Angel Rising_Redemption

by LaVerne Thompson

  Stars.

  There were stars on her ceiling, then an angel’s face appeared over him and she had stars in her eyes. Bending over, she placed her lips to his and took him straight to heaven. When she laid her head on his chest, he also found he held it in his arms. At the very least one of its angels, and this one belonged to him.

  Chapter Twenty

  The sound of the door chime immediately followed by a fist pounding on Thalya’s front door had them both scrambling off the bed for their clothes.

  “Who the hell is that?” Samuel growled, not at all ready to get out of bed, even though they still had to go see Shaun at the lab.

  “Whoever it is, he’s an olden,” Thalya replied.

  Her matter of fact statement made Samuel pause while pulling on his jeans. He felt him then, a soulless. Bare-chested, Samuel grabbed his sword and walked into the living room area, Thalya at his heels in her robe.

  He looked through the peephole before yanking the door open.

  “Adam! What the hell are you doing here?” Samuel all but shouted.

  Adam grinned. “Well, hello to you too.” Adam walked past Samuel but stopped in front of Thalya, giving her a hug and kissing her cheek, before continuing into the room.

  Samuel glanced at Thalya, who watched Adam. He slammed the door and followed Adam into the living room. “Again I ask, what the hell are you doing here?” He pointed his sword tip toward the floor but didn’t put it down. He didn’t bother to ask how Adam knew where Thalya lived. If he could find Adam’s telephone number, Adam could find Thalya’s address.

  Adam faced them. “I’m here to offer you both my congratulations. Well, actually, congratulations to Thalya for getting her soul back.”

  “How the hell would you know that?” Samuel barked out.

  Adam sighed taking a seat on the sofa. “Don’t ask. I can’t tell. Besides, I knew as soon as I saw her.”

  Then Samuel looked at her, really looked at her. Adam was right. “You are no longer soulless,” he said to her. “I knew I could feel your soul, but there’s something else. Your eyes. I noticed it before but got distracted.” He grinned, remembering why he’d been distracted.

  “What about my eyes?” Thalya asked.

  Samuel blinked. “Like the painting. I think this is something you have to see for yourself.”

  “What painting?” Adam asked.

  “None of your business,” Samuel growled.

  A decorative mirror hung on the wall near the balcony door. Thalya went over to it and stared at her reflection.

  Samuel, worried when she continued to stand there silently for so long, went to her. Standing behind her, he could see the tears falling from her beautiful warm brown eyes.

  “My eyes are brown,” she cried, meeting his gaze in the mirror. “Brown.”

  He wrapped her in his arms. “Doll’s eyes, honey. A beautiful brown with a touch of gold at the center. Never forget it.”

  She turned in his arms and he kissed her. Wanting to absorb her, he started to take her back to bed, forgetting the company they had. Forgetting everything but the woman in his arms, but their audience wouldn’t let them forget him.

  “Ahem,” Adam said loudly. “Can you two do that after I leave?”

  Samuel raised his head to glance over at the other man. “Door’s over there,” he said, inclining his head in that general direction.

  “Yes, well, I’ll make it quick. My reason for coming is twofold; the second part is to offer Thalya a choice. Since her wings have merely been bound, because she’s always adhered to the tenets soulless or not, she can return to heaven and continue the work she was created to do as an angel.”

  When she stepped out of his arms and took a step in Adam’s direction, Samuel thought someone held a knife over his heart. Would he lose a piece of himself? Her next words cut deep. “You—you mean I can go back, be an angel again?”

  “Yes.”

  “I thought it was impossible,” Thalya said.

  Adam shrugged. “For some it is, for you it isn’t. Even though your memories of being an angel are gone, you never forgot who you were. Your actions on earth were always in line with the tenets of an angel. You helped and healed.”

  “What if I don’t go back? What then, can I stay here?” she asked.

  Adam nodded. “Yes. Like everyone else, we too have free will. But if you stay you won’t be quite human, but you won’t be an angel either.”

  She looked down, then lifted her head to look at Adam again. “Can I still help others?”

  “Of course, but you won’t be as open to their needs, their prayers. You won’t be called to them as an angel is.”

  Thalya raised her hands and touched her face. “Will I age? Have any abilities?”

  “Since you’ve taken Samuel’s blood and he’s half human/half soulless, then yes, to both. You’ll be pretty much like him. Not quite immortal but who knows how long Samuel here will live. If you stay, your lifespan would be tied to his. As his father’s was to his mother’s.”

  She turned to look at Samuel. “If I go back, would I be able to see Samuel again?”

  “Of course.” Adam shrugged. “At his death.”

  She swung back around. “Not before?” she asked, shock in her voice.

  “Once you return, you will not be able to come back to earth in a corporal form. Your work will be up there on an entirely different level.” Adam looked up toward the ceiling.

  Samuel understood he meant further than that. His mind and heart were spinning. She couldn’t leave him. Yet the choice must be hers. His soul already wept at the thought of losing her.

  Adam stared at him as though he read his thoughts. “You have a little time to decide,” he said to Thalya. “Not much, about a week, maybe a little more. I only need to know if you decide to return. Otherwise, when your time is up, if you don’t show up at my place bothering me, I’ll know. Until then, you will have your wings and some gifts from heaven that go with them.” He grinned like a kid with a secret. “And some are pretty cool too. Now mind you, they’re not the full powers of an angel but your hunger as a soulless is gone. You have your own emotions now. But if you decide not to return, you do lose your wings and your direct pipeline to heavenly powers,” he paused, slanting another quick glance in Samuel’s direction. “Also you’ll feel the call.”

  “Call?” Thalya asked. “You said that before. What is it?”

  “The call is the prayers of those in need. Some you’ll be able to ignore but as long as you remain on earth, there are some you will be compelled to answer. You’ll have no choice. If you decide to return to heaven, you’ll be able to help from there and if you do have to come to earth, it will not be in a corporeal form. If your decision is otherwise to give up your wings and stay here, the calls will stop.”

  Samuel watched her reaction and saw her nod. Her arms hung loosely at her sides but she didn’t stare at him. He moved to stand near the couch. Her eyes were wide open but he didn’t think she saw anything or anyone around her. Suddenly, her skin started to glow; the light concentrated from behind her. It took on the silhouette of a recognizable shape, and slowly the more solid form of folded white-feathered wings appeared at her back. She blinked and turned to the mirror to look at herself.

  “Oh, my god! They’re beautiful,” Samuel said. He had an urge to genuflect before such magnificence. Her wings unfurled and she turned to face him. She’d been beautiful before, but with her wings her beauty nearly blinded him. Her purity made him feel unworthy. Then she came to him and kissed him. He put this arm around her and felt her wings. Like touching a cloud. They went right through the material of her robe. He lowered his arms and stepped away from her.

  His stomach clenched, once he understood what he had to do. The thought almost pushed him to his knees. This was who and what she was really meant to be.

  Not for him.

  Her wings tightened on her back. She must have done something because they disappeared and the glow around
her faded. “I can control it.” Thalya smiled. “I can feel the power coursing through my veins. So much more than before.”

  “It comes from your soul,” Adam said.

  “And you’re right. The prayers, it’s like the lure of depression. But there’s no burning desire to answer them. It’s more like background noise.”

  “Just be prepared for that level to change. It will be twice as compelling as your previous hunger. Well, my work here is done.” Adam stood.

  Samuel found his voice, he had things to say to Adam, “Wait a sec, did you get my message?”

  “What message?” Adam asked.

  “Someone set fire to Wilhelmina’s store. She’s missing.”

  “What?” Adam said.

  Samuel had already explained to Thalya in the car about going to Wilhelmina’s store and what happened. Now, he told Adam, “I went by there yesterday to find out if she could help me locate Thalya and she wasn’t in her apartment above the store, although it was early in the morning. It looked like she’d been roused from bed.” He ran his hand over his disheveled hair. “I didn’t see any sign of a struggle. I smelled something and went down to the store to investigate but couldn’t get past the bottom stairs. The store was engulfed in flames. I couldn’t sense her or anyone else in the place. So, I hurried back to her apartment and grabbed the Chronicle she’d left on the floor from the other night. I made it to my car just as the place exploded. I didn’t bother to stick around. I could hear the sirens as I drove off.”

  Adam sighed and seemed to look off into space for a second before returning his attention to them. “Thank you for telling me. I’ll look into it.”

  “What about her books, man?” Samuel asked.

  Adam raised his hand and waved off his concerns. “They weren’t in the store itself. Some of those books were very old and had to be kept in a special place. I’m sure where ever she’s got them hidden, they were safe from the fire.”

  Adam’s answer for everything pissed him off a little. “I hope so,” Samuel growled.

  “What volume do you have?” Adam asked.

  Samuel shrugged. “Don’t really know.”

  “I suppose it would do me no good to ask you not to read it?”

  Thalya laughed.

  Samuel smirked. “None whatsoever.”

  Adam raised one eyebrow and stared at them both. “Thought so. Wilhelmina or one of her sister’s is going to want it back.”

  Samuel nodded in agreement. “And when they come to claim it, I’ll turn it over. Look, I think Wilhelmina tried to hide the book but didn’t really have time to do it. It lay on the floor, partially hidden under her sofa.”

  “That’s probably true.” Adam nodded. “She’d never treat the books in her care so callously.”

  “I hope Wilhelmina got out of there before the fire started,” Thalya said.

  “Let me know what you find out,” Samuel urged. “I’d like to know she’s okay and if there’s anything I can do to help.”

  “Me too,” Thalya added.

  “Will do.” Adam moved toward the front door.

  Thalya’s voice stopped him. “Oh, wait! Samuel, the handcuffs! Do you know of any type of metal that can allow us to be chained?”

  Adam turned around. “What do you mean?”

  “I’ll show you,” Samuel said. He went over to his jacket on the couch and took out pieces of the handcuffs. “When we found Thalya, she was handcuffed in these and chained to a wall.”

  “And I couldn’t get out. My strength seemed to be no more than a human’s. I could not break the cuffs or pull out the chains.”

  Adam came back into the room, took the metal from Samuel’s hands and stared at them. “Hmm, interesting. Looks like normal handcuffs made with normal metal. Yet, I can’t squeeze it either. While we have an aversion to metal, it has never been known to have such an effect on us. How did you get them off?”

  “One of the hunter’s took it off with a metal cutting saw,” Thalya replied.

  “Interesting.”

  “I think it might have been coated or treated with something, but I can’t tell,” Samuel offered.

  Adam closed his hand over the piece he still held and closed his eyes. “I’m not getting anything either. It seems to just be normal metal.”

  “I’m taking it to a friend to have him analyze it for me,” Samuel explained, “See if he can break down the metal elements, so we can figure out what it’s composed of or coated with that could strip a soulless of his or her strength.”

  “I doubt he’ll fine anything, but let me know if he does. I think it’s even more important that we find Wilhelmina or one of her sisters. They may know what this is and hopefully, how to counteract it. Whatever it is or isn’t, this should not be in Abel’s hands,” Adam said.

  “Another thing, why did he want Thalya?” Samuel asked.

  Adam rolled his eyes like they were kids or something. “That’s obvious. She’s an olden. Abel’s looking for a partner. If he could recruit someone of Thalya’s abilities to his cause he would become pretty much untouchable.”

  “Even from you?” Samuel asked.

  “Unfortunately, yes.” Adam sighed like the admission pained him.

  “Will he try to come after her again?” Samuel asked concerned.

  “Doubtful. She’s no longer soulless, but she still has abilities. As long as she has her wings, she’s more than a match for him.” Adam left after dropping his bombshells.

  As Thalya shut the door, his phone buzzed indicating he had a text. Thalya left the room to get dressed while he took a look at it. Shaun’s name popped up, asking him to meet at the lab in half an hour.

  They had to go, but sooner or later they had to talk about her change in status. He’d never forget the look of wonder and awe on her face when she unfolded her wings and stared at her reflection in the mirror. He’d never forget the similar look on his own he’d seen reflected in the mirror. They had a few days. So little time to be with her. One day or one hundred years, he’d take whatever he could get and thank God for even one.

  When she returned to the living room he said, “That was Shaun. He’s got the lab to himself for the rest of the night. We’ve got to go.”

  Thalya could feel Samuel distancing himself from her. She understood why, but still it hurt. How could she make him understand when she didn’t understand herself. She would be forever grateful to him for his part in regaining her soul. An angel. She truly understood the responsibility down to her new soul. The prayers at the edge of her consciousness of those in need drew her to them. Yet, she also seemed to be something, someone, else. The time as a soulless had changed her. Being with Samuel had changed her.

  Samuel reached the bedroom first and put on his shirt and boots.

  She slipped past him into her closet to get her jacket and weapons. She walked out to an empty bedroom.

  Thalya found him standing in front of the closed balcony doors staring outside. The ache in her heart at the sadness in him almost made her double over in pain, her newfound emotions overwhelming. She took a deep breath, knowing she couldn’t comfort him and promise it would all turn out all right. “I’m ready,” she said instead.

  He turned to look at her but wouldn’t meet her stare. “Fine, let’s go.”

  He had the valet park his car in the hotel parking garage and they had to wait a few moments while they brought it around. They stood on the sidewalk and she glanced at the passersby. If Thalya opened her senses she could hear every thought, feel every emotion of those near, but none overwhelmed her. There were so many who needed her, so many who needed guidance. It was an angel’s roll to protect and guide. She felt an overwhelming desire to do so, stronger even than her former need to feed. The emotions bombarding her should have left her drained and besieged. Instead, nothing but joy filled her heart knowing she had it in her power to help.

  The valet pulled up in the car and they got in.

  Samuel immediately turned on the radio t
o a pop/rock station and turned up the volume, making it clear he didn’t want to talk.

  His actions dampened some of her joy. In truth, she didn’t know what to say to him either. What had happened between them had been incredible. More than incredible. Because of him, she’d found her redemption and her soul. Was she meant to stay here and be with him? The thought of leaving him, not seeing him again until the day he died, had her clamping her lips shut from giving voice to the cry of pain stabbing at her.

  They drove in tense silence to the college campus. Samuel parked on the street about a block away from the lab. Side by side, they walked, but unlike all the other times they’d been together, he did not take her hand. In fact, he made it a point not to touch her.

  Thalya felt him slipping away from her even more. She couldn’t blame him. But what did he want? He wanted to possess her yes. But she had a difficult time believing the emotions she read from him. How could he love someone once soulless? Even if he could love her, would it make a difference in her decision?

  Together, they climbed the steps of one of the academic buildings housing the labs. The double doors were locked, so they rang the bell. She heard the lock click open, allowing them entry. No one greeted them but a long hallway lay ahead with doors on each side. Samuel didn’t stop at any of them. He seemed to know where to go though. They went up the stairs at the end of the hallway and came to another long hallway with more doors.

  A young man stepped out of one toward the end and waved to them before ducking back inside.

  Samuel nodded to him before he disappeared.

  Their footfalls echoed down the empty corridor as they followed the man into the lab. Thalya glanced around. There were tables with trays of various types of rocks and metals on them, and machines she couldn’t identify.

  Samuel quickly introduced her to Shaun who seemed more interested in the cuffs than with her. After barely shaking her hand, he took the cuffs from Samuel and placed them on one of the worktables.