The Blood and Light Series (Six Books Boxed Set)

by Rue Volley

  “I think that we should get over to Rue’s house… we need to let them all know what the hell is going on.”

  “I totally agree… but it doesn’t mean that we cannot take a minute and talk about this.” He said.

  “About ‘this’?... there is a lot more than just a ‘this’ Johnathan.” She said as she started to shift her feet.

  “Okay… whatever you want to call it.”

  Brooke slapped her hands on her legs and Johnathan looked up at her.

  “I call it crazy Johnathan… crazy and uncalled for.”

  “Okay… I know, I should have called.” He said.

  She laughed and held her side.

  “Called? Oh my God, you should have been there!” she said.

  “In London?” he asked.

  Brooke tilted her head and stared at him.

  “I am getting really tired of you acting like you have no idea what the hell I am talking about… it is insulting and I think we should go now.” She said.

  She started to walk past him and he stepped into her way and stared at her face. She looked everywhere but him. He leaned down and tried to grin at her.

  “Brooke… please, just talk to me. Tell me what I can do.” He said.

  Brooke looked at him and crossed her arms on her chest, while she tapped her foot.

  “Well... you could start by saying that you suck beyond belief, that you never should have done what you did and then when you found about your son, you should have…”

  “Wait… what the fuck?” Johnathan asked her as he stepped towards her.

  “Your son Johnathan… Elijah, you know the one that you like to act like doesn’t exist.”

  “I feel dizzy… I think I am going to get sick.” Johnathan said as he turned and started to cough.

  Brooke crinkled her eyebrows and stared at him.

  “Nice Johnathan… I see that you still don’t want to deal with it. Very cool of you.”

  Johnathan wiped his mouth and looked back at her, flushed and sweaty.

  “Who the hell did you sleep with?!” he yelled at her.

  Brooke stepped back and stared at him, her face started to get red as well as her neck.

  “You are the biggest asshole on the planet!.... I slept with you Johnathan! Just you, just once on the airship when we came to London... I hate you!” she screamed as she started to run from him.

  Johnathan took a breath and forced himself to stand up straight. He flashed in front of her and grabbed her arms. She struggled with him but he refused to let her go.

  “Brooke!” he yelled at her.

  “LET ME GO!” she yelled back.

  “Shut up and listen to me… we never slept together… I said goodbye to you at the terminal, you were upset with me, I felt like an asshole, I should never have done that to you… it was fear, fear of loving you that stopped me! I never went to London with you… I didn’t.” he said as she slowed down and stopped struggling with him and looked into his face.

  “What?” she said as her eyes got glossy and her face lost its color.

  “Brooke I never left with you… I didn’t.” he whispered.

  “I’m… I’m gonna throw up…”

  With that she leaned forward and threw up all over him, he stepped back and held his hands out as she fell to the floor on her knees and sobbed. Johnathan flashed to the kitchen and quickly took his shirt off, he grabbed water and flashed back to her as she continued to cry. He leaned down and then lowered to his knees and she sobbed like someone who cannot get the grief out quickly enough.

  “You… you came to my room, you said you made a mistake…” she sucked in her breath in between words. “You said you loved me and then when we… you called out Rue’s name, and I freaked out, I told you that I hated you and that I never wanted to see you again… you returned... you did, when we landed I went to my parents and you left... you left me...” She said as she continued to cry.

  “Brooke... Brooke…” Johnathan said as he looked at her. She looked up at him and he shook his head.

  “I said goodbye to you at the terminal, I did. I have spent years regretting that decision, and so many times I wanted to see you, in fact I was on my way to see you when I was snatched up and taken to Valon… I had not seen you in over five years, not until I saw you in Valon Brooke… I swear I am not lying to you.”

  She shook her head and sniffled as he handed the glass to her. She tried to take a drink but her hands were shaking so hard that the water spilled, he grabbed the glass and tried to steady it for her.

  “Brooke… where is your son?” he whispered.

  “He is with my parents in London. He stays with them mostly.” She said.

  “Why? Why wasn’t he with you?”

  Brooke wiped her eyes and looked at Johnathan.

  “He looks just like you Johnathan… makes me angry and sad… so sad.”

  “Shit.” Johnathan said as he stood up.

  “We need to get over to Rue’s… this is crazy.”

  Brooke looked up at him and continued to cry.

  “Who was I with Johnathan?... if it wasn’t you?”

  Johnathan pulled her up to him and shook his head.

  “I don’t know… but the son of a bitch is dead.” Johnathan said as he pulled her towards the door.

  Chapter 17

  Into The Black

  Gracie leaned up and felt it. A slight vibration rumbling through her feet and it continued to climb up her legs. She sighed and closed her eyes, trying to focus on the energy… knowing that if she did she could release herself from her bindings. The energy slowly crept and then it started to die. She gritted her teeth and focused again, making it rise through her only to have it start to fail her again. Obviously she was fighting a powerful spell, one of which she did not know existed. A spell to trap an angel, not that she didn’t know that they could be woven… but usually by other angels and not these creatures that held her captive now. She relaxed on the bed and then looked up as the door opened and Erik stepped into the room. She waited to see Alex, but he did not return with him and for a split second she felt something because of that. She quickly shook it off, knowing that any emotion would be a weakness and a tad bit irritated that one tried to sneak in on her anyway.

  Feelings… ha, as an angel she didn’t have to worry about them, or shouldn’t anyway.

  “Where is he?” Gracie said as she lifted her head and looked at Erik.

  Erik tilted his head and raised his eyebrows.

  “Alexander?... Oh he is resting peacefully.”

  “You killed him.” She said as she relaxed and Erik laughed.

  “No… would you like me too?” he asked her.

  “I would like for you to remove these bindings.” Gracie said.

  “Now how smart would that make me?” he asked.

  “It would perhaps prolong your miserable existence.” Gracie said as she smiled.

  Erik stepped up to the side of the bed and looked at her as he grinned. He reached out with his hand and started to place it on her face and she turned her head from him. Erik slowly pulled his hand back from her.

  “The likeness is uncanny really.” He said in a soft tone.

  Gracie looked at him and sighed.

  “To that of the sword and the shield, I would take it.” Gracie said.

  “Yes.” He said.

  “Well… for all intense purposes, they are my parents. I would not have been able to take form without them.” Gracie said.

  “Are you aware of a protector’s belief, when it comes to children?” Erik asked her as he stepped to the window and looked out.

  Gracie raised her head and rolled her eyes.

  “Do share.” She said in a sarcastic tone.

  “Well… it is believed that all energy resides in memory and when two protectors decide to create, the energy… or spirit, as humans call it… is already pre destined to its parents.”

  Gracie laughed.

  “I am an angel Erik�
� a true protector, how could I be pre destined to become a part of a mongrel race.”

  Erik looked at her and shook his head.

  “Has it ever occurred to you that we are but one and the same, all of us connected?” he asked her.

  “Oh! You must be joking.” Gracie said as she tugged on her lighted restraint and stared at it.

  “Well, you must admit that we are very similar in nature, all of us.” He said.

  “What I do know is that Valon was once a shining city, a beacon to the world and when it was stolen in war it became a cesspool, cluttered with relics that should have never existed, and not only relics but monkeys… the worst kind… humans.” She said.

  “You act as if nothing should exist but you.” He said.

  Gracie sighed and looked up at him.

  “Angels are the true warriors Erik, the true protectors of this world. We did not harm the planet, we nurtured it… allowed it to grow and be strong. Beautiful this world was before it was stained with the likes of you and others.”

  “How did you end up in memory Gracie?” Erik asked her, hoping to get away from her hatred of him and everyone like him.

  “War… I died, or for all intense purposes, lost my physical form.” She said.

  “So, you did not look as you do now.” He said.

  “No.” Gracie said as she turned her head and closed her eyes. Letting the memory take her back to Valon for a moment, when it shined bright like the sun… filled with the sweet smells of life, pure and clean. Before the war… before the first protector invaded her walls. Erik sat down on the bed and pulled her out of her happy memory and she looked at him.

  “You are a beautiful creature Gracie, more so now that blood actually flows through your veins.” He said.

  “I have an undeniable stench to me… that of flesh and decay.” Gracie said as Erik crinkled his eyebrows and looked at her face.

  “No… no Gracie, you do not. In fact you are a miracle, a perfect blend of the best of us and yourself. I did not finish my story, about the children of Valon.”

  Gracie said nothing as he looked at his face. His words did momentarily touch her heart, something that she did not expect and before she could allow her hatred to ruin it Erik continued on.

  “Protectors are born of energy, energy that they possess and automatically that energy is drawn to the only parents that they could ever have. You see, pre destined family…it is not chosen, it just occurs. So if you lose a child and have another, the same energy comes back to you…it is a never ending cycle.”

  “I find that confusing.” Gracie said.

  “Well… it is not really. You see we all come from memory… and that is why it is there that we return. Our energy, or if you would prefer the word ‘spirit’ I will use that term… our energy waits, it is either pre destined to return to the world or it simply fades away. But as long as you have family, you are truly immortal.”

  “That is a fantasy.” Gracie said as she looked up at the ceiling.

  “No… no it’s not. I am looking at it right now Gracie, in your face. You were meant to return to Joshua Barrington, he is your Father… you cannot change that.”

  “Shut up.” Gracie said as she looked away from him.

  “Rue Volley... or as she is truly know as Rue Valon, she is your mother, and you will never escape that and I find it humorous… that you, the purest of angels are truly a protector.” He said, driving the sharp words straight into her heart.

  “SHUT UP!” Gracie screamed at him. Erik stood back as Gracie’s entire body started to glow, she started to lift from the bed, her binding being absorbed into her own light. She floated above the bed and the wind kicked up in the room. Erik shielded his eyes as she slowly floated to an upright position and her wings expanded… beautiful and bright white as the sun. She took in a deep breath and shook them, causing another bright flash of white to wash the room. Erik started to scream as he lowered to the floor and felt the skin on his face heating up. Wave after wave of light hit him and the skin started to peel on his hand as he held it up to his face. Gracie started to lower to the bed and her feet gently touched the mattress and she stood there in all of her glory, a bright and perfect creature… looking so loving and yet a hatred stirring under her skin. Her complexion paled and her hair started to shine with health and vibrancy. She looked at Erik as he hissed and continued to shield himself the best that he could and a tiny thing welled up in her heart, something that she did not expect… it was mercy, mercy for the weak. The light started to fade and her wings consisting of pure white light started to retract behind her. She stepped down from the bed and stood there over Erik, knowing that to kill him now would be best, but for some reason she could not. She could not hate him for restoring her to her true form; she could not take his life. This weak creature that claimed to be as she was, this creature that she had vowed to destroy…her whole reason for enduring the torture of taking a flesh form. She reached down to him and touched his charred and blistering hand and the damage started to erase itself. Erik lowered his hand and his face started to return to normal. Skin repaired, porcelain skin… pink lips. His eyes started to glow again… changing from black to blue. Gracie looked at him and held out her hand, he took it and started to rise from the floor.

  “Grace Valon... I only serve you.” He whispered as he bowed and kissed her hand.

  “As it should be… now will you be so kind as to retrieve Alexander… we travel now to Valon.” She said.

  Erik nodded and ran from the room as Gracie turned to the mirror and stared at herself. She quickly turned back as Alex entered the room, held up by two rogues. Gracie glanced at Erik and he lowered his head. Gracie stepped up to Alex and placed her hand on his face and he took a deep breath, he stood there… slowly straightening up as the two rogues stepped back from him. Suddenly Gracie lifted her hands and blew on them, light sparking from her palms… it floated slowly through the air and settled all around both of the rogues. They started to wave their hands in the air as if they were fighting off a plague of insects. Suddenly the light started to settle on the two of them and they cried out as they slumped to the floor and started to melt away. Gracie stood there calm and determined as Alex stared at the two rogues and then back to her.

  “Gracie?” he said.

  “It is me, my love.” She said as she reached out to him and he took her hand.

  Alex looked at Erik and then back to Gracie.

  “You look as you did when I met you.” He whispered to her.

  “We leave for Valon… now.” She said as she turned to the mirror and waved her hand in the air. The mirror started to roll like water and she looked back to Alex.

  He looked into her eyes and started to touch her face as she turned to the mirror, holding his hand. She stepped through and pulled him behind her. Erik watched them both disappear through the mirrors surface and then he stepped towards it, the mirror started to crack and then it shattered into a thousand pieces around him and he cried out and fell to his knees.

  “No!” Erik cried out as he was left behind.

  ***

  Sometimes I hate dreams. I really do. You cannot control them in any way, although it is your mind. You doddle around in worlds that are created by you, the deepest recesses of your mind at the mercy of memory and bits and pieces of this and that. It’s confusing and scary, a place that you didn’t expect to go to. Like a funeral, in a way. A death over and over, revisiting things that you thought you had buried away. You see things that no one would understand and in the dream you know exactly what is going on, sometimes you love it… but most times, as I have found out… I hate it. My dreams are jumbled, trying to show me things that I should know to be true and yet you fight it with everything you have. It’s like without the fight, you won’t survive it…no way.

  I jerked up from the bed and took a deep breath, once again fighting my way out of a dream that for a split second I understood completely… that moment of clarity that made your he
art pound in your chest and caused you to try to catch your breath. I looked over and Johnathan lay there, with Elijah curled up against him. I wanted to wake him up and then the dream faded just as quickly as it had come to me. I hated dreaming, and it got worse and worse every time I closed my eyes.

  I wiped the sweat from my forehead and looked around. All was quiet and we were well on our way home. Back to Calvary, back to a large empty house… but now as a family, stitched together like a badly sewn dress. One that looks fabulous from a distance, but small threads and holes appear as you approach it, telling you that you may be able to get one good wear out of it. Just one and then it will fall apart and you will be left with something that you really wanted, but no skill to fix it.

  That is how I felt. I really did. I wanted to love Johnathan, and now with Elijah in the mix, I hoped that I would find it in me to love… but I don’t… in fact I feel a deep emptiness, and this was not how I want to spend forever. Who would?

  I pushed myself up and slipped off the bed. Elijah shifted and Johnathan mumbled something. I pulled my white silk robe and decided that a walk was long overdue. A moment to breathe different air than the stagnant air in that room. I stepped to the door and looked back at the two of them. I sighed. They need someone, I knew they did… but I didn’t feel like it was me. It should be someone who wanted to be a part of it, a team player… and right then I felt like I was fighting to be alone. Although I didn’t know how to be, that was probably the real root of my hatred… the fact that I feel like I should be on my own, no crutch and yet I find myself crutching on Johnathan, like without him I would die.

  I stepped out of the room and into the hallway. I looked both ways and saw no one, felt no one. Assumed that everyone on the water ship was sleeping, as they should be. I guess as I should be too, but no… how could I be that lucky.

  When we entered the ship I had really ignored it, but now that there was silence I looked at the walls and had to smile. It was made of a new metal, something I had never seen before. Light and stronger than anything humans had been able to come up with so far. The ship had a slight hum to it, like life teamed in the metal… maybe it is the heartbeat. The heartbeats of humans taking this trip with us that made it feel as if it was breathing. I walked along the hallway and really had no idea where I was going. I didn’t really care. I just looked at all the attention to detail on the metal, it looked like symbols… unknown to anyone but the artist who had created this beast. I touched it and the vibration ran through my fingertips and tickled a little. Had to be the engine, I would guessed… not the heartbeats, no. Those would cause my teeth to ache and they did not. Instead I felt a likeness to this underwater vessel, like it… not unlike myself had to be submerged and filled with something to make it feel alive, it was at this moment that I decided that I had to make preparations to leave Johnathan, and it was no longer a want… but a need deep within my chest.