by Quinn Loftis
“Fair enough. I will hold you to your word,” he said as he finally let go of her hand.
She fought the urge to snatch it back. Because ya know, that wouldn’t be weird at all. Serenity rolled her eyes at herself.
“I was made by the Creator,” he began. “I do not have a home. I have no need of sleep or food, and I can find shelter in the homes of my assignments if I need to get out of the weather.” His eyes seemed to grow troubled and she was captivated by the swirling darkness she saw in them. As if black smoke was a part of his iris, it danced in the orbs. “And as for how long I will be here,” his stormy eyes met hers as he finished, “I do not know the answer to that.”
“But you will have to leave, eventually?” Serenity wanted clarification. She did not want to get so attached to Dair that when he left he took more of her with him than was left behind to cope. A thought occurred to her then. Was he the reason she wound up staying in Yellville in her dream? She wouldn’t deny that he would be a major point in favor of staying.
“I wish I could tell you no.” Dair looked down at his hands which were clasped in his lap. His large shoulders slumped forward. “I should have already left. My assignment was done the night that you finished the dream. I don’t know how long I have before I am sent for.”
“Will you be punished?” She didn’t like the idea of him being hurt because of her.
His lips twitched in amusement. “Not in the way you’re thinking. I won’t be flogged or anything. Do you have any other questions?”
Serenity knew he was changing the topic on purpose and she would let him, for now. “Is it hard to adjust as the times change? I mean, how do you keep up with all of it?
“I am merely an observer in this realm, so I get to watch everything, and I pick up on things like the changing lingo and clothing. I’ve become quite adept at it over the years. I’m usually ahead of the times actually. Knowing what is normal for each of my assigned humans is a necessity for the dream I make for them. Each dream must be at least somewhat familiar to them.”
“What’s your favorite decade?” Serenity leaned forward so that her elbows were resting on her legs and her face propped in her hands.
“Until now I’d never had a favorite. I wasn’t a part of the human world, just an interloper. It’s hard to enjoy something that you never partake in.”
She realized then from that statement just how lonely Dair’s life must be. To have to watch others have relationships whether with parents, siblings, or significant others but to never get to experience them would be a very lonely existence.
“So, I’m assuming that you don’t have any parents?”
He shook his head. “Only the Creator. I have existed for a very long time but I was never a child. I was created just as I look now and I’ve always been this way.” His eyes met hers and she saw the swirling storm in them again.
“Why do your eyes do that?” She pointed as if he didn’t know where his own eyes were.
Dair closed them for a few seconds and when he opened them back they were clear and black again. “My emotions tend to cause it. Strong emotions.”
She wasn’t sure if she was ready to hear what those strong emotions were so she didn’t ask. When in doubt, avoidance seemed like the best course of action. The slight smile on his lips told her he knew exactly what she was thinking.
“It’s late,” Dair said as he reached up and brushed aside a lock of her hair. “I should let you get some sleep. Do you work tomorrow?”
She nodded, unable to speak as his fingers trailed down her neck. When he pulled his hand away the loss of the cool contact reminded her that she wanted to ask him about that.
“Why is your skin so cool?”
“Last question for the night, Princess.”
She frowned at the nickname. Serenity wasn’t sure if she liked it or not. But coming from Dair and his sultry voice, she just might let him call her anything.
“When you think of daylight, of daytime, do you associate it with warmth or coolness?”
She considered the question. “Warmth, of course,” Serenity answered.
Dair nodded. “And when you think of the dark, of nighttime you probably think of it being cool. I am like the night―cool, a lack of warmth because there is no sun during the night― which is my time.”
“There is warmth in you, even if it isn’t in your skin,” she told him impulsively because she knew it was true.
“Thank you,” he said quietly but the gratitude she saw in his eyes said more than his words ever could. “Now I will let you get some sleep.”
He stood and Serenity found herself scrambling to her feet. She didn’t want him to go, but she knew that he was right. She had to be up early and would be exhausted if she didn’t get some sleep.
“So,” she said as she looked down at the suddenly very interesting floor. “Will I see you tomorrow?”
Dair took a step towards her and then lifted her chin with a gentle finger. His large hand moved to cup her cheek as her wide eyes looked into his swirling ones. “I couldn’t stay away even if you wanted me to. This past week was nearly unbearable for me. I’d not like to repeat it anytime soon.”
Heat swept up her body as she felt the blush on her skin.
“So yes, you will see me tomorrow,” he continued when she didn’t say anything. “What time to you get off work?”
“Noon,” she told him and wanted to give herself a round of applause that she actually spoke and didn’t just stand there drooling over him.
“Can I meet you there?”
She nodded. Okay, so forget the round of applause; now she couldn’t even utter one word. Dair took another step closer to her and then began to lean down towards her. Was he going to kiss her? Would she let him? Glory would probably kill her once she got a look at Dair and then found out that Serenity hadn’t let him kiss her. She heard him take a deep breath and could have sworn he groaned, but it was so soft she couldn’t be sure. Her eyes fluttered closed as his face came closer. Okay, so maybe she would let him kiss her. Instead of his full lips on hers, she felt them on her forehead. She started to be disappointed but then she felt his strong arm encircle her waist and pull her to him. His body was hard against her softer one, and Serenity couldn’t help but notice how sheltered she felt enveloped in his large frame, as if nothing in the world could hurt her as long as his arms were around her protecting her.
“Sleep, good Princess of Peace,” he whispered as he stepped away from their embrace. When she opened her eyes her room was empty.
Serenity shivered. “You’re not going to stay invisible in my room are you?” she asked the empty room. After several minutes with no response, she took that to mean that Dair was really gone. She climbed back into bed and let out a soft sigh as Mr. Whitherby hopped up next to her. “Well, what’d you think about him Mr. W?”
Her cat let out a low rumble.
Serenity chuckled. “Yeah, he gets my motor running too. But paws off, I don’t care which way you swing, that immortal is spoken for.”
Chapter 5
“To dream of a snail signifies a long and arduous journey is ahead of you. Beware of starting too quickly. Patience and preparation will be rewarded. However, it could also mean that you have recently stepped in something slimy.”
Dair wrapped the shadows of the night around him as he stepped back into the trees that surrounded the house where Serenity was now sleeping. He had left her room abruptly because, had he not, he might have stayed all night just to listen to her voice. He knew that she needed rest. Serenity had a life, regardless of whether or not he wanted to monopolize her nights, and he needed to be sensitive to that. He’d nearly gone back to her several times in the two hours that it took her to finally fall asleep. He could have simply put her to sleep himself, but of course, such actions were outside of his purpose, and he was already crossing the line with the Creator. She tossed and turned and talked to her cat until finally her breathing grew slow and steady. It was then
that he finally allowed himself to think about the fact that he had spoken to her, and she had seen him and had not asked him to leave. Sarah Serenity Tillman wanted to know him.
His lips spread into a wide smile and his head fell back as his eyes closed. The crisp winter air flowed over him and rustled his hair. He didn’t even shiver in the cold mountain air. All his thoughts were on the brunette who had stolen his heart.
“She wants you to stay?” Raphael’s voice intruded on his moment but still the smile didn’t falter.
He turned to look at the angel. “She does.”
“How long?”
Dair shrugged. “Until she wants me to leave.”
“And when she begins to age and you stay the same?”
“I’ll love her still.”
“But how will she feel about looking like your mother instead of your mate?”
Dair knew that Raphael wasn’t trying to be cruel. But that didn’t stop the frustration that gripped him. Being reminded that he could not truly have a life with Serenity, not a human one, was painful.
“I don’t know what then,” he finally admitted.
“Perhaps, it is something you need to bring to her attention,” Raphael recommended.
Dair knew his old friend was right, and he would talk to her about it, but it might be later rather than sooner.
Emma tried to be as quiet as she could. She opened the door to her room and looked down the hall to the bathroom and then back in the direction of the living room where she could hear the yelling. If she didn’t have to pee so badly, she wouldn’t even consider leaving the safety of her hovel. But she knew if she didn’t make a run for it very soon, things were going to get messy. She bit her bottom lip as she fidgeted from foot to foot, building her courage internally.
All she had to do was push open the door a little further, hope it didn’t creak, hurry soundlessly to the bathroom, shut the door, hope it didn’t creak, pee, wash her hands, and then return just as quietly. She could do that right? She jumped when she heard a loud crash against the wall. Maybe I can hold it until whoever that is leaves, she thought as she began to close the door.
“You can go; I’ll keep you safe.”
Emma turned at the sound of Dair’s voice. He was in his usual black: black pants, black long sleeve shirt, and black jacket and boots. She had told him that his clothes were a tad over the top, considering his job. He didn’t seem to care.
“It sounds bad out there,” she said and pointed out the door just as another loud crash erupted followed by some cursing.
“Nothing is going to happen to you,” Dair told her as he walked over and pulled the door quietly open. “Go do what you need to and I’ll be here keeping watch.”
Emma didn’t know if Dair could really do anything to protect her or not. He was, after all, just the Sandman, not a guardian angel. But something in his dark eyes told her to trust him. And she had to pee so badly by that point that there really was no other option. She darted out the door and made it to the bathroom and closed the door as quietly as she could behind her.
Business done and hands washed, she peeked out the bathroom door to find Dair standing in the hall with his huge frame nearly taking up the entire space. His arms were folded against his chest as he stared in the direction of the noise. He made a motion for her to come on with his hand, but his eyes never left the front of the hall. She dashed back and leapt onto the bed turning in the same motion so that she landed facing Dair who was closing the door behind them.
“How long has that been going on?” he asked her gently as he knelt down on the floor across the room from her.
“Since early this morning,” Emma told him.
“Has anyone come in here?”
She shook her head. “My aunt stuck her head in just after the banging on the door started. She said, don’t you leave this room for nothing; if you do I’ll take a switch to your backside. But that was at least a couple of hours ago. Since then there’s been nothing but screaming, cursing, and things hitting the wall. I would have obeyed had I not had to go to the bathroom, but I haven’t had an accident since I was knee high to a grasshopper, that’s what my mama always said, and I wasn’t about to have one just to keep from getting a switch to my butt.”
“Knee high to a grasshopper, huh?” He smiled at her.
“I know, I’m not much taller now, but believe me, I used to be shorter.” Another crash had them both looking at the door.
“Emma you need to get out of the house for a little while,” Dair told her as he stood. “Raphael,” he called out as he looked up at the ceiling.
Her eyes widened as the angel appeared out of nowhere standing next to Dair.
“You shouted?” The angel’s brow rose when he too heard the screaming. He looked back at her and his lips tightened.
“Can you take Emma to the library?” Dair asked him. “I have a feeling Darla would love her.” He didn’t mention that meeting Darla had been a part of the dream he’d given Emma.
“Yes,” was all Raphael said.
Emma stood on her bed and put her hands on her hips. “Wait just a second; I don’t need a babysitter.” She pointed at Dair. “My mama raised me to take care of myself.”
Raphael held up his hand when Dair started to respond. “Ms. Emma, you are mistaken. Dair is not sending me with you as your babysitter. He is sending me as your guide. You have only been in town for a day so he assumed you did not know where the library was located. Furthermore, you will not know who Darla is and I can be of assistance there as well.”
Emma studied the angel briefly and though she knew he was just humoring her, he was most definitely a babysitter, she appreciated it none the less. “Alright then, you can walk me to the library. How am I going to let my aunt know?”
“I’ll take care of it,” Dair said quickly. “You two just go.” He handed her the coat lying on the end of the bed. Emma had already gotten dressed and put on her shoes. She’d done that when the pounding on the front door had started.
Raphael took her hand and smiled warmly. “Close your eyes.” She did as she was told. “Okay, you can open them.”
Emma’s blinked several times as the sunlight made her eyes water. The cold morning air swirled around her, and she pulled her coat closer against her. She and Raphael were standing on the sidewalk in front of the small house her aunt called home. It wasn’t an ugly house, just an unloved one. The paint was peeling off of the trim and several of the windows had foil over them from the inside. It looked like a sad clown, complete with a faded red door as the nose. A fine layer of snow blanketed the ground and sprinkled the trees, and it was the only thing that could be called beautiful in regards to the house.
“Are you ready?” Raphael asked her.
Emma looked away from the house to the angel. He looked like a regular person in jeans and a sweater and coat. His wings were gone as was the glory that seemed to encircle him. She nodded at him and fell into step beside him. But then she stopped as her head tilted and she looked up at him.
“Won’t people find it a little strange that we just suddenly appeared on the side walk out of thin air?”
Raphael gave her a sly smile. “Being an angelic being does give one a few powers you know?”
Emma looked up at him waiting for him to elaborate.
“Why don’t we begin walking so you do not freeze and I will explain it?”
“While you’re at it, you can tell me what people, in a town where everyone seems to know everyone, will think about some huge, strange man walking with a little orphan girl down the street.”
“I, like Dair, am only seen when I want to be seen. And even then I can control how much people perceive. For example, right now as we walk down the street when people look at us they see what they would expect to see. Maybe a big brother walking with his younger sister, or a mother with her daughter. Complete with the same skin tones and attributes. However, once we are out of sight they simply forget that they ever saw us.”
Emma thought about this for a moment, her eyes roaming over the people getting in and out of their cars in the parking lots. A few glanced their way, but for the most part they were engrossed in their own comings and goings. “That’s a handy trick.” She paused and puckered her lips, still considering the myriad of dilemmas that could result from being accompanied by a huge celestial being.
“So when we get in this library, if someone asks me who you are, what am I supposed to tell them?” she asked.
“Just tell them I’m your guardian angel.” Raphael smiled.
“Really?”
He nodded. “I’ll take care of the rest.”
Emma wanted to ask more questions but held her tongue as they continued down the street. If Raphael said he could handle it then she would trust him. It wasn’t like she had a whole lot of people to rely on since her parents had died, she couldn’t really afford to go turning away the ones she did have. She remembered one day she and her mama had been at the park and Emma had been asking question after question to her mother, and after answering them each, finally her mama had smiled and said, child, sometimes the question is formed in our mind not so we can ask someone else the answer but so that we can find the answer our self. Of course, Emma had pointed out that by asking she was indeed trying to find the answer. But now that she was older, because eight is indeed much older and wiser than six, she understood that her mama was just looking for some peace and quiet.
They crossed a somewhat busy street and made a left onto another road. The snow crunched nosily under their feet and Emma found herself fascinated with the different designs the tires made in the snow. Had Raphael not grabbed her jacket a couple of times and directed her in the right route, she just might have walked off into the street to follow the patterns and swirls.
“We are here.” His deep voice pulled her eyes up from the pavement. There was a red brick building with a sign that said Marion County Library. What the sign actually read to Emma was Safe Haven. She’d never needed a safe haven before; her home had always been safe before. But she’d never appreciated a public library so much as she did that moment.