Forgiven

by Gina Detwiler

  “I think I was supposed to ask for your permission,” I say. “We’ve gotten this all backward.”

  “No worries.” He stifles a cough. “We’re not exactly a traditional family, are we?”

  “Are you okay?” I ask. The cough always makes me nervous.

  “I got the results yesterday. The cancer’s back.”

  I draw in a breath. “Have you told Grace?”

  “No. I’m not going to either. Not until after the wedding, anyway.” He grins faintly. “I’m happy for the two of you. It’s about time.”

  “You don’t think we’re making a terrible mistake?”

  “You mean ʼcause of the whole Nephilim thing? I don’t know much about that, but I know that life is short—for some of us, anyway. When you find love, you need to hang onto it. That’s what the Hallmark cards say.”

  There is deep sorrow behind the joke. He’s thinking of Shannon.

  “Well, thank you.”

  “No problem.”

  “Can I ask you a question? About…Shannon.”

  He stops working and looks at me. “What about Shannon?”

  “I’m wondering if back when you knew her…before…well, if she ever participated in any occult rituals.”

  He’s quiet for a moment as he considers this. “Yeah. She belonged to a group with some other LA actresses. They called themselves the Daughters of Babalon. She would go to meetings every month. That kind of thing was big in LA back then.”

  “Do you know what they did?”

  “Not exactly, but she asked me to come to a meeting once. They did some sort of bizarre ritual. I was pretty wasted so don’t remember much, except for Lily in this red dress. There was a lot of chanting and incantations and incense—honestly I thought I was on a bad trip.”

  “Silas, think. When did she get pregnant? Was it…after that?”

  His brow furrows. “It must have been, because then she went to France.” His eyes search mine. “What are you getting at?”

  I take a breath. “Whatever the ritual she did back then—with you—I think she did the same ritual with me,” I say. “In Iceland.”

  Silas’ face goes still. He walks over to a stool and sits down.

  “What’s the point of the ritual? What’s it for?”

  “To unite the Scarlet Woman and the Great Beast, like in Revelation. To produce…a Moon Child. The Antichrist.”

  His eyes widen. “She’s pregnant now,” he says.

  “Yes.”

  “And you think—”

  “It’s possible. I hope not. But…yes.”

  He straightens, a look of horror crosses his face. “But if she did that same ritual with me, then Grace is…”

  I shake my head. “She’s not. The ritual didn’t work back then.”

  “It didn’t?”

  “No. Because you were not the Beast.” I pause and struggle to form the next words. I had read the scriptures before coming to talk to him. One line had chilled me:

  The beast that you saw was, and is not,

  and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction.

  “I am the Beast.”

  45: Forever On Your Side

  Grace

  I wear the long white dress I wore for my high school graduation, and Penny made me a crown of baby’s breath for my hair. She wears a purple dress, the first time in a long time that I’ve seen her in anything except black. She has Mace dressed up in a suit that’s too big for him. I’m not crazy about him attending my wedding, but Penny won’t go without him. Besides, I do owe him something, for helping catch Torega. I apologized for doubting him, but I still don’t like him hanging around.

  Ralph has on a black button-down shirt with a checked bowtie—a new look for him. Silas wears a jacket I didn’t know he owned. Emilia looks like a seventies bridesmaid in pink frills and floppy hat. She clutches a cake box in her arms and shoos anyone away who tries to take a peek.

  Jared wears a new white button-down shirt with a blue tie that matches his eyes. I reach up and adjust his tie, although it doesn’t need adjusting.

  “You look very handsome.” An understatement.

  “You look…beautiful.”

  “No touching before the wedding!” Penny grabs my arm, and pulls me into the van.

  It’s early May, the sun is shining, and the crab-apple and cherry trees are blossoming. Ralph drives, although he refuses to tell us where we’re going. It’s a “surprise.” I wanted the wedding to take place outside, somewhere pretty. It will be nice to be outside again. We’re out of hiding at last.

  We pick up Ethan and Bree at a shopping center just outside of town. As soon as the door slides open, Bree takes one look at me and screams at the top of her lungs. Ethan follows her into the van, closes the door, and slings his backpack on the floor. He looks vaguely annoyed as usual. Ralph told them to not bring their phones and Ethan always gets antsy without a device in his hand.

  I give him a hug. “Thanks for coming.”

  “Like I had a choice.” He rolls his eyes at Bree, who scoffs.

  “Are you kidding? He wouldn’t miss it. Ethan, make sure the two heroes get married in your sequel to Wrath of the Watchers. That would be awesome.”

  “Oh, yeah, thirteen-year-old boys are sure to be ecstatic over that one. Although…” He pauses, looking up like some new idea has popped into his head. “Maybe a Watcher attack on the wedding would be cool…kind of a revenge thing…this time it’s personal…”

  “Oh, brother.”

  We all burst out laughing.

  Bree talks nonstop as Ralph drives into the countryside. Jared is quiet and nervous, his leg bouncing up and down. He stares out the window like he’s searching for something.

  “Looking for demons?” I laugh.

  He doesn’t. “Drones, maybe.”

  I take his hand. “Speer’s not still looking for you, is he?”

  “You never know with Speer.”

  “He got what he wanted from you. You’re done with him. Done with all of it.”

  After an hour, the terrain grows hilly and forested. Ralph turns onto a narrower, country road that soon becomes a dirt track, which we follow for a couple of miles. The ancient shocks of the PsychoVan bounce us all over each other.

  “I really don’t want to have to throw up on Grace’s wedding day,” Bree calls out to Ralph.

  “Sorry! We’ll be there soon.”

  He finally pulls over and cuts the engine. “We have to walk from here.”

  We exit the van. Silas takes a small table from the back and hands Mace a large picnic basket to carry. We hike up a footpath several hundred feet through the woods, swatting gnats all the way. Mud splatters on my white dress. Bree complains loudly that no one told her to wear sensible shoes.

  Finally, we arrive at a level clearing to find a tiny stone building with a tower in one corner.

  A chapel.

  I gasp. “Oh, my gosh…it’s adorable. How did you know about this?”

  “I read about this place in a book on the history of this region,” Ralph says. “This land was once owned by a prominent businessman who used it for hunting more than a hundred years ago. He built a house here as well, but the house burned down. The chapel was a memorial for his wife.”

  “It’s perfect,” says Bree.

  I go in first. The place is musty but recently swept. There are no pews and no altar, just a granite memorial in the center with two names: “Gladys Merriman, Beloved Wife” and “Grace Merriman, Beloved Daughter.”

  “Daughter? Did she die too?” I ask.

  “The mother died in childbirth,” Ralph says.

  Below the dates of birth and death is a scripture verse: I have loved you with an everlasting love.

  “Her name was Grace,” I say. “The baby.”

  “Yes, I thought that was interesting too.”

  Bree runs her fingers over the inscription. “So sad.”

  Ralph pulls a Bible from his coat pocket. “
Are you two ready?”

  I turn to Jared, who stands stiffly in the doorway as if he needs permission to enter. I go to him, take his hand, and lead him to where Ralph waits, near the memorials. The others gather around us and put their hands on our shoulders like we’re all getting married together.

  “This is my first wedding ceremony, so forgive me.” Ralph clears his throat—did he seem a little choked up? “We know that the first couple, Adam and Eve, were joined in the presence of God alone, according to His will. So we ask our heavenly Father for His permission, this day, for the joining in marriage of Grace and Jared. We ask You, Lord, to bless these two or to make Your will known if this marriage about to take place is contrary to Your purpose.”

  Ralph falls silent. We all listen for a peal of thunder, a crack of lightning, or a sudden earthquake. Emilia sniffs. Silas coughs. Bree giggles.

  “Very well.” Ralph sighs. I think he’s disappointed that God didn’t intervene. “Listen to the words of the apostle Paul: If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal…”

  He reads the entire chapter, slowly and with dramatic flair. Then he looks up, his gaze focused on Jared and me. “This is the most difficult chapter in all the Bible because it is nearly impossible to live up to. My prayer for you two is that you will remember always the love you have declared this day, that you make this covenant not only with each other but with God, and that you break it on pain of death. Do you understand?”

  We both nod and a lump forms in my throat. I grip Jared’s hand. It’s burning hot. He reaches up with his other hand to loosen his tie.

  “We are the witnesses to this covenant.” Now Ralph addresses the others. “Our job is to hold these two to the promise they have made—a promise more serious and binding than any legal document devised by man.” He closes the Bible and refocuses his gaze on the two of us. “I believe you have some vows to give to each other.”

  “Yes.” Jared turns to me. He looks so serious I almost burst out laughing.

  “Grace, as God is my witness, I vow to love you forever, as I love you in this moment. I will be forever by your side. I will defend you with my life, and I will never abandon you, no matter what.”

  I try to keep my voice steady as I repeat the same vow. We’d stayed up practically all night working on vows, but in the end, decided that simpler was better.

  “Well, then,” says Ralph, “I guess you are now…husband and wife.”

  ***

  Husband and wife.

  I love those words.

  It’s right, I know it is.

  I want to remember every moment of it, to have it seared into my memory so no matter what happens in the future, I will always have this. The way he takes my face in his hands, his kiss like a soft breeze on my mouth. The way his breath catches, and mine too, and then we breathe together. The way our hearts beat in unison, for now we are truly joined as one. Nothing and no one will ever separate us again.

  And then, there’s music.

  I glance up, startled. Ethan holds up a cassette recorder and smiles. The song is a gorgeous solo guitar version of Amazing Grace.

  I look at Jared. “That’s you!”

  He nods. “For you.” And for the first time all day, his smile reaches his eyes.

  We stand still, singing along with the guitar and letting this moment of grace hover over us like protecting angels. And I am certain God is with us.

  The song ends and the stillness is broken by applause and Bree’s gleeful shrieking. Emilia and Penny are weeping. Jared sweeps me up in his arms and carries me out of the chapel, into the dappled sun.

  I can’t stop laughing.

  Silas and Mace set some chairs up around the portable table laden with the cake, two bottles of sparkling cider and, of course, several cans of Loganberry. The cake is a multi-layered explosion of pink trimmed with perfectly formed angel wings. Emilia outdid herself. I hate to cut into it, but we do anyway. Bree insists on following the usual wedding traditions—a first dance, a father-daughter dance with both Ralph and Silas and throwing the bouquet, which is a bunch of wildflowers Jared picked for me. Unfortunately the flowers aren’t bound together so when I throw them they scatter in all directions. Bree manages to grab one of the stalks and declares herself the victor. Ethan’s face reddens.

  We eat and drink and dance and laugh so hard my ribs hurt. Bree and Ethan, who had decided they were Maid of Honor and Best Man, make rambling, hilarious speeches about us. Bree can hardly get through hers without breaking up in giggles followed by tears. Ethan, totally straight faced, reads his from a three-by-five card. “Having a friend who is a superhero can be a real pain in the butt. But he does come in handy when you have a giant bullet hole in your gut. Or you need to open a jar of pickles.”

  Then Jared takes my hand and announces we’re going for a walk. We leave the others and head into the woods. The whole bottom of my dress is brown by the time we come to a small lake, perfectly nestled in the surrounding woodland. We sit down together on the bank.

  “This may be the only time we can be alone.” He smiles and kisses me again, lingering longer than usual.

  “Are you okay?” I ask.

  “Yeah. I’m fine.”

  We lie down, side by side in the tall wet grass, holding hands.

  “Thanks for the song,” I say.

  “It’s a good thing Ralph is so retro and still had a cassette player. He wouldn’t even let Ethan bring a Bluetooth speaker.”

  I laugh and turn over to face him. His heart trips when I put my hand on his chest, and his breath catches. “I know this isn’t a normal marriage so…I don’t quite know what to do now.”

  “Let’s not do anything.”

  “Good idea.”

  “I love you, Grace.”

  My heart trills at the words.

  “I love you back times a thousand.”

  It’s dark when we get back to the Hobbit Hole. It occurs to me that we haven’t a single picture of our wedding. But every frame is locked in my memory, more permanent than any camera roll.

  I kiss Jared goodbye before returning to the Lighthouse. This is the hard part. We don’t even live in the same house. But we’re still married and he promised never to leave me again.

  ***

  The next morning, I find a message from Lieutenant Bradford on my voicemail. “Call me.”

  I’ve been so consumed by the wedding that I’d almost forgotten about Bradford and the investigation When I call, he picks up right away.

  “What took you so long?”

  “I was getting married,” I say.

  “What? Seriously? To the rock star?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Congratulations.”

  “Thanks. So, did you find anything?”

  “Maybe,” he says. “The detective on the case told me some unknown DNA was found under the victim’s fingernails. He’d assumed it was due to cross-contamination. I told him I had a tip, and so he rechecked the evidence. The same DNA was found on the rope Dana hung herself with.”

  “So someone else handled the rope.”

  “It’s possible. He had the DNA analyzed.”

  “Was it Speer’s?”

  “We got no hits.”

  “So his DNA isn’t in the system.”

  “Actually, it is. Speer was arrested for trespassing when he was a teenager. At the time, anyone arrested in California was swabbed. That was before the ACLU got involved. Anyway, we did a comparison. It’s close, but not a match.”

  My heart sinks. How could this be? But then I remember.

  “His DNA has changed.”

  “DNA doesn’t change.”

  “Yes, it does. That’s what this is all about. The treatment he did modified his DNA. It won’t be a match to when he was a teenager.”

  Bradford heaves a big sigh. “I’m not sure how we’ll prove that. We’d have to get a new sample of his DNA, which would require a compul
sion order since the guy hasn’t been arrested and isn’t even a suspect. Even if we could do that, he has lawyers out the ying yang. Not going to happen, I can guarantee it.”

  “We have to stop him. Before he kills again.”

  “Grace, I have to tell you—there’s not a lot to go on here. I think maybe you’re barking up the wrong—”

  “I’m not. I promise. Look—find out if any other recent victims have ties to Speer. Dana might not be the only one.”

  Another heavy sigh. “Aye, aye, Captain.”

  I tell Silas and Penny about the conversation. “Without a fresh DNA sample, we have nothing, basically.” I sit at the breakfast bar and grab a box of cereal. It suddenly doesn’t feel so much like the morning after my wedding anymore. My groom isn’t even in the house.

  46: Shadows

  Jared

  The world—and all my problems—comes roaring back the day after the wedding. I can’t ignore them, as hard as I try.

  Darwin Speer is all over social media promoting his breakthrough genetic therapy, speaking on college campuses, and doing interviews on television. He’s even writing a book that has already been picked up by a large publishing house, with a six-figure advance. He made the cover of Time, Newsweek, and People Magazine all in the same week. Time named him “Person of the Year.” On top of that, the new collider is almost ready to go online. It’s nearly twice as long and able to collide protons at thirty trillion volts of energy to generate a magnetic field two hundred thousand times that of the Earth’s atmosphere. Ripley still believes it’ll cause a worldwide cataclysm—earthquakes, strange matter, black holes, or simply an explosion greater than all the nuclear bombs in the world put together.

  Not to mention opening a portal to the Abyss.

  And then there’s Shannon’s baby, due in a few weeks.

  I can’t change any of this, nor can I fix it. Only God can right the wrongs I have set in motion.

  I try to forget all of this and focus on Grace, on being with her in the studio, writing songs, taking walks, or talking late into the night. She’s the only peace I have, and now she’s my wife. I experience a fierce need to protect her from whatever is to come.