The Providence Trilogy Bundle: Providence; Requiem; Eden

by McGuire, Jamie

  “They abandoned us,” I cried.

  “Who?” Jared said, laying out sterile cloths.

  “Heaven! Where are they? Where is Samuel?” The pain came again. I grunted, fighting against the overpowering urge to bear down.

  “Nina, push!” Jared said.

  “They’ll kill him!”

  Jared grabbed my hand and squeezed. “Look at me,” he said, watching me as I panted. “I won’t let that happen. We will protect him. Together.”

  Tears welled up in my eyes. “I don’t know if I can.”

  “You can and you will. Now, push!”

  I nodded and pushed myself up on the heels of my hands. When the contraction came, I pushed through it. My voice was low and gruff, and I grunted, using all of my remaining strength.

  Claire and Bex jumped through the glass opening and paused, seeing Kim’s body sitting still against the door. They walked over to her. Claire gently shut her eyes, and then she rushed over to me. She got on her knees behind me and hooked her elbows under my arms.

  I stared at Kim, but Claire used her cheek to bar my line of sight. “Don’t look, honey.”

  I wailed, mourning for my friend. Claire hugged me tightly. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry,” she said.

  Ryan leaned against the opposite wall, his rifle in hand, tears drawing clean lines down his dirty face.

  “Could you grab a cloth and wipe her forehead?” Claire said. Ryan didn’t hesitate, digging through the pack and then patting down my brow. He combed back my wet hair with his fingers and then kissed my cheek. “You’re doing good, Nigh. Hang in there.”

  I began to speak, but the urge to push came again, so I heaved. I pushed so hard that my body trembled. Yelling seemed to help, so I did. I yelled and screamed and cried out. I cried for Kim, for the pain, and for the fear of what would happen once Bean was vulnerable.

  Jared held open my shaking knees. “You’re almost there, Nina.”

  Just as he said the words, the baby seemed to spill out of me and into Jared’s arms.

  He laughed out loud, in shock, holding his blood-covered child in his arms.

  Claire helped me to relax back against the cushion, and then she assisted Jared in cleaning off the infant and cutting the cord.

  Bex pushed his back against the door. “We’ve got some nasty ones on the way! They’re boiling up straight from Hell!”

  Ryan gripped his rifle and Claire stood. “Oh my God,” she whispered. “They’ve sent an entire legion.”

  21. Mother

  There is a distinct difference between the ability to create life and the innate need to protect it, to cherish it. Appreciating that this life is the one being you love most in the universe becomes a duty, and as a direct result, one must neglect all else to preserve it.

  The mother who throws herself in front of an oncoming car, the mother who eats a can of generic peaches when the last bit of food isn’t enough to share, the mother who wears a ratty dress to work so that she can keep much-needed shoes on those tiny, precious feet . . . that is the distinction of a mother’s love: self-sacrifice.

  The moment I heard the cries of the tiny, gooey baby in Jared’s arms, nothing else mattered. Not even me.

  “Is he okay?” I asked.

  “Uh . . . yeah, she’s okay.”

  “She?” I said, stunned. I had prepared myself for almost everything that could happen when I delivered. A girl was not one of them.

  “It’s a girl?” Claire squealed.

  “It’s a girl?” Bex groaned.

  Jared wrapped her in a clean blanket and carefully lifted the tiny bundle to look into her eyes. He had no expression except for the smallest hint of a smile. His eyes focused on me, and he then put her in my arms as if he were passing on the most fragile, priceless, precious treasure in existence.

  I nestled her in the crook of my arm, and until that moment, the times I thought I had sacrificed seemed trivial. Everything and everyone in my life was less important, less urgent. My life was simply an extension of the tiny, soft, innocent wonderment before me. I knew how millions of other women before me could behave so erratic, be so forgiving and so courageous. My heart was no longer on the inside of my body. It was in my arms.

  “Jared?” Bex said. With one hand, he held the door closed. With other, he gently slid Kim’s lifeless body away from the door and against the wall.

  A loud bang vibrated the wall, and Bex flew back, skidding across the floor. The door blew open, and creatures filed in, immediately attacking. A foul odor filled the room, and I held my baby close to me. Jared stayed close, violently fending off any demons that dared get close enough to his family.

  Every window on the opposite wall from the door exploded. Jared covered us with his body to shield us from flying glass. When the dust cleared, Samuel stepped into the room, standing next to a familiar face in full armor.

  “Michael,” Jared said, stunned. It was Isaac’s father, his entire army of warrior angels behind him.

  The demons snarled and shrieked.

  “You shall not touch this child,” Michael said, drawing a long sword.

  “Come!” Samuel challenged, raising his arms. “We welcome Hell’s most terrible wrath!”

  The demon that had taken me from the Sepulchre lifted his head and bleated and then led a charge into the street.

  Bex and Claire stood to the side, watching hundreds of demons surge past them, casting off wind like a freight train barreling through the room. The clash outside between Heaven and Hell was audible, like nothing I’d ever heard before, and then at once, it was silent, crossing planes.

  Jared grabbed each side of my face with a broad smile. “We did it, Nina! Heaven will protect her!”

  I sighed with relief and hugged my daughter to my chest. The quiet we shared was frozen in time. The end of the war around us was instantaneous. Bex, Ryan, Claire, and Jared all looked in wonder at my little girl. She lay still, peering around with her big, round, cloudy eyes, blinking at the bright light.

  Jared kneeled before me, still breathing hard, his face red and marked with shades of blood and dirt from his fight to reach us. Ryan and Claire crowded around us, their worried expressions softened by the sight of the child wrapped in my arms.

  “You’re amazing,” Jared said. His voice cracked an infinitesimal amount as he spoke, but I couldn’t look away to see his expression. The little girl in my arms was breathtaking.

  Claire took a few silent steps until she was next to me. She rubbed her palm on her jeans and then reached out her small hand, extending her index finger to touch the baby’s pinky. “She’s . . . here,” she whispered, in awe.

  “You did it,” Ryan said with a half-smile.

  Jared crawled to the opposite side of Claire, tenderly putting one arm behind my neck, the other touching his daughter’s cheek with his thumb. He kissed my hair and leaned in to whisper in my ear. “I didn’t think I could love you more than I already do.”

  I looked into his eyes and smiled. “You did it, Jared. You saved us.”

  Jared’s blue-gray eyes glossed over, and he pulled me closer, the three of us in a tender embrace.

  After a few quiet moments, Jared’s arms tensed, and he looked to the doorway. Claire flipped around, her hands balled into fists at her side. Bex stood in front of my makeshift bed, crouched in a defensive stance.

  Ryan quickly cocked his gun and aimed at the door, ready for whatever the Hybrids were bracing for. “What now?” he said, his eyes focused at the same point as the others.

  Claire shoved Ryan against the wall and then pointed at him. “Stay there,” she said firmly. “Don’t. Move.”

  Ryan lowered his weapon and waited.

  The door opened slowly, and a man in a white suit walked, slowly and lithely, through the threshold. His hair was shiny and black, his eyes deep-set and calm. He was beautiful and grotesque at the same time; a baby-faced supermodel with eons of hate and bitterness flowing through his veins.

  Bex took
a step, but Claire held out her hand and flattened it against his chest, restraining him. “Stand next to Ryan.”

  “But . . .” Bex protested.

  “Do it!” she growled. I’d never heard her take that tone with her little brother.

  The man’s eyes darted to the youngest Ryel sibling, his head unmoving. It was unnatural, frightening. Bex slowly walked to the wall, wary of the pair of eyes that studied his every move.

  I pulled my infant daughter closer to me, turning slightly so that my shoulder was in a position to protect her. I didn’t notice the movement until I realized it had drawn the man’s attention back to us.

  “Desecration,” the man said. His was more of a hiss than a voice. “Even more than your father.”

  “Do not speak to her,” Jared said, his tone low and terrifying.

  Ryan looked to Claire. He was confused and worried, but he didn’t move.

  The man took another step.

  Jared stood and lifted his hand, pointing at the black-haired man. “She belongs to Him. You can’t touch her. You may kill us all, but He’s commanded that she live.”

  The man took in a deep breath through his nose, his eyes rolling back into his head. His lids shuttered and then popped open, focusing on the baby. When he spoke, his voice was many—distant and loud simultaneously. “You may have noticed I quite enjoy doing things He forbids.”

  “Should I shoot?” Ryan whispered out of the corner of his mouth.

  “No,” Claire said, her voice strained. “Don’t move.”

  Ryan frowned, clearly unsettled. “What is it?”

  “The Devil,” Bex said.

  The man’s pupils bled into the whites of his eyes, the darkness inside them glistening from the light of the fire outside. He took another step.

  A large vein bulged from his pasty forehead as his calculating eyes targeted my daughter.

  Jared didn’t wait for him to take another step. He charged, stopping abruptly when the Devil grabbed him by the throat. Claire immediately reacted, attacking him with astounding speed. Her small body flew against the wall, and Ryan reacted.

  She held up hand. “Don’t,” she said, standing.

  Jared managed to pull free, and then he attacked him again with a series of punches. They traded blows, and suddenly Jared was struck to the ground. Claire rushed Satan again, but she was blown back, this time held by an unseen force high against the wall. She screamed in agony as dozens of deep, bloody gashes formed across her face, neck and body. Blood oozed from her wounds and down the front of her clothes, dripping from her shoes onto the floor beneath her.

  “No!” Ryan yelled, raising his weapon.

  Bex reluctantly stopped him.

  Ryan grabbed Bex’s collar. “Help her!”

  Jared crawled on all fours and then attacked the King of Hell again. He groaned and grunted with each heavy blow Satan dealt him, and soon he was overpowered and thrown to the floor. The man in white jerked his hand, commanding Jared’s body against the wall under Claire. Her blood flowed from her wounds and dripped in a steady stream onto her brother’s shoulder.

  Claire closed her eyes, her lids fluttering. “Help us,” she whispered. “Don’t you see? Help us,” she begged.

  The Devil took another step. He was just a few feet from my makeshift bed. I held my daughter’s tiny head in the crook of my neck and touched my lips to her white, wispy hair. She smelled like her father, but softer and purer. I looked up at her assassin from under my brow, terrified and hopeless, cowering in his presence.

  Jared took off once again, his form obscured by the speed. They crashed together, and with barely visible movements, they blurred from one space in the room to the other, stopping momentarily, and then moving again. Soon they were back where they started, and Jared was on the floor, his blood spilling from his wounds.

  Satan leaned in slowly, relishing my terror.

  “Help her,” Claire begged in a tiny whisper.

  Ryan moved toward me with desperation on his face, but Bex grabbed his shoulder. “Let me go!” he said, struggling. Bex wrapped both of his arms around my friend, forbidding him to step in.

  Bex and Ryan were going to watch us all die. If Bex could somehow escape with Ryan, Claire could be saved, but that would leave my child vulnerable. A million thoughts ran through my head, hopes that even if I were killed Jared would survive long enough to get our baby to safety.

  In that moment, anger replaced my fear. I remembered Eli’s words, and courage I never knew I owned swelled inside of me. “You can’t have her,” I seethed, lifting my chin in defiance. “I am not afraid of you.” My eyes filled with angry tears.

  He smiled. “And what will you do?” he said, looking over to Kim’s lifeless body. In one blurry moment, she was in his arms. He cradled her, looking almost paternal as he brushed her cheek with his blackened fingers. He scanned her face with a somber expression, and then leaned down to smell her hair. “She had a heartbeat not an hour ago. Dreams. Aspirations. And now,” he said, tossing her limp body across the room with one hand, “nothing.”

  I closed my eyes, unwilling to let fear rob me of rational thinking. Before I was a mother, I might have run from the room, but I had carried her inside of me for the better part of year, and I had survived Hell before. Something in me whispered that my child was safe in my arms. I would have faith in what Eli had told me, and I would stand my ground. Nothing was stronger than a mother’s love for her child . . . not even Satan.

  Claire dropped to the floor, and Ryan rushed over to her. Jared attempted to get to his feet but instead resorted to crawling toward me. Jared made his way to his family and then slowly stood on his knees, weaving with exhaustion. Once again, he was all that stood between us and death.

  Satan took Jared’s throat in his hand and lifted him off the ground. Jared gripped the man’s arm with both hands as his feet dangled above the floor. Moving his arm to the side, Satan held Jared in the best position to watch the end.

  Long, blackened fingers reached for the child. Without thinking, I pulled her to the other side of my body and, with my free hand, gripped the Devil’s wrist. It was cold and thin. My skin blazed against it.

  “Don’t. Touch. Her,” I said.

  He frowned, noticeably confused. He tried to advance his hand to my child, but he was unable to move.

  “That’s far enough, Lucifer,” Samuel said. As usual, he had blinked into our plane without detection, but this time Eli was with him.

  “What is this?” Lucifer said, struggling to reach the child. He was clearly straining, but he was powerless in my grasp.

  Eli smiled. “Daddy says no.”

  Lucifer wrenched his hand back, his eyes wild with anger. “He’s allowing this . . . this human to defy me?” he howled, dropping Jared to the ground. “Do you know what this means?”

  “War?” Samuel grinned. “Too late.”

  Satan began to speak, but Eli held up his hand. “Enough, Lucifer, it’s over. He has chosen to spare the child.”

  Lucifer charged at us, his arms extended, his fingers curled, preparing to kill the baby angel in my arms. Just before he reached us, he was blown back and held against the wall. Large, long fingers curled around his neck. Lucifer’s eyes widened. The Prince of Darkness was afraid.

  “Gabriel?” Lucifer said, surprised.

  “He said enough,” Gabriel snarled. “Go back to your pits, Satan. He will not ask it of you again.”

  “Dad!” Bex said, his hopeful and excited expression matching Claire’s.

  A figure stepped into the room from outside, through the broken remains of the windows. It was Michael, battle worn but victorious. “Enough.”

  Samuel stood beside Michael, crossing his arms; Eli stood before the warriors. His immaculate white shirt was a stark contrast to their heavy armor. Another form stepped over the broken glass and into the room and then another. Soon twenty members of Michael’s army were among us.

  “The time of great suffering has com
e,” Lucifer seethed. He stepped to the side, away from Gabriel’s grip.

  Eli lowered his chin. “You will leave this family alone. Hell will leave Gabriel’s children and their children’s children alone. He has commanded it,” he said firmly. “The child has found favor with God.”

  “It is not human!” Lucifer hissed.

  Gabriel took a step, his hands balled into fists at his sides. “She is my granddaughter.” His voice boomed, but he did not yell. “I swear to the Most High your punishment will have you wishing for the pits of Hell if you threaten her again.”

  “Vile!” the Devil screamed. “Vulgar! Iniquitous! Despicable!” After his tantrum, he smiled. “Well. He’s finally stooped to my level. How delicious!”

  “Blasphemy!” Samuel said, taking a step. Eli stopped him.

  Before Eli could utter a command, Satan disappeared.

  I took a deep breath, letting out a sob. Jared crawled back to us, wrapping his bloody, sweaty arms around our daughter and me. I shook as I cried, kissing my baby’s soft, delicate forehead as Jared kissed mine.

  “Claire?” Ryan said, holding her in his arms.

  Eli calmly walked across the room, kneeling beside them. “You look a fright.”

  Claire managed one weak laugh. “Really? I thought for a brush with the Devil I look pretty fly.”

  Gabe joined them, evaluating her wounds. “Pretty ugly, kiddo.” He looked to Eli.

  Eli motioned to Samuel, and Samuel was suddenly kneeling next to Eli, lifting Claire from Ryan’s grasp.

  “Wait,” Ryan said.

  Samuel ignored him, setting Claire on her feet. Her clothes were still ripped, but the gashes from her face and body had disappeared.

  Gabe helped Ryan to his feet with one hand and hooked his arm around Bex’s neck with the other. “Thank you,” Gabe said, seemingly to himself. I knew it was God he spoke to.

  Ryan pulled Claire into his arms and smashed his lips onto hers, kissing her over and over. “You okay?” he said, visibly upset.

  She smiled. “Just another day at work.”

  He hugged her tightly, a single tear running down his dirty cheek. He breathed in quickly and then exhaled a faltering breath.