Wallace?” Elijah asks suddenly. He looks to Micah who nods. “You need to come with us too.”
Lila looks him up and down, her chin dipped toward her chest, hands on hips. “And who are you?”
“I’m Elijah.”
“They’re Angels,” Bryon says. Keely hears the excitement in his voice. Lila looks at Nick. He nods.
She bites her lip and shrugs. “Where we going?”
“Really? Not one of you is freaked out?” Keely bursts out throwing her hands in the air. “Nobody questions the fact that they are actual Angels? Really?”
“Are you kidding?” Bryon looks around at the others in the room. “Is she serious?” He grunts as he lifts the shirt over his head. “I waited my whole life for this.”
Thirty-Nine:
Elijah pushes Bryon into the saddle and offers Keely his hand. “What about you?” she asks.
“I’ll walk,” he tells her and lifts her onto the horse.
“You can ride with me,” Micah says to Lila with a flirtatious grin. She smiles back and he helps her onto his mahogany colored horse.
“So, if Nick is the Warrior, Bryon is the Prophet, then who is Lila again?” Keely says as she wraps her arms loosely around Bryon’s waist.
“I’m a what?” Bryon asks.
“You’re the Prophet. She is the Perceiver,” Israfil explains.
“I’m not a Prophet,” Bryon says.
“What’s a Perceiver?” Lila asks.
“You are a Prophet, or you will be,” Elijah tells Bryon. “And a Perceiver is someone who has a sixth sense. If you were an Angel, you would be a guide, like Micah.”
Lila purses her lips. “I see that.”
Keely looks at Ramuell. “And you called Asmoday the Scion. What does that mean? The Scion of whom?”
“Of me,” Ramuell says.
They all fall silent. Eyes darting between Asmoday and the Angel. “You’re my grandfather,” Asmoday whispers. Ramuell looks at him proudly and nods his head.
“Whoa. Wait a minute. Am I the only one confused?” Lila puts her hands out, palms up. “You look about what? Twenty-four, twenty-five? How can you possibly be a grandfather?”
“Angels, Lila,” Nick groans.
“I only age in my human form.”
“But his daddy’s a Demon, right?”
“My son was an abomination. He was an original Demon, born without a soul. I grieve for him every single day.”
“So Demons really don’t have souls?” Keely asks.
Ramuell nods. “Most do not because they were never meant to exist. What we did when we fell, we went against our Father. He didn’t have life planned for the children we created. That much supremacy without a soul, it made them insane. Mad with power. Their bodies grew larger and stronger each day, and as their hunger grew, so did their rage. There was nothing inside of them to point them in the right direction. No inner voice telling them to stop, telling them they were wrong. They couldn’t hear us when we tried to teach them. All they wanted was to placate their desires, but it was never enough. Their hunger was never satisfied. Their thirsts never quenched. Their passions never sated. Some of the fallen tried to kill them, but they wouldn’t die. No soul to leave their bodies. We begged our Father for forgiveness. Repented and pleaded for his help. He opened the gates to us once more. The flood came a fortnight later.”
“Asmoday has a soul,” Keely says with absolute confidence.
Ramuell looks at his profile. “Yes, he does. Our Father had a plan for him.” He squeezes Asmoday’s shoulder.
“So, if Asmoday’s the Scion, then who is the Demon?” Keely begins to shiver as she waits for somebody to answer. Asmoday holds her gaze.
“Keely, are you cold?” Bryon asks, feeling her tremble.
“She’s scared,” Asmoday answers.
“I’m very sorry, Keely,” Elijah begins. “It’s only because he’s part of the prophecy that we must include him. If there were any other way…”
Nick asks, “Who is it?”
“Apophis,” Lila says.
“Yes. I am sorry. You’ll be safe, I give you my word,” Elijah tells Keely.
“And where do we pick him up? He hides in Demon realms,” Keely scoffs.
“I can find him,” Asmoday suggests. “I pledged my allegiance. He will not hide from me. I can go and be back quickly.” He glances at Keely, feeling her unease. “I will not be gone for long.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Israfil calls.
“But the cord will break,” Keely reminds him urgently.
“I will be back as quickly as I can. I promise.”
Ramuell asks, “You’ll be able to find us?”
“I will be able to find her. Please take care of her while I am away.” Asmoday inclines his head at Keely. Ramuell nods and Asmoday is gone.
“So, what’s it like to be an Angel?” Bryon’s voice fills the uncomfortable silence.
The Angels bark with laughter. “It’s wonderful,” Elijah sings.
***
Ambriel and Michael are at Keely’s house when they all arrive. Her dad is slumped in the chair, his hair messed as if he’s been running his hands through it for a while now. He bursts from the chair and stands in front of Keely. She sees his eyes and knows he’s been crying. “I thought I lost you both,” he chokes and jerks Keely into a hug.
“What’s wrong, Daddy?” She tries to pull away, but he clings to her as if she is his life preserver.
“The Demon King’s taken her mother,” Ambriel explains to the others. “We’ve dispatched several teams in search of her. They haven’t found anything as of yet.”
Keely wrenches free of her dad. “He took my mom?”
“I’m very sorry, Princess.”
“Stop saying that! Everybody stop apologizing to me. Stop calling me Princess. Stop wanting me to be someone I’m not!”
Nick tries to take Keely’s hand, but she jerks away. “I’m going to get her.” She turns to leave and Micah blocks her path. “Get out of my way, Micah. I don’t care if you are an Angel. I am leaving.”
He holds his hands up. “We go together.”
Keely flinches. She was prepared to fight her way out of the house. Didn’t expect it to be so easy. “O.k. Let’s go.”
“We wait for the rest,” Ramuell commands.
Seeing she is about to protest, Nick adds, “Apophis and Asmoday may be able to find them easily. We need to wait for them.”
“Yeah, and we’ll have a better chance if there are more of us,” Lila says.
“Don’t let your emotions make you do something that could endanger yourself or others,” Elijah murmurs softly. “You risk us all, including your mother with the choices you make. Don’t forget, you may not be in any shape to help anyone soon.”
Keely closes her eyes. Everything each of them says makes sense, but standing still, doing nothing, waiting for the cord to snap, it makes h
er feel useless. Every single second that ticks by means she’s that much further from her mom. That much closer to breaking her bond with Asmoday.
“How long ago did this happen?” Nick asks.
“Not long after you left earlier,” Kevin answers. He’s beginning to look more like himself and Keely feels guilty for pulling away from him when he needed her. She moves back to his side and puts her arm around him. “They told me the Angels came for you. I was convinced they came to kill you because the Hierarchy didn’t. I thought I lost you and your mom both in the same night.” He takes a shaky breath. “I love you, Honey.”
“I love you too.”
“We’ll do everything we can to bring your wife back to you,” Micah says.
Bryon falls into an empty chair, his hand over the wound on his chest. His fingers come away red with fresh blood. Keely drops to a knee in front of him. “You popped your stitches, didn’t you?”
“I think so.”
“Lila, can you get me a towel from the kitchen. Dad, the first aid kit?”
“I can get that,” Michael says stepping toward her.
“I’ve got it,” she says coolly. She clears her throat and looks up at him. “I need the distraction.” He nods, understanding. She focuses back on Bryon and says, “I’m going to take your shirt off. All right?”
He laughs, his eyes locking with hers. “I have been waiting for a year to hear you say those words, Kiem. It’s not nearly as satisfying as I had imagined.”
Keely smiles at him. “It can’t be that bad. You haven’t lost your smart ass sense of humor.”
“Who says I’m joking?”
Keely rolls her eyes and tugs the shirt as gently as she can over his head. “O.k. I’m going to go quick,” she explains as she places her fingers on the tape of the now saturated bandage.
He nods tightly. “Go for it.” It comes away much easier than she expected, the tape loosened from the moisture of the blood. Lila hands her the towel and she dabs at the wound, trying to see the stitches.
“It’s staples. I can’t fix this, Bryon. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t know.” He scrunches up his face. “I was out when they did it.”
“You can super glue it,” Nick suggests. He makes a face as he eyes Bryon’s chest.
“Will that work?”
Bryon shrugs one shoulder. “We can try it.”
Her dad comes back with the first aid kit and holds it out to her. “Oh, that doesn’t look too good.”
“We’re going to try superglue. Will that work, Dad?”
He grunts. “It does for small cuts. I’m not sure for something like this. Looks like it’s just one staple. We could use the glue and give him some homemade stitches. But you’ll need to get it checked out as soon as you can.” Bryon nods at him. “I have some in the desk drawer. I’ll be right back.”
“This is going to suck,” Keely tells him.
He smirks at her. “True story.”
“You can always go back to the hospital,” she tries with an innocent smile.
Bryon’s blue eyes catch the light as he looks at her, reflecting like sun on the ocean. “Not a chance, Kiem. I’m in it till the end.”
“I had to try.” She pats the gash in his chest clean again. “It’s going to hurt.”
Bryon raises his eyebrows. “I’m not new to the pain game. I founded the fan club.”
“You’re not just the president, but also a member?”
Bryon smiles widely. “You know it, Kiem. Me and you.” He gestures his finger back and forth between them, from her head to his. “Same brain wave.”
“Here you go,” Kevin says as he hands Keely the superglue. He busies himself sterilizing a needle from her mom’s sewing kit.
“All right. Are you positive about this?”
“Just do it already.”
Bryon watches her every movement. If roles were reversed, she doesn’t think she could watch. She holds the gap in his skin open just enough to fill it with the glue, then presses it together, careful not to glue herself to him. Kevin counts for her, going by the amount of time it suggests on the bottle. Keely isn’t sure it qualifies for something like this, but when she let’s go, the wound stays closed. She blows on it for a few more seconds to be sure. “O.k. It looks like it worked.” Bryon’s Adam’s apple bounces in his throat as he swallows. He nods, his eyes fixed on hers.
Kevin hands her the thread next. “Go deep enough to not disturb what the glue is holding together.”
Keely makes a face, but pushes the needle in. Lila gags loudly and runs from the room. The needle shakes in Keely’s hand. Dustin’s face fills her mind. His scared mouth. The raw markings around his exposed eye. “I can’t,” Keely whispers.
Bryon takes the needle from her fingers. “I know. I’ll do it.” Keely looks at him apologetically and he tosses his head back. “Go clean up. I got this.”
In the kitchen, she finds Lila looking green, her hands clutching the edge of the sink. She pushes herself away so Keely can wash her hands. “You couldn’t take it either?”
Keely shakes her head. As the blood swirls in the sink before disappearing down the drain, it occurs to her this is the second time she’s had Bryon’s blood on her hands. She had a lot of blood on her in the past what? Ten days? She can’t remember. She stares out the window. The sky glows a pale blue. The sun must be getting ready to rise. When was the last time she slept? The last time she ate? It’s all a big jumble of crazy days and sleepless nights. Of blood and showers. Of apartments and hospitals. Of almost kisses and actual passionate ones. Of fear and love. Of Angels and Demons.
Her hands now clean, she splashes water on her face. When she turns for a towel, Michael stands behind her, his fingers red. “Is it finished?”
He nods. “Your dad’s putting another coat of glue over the whole thing so hopefully it won’t happen again. When it’s dry, he’ll need a new bandage if you want to do that.”
“That’s o.k.” She turns to Lila. “You all right now?”
“Yeah. I don’t usually get sick at the sight of blood.” She tries to laugh, but it sounds awkward and forced.
Keely doesn’t know what to say, so she smiles at her instead and gives her a quick hug. Lila is stiff in her arms. “I’m going to go check on Bryon,” Keely murmurs.
Back in the living room, Nick is sitting in the chair beside Bryon, they’re both laughing. She stands back watching them and wishes she knew what was happening with Asmoday. Waiting for her heart to be ripped out is driving her crazy. Elijah comes up behind her, his arms crossed in front of him. He bumps her shoulder with his elbow lightly. Follows her gaze with a smile. “You love them, don’t you?”
Keely leans her back against the wall and looks sideways at him. “I do,” she admits. Her shoulders rise in a hopeless shrug.
“And Asmoday as well.” It’s not a question, but she nods. He puts his back against the wall as she did, his hands in his pockets. “I’ve been in love many times over the years. It’s the best and worst of feelings.”
Keely glances at him, surprised. “But you never loved someone enough to…”
“Fall? No. I’ve never loved anyone more than my Father. I have never been able to leave Him. I always have this fear in the back of my mind that if I leave, I’ll end up dying in a random accident a week later. Really, though, I’d only get fifty or sixty years if I were lucky. When you live forever, that’s not much time. I’d get sick. I’d grow old. It’s just not for me.”
“That’s so sad,” Keely says.
Elijah frowns at her. “Why is that sad?”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude.”
“I’m not offended, just curious.”
Keely shrugs uncomfortably. “I just meant that you have never loved someone enough to make sacrifices for them. I mean, I get it. I was just there,” she looks at Bryon and Nick, “but they got to me.” She sighs. “If it were a year ago, I’d be in full agreement with you. I didn??
?t think it was possible for me to love anyone. Not enough to let the walls down anyway. I guess I didn’t really. I was too scared.” She laughs quietly. “It’s more like they pounded them down. But I wouldn’t change it. I want it all now. Or again, I guess. I want to lose myself. I want to allow myself to fall in love. Get married. I want the house, the kids. I want to see my eyes in the chubby little face of my baby. Even the growing old part, because it means I can watch my children growing up. Starting their lives, falling in love, and having their own children. It’s what we do. Humans, I mean. We love to procreate. As long as we live on in someone else, we never really die.”
Elijah smiles at her. “Those are poetic words. Now, which of these fine boys do you see this lovely future with?”
Keely bites her lip and stares down at her feet. “I don’t know. I don’t suppose you’ve seen that in one of your prophecies?”
He laughs. “Sorry, no. Free will and all.”
“Sometimes that kind of sucks.”
“Often it’s a beautiful thing. There have been worse decisions to make, trust me.”
“I thought there was supposed to be signs or something,” Keely says. “Little clues that point you in the right direction?”
He smirks at her. “You have to be looking.”
Keely is about to ask him what he means, but he walks away, leaving her staring after him. She takes a deep breath and looks over at Bryon and Nick. As if sensing her watching him, Nick looks up and smiles, his love for her clear in his hazel eyes. “You o.k.?” he calls and stands up quickly.
She holds up her hand. “It’s o.k., I’m fine.” She looks down the hallway in the direction Elijah had gone and then back to Nick. “I’ll be right back.” Keely hurries toward the kitchen and collides with Asmoday as he turns the corner. She falls back, landing clumsily on her behind.