by Leena Maria
"Now it is my turn to heal," he whispered.
I looked at him, and the hum began to ease my pain. He lowered his head, and kissed me with such tenderness I thought I would lose my consciousness. But this time he did not draw back. His kiss deepened, and I answered it fully. It was an odd sensation, being the object of such love, and not being able to move. Then my body began to burn, and I felt a strong fire light in my heart, spreading all through my body. With great difficulty I moved my hand and touched his cheek with my fingers. We kissed eyes open, drowned into each other, and my wings began to sing for real.
The sound was at first fragmented, off tune, but Daniel's wings balanced mine. Slowly the wings found the same tune, and then they were singing together in total harmony.
Daniel lifted his head, his eyes turned almost black.
"Dana... are you ready for this?" he whispered, searching my soul with his eyes.
I could only nod, tears rolling down my cheeks. I had never been more ready for anything. My whole being yearned for him.
"Then, Dana... we must still wait, but if you choose me, I shall give you my promise. You'll be mine, and I'll be yours, and we will melt into one, when you are of age."
"I choose you, Daniel," I managed to whisper, "and when the time is right, I shall give you my promise."
Now he was crying too, and I could taste the salt in his tears when we continued kissing, eyes closed now, in that place where only true lovers can enter, and no time exists.
CHAPTER EIGHTY
80. Healing
"So no chance for me then, eh?" Jason shook his head sadly and pressed his hands over his heart with a pining expression on his face. "Oh well, I'll take it like a man. I'll just join the queue."
"Yes, after me," Elijah grinned and winked at me and I blushed, as he had intended. His laughter almost matched Diana's in cheerfulness.
I was beginning to feel as though I was walking around with a big sign on my back - a heart with an arrow through it and "Dana loves Daniel" written in the middle. Though no one had witnessed us, it seemed everyone knew. I could sense it from the little smiles the nurses and doctors gave me, quite apart from the more straight-forward comments of our Time Walker team such as the one Jason had made.
I was never left alone for a minute. The Nephilim who had kidnapped me were safely in the prison cells. They were not going to be able to tell anyone about the healing that had happened. But they might have told someone of their plans before kidnapping me, and Daniel was taking no chances.
Elijah told me what had happened.
"You were lucky - Daniel and I came to fetch you two first of all the team, just after you had been kidnapped," Elijah said. "Daniel is so skilled that he can sense the exact spot in a space where a Nephilim has walked from or to the buffer zone. This makes hunting someone that much easier because you can be thrown off for miles in the buffer zone by even a slight deviation in a physical location. When Daniel saw that Diana's bag had fallen on the ground, and the playing cards were scattered all over - along with sensing a recent Nephilim presence - he guessed right away what had happened. He went after you immediately. I barely had time to follow. He was afraid that Angel had got you, but the scent of these Nephilim was different. It didn't match the dark ones. Did you notice that your kidnappers had a unique metallic scent to them?"
I considered a while. Yes, there had been a slightly metallic scent with a tang of cinnamon around every one of them. It was very different from the scent of overripe fruit that hung about Angel.
"So, Daniel thought that at least you were not going to be infected, nor taken to Cain, in all likelihood. If you could even have been infected, which we doubt. He followed the scent of your kidnappers, and then he saw the first playing card in the sand. It was barely visible, already falling down to a level of its own denser energies, but your scent was still strong on it. He found you with the help of these cards, but by then it was too late, because of those singing bowls...
"We just couldn't get into the room you were in, because of the sound. Using the bowls is a normal procedure of pure Nephilim strongholds. We stepped out of the buffer zone near the bunker you were kept in, and could only enter after they had stopped playing the bowls. When we finally got to the room, you were lying on the floor, all grey and burned out, barely breathing anymore. Daniel almost killed the Nephilim responsible..."
Elijah sat for a while, deep in his thoughts, hands clenched to fists so hard his blood vessels were clearly visible. The muscles of his jaws revealed he was gritting his teeth. Then he collected himself and looked at me.
"I honestly hope you never need to see Daniel fight. He is... his strength is so great and he is so ferocious, that you would think you were watching a demon. He attacked the ones responsible for breaking you, and they surrendered before he actually killed them. You should have seen... or, no, it's better that you didn't. He lost it. Completely. I had to attack him in the end, and pin him with my wings so he wouldn't kill them. I got a few scars in the process myself."
He stretched his wings and I saw darker bruises in them still, though already days had passed.
"I suppose that was the moment, when I understood how much he really must love you. I have never seen him lose control like that. And when he lay down on the floor next to you, and wrapped himself around you and refused to let you die... Even angels would have wept at that sight. The Nephilim responsible certainly did. They have been begging for forgiveness ever since, but I don't think Daniel will ever forgive them fully."
"Maybe it is not his job in the first place. To forgive."
Elijah looked at me questioningly. He did not ask anything, though, but left me in peace to collect my thoughts and find the right words in my own time.
"That healing... it wasn't me. It isn't something that I do. It is beyond me, something using me... as a channel. And that... force... it felt the greatest sympathy and compassion for the infected one. It wanted to heal him. And I was one with that emotion, and I wanted it too. I don't think I could have stopped it from happening even if I had tried."
"How did that feel?" Elijah asked. "If I can ask you, that is."
"Of course you can... we are almost family, after all," I smiled at him.
"But not quite completely yet?" he winked and grinned at me and I blushed dutifully again.
"No, not quite yet. He won't hear of it. I am not of age, as he puts it."
"Well, he's most likely right, even though you are not our average Nephilim by any standard. Your emotions are too strong, and then this channeling of healing energies... no, you are wise to wait for your body and mind to be mature enough... it might be dangerous for both of you if you rushed things."
I did not comment on that, but returned to answering his original question.
"But - you asked how it felt to me? Mentally it was... expansive. It was as if my understanding had expanded far beyond anything I could have imagined. I understood things, and saw and heard things I could not comprehend. As if I - didn't have the mental tools to handle it all. And now, when I try to remember... I can't, or at least I can't put into words."
"And physically? How did it feel?"
"Horrible..." my voice broke down, "it.... hurt. It hurt so much... as if liquid metal was pouring into my veins and it was burning me from the inside. And I couldn't escape it. I wanted to scream but I couldn't, I was paralyzed. That... force took over, and I had to obey and it had decided to heal this man. And like I said – despite the pain I wanted it too, though it felt as though it was going to kill me. The odd thing is that it felt like an acceptable thing. Dying."
Elijah touched my hand when the memory made me gasp for air.
"Did it hurt like that when you healed me?" he asked quietly.
"No, no it did not, don't worry. It has to do with the time, how long someone has been infected, I think... healing you did hurt, but it was more bearable."
"Poor Dana... You will be well, though. After you... almost gave your promise t
o Daniel," he smiled at me, "you have been healing much faster. Your wings are definitely better."
That was true, they were no longer dark grey, but lighter in color, and the silver veins were almost back to normal. Also my skin was not ashen anymore, only a hint of the sickly pallor of a convalescent remained. My eyes had not turned back, though. I had no idea how I could ever explain this to my parents.
My eyes were now the color of silver. Bluish silver, but silver nevertheless.
"Oh, you can just buy contacts," Diana had dismissed my problem. "Blue ones. Don't say that silver color is caused by contacts because you can't take them off. So blue it will have to be."
"I want to get up," I said to Elijah, "will you help me? I know Daniel won't agree, but I have to get back on my feet."
"Hmm... I suppose we could try," he said, "now that Daniel is not hovering all over you."
He bent over so he could slide his hand behind my back. He was so strong he just lifted me up to a sitting position in one effortless movement. I sat there, with my head spinning, and had to lean my head against his chest. It felt warm and comfortable, and safe. Eventually the world stopped revolving and I nodded to Elijah. He bent his knees and gathered me tightly against his chest.
"Let's try to get you up," Elijah said. "Never fear, I won't let you go, so even if your legs give way, you won't fall."
That was a good thing. I felt as if I was standing on boiled spaghetti.
Elijah's strong arm kept me safely upright and I gathered all my strength to stand. Finally I found my knees and stood there by the bed for a few minutes, shaking with exhaustion.
"OK, it's back to the horizontal for you," Elijah decided. "Fainting won't improve how you feel."
"I would love to take a shower," I sighed. "The nurses have washed me, but I am beginning to feel a bit ripe..."
Elijah chuckled.
Later I learned he had told someone about my wish, because a nurse came to fetch me, helped me into a wheelchair, and took me to the Centre's private little spa reserved for personnel only. She dressed me in a swimsuit, and when she opened the door of the dressing room, Jason and Elijah were there waiting for me. They lifted me like a feather and carried me to a bathtub, half-filled with delicious warm water. There was a rubber mat at the bottom of the tub, so I could not slide about.
I sighed, content, and relaxed into the warmth of the scent-laden bath.
"Oh, this is heaven..."
"Does this mean we have earned the queue numbers two and three permanently, then?" Jason smiled.
"Oh, definitely!" I felt like joking too. "But you have to decide which one is which."
"Ooo... A duel at dawn, Elijah?" Jason asked Elijah over his shoulder.
"Sure. You can even choose the weapons," Elijah teased back.
"But you need to eat some more, young lady," the nurse shook her head, "you are way too thin!"
She was right. I had lost too much weight and looked like an overgrown twelve-year-old, and the swimsuit was baggy. So, after my bath, I asked the boys to get me some food. Vegetarian food, I had to remind them. I received a huge veggie burger and fries and forced them all down while they supervised the whole thing like two aunties.
I didn't mind. I knew I belonged with these people and the Nephilim more than I had ever belonged anywhere. During these last weeks I had turned from an introvert bookworm teenager into a young woman who also happened to be Nephilim. I had gained more self-assurance through experiencing great change and adventure. I'd faced great fear – and found love. And despite lying in a bed, too ill for my own good, being totally dependent on other people's help, I felt... happy. I mused on everything I'd been through, astonishing myself at the utter change in my life.
Yes. I felt blissfully happy. I looked at Jason and Elijah and smiled at them.
"I love you guys," I declared.
The old Dana would never in a million years have said she loved someone. The new Dana wanted to share her emotions with the people she loved.
The boys looked at me and smiled.
"Yes! There's still hope for us, if Daniel gets on her nerves!" Jason punched the air.
"Oh, he can do that for sure..." Elijah admitted, "we'll just bide our time!"
"And why would you be biding your time?" Daniel walked through the door.
"We are just waiting for her to get tired of you," Elijah said. "Or I am, anyway."
"And if that happens, I don't have to wait for long," Jason grinned, "because Elijah gets on everyone's nerves very quickly."
Daniel shook his head.
"The time for that is nowhere in sight, so scoot before you both get on my nerves."
Jason and Elijah lifted their eyebrows meaningfully, and left the room.
Daniel saw me smiling and smiled at me too. He saw the plate.
"You've eaten something. Good. You need to gather your strength, because we are leaving as soon as you are fit to travel."
"So we're going ahead as planned?"
"Yes."
"Hasn't all this brought danger to all of you? With the shadows spying on our dreams and all that?"
"Well, we've figured out a way to handle that. None of our team sleeps in the Centre. We take them to hotel rooms in different countries each night. A new country and a new hotel every night. The bookings are done from computers in internet cafes and public libraries all over the world too. Let's just say your grandmother has done a lot of traveling with a Key since you... got ill. Explains why you haven't seen much of her or the others lately."
"Wow, talk about travel!"
"You don't know the half of it. Let's just say they are beginning to get a bit bored with sleeping in hotel rooms, and not being allowed to show their faces outside the room. Also we need to find the Trail, to stop whatever Cain is planning. We did not want to leave without you. I - couldn't have done so."
"What about my dreams?"
"Lilith has been guarding those."
I tried to remember what my dreams had been about, and was pretty certain they had involved Daniel.
"I'd better get better soon, then. Or they will begin to dislike me."
"As if that was possible," Daniel placed a determined kiss on my forehead, "but yes, it's time you got back on your feet!"
CHAPTER EIGHTY-ONE
81. Visiting Home
After two weeks, I called my parents. It was the earliest that I felt I'd be able to keep my voice firm. I was still wobbly but at least the color had returned to my cheeks, if not my wings. They had darker patches and hurt when I tried to stretch them, but everyone was hopeful that they would mend.
"Dana, we want to see you." It was so wonderful to hear Mom's voice again. "We've been missing you."
"Yes... I'll come and visit soon," I was trying to sound as cheerful as possible, "I promise. I've missed you too. I got this horrible flu and was in bed for a week..."
Daniel, who had not left my side, looked at me with inquiring eyes.
"They will notice the change in you, if you do go," he said, when I had finished the call. "You are so much taller now. And your eyes..."
"I miss them, Daniel. I want to meet them before we leave. Something might happen to me. Or them. So I want to see them. Maybe I should get those blue contact lenses, like Diana suggested," I sighed. "I can't do anything about the height, though."
Daniel understood, and so a date was arranged for me to visit my parents. I planned to go with Grandma. She left ahead of me to pick up her car and waited for me at a crossroads near my house. Daniel escorted me there through the buffer zone close to midday, when the shadows were more likely to stay in hiding.
I got into Grandma's car, and must have looked almost as awkward as Reggie had done when we had driven from the university to the Centre. How long ago that seemed! My legs were that much longer now and I folded them uncomfortably into the small space
It was odd to see the familiar landscape as we passed through it. The last time I had been here, I'd been an ordinary human bei
ng, who was grieving for the death of her best friend. Now I was a mythical creature, Nephilim, still trying to get to grips with my new identity. I had never believed in the existence of angels, and now I was one. Well, half an angel. It all felt so unreal still. Not to mention learning about different levels of energy in the buffer zone, and actually meeting my dead friend, who continued her life on "the other side".
"Ready?" Grandma asked.
"Ready as I can be," I said.
"Let's go then!"
She drove us the short distance to my home. My parents were already outside on the doorstep. It was a story book scene. Grandma stopped the car, and I took a deep sigh before getting out. I felt a fleeting feeling of wanting to cry almost, seeing their eager faces. I had not even realized just how much I had missed them. Nugget came through the open door, saw me and stopped in his tracks. Then he walked to me, wrapping himself around my ankles and meowing. I lifted him to my lap and he started rubbing his cheek on mine, purring.
"Dana! Good lord, how you have grown!" Mom exclaimed.
"Yes, I know..." I laughed, embarrassed, and they both hugged me tightly.
"Goodness, it must be so hot outside, you are burning up!" Mom said. "It's not the flu still, is it?"
"No, but it's so nice to get inside the house where it's cool!" I sighed and wiped my forehead in a slightly too exaggerated way, and Grandma rolled her eyes behind my parents' back.
"Come in, come in!" Dad was waving us inwards from the open door.
We walked in and I took off my sunglasses. Grandma looked at me, surprised. I was not wearing any contact lenses. I had decided not to.
Father had made his famous pasta carbonara – my portion had soy instead of meat. It was delicious. I could have eaten much more – my body was craving for food after the growth spurt, and my illness.
"So how are you doing with your studies?" Mom wanted to know.
"Great! I have already learned so much. I am even preparing my first essay."
"What is it about?" Dad was genuinely interested.
I almost said Amarna by accident, but Grandma beat me to it.