by Jamie Davis
Time seemed to slow, and light spread from around Ashley’s outline. There was no other way to describe it. If was like all the light in the room intensified and concentrated around her. There was a flash, and a cry of pain, and Dean had to shield his eyes. When his vision started to return to normal a few moments later, he saw Zach was groaning on the floor behind Ashley, and she was standing over him shaking her head.
“Zach,” Ashley said, standing over him. “The Eldara are not all beings of peace, though I am for the most part. But even the most peaceful of us are not without our defenses. I was never in any danger. You, however, are in a very dangerous place. It is clear you do not want our help, and I am not inclined to offer it to you anymore.”
Zach whimpered on the floor, still somewhat dazed by whatever Ashley did to him. He looked up at her, fear in his eyes. “Are you going to kill me now?”
“I don’t kill, Zach. I’m not like some of my more vengeful sisters,” Ashley said. “I’m a healer. I also know that you are already near the end of your time here in this existence. You have chosen your path, and that last decision you made to try and kill me was the one that sealed your fate. I can do nothing for you at this point. I don’t know how or where, but you will not live out the week.”
Dean walked over to stand next to Ashley. She was speaking with an authority he had never heard from her before. It was as if she were receiving words from somewhere else as she spoke them. Her certainty in the pronouncement of Zach’s fate was eerie.
Zach scooted backward on his butt, then climbed to his feet, swaying as he did so. He was not steady on his feet, and he stumbled some as he took another step back. He looked at Dean standing there next to Ashley, glanced at the knife on the floor in front of them. Dean took the hint and stooped down to pick up the blade from the floor.
“I don’t believe in your words, your pronouncements,” Zach said. His voice quavered. He didn’t sound as if he believed what he was saying. “I’ll come back and next time, you won’t know what hit you.” The former paramedic edged around the side of the room and then ran for the open door. Dean ran after him, but Zach was faster and he ran down the stairs and disappeared around the corner of the garage.
Dean stood in the doorway at the top of the stairs and looked out into the darkness for a while to make sure he was gone. Then he turned and went back inside, closing and locking the door behind him.
“We should call the police,” Dean said walking over to the counter where his cell phone sat next to his wallet and keys. “They are looking for him and should know that he was here.”
“It won’t matter,” Ashley said. “They will not find him. Anyway, he will not live for long.”
“How can you say that?” Dean asked. “Did you do something to him?”
“No,” Ashley said. She took his hand in hers. “When he touched me, I was able to detect some of his life force. I could also sense his connection to fate and this earthly timeline. His time here on earth is almost done. I don’t know how it will happen, but he will be dead soon. I felt it as soon as he turned down our offer to help. Up until that moment, he had a chance to survive. That chance disappeared when he made his decision.”
Dean picked up the phone. “I think we need to alert them that he was here. Even another hour still gives him time to hurt us or someone else.” He dialed 911 and waited until the dispatcher’s voice sounded. He gave his name and official designation to the dispatcher. She recognized his voice and asked what the problem was. He gave his report of the attack by Zach and requested police. He told them that no one was injured and that no ambulance was necessary. The dispatcher advised him to call back if Zach returned, to lock the door, and that an officer was dispatched to take a report in person.
Dean hung up the phone and looked at Ashley. A thin trickle of dried blood traced a line down the side of her throat where Zach had pricked her skin with the knife when he grabbed her. The bleeding had stopped, but the sight of it gave Dean a shiver.
Ashley saw his reaction, her hand rising to her throat. “I’m fine, Dean. I was in no real danger. When I sensed his final intent to take action, I reacted to defend myself.”
“But he could have taken you away from me,” Dean said. “That is something that I was worried about. He was right in that respect. I would have been devastated if something had happened to you.”
“I’m alright, Dean,” Ashley said. “Look, if it makes you feel better, I’ll move into James’ apartment building with you. I’m in no danger, but you are far too exposed and at risk here in this place.”
Dean reached out and squeezed her hand. He had wanted her to say yes to his request to move, but he had not wanted the events of the evening to be the impetus for that move. He supposed he should be thankful that something had changed her mind, but the stress of seeing her in danger was almost too much to bear.
The two of them returned to the couch as they planned how they would move their things to the offered lodgings while they waited for the police officer to arrive. In the back of his mind, he wondered how Zach was going to meet his end. It was a strange thing to consider as they talked through their plans.
Chapter 49
After the police took their report on Zach’s attack of Ashley and left, Dean texted Brynne letting her know that they were going to take James up on the offer to move into his building downtown. She responded back quickly and said that James would have his assistant Celeste contact them to arrange the details. It was already late in the evening, and Dean and Ashley were both exhausted. The events of the last few days, from their trip to the lake to the long work day, and the meeting and attack by Zach, had all taken their toll.
Dean checked the lock on the door again for the third time after the officer had departed. He told them they would leave a marked police unit parked out front for the night in case Zach returned, but Dean was still scared of what could have happened, and what could still happen. Ashley sat on the sofa and watched him as he paced the apartment’s perimeter. Dean checked all the windows each time he passed one to make sure they were locked and looked through the blinds into the darkness outside, but didn’t see anything. Finally after a half hour of this he gave up and turned to look at Ashley.
“I don’t know what to do,” Dean said. “I feel helpless. I should have done something to stop him from hurting you.” Ashley had gone to the bathroom and cleaned the dried trickle of blood from her neck. The small cut had stopped bleeding, but Dean could still see the mark on her neck and it seemed to taunt him that he was powerless to help his girlfriend when she had needed him the most.
“You need to calm down and sit still, Dean,” Ashley said. “I’m fine, and I told you that I was never in any danger. I can protect myself. I have been in worse situations than this one and walked away without a scratch.”
“Well, this time you did get a scratch,” Dean said, pointing to her neck. He walked over and sat down next to her on the couch. “What if he had decided to push that knife home? Could you have stopped him before he did that?”
“I did stop him,” she replied. “He was disarmed and left without anyone getting hurt. Zach was given a choice to determine his fate. He chose not to listen to my warnings. My conscience is clear, he was given a choice.”
“But I let him in,” Dean said. “I should be the one protecting you and not the other way around.”
“You have watched over me,” Ashley said. She laid a hand on his forearm as he sat next to her. “After I healed Zora, you took care of me while I regathered my strength. That was you taking care of me. This time was my turn. We are a team in this endeavor, Dean. We have to work together, but, more importantly, we need to trust each other to do what each of us can do.”
“But I don’t even know all that you can do,” Dean replied. “I didn’t know that you could zap him, or whatever it was that you did.”
“I exposed my true form for a moment,” Ashley said. “I am Eldara. In the old tongue, it means ‘light ones’ or ‘
made of light.’ We assume corporeal form when here on earth and most of us choose never to reveal our true nature or form. However, were you to see me in my true form, it would overwhelm your senses. I simply used some of that power to overwhelm Zach’s senses before he could take further action. If you look at the references to the Eldara over the millennia, you will see us defined as creatures of brightness, white light. It is why we are so often depicted with halos. That is the best way for those who have seen us or witnessed our true power and selves, to depict us.”
Dean smiled. He liked finally learning something about Ashley’s past and her identity as an Eldara. He knew she referred to stories in places like the Bible. Based on what he knew, it was likely an Eldara who stood in the empty tomb of Christ and told the women who came to prepare his body for proper burial that he had risen. It caused him to wonder if Ashley had ever appeared in historical scenes that he would recognize.
“So Ashley,” he asked. “When are you going to tell me some of your past exploits in history? You must have some good stories to tell. I’m too wired to go to sleep just now.”
“Unlike my sister and some of the other Eldara, I prefer to work behind the scenes,” she responded. “I’m a healer, and that is the best way to enact healing. I helped others throughout history learn and become better healers. I try to avoid the spotlight. Some of my Eldara colleagues are not so humble. They like the spotlight, or rather to create a spotlight in which to shine. Gabriel is the worst of them, but he’s a warrior at heart, so he’s all about standing out in a crowd. It kills him that he can’t appear in gleaming armor anymore. He hates that every army and soldier wears earth tones and camouflage now.” She laughed quietly to herself. Her laughter calmed him.
“Come on, we need to go to bed and get some sleep. I know I am exhausted and you’re tired, too. Everything will be better in the morning and we can work on getting ready to move into James’ apartments tomorrow after work.”
———
Dean awoke a few hours later, near dawn, to a chime on his phone. It was a message from a number he didn’t recognize. He rolled over and looked at the screen and swiped to open the messaging app. It was from someone named Celeste who said she was James’ assistant and that she had all the details arranged for him and Ashley to move in after their work shifts that day. He read the message several times as he cleared his head and then texted a reply that he had received it.
He rolled over to see Ashley lying next to him. She was still asleep. She slept so soundly most of the time that he was not sure how she heard her alarm to get up for work in the mornings. He looked at his watch and decided it was close enough to when he needed to get up anyway. He rolled out of bed and went out to the large living area off of the bedroom. He looked out the front window and saw the police cruiser still parked on the street outside his second-floor garage apartment. He shook his head and went to make coffee and some breakfast for him and Ashley. He also needed to pack up some clothes to take to the new apartment. The message from Celeste said that it was fully furnished and that James had the kitchens stocked with some basics so they’d have food.
He heard a small sound behind him and turned at the kitchen counter to see Ashley come out of the bedroom. She was wearing a pair of his boxer shorts and a gray tank top t-shirt. He marveled at her beauty, even first thing in the morning. Who woke up looking that good? His girlfriend, that’s who.
“Stop ogling me and make me some coffee,” she said as she approached. “I have to wake up and get ready for work.”
Dean turned and started the single cup brewer to make her a cup of coffee. He felt her step up behind him and slip her arms around him and hug him from the back. He felt the soft firmness of her breasts press into his back as she squeezed him gently while he worked.
“Do you want me to make some eggs or do you just want cereal?” Dean asked as he turned in her embrace to face her.
“Cereal is fine,” she said. “I just need that coffee to get started. Luckily I brought a spare set of scrubs to change into, so I don’t have to stop by my apartment on the way to the hospital.”
“I got a text from Celeste,” he said. “She is James’ assistant. She said that all was ready to go downtown. She said the apartments are fully furnished, and she will make sure there are some basics in the kitchen for us after work. I’ll forward the address to you. She said to park beneath the building in the underground garage. The attendant already has our names, car descriptions and license plate numbers.”
“Good,” Ashley said. “The sooner we get you squared away there, the sooner we can both get back to focusing on what we need to do to solve this mystery.”
Dean got out the box of cereal and filled two bowls while Ashley got her coffee squared away the way she liked it. She poured some milk from the carton into her coffee and then some more on the cereal in the bowls. She put the milk away in the fridge and then took her coffee and cereal over to the small round table nearby. She looked out the window.
“I see our police escort is still there,” Ashley said.
“Yeah, I saw that, too,” Dean said as he joined her at the table. “I will be glad when all this excitement is over with, and I can live my life without police calls and attackers in the night. Life was so much easier when I was just a simple paramedic with regular patients, even if those patients were far from normal.”
Ashley chuckled. “Remember the ancient curse: ‘May you live in interesting times.’ That holds true now more than ever. And yet, if you hadn’t had that excitement, we never would have met. I’m thankful for that, at least.”
“Me too,” Dean said. He thought about that as the two of them finished their breakfast in silence. He cleaned up the dishes when they were finished, while Ashley went back to the bedroom to get changed. She was slipping on her scrubs when he came in and started to change into his uniform shirt and navy cargo pants. He grabbed some clothes and additional uniforms and threw them in a large gym bag he had, and carried it over by the door. He glanced at his watch. The last twenty-four hours had been hectic, and the next twenty-four held even more change as he moved to a new home, even if it was a temporary arrangement.
Ashley came over to join him at the door. She had her bag and purse over one shoulder, and her car keys in her other hand. “Shall we?” she asked.
Dean opened the door and held it open for her while she proceeded him out and down the stairs to start the rest of their day. He locked up and followed her. He kissed her goodbye briefly at her car and then he went to his pickup and threw his bag into the front passenger seat before climbing in himself. He waived at the police officer who returned the gesture as he drove by. It was off to another day at Station U, then on to the new apartment and the next step in their work to stop The Cause.
Chapter 50
After a day of routine calls at the station, Dean got the directions to James’ downtown building from Brynne and texted them to Ashley. He had thought he would be able to follow Brynne over to the apartment building after work since she lived with the vampire in his penthouse apartment in that same building, but she had some other errands to run and said she would catch up with him later, after he had settled in.
Ashley sent him a message that she was being held late in the ER due to an overflow of patients, so he was going to have to move in on his own. He said goodbye to Brook and Tammy, his relief crew at the Station, and headed out to his pickup. He dialed the directions into his phone’s GPS, started the directions and headed downtown to his new place. He hoped it was only a short term move, but he also knew that he had no control over that.
As he arrived in the downtown area of Elk City about ten minutes later, he saw the building he was looking for ahead and on the right. It was a rather nondescript concrete building of modern design with lots of windows. It appeared to be about 15 stories tall and dominated the block on which it was situated. Because of one-way streets, he had to circle the block until he came in from the correct direction to access the
underground garage. There was an enclosed attendant station with a uniformed security guard on the ramp leading down into the garage. As Dean pulled up to the gate, the guard stepped out of the enclosure with a clipboard in hand.
“Can I help you, sir?” the guard asked. He seemed bored and given the small workstation he came from, Dean couldn’t blame him.
“I’m Dean Flynn,” the paramedic said. “I’m supposed to move into an apartment today?”
The guard looked at his clipboard, using his finger to trace down the list he had there. “Here it is, Mr. Flynn,” the guard said. “You will be parking in marked parking space number twenty-three. You’ll get a card from Ms. Teal you can swipe after hours to get in and out of the garage. Welcome to the Nightwing Building, Mr. Flynn.” The guard stepped back to his enclosure and pressed a button there. Dean waited for the gate arm to raise completely and then went on down to the parking area. There were two levels, but he saw the clearly marked numbers on the floor and his slot was on the first level, about one hundred fifty feet from the elevator. Dean pulled into slot twenty-three and slid the gear shift into park. He didn’t want to live here this close to James and Brynne. It only reminded him of what was going on there in that relationship. He had told Brynne that he was okay with James occasionally feeding on her, but that wasn’t true. It still bothered him. It bothered him a lot.
He got out of his pickup truck and grabbed the gym bag from the front passenger seat. He walked over to the elevator and once inside, Dean saw that he had been right. There were fifteen floors in the building. The elevator buttons read from P1 and P2 then one through fourteen with a level PH above that. Unless James had parking on the roof, that final PH stood for the penthouse. He punched the first-floor button marked L for lobby as Brynne had instructed, and the elevator door slid shut.