He had only come across one in his lifetime before this, even though he suspected Hugh, the boy from Trinity’s class to be one as well. They were an important part in the great fight and this little girl just became increasingly more important to keep alive.
Every champion had a special way of seeing the true side to people. Seeing colors must be Emily’s way of doing that.
“What are you?”
There was that question again. His existence was a secret to all, how could he answer this.
“Think of me as a guardian angel.”
She must have liked that answer because her grip on him became more stable before Malachi walked back up to the window.
“That makes sense.”
Malachi was so engrossed in thinking about the jump that it took him a minute to remember what he had said.
“Why is that?” He asked offhandedly with his mind still on getting out of there.
“Your color makes me feel safe. I know you’re good.” She gave him a smile when his gaze landed on her. She was so sure of what she said.
All the action from the day must have muddled her instincts. He could play nice for as long as he liked, but he wasn’t kidding himself. Someone with a family history such as his could not come close to actually being good.
All of the sudden, the building let out a loud groan and started to shift. He could hear the roaring sound of glass breaking plus beams buckling and knew the building was collapsing onto itself. He had no choice now, he had to jump and do his best to shield the girl.
Moving fast, he gripped her to his chest and yelled as he backed up. “You hold onto me and don’t let go!” He gave himself a running start and while charging toward the open window asked God for a little help on this one.
He leaped as far as he could and cleared a good distance. When he was in the air he heard the building crashing down behind him. If he would have waited even a second longer, he would have been tangled in the rubble.
When the ground was getting near he flipped them around so he would land on his back with her on top of him. The impact was harsh and stunned the both of them. For that moment, Malachi thought of Trinity; her smile, her laugh, her touch, and how, more than anything, he wanted to be with her right then.
Reality quickly set in and he spun them once again to cradle his body over hers, using his as a shield from falling debris. There were a couple pieces that painfully struck and he was grateful that his head got back in the game in time to cover the girl.
Malachi looked down at Emily. When he saw that she was crying he got concerned. “What is it? Are you hurt?”
All she did was continue to cry, so Malachi calmed his voice to try and sooth her. “Sweetie, I need to know if you’re hurt so we can fix it.”
She shook her head. “No. I just want my mommy.”
Malachi could understand this. “Just give it a little bit longer and we will go try and find her. Was she working in the building?”
“No” The answer was said as a sob.
“Don’t worry. We’ll find her. She’s probably out there right now waiting for you.” She started to calm down some. “Won’t you have a story to tell people, huh?”
They ended up waiting there for another fifteen minutes, until debris stopped falling around them. When they got up, he picked her up to carry her over large parts of the building. Nearing the police cars, a commotion started when they were spotted. The murmurs started and soon turned to clapping, then to cheering.
“Why are they so happy?” Emily asked in confusion.
“Because everyone was worried about you and now they know you’re safe.”
When they cleared the rubble, Malachi noticed the media cameras and ducked his head down. This was not staying out of the spotlight, but if given the choice to do it over again, he would.
“Emily!” He heard the little girl’s name being screamed from a group of civilians. “Emily!”
The second time got Emily’s attention. Swinging her head toward the commotion, she let out a scream loud enough to make him flinch. “Mommy!!”
She started crying again, and Malachi was glad that her mother was here this time to help. When they all reached each other, Malachi held out his arms slightly to hand back her daughter. Instead of taking her, the mom surprised him by wrapping her arms around them both.
Malachi’s body immediately stiffened. He was not used to this…this affection from strangers. She immediately started crying. Malachi took a deep breath. He did not do tears well, and at the moment he had two female’s crying on him.
“Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.” The mother was repeating herself over and over.
“It was no problem.” He pressed Emily more firmly into her mother, hoping to discreetly dislodge her. When it worked and she now was cradling Emily in her arms, he spoke again. “She’s a special one. Take real good care of her.”
All the mother could do was nod and Malachi started walking away. After a few steps and being followed by the camera crew, he cringed at the thought of drawing attention to himself.
Malachi had his team in his sights but couldn’t make it to them quickly enough. All of the sudden one leg gave out, and then the next and he was falling to the pavement. He caught himself with his hands but immediately rolled to his back, breathing heavy and gripping his chest. Someone was at his side by the time he let out a hoarse groan asking him where it hurt.
He explained that when he jumped and landed on his back, his chest had hurt ever since. The next thing he knew, he was being placed onto a stretcher and there were people he didn’t know touching him.
His team had made it over and was standing around with confused faces. Which was understandable; he never got hurt and if he did, he always healed himself. When they loaded him into the ambulance, the EMTs explained that only one person could ride with him when Gemariah and Terah both tried to board.
Terah jumped in the ambulance first.
When they were alone, she started asking questions, but giving him no time to answer. “Mal, what’s wrong? Could you have damaged your big stubborn heart? Why aren’t you healing yourself?”
Malachi wondered if she was ever going to take a breath. He tried to sit up, only to be pushed back down.
“What are you nuts? Lie down! Maybe if you rest for a minute, you can heal yourself.” She sounded panicked.
Malachi let out a heavy sigh and angled his head to speak to the EMTs. “Drive a few blocks then let me off, alright guys?”
“Yeah, no problem.” The passenger turned and looked at Malachi. “Sorry about the shirt and all; had to make it look real.” He gestured toward Malachi’s ripped shirt.
Malachi believed they had gone a little overboard in their acting, but let it slide. “It’s alright.”
He then sat up, with no interference this time, to remove his shirt before glancing over at Terah. “Will you ask Gemariah to pick us up? It wouldn’t be too good to be seen by someone that had witnessed the whole thing.” When she didn’t move, he really looked at her. She was sitting slack jaw and staring at him. “What? You thought…oh come on Terah; you didn’t think a little thing like that would bring me down, did you?”
Her face immediately transformed. She was pissed! Raising her fist with lightning speed, she slugged him in the arm. Someone wouldn’t think anything of a little hit from a little woman such as her, but this was where her nephilim blood showed. His arm was still throbbing even after rubbing it.
“Don’t you ever do that again! You had me worried…and I don’t worry. At least give me a signal or something. What the hell were you thinking?” She raised her fist to punch him again, but this time he caught her hand.
“Terah, enough.” Those two simple words, in his no nonsense tone, made all the fight leave her body. “Now are you going to hear me out, or are you going to try and hit me again?” He gave her hand a small squeeze to let her know that it would be best to pick the right answer.
“I’m done.” Her voice had
become small. His team was his family, but he was still in charge and only took so much disrespect.
He let go of her hand and started to explain. “As I was shielding the girl on the ground after my jump, something Gideon said had merit to it.” She raised her eyebrow to his statement. “I know, shocking, huh?”
He was now smiling. “I couldn’t go through all of that and not have a scratch on me; people would get suspicious. Before we started walking back, I radioed the police contact and told him what was going down. Apparently our corporation has EMTs on call for situations such as this.”
“Always happy to help.” This came from the driver as he turned a corner.
“Now, will you contact Gemariah so he can pick us up?”
Terah outwardly groaned. “Do you know how worried he was? This is not going to be an easy conversation.”
He smiled. “You’ll figure it out. You’re good at stuff like this.”
Terah had to go through the story a couple different times before Gemariah agreed to meet them anywhere but the hospital. This was not going to be an easy greeting. The moment her attention was back on Malachi, Gemariah was projecting to him.
You are a fucking dick, cock sucker! I hope you rot in hell for what you put me through.
And there it was; what he had to look forward too.
Ahh, I love you too man.
Malachi thought the best way forward was to make light of everything.
Shut the fuck up! Somehow, at least let me know when you plan on doing it again.
Situation already diffusing…
Will do.
They reached a spot by a secluded alley to do the drop off. When Malachi got out, three glaring faces were staring at him, and he already could feel Terah’s intense stare behind him.
“Until next time.” One of the EMTs waved to them as they were driving away.
Tori, always so blunt, was the first one to speak. “What the hell is going on?”
Malachi started his explanation again. As he was talking, he could feel their tempers slowly lowering.
“Did you forget the part where you tell your partners what’s going on?” Now it was Tori. Three of the four had been mad for not filling them in. He didn’t think they would care, obviously he was wrong.
“Hey don’t blame me; Gideon was the one that gave me the idea.” Malachi said with a smile.
It was just a joke, but Gideon didn’t see it that way. “Hey, don’t suck me into your shit! I told you to leave the little brat. If you would have listened to me, this wouldn’t have been an issue.”
He took a step toward Gideon. “If I would have listened to you, an innocent would have died. Not just any innocent either. Who would have ever imagined that the “little brat” would be a champion? I sure as hell didn’t, but she was.”
“I didn’t know.” Gideon tried to brush it off.
Malachi was close to yelling, frustrated with his longtime partner. “Dammit Gideon, that’s not the point! We are here every day fighting evil and the potential for it. If that little girl would have died, who’s to say that her mother wouldn’t have crossed over and turned sides? I understand that we can’t save everyone, but I knew I could get to her if she was there. Why is it fair that she would have to die because those bastards decided to “play with their puppets”? She is one of the good ones, champion or not. We fight to defend the honest, the trustworthy, and the noble. I fight for the good of salvation. Why do you fight?”
When Gideon stayed silent, Malachi turned toward Gemariah’s car. Still walking and not turning around, he hollered at Gemariah. “Take me to my bike?”
He heard Gemariah’s affirmation as he was getting into the car. When he turned around to see where everyone was, it was just in time to see Gemariah turn to Gideon. “And that is why I will never vote against him.”
******
Malachi pulled in front of Trinity’s house and turned off the ignition. He had borrowed a shirt from Gemariah before his friend dropped him off, but was still filthy. He had every intension of going home. Wanting nothing but a shower and a comfy bed, that was his plan.
That’s what he thought anyway, but he ended up driving here instead. Getting off the bike, he started down the walkway to her duplex. He was halfway there when the front door of the connecting place opened up.
“I don’t care Nicci. I have to find him!” Trinity was coming out the door. She had her back turned toward him and it sounded like she had been crying.
He had stopped walking and watched as she turned around. Making her way down the front steps, she looked up when her foot touched the walk and froze. Damn, she had been crying! Her eyes were swollen and red, her face was blotchy. She couldn’t have looked more beautiful at that moment, but he hated to see her so sad.
He took a step in her direction, but before he could take another, her purse and keys went flying as she started running toward him. When she reached him, she jumped and he caught her midair. They wrapped their arms around each other, and she buried her face in his neck before starting to cry all over again.
He didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know how to handle females crying, and it seemed like that’s all they were doing today. This time was different, though. This was his Trinity, and the thought of her in this much agony twisted his gut.
Malachi turned his head to kiss hers. He then took his other hand and started moving her hair out of her face and randomly kissing where his mouth could reach. He tried talking to her in the most calming voice he could manage. “Hey baby, what’s wrong?
This got her sobbing to slow down as she lifted her head and gazed at him with a confused look. “You were hurt. I couldn’t find you. I was calling every hospital in the city to find out where they took you, but everyone I talked to said no one was at the hospital under your name.” Trinity paused and let out a single sob. “I was so worried.”
All of the sudden, she looked panicked. “And here I jumped…I jumped on you…oh God, I could be hurting you!” She tried to wiggle out of his arms.
“Don’t even think about it.” His grip tightened around her. “What gave you the idea I was hurt?”
She poked him in the chest. “Malachi Starkman, don’t you even try to lie to me! I wasn’t feeling well and sat down for a moment. When I turned on the TV, there you were, on the news. I saw everything!”
“Why weren’t you feeling well?” He asked; concern in his voice.
“No way, don’t change the subject.”
Man, she was persistent. He let out a sigh and tried to evade. “Okay. I’m better now, though.”
She snuggled back into his arms and wrapped her arms around him, as she laid her head on his shoulder. “Why were you not in any hospital?”
“I got fixed up in the ambulance and I didn’t need a hospital.” He wasn’t lying, he told himself, just omitting some truths.
In a small voice she asked, “Then why didn’t you call me or answer your phone when I called?”
“I lost my phone while working today.” Before she spoke, he quickly added more. “I could have called you from someone else’s phone, but the truth is I didn’t want to worry you.”
“We can’t do that.” When she was done speaking, she gave his neck a small kiss that had him groaning.
He swallowed before asking. “Do what?”
Another kiss. “Lie to each other to protect the other one…” Kiss. “If we want this to work…” She then nibbled on his jaw. “…and I definitely want this to work.” Nibble. “…you can’t shut me out from stuff that important.”
He was already nodding his acceptance before she finished talking. Would he ever tire of her and the pull she had on him. “Okay…deal”
His words must have flipped a switch inside her, because after they came out, her mouth was on his. The kiss started slowly and he marveled at the feel of her in his arms. Her concern for his safety was shocking on its own, but the way she lovingly touched him almost brought him to his knees. This is what he needed
; she was what he needed. Trinity was pure and warm and good; so much good that it made all the evil he dealt with insignificant. She helped to recharge him for another day.
Slowly she took her mouth from his and licked her lips while looking him in the eye.
“Come inside.”
Inwardly, he groaned. What he wouldn’t have done to hear those words any other day…but not today. After all the waiting, there was no way he could go through with it when he had a feeling the adrenaline was what was causing her to act this way.
He slowly started to walk up to her front door and placed her down gently in front of it. Grudgingly, he released her and took a step back. Even though this was where he wanted to be in the worst way, he couldn’t, in good conscious, stay.
“You okay?” Her voice was soft as she reached up and ran her fingers through his hair.
He pulled her hand away from his head and turned it around to kiss her palm. “There’s nothing more I want to do right now than come in…but today’s not the day.” He placed his finger over her lips when she started to argue. “I would hate for you to do something you’re not ready for because of hyped up emotions.”
That incredibly adorable color returned to her cheeks. She looked as if she wanted to say something, but bit her lip instead.
“I just want you to be absolutely sure you want to do this.” Saying it again was not making it any easier to leave.
“So…you haven’t changed your mind…about us I mean?” She stood tall but Malachi could tell that she was putting on a brave face by the way she had trouble getting the words out. He could understand why. Just the thought of not having her made panic well up in his chest.
“Just try getting rid of me! I’m sorry, Baby, but you’re stuck with me.” He was afraid to kiss her again, thinking his resolve would crumble. Instead, he cupped either side of her head and kissed her forehead. His lips lingered when he wasn’t quite ready to let go.
Celestial Beginnings (Nephilim Series) Page 17