Blessed

by S. J. West

  “Don’t even think about phasing back inside,” he hissed, gripping my arm so tight I thought I could actually feel my hand go numb from the loss of blood.

  I was surprised he knew I could phase. As far as I could remember, he had never seen me do it.

  “Yes, I know about your powers,” he said after seeing my reaction. “He told me all about them. But if you want to save your friends, you need to do exactly what I tell you to do.”

  “What are you talking about?” I asked, already fearing his next words.

  “I have that fairy and your other friend, the human. I have to admit fairy blood does have a certain unique quality to it.” He licked his lips with his tongue as if removing the last traces Malik from his lips.

  My blood ran cold. “You didn’t…” I literally couldn’t make the words come out of my mouth to finish the statement.

  “Not yet,” he grinned, relishing my response to what he was implying. “I’ve only tasted a bit of what they have to offer. Whether or not I go back and finish what I started is completely up to you.”

  If I could just get him to show me where they were, I could phase them to safety.

  “I know what you’re thinking,” he said. “And no, I’m not going to make it that easy for you. I told you we were going to have a little game and I meant it. You don’t honestly think I would make it that easy for you to get your friends back, do you?”

  “What do you want?”

  “I want to see you grovel at my feet,” he said, relishing the power he knew he had over me. “I want to watch you suffer just for the right to beg me for your friend’s lives. I have a few more of your friends with the fairy and human, a few of your werewolf friends. Now let’s see, there’s Abby of course. I couldn’t very well not bring your future step-daughter. Then there’s Sebastian. I’ve always wanted to see him play in one of my games. Malcolm’s never wanted to bring him. And of course, poor little Angela. She just can’t seem to catch a break. Her father saw me take her you know, but he’s completely paralyzed by his own fears to do anything to help her,” Robert chuckled.

  “What sort of game are you talking about?”

  “We like to call it Bait. You see some of my Watcher compatriots and I like to pit our children against each other to see who is the fastest, most agile. We set up a couple of humans as bait somewhere in a secluded area and let our children loose to see who can reach them first. There’s usually a bit of fighting between them in the beginning but as soon as they catch the scent of fresh blood from the victims, they forget all about each other and let their blood-lust take over completely.”

  “No,” I covered my mouth with a shaking hand. Not only were Malik and Tara in danger of losing their lives, but Abby, Sebastian and Angela were in jeopardy of losing their souls if they were allowed to drink human blood. It was the one thing all of my Watcher friends had been protecting their children from all these years. I couldn’t let it happen.

  “What do you want me to do?” I asked, determined to find a way to stop what Robert had set in motion.

  “Oh, I don’t know, Lilly. Why don’t we start with something simple? Why don’t you start by bowing down to me?”

  I knew he wasn’t going to make this easy for me. He would try to humiliate me as much as he could.

  I did what he asked and got on my knees. At least the petticoat under the dress came in handy and provided a cushion for my knees and legs against the cold concrete.

  “See that wasn’t so hard now was it?” he asked, knowing full and well I resented the hold he had on me at the moment.

  “Will you take me to them?”

  “I might, but first I think I need to hear a little more pleading in your voice. You don’t seem completely convinced that I’ll let your friends die so gruesomely. Maybe you’ve never seen a pack of werewolves consume a body before. I can assure you, there won’t be anything left when they get through.”

  I tried to fight against letting my anger show. “Please take me to them, Robert.”

  “There’s just something about the way you’re saying it,” he said sounding disappointed. “It just doesn’t sound like it’s coming from your heart, Lilly.”

  “Please, I’m begging you,” I bowed my head to him in a gesture of complete submission. “Take me to them.”

  “Well, now,” he said, sounding genuinely pleased for the first time. “That’s more like it. I hoped it would just take a little persuasion on my part to get you in line.”

  He touched my head and I was suddenly kneeling on a dirt packed forest floor. I looked up to see the moon in the sky directly overhead. High pitched howls of excitement and urgency from the wolf pack could be heard in the distance.

  Robert tilted his head toward the sound like the howls were beautiful music playing. “Ahh, the children are searching for your friends.”

  “Please,” I begged. “Where are they?”

  “I’ll give you a hint,” he said turning around and pointing straight ahead. “There’s a clearing about a hundred yards that way somewhere. Your fairy friend has transformed into his animal but it won’t do him any good. I think he feels like he can protect the girl in that form better.”

  I sprang to my feet intent on running as fast as I could to the spot Robert had pointed to. Before I could start running, I felt him grab and yank on my arm.

  “Wait,” he said pulling me to him, forcing his mouth down onto mine. His warm, slimy tongue pushed its way between my lips. The thought of biting down on it occurred to me, but I knew if I did that, he wouldn’t let me go without suffering some sort of repercussions and that was time I couldn’t afford to waste, not with so much at stake.

  “Kiss me back,” he ordered, cupping his hands on the sides of my face forcing me to look into his lust-crazed eyes. “Or do you think your friends can survive without you for much longer?” He sneered.

  I felt nauseous at the thought of having to pretend I enjoyed kissing a loathsome creature such as Robert. I shut my eyes so I wouldn’t have to look at him and followed his lead in the kiss trying to imagine that I was somewhere else, anywhere else. Every fiber of my body rebelled against complying with his wishes, and I had to quell my urge to shiver in revulsion for fear he would get mad and never let me go in time to save my friends.

  I felt his hands leave my face and cup my breasts, fondling them roughly through the silk of my dress tearing the material. A small whimper escaped my lips which seemed to just make him more excited. I tried not to think about anything except finding Tara and Malik and getting them to safety before the wolf pack hunted them down.

  Robert finally released me, stumbling back like the kiss had affected him more than he had intended it to.

  “Go,” he whispered with a small jerk of his head in the direction I needed to run. I felt his eyes following me as I sprinted away from him.

  It was so dark I could just barely make out where I was going. My dress wasn’t helping matters since it seemed to get caught on every branch I passed. Finally, I took a few precious seconds to pull down the petticoat and leave it on the forest floor. I hiked up the blue silk and ran as fast as I could, hoping I wouldn’t be too late. Branches lashed at my body but I didn’t have time to care. I had to save them.

  But which direction were they? I could barely see in the pitch black. I feared I wouldn’t be able to find them in time. Suddenly, I saw a soft blue light appear about twenty feet in front of me. It was the ghostly shape of the eight year old Will.

  “Follow me,” he shouted and started to run ahead of me, leading me to where I needed to go.

  “Lilly!”

  I heard the cry come from somewhere beside me. I slowed down long enough to see it was Allan.

  “Follow me,” I yelled to him, not wanting to lose sight of my guide. I could tell Allan was having trouble being outside in the strange environment of the forest, but I didn’t have time to deal with his peculiar idiosyncrasies. I had to find Tara and Malik.

  Allan did as I told hi
m and ran along beside me.

  After a few minutes, my ghostly guide disappeared as we came to the clearing Robert said I would find.

  “Tara!” I screamed so loud the sound of my hysterical voice bounced off the trees around us in a shrill cacophony.

  The only answer was the growl of a cat. I ran toward the noise, hoping what I heard was Malik. Robert had said he transformed into his animal form.

  When I found them, Tara was lying on the ground unconscious with a black panther licking the wound at her neck. I could hear the wolf pack crashing through the brush at the edge of the clearing. They would be on us at any moment.

  “Allan, you need to phase them somewhere safe!”

  “But Angela…”

  “Listen to me,” I yelled. “If you want to protect Angela, you need to get these two away now! Then come back here to get the others. Now go they’re almost here!”

  It didn’t take Allan long to come to his senses and phase Tara and Malik to safety.

  Before I knew it, I was being surrounded by at least twenty werewolves preparing to launch themselves on the spot where Tara and Malik’s blood still stained the ground at my feet.

  “Stop!” I ordered.

  Amazingly enough they all stopped dead in their tracks as if I had put up some sort of barrier around myself. In the dark, I could make out their eyes all staring down at me, watching me.

  “Kneel!” I ordered again, not sure if it would work but not seeing how it could hurt to try.

  In unison, they all knelt as best they could on their backward looking legs.

  “Well,” Robert appeared beside me. “I didn’t see this coming.” He studied the wolf pack in wonder. “You’re full of surprises, Lilly.”

  “Abby! Sebastian! Angela!” I called ignoring Robert. “Come forward!”

  Three of the wolves stood and came closer to me. Allan quickly reappeared beside me apparently having found a safe place to deposit Malik and Tara.

  “Take them home,” I told Allan, having already resigned myself to the fate I knew I would have to endure. “Tell Brand I love him,” I couldn’t help the crack in my voice as I tried to reign in my emotions, “and that I’m sorry. I don’t have any choice.”

  “Just leave,” Allan implored me.

  “I can’t,” I told him. “It won’t matter. Robert will just do this again if I don’t go with him now. Don’t you see that? They’ll never be safe.”

  “I’ll bring back help.” Allan said, thinking a fight was what was called for in this situation.

  “Oh, I don’t think that would make a difference.” Robert snapped his fingers. Almost immediately, there were at least thirty Watchers surrounding us all dressed in their black feathered cloaks, a sign that they were ready for a hunt. “I doubt you and your friends could take all of them.”

  I turned to Robert. I knew it was finally time to meet the person who had been so determined to end my life the past ten years. If I had to face death, I wanted to do it on my own terms without regret. My sacrifice would protect the lives of those I loved. As long as I kept that thought in my mind, my fear of dying would have to take a backseat. At least I would finally understand why my death seemed so important to the person who had been trying to kill me since I was child.

  “I’m ready,” I told Robert. He grabbed me by the shoulder and walked us deeper into the forest while the other Watchers phased out of the clearing with their children in tow.

  “Just in case your friends decide to come back,” he explained. “I doubt they will look for my trail here. They’ll have quite a few false trials to follow first. By the time they figure things out, it’ll be over.”

  I was actually thankful for Robert’s thoroughness. I didn’t want Brand, Malcolm or Will to try and rescue me. It would be futile at this point.

  I took a deep breath, steeling myself to met death as Robert phased us out of the forest.

  Chapter 20

  We appeared on a beach under a ‘J’ shaped palm tree. The sun was just rising over the watery horizon casting an orange glow against the pale blue sky. The lapping of the water against the sand at my feet did little to help calm my aching heart. Would this be the last sunrise I ever saw?

  “Enjoy it while you can,” Robert snorted as if reading my thoughts. “He’s been waiting a long time to get rid of you. I doubt I’ll have very long to wait before he tells me to finish you off for him. You’d be dead by now if he didn’t have this absurd notion you deserve to know the truth before you die.”

  “So what do you get out of killing me for him?” I asked. If I understood anything, I knew Robert wouldn’t be doing someone else’s dirty work for nothing.

  “I get to stay alive,” he told me, obviously not liking the fact that his life had been on the line with my capture.

  “I didn’t think your kind could die.”

  “Not by a human’s hands or even our own,” he smirked. “But there are special circumstances when we can be killed like anyone else.”

  It made me think of what Will had once said about Lucifer. That was one of the reasons he followed his orders so explicitly was because Lucifer could destroy him. But, I knew it couldn’t be Lucifer who had been trying to kill me all these years, he was trying to save me for plans of his own. Then who was threatening Robert?

  It wasn’t long before I felt him getting closer. It was just like the time I was in Justin’s prison cell waiting for him, before I knew I could phase to safety. I could go again if I wanted to but didn’t have the heart. I knew if I didn’t stay to face my executioner Robert would hurt my family just to get to me again. Things had to end now, one way or another. There wasn’t any point in running away. There was no where to hide. I would have to sacrifice myself in order to keep the ones I loved safe. I only hoped Brand could forgive me for my decision. His heart ache would run deeper and last longer than anyone else’s.

  I could feel the heat of my executioner’s aura surrounding me. It was stifling, like being too close to the sun. However, I couldn’t hear his thoughts this time. I got the impression he was shielding them from me, knowing I could read what was on his mind as easily as I knew what I myself was thinking.

  I couldn’t see him at first. I just felt his presence beside me. When I looked at where I knew he was, all I could see was a slight shimmer against the white sand like a mirage. He had no true form that I could make out.

  “You’ve done your job,” he said to Robert. “Now go and leave us.”

  “How long should I wait until I can come back to finish her off?” Robert asked bowing to the entity beside me.

  “Your assistance is no longer required. I will not need for you to come back.”

  “But… you promised I could have her!”

  The heat of Robert’s little tantrum shocked me. Even I had the presence of mind to know talking to the entity beside me like that was a bad idea.

  “You will not address me like that you filthy mongrel!” the entity beside me roared with absolute authority. “I did not give you permission to put innocent lives at stake just for your own amusement. You will not get what you were promised and I order you to not bother Lilly’s friends again. Is that understood?”

  “Yes,” Robert reluctantly whispered, glancing up at me. I could tell he hated being dressed down in front of me. “But I thought the whole point of my capturing her was so I could kill her for you.”

  “I will handle things from here. You need to leave now. She and I have much to discuss with one another.”

  Robert looked at me. I could see the longing he had in his eyes to finish what he had started in the forest. He certainly hadn’t planned to kill me before he satisfied his urges.

  “Maybe I’ll see you again one day, Lilly, if you survive.”

  And then he was gone, leaving me alone with the person who had been trying to eliminate my life for so many years.

  I turned toward the shimmering apparition beside me feeling a lot calmer now that Robert was gone.

  �
��Why can’t I see you?” I asked.

  “You are seeing me,” he answered. “At least as well as your half angel eyes can see me.”

  “Who are you?”

  “My name is Uriel.”

  “What are you?”

  “I’m an arch angel.”

  “Did God send you to kill me, like he did to Lilith’s children?”

  “Do you really think he would order the slaying of the innocent?”

  “That’s what the angels I know told me. What are you saying? They weren’t killed?”

  “I’m not allowed to tell you what happened to them. But I can tell you He was never behind the previous attempts on your life. And before now, he never ordered me to stop trying to eliminate you and the threat you pose.”

  I grasped onto the hope of his statement. “What do you mean before now?”

  “He’s ordered me to stand down and let things run their natural course. I’m not allowed to interfere anymore.”

  “Why have you been trying to kill me for so long?”

  “I felt it was necessary in order to fulfill my duty.”

  “What duty?”

  “To protect Heaven.”

  “Why am I such a danger?”

  Uriel was silent. I knew he was still there because I could still feel the heat of his presence and see his shimmering form. I tried to listen to his thoughts but he was hiding them too well from me.

  “I can’t tell you that, Lilly. I wish I could so you could decide for yourself whether your life is worth the chaos to come.”

  “Can’t you tell me more than that? Anything?” I pleaded.

  “The fallen should be able to figure it out. They just haven’t thought of it yet. And look to yourself, Lilly. You have the potential to become even more powerful than all the angels in Heaven and on Earth. You are the key to everything.”

  “The last time, when Justin had me and you were coming to speak with me. You know I heard your thoughts and felt your feelings then. You kept thinking one life was worth sacrificing to save so many. Please, tell me why I’m a danger so I can understand what needs to be done.”