“It wasn’t long before Cerberus found himself faced with a pack of angry immortals demanding an explanation for his behavior. If she had been mortal, she would have died many deaths at his hand. But she was immortal and as such was beaten down to nothingness only to slowly heal and be beaten again. We warned him that he was not to harm his female again, but as you know, sometimes men are simply too stupid to heed a warning when it is given.” He looked up at Silus and offered a scornful grin. The man shifted, but continued to listen in silence.
“We believe ourselves Christian men. Killing any creature of God is an unforgivable crime against our Lord, but so is standing by while an innocent victim is being brutalized. It was a cold night much like this one. I remember because the ground had already started to harden and freeze. We had grown suspicious when we hadn’t seen the female around for some time and we decided to check on her. When we found her she was a disgrace and Cerberus had the audacity to laugh at us as if our warning was given in jest.
“He was outnumbered and we took him down swiftly. Of course we had to incapacitate him, but we knew he would heal. While he was unconscious we shut him in a wooden box and placed it deep within the earth. No matter how strong an immortal is, without proper nutrition that strength will wane. They say we are all nothing more than dust, dirt upon this earth. Even dust, when there is enough of it, is immovable. We buried him in that box and that is where he remains today, starved, alone, and trapped for the rest of his eternal existence.”
Eleazar looked up at Silus and waited for the man to comprehend why such a tale would be relevant on a night like this. He smiled the moment he saw understanding dawn on the man’s face. Silus’s head slowly raised his eyes wide, and all arrogance gone.
“You cannot be serious!”
“Oh, but I am. You see, I may be your bishop, but I am first and foremost a male. You have harmed what is mine, trespassed on a bonded male’s territory, desecrated what is mine. You have made a grave error in taking my forgiveness for granted. There is no forgiveness for a man who goes after another male’s mate. At least not in this lifetime. I hope you drank your fill of my mate because it will be the last drink you take for at least a hundred years.”
Silus began to tremble. “You cannot do this! I wish to speak to my father.”
“I will be sure to give him the message. However, I am a bit preoccupied with my mate on the mend. I hope your request does not slip my mind.”
Eleazar stood and slid the papers through the bars. “Sign.”
Silus stood on shaky legs. He took the papers with his good arm and Eleazar grinned as he saw how badly the other male was trembling. “You can have her. I will never touch her again. She isn’t worth it anyway. You’ll see. She’s cold. You would have thanked me eventually.”
The bishop clucked his tongue. “See, and I thought you understood the story.” A heavy door slammed in the distance. Silus’s eyes darted in that direction anxiously. Heavy footfalls echoed from the far end of the holding block. “When will you understand, Brother Silus, while you were incapable of loving a female so pure and giving as Larissa, I was not? I see the gift God has bestowed on me and I will continue to cherish her above even my own salvation and comfort for the rest of my existence. I believe it was Solomon who said, for love is as strong as death and jealousy is as fierce as the grave. Well, my friend, that is where your jealousy has landed you.”
Eleazar stood and retrieved the signed annulment papers just as Silus caught sight of the six men bearing shovels and holding a casket. He bolted to the bars and began to ramble senselessly, unable to form one clear sentence without stumbling over his next thought. Eleazar tucked the papers into his pocket and turned to the other men.
Silus shouted, “You cannot sentence me without the approval of the council!”
“Ah, but you see, Brother Silus, those same technicalities that you found suitable only a year ago when you married Larissa, now seem to have betrayed your interests. We are a council of nine and just as it took only a slight tip in your favor before, my verdict requires only a slight tip now. You have abused your position like a petulant child. You have offended the mother of Elder Christian Schrock, disrespected Elder Abraham, abused and threatened the granddaughter of two men who also sit on the council, and highly underestimated my friendship with those who journeyed here under my lead many centuries ago. Nepotism will only take a man so far. But most of all, Silus, you have misjudged me. All of my life I have been a fair and just bishop, placing my needs and wants second to those of my flock, but you pushed me too far. As a man who abused family law in every way possible, you should have known that nothing is higher than God’s law. She is my mate and your mere presence has become a threat to her. I warned you and you made the choice not to heed my warning and keep your distance.”
Eleazar examined his fingernails for a moment, allowing Silus a moment to digest his words. Flicking a speck of dirt out from under his nail, he sighed, “More’s the pity.” He turned and faced the others. “I trust you can handle him?”
“It should not be a problem,” Ezekiel Hartzler assured.
Eleazar nodded and turned away without a second glance. As he traveled up the stairs to his mate, he heard Silus’s screams which were soon muffled and eventually silenced. Perhaps ten years would be enough to teach the young immortal his place. Perhaps not.
Chapter 35
Abilene sat in the chair by her window and stared through the frosted glass into the black night. She could feel it happening, as if a piece of her soul was detaching and irrevocably being ripped from her being. Her back remained straight as her shoulders let go of the pain and tried to surrender to reality. Acceptance was a living, breathing agony she would have to come to terms with.
Her eyes gazed at her reflection in the glass. It seemed they had lost a bit of their light, making it, for once, easy to see her true likeness. Her mouth slackened and her eyes seemed weary. Her hair hung loosely upon her shoulders like a cloud of spun silk. She was not stunning, but she was, in her own way, beautiful, she thought.
Her fingers reached slowly to the glass and touched upon the sad eyes watching her. Her warm fingertips turned the cool frost into moisture. As she pulled her hand away, the condensation ran like twin tears down her mirrored reflection same as her true tears began to fall.
He had been gone too long. He would not come back. She knew he would not be able to, but for some reason this night felt monumental as if it marked an end, or perhaps the beginning of her lonesome existence. As the leaves fell from the trees each autumn, Abilene felt her life falling away. Jonas was so much a part of who she was she had no idea who to be without him.
She bowed her head and wept quietly. When she could bear no more self-pity, Abilene slid her bible from the sill and opened it upon her lap. She had not thought of what page she had opened to, she merely prayed for distraction.
Looking down, she saw that she had turned to Corinthians. Her gaze clung to one verse and could not pull away. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
She looked again out into the cold, dark night. “Dear Lord, give me the grace to endure this with which you have so tested my love.”
* * * *
Jonas held his head in his palms and prayed, Dear Lord, give me the grace to endure this which you have so tested my love. For love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. Let my love and the love of my Abilene endure this task you have charged me with and forgive me for the wrong I am about to do.
The door in the hall opened and Jonas looked up. Clara stood before him in a clean white robe. Her feet were bare and her hair was loose upon her shoulders. She was stunning. She seemed nervous as she timidly stepped closer, but paused before she fully entered the den. He felt his hands twitch and his mouth go dry. God help him, he wanted to go to her.
“I have the papers,” she said. He nodded and she placed a sheaf of forms on the table to her
left. “All you must do is sign and you will be recognized as their sole guardian. I…there are no words for my gratitude. I have come to terms with what little I can control in this life. Thank you for allowing me to control my grandchildren’s fate. Knowing they will be safe is the only comfort I have.”
She looked down as if she was forcing herself to stop speaking and mumbled something to herself. Jonas smiled and felt a twinge of sadness that he would never know this female more. She was a unique combination of courage, humility, tenaciousness, and charm. Nothing like his fragile Abilene, but still beautiful in her own way.
“I’m ready,” she said softly, still looking down at the carpet.
Jonas experienced a mixture of dread and excitement. He was about to accept this gift from God and therefore ease this burden upon his back. Yet at the same time he was about to break the vows he had made before God to always love, cherish, and remain faithful to his wife. Did his good intentions even matter at this point? His mind shied away from any images of how this night would end.
He had given Clara his word, yet, looking at her now, so small and frail, he was not sure he could keep it. She would be youthful once more, once his deed was done. Perhaps he could convince her that life did not always have to end in death. She was to be reborn this evening and that was something sacred, a miracle only God could manage. Jonas stopped his thoughts as he remembered Abilene. There was no place in his life for both his wife and his mate.
“Are you having second thoughts?”
He could sense that she was ready. She had come to terms with her choice. Clara was a woman who resented her helplessness. She had lost many of those she loved. Earlier she had told him adamantly that she was done allowing God to choose for her. She was choosing her own destiny from now on. He was giving her that choice. He was giving her death and in return, she was giving him salvation.
Jonas stood and slowly walked over to her. He stood before Clara’s small form and gently tucked a snowy strand of hair behind her ear. She looked up at him with eyes that said what she was about to give him was something sacred she had only ever given to her husband, and Jonas no longer saw a frail, aged woman before him. He looked into her vivid-blue eyes and saw the girl she once was, unsure, a little scared, a little insecure, a little brave. He leaned close and pressed his lips to hers.
She trembled under his touch and he softly coaxed her into kissing him back. They stood, only touching in kiss, for several moments. When he pulled away they both looked down, a bit overwhelmed and confused. He watched her shoulders rise and fall as her palms fisted by her side. Gently, he reached low with his fingers and tipped up her chin. She raised her face to him, but kept her eyes closed.
“I am not Arthur and you are not Abilene.”
She nodded and he watched as a tear slid past her pale lashes. Jonas wiped the trace of sadness away with the soft side of his thumb and her eyes slowly opened. Shaky pools of blue stared back at him with bewilderment. He wondered why this world was so cruel to those that were kind and so forgiving to those who seeded evil. She stepped back and slowly undid the tie of her robe. She bared her body to him slowly until she was standing before him in nothing but a soft blush. Her body was not that of an immortal, but she was soft and feminine in a way even time could not change.
He watched her press her lips tightly together as a frown worked its way across her brow. He reached a slow hand out and tenderly caressed the side of her breast. She looked at him and he held out his hand for her to take. Shyly, she placed her hand in his and he walked her to her room. When they reached the bed they both paused, holding hands, but not yet able to move any closer.
“We can just lay side by side for a bit,” he suggested.
Clara nodded and moved to get under the covers as Jonas removed his shirt and then did the same. They lay side by side in silence for a while. Jonas had eventually found her hand again and she held on to him tightly. After a long while he said, “Tell me about the day you fell in love with Arthur.”
A slow smile transformed her mouth and she seemed to relax. “I fell in love with him the day the music died.” She turned to see if he understood what she meant. By the expression on his face she must have seen he did not. “It was February 3, 1959. We had been watching television when our program was suddenly interrupted with news that three popular musicians had died in a plane crash. Everyone was shocked and I remember a lot of girls my age breaking into hysterics. For me, it was an odd feeling. At that point in my life, I had never had someone close to me die. But the idea of these three young men dying shocked me to the core. It had never, until that very moment, occurred to me just how fragile and swift life can be. I believe it occurred to Arthur at that same time.
“I remember him holding my hand so tight and looking into my eyes as if he needed, physically needed, to tell me something. I can still see him now, so young and unsure of himself. He had always been quite handsome, my Arthur. I had not made it easy for him. I had an idea he wanted to confess his love and ask me to be his wife, but I was not going to help him out. If a man could not bring himself to make such a declaration on his own then how was I expected to agree to one?”
Clara laughed and began to cough. Once she caught her breath, she continued. “Eventually he pulled himself together and declared that life was too short to spend it with anyone other than those we love. I suppose I loved him before that day, but that was the first day I had ever told him. We were married the following spring.” Then as if the thought had just occurred to her, Clara whispered, “Ironic that I fell in love with him on the day of one of the most notorious plane crashes in American history and I lost him the same way on September 11.”
They lay in silence a while after that. Clara had started quietly humming a song. She would occasionally sing a few verses, something about American Pie and a Chevy in a levy. When she reached the end of her song, the room was once again quiet. Jonas felt an uncomfortable knot within him tighten and suddenly pull free. Clara sighed and slowly loosened her grip on his hand. He turned and looked at her.
“Clara?” He reached over to brush a strand of hair away from her face and stilled. She was not moving at all. He sat up quickly and tried to wake her. “Clara? Clara, can you hear me?” Dread crawled through him like ivy chokes a once-beautiful flower, twisting and tangling until its doom is a certainty. He had waited too long. He pulled her into his arms and rocked her gently as he cried. “Go find your Arthur, Clara, and I pray you finally find peace.”
* * * *
The thud of her bible falling to the floor had her awaking with a start. She frowned as she realized she had spent the entire night sleeping in a chair. Abilene reached down to pick the book off the floor and as she placed it on the windowsill, she gasped at the vision that greeted her.
The world was a masterpiece of white. Green and brown fields had been covered with new-fallen snow. The blanket of white was still untouched, as if the world had been freshly baptized, clean and perfect. Fences held a trimming of powder along their posts and the red barn boldly declared itself a prideful king amongst the pure backdrop God had left. Tractors slept under the weight of ice and frosted trees shone like crystal as their weighted branches hung under the rays of the sun.
She tilted her head and enjoyed the beauty of this morning. The world she had known yesterday had been washed away and bathed anew. She decided she would pull strength from this gift of beauty. It was time she began looking toward the future and letting go of her past.
Chapter 36
Eleazar opened his eyes as Larissa softly caressed his cheek. She looked into those dark eyes and wondered how she had ever found them anything but kind. “Good morning, Bishop.”
“Good morning, my love. How are you feeling?”
“Better.”
“Good.”
“It snowed last night.”
He smiled softly. “And this pleases you?”
“It’s beautiful.”
“You are beautiful.” He p
ulled her close and kissed her nose. “I’ve missed you.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t wait for you to come get me yesterday. None of this would have happened if I had listened to you.”
He shook his head. “I am glad you learned your lesson, but I doubt this was avoidable. Perhaps not this exact consequence, but men like Silus do not yield until they are stopped by something much bigger than themselves.”
She was silent for a few minutes as she contemplated his words. “Eleazar…is…is Silus dead?”
“No.”
“What did you do to him?”
“I sent him somewhere where he can no longer harm you. A place he will stay until he understands what you mean to me and knows how to treat you with the honor and respect you deserve.”
“What if he comes back?”
“He cannot come back until I allow it. You must trust me on this.”
“I will never make the mistake of not trusting you again. When I am with you, I feel as if I never need to worry. I know if I stumble you will catch me. If I am frightened you will hold me. If I am sad you will warm my heart. And when I am lonely…”
“I will warm your body.”
She smiled at him and he drew her close and gently kissed her. As their bodies pressed together, they quickly heated despite the cold weather surrounding them. Eleazar turned Larissa onto her back, and she smiled at him under drowsed eyes. “I love you, Eleazar King.”
Eleazar paused above Larissa and looked at her for a moment with such vulnerability it tugged a thread right from her heart. “I love you, too, Larissa. More than I have ever loved another.” They found each other’s mouths again and began kissing once more. Legs scissored together softly under the blankets and hands caressed warm flesh as their tongues teased one another’s mouth.
Eleazar began to kiss a line from Larissa’s lips to her ear. He bit playfully at her lobe and she shivered. His hands found her breasts and cupped them gently, his thumbs grazing the tips. She arched into him and his flat belly pressed against her own softer tummy. He leaned down and drew her nipple into his mouth and shock waves of pleasure shot to her womb.
Calling for a Miracle [The Order of Vampyres 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 34