by C. J. Anaya
I didn’t know how long Tie and I sat there connected to each other, the veil, and the hundreds of thousands of spirits who had passed on, but we didn’t stop our labors until every inch of the veil had been healed, fortified, and encased in a thick layer of golden light.
Just before Tie and I disconnected, I whispered one more thank you to my beloved Kirby and said good-bye for the last time.
Then I was in Tie’s arms, surrounded by his love as I sobbed and sobbed over the loss of my little brother. No matter how necessary his loss had been, I would feel it for the rest of my life.
The veil shook one last time as a fissure from the Underworld suddenly ripped open before us. Amatsu came striding through in a daze.
“Amatsu? What?” I sputtered.
“It would seem I’ve been promoted,” he said giving me a soft smile. Then he looked over at the table where Fukurokuju was currently tied up.
I’d been so distracted I hadn’t even noticed.
The demon god pointed at him. “I’m afraid your job security isn’t something you should have bet the farm on, old friend.”
The fissure behind Amatsu closed, and one opened up next to the emperor. His eyes widened in horror as he lunged across the table, but the fissure moved forward and swallowed him whole.
We all sat in shocked silence trying to take in these many unexpected events at the same time.
Angie looked from Amatsu to the spot where Fukurokuju had disappeared. Then she turned to me.
“Man, karma’s a real treat to witness, wouldn’t you say?”
I chuckled through my tears and looked at Amatsu who studied Kirby in Ms. Mori’s arms.
“Amatsu, you said you were promoted. Are you no longer the ruler of the Underworld?”
His excited smile was contagious as he knelt down next to me and Tie. I failed to hide my smirk when Tie’s arm pulled me a little closer to him.
“Our First Parents are giving me the job I originally rejected. That of welcoming souls into paradise. I guess I finally made some good choices and gained their forgiveness in the process.”
“I’m so happy for you,” I said. “I hope this new calling of yours will give you as much freedom as Victor and Tie’s callings do.”
He nodded and then looked at Kirby’s lifeless form again.
“It gives me quite a bit of freedom, Hope, including the opportunity and power to do this.” He reached over and rested a hand on Kirby’s head. White light glowed brightly from his hand. “Young Kirby has earned a great reward for accomplishing his mission in this life.”
“What? What mission.”
“It was his job to help you sense the veil. Now that he’s done that, he deserves the life he’s always wanted, with the family he’s always dreamed of.”
Amatsu nodded at Ms. Mori with a show of deep respect and then stood. I remained speechless in Tie’s arms, too afraid to hope for more than what I’d already gained. As I looked at Kirby’s chalky white face, I noticed the color returning to his cheeks. His sharp inhalation was music to my ears.
Ms. Mori and I fell all over him as he opened his eyes. The hugs and kisses he got from us were exactly what he needed and wanted. Even Angie bent low and wrapped him in a big bear hug.
“Thank you, Amatsu, for bringing him back to us.”
“You’re welcome. How satisfying to be the cause of another person’s joy.”
He gave me one last look, a look that held the very depths of his love for me, and then he turned around and walked into a pillar of white light.
Two weeks later…
Closure.
It’s what everyone needs.
A chance to make sense of strange, horrific, or even wonderful events. Moments to understand what seems inconceivable, yet actually happened. Time to process experiences that played their part in molding and shaping not only our futures but our perceptions as well
It took time for our group to recover from all of those…experiences. We remained at the temple for two weeks, getting some much needed rest and reveling in the time spent with people we had once thought lost to us.
Kenji, Daiki, Kirby, even Benzaiten and the surviving gods of fortune were alive and well. We were so very fortunate to have them.
My father took advantage of the rest and relaxation by spending it with Daiki. I gave him back his memories. It put him in a coma for a week, but after that he and his father had quite a bit to catch up on.
Kenji asked me all about the modern world, his eyes growing big at the descriptions of cell phones, airplanes, and space ships. He couldn’t wait to see it all for himself.
Tie and I visited old haunts, special places where we trained together, enjoying the beauty of Kagami now that the evil from the Underworld was no longer present. It felt like a fairy tale to be together without the fate of the world resting upon my shoulders. Without a single obstacle blocking our path.
I dreamed about Amatsu several nights in a row. That’s not to say I actually visited him in Heaven. I simply dreamed about him returning home to Heaven and welcoming souls into the afterlife. I sensed his happiness, but there was also an undercurrent of loneliness. Every once in a while he would whisper my name to himself as he went about his duties. I had to wonder if Amatsu would ever be given the opportunity to find a companion for himself. If he did, I hoped she would love him with all her heart.
I guess I had all of eternity to watch that aspect of his life play out.
Angie avoided Victor and Bishu during our stay at the temple. I thought it would be a great time for her to get to know them better, but she was in total freak-out mode. Victor was anxious to discover if he was tethered to her, and my bestie refused him the opportunity to find out.
“I’m not about to let him manhandle me in order to discover something I really don’t want to know,” she muttered one night before we fell asleep.
“Why not? You have feelings for him, for both of them. At the very least we know Bishu is tethered to you. Hachiman said your decision between the two would make for an interesting destiny.”
Angie harrumphed and turned her back to me. “I’m not getting into a relationship with either one of them, and if they follow me to Eureka, they’ll get the cold shoulder. I’m too damn young and good-looking to be taken off the market. I totally plan to play the field.”
I interpreted that to mean she still had lives to save and more inner demons to slay.
Her reasons for ignoring her destiny were her own. I wasn’t about to pry or judge. I loved her too much for that.
Victor and Bishu weren’t quite so understanding. Both gods petitioned me for help in getting my best friend to engage with them in some way, but when it comes to Angie, you have to sit back, be patient, and let her come to her own conclusions.
I respectfully declined their requests.
They were not very appreciative.
Then it was time for us to leave.
Ms. Mori intended to bring Kirby back to her home in Eureka and eventually adopt him. I didn’t know how she’d do it, but Kirby’s biological mother probably wasn’t going to put up much of a fight. I thought it funny she still intended to return to her teaching position at my high school.
“You like teaching mythology?” I asked, finding her alone in her room before we journeyed back to the states.
She sat on a small mat and beckoned me to join her. The gesture surprised me, but I complied anyway.
Her sad eyes made me wary.
“I think it will do Kirby some good to be in a place that is familiar to him. He needs schooling, friends his age, and he needs to be close to you.”
She looked down and grabbed my hand in both of hers. The contact felt foreign.
“I did not abandon you, Hope. I took your beatings for you for as long as I could.”
My mouth popped open. I hadn’t been expecting that.
She rushed ahead, almost as if she feared losing this opportunity.
“I begged the emperor to punish me when he was
upset with you, and for a few years he did.” Her eyes grew weary and distant, focusing on unpleasant memories of the past before sharpening into focus as she looked at me.
“Once you were older, he refused to listen to reason. He refused to allow me to see you or take care of you after you were hurt. I disobeyed him, of course, but he found out. He warned me if I didn’t keep my distance from you, your suffering would be worse.” Tears welled up and trickled down her smooth cheeks. “He used you against me, forced me to do terrible things.”
I held my breath, hurting for her and her impossible circumstances.
“He wanted to isolate you, you see. Mold you into a weapon only he could control, but he didn’t count on your natural goodness, your strength, or your fighting spirit. He didn’t count on Hatsumi or Daiki, either. They kept your spirits from lagging and your faith in others high when Fukurokuju would have stamped that hope and love out entirely. As you well know, he liked to use the very things you loved as weapons against you. I knew if he got the chance, he would use me as a bargaining chip to get you to do his bidding as you grew older.” She swiped at her eyes and stiffened her spine a little. “I kept my distance, Hope. It was very important that you hate me, and it was even more important that the emperor believe I was indifferent toward you, but I always loved you. I still do.”
All this time, I had read the situation wrong. Had she made mistakes? Of course. Had she been a terrible mother? In some ways yes, but in the end, not really. Not if she had been protecting me and loving me from a distance all along.
I didn’t think Ms. Mori would appreciate flowery words of forgiveness or an emotionally charged response from me. So I did the only thing I thought might be appropriate.
“It’s a good thing you’ll only be a fifteen minute drive away. Always nice to have family close by.”
Her smile barely lifted the corners of her mouth, but the sense of relief she felt loosened the tightness around her shoulders. Happiness and gratitude swept through her. From what I could tell, she didn’t feel those emotions very often.
“It is nice, isn’t it? We’ll have to have you and your father over for dinner sometime.”
“I think that can be arranged.”
Closure.
I’d needed that talk just as badly as Ms. Mori.
The next day we said our goodbyes to the monks and gods in Kagami, and crossed the ley lines into Okinawa. Tie came with us, of course. He was bound and determined to attend college with me after I graduated at the end of the semester, and my father was bound and determined to monitor our courtship like a bloodhound on steroids.
Apparently, marriage was still not up for discussion.
Neither was cohabitation.
Tie planned on getting an apartment close by. After everything we’d been through, I was pretty sure we could live with that.
Daiki and Kenji promised to visit often.
Victor and Bishu threatened to visit daily.
Yep. Their plan was to follow Angie to the ends of the earth. She was seriously pissed-off.
I was eager to watch the carnage unfold.
On the plane ride home, Tie reached for my hand and gave it a gentle kiss.
“Did you ever envision us sitting on an airplane, planning our future, and fighting over which university we should attend next year?” I asked.
His sweet smile turned salacious as he lowered his lips to mine.
“Actually, I envisioned us doing something entirely different. No offense to higher education.”
His lips gently brushed mine, a precursor to a kiss so full of love and fulfillment it literally took my breath away.
“I’m so glad I chose you,” I said, once we came up for air.
“You, Hope Fairmont, are the best choice I’ve ever made.” He came in for another kiss, but a gleeful sound in front of us caught our attention.
Angie’s eyes peeked just above her headrest, watching our latest make-out session unfold in blissful satisfaction. She let out a wistful sigh.
“A perfect ending. Did I call the inevitability of you two or what?”
“You’re planning on taking credit for this?” I asked.
“Of course,” Angie said. “Did it never occur to you two that my important and illustrious role in saving the Universe was that of matchmaker?”
Tie and I chuckled as she gave us a saucy smile. I was pretty sure Angie was destined to accomplish far more than that.
Choices and destiny.
I’d finally made peace with both.
A Million Thank You’s
I’m overwhelmed with the outpouring of love from everyone who has read The Healer Series. The Healer was the very first book I ever wrote. A trial-by-fire debut that taught me so much about my writing process and myself. It has been my goal to improve with each new book and bring you stories that uplift, entertain, and allow you to escape for a little while. I hope this series has done that for you.
I must thank my ANWA sisters for their love and support through this process. They are the best writing group a girl could ever ask for. Thanks to Jennifer Griffith and Jenn Earl, my most favorite editors. Your sharp eyes and intelligent ideas really helped to fine tune these works.
Thanks to my amazing LAUNCH TEAM filled with the most fabulous people imaginable. You will never know how much your support and your input has meant to me.
Thanks to my parents and siblings for always believing in me and reading my books.
And finally, thanks to my husband who always waits patiently for me to finish just one more scene or just one more outline before kissing me senseless.
“Joe, you are my density…I mean my destiny.”
Tie and Hope’s Love Song
As some of you know, I was a songwriter long before I started writing novels. As a result of this, I truly enjoy writing love songs for the characters in my books, and of course, Tie and Hope’s love song would need to be epic. The lyrics below are for them, and hopefully I’ll get it recorded soon. Once I do, you’ll be the first person to find out how to get access to it so long as you’re on my mailing list. You can get on it here if you haven’t done so already. Or you can visit this website at: https://cjanaya.leadpages.co/my-fair-assassin/ You’ll also be getting a free book in the process. I hope you enjoy their song.
How We Fell Together
(Hope's Verse)
How do I know you when I've never met you?
Oh what is this slow steady burn?
Why does your smile or the light in your eyes
make me feel like the sun has returned?
More than familiar this dance that together
we've waltzed on and never known why,
I turn away but in truth I'm afraid of the longing I feel deep inside
(Pre-chorus)
I know I should leave you alone,
but your love keeps calling me home.
(Chorus)
Come meet me in my dreams.
Help me remember how we fell together.
I'll keep you safe with me.
Help me discover a love like no other.
Oh, give me forever
A romance that never gives up the fight.
A love that never dies.
(Tie's verse)
You look at me and I swear I can see
A faint memory a flicker of light.
I walk away but I wish I could stay
just to hold you and make it alright.
You can't be mine though I've waded through time
just to find you and help you to see
This love is real and I'll risk pain to feel
you reach out and remember me
(Pre-chorus)
I swore I would leave you alone
But your love keeps calling me home.
(Chorus)
I'll meet you in your dreams
Help you remember how we fell together
I'll keep you safe with me
Help you discover a love like no other
I'll give you forever a romance that never gives up the fight
A love that never dies
(Bridge)
Every moment every kiss
Every step we took like this
Every touch and every glance
Just to have that second chance
I'll be waiting...waiting...waiting
(Chorus)
Are you interested in finding out what happens to Angie? Follow her journey in this new companion series, Confessions of a Psychic P.I., ready to hit the scene in 2017. Read the prologue of the first book below.
Troubling Trifecta
Prologue
Thirty minutes.
That’s how long it takes me to run to the store, grab a few groceries, and head back home.
Thirty minutes.
I left my hubby and two children playing Yahtzee at the kitchen table, promising to join in the fun once I returned with an acceptable amount of junk food.
Just thirty minutes, and I arrive home.
With two grocery bags in my left hand, I place my right on the rounded knob to the front door and immediately feel a chill transfer from the cool metal to the tips of my fingers, traveling up and over my arm, sending an uncomfortable shudder through my body. I’m compelled to look over my shoulder, searching for the source of my discomfort.
I turn my eyes back to the knob again. Is it my imagination or does the metal grow slightly darker as I turn the handle? It appears intent on sending me a specific warning.
It’s metal. What does a doorknob know, anyway?