by D. F. Jones
When Sandy started high school, she became curious about sex. He knew most guardians didn’t watch their humans in sexual situations, but he couldn’t help it. Baldric was afraid for Sandy and never wanted her to be abused again. Baldric read Sandy’s mind with every sexual encounter, and with each one, a part of her became that scared little nine-year-old girl who only wanted someone to love her. Unconsciously, Sandy still looked for a human Prince Charming, and there were none who filled Sandy’s desire of the heart.
Today, Baldric followed Sandy to the beach. Her sense of humor made him laugh all the time. The topic of conversation had turned, and Sandy started talking about him. It was the first time Baldric realized Sandy could feel his presence. She had felt him lay beside her and watch her sleep, and she’d felt him kiss her forehead. And to Baldric’s great shame and horror, Sandy could smell him when he was in heat. Guilt washed over him. Jehoshaphat. He’d watched her having sex and imagined she was making love to him. That was a huge rule breaker. But he’d been in love with Sandy for so long and couldn’t help himself. Saints preserve me.
Baldric had to do something, anything to stop Sandy from talking about him. He had grabbed the umbrella pole and tossed it up high in the air. The girls ran after the umbrella and put it back down in the sand. Then Anna dropped the bomb and told Sandy his name. Sandy remembered him, and now it was time to get reacquainted. God have mercy on my soul.
* * *
After dinner, Anna mixed up a batch of Maria’s margaritas. Maria worked for Cary and had the best recipes in town for food and beverages. Anna made a virgin drink for Ruby and not-so-virgin ones for her and Sandy. A full moon lit the sky and everywhere the fragrant smell of hydrangeas, old garden roses, and ocean breezes drifted in the air. They sat around the wrought iron patio table next to the pool, laughing and reminiscing of old days.
Sandy went inside and brought out her Ditch Lane Diary. She read over the last few entries and added the information about the attack on Anna at the hospital. Sandy placed her finger on the side of her nose and her thumb under her chin. “I’m working on a new story and need you to give me your two cents’ worth.”
Ruby chuckled and propped her feet up on the chair next to Sandy and wiggled her toes against Sandy’s thigh. “Nah, but I’ll give you a Yankee dime’s worth.” Sandy playfully pinched Ruby’s little piggy.
Anna held her drink with both hands. “Wait, before you get started, do I need to make another batch of margaritas?” Ruby and Sandy shook their heads no. The frogs sang out in the night, and the stars overhead twinkled across the inky black sky. “Okay, Sandy, let it rip.”
Sandy gave Anna an exaggerated bow. “Here goes. I had to do a fluff piece on the new convention center coming to Nashville. I met with Cole Steele of Steele Enterprises. He’s the one who brokered the deal.” Sandy could’ve modeled for a sculpture of Athena Parthenos. She became light and fire when she talked about her work. “The day I met him, my cameraman and I got caught in a thunderstorm. I was completely soaking wet when we arrived at his office. But I just thought we would shoot him and do cutaways of me later after I changed clothes.”
Anna gasped and threw her hand over her mouth. “I saw Cole years ago when I went to a hoedown at Nelson Doune Farms. Cole was there, and I caught him staring at me. Something about him gave me the creeps.”
Ruby rubbed her lower back and stood up. “Don’t mind me. I just get aches sometimes. It’s weird, but I can feel this baby grow. Please, do go on.”
Sandy smiled at Ruby and said, “You want to go inside, pumpkin? You could stretch out and kick your feet up on the couch.”
“Best idea I’ve heard all night. Okay, Anna?” Ruby replied.
Anna stood and grabbed her glass. “Sure, grab your drinks, and I’ll turn off the outside lights.” Anna walked into the main garage that held the lighting for the patio and pool. She switched off the floodlights but left the pool lights on and went back into her house.
Ruby stretched out on the couch, placed a pillow behind her head, and propped another pillow under her knees.
Anna took the quilt off the rack in the corner of the room and spread it over Ruby. “Comfy, cozy?”
Ruby tucked the quilt under her chin and rolled onto her side. “Perfect, Mom. Go on, Sandy. But if I fall asleep, I’m not rude. It’s just the baby makes me tired, and I can fall asleep at the drop of a hat.”
Sandy leaned down and kissed Ruby on the forehead. “I’ll fill you in on what you miss when we’re flying home tomorrow.” Sandy got comfy on the loveseat, and Anna kicked out in the recliner. Sandy said, “Anywho, I walked into Cole Steele’s office soaking wet. Anna, you’ve seen him. He’s ruggedly handsome, but there’s something downright scary about him. He was pleasant enough and answered all my questions. The whole time I was interviewing him, he looked at me, and it wasn’t in a flirty way, but I had a sense he wanted to hurt me.” Sandy took a sip of her drink. “When I shook his hand, I didn’t get a reading—no visions and no past thoughts. It was weird. That never happens. I get tingles when I feel my power kicking in. I can read people by barely brushing next to them. I ping off the wall with energy. I had the power. I felt the energy, but he blocked my reading some way.”
Anna waved her hand back and forth. “Ooooh, oh, I got a seriously bad vibe from him. He looked at me that way, too. He’s bad news, Sandy. Stay away from him.”
Sandy leaned her head against the back of the loveseat. “I can’t, Anna. I have an instinct with my stories. He is a big story. While Eddie and I were editing the piece for the ten o’clock news, I get this phone call from my friend, Brenda, who works at NPD’s dispatch. She asked if I could meet her for a drink. She had some scoop. Well, I met her and found out the scoop was about Cole.”
Anna sat cross-legged, unwrapped a Hershey’s Kisses from her bowl of candy and popped it into her mouth and threw one to Sandy. Anna pointed to Ruby and said, “Sawing logs.”
Sandy chuckled and unwrapped her piece of chocolate. “Can you believe she’s going to have a baby? Makes me feel my clock ticking.”
Anna unwrapped another piece of candy. “Oh, hush up, we have plenty of time before our eggs shrivel up. Do go on. You’ve got me on the edge of my seat. What happened with Brenda?”
Sandy flipped her hair behind her shoulders. “Brenda meets me at the Gold Rush, you know that bar on Elliston Place, and we go to the back of the bar. Before our drinks arrive, she tells me she overheard a conversation between the chief, as in police, and this guy from city council. Of course, I ask her who the man was from the council and Brenda drew a blank or was afraid to tell me. So I held her hand and saw the man’s face.”
Sandy propped her upper body on her elbow and placed the palm of her hand on the side of her face. “The councilman went to see the chief in fear of his life. Cole Steele sent a thug to strong-arm him about passing the resolution for the new convention center, but that’s not what piqued my interest. The chief reassured the council member he would take care of it, and as soon as the guy left, guess who the chief called?
Anna leaned in and said, “Cole Steele.”
Sandy nodded. “Uh-huh. One and the same. I’ve started a secret folder on Mr. Steele. I want to do an exposé on him. There’s something rotten about Cole, and after everything we talked about today, I think maybe he’s one of Luc’s bootlickers or maybe Cole is Luc, if he can take human form.”
Anna felt a panic attack coming on. She hadn’t had one since her first year in med school. “Sandy, drop the story. Please, leave it alone. You don’t want to mess around with Luc. He hates us.”
Sandy sat up and placed her hands on her thighs. “The hell I will. We’re wards for a reason, and I think this guy may be the reason I have this power in the first place. I’m going to run Cole Steele out of town on a rail. Hell, I might even tar and feather the bastard.”
Rattled, Anna slowly breathed in and breathed out. “Sandy, I hope you’re teasing, my Huckleberry friend. You have to make me a promis
e. If you feel like you’re getting in over your head or you get frightened, you’ll call us. Remember, we’re a team, and we’re stronger together.”
Sandy was likely dancing with the devil, and it terrified Anna. Sandy yawned and stretched. “I will, I promise, but I’m not backing down until I know everything there is to know about Cole Steele and what he’s doing in my town.”
* * *
By the time Ruby and Sandy left for the airport, Anna had begun to make her plans to move back to Tennessee. Her friends needed her home. The love for her two best friends had been the real constant in her life. Their love never let her down and to date had never broken her heart.
Ruby was pregnant, and Sandy was getting in way over her head with Cole Steele. She felt it in her gut. And Anna didn’t know how, but she was going to get Jerry back before he made the disastrous mistake of marrying wretched Rachel.
* * *
On the way back from Heaven, Ralph dropped by the in-between to speak to Michael, the Commander in Chief of the Angel Armed Forces. Ralph needed to make a full report about the bootlickers’ attack on Anna.
Ralph needed to find out how many other attacks had happened to other wards recently. He also wanted to fish any information from the Secretary of Defense, Naphetina. The army must react with swift and immediate action if there were any escalations or changes in Luc’s strategy. The wards would have to receive combat training if the threats were becoming a reality.
Michael’s headquarters was military regulation. He had a sentry of angels placed at every exterior wall, and inside the walls, warrior angels were armed to the teeth at every door. Angels didn’t use conventional weapons. They fought with weapons, like Baldric’s sword, devised by The Creator, Himself. The bows and arrows, daggers, and swords could travel through space and time with any warrior angel. Plus, each warrior angel had the ability to use the light of love. Any of these weapons could annihilate any demon, including Luc, to the Eternal Blackness. The Eternal Blackness was a place where unruly beings were separated from The Creator, and for some, the sentence was for all eternity with no hope of parole.
Michael’s headquarters was a massive white structure, and it housed all of the maps and coordinates of the universe. Every divisional leader in the AAF met with Michael on a weekly basis to offset any new devious trick or strategy Luc threw their way. The divisional leaders and Michael shared any relevant findings to the angel’s core teams on a need-to-know basis, and those teams would pass down any pertinent information to the Freemasons of the world.
Ralph passed through the halls until he reached Naphetina’s office. He stuck his head inside her door. “Naphetina, you’re looking well.”
All angels were created beautiful, but Naphetina didn’t possess the beauty of Luwenia. However, Naphetina had cunning wits and exceptional strategic military skills. That was why Michael had made her his second in command. “Ralph, to what do I owe the pleasure of seeing you today? Please sit down.”
Ralph sat in one of the white wingback chairs in front of her desk. “My ward, Anna Kelly, was attacked by the Divisions of Jealousy and Sorrow. She’s a healer. I have information from the earth angels that Luc has been recruiting wards, and with the weaker wards, he is sucking their power until they pass. The stronger ones become prisoners. I need information. I need a plan of action.”
Naphetina pulled her glass screen magically from thin air and swiped her fingers across the screen several times before stopping. She looked over at Ralph and leaned her forearms on her desk. “This was an unsanctioned attack without Luc’s knowledge.”
Ralph frowned and stood straight. He placed his hands on her desk and leaned forward. “And you believe him? What about my other allegations?” Ralph knew he was seriously treading in dangerous waters, but Naphetina needed to know the truth, even if he got slapped with an infraction.
Naphetina’s citrine eyes flashed at him. “Please, watch your tone with me, Raphael. I didn’t say I believed him. I said it was unsanctioned. Luc’s speaking with Michael in his office now about Anna’s attack. As far as the other allegations, it’s marked classified. Don’t stare at me. I don’t know, either.”
Ralph’s eyes bulged with anger, and he said, “What? You don’t know? Are you kidding me? You know what this means? Luc’s going after the Campbell Ridge wards. They need training for combat at once.”
Naphetina rubbed under her chin with her fingers. “You’ll need to discuss civilian combat training with Michael. I’m not sure another attack is imminent in this decade, but I’m not ruling it out. A report came in recently about a ward being killed mysteriously in Australia. Of course, Luc denies any knowledge of the attack, too. Ralph, the humans aren’t the only ones suffering monumental losses in this war. Our warrior angels fill the treatment center daily with the injuries inflicted by the demon angels of earth. And there will be more human casualties, and that includes the wards.”
Ralph frantically paced back and forth, and his military boots pounded hard on the white and gray marble floor, creating an echo that rang out in the halls. “I have to talk with Michael and get back to Earth. Did you know there’s a rumor going around among the earth angels that Luc is trying to breach the outer banks of the heavenly realm?”
Naphetina’s eyes turned from citrine to blood red, and she gripped the edge of her desk. “No, I’ve not heard. He would have tripped the sensors. My team would’ve been alerted to the breach. I have to go. Good day, Ralph.” She dismissed him.
Ralph intended to train Anna with or without Michael’s permission. She needed to know who and what was coming for her and her friends. Ralph arrived at Michael’s door and reached up to knock. The door opened, and Luc walked out into the hallway.
Luc scanned Ralph from head to toe and smiled. He grabbed the top of Ralph’s left shoulder and squeezed hard, and Ralph shrugged out of Luc’s grasp. “Well, hello, nephew. I hear you’re having some trouble with your ward, ah—what’s her name? Oh, yeah, Anna.”
Ralph straightened his shoulders, his face level with Luc’s, and replied, “You have been stalking my ward. Stay away from her or there will be consequences. Do you hear me? And please do not refer to me as your nephew. You’re no longer part of our family. You’re a disgrace, and I’m not afraid of you.”
Luc smiled wickedly. His eyes looked as cold as the marble stone under his feet. He leaned in next to Ralph’s ear and whispered, “You should be.” Luc vanished.
At five foot ten, weighing around two hundred twenty-five pounds, Michael was the best warrior in all of the known universes. He stood at the door in golden armor with a dark crimson sash across his breastplate. Luc was afraid of Michael.
Michael also loved Ralph. “Don’t let that twerp bully you. Luc’s number is coming up.” Michael gave Ralph a big bear hug. “You make me proud, son. Come in and let’s talk.”
Chapter 13
Yah Mo B There
On the day Anna returned to work after the attack, she rode her bike to the hospital. She thought about all of the people she had saved and those she had not. Life and death went hand-in-hand. Sometimes death was quick and painless, and at other times, death came agonizingly slowly and painfully. For each person, the experience was uniquely different.
When death was imminent for one of Anna’s patients, she could feel the Angel of Death lurking in the shadows and knew no amount of medicine would keep him away. The only thing Anna knew for certain, without a shadow of a doubt, was that there was life after death.
Even without Ralph in her life, Anna would’ve believed in an afterlife. She had experienced the whoosh from the Spirit of Man descending over her many times in her life, giving her peace when she needed it most.
As soon as Anna clocked in for her shift, she was given an update on the current patients in the ER and proceeded to make her rounds. In the emergency room, lives could be lost or saved on any given day. In life-threatening situations, Ralph had taught Anna how to combine her healing energy with her medical sk
ills without alerting staff or affecting her environment. She no longer made tiny tornadoes or knocked out the power grid. Ralph had trained her well. She had developed nerves of steel when lives and seconds counted.
Anna’s morning swiftly turned into late afternoon before she finally took a break and headed to the bunker. She walked inside to find Jack eating a late lunch at the kitchen table.
Jack’s eyes met hers, and a sweet, dizzy feeling fell over her. “I want to apologize for Friday night,” he said. “I was out of line.” He took another bite of his salad.
Anna swallowed hard. Jack regretted kissing her. “It’s okay. No need for apologies. I’m a big girl.” Anna went to the fridge and pulled out her lunch bag.
Jack pushed his chair away from the table and placed his leftovers in the trash can. “All of the residents are expected to put in an appearance at the American Heart Ball this Saturday night. It’s formal.” He looked into her eyes for a moment too long, and the silence was deafening. Jack slipped his white coat on and walked out the door.
Through most of her lunch, her mind bounced from Jack to Jerry. The two Js. She still loved Jerry, but Jack had made her feel something again.
* * *
Anna threw away her trash and placed her empty container back into her lunch box. She looked up when the bunker door opened, and the man she’d seen in the cave and the library walked inside wearing a pair of jeans and a Hawaiian shirt with sandals. Anna gasped. She looked into his cold, dark eyes, and her blood thundered through her veins.
The immortal Luc had immense beauty with perfectly proportioned features. Glossy black hair fell over his shoulders, and a menacing smile revealed perfect teeth. Luc radiated an all-consuming darkness, and evil seemed to pour out of every molecule, like sap running from a sugar tree. Luc took a step toward Anna and she tried to back away but couldn’t. She stood immobile. He shut and locked the door with his mind. Anna glanced up at the clock, and it read 3:05 p.m.