by Linda Creel
Aura had no doubt Lucifer was the mastermind behind the attacks, but the Witches Bane was a weapon usually used by women. Fallen angels preferred the more physical altercations. No – someone else is helping them and I need to find out who it is, before we lose anyone else.
At four o’clock, Eve announced it was time to take the children to Savannah. She collected their costumes and gathered them in a circle on the front lawn. Everyone was leaving, including Mehri, Katie, Sophia, and their friends from Utopia.
“I’m just a thought away,” Eve said before the portal took them away.
Chapter 60
Aura decided to drive her own car to Ryan’s cottage, so Ella could go home with her fiancée, Jasper, and his twin brother, Jayden, afterwards.
The one-story bungalow had only five rooms – a kitchen, living room, dining room, bathroom, and one bedroom. Though it was small in comparison to the houses the Guild and their family lived in, it was more than enough room for Ryan.
He had just returned from England a few weeks ago, where he was ordained as a priest at the Westminster Cathedral. Aura wished she could have been there, but Ryan didn’t even let her know about the ceremony until after the fact. Maybe he thought he would embarrass himself.
What a silly thing to think. Despite being born a transgender, Aura thought her best friend was perfect. Sometimes, she wondered if their relationship would have been different, if he had been a normal male. There was no sense worrying about that now – he was gone.
As she opened the front door, she saw everything was arranged neatly around the small house. Ryan was a stickler for having things in their place. Not that he was obsessive-compulsive; he was just a neat freak.
“Cleanliness is next to Godliness,” he used to remind her.
There was a small sofa and loveseat in the living room. The round, wooden table in the kitchen had four chairs.
Each of the walls was covered with pictures. A few were of his parents and Ella, but most of the photographs were of Ryan and Aura. A wave of sadness came over her as she looked from one to the next. His entire life was in those frames.
While Jasper and Jayden stayed in the living room, Aura followed Ella to the bedroom. She opened the closet and Aura stared at the clothing, all arranged neatly on hangers.
Her hand brushed against his vestments. Though he had promised to wear them when he delivered the sermon, he never got around to it. Her fingers grazed the white starched collar, and a tear slipped down her cheek.
Ella reached for a wooden box on the top shelf. She plopped on the bed, beckoning Aura to join her before she opened the lid. Inside, every card Aura sent him was wrapped with a lavender satin ribbon. Beneath the stack was a letter – a letter that was addressed to her.
“He told me to give this to you, if anything ever happened to him,” Ella sniffled.
Aura’s hands were trembling as she took the letter. As soon as she opened it, hers eyes welled up with tears. She had seen death before, but nothing hit as close to home as seeing Ryan lying in a coffin.
Wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her dress, Aura began to read the text silently. It was only one page, and she hoped the ink wouldn’t run as she continued to sob.
“What did he say?” Ella asked.
“He knew – all this time I was worried about keeping my family’s secret, but Ryan knew we were angel-bloods. Did you tell him?”
“No – maybe he sensed there was something special about you. I don’t mean to sound insensitive, but your eyes are violet, and your hair hangs down to your knees. You don’t look like a typical seventeen-year-old girl. And your sister, Bren – how could you not know she was different? She can recite every book in that massive library of yours.”
Aura nodded. “I wish he would have told me. I hated keeping secrets from your brother. It would have made my life so much easier, if I didn’t always have to keep my guard up.
She took in a deep breath and grabbed Ella’s hand. “Have you thought about accepting Jasper’s blood?”
“I’ve thought about it, but we’ve decided to wait until after the wedding.”
“Don’t you think it would be wise to do the blood exchange now? There have already been five deaths in the last few days. I can’t help thinking this is just a distraction and Lucifer is planning something really big.”
“I know you worry about me, but you don’t have to. Jasper hardly ever leaves me alone and we don’t want to change our lifestyle because Lucifer might do something. Whatever happens, will happen. I doubt my having the angel’s blood will make a difference. It didn’t save Gregory Godwin, or the Crestwells, or even Shanna. I’m not going to live my life being afraid.”
A faint smile crossed Aura’s face. “No – you shouldn’t have to do that, but just be careful. I know you’ve been traveling a lot, and we may not always be able to get to you if something happened. It’s odd that the dark wings are using poison. I think someone else is helping them.”
“Your visions will help you figure it out.”
She stared at Ryan’s vestments hanging in the closet. “Do you want to take them home? I don’t have a use for them now. I’m not planning on getting rid of the cottage. You never know when someone might need a place to stay.”
Aura grabbed the suit and held the white collar in her hand. She could almost feel Ryan standing next to her. “Thanks, I’ll put these in a safe place.”
“Well, if there isn’t anything else you want to see, I’m going to head out. We’re supposed to go shopping tomorrow. Jasper wants to take me skiing in Vermont. Maybe you should come with us?”
“I don’t know how to ski, and I wouldn’t feel comfortable leaving the little ones right now.”
“I wasn’t asking you to go to Vermont. I thought you might like to join us at the mall. I’ll call you later this evening, and you can let me know then.”
The girls walked out of the bedroom and Aura hugged Ella and the boys. She hung Ryan’s vestments in the rear seat over the driver’s side door, and waved as she backed out of the driveway.
By the time Aura got home, it was dusk. Everyone else was gone, and the house echoed at the sound of her shoes clip-clopping across the wooden floor.
She hung Ryan’s vestments over the back of one of the chairs in the living room, and went into the dining room to clean up.
Thankfully, her mother had already taken care of clearing the table and washing the dishes, so there was nothing left to do.
She stretched out on the couch and closed her eyes. Whether it was from everything else that happened over the last few days, or the sorrow of losing her best friend, Aura soon fell into a deep slumber, and that’s when the visions started.
Chapter 61
At first, Aura was disoriented by the scenes in her vision, and didn’t know what she was seeing. After a few moments, the sounds of deafening screams, and the sight of angels falling to earth -- their wings ablaze -- confirmed her worst fears; she was witnessing the Great War in Heaven.
The landscape was breathtaking -- as her mind moved from one beautiful meadow to the next, she realized the attack had been exactly as her father described it. She watched the child angels frolicking in the vale, clueless to the horrible assault which would soon take most of their lives.
Though there were a great deal of angels she didn’t know, Aura recognized most of the archangels – Gabriel, Michael, Ariel, Raphael, and her grandfather, Uriel.
The members of the Guild -- her father among them -- had their weapons drawn, as they tried to keep Lucifer’s followers at bay.
Aura could feel her body shudder and spasm each time one of the angels died. In a deep sleep, and unable to control the jerking, she watched as a river of gold continued to rise as the battle raged on.
Her sight took her from one clash to the next until she came upon… No -- there had to be a mistake. Bren and Tracy couldn’t have been involved in the war. Yet there they stood, clear as day, playing with the same little girl Aura had seen
at Ryan’s funeral.
She heard the child beg them to protect themselves when one of the Dark Wings approached and demanded that they move away. They refused to leave, and used their tiny bodies to shield the small blonde angel.
Aura couldn’t make out everything they were saying, but she heard something about an Eternal Child, and the girl – Alannah was her name – needed to be protected.
Aura could feel the tears slipping down her cheeks as she watched the ebony eyed angel stab Bren and Tracy repeatedly. They tried to use their wings for protection, but each blow brought another stream of liquid gold until finally they were still.
Before the dark wing could grab the child, Gabriel appeared.
Angels were not given to showing emotion, but Aura saw the archangel’s muscles and veins pulsing against his skin. A guttural roar escaped his lips, and Aura watched as her uncle twirled both of his swords before casting the fallen angel into the abyss.
Afterwards, he walked over to Bren and Tracy, and pulled them into his arms. Burying his head into their tiny chests, Aura could hear him whimpering softly.
Her visions didn’t stop there; they took her to another scene. This one showed her father, Paul, fighting with a female. He was begging her to reconsider her choice, but she just laughed at him. Every syllable that escaped her mouth was like a blade to Paul’s heart.
Aura stared at the mound of dead bodies littering the glen. Some of the angels were no older than her little sister Reaghan. Why was her father hesitant to kill this woman?
Kill her, Dad! She doesn’t deserve to live after what she’s done.
Finally, the light from his sword intensified and he ran her through the heart.
Aura watched her father drop to his knees. Bending over the woman’s body, she looked at him and smiled. “Lucifer will avenge me, Brother.” Those were her last words.
The grandfather clock in the corner chimed and Aura shot up. She was drenched in sweat, and the room was dark except for a night light next to the front door.
How long have I been asleep?
Flipping on one of the table lamps, Aura looked at a starburst clock over the fireplace mantle. Midnight – I’ve been out of it for hours.
She walked to the door. It was unusual for the angel-bloods to lock their doors, but with everything that had happened over the last couple of weeks, she wasn’t going to take any risks.
Lucifer had somehow managed to bypass the protective wards in Aeden, and if he could do it, she was certain some of his friends would have the same ability.
After she checked all of the locks on the porch and backdoor, she started towards the stairs. Even though she had been asleep for hours, she was still exhausted.
Bren would have stories to tell about their Trick or Treat adventure. Bren – how could you and Tracy have been in Heaven when Lucifer attacked?
Aura was beginning to think her visions might have been the future instead of the past. She had so many questions for her mother, but Eve wouldn’t be returning until tomorrow.
When she was certain the house was secure, Aura began to climb the spiral staircase. When she was on the last step, a new voice entered her mind – a voice Aura wasn’t familiar with.
Mommy, I miss you. Can I come home soon?
Aura looked around, and she thought she saw the little girl Bren called Alannah, standing near the fireplace in the living room.
She stumbled down the stairs, but by the time she reached the bottom, the little girl was gone. After turning on all of the lights and checking the other rooms, she concluded the child wasn’t there; Aura was still alone.
Again, the voice came into her head. Your friend is in Heaven, Mommy. You’ll see him another time. Please, can I come home now?
Aura heard such sad sobbing it broke her heart. Then a second child’s voice came into her head.
I told you it was a bad idea to come here. You have to give her time to remember.
“Who are you?” Aura whispered.
Coming in 2015:
Angel Incarnate: A Test of Faith