And the Angels were certain Rahmiel would be there to prepare for the night.
Auriel pulled his sword and checked the blade. “Can we find them? Did they tell you where the island is, Amber?”
“No. I just know it’s tropical.”
“I should have thought to secure that information.” Tehmuel’s pacing turned into more of a stomping. “Nor do I know where the girl did the ritual. There is still a possibility the demon will show, though just for a moment. Still, if he was feeling vengeful, he might decide to engage us, out of anger. The demon can act rashly.”
“I know where she did the ritual,” Amber said. “It was in her living room.”
“We know where her home is. Rahmiel went there first, remember?” Auriel asked.
Tehmuel stopped pacing. “The demon will know she is not there. He will not smell her presence.”
“What if I wear some of her clothes? And her perfume? Then he might think I’m Kari.”
“Then you and I could engage the demon in battle,” Auriel said.
“That is too dangerous,” Tehmuel argued. “Kari has been bound, so she is less vulnerable.”
“Shouldn’t one of you try to find Kari and Rahmiel?” Tressa asked in a soft voice.
“Kari said the Guardians were able to find them on the island.”
“It is easier to find things like that from the Overland,” Tehmuel explained. “Here on Earth everything gets blurry.”
They talked for a while longer before coming up with a plan. Tehmuel agreed to return to the Overland to get information on the island from Guardians he counted as friends. After Tehmuel departed, Auriel prepared to return to Kari’s home, on the off chance Rahmiel and Kari would show up there at sunset.
“Are you sure you don’t want to take me?” Amber asked Auriel. “It might trick the demon into sticking around for a moment.”
Auriel frowned and looked deep into her eyes. “I am an excellent swordsman, better than most of the Guardians. I beat Tehmuel, and he was the master who taught me.”
“I hate the idea that it will go out and kill more people. Especially our friends.”
Amber wanted to help. She just needed to convince Auriel she could handle the task.
“What if it travels to where my family lives?”
”It would be best to engage the demon while he is still weak,” Auriel admitted.
“See? We’ll be fine. I think we should do it. It is still an hour until sunset. We would have time for me to change clothes and stuff.”
“I don’t know,” Tressa said. “It sounds dangerous.”
“But Tehmuel even said Auriel is a very good swordsman. Plus, if the demon isn’t stopped it will kill even more people,” Amber argued.
“I will keep her safe,” Auriel said.
”There is still an hour.” Amber was determined to go. She had to do what she could to save her friends and loved ones. “If Rahmiel and Tehmuel don’t show up, we will leave and come back here.”
”I guess it would be all right if you can keep her safe,” Tressa said, a worried frown wrinkling her brow.
“I think Tehmuel and Rahmiel will be here before nightfall, too,“ Amber said.
“Well, be really careful. Auriel, keep her safe.” Tressa gave Amber a hug.
Auriel turned to Amber. “I will have to embrace you from behind. I’m going to do something we call a phase. It will transport us to her house, but it might make you feel funny or dizzy. Be assured I will not drop you.”
Amber turned so her back was to him, and raised her arms. He moved behind her and wrapped his arms under her breasts.
He lifted off and she clutched his arm and squealed.
“You are soft. Not like an Angeli girl,” Auriel whispered in her ear before everything grew blurry.
Tressa flipped the channels with the remote, trying to keep her fears at bay. She shouldn’t have let Amber and Auriel leave for Kari’s house to confront the demon. It was sunset now.
Tehmuel arrived in front of her TV in a flurry of wings.
“Auriel and Amber decided to go to Kari’s house to see if they can trick the demon into showing.”
“Stars above. That sounds exactly like something that idiot boy would think of.
Now they are both in danger.” He shook his head in disgust. “I will go find the boy and girl. Rahmiel may be in custody of the Guardians, we’ll find that out once the children are safe.”
* * * *
It was almost sunset. It had seemed like a great idea at Tressa’s, but now Amber was scared. What if the demon showed up and Auriel couldn’t stop it? What if what happened to her friends happened to her?
She threw on a jacket Kari frequently wore since it probably carried her scent and walked out to the living room.
Auriel took up almost the entire couch. He was so beautiful, with tumbling black curls and those blue eyes surrounded by coal black lashes. How was a girl supposed to resist someone who looked like him? She wondered how Kari had managed the no sex picnic. It couldn’t be easy, she reflected.
Auriel wasn’t interested in her. Though, if he was, she was pretty sure there would be no way she could resist him. She sat down next to him on the couch, careful to avoid the tip of his sword.
He grinned at her and placed the sword into its sheath. “Sorry.”
“Are you nervous? I know I am. I hope this demon doesn’t show up.”
“I really am a good swordsman. I know I’m not a Guardian, but my sword skills are as good as theirs. Better than most.”
“Then why aren’t you a Guardian?”
“And spend all my time chasing kids out of the fountains of the Overland? Or breaking into parties hosted by young people, to check what type of wine they are drinking? Too boring.”
“So what do you do? Do you have a job?”
“No. I take a few classes from an old tutor, mainly because it gives me access to the libraries.”
“Can’t you have access to the libraries, anyway?” Amber frowned. “Our libraries are free to the public.”
“Not so in my world. I only have access because I have the tutor. Once he drops me or retires, I will no longer have access to the library. Unless I join the academic guild.”
“Well, that’s just not right.” Amber shook her head. “You should come here and go to our libraries. Though I doubt we have the same types of books here.”
“Maybe new books would be a good change. There has been nothing new added to our library for a thousand Earth years.”
“Really? That is so weird.”
“I like Earth,” Auriel said. “I would like to visit here often and learn about it. It is stupid, the laws in the Overland to keep us away from Earth. And now I know how to get here. Who can stop me?”
“There are laws against visiting Earth?”
“Oh, there are laws against everything.”
There was a crash as the living room door flew open. Auriel jumped off the couch, blade out.
A large form flitted through the room as fast as a hornet. Amber tried to keep her eyes on it, but she had trouble following its swift moves.
Then it was right in front of her, huge and monstrous, a skeleton barely covered by red flesh, its mouth open in a perpetual yellow toothed grin. She froze on the couch.
The glint of Auriel’s sword was so close to her she felt the swish of air against her cheek. There was a stabbing pain in her stomach. She screamed as she tumbled to the floor from the impact of the blow.
She saw blood darkening her shirt. Her vision blurred, and all went dark.
Chapter Ten
Rahmiel was furious. Somehow he had ended up at Tressa’s, while Kari remained in Ether. Tressa had quickly told him about Auriel’s and Amber’s idiotic plan. How could that stupid boy take the girl into danger like that? He roared in frustration as he crashed into Kari’s house.
Once in the living room, Rahmiel paused to assess the situation. The girl was down but not drained of life from the demon. Auri
el was still standing, but bleeding heavily.
He would soon collapse and give Kaphawn enough Angeli blood to be strong again.
Then the demon would be almost impossible to stop. Thousands of humans would die.
“Get the girl. Take her away,” he barked to the boy.
“You can’t fight him alone,” the boy gasped.
Well the pup has learned something from this mess.
“Get the girl. Retreat.”
He engaged the demon, with all his strength, to keep him away from the boy.
Auriel inched closer and closer to Amber, who looked unconscious.
It was taking too long. Rahmiel was now bleeding, but his cuts were mostly on his sword arm. It was the gut you had to watch with this demon.
Tehmuel arrived and took in the sight for just a moment.
“Get the boy and girl out,” Rahmiel roared. “Get out. I can get away. Retreat now.”
Tehmuel jumped to the creeping boy, hoisted him up, and they grabbed the girl.
They phased out.
Rahmiel went to Ether. He hoped he would be able to find Kari.
* * * *
Kari learned a lot about Ether. Mostly she learned that she couldn’t leave it and go elsewhere.
Rahmiel will find me sooner or later, she told herself over and over.
At least it was better than the island. No loud noises, no rustling in the trees, no bird calls that suddenly went dead silent, making her wonder what the bird was hiding from.
Ether was much more comfortable. She had food and water. She played with the Ether and made herself a comfortable bed. Later, she scooped out a section to see if it could fill with water like a bath. It did, and the water was pleasantly warm or cool, however she wanted it.
It was so boring. With Rahmiel it had seemed romantic, all the fluffy whiteness, like being inside a cloud. Was Rahmiel searching for her? Did he join with Tehmuel and Auriel to hunt the demon without her?
Finally she started to feel sleepy. There was no way to know what time it was. She stretched out on the bed, and dosed off.
“Kari, Kari, wake up.”
“Rahmiel. What took so long?” Then she saw the blood on his arms and pulled back in horror. “Rahmiel!”
“I’m all right. These are just superficial wounds. They’ll heal while I sleep. But Kari, I have bad news.”
“What—my mom? Did she get back early?” her voice rose in panic.
“No, nothing that bad. But your friend Amber was hurt. The demon tried to skewer her. He didn’t succeed, but cut her up. Auriel saved her, then I arrived, and Tehmuel.
He took them to the Overland for the healing.”
“What about Tressa? Will the demon know about her?”
“He might, though I don’t think he got inside Amber. I think I can get you to the Overland, to Tehmuel. Then I’ll go get Tressa.”
“Okay.”
He wrapped his arms around her, and she couldn’t help but grimace at the wounds, still seeping blood onto her shirt.
* * * *
Tehmuel lived in a palace. It was like nothing Kari had ever seen. It looked too delicate, like a castle made of glittering lace, to hold people. A dozen fragile towers stretched up into the sky, sparkling in the light of the setting sun, reflecting the coral swath of the sky. They glittered like cut diamonds, and she wondered if they were actually made from diamonds. Inside was just as breathtaking with walls a milky white, like moonstone, so the setting sunlight shone through. Furnishings in rich colors or with intricate carvings filled the rooms they flew through.
Then they were at Amber’s bedside. Tehmuel was there and a handsome woman Angel in a glimmering lavender gown. She had flowing dark waves of hair, pulled back with a jeweled clip. And huge blue eyes ringed in long black lashes. She was smoothing a cloth over Amber’s abdomen. Amber was asleep or unconscious.
“Is she going to be all right?” Kari asked.
“Yes,” the woman said. “She is in a restorative sleep right now and she is going to be fine. She was very lucky.”
“Kari will stay with you, Tehmuel,” Rahmiel said. “I must go get Tressa, just in case Kaphawn knows of her from Amber.”
“Let me go get Tressa,” Tehmuel replied. “The Guardians aren’t hunting for me.”
He turned to speak to Kari. “This is my daughter Kaliel, Auriel’s mother. She can take care of those scratches Rahmiel is wearing, too.” He phased.
“Greetings, Kaliel. Interesting son you’ve got,” Rahmiel said as Kaliel began rubbing some type of cream on his cuts.
“You don’t have to worry about the Guardians showing up here. This home has very good security, Rahmiel,” the woman spoke in a cool voice. “It would be best if you left me to work a little longer with Amber. Your cuts should heal easily. Auriel is in the next room.”
Kari couldn’t help but stare at the woman. Feature for feature she looked like Auriel
—and only a few years older than her grown son. Angels age well, Kari thought.
The hallway shimmered as they walked to the next room. Auriel was inside, resting on a floral couch. He was dressed in a clean tunic, and Kari couldn’t tell if his wounds had healed already or if Kaliel had simply bandaged them.
“Don’t even say it, Rahmiel,” the boy spoke quickly. “I know what an idiot I was to take the girl there. I nearly got her killed.”
“Nearly got yourself killed, also.”
“I’ll be all right in a day. It will be longer for Amber.”
“How long?” Kari asked, thinking of her mother’s long recovery from surgery.
“Seven days at least. Maybe a while longer. But she’ll feel better right away, when Mother is finished.”
Kari smiled. “For humans, that doesn’t seem long. It would be much longer on Earth, more like six or seven weeks. Plus, Amber doesn’t have health insurance so the cost would really be a problem.”
“People exchange currency for healing?” Auriel looked shocked. “Healing isn’t a calling?”
“Well, it is a calling to some, but it is so expensive—the equipment, hospitals and all that.”
“What if someone can’t afford it? If they are…poor?”
“There are some ways to get help, but many people go without medical help.”
“Barbaric,” Auriel looked at Rahmiel. “Was it always so?”
“No, but humans are no longer in tribes that care for their own. And Angeli healers did much of the healing back in the days before the move to the Overland.”
“So when Angeli left, humans suffered?”
“Yes,” Rahmiel nodded.
Kaliel entered the room. “The little girl will require rest for the next two or three days, but her health has been restored.”
“Can I see her? I really need to talk to her,” Auriel said.
“Apologize to her for endangering her life, you mean? That will have to wait. She is in a restorative sleep for now, which is what I want you to do also.” She moved to Auriel’s side and placed her hand on his forehead.
“You will have to make a decision about binding her. She will be in danger when she returns to Earth,” Rahmiel said as the boy’s eyelids fluttered.
“Binding…what…” Auriel didn’t finish his question before falling asleep.
Kaliel stroked the boy’s forehead for a moment. “You know, he is not really a bad child. Most of his problems are because of the choices we have made here in the Overland. We have eliminated warriors such as you, Rahmiel. But in doing so, we have made no place for boys such as my son, who would have thrived in the ancient days, as Guardians. We thought they could be police, or craftsmen, or healers. But that is not their natures. They live in a world that has no place for their talents.”
“The Guardians are not what they once were. I find the changes are not noble ones.”
Kaliel paused for a while. “For the Angeli, the changes seemed gradual…and logical. But I see how they affect my son, and I wonder if our withdrawal from Earth w
as the right thing for the Angeli. Perhaps we could find some time to talk.
“Now, let me see your cuts,” Kaliel said, and did a few things to Rahmiel’s arms that Kari could barely follow. She healed his arms. Not even a scar remained.
Kaliel moved toward the door. “Come, let us have some refreshments and catch up.
Somehow, Rahmiel, I knew the ice prison would not be the last we would hear from you.”
Kari followed them down the glistening hallways and lacey stairs. She felt grubby, with smears of Rahmiel’s blood on her shirt. Her hair hadn’t seen a brush in… How long? She had lost track of time.
“Rahmiel, what day is it on Earth? I can’t quite remember,” she asked during a lull in the conversation, when Kaliel went to get them refreshments.
“Well, we were to return to your house at sunset, after spending the day at the island, remember? But the Guardians took me into custody. The boy and Amber went to your house at sundown while we were escaping from the Guards and going to Ether.
Now, on Earth, it would be middle of the night.”
Kari looked at him, horror welling up within her. “Rahmiel, my mother returns home today.” She thought of her mother, returning to the house where the demon would find her. The vision of Lisbet, thin and crumpled on the floor, filled her mind.
She grabbed Rahmiel’s arm.
“I have to get home right now. Mom’s flight will be coming in this afternoon. I have to meet her. Then, where will I take her? Kaphawn knows everyone I know.”
Kaliel turned to her. “Kaphawn? That’s who did this?”
“Yes,” Rahmiel answered for her.
“How did Kaphawn get free? He’s been neutralized for thousands of years.”
“Um, I did it,” Kari admitted. “By accident. I wanted to lose weight and saw a spell…”
Kaliel looked at Kari with an expression of shock in her face. “You summoned this demon? Are you a shaman? Or a sorcerer?”
“No. I just thought it would be better than dieting.”
“Rahmiel, how could a young girl do this?”
“I don’t know, Kaliel. I suspect she is descended from Angeli blood. I did a calming on her, one she should not remember, but she remembered it.”
Angel Magic Page 8