Solace (Asteria Trilogy Book 1)

by Alaina Katherine

  Well, at least this will help my story about feeling a vision earlier, I thought before collapsing and falling into the vision.

  Like the last vision, this one was from the victim’s perspective. Again the victim was a male. He was sitting on a soft brown couch as he watched a sitcom on the television. It was strange to have a vision that was so calm; I felt the amusement the boy was experiencing from the show he watched.

  Of course I should have known that the peacefulness wasn’t going to last. The front door was suddenly ripped from its hinges as an army of Anakim sauntered into the room. I felt the panic spreading throughout the boy as he helplessly fought off the creatures. Though the blows he threw looked powerful, they barely affected the Anakim and they easily pinned him to the ground and tied him up before hauling him out of the room. I watched as a movie poster, torn in two by the scuffle, fell to the ground as the vision left me.

  “They took someone,” I told Gabriel once I was completely back in my own body. “He must have been a prophet, otherwise what would be the point?”

  “What did he look like? Maybe we can get a good enough description to see if any of the angel’s might recognize him.”

  I shook my head. “I didn’t even get to see him; I was inside his head, just like I was in the last vision.”

  I moped around for the next few days. Once again, I felt utterly useless as a Goddess. I had recounted the vision many times to Gabriel in hopes of remembering some small yet crucial detail that might lead us to who this prophet was.

  I was sitting on Gabriel’s couch. The clouds outside matched my mood, they were dark and ominous yet they never let a single drop of rain fall. Azrael and Michael were also there and they had put on a movie in an attempt to cheer me up. I couldn’t focus on the movie though; instead I kept replaying the vision. There was something nagging in the back of my brain. I was sure there had to be something I missed.

  “The movie poster,” I muttered under my breath. Gabriel turned his head slightly towards me but only halfheartedly. I had been muttering random phrases such as this for days now but this one meant something. “I know I’ve seen it somewhere.”

  The others continued watching the movie, oblivious to my ramblings. Michael absentmindedly placed a hand on my knee. He probably thought I was kind of pathetic with my obsession over this vision.

  “It was at a dorm or something,” I continued, though no one was listening. “Maybe it was at Danielle’s? But there weren’t any prophets there.” Fear spread through my body. I had only been to one other apartment recently and that apartment did belong to a prophet.

  Michael’s eyes widened in terror before he shot up from the couch. “Brian!” he cried out as he ran outside and launched himself into the air.

  I jumped up to run after him but Gabriel gripped my arm.

  “Azrael, go,” he commanded and she zipped passed to catch up with Michael.

  “Gabriel, you need to take me with them!” I pleaded.

  “No, I need to keep you safe. His place is probably swarmed with Anakim right now, just like it was in your vision. If you showed up they would take you in a heartbeat. I won’t allow it.”

  “I can’t just do nothing!” I shouted. I was through with being useless.

  “You can, and you will.” His voice was stern and his grip was cutting off the circulation to my arm.

  I understood his stance but I couldn’t fight the urge to save Brian. For once I had been able to figure out my vision, but it might have been too late to save him. I tried to yank my arm free of his grasp which just upset him.

  “There is nothing you can do!” he roared. His words stung, they hit me in the weakest spot possible. I blinked back the tears that threatened to cascade down my cheeks. Gabriel had never been angry with me. There were times when he was stern but he never before had he hurt me.

  Fighting tears I dared to look him in the eyes. I wanted him to know how much I hated him in that moment. As I bore my gaze into his I watched his eyes soften. A single tear had escaped and was rolling its way slowly down my cheek. I rigorously lifted my hand to wipe it away but Gabriel’s gentle hand got there first. He cupped my face and in one slow motion wiped away the tear with his thumb.

  Raphael barged into the room at that moment; sweat started soaking through the top of his shirt as he asked what had caused Michael and Azrael’s urgent departure.

  “Watch her and do not let her go anywhere!” Gabriel passed me off to Raphael before taking off.

  “Oh so you can go but I can’t!” I yelled bitterly after him.

  Raphael actually laughed and I turned my harsh gaze upon him.

  “When are you going to get it, Sage? The worst thing in the world would be for him to bring you to harm, which is what you are asking him to do. You put him in an interesting place, he does not wish to say no to you but he cannot allow himself to lead you to danger.”

  “What does it matter if I get put into danger, maybe I could have helped!” I argued.

  “Maybe. Do you think Gabriel is the only one who would suffer at your loss? You would be wrong. You mean something different to each of the angels, but I can guarantee that you stand for hope and strength to us all. We see how you walk around here every day. We know you feel the pain of each human’s death yet you still bear it and more importantly you aren’t bitter towards them about it. You don’t hate them for sharing their pain with you; you empathize with them and are empowered to save them.”

  I was full on sobbing at this point and Raphael had gathered me in his arms and sat me on the couch. He held me as my body was rocked by my ragged breathes. Never before had someone said something so beautiful about me. That wasn’t the only reason I was crying though. Although I had spent a lot of time feeling depressed lately, I had never allowed myself to give into it. I was crying for everything that had happened up until this point, all the losses, all the hopelessness not only experienced by me but, by all of my angels as well. I had always felt a connection to the humans but in this moment I understood my connection to the angels. After all, I had created them too.

  I had regulated my breathing and dried my eyes by the time the angels returned. When they walked into the room I didn’t have to see their shoulders sagging, the blood drying on their skin, or the distant look in their eyes to know that they had not saved Brian.

  “They had him in the doorway when I got there.” Michael’s voice held no emotion. “A few Anakim hung back to fight us off. We killed all of them of course, but the others managed to get away with him.”

  I wiped the tears that had fallen at the image of the sullen angels and walked over to Michael. I look him square in the eyes. “It’s not over yet. They may have taken them, but he is still alive. You and I both can feel that much.”

  Michael shed a single tear before roughly pulling me into his arms.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “You are insane if you think I would even entertain the idea of brining you to Brian’s apartment!” Gabriel huffed.

  “Please!” I hated how pathetic I sounded.

  “No.” He turned away from me to hint that this conversation was over. But it wasn’t over. I was not letting this one go.

  “I need to find him.” I wedged myself between him and the fridge he was about to scrounge through. “I might be able to do something this time, please don’t make me sit on the sidelines.”

  When he continued to ignore me, I continued to plea.

  “I have sat around here for months now, unable to help while innocent women died. I have bared the weight of every loss. I felt true hopelessness. You can’t ask me to do nothing. You can’t expect me to do nothing. We have a chance to fix this. There’s hope this time. But you have to let me go,” I rushed to get the words out of my mouth.

  “Michael has already searched the apartment hundreds of times, what do you except to find that he could not?”

  “Michael can’t have visions. Maybe being around Brian’s personal items can trigger something for
me.”

  “How am I supposed to bring you to a place that was just swarmed with Anakim? It’s too much of a risk.” His expression was pleading with me to understand how worried this idea made him.

  “Invite every single angel to come with us for all I care but I need to go.” My expression did some pleading of its own.

  He let out a sigh and I knew I had won.

  Unease spread through my veins as I saw the splintering pieces of wood sticking out from Brian’s doorway. It only grew worse when I saw the disarray of the living room. I tried not to let Gabriel feel my discomfort though, as I knew he would be quick to bring me back to Aether.

  As I stepped through the doorway, I bent down to touch the scrap of movie poster that had fallen during the struggle. I brushed my fingers across a few other items just as I had seen people on television do when they were trying to force a vision. I had no luck in the living room and moved on to the bedroom.

  The bedroom had been left untouched by the Anakim so it was easier to look around the room. Although something gripped my heart when I saw the unmade bed and a few clothes scattered around the floor. I gently picked up a picture frame that held a photo of a smiling Brian with arms wrapped around a red headed girl. Still holding the frame, I turned to watch Michael open the closet and I instantly dropped the frame and the glass shattered as hit in the floor.

  Everything happened within an instant. I heard snarling and grunts as Gabriel threw himself at me and carried me to the window. He stopped before flying out of it though and I was hit with a foul stench.

  Keeping his wings out, Gabriel shoved me behind him to face the others. I peeked around his left wing to see what it was that had gotten everyone so worked up. I shrunk back when I saw it. It was the creature from my visions. From my nightmares. It was an Anakim. Raphael and Michael each held onto an arm of the creature. Azrael stood behind it with her hands wrapped around its neck and Sera had the tip of her sword to the base of its neck. Two other angels whom I didn’t recognize entered the room with their swords drawn as well.

  The Anakim let out a laugh as if he found the angels restraints to be a joke. It angered me.

  “Where is he?” I yelled as I rushed around Gabriel’s wings. Instantly, I found myself pushed back behind him for safety. I still glared at the creature over one of Gabriel's wings.

  “You will answer her,” Gabriel's voice was strained. I knew he was fighting every urge to get me out of that apartment.

  “I do not have to answer to her or any of you,” it spat.

  I noticed that Sera pressed her sword into the creature’s neck.

  “You cannot know right now.” The creature smiled, baring his pointed teeth. He really should consider using a toothbrush.

  “What do you want with him?” Michael questioned.

  “I have no reason to answer your questions, angel,” it hissed.

  “You will answer them unless it is death you want!” Gabriel fumed. The creature did not give in though, instead it spat at Gabriel. As Gabriel threw up an arm to block his face saliva landed on his wrist and he let out a pained roar.

  All I felt was a rush of wind as Gabriel charged at the Anakim. His sword suddenly appearing in his right hand he swung it and beheaded the creature. The other angels took a step back as the creatures body fell to the floor before it looked as if vapor began rising from the body and it disappeared entirely.

  “Well, there went our only chance at information.” Azrael sighed.

  “It wasn’t going to give us anything,” Gabriel seethed. Without saying another word he gathered me in his arms and flew us out the window. He dropped me a bit haphazardly inside of my temple. He was clearly upset with me. “Don’t ever ask me to do that again.”

  He went to turn away from me, to leave me alone but I reached out for his arm. He allowed me to turn him around and turn over his arm so that I could see his wrist. His lips pursed as I gently brought my fingertips to the skin around his wound.

  The Anakim’s saliva had burned away a line of Gabriel's flesh. It looked as if it was still eating its way farther into the arm.

  “Be careful not to touch it.” His voice was low but it still had a hardness to it. I began tracing the outline of the wound with my index finger. “That’s really cool.”

  I raised an eyebrow questioningly. “What is so cool about being able to trace something?” I laughed.

  “No, I mean your touch. It’s cold. It stops the burning.” His tone was filled with wonder.

  As my finger got closer to the wound the acid seemed to stop burning its way deeper into Gabriel’s arm. I didn’t worry about getting burnt and I brushed my fingertips over the opening. As if by magic the blood turned darker as it clotted under my touch.

  “Strange,” Gabriel mused.

  “I can heal you.” I was grinning ear to ear. I was finally good for something. After all the times Gabriel had made me feel better, I was elated that I could return the favor.

  In the midst of all the chaos one of Sera’s charges had a vision of my parents stopping by my college for a surprise visit. Thank the Goddess for that charge, who ever she is because that certainly would have been a disaster. We were able to set up the apartment with my stuff just in time for my parents to show up.

  After the last encounter on Terra, Gabriel wasn’t too thrilled about bringing me back there but there really wasn’t any other option.

  “Are you surprised?” my mom asked as she squeezed me tightly.

  “You have no idea,” I said, but I was grinning ear to ear. I know most people yearn for the day they get to move away from their parents but I really did miss mine. I breathed in deeply while hugging each of them, trying to fill up my nostrils with the scent of home as much as I could. It was a really sweet and beach-y smell, probably thanks to all the Hawaiian scented items my mother used throughout the house. The smell was so familiar, yet it felt so distant now. It was a scent that had once encompassed me as well but it didn’t cling to me any longer.

  “So where’s Storm?” my dad questioned while looking around the apartment. “I would have expected her to be greeting us at the door!”

  Damn it, I thought. Of course we couldn’t have gotten everything covered.

  “One of our friends took Storm to the park with her dog for a play date.” My “roommate” thankfully was a blessing from heaven. She was a tall, sporty looking blonde with the widest brown eyes I had ever seen and skin so pale it was almost translucent.

  “What a shame, I guess we won’t get to see her this visit,” my dad added.

  “How long are you here for anyways?” I asked.

  “Just a few hours, unfortunately. I had to travel for business and your mother and I figured it be fun to make a road trip out of it. Thankfully, you’re college was along the way.”

  “Why don’t we go to lunch? I’m sure you’ve found plenty of good places by now,” my mom commented.

  “Oh, you should totally take them to Jimmy’s, but Mr. and Mrs. Weiss if you don’t mind I need Sage’s help with something for just a moment.”

  “Of course we don’t mind.” My mom smiled.

  “Make yourself comfortable.” My roommate gestured towards the couch before ushering me into a bedroom. She went over to a small desk in the corner of the room and began scribbling something on a post-it note. “Here. The Rueben on honey wheat is delicious, the Caesar wrap, the penne pesto and the turkey club are all good suggestions. And the Dutch apple pie is to die for.” She whispered as she handed me the sticky note held the directions to Jimmy’s.

  “You are a life saver.”

  “No problem. Oh! Don’t order any of the burgers, they are the worst. You would think a place named Jimmy’s would have good burgers but they are super dry,” she added with an eye roll.

  “You know, I don’t even know your name.”

  “Its Ashton.”

  “Well, thank you Ashton.” I smiled before rejoining my parents in the living room. “Alright, let’s go to lunc
h.”

  When we got to their car my mom offered to let me take the front seat so that I could give my dad directions to Jimmy’s.

  “No, its ok, I can navigate just fine from the back.” Besides, it would be easier for me to read off of the sticky note. It also would be easier for Gabriel and Sera go unnoticed in the backseat if I was the one sitting back there rather than my mom. I could only imagine what would happen one of them happened to bump into during a turn around a corner. It would be tough to explain that one. Gabriel and Sera were the lucky ones who got picked to go in the car. Michael and Raphael had to fly above us. Sera got picked because she was a girl and the angels are chivalrous. Gabriel obviously wasn’t going to leave my side and no one even bothered to argue with him getting the other seat in the car.

  When we got to Jimmy’s, the first thing I noticed was that it was obviously a popular place among the university students. Towards the center of the restaurant, there were small groups of friends laughing over coffee and sandwiches, along the outskirts were individual people with textbooks strewed all over their tables and in the corners were couples leaning in close and batting their eyes at each other. It’s a place I probably would have found myself spending a lot of time in, had I actually gone to Washington State University.

  The Goddess in me was elated by all the happy people surrounding me but, I had a twinge in my heart at knowing that this was a scene I probably would never get to enjoy, at least not for a long time. In dwelling on this idea, I had allowed the dark tendrils to sneak up on me and they were dangerously close to my ankles.

  “Why don’t you guys get a seat, I have to go to the bathroom,” I suggested to my parents before hurrying off, away from the smoke. My entourage followed me with the exception of Raphael who stayed with my parents.

  I was surprised when the boys followed me into the bathroom, I knew others could not see them, but there was something off about boys being in a girl’s bathroom. The bathroom was just a single stall though so there was no threat of company and I locked the door behind me.