Simra nodded and closed her eyes for a brief moment to say a silent prayer. She prayed for God to protect her loved ones and herself while they finished the mission. Then, her emotions became clouded with what she and Zach discussed earlier. God didn’t intend for Tristan to marry her, for it wasn’t His will.
Therefore, it wasn’t His will for her to die so young. She had her business to run. Most of all, she needed to find a cure for her grandmother’s curse. Simra had many missions.
She opened the door with a slight crack and watched Jeff leave without any harm done to him. She turned to Zach and took a quavering breath. “You think he’ll kill me this time?”
“No, I won’t let my brother hurt you. Go ahead. I’m right here.”
Simra reached for the black iron doorknob of the double doors but hesitated to open them. Her blood ran cold just to remember the anger in Tristan’s eyes. Going into the face of danger caused Simra’s insides to quiver with dread. However, she knew they must chance it. They stepped into the silent night air around them. The storm went away, and the pouring rain with heavy winds stopped.
Simra inhaled the scent of wet grass. The sparkling stars and crescent moon brightened the dark night sky. Her worries crept up and drifted to Jeff. She hoped Tristan wouldn’t harm him.
Simra screamed when the demon leaped onto Zach from out of nowhere. He pinned the angel down and grumbled a demonic prayer over him. Simra’s hands trembled, and her feet remained frozen to the ground. She needed to get Tristan away from Zach somehow. Leaping onto the demon’s back, Simra tried to pull him off his brother.
Tristan bolted up to shove her off and left the angel motionless on the ground. The demon stepped closer to her with flames igniting in his eyes. “I'm much stronger than you, baby. Surely you know that.”
Simra hurried away from him, but he caught up to her in no time. Tristan pulled her against his hard chest. His eyes stopped glowing, and a wicked laugh escaped from him. Simra turned to Zach, but the angel seemed to be in pain.
Tristan shifted his gaze toward Simra again. “I’m taking you where no one will ever find us. Only you and I will be there. Always and forever. We’re beginning our lives together starting now.” He swept her up into his arms and carried her away.
Chapter 29
"And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." -Ephesians 6:17
Tristan carried Simra through many cities, forests, and deserts. Dizziness swept through her torn emotions. The demon traveled with her much too fast. The ocean's night tides crashed around them for several moments. She tasted the salty breeze slapping against her face. Simra closed her eyes as the quick passing waves made her dizzier.
She couldn’t control her lips from parting when she saw where Tristan took her. Dolphins chirped in the distance, and white sugary sand tickled her feet when he released her. The place looked so familiar.
She saw it several times in her dreams during her engagement to Tristan. No one except her and the demon were in the vision. However, Simra never understood the meaning of the mysterious repeating dream. Her nose twitched at the scent of burning wood.
Tristan picked her up again and carried her to a crackling campfire near the shore. “Welcome home, princess. Look familiar? Zach won’t ever find us here. This place is well protected.”
Simra struggled to free herself from his firm grip and lifted her chin in defiance when he let her go. She fought her rising panic in the face of a dangerous, possessive demon. “I don’t know what this place is to you, but it’s not my home. I’m not staying here and will escape. I’m not spending the rest of my life with someone like you.”
His lips slithered into a wicked grin. “You don’t have to fight your love for me. I'll never hurt you again. It’s time to start our lives together, and it’s too late for you to go back now. You’re far from Texas. This is your home now, and there’s no way to return except by me. We’re staying here forever.” He always denied the fact that she didn’t love him anymore.
Although Simra yearned to discover a way of escaping, her feet remained frozen to the ground. She doubted there would be any chance for her to leave the island. Tristan might harm whoever passed by, and Zach may never find them. Texas seemed so far away.
The Lord was her only hope. It wouldn’t surprise her if she had already died and went to the lake of fire. Maybe it explained why she dreamed of this place so often.
Tristan rested his hand along the hammock tied to the palm trees. “It’s late, princess. You should sleep. Zach keeps you up all night to do work for him. You know I'm not that selfish. Want to eat before you rest? I can fix up a meal in a matter of seconds.”
Simra stormed toward him with clenched fists. Her blood boiled from rage. “Selfish? You think Zach’s being selfish? The reason we’re working so hard is because of you! You’re causing all of this destruction and turmoil for everyone, including your own family. You persuaded Quint to kill your own father because of selfishness. I can’t even count the other selfish things you've done!”
Tristan stood up and framed her face in his hands. “I admit I did horrible things, but I'm saving you, baby. My brother wants to hurt you. He intends on doing more damage to you than he did to Lucinda.”
Simra felt her cheeks growing hot with fury. “Don't even attempt to go there. You're nothing but a liar, and I don't believe anything you say. No one will ever hurt me like you have.”
She turned away from him to hide the tears misting her eyes. Did Tristan succeed? There were many reasons why this shouldn't come to pass. Lucinda needed her, and Mandy couldn’t run their business alone. What would Mandy do without Simra now? They were always there for each other.
Tristan turned her around to face him. “You’re worried. My brother’s fed you lies about me, hasn’t he? I promise I'll never hurt you like that again. You'll be happy. I'll even watch over your family to be sure they'll be all right. We'll have our own family too. This island is our home now. I won't let Zach hurt you."
Simra tried with all her might not to slap him. “Are you deaf and blind? I love and believe Zach, not you. And there's nothing you can do or say to change it!”
She gazed through the forest of palm trees and tried to see if she could find a way to escape. Maybe there was a boat somewhere on the island, but she tried not to search too hard. Tristan might catch her looking for a route of escape if she wasn’t too careful.
He read her thoughts so well. She needed to be cautious of what went through her mind. Tristan tortured her raging emotions and confused spirit. The conniving demon must be shown how he did not affect her.
“What is this place? I’ve seen it many times before now.”
Tristan leaned against one of the palm trees and seemed hesitant to answer her question. “I sent you dreams of this island for several nights. I wanted you to see our future home one day. This is where we’ll spend forever. It holds many powers, and I placed a number of spells on the place. We are and always will be the only ones here.”
Simra felt the blood draining from her face. “Why’d you choose this place?”
The demon lifted his arms into the air for a brief moment and faced the trails leading through the forest of palm trees. “Remember when you couldn’t find any trace of me for several days? I disappeared here when I wouldn’t answer your calls. My secret’s yours now, princess. I grew and stored drugs on this island for many people. No one will ever discover the drugs. They were brought back to civilization and sold to my clients when I got low on money.”
Simra fumed at recalling how he vanished and wouldn’t return her calls. “That’s the most ridiculous, low-lived job I’ve ever heard of someone doing. This is what you hid from me? You lied and told me you were away on business trips.”
She paused and added, “See how much of a liar you are? That should tell you why I can’t trust anything you say.”
Tristan reached for her face and framed it in his hands. “They were busin
ess trips to be kept top secret. If anyone discovered how I made my money, I would’ve been thrown in jail. You wouldn’t have agreed with my way of living if I told you earlier in the relationship, but my dealing days are finished. I no longer require such a horrible job. I don’t have to make money anymore. The island belongs to us now, and that’s how it always should’ve been.”
Curiosity plagued her, and Simra urged him to answer more of her questions about the land. “You could’ve made money in an ethical way by having a decent career like normal people. Who else comes to this island? You know they’ll rescue me, right?”
Tristan gave her a careless chuckle. “No one ever comes here. The land holds many powers by me and my dark master. The powers send them in another direction from the island so it won't be discovered.”
“It just seems like a plain island to me.”
Tristan bit his lip in hesitation. “It's our own hidden paradise. The island doesn't exist to others. You and I belong together.”
Simra lifted her chin with defiance and stormed away from him in disbelief. “I’ll escape from your stupid paradise if it takes all the faith within me!” She rushed to the edge of the shore and screamed the angel’s name. "Zach! Please come and find me!”
Simra closed her eyes for a brief moment and said a silent prayer to the heavens over the beach. God, give me the strength to fight this demon. Give me the willingness not to surrender to his tricks and lies. Thank You for keeping my loved ones safe and for helping me all this time. Amen.
A cold draft breathed down her neck in the dark tropical air. This island belonged to Tristan, and no one would ever find her if she didn’t have faith. It must be the darkest location in the world. Being here with Tristan caused her trust in God to become much too weak. She continued gazing out at the enduring waters disappearing into the starry sky.
Tristan startled her from behind when his cold hands brushed tresses of her hair to the other side of her neck. “Zach won’t ever find you. This place is hidden from him. He belongs with the Lord. God’s angels can’t see the island because of the spell. I brought you here so we could be alone.”
Tristan took her hands and kissed their palms. “I love you. I want to make you the happiest woman who's ever lived. Let me take care of you and keep you safe. Allow me to stand by your side and love you with everything I have. Zach doesn’t love you. He'll hurt you. Marry me.”
Simra’s heart raced from the building memories of the first time Tristan proposed to her. In the past, she did love him as a wife loved a husband. Only pity filled her heart for him now. Tristan destroyed her love by doing so many awful things, which he continued to do.
No, Zach didn’t feel the same sick way about her as Tristan felt. Zach loved her while Tristan had a revolting obsession with her. Simra drew her hands away from him and squared her shoulders. She grew more careful not to look into his appealing blue eyes. His reassuring words in such a dreamy environment didn’t help matters.
“You know, you’re right. Zach doesn’t love me the way you do. He has healthy feelings for me, and it doesn’t matter if no one comes. I have God on my side, and it’s not His will for this to pass.” Simra trudged through the soft sand toward the burning campfire and turned to him.
The demon revealed no anger or frustration toward Simra and trudged after her. “Everything happens for a reason. Even the things we think we don't want. God allows them to happen. Therefore, you're meant to be my wife."
Hopelessness drained Simra at the thought of never getting back to his body to bring an end to all the madness. The demon and his chaos caused her to become weak with fatigue. She didn’t have a good night’s rest in a long time because of him. Tristan sat across from her when she eased onto a large log by the fire.
The flames danced across his solemn face while he gazed at the wood burning. Memories tore her heart to shreds when she thought of how she fell in love with him. She longed to marry him before he changed.
Torn emotions ripped her soul to pieces, and they tried playing disguised tricks on her. He looked identical to Zach. However, they were completely opposite. Pity enveloped her for the demon. Misery and despair was drawn across Tristan’s face.
She cringed at the sound of his voice growing shallow from being on the brink of tears. “I've tried for so long to stop doing bad deeds, but it’s who I am. I’m a demon, and I don’t blame Zach for trying to stop me. I hate who I am, and I hate what I’ve done to you. I’ve never loved anyone the way I love you. You make me happy when no one else can. I realize you should stay away from me. I’m poisonous. Venomous.”
Although she tried to fight the sympathy building within her for the vile demon, Simra fought back tears. Maybe he did feel guilty for everything, but he was right. Demons caused much corruption and misery, and they were poisonous to a human. Simra didn’t know what to say to him and turned in the other direction.
She tried to avoid listening to his soft cries in the night. No, she felt no guilt for him. He probably wanted her to feel guilty since no other tricks of his worked.
Demons couldn’t be trusted. Unwanted sorrow overflowed in her aching heart for him. However, she must still find some way to escape the evil island. Simra lifted her gaze to the heavens to seek God in such an unfortunate situation. She closed her eyes and placed all of her concentration on God. Simra sought His will and asked for Him to touch Tristan’s heart. Let Thy will be done, Father. Amen.
Tristan rested a cold hand against her cheek, and tears streamed down his face. Such intense honesty reflected in his dark blue eyes. “I’ve always loved you, and I’ll love you forever. All I desire is to make you happy, and I want to stop doing evil deeds more than anything.”
Pain bled through the depths of his voice, and Tristan seemed weak against the evil within him. A chill flushed through her body when he pulled her into his gentle arms. A small part of her softened for him and the pain he experienced. A whirlwind of memories came alive within her when he drew her lips to his.
Tristan kissed her with a warm, flowing tenderness. Simra drew away from him and kept her eyes turned away from the demon. She tried to hide the pain burning through her soul. There were still too many evil qualities about him that shoved her away.
Simra couldn’t control her lips from parting in surprise when his eyes glowed with much vehemence. “What is it?”
Tristan stood in abruptness with his hands clenched by his sides. “There’s trouble in Texas. I sense it. Someone’s up to no good. I’ll return.”
The demon gave her no time to reply and rushed into the waves of the ocean. He disappeared from sight. Her heart dropped at the disturbing thought of who made him angry. Zach, Mandy, Jeff, and Ms. Hanley must be worried to death about her.
They could be trying anything to find her. Simra’s heart dropped when she remembered telling Jeff about the abandoned house. The detective might be there now. Tristan’s body was hidden somewhere inside of it.
Simra did a frantic search through the hidden trails for any kind of boat to go out to sea. Zach might find her if she summoned him far enough away from the island. The trails led to a forest of trees. She spotted a huge garden planted in the center. The garden must be where Tristan planted the drugs to sell.
Simra saw a large wooden shack near the garden and trudged toward it. There were nothing but boxes and jars of white powder. Jeff would have had a huge drug bust on his hands if they found this place in time. She found no boat or anything to go out to sea. However, she kept running through the trees to the other side of the island.
In her dreams, she recalled wandering to the other side of the island. She had found Tristan approaching her from the sea. Although she left him behind on the land, it puzzled her when she saw him walking toward her from the ocean in the vision. They had swam toward the sunrise together.
She awoke with beads of perspiration across her brow every time. Perhaps the man from the ocean was Zach. Maybe the sunrise indicated the end of dark times with Tristan
and the beginning of a new day.
To her surprise, she found a tiny boat beached at the shore awaiting her departure. Simra ran as fast as her legs took her through the thick white sand. She made it to the boat out of breath. Simra pushed the small boat into the water and hopped inside when she got it into the ocean.
The waves were calm and made it easy for her to raft through them. She rode the smooth tides into the sea. Her heavy eyes gazed up into the orange rising sun in the horizon.
Simra made it far enough away from the island. She cried out Zach’s name in hopes he would hear her somehow. “Zach, help me! Please find me!”
A large tide roared up in the distance and came closer toward Simra. Her rapid breathing stopped, and she started turning the boat around to return to the island. The monstrous wave gained on her. There was no time to make it back to land. Seeing the tall tide caused her to close her eyes, and she expected the worst. Drowning in the middle of nowhere seemed the worst way to die.
Her hands clutched the sides of the raft until she heard Zach’s voice behind her. “Simra, it’s all right. I’m here. From where did you come?”
Simra took deep gasps for air and turned to see the angel in the boat behind her. “Zach, I’m so glad you’re here! Tristan took me to that small island in the distance.” She pointed toward it and explained about the spell.
Zach remained motionless in the boat, and his eyes wavered. “I’ll take you near the island again so the curse can be removed. I have a plan in case Tristan brings you back, and I believe he will. I’ll tell you how to remove the spell. Hurry. Your grandmother’s in much danger.”
Simra felt the blood freezing her veins and recalled Tristan’s anger. Her heart dropped when a sickening thought crossed her mind of what Tristan would do to her grandmother. They needed to get back to Texas before it was too late!
Chapter 30
"But You, O Lord, be not far off, O my Strength, come quickly to help me." -Psalm 22:19
Immortal Memory (Book One) Page 17