UntilDarknessComeseBook

by Mindy Weeks

  Once finished, he slowly lifted his head to carefully inspect his handiwork. “Perfect,” he whispered. “As if it never happened.”

  Amazing—every ache and pain in her body from the last two days was gone. She felt strong, refreshed, alive…

  “It’s time to go,” he whispered, bending down to kiss her lips one last time. “I love you, Olivia.”

  *** Olivia opened her eyes as the gentle breeze blew against her bare legs. She squinted against the sun that shone in through her open bedroom window and groaned. Grabbing the covers, she pulled them over her head in a futile attempt to hide from the day. The familiar rumble of an engine stopped in front of her house and she heard a car door slam. A few seconds later, the patter of feet running up the stairs preceded a vigorous knock.

  “Please, just go away,” she called from under the covers.

  “Can’t,” Ashley said, poking her head inside her room. “Promised Liam I wouldn’t. Now get up,” she said, pulling Olivia’s blankets off her in one big dramatic sweep. “It’s

  Until Darkness Comes

  Sunday, and church starts in an hour,” Ashley said, digging through her closet. She watched her friend from her bed, and wondered what happened to the real Ashley.

  “Church, huh? I’ve been trying to get you to come to church with me for years—what gives?”

  “Yeah, well, that was then, this is now,” she said, tossing clothes onto her bed. “Things are different. Get in the shower. I don’t want to be late. Plus, Nate’s getting released today, and I told him we’d pick him up afterwards.”

  Olivia huffed and climbed out of bed, dragging ass into the bathroom. She had to admit, she did feel somewhat better after a hot shower. She stood in front of the mirror before getting dressed and looked closely in the mirror. Her skin looked flawless and radiant. She smiled sadly and sighed, pulling her clothes on, and wrapped her damp hair up into a twist.

  “Done?” Ashley asked, putting down a magazine and smiling a little too cheerfully as she walked into her room.

  “The new you is going to take some getting used to,” she said sourly.

  “That’s all right. Liam warned me you’d be like this. You’re my best friend, Liv, and I love you, even when you are bitchy,” Ashley said, teasing her.

  Olivia couldn’t help but return her friend’s smile. “Come on,” she said, grabbing her friend’s hand. “I don’t want to make you late for church.”

  Ashley smiled and held her hand up, letting a set of car keys dangle from her finger. “I’ll drive.”

  She stopped when they stepped out of the house. Balen’s yellow Mustang was parked in front of her house.

  “He gave it to me,” she said, smiling sadly. She could tell Ashley missed him, but Balen had opened her eyes to the truth, and although he was gone, that loss couldn’t overshadow the joy of knowing there was an eternity waiting for her that she’d never believed existed before.

  “What’s this?” Olivia asked, looking over at the black Camaro sitting in her driveway.

  “Liam left it for you. Said he didn’t need it anymore and preferred it if you had something a little more reliable to get around in.”

  “How do you know all this? Why didn’t he just tell me this stuff himself?” she asked, as tears began to well in her eyes.

  “Because it was too hard for him to say good-bye. You fell asleep in his arms last night, and he said it was easier this way.”

  She reached up to wipe away the tears running down her face. “Well, he’s wrong. There’s nothing easy about this.”

  Ashley wrapped her arms around her. “I know. I’m sorry, Liv.”

  Olivia walked over to the Camaro, climbed inside, and shut the door. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the seat, drawing in a slow deep breath. Liam’s spicy scent still hung in the air, and she imagined him sitting right here beside her. Maybe it was denial, but something told her he’d be back.

  In the meantime, she’d try to take comfort in the knowledge that just because she couldn’t see him it didn’t mean he wasn’t here. He’d always been here, but his absence now left her with an intense ache in her chest, one that she could only hope would lessen with time. Her best friend and the love of her life was gone…

  Epilogue

  Three months later… “Happy Birthday to you…” Olivia’s parents sang, busting into her room with a song and a tray full of French toast, bacon, orange juice, and coffee. A confetti-sprinkled cupcake adorned with a burning candle sat in the center of the tray.

  She smiled, sitting up in bed as she looked over at her alarm clock. She knew what it would say—6:45 a.m., the exact time of her birth. Every year her parents would come in with a tray full of breakfast and sing to her.

  “Thanks, Mom, Dad,” she said when they finished singing, taking the tray from them. A single rose sat in a tall slender vase next to her plate. “You guys are the best.”

  “Happy Birthday, honey. We’ll see you down stairs.” Olivia picked at her breakfast, which tasted great, but she didn’t have much of an appetite these last few months. She got up to carry her tray over to her desk, when her eyes fell on a small red box sitting next to her computer. An iridescent pearl white ribbon was wrapped perfectly around the package. Underneath it was an envelope; her name was written across the front. Olivia’s heart began to pound as she slid the envelope out from under the box. Her hands shook as she tore open the seal and unfolded the heavy piece of parchment paper. She looked down at the ancient script that appeared to be penned by ink and quill.

  My Dearest Olivia,

  Happy nineteenth birthday! Today, I celebrate nineteen of the most fabulous years of my existence because they have been with you. A day doesn’t go by that I don’t give thanks for you. You are eternally in my heart, and I wait for the day when I can hold you in my arms once again. I hope you understand why I left the way I did. I just couldn’t bear to make things harder on you. As I held you, sleeping in my arms, I had hoped to leave you with a glimpse of your forever. Until then, live your life fully and know that you are loved, cherished and protected.

  All my love,

  Liam

  Tears filled her eyes as she folded the letter up and slid it back into the envelope. She wiped them away with the back of her hand and picked up the small red box. She gently lifted the corners of the paper, not wanting to tear the beautiful wrapping, and slid a small box out of the paper shell. She opened the lid and gasped. Inside the box lay a heart-shaped stone attached to a necklace. She lifted the delicate chain and held it up to the light, looking more closely at the most beautiful stone she’d ever seen. It reminded her of a black opal, but stones like that didn’t exist. A rainbow of color reflected in the sunlight. The heart-shape cut was exquisite—hundreds of angles contoured the stone.

  Olivia unfastened the clasp and placed the necklace around her neck. She looked back down at the small box and noticed a folded slip of paper inside. She opened it and read.

  A little piece of Heaven. I hope you enjoyed reading Until Darkness Comes, book one in the Redemption Series. Here’s a sneak peak at Shades of Darkness, book two in the Redemption Series.

  Shades of Darkness Prologue

  Three Years Later “So, is it true?” Haden demanded, pulling Jace into the tiny room in the back of the bar. He closed the door behind him, leaning against the frame to prevent any untimely interruptions. “Did you see it?”

  Jace looked around the room, as if to make sure they were truly alone. “Yeah, it’s true.”

  “You saw it then? You saw the stone?” Could it possibly be true? Was Immanuel’s Stone here, on earth?

  “I saw the stone,” Jace repeated.

  “Have you told anyone else about it?” Haden stepped closer to his friend and casually put his arm around the demon’s tattooed neck.

  “No, only you, just like you said. Her warrior nearly killed me, though. I could hardly get close enough to her to see it. You know, for a minute there, I thought you’d
sent me on a suicide mission.”

  “I did…” Haden growled. With preternatural speed, he grabbed a hold of his arm circling the demon’s neck and jerked up. The crunch of his bones echoed through the small room. Haden released his old friend, watching as his lifeless body sagged to the floor. Shadows poured out beneath the demon, enveloping it in a thick black mist.

  “Sorry about that,” he said, stepping over the crumpled heap. “But to rise to the top, soldiers must fall.”

  Chapter One

  Olivia stood in front of the floor-length mirror. A beautiful woman she hardly recognized stared back at her, dressed in a white silk floor-length gown adorned with thousands of sequins and pearls. The beaded tooling ran down the length of her six-foot train in an intricate design worthy of a queen. A jeweled tiara sat nestled in her jet black hair, just like the one she’d worn so often as a little girl. The veil lay draped across her jewelry box sitting on top of the desk.

  Piano music wafted up through the vents of the old church, carrying a hauntingly beautiful melody. Olivia sighed, reaching up to the back of her neck, and unfastened the clasp of her necklace. The multi-colored heart-shaped stone fell away from her throat and she placed the necklace in the palm of her hand. She closed her fist tightly over the stone as she turned away from her reflection and walked over to her jewelry box.

  She pulled the drawer open, placed her necklace inside, and took out a quarter-inch pearl necklace. She fastened the clasp around her neck, fingers gliding over the row of cold hard pearls that had been a wedding gift from her fiancé Mitch. She turned around to look at the stranger in the mirror, one last time. Her hair was piled high in an up-do. A few errant strands hung down loosely, brushing the base of her neck. She turned around, glancing over her shoulder to get a better view of her backside. The back of her dress was cut in a deep V that stopped just above her waistline, and a row of small silk-covered buttons ran down past her bottom.

  “You look beautiful.” A startled gasp tore from her throat as she spun around. “Liam!” The sound of his voice released a tidal wave of emotions: joy, love, anger, pain…sorrow. It took every ounce of her strength not to run over and throw herself into his arms. She watched him as he stood in the corner of the small room, arms crossed, statue-still.

  Her heart raced so fast, she began to feel light-headed. It had been so long. Honestly, after three years, she’d given up hope of ever seeing him again. He seemed…different somehow, but still just as magnificent as she remembered. His eyes, the change was in his eyes. They held a depth she’d never known before—a depth born of pain, sorrow and regret.

  The prelude to the wedding march carried up through the vents. The soft serenade filled the room, pulling Olivia from her trance. Pain and anger surged anew, tearing open a fresh wound of heartache that had never completely healed. “Why are you here?” she demanded.

  Liam didn’t speak. For the longest time, he just stood there looking as if he might just vanish. “I had to see you.” His words came out in an aching rasp.

  “Why now, Liam? Why today? This is my wedding day!” Her voice escalated with every word until she sounded hysterical. “It’s been three years! Do you know how many nights I’ve cried myself to sleep over you? Oh, that’s right, of course you do! And yet, you still didn’t come. All those time I begged and pleaded, just to let me see you.”

  The depth of pain and suffering in his amber-colored eyes took her breath away. “Don’t you think I wanted to, Olivia. God knows I wanted to! But I knew if I did, you’d never move on. It’s killed me to sit by and watch you

  Shades of Darkness mourn over what could never be. Night after night, I begged the Father to give me the strength to stay away from you.”

  Liam’s eyes locked on the pearl necklace clinging to her throat. Suddenly it felt tight, like the pearls were slowly choking the life out of her. “This is the first time you’ve taken that off in three years,” he whispered. His voice was raw with so much pain it made her cringe.

  She subconsciously reached up and touched her throat, resisting the sudden urge to tear them off. “I had to,” she whispered. “How can I get married to the man I’m trying to love while wearing the necklace from the angel that holds my heart?” Tears spilled down her cheeks, she stopped even trying to contain them.

  “Do you love him, Olivia?” Liam’s questioning eyes raked over her. She ached to reach out and touch his beautiful face, just one more time, to feel whole in his embrace once again and let his touch wash away the years of pain and suffering she’d endured in his absence. And to taste that delicious spicy kiss she longed for…

  “Look at me!” she cried, halting her thoughts. She grabbed fists full of her wedding dress, holding them out in exasperation. “I’m getting married!” A fresh wave of tears rolled down her cheeks. By now her make-up would be completely ruined, not that she really cared. It was fitting, symbolic of the last three years of her life.

  “I am well aware of this, and that’s not what I asked you.”

  “I love him as much as I’m capable of loving someone. I’ve been broken for so long. I just want to feel normal again.”

  The wedding march echoed through the tiny room, and she looked nervously over her shoulder. “That’s my cue,” she whispered, unwilling to walk away from him.

  “I wish it was me waiting down there for you.”

  Oh God, don’t say that to me! “I do too,” she breathed the barely audible confession.

  A soft knock sounded at the door. “Olivia? We’re ready for you, honey.”

  “I’ll be right there, Mom.” She tore her eyes away from him long enough to cast an anxious glance at the door. When she turned back, Liam was gone.

  About the Author

  Melynda Price:

  An avid lover of paranormal romance, Melynda was inspired to write her own series after reading the Book of Enoch. She’s always had a fascination with stories about angels, and the role they’ve played in the history of our multi-dimensional world.

  She attended Bethel University in Minnesota and graduated in 2003, holding AA, ASN and BSN degrees.

  She lives in Northern Minnesota where she has plenty of snow-filled days to curl up in front of the fireplace with her Chihuahua, and a hot cup of coffee, to write. She’s blessed with two amazing children, and a wonderful husband of seventeen years.

  Until Darkness Comes:

  “Writing Until Darkness Comes has been a fantastic adventure, culminating a world of mystery, suspense, love and deception. Have you ever wondered what it might be like if we could see beyond our dimension? Step into Olivia Norton’s world, where nothing is quite as it seems, and evil lurks where she least expects it.”

  Visit Melynda at www.MelyndaPrice.com