Lightbringer

by Frankie Robertson

  Gideon coughed and blood flecked his lips. His face was gray. He focused on Jared. “I can’t do this alone. Help me.”

  “What?” Cassie demanded, her heart pounding. “What does he want you to do?”

  “Go in the bedroom, Cassie. Shut the door and call an ambulance,” Jared said.

  “No.” Gideon said again. “You’ll need her help, Jared. Don’t let me die. Send me back.” He lifted a bloodstained hand and beckoned Cassie closer.

  She ought to do what Jared said. She ought to call the paramedics. But something in Gideon’s gaze, in his outstretched hand, made her kneel beside him, one knee coming down in something warm and wet. Blood. A pool of it, flowing from several bullet wounds. Her stomach lurched, and her racing pulse took another jump. She should get up now and call 911, no matter what Gideon said, but his eyes commanded her to stay. Cassie took his hand and his emotions flooded into her.

  Pain. Urgency. A distant whisper of fear, overlaid by a confident trust.

  “You need medical attention,” she said to Gideon. “Let me help you!” She turned toward the bedroom. “Linda! Call—”

  “No.” Gideon wrenched her attention back to him with that single word. “You can help me. You can. Jared, show her.”

  With an anguished groan, Jared took Cassie’s other hand.

  Jared’s fear for Gideon washed over her, along with his self-doubt. Cassie returned his clasp firmly, wishing she could give him some comfort. Then he lifted his eyes heavenward and began to sing. It was so totally not what she expected him to do she just stared. The music pulled her in. She couldn’t understand his words, but somehow she knew what Jared sang was a song of supplication. Raspy from the damage to his throat, his baritone was still beautiful.

  It was beyond strange that Jared chose to sing instead of calling for an ambulance. And even stranger that she was going along with it. But strange or not, Gideon’s face relaxed as his lips uttered soft words, and deep in her soul Cassie knew this was the right thing to do.

  Instead of visions, Cassie’s mind was filled with a sense of wholeness, a feeling of belonging and home, of being carried on a wave of near perfect harmony, though no one else was singing. She felt as though she could almost touch the music, but it was just out of reach. Tears of longing for something she couldn’t quite grasp flooded her eyes, and she realized Jared was weeping too.

  When Jared’s melody began to repeat, Gideon squeezed her hand. “Help him,” he commanded softly. “Sing me home.”

  She didn’t know the words, but she lifted her voice and sang, putting her desire to help Gideon, her hunger for the beauty promised by the music into the descant she wrapped around Jared’s song.

  Jared put all his own longing for home, all his fear for Gideon’s fate, into his supplication. Lucifer might lend his support so Gideon’s knowledge could be shared. Gideon was one of Raphael’s Guardians, but the High Guardian had been so closely allied with Michael these last two millennia that Jared doubted he would act without Michael’s approval. And Jared had little hope Michael would heed him and intercede, even on Gideon’s behalf. Jared was an exile, punished for failing in his assignments, punished for questioning too much. His Power was tainted in their eyes. But Gideon had served well and faithfully, even if he had remained friends with an outcast. He deserved their intercession.

  They have to listen! If Gideon died in this form—

  Then Cassie added her contralto, and his heart leapt with hope. The tones of her voice were pure and sweet and laced with power. Jared looked at her face. Her eyes were shut, tears on her cheeks. Yearning for the beauty of the Celestial Realm glowed in her face and in her soul.

  Suddenly Gideon’s grasp tightened. A smile transformed the pain in his friend’s face to joy as Lightbringers, Guardians, and Seraphim joined in. The music swelled as their voices wove together and around each other.

  Jared’s heart leapt as relief washed through him. They heard! They’re answering!

  Gideon looked at Cassie and said, “Take care of my friend. He’ll need you.” He glanced at Jared and winked. “Gotta go.” The music crested and the other voices fell silent. Gideon released his grip on them both.

  A brilliant, coruscating light filled the room. Cassie winced, but Jared watched as his friend resolved into his true form and vanished with a rustle of wings. When she opened her eyes again, blinking, Gideon had left. Nothing remained of him, not even the blood that had drained from his body onto the floor. Her jeans were dry.

  Cassie gasped and gazed at her empty hand. “That was…amazing.” She stared at him, wide eyed. “What just happened? Where’s Gideon? Who was singing with us?”

  Jared had seldom felt so at a loss. What do I tell her?

  “Cassie?” Linda’s voice interrupted as she peeked from the bedroom.

  “You will tell me,” Cassie whispered, giving him a look before calling out to Linda, “It’s okay. You can come out.”

  From the glint in Cassie’s eye, Jared knew she wouldn’t give up until she had the truth from him. He hoped she could handle it.

  CHAPTER 8

  CASSIE GRIMACED AS Linda exclaimed, “My house!” for the third time.

  “What am I going to tell Greg?” Linda ran both hands through her straight blond hair as she gazed at the shattered lamps and tables, the broken door, and the bullet holes in the wall.

  Cassie knew how her friend felt. Her home had been violated too, if not so violently. “It’s not Jared’s fault, Linda.”

  Linda speared her with a sharp look. “Are you sure? All this stuff—the bugs, the bomb, my house—happened after we met these guys.” Linda’s brows rose as her gaze swept the shattered living room. “Where’s Gideon?”

  Jared opened his mouth, but a movement in a dark corner made Cassie jump. Before she could cry out, he was in front of her, between her and the threat, tense as a drawn bowstring. The seconds stretched out as Cassie’s heart hammered in her chest. Suddenly Jared laughed and relaxed. Scooping up part of the shadow, he turned and put her cat into her arms.

  Cassie heart leapt and she grinned. “Edgar!”

  Jared rubbed the dense fur behind Edgar’s ears. The cat pressed into his hand, and Cassie smiled up at Jared’s softened expression. “He doesn’t usually let strangers pet him.”

  Jared dropped his hand and shrugged. His cool demeanor slipped back into place.

  “You were saying? About Gideon?” Linda reemerged from the bedroom, trying to pretend she hadn’t nearly jumped out of her skin when Cassie squealed.

  “He had to go.” Jared went to the kitchen and came back with a towel pressed to his arm where a bullet had grazed it.

  “You’re bleeding!” Cassie winced. She hadn’t even noticed. “Let me help you.”

  “That’s okay, I’ve got it,” Jared said.

  “What about Gideon?” Linda demanded.

  Cassie glanced at Jared and saw his jaw tighten. She knew he valued the truth too much to lie, but she had no doubt whatever had happened to Gideon was something he didn’t want to share.

  She turned back to Linda, taking in her pale face, and made a decision. Her friend was not ready to take in any more weirdness like, he disappeared into thin air. “Gideon went after that guy.”

  Jared’s mouth opened, closed.

  Linda frowned. “Alone? Are you sure they aren’t working together?”

  “Linnie, trust me, even if you can’t trust them. I read Jared. He only wants to keep us safe.”

  Linda stared at her as if trying to read her mind. Cassie tried not to squirm. After a moment her friend turned away, apparently satisfied. “Okay. If you trust him, I guess that’s good enough for me.” She looked around the room again. “I’d better call the police.”

  “No.” Jared’s voice was firm.

  “Why not?” Linda demanded.

  “The neighbors have probably called them already.” Cassie said.

  “Let’s hope not,” Jared said.

  “Why shouldn’t we call
the police?” Linda asked again.

  “They’ll take hours asking questions and taking fingerprints. That’s time we don’t have. Cassie needs to get out of here. Aelziroth will be back as soon as his strength returns, and we need to be far away by then.”

  Cassie squared off to him. “I’m not leaving Linda here alone!”

  Jared’s voice was firm. “He’s not after Linda. He’s after you. She can call the police after we go. She’ll be fine, especially since she’ll be surrounded by cops.”

  “They won’t be here forever! What if he comes back?” Cassie asked, glancing at her friend. Linda’s eyes were wide.

  “He won’t if you’re not here.” Lines of fatigue bracketed his eyes, and his dark hair had fallen across his forehead. His full lips were tight with pain.

  Cassie took the towel out of his hand, checked it, then pressed a clean side against his wound. “He could use her to get to me, couldn’t he?”

  Jared sighed. “Good point. Not likely, but still a possibility. We’ll take her to the airport. She can join her husband on his trip.”

  “Do I get any say in this?” Linda asked.

  Jared shrugged. “Of course. You always have a choice. But my advice? Call your husband and tell him you’re coming to join him. We’ll drop you at the airport.”

  “But the police will take me seriously now,” Cassie said.

  “They can protect us,” Linda added.

  “Not from this,” Jared answered.

  The cold finality of Jared’s words chilled Cassie. She didn’t want to believe it, but maybe Jared was right. The nauseating waves of psychic power, the glowing sword, the shadow of wings, Gideon disappearing. She doubted they taught Tucson’s finest about those things at the academy.

  “What is ‘this’?” Linda asked.

  “The man after Cassie has psychic powers.” Jared pulled the towel away from his arm to check the bleeding. Apparently satisfied, he tossed it into the corner.

  Linda stared with widened eyes from Jared to Cassie and back. “Like Cassie?”

  Jared’s response was fierce. “He’s nothing like Cassie. He’s completely and utterly ruthless.”

  “You know him?” Linda’s tone was incredulous.

  “I’ve encountered him before—a long time ago. He’s a killer.”

  Linda opened her mouth but Cassie cut her off. “I don’t think the police can handle this one, Linnie. You should join Greg until we get this sorted out.”

  Linda pressed her lips tightly together, then said, “You’re coming too, right?”

  Cassie wanted to say yes. The turn her life had taken in the last two days was weird enough, but what she’d seen tonight was even stranger. If she went away with Linda, she could pretend they were just on vacation together and that her reality had not just taken a hard left.

  Jared touched her for a second, just barely grazing her elbow with his fingertips.

  A tingle zinged up her arm, making her heart beat faster. She wanted to lean into his touch, but he pulled his hand away before she could embarrass herself.

  “I’m sorry. You can’t. Aelziroth can track you. It will take time, but he’ll be able to find you wherever you go.”

  Jared’s cold, flat tone chilled her. She couldn’t put Linda and her husband in danger. Cassie shook her head. “The farther apart we are, the better.”

  She waited for an argument, but it didn’t come. Linda bit her lips, then said, “I’ll pack a bag.”

  Cassie stared as her friend went into the bedroom and closed the door quietly. She must be really shaken up. Linda never gave in that easily.

  Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” suddenly filled the silence. Jared pulled his cell phone from its holster. It was Cameron Blake, his P.I. friend. “Damn.” Cam had asked him to do a little Internet sleuthing for a missing child case he was working on. This business with Cassie had distracted him.

  Jared flipped open the phone. “Hey, Cam.”

  Cassie signaled she’d gather her things and left the room.

  “I could use that information,” Blake said without preamble. “Did you find anything?”

  “I left the computer crunching on it. We should have something by now.”

  “You haven’t been home since last night?” Cam asked. “Business or pleasure?”

  “Business. Listen, I’m hung up here. Go to my place and let yourself in. You know my password. And while you’re at the house, can you pack me a bag? I don’t need much. Just some clean underwear and the guns.”

  “Sounds like you’ve run into some trouble.”

  Jared snorted. “A bit. I could use some help.

  After a moment’s hesitation, his friend said, “I’m really close to finding this girl, Jared.”

  Jared could hear the struggle of divided loyalties in Cam’s voice.

  “But if you need me …”

  An extra gun and pair of eyes would indeed be a help, but the missing girl needed Cam more. “No. I’ve got it handled.”

  Cassie returned, carrying her backpack and her cat carrier. Edgar meowed from within as she set the box down on the floor.

  Cam shifted back to practical matters. “You want the shotgun or the thirty-aught-six?”

  “Both. And plenty of ammo too.”

  Cassie’s brows rose, but she didn’t say anything.

  “I’ll take care of it.”

  Jared sighed, grateful for Cam’s ready response. “Thanks.” He flipped the phone closed.

  “Plenty of ammo?” Cassie kept her voice low.

  Linda came out of the bedroom. “I’m ready.” Her face wrinkled with disgust. “What about this mess? If I don’t call the police, I won’t be able to file an insurance claim.”

  “I’ll cover it.” Jared picked up the carrier with one hand and guided Cassie to the door with the other. “Let’s go.”

  Cassie shivered in the chilly night air as she and Jared walked across Tucson International Airport’s parking lot. Jared’s black Mercedes chirped as he unlocked the doors, and she slid gratefully into the car’s leather interior, anxious for him to turn on the seat warmers. “I feel better now, knowing Linda’s out of harm’s way.” They’d escorted Linda into the airport, keeping watch until she’d disappeared through the security checkpoint.

  Jared nodded. “Me too.”

  Cassie lifted a brow and gave him half a smile. “One less woman to keep track of?”

  Jared chuckled as he pulled up beside the booth to pay the parking fee. “You’re very perceptive.”

  “And I didn’t even need to be psychic to figure that out.” She paused, waiting until Jared merged onto the nearly empty street. “What now?”

  “We stop by my place, then we head north.”

  Leave town. Together. Alone. With an amazingly attractive man whom she barely knew. The prospect was both scary, and if she was honest, a little exciting. She shivered again, but not from the cold. “Why leave Tucson? I could check into another hotel. Use a fake name.”

  Jared shook his head. “Aelziroth doesn’t use ordinary methods to hunt. He’ll find you too quickly if you stay here.”

  “But I only packed for a couple of days. Can we go back to my place for more clothes?” She didn’t need her gift to know what he’d say.

  Jared shook his head. “That’s not a good idea. We’ll buy whatever you need when we get there.”

  Edgar meowed from his carrier in the back seat. Cassie turned to make little comforting noises at him.

  “That reminds me, can you leave him with someone?”

  Cassie frowned. Edgar was the one normal thing in all this madness. “I’m not leaving him behind. Besides, if it’s not safe to go home, it’s not safe to take him to a friend’s house, either.”

  Jared shrugged. “Fair enough.”

  Cassie relaxed a little. They were on the move, and that made her feel a little safer. She wasn’t just waiting for Aelziroth to come after her anymore. Jared drove the Benz deftly through the nearly deserted Tucson streets,
ignoring the posted speed limits and merely slowing for the red lights they encountered. Despite having a population of over a million in the metro area, Tucson still kept small town hours.

  Twenty minutes later, Jared pulled into his four-car garage on the other side of town. Three of the bays were empty. The fourth held a white Ford Avalanche coated with a thick layer of desert dust.

  “Cam’s still here,” Jared said.

  “The guy you asked to pack the extra ammo?”

  Jared looked at her. She could tell he wished she had forgotten that. “Yes.”

  Cassie decided to wait to ask the bazillion other questions she had.

  Inside, Jared called out, “It’s me, Cam!”

  “About time you got here, you slacker,” a deep male voice bellowed. “I don’t have all fucking night.”

  A tall, barrel-chested man rounded the corner, holstering a gun on his left side. He stopped abruptly when he saw Cassie. The red fox following him didn’t. It trotted right up to her and sat down, staring.

  “Sorry. I didn’t know Jared had a guest,” the man said in a much softer tone.

  “No harm.” Cassie smiled and held out her hand. “I’m Cassie.”

  The big man closed the space in two strides and took her hand gently. “Cam Blake.”

  Normally she wouldn’t intrude into someone’s mind uninvited, but her life had ceased to be normal two days ago. Cassie opened her gift to Cam, skimming the surface.

  Embarrassment for swearing. An awareness of his physical surroundings, of caution. A sense of urgency carefully held in check. The need to protect those smaller and weaker, which was just about everyone. A secret zealously guarded.

  Cassie withdrew her hand. “Nice to meet you. Who’s your friend?” She smiled at the fluffy animal at their feet.

  “What?” Cam sounded startled and glanced at the fox.

  Cassie followed his gaze. The fox’s mouth opened, and he looked for all the world as if he were laughing at Cam. Cassie knelt and held out her knuckles for the fox to smell. The fox delicately stretched his nose out to sniff, but didn’t quite touch her skin.