Ascended (Fallen Guardian Saga #2)

by Debra Ann Miller

  He freed Camulus, shoving him toward the wall. “You’re not worth the effort.”

  “I did what I had to do!” Camulus shouted. “I made a promise to protect her and I kept that promise. Fallon did not cause Reese’s death. He died trying to save you, Gabriel,” he reminded him.

  “Don’t you dare to put this on me, Camulus,” Gabriel warned him.

  “He died in battle. It’s a sacrifice we all make as Guardians, to protect the worlds from the Dark Ones. You know this, Gabriel! I am certain if the tables were turned and it was Violet who needed protection, you’d stop at nothing to save her, no matter what the cost,” Camulus said.

  “No, Camulus, you’re wrong. I would not sacrifice my honor and the lives of my brothers to protect anyone.” Gabe’s face was grave. “And I wouldn’t break the rules of the Gates to suit my own needs.”

  “I hope you’re never faced with such a choice,” Camulus said somberly. “I, too, believed as you did until I was faced with the dilemma of choosing between the rules of the Gates and a promise I made a long time ago. I’m not proud of what I’ve done, but it was necessary for me to honor my word and to keep my promise.”

  “I am going to ask you one last time, Camulus: where is she?” Gabriel had calmed down, but his voice was tense, his body rigid.

  Camulus still remained silent, loyal to Fallon. What was done could not be changed; he believed Fallon had made a mistake, but he also believed she deserved their forgiveness.

  “Fine! Have it your way. I’ll find her myself,” he said, storming off to hunt for Fallon.

  Raphael followed his friend blindly, knowing it was the right thing to do. Everyone trusted Gabriel; there wasn’t a single Guardian who wouldn’t follow his lead if given the choice. No matter how out of control Raphael thought Gabriel had been a moment before with Camulus, he was sure there had been a good reason that would be justified in time.

  What Raphael didn’t know was that Gabriel had just figured out Fallon had betrayed him; she had betrayed all of them. He knew she’d been angry about not being able to go on the mission, but he’d had no idea how deep her jealousy of Vie ran.

  Emotions were not things that got in the way up at the Gates. The Guardians were trained extensively to weed out the strong from the weak; emotions were unwanted things tied to the weak, not to the Guardians.

  Gabe was angry, but his anger was directed at himself for not seeing what had been right in front of him: the dangerous emotion of jealousy that had swallowed Fallon whole. The personal betrayal was one Gabriel could not overlook. He was having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that Fallon’s jealousy was responsible for Reese’s death and Vie’s safety. For Gabriel, both were completely unforgiveable offenses in his book.

  “Fallon!” he began shouting throughout the Gates.

  Gabriel tore into Fallon’s room and began frantically throwing her personal belongings around the chamber as he searched.

  Raphael asked, “What are you searching for?”

  “I’m looking for the Angel Blade,” was his curt answer as Gabe continued turning the room upside down.

  Raphael couldn’t imagine why he was looking for the blade in Fallon’s room. It made no sense to him whatsoever. He was worried about his friend. He had never seen Gabe so unhinged and didn’t know what to do about it; it seemed that everything was spinning out of control and Gabriel was spinning with it.

  Just then Fallon appeared, tears in her eyes as she held the blade in her hand. “Is this what you’re looking for, Gabriel?”

  While all this was happening, Vie had been sitting at the place where the rainbow joined the two worlds. It was a place where she could be alone; a place where she felt close to Carter. She looked out at the rainbow and contemplated falling. She wanted to be with him so much but she knew she could not allow herself to fall. She’d promised Gabe she would wait.

  While she waited, she spoke to Carter, just as she did every day, in the hopes that he might hear her as she had heard him.

  “Everything up here is confusing, Carter. I wish…oh God, how I wish I could talk to you, to see you again, if only for a moment. If I close my eyes, I can almost feel your arms around me. Can you feel me? It’s in these memories I’m able to sustain myself, even for a little while. I hold on to them; they’re all I have now.

  “It seems odd to me that the one thing that keeps me alive—my memory of you—is the same thing that makes me want to die. Existing without you is a fate worse than death. I don’t know if I can endure this ache in my soul for an eternity. I know you told me to hold on, but I don’t believe I can, Carter. I can’t exist any longer without you,” she spoke her quiet words to Carter.

  Then Vie put her fingers to her lips and blew a kiss for the wind to carry beyond the rainbow, hoping it would find its way to Carter’s lips. She made a wish and hoped it would be granted. “I love you, Carter,” she whispered in the wind.

  Chapter Eleven

  The Poem

  Carter hung up the phone and dropped to his knees. She can’t be gone, he thought. The range of emotions coursing through him was paralyzing. Suddenly he felt a burst of energy, powered by a feeling of urgency that lifted him from the floor and guided him toward his front door.

  As Carter stood in the entryway, he felt a chill run down his spine and he could have sworn he heard a cry for help coming from Henry. All he could think about was getting to the hospital. Henry had to be mistaken about Vivian dying; she wouldn’t have left him because she’d promised him she would hold on, and he knew she would never break her promise to him.

  It has to be a mistake, he convinced himself while grabbing his keys, anxious to get to Weston Memorial. But deep down Carter knew there had been no mistake. He had felt her pass through him as he’d felt Henry’s cry in his heart.

  Carter stepped out on the porch to get some air, holding his phone to his chest. A car’s headlights washed across him as it pulled in the driveway.

  Tess got out of the car, carrying a package of some type in her hand.

  “Hey, Carter,” she said cordially.

  Carter was anxious to know what she had for him. Maybe she was bringing more information that would help explain what was going on. Although Katherine had pretty well filled him in on things, there were still many questions about the Thorne girls that just didn’t add up.

  “Did you find something else at your Dad’s office?” he asked.

  “What are you talking about?” she replied, sounding clueless.

  “I just thought maybe you found some more information about Vivian in the records,” he said, getting an awful feeling something was off-kilter.

  “Carter, you’re not making any sense. Is everything all right?” she inquired.

  Carter could see Tess was confused. She had no idea what he was talking about, and he was sure, for once, that she wasn’t playing games with him.

  Tess handed him a large envelope filled with get well cards for Vivian from the kids at Newcastle High. She started rambling on about how she’d organized their peers to make cards, bragging about her part in all of it, as if she were looking for praise instead of doing it out of the kindness of her heart.

  Carter was shocked to see the old Tess standing before him, selfishly displaying her phony act of kindness. It was obvious that her actions were nothing more than a way to earn points with him. Carter was more convinced than ever that something strange was happening in Newcastle, but right now, that didn’t matter. He didn’t have time to mince words with Tess; he needed to get to the hospital.

  “You’re a little late, Tess,” Carter said, unable to hide his anger at her self-absorption. He handed the envelope back to her.

  Tess just looked at him, surprised by his actions.

  “I don’t understand,” she replied, sensing Carter was upset with her.

  “Vivian is dead!” he said, clarifying the situation for her. “I have to go.” He pushed past her in disgust before getting into his Jeep and speeding off.
He decided he wasn’t going to give any more thought to her fake concern and deceitful actions—she wasn’t worth it anymore—but he was desperately trying to figure out who, if not Tess, had helped him get into Dr. Montgomery’s office that night?

  He arrived at the hospital and raced up to the third floor. He found Kade holding Jeremy in her arms, tears flowing down their cheeks as they clung to each other for comfort. They looked at him with mournful eyes before turning away. He walked into Vivian’s room where Henry sat at her bedside, guarding her like watchdog.

  The nurse who was with Henry looked at Carter in sympathy and said, “Take as much time as you need,” and then left the room quietly.

  Carter didn’t know what that meant. Time was something Vivian was apparently out of. Why would she be offering me time if Vivian were gone? She must be alive. She has to be alive.

  Then Henry looked up at him and he knew without a doubt, she was gone. He raced over to her and took her hand, but her body wasn’t accepting his energy any longer. It was too late to save her.

  Henry was frantic. He told Carter they had to stay with her to protect her. “He is coming for her. We can’t let them get her!”

  Carter was worried about the state of Henry’s mind. Who is coming? He didn’t seem to be making any sense.

  Then Henry grabbed Carter and said, “I saw him here in her room last night. He told me he had come to take her, and I thought it was just a dream. But it wasn’t, Carter. It wasn’t a dream. He’s using Vivian to punish me.” Henry sounded irrational.

  “Who is coming? Who is punishing you?” Carter asked, attempting to get Henry to make some sense.

  “Him: the one with the devil-red eyes,” he said, speaking of the monster he had seen in her room earlier.

  “Why?” Carter asked him. “Why did he say he was taking her?”

  “Because he said I took something from him and now he’s taking something from me.”

  Carter knew from Henry’s description of the red eyes that he wasn’t crazy. Lucian had been here and had spoken to Henry, making sure Henry knew he had come for Vivian.

  What was strange to him, though, was Henry’s explanation of why Lucian had taken Vivian. Carter couldn’t imagine that Henry had taken anything that would belong to Lucian.

  It broke Carter’s heart to watch Henry in so much pain. He was a wonderful man of God who didn’t deserve to lose his entire family. Carter was determined to fix it. Lucian would not win. Carter was committed to his mission to stop him.

  “Henry, I promise you I will find a way to get her back. He won’t win, not if we work together. Can you do that, Henry? Can you work with me to save your daughter’s soul?” Carter asked, hoping to snap Henry out of his trance.

  “We can, Carter. We can get her soul,” he replied, certain about it.

  “Okay, how do you think we can do this?” Carter wondered what Henry was thinking, hoping the two of them could come up with some ideas.

  Henry pulled something from his coat pocket and started flipping through the pages. He stopped and directed Carter’s attention to a passage and said, “See, you can retrieve a soul of the damned but you must travel there to get it.” Carter studied the crinkled paper folded in Henry’s desperate hands.

  “Where did you get this?” Carter asked.

  “It was given to me.”

  “By whom?”

  “A man I met, a missionary from Costa Rica. He knew things about me—and Vivian, too. At first, I thought he was a little unconventional in his thinking, but now I see why God brought him to me…to us, Carter! He had a message to deliver and this is it.” Henry shoved the paper in Carter’s face.

  Carter took the papers in his hand and turned away. He reflected back on a conversation he’d had with Gabriel, and then slowly turned back around to face Henry.

  “You’re right, Henry! If I go there, I can bring her back,” Carter said, remembering what he’d heard Gabriel say to him once when he’d asked about the tortured souls. All was not lost.

  Carter now had a plan to follow, and he intended to do just that: travel to the Underworld and retrieve Vivian’s soul. But first, he needed to take care of Henry. The shock of everything had taken its toll on him and Carter needed to get him home.

  He reassured Henry he would take care of everything. He looked at the broken shell of a man, now crouched down on the floor, still clinging to his Bible, and said, “Henry, I need to get you home. Would that be all right?”

  At Henry’s reluctant nod, Carter instructed Jeremy to escort Henry home. “And would you stay with him until I get there, Jer?”

  Jeremy knew something was wrong but he didn’t ask any questions. He could see Henry was having a breakdown over losing Vivian and needed his help. He took a long look at Carter and saw a familiar look of determination and danger on his face. It was the same look he had seen in Carter’s eyes when he’d gone after Lucian to save Vie.

  “Carter, is there anything I can do for you?”

  Carter understood what Jeremy was asking, and replied with certainty in his voice, “No, Jer, I got this.”

  Jeremy took Henry’s hand and led him slowly out of Vivian’s room.

  Carter sat alone for a moment, grieving the loss of Vivian. Although he tried not to assign blame to himself, he couldn’t help but feel responsible for her death. Intellectually, he understood she had been sick, and he knew he couldn’t change that, but he could have kept her alive long enough to save her from Lucian.

  As Carter looked at Vivian—Vivian’s body, he had to remind himself—lying pale and lifeless in the hospital bed, he knew he had failed her. He couldn’t return the beautiful smile to her face by touching her hand any longer. Carter apologized to her and begged her forgiveness, and then he leaned over her cold form and said, “I am coming for you, Vivian; I promise you.”

  In an instant the room grew dark and cold. A gust of wind picked up from out of nowhere and transformed into a violently rotating column of air which hovered above Carter. Everything in the room was being tossed around, but Carter stood fierce, untouched by its force. He called out to the malicious presence in the room and announced, his voice hostile, “This is not over. Do you hear me, Lucian? I’m coming for you!”

  Just then, someone began to push the door open, and Carter stood steadfast, eagerly awaiting a chance to confront his adversary. In a flash, everything returned back to a state of calm and quiet in Vivian’s room. Standing in the doorway was Ivy, waiting to offer her condolences.

  She walked over to Vivian and kissed her forehead before pulling the crisp white sheet up over her face. Ivy then turned to Carter and said, “Vivian was a beautiful soul; she deserves to rest in peace now, Carter, don’t you think?”

  Carter looked at her, wondering if Ivy were trying to tell him something. Did she have some knowledge about what had happened to Vivian? Did she know where Vivian’s soul was doomed to linger—for all eternity? Ivy seemed to be asking Carter to save Vivian from damnation, as if she knew he might actually have the power to do exactly that.

  She slowly approached Carter and locked her arms around him in a loving, motherly embrace. Before she let go, Ivy slipped something into his coat pocket and then said goodbye.

  Moments later, Carter walked to the door and pulled it open, taking one last glance back at the outline of the body beneath the bright hospital sheets. He slowly closed the door behind him and left the building.

  He drove fast and furious back to the ranch so he could find Raphael and prepare to avenge Vivian’s death. He had never been so focused in all his life. When he arrived, he found Katherine sitting on the porch with a casserole in her hands. Sarah was with her, and they looked like they were ready to go somewhere, but it was obvious they had been waiting for him to arrive first.

  As Carter got out of the Jeep, Katherine put the dish down, stood, and grabbed her son, holding on to him tightly. Tears flowed from her eyes as she told Carter how terribly sorry she was to hear about Vivian.

&nb
sp; “Would you like to come with us to Henry’s house, honey? I thought I’d take a meal to him…I need to pay my respects and see how he’s coping.”

  “Thanks, Mom, but I have a few things I need to do first.”

  Katherine understood. She could see her son was a wreck and she didn’t want to pressure him about anything.

  Little Sarah tugged on her big brother’s arm, signaling to him to come down to where she was so she could whisper something in his ear. Carter bent down to listen, and she said, “Don’t be sad, Carter. Vivian gets to be angel now, right?”

  Carter felt a rush of tears fighting to make their way out, but he held them back. He would not cry for Vivian, because if he did, then it meant he had failed her. Carter looked at Sarah’s sweet, innocent face and said, “Yes, Vivian is going to get her wings, I am sure of it.”

  Sarah smiled wide and squeezed him tightly.

  Katherine gave him a tender look as she picked up the dish, took Sarah’s hand, and left for the Thorne residence.

  Raphael was nowhere in sight. Carter had searched for him all over the ranch with no results. He felt a vibration coming from his coat pocket and pulled out his cell phone, but no one was on the other end when he answered it, and strangely, the caller ID displayed no return number. He placed the phone back in his pocket and felt something else in it.

  Carter pulled out a white envelope with his name written on the front of it. He had no idea how it had gotten into his pocket but he opened the envelope, curious. There was a single piece of paper inside with a poem written on it. He read:

  It’s not over; for this I know

  Look for me where violets grow

  Though your heart is heavy; for this I know