Keely closes her eyes. Everything each of them says makes sense, but standing still, doing nothing, waiting for the cord to snap, it makes her feel useless. Every single second that ticks by means she’s that much further from her mom. That much closer to breaking her bond with Asmoday.
“How long ago did this happen?” Nick asks.
“Not long after you left earlier,” Kevin answers. He’s beginning to look more like himself and Keely feels guilty for pulling away from him when he needed her. She moves back to his side and puts her arm around him. “They told me the Angels came for you. I was convinced they came to kill you because the Hierarchy didn’t. I thought I lost you and your mom both in the same night.” He takes a shaky breath. “I love you, Honey.”
“I love you too.”
“We’ll do everything we can to bring your wife back to you,” Micah says.
Bryon falls into an empty chair, his hand over the wound on his chest. His fingers come away red with fresh blood. Keely drops to a knee in front of him. “You popped your stitches, didn’t you?”
“I think so.”
“Lila, can you get me a towel from the kitchen. Dad, the first aid kit?”
“I can get that,” Michael says stepping toward her.
“I’ve got it,” she says coolly. She clears her throat and looks up at him. “I need the distraction.” He nods, understanding. She focuses back on Bryon and says, “I’m going to take your shirt off. All right?”
He laughs, his eyes locking with hers. “I have been waiting for a year to hear you say those words, Kiem. It’s not nearly as satisfying as I had imagined.”
Keely smiles at him. “It can’t be that bad. You haven’t lost your smart ass sense of humor.”
“Who says I’m joking?”
Keely rolls her eyes and tugs the shirt as gently as she can over his head. “O.k. I’m going to go quick,” she explains as she places her fingers on the tape of the now saturated bandage.
He nods tightly. “Go for it.” It comes away much easier than she expected, the tape loosened from the moisture of the blood. Lila hands her the towel and she dabs at the wound, trying to see the stitches.
“It’s staples. I can’t fix this, Bryon. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t know.” He scrunches up his face. “I was out when they did it.”
“You can super glue it,” Nick suggests. He makes a face as he eyes Bryon’s chest.
“Will that work?”
Bryon shrugs one shoulder. “We can try it.”
Her dad comes back with the first aid kit and holds it out to her. “Oh, that doesn’t look too good.”
“We’re going to try superglue. Will that work, Dad?”
He grunts. “It does for small cuts. I’m not sure for something like this. Looks like it’s just one staple. We could use the glue and give him some homemade stitches. But you’ll need to get it checked out as soon as you can.” Bryon nods at him. “I have some in the desk drawer. I’ll be right back.”
“This is going to suck,” Keely tells him.
He smirks at her. “True story.”
“You can always go back to the hospital,” she tries with an innocent smile.
Bryon’s blue eyes catch the light as he looks at her, reflecting like sun on the ocean. “Not a chance, Kiem. I’m in it till the end.”
“I had to try.” She pats the gash in his chest clean again. “It’s going to hurt.”
Bryon raises his eyebrows. “I’m not new to the pain game. I founded the fan club.”
“You’re not just the president, but also a member?”
Bryon smiles widely. “You know it, Kiem. Me and you.” He gestures his finger back and forth between them, from her head to his. “Same brain wave.”
“Here you go,” Kevin says as he hands Keely the superglue. He busies himself sterilizing a needle from her mom’s sewing kit.
“All right. Are you positive about this?”
“Just do it already.”
Bryon watches her every movement. If roles were reversed, she doesn’t think she could watch. She holds the gap in his skin open just enough to fill it with the glue, then presses it together, careful not to glue herself to him. Kevin counts for her, going by the amount of time it suggests on the bottle. Keely isn’t sure it qualifies for something like this, but when she let’s go, the wound stays closed. She blows on it for a few more seconds to be sure. “O.k. It looks like it worked.” Bryon’s Adam’s apple bounces in his throat as he swallows. He nods, his eyes fixed on hers.
Kevin hands her the thread next. “Go deep enough to not disturb what the glue is holding together.”
Keely makes a face, but pushes the needle in. Lila gags loudly and runs from the room. The needle shakes in Keely’s hand. Dustin’s face fills her mind. His scared mouth. The raw markings around his exposed eye. “I can’t,” Keely whispers.
Bryon takes the needle from her fingers. “I know. I’ll do it.” Keely looks at him apologetically and he tosses his head back. “Go clean up. I got this.”
In the kitchen, she finds Lila looking green, her hands clutching the edge of the sink. She pushes herself away so Keely can wash her hands. “You couldn’t take it either?”
Keely shakes her head. As the blood swirls in the sink before disappearing down the drain, it occurs to her this is the second time she’s had Bryon’s blood on her hands. She had a lot of blood on her in the past what? Ten days? She can’t remember. She stares out the window. The sky glows a pale blue. The sun must be getting ready to rise. When was the last time she slept? The last time she ate? It’s all a big jumble of crazy days and sleepless nights. Of blood and showers. Of apartments and hospitals. Of almost kisses and actual passionate ones. Of fear and love. Of Angels and Demons.
Her hands now clean, she splashes water on her face. When she turns for a towel, Michael stands behind her, his fingers red. “Is it finished?”
He nods. “Your dad’s putting another coat of glue over the whole thing so hopefully it won’t happen again. When it’s dry, he’ll need a new bandage if you want to do that.”
“That’s o.k.” She turns to Lila. “You all right now?”
“Yeah. I don’t usually get sick at the sight of blood.” She tries to laugh, but it sounds awkward and forced.
Keely doesn’t know what to say, so she smiles at her instead and gives her a quick hug. Lila is stiff in her arms. “I’m going to go check on Bryon,” Keely murmurs.
Back in the living room, Nick is sitting in the chair beside Bryon, they’re both laughing. She stands back watching them and wishes she knew what was happening with Asmoday. Waiting for her heart to be ripped out is driving her crazy. Elijah comes up behind her, his arms crossed in front of him. He bumps her shoulder with his elbow lightly. Follows her gaze with a smile. “You love them, don’t you?”
Keely leans her back against the wall and looks sideways at him. “I do,” she admits. Her shoulders rise in a hopeless shrug.
“And Asmoday as well.” It’s not a question, but she nods. He puts his back against the wall as she did, his hands in his pockets. “I’ve been in love many times over the years. It’s the best and worst of feelings.”
Keely glances at him, surprised. “But you never loved someone enough to…”
“Fall? No. I’ve never loved anyone more than my Father. I have never been able to leave Him. I always have this fear in the back of my mind that if I leave, I’ll end up dying in a random accident a week later. Really, though, I’d only get fifty or sixty years if I were lucky. When you live forever, that’s not much time. I’d get sick. I’d grow old. It’s just not for me.”
“That’s so sad,” Keely says.
Elijah frowns at her. “Why is that sad?”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude.”
“I’m not offended, just
curious.”
Keely shrugs uncomfortably. “I just meant that you have never loved someone enough to make sacrifices for them. I mean, I get it. I was just there,” she looks at Bryon and Nick, “but they got to me.” She sighs. “If it were a year ago, I’d be in full agreement with you. I didn’t think it was possible for me to love anyone. Not enough to let the walls down anyway. I guess I didn’t really. I was too scared.” She laughs quietly. “It’s more like they pounded them down. But I wouldn’t change it. I want it all now. Or again, I guess. I want to lose myself. I want to allow myself to fall in love. Get married. I want the house, the kids. I want to see my eyes in the chubby little face of my baby. Even the growing old part, because it means I can watch my children growing up. Starting their lives, falling in love, and having their own children. It’s what we do. Humans, I mean. We love to procreate. As long as we live on in someone else, we never really die.”
Elijah smiles at her. “Those are poetic words. Now, which of these fine boys do you see this lovely future with?”
Keely bites her lip and stares down at her feet. “I don’t know. I don’t suppose you’ve seen that in one of your prophecies?”
He laughs. “Sorry, no. Free will and all.”
“Sometimes that kind of sucks.”
“Often it’s a beautiful thing. There have been worse decisions to make, trust me.”
“I thought there was supposed to be signs or something,” Keely says. “Little clues that point you in the right direction?”
He smirks at her. “You have to be looking.”
Keely is about to ask him what he means, but he walks away, leaving her staring after him. She takes a deep breath and looks over at Bryon and Nick. As if sensing her watching him, Nick looks up and smiles, his love for her clear in his hazel eyes. “You o.k.?” he calls and stands up quickly.
She holds up her hand. “It’s o.k., I’m fine.” She looks down the hallway in the direction Elijah had gone and then back to Nick. “I’ll be right back.” Keely hurries toward the kitchen and collides with Asmoday as he turns the corner. She falls back, landing clumsily on her behind.
“Are you all right?” he asks, offering her his hand.
“When did you get back?” He stands her up, keeping her hand in his.
“Just now,” he says. “Elijah told me the King has your mother.”
She nods as she says, “The cord didn’t break. I never felt a thing.”
“I never left. I called his phone and asked for a meeting. He was more than willing to come. I chose not to explain all this. I left that up to the Angels.”
Keely sighs, relieved he’s back. Grateful she didn’t have to go through the pain of severing the tie again.
“Oh, Keely,” her dad says. “Can you give this to Bryon?” He tosses her a tee shirt fresh from the dryer. “His had blood on it.”
“Right here,” Bryon says behind her. She hands him the shirt and as he slips it on, her breath catches. It’s her dad’s old band tee shirt. Light blue with a smiling skull and cracked white letters arced across the chest that read, Vital Signs.
Bryon looks down at the shirt. Runs his hand over his stomach, smoothing it. “I like this. Tell your dad I might just keep it for my collection.”
She smiles and tries to remember how to breathe.
Forty:
Now is not the time for this. Keely’s love life is the least of her problems. Now that Asmoday is back, they can go after her mom. She clears her throat twice searching for her voice as she turns back to Asmoday. “Do you think you can find my mom?”
“I know where she is.” Apophis says from behind Asmoday. Keely glares at him, unable to stop herself. He doesn’t seem to notice as he goes on. “He’d only take her where he wants you to follow.”
“The Cimmerian Stairway,” Bryon says. Apophis nods once already bored with the conversation. Keely brushes past them into the kitchen. Elijah is standing close to Ramuell speaking quietly.
“Where is the Cimmerian Stairway?”
They look up at her, but neither answers. Keely raises her eyebrows, her neck grows warm with anger or fear, she isn’t sure which. She feels Asmoday come up behind her, when she turns her head she sees they’re all there. Nick and Bryon stand to the right of Asmoday, Lila to the left. Her team.
Ambriel and Michael trail off from their conversation. “We’re coming too,” Michael says. Ramuell and Elijah exchange a glance.
“It isn’t time,” Ramuell finally says.
“Bull shit,” Keely utters. “I need to get my mom before that psycho hurts her.”
Elijah sighs. “He won’t hurt her. He needs her as bait to lure you there.”
Keely looks at him stupefied. “Then let’s go. You’re the ones that wanted me to do this in the first place.”
Micah steps forward with an apologetic smile. “It isn’t time. We didn’t even recognize her,” he says pointing to Lila. “In the prophecy, her hair is much shorter. And you aren’t in it,” he adds looking over at Michael. “It just isn’t time.”
“How short?” Lila asks. “My hair,” she adds. Micah thinks for a moment and raises his slender hand to his chin. Lila turns to Keely and holds out her hand. “Scissors?” Kevin places them in her hand before the word has finished leaving her mouth. She looks at him with surprise and he shrugs. Lila glances around the room deciding who she trusts with this task. Ambriel pulls the scissors out of her hand and makes the first cut. Lila’s hair drops slowly to the floor and a small squeak leaves her lips. Never in her life has she had short hair. Ambriel continues until Lila’s pink blond locks curl around her chin.
Keely smiles at her. For a minute-long hair cut with sewing sheers, it looks pretty good. “Thank you,” she mouths.
Lila runs her fingers through her hair. Brushes off the loose strands sticking to her clothes. “All right, can we go now?”
Micah flashes a smile at her full of respect. “Looks right to me.”
Elijah laughs loudly. “I love these people.”
“Can we take cars this time?” Keely asks.
Ramuell and Elijah exchange another look. “We need to travel another way,” Ramuell explains looking at Asmoday. “We need you to take us to Israel.”
“Israel?” Keely echoes.
Ramuell nods his head. “To Mount Zion in the City of David.”
***
Keely looks up at Asmoday, feeling dizzy from the trip. He keeps is hands on her arms until the disorientation is gone. She looks around and watches the others appear. It’s almost mesmerizing as the air shifts subtly and wavers as someone who wasn’t there a second before suddenly is. One after the other they all appear.
“That just doesn’t get old,” Bryon sighs as he looks around in awe. “We just traveled thousands of miles in the blink of an eye.”
Micah reaches out to steady Lila as she sways and nearly tips over. She smiles up at him. “Thanks.”
He arches a brow. “Any time.”
“Humans are so easily amused,” Apophis says flatly. Keely isn’t sure if he is referring to Bryon’s comment or to the goo-goo eyes Lila is making at Micah. Either way, she mutters, “Shut up, Apophis,” before turning to Ramuell.
“So what’s the plan?”
Ramuell shrugs his shoulders. The gesture looks all wrong on him. “I expected something…more. In the prophecy, we fight.” He looks around them as if searching for something. “There’s no one here.”
“It’s mid afternoon. We fight in the setting sun,” Micah says slowly. “I remember thinking how beautiful the sun was as it sank behind the golden temple mount the first time I read the prophecy.”
Bryon says, “So we’re like seven hours early? That sucks.”
“We could use the time to rest,” Israfil offers. He points over to Keely and Asmoday. “They need it.”
“I can’t sl
eep while my mom is still missing,” Keely says.
“There’s nothing we can do now. We’re too early. It’s better this way. It gives us time to prepare,” Ramuell states. “It offers better odds if we’re fed and rested,” he adds as Keely opens her mouth to protest.
“Why can’t we find him? Sneak up on him when he isn’t expecting us?”
“You have an argument for everything, don’t you?” Elijah asks Keely with a wily smile. “What if I said the sky is blue? What would you say to that?”
“I have something to say right now, but I don’t think you want to hear it,” she simmers.
Elijah laughs. “I probably don’t, but I bet it’s very colorful.”
“Oh, it is,” she says flashing an annoyed smile. He chuckles, unaffected.
“We do as the prophecy reads,” Ramuell states with finality. “We need a hotel,” he tells Asmoday who nods. A second later they are all absorbed in darkness as they make the next leap.
***
“I just don’t understand why nobody will help me get my mom,” Keely says as she plops down on the lavish sofa in the pricey hotel room. “I’m doing everything you want. Why shouldn’t I get what I want in return?”
Micah sits beside her. “Keely, I know this isn’t easy for you, but if we don’t do it exactly as we saw it, who knows what will happen?”
“That’s just stupid. None of this was in the prophecy I read.”
“Exactly,” Elijah says.
“We have to do this right. We only get one chance. If we mess up, you could fulfill the wrong prophecy,” Ramuell adds.
Keely crosses her arms. She knows what they’re saying makes sense, but her heart aches to find her mom. “We still could have gone in and, I don’t know…like, hid so we could surprise him. Have the upper hand for once.”
“You and Asmoday are the only ones who enter and we don’t know what awaits you there. We do this how it is written. There’s no point in arguing. I have made too many mistakes in my lifetime. I cannot afford anymore. Not when it comes to something so important,” Ramuell states firmly. He turns toward one of the doors off the living room area. “There are two bedrooms with two beds in each. Angels in this one.” He points across the room to the other door. “Humans in that one. I’ll wake you in a few hours. Try to rest.”
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