He was crazy though, if he thought she was staying behind. She would rather draw her last breath fighting at his side than wander Eden alone.
“I understand. But I'm coming with you.”
His jaw tightened. “You can't. You and Minna are safe right here, and this is where you're staying. Every minute we waste here is another minute I could be doing something out there.”
“I'm not staying here,” Evelyn insisted. Calm, in control, sure of her decision.
“It serves no purpose for me to be the only human in Eden,” Minna added, indicating she wasn't staying behind either.
Rhett dropped his hands from Evelyn and slanted Minna an irritable look. “You're both staying and that's final.”
“Actually, I think they will be going with you,” a familiar voice said behind them.
Evelyn swung around to see a tall, well built man swathed in elaborate leather armor standing ten feet away. Dark haired, gray eyed, skin subtly bronze, Ashrael exuded a commanding presence like that of a warrior either just returned victorious from a battle or ready to embark on one. He was soaked in all the places water could reach.
The timbre and resonance of his speech had a way of sliding beneath the skin all the way to the bone.
“Hello, girls.”
***
All of the siblings had known Ashrael their entire lives. There wasn't one sister who didn't adore him. He treated them like any beloved Uncle might, protective and willing to listen whenever they wanted to speak. Every time they returned to the East Gate, Ashrael could be counted upon to be there.
Until now.
Evelyn and Minna engulfed him in an embrace that could be called nothing less than affectionate. He stood a shade under seven feet, which meant their cheeks only reached his chest. The palpable waves of his power radiated around him, unmistakable. Evelyn was used to the awesome presence all the Guardians projected. She knew Rhett would be much more susceptible to it.
“We didn't know what to think when we arrived to find you missing. Where have you been?” Evelyn asked.
He squeezed them both and set them back to look them over. Only his eyes showed his return affection. It slipped away at her question, leaving Ashrael with a serious, somber expression.
“I had to go to the cave. When you and Minna left, another presence invaded that sacred place.” He looked over their heads straight at Rhett.
Rhett held up his hands, palms out, a sign of innocence or surrender. “I didn't go in anywhere. I only drove Evelyn there.”
“Ashrael, this is Rhett Nich—Sagan.” Frowning, Evelyn made introductions.
“I know who he is. Rhett.” Ashrael inclined his head and did not offer his hand to shake.
Rhett didn't offer his, either. “Ashrael.”
“That can't be. I made sure no one followed me. I spent days there, scouring the landscape,” Minna said. “I would have seen anyone lurking nearby.”
Strapped to Ashrael's hip from a leather belt was a sword. The Templar swords were elaborate with their hilts and carvings, but this one outclassed them by miles. Silver, gold and steel made up the design, with inch thick bands of worn gray leather wrapping the hilt. Ashrael rested his hand on the pommel, still regarding Rhett.
“They didn't breach the cave until after you left, Minna, and you wouldn't have seen them anyway because they didn't want to be seen,” Ashrael said.
“Who was it?” Evelyn asked, imagining the crafty cabal who had captured her and Rhett to somehow have tracked them there. Ashrael turned his intuitive gaze on her.
“Servants of the Fallen. They oozed out of their hiding places the second the sun turned black and were drawn to the cave because they could feel the power of the seals.”
“Who are they?” Rhett asked, in a tone that suggested he already knew but wanted confirmation anyway.
Evelyn and Minna both knew—their expressions waned simultaneously.
“Offspring of my brethren, who were cast down and left to wait for the time of the tribulation. We would have fought them alongside the followers of the Beast—but they present a new, unexpected problem.”
“What problem, Ashrael?” Evelyn didn't like where the whole conversation was going.
“They have stolen the Book of Seals.”
Evelyn couldn't recall a time, ever, that she heard Minna gasp like that. A different kind of fear slithered through Evelyn's system. Rhett beat her to the next obvious question.
“What the hell does that mean?”
“It means, Rhett, that the Fallen will use the remaining Seals to precipitate a war the kind the world has never seen. They have hidden the Seals in remote places to make them harder to recover and have left guards to watch over them.”
“Why aren't you doing something about it if you know where they are?” Rhett said.
Ashrael paced toward the wide entrance to Eden. There was an inherent fluidity and grace in the way he moved. He kept his eyes on Rhett the whole time. “Because that's what they want me to do. They want to call down my brothers, extract their revenge upon us before they call upon the Four Horsemen and begin the final battle.”
“I'd think that's a good thing. Get rid of them, get the seals back. Less to fight later,” Rhett said, rubbing his thumb into his palm. A thoughtful action.
“There are only so many Guardians roaming the earth, and they in no way match the number of the Fallen. All my brothers will not be unleashed until the last Seal is broken. What are you doing here, may I ask?” Ashrael directed the question at Rhett. Coming to a stop at the front of the archway, he crossed his arms over the leather armor, disregarding his soaked clothing otherwise.
Evelyn was quick to step in. “I brought him, Ashrael.”
“What for?” he asked.
After the news just delivered, it seemed selfish and trivial to want what they'd originally come for. She licked her lips and twisted her fingers together.
“I wanted to get your permission to let him have a piece of fruit from the Tree of Life.” She came right out with it. They didn't have time for tepid leadins.
“Because you're involved and want him to live a longer life with you?” Ashrael asked, astutely summing up the situation. He looked between Rhett and Evelyn in an assessing, blatant manner.
“...yes. But there's more. I'm sure you know Galiana and Genevieve were murdered recently.” Using that terminology cut Evelyn to the core. But it was what it was, and she would do everything in her power to see this through to the end she and Rhett had discussed.
Ashrael's expression waned and he inclined his head in the affirmative. He always knew when one of the sisters passed. Once, when Galiana's twin had been murdered, Evelyn asked Ashrael why he or one of the other Guardians hadn't intervened.
He'd explained it wasn't his decision when to call souls home, that he couldn't exploit his position to make miraculous saves. If Ashrael had the gift of foresight, he wasn't allowed to use it to spare them the Hunting. It was part of the human process, he'd said, as much as he loathed to see it. These misconceptions, the greed, the lust for power and control helped contribute to the Fall. He didn't outright say it was destiny, but he might as well have.
“And you know the Templars were the ones hunting us. It was a secret sect within the group, not the Templars on a whole. Rhett pulled me out of their grasp and we've been on the run ever since. The Templars weren't the only ones who wanted the information we have—a group of powerful men knew we existed and came after us once the Templar sect was taken down.”
“I'm aware. Go on,” he encouraged.
“The Church appointed Rhett, Dracht and Dragar our Guardians, to protect us from this kind of thing so we can continue doing the work we've been doing all along. I realize what an utter irony it is,” she admitted. “But there are no better men for the task. Eating the fruit would extend their lives so that we didn't have to keep worrying about whether their eventual replacements would exploit us.” Evelyn watched Ashrael consider her appeals. He was
a hard man to read in circumstances such as these.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw Rhett and Minna also regarding Ashrael, waiting on his reply. This affected all of them. It was a life changing event for mortal men and a change for the sisters to formally accept that they would need protection from now on.
If Armageddon didn't get them first.
Ashrael switched a look to Rhett. Studying. Contemplating.
“The gift of immortality is not given lightly, nor without consequence. What would you do to have it?” he asked Rhett.
“Anything I had to,” Rhett replied.
“And your life, would you risk it?”
“Ashrael...” Evelyn interrupted. Ashrael held up a hand to silence her, staring at Rhett.
“I would,” Rhett said.
This was not how Evelyn imagined it would go. The men, gazes locked, were making plans without consulting her.
“What about the lives of your father and brothers?”
“Brothers?” Rhett asked, stressing the plural.
“Yes, both of your brothers. I'm aware of the situation with Christian.”
“I can speak for them all when I say they would take the same risks,” Rhett said after a brief hesitation.
“If I allow you to partake of the fruit it means you commit to this job until you die. You understand this?” Ashrael asked, pressing the seriousness of the issue.
“I understand. I can still speak for the others and say they would agree.”
“If you abandon your role, any of you, I will hunt you down and kill you myself.”
“I don't foresee any of us doing that.” Rhett didn't seem perturbed by the threat.
Ashrael paced before the archway, Rhett still pinned under his gaze. “The gift also does not come without effort on your part. You need to bring your brothers and father here as soon as you can. There will be a forty-eight hour cessation in the storms and rain to make travel easier—although I cannot guarantee that the Servants of the Fallen will not begin breaking the Seals. If they do, the world situation will deteriorate dramatically and swiftly, far beyond what you've already witnessed.”
“And the chances of getting my family back here in time will be all but impossible,” Rhett finished for him.
Ashrael inclined his head.
“Why haven't they broken them already? Why split them up and wait?” Rhett asked.
“The Seals were not meant to be broken all at the same time. There is a delay between the summoning and the actual event, and there needs to be a 'rest' after each to give the elements time to do what they were meant to. Breaking all of them at one time would result in a cataclysmic episode that nothing, not even the Fallen, would survive. They know this. Splitting the Seals up provides them with assurance that they will be harder to recover firstly, and secondly, there will be no chance of them all breaking at the same time. There is always the psychological factor to consider as well.”
“What, for the population?” Rhett guessed.
“They thrive on pain. Fear. And they have waited a very long time to extract their revenge. They feed off the negative energy and breaking the seals slowly, forcing humans to endure each change, prolongs the panic, the mayhem. They're in control right now and relishing every blessed second of it. This also gives them time to amass their army. Bring the soldiers to the front line, as it were.” Ashrael showed little emotion over the turn of events, but his distaste was palpable on the air.
“You think I have two days to recover my family before they begin breaking seals again?” Rhett asked.
“We, we have two days to recover your family,” Evelyn asserted. Rhett sliced a sharp look her way.
“That's my best guess. They'll break the Sixth Seal next before anything else, they have to, so you will have fair warning when the earthquakes start.”
“Then I'd better get moving.” Rhett stalked toward Evelyn and pulled her into a tight embrace. “Stay here. You don't need to be out there if it all goes bad.”
Evelyn wrapped her arms around him. “I'm not staying here, Rhett. I'm coming with you.”
“No.” He set her back and drew his hand over her hair, staring at her eyes. “It's just too dangerous. You'll slow me down.”
She arched a brow. “What if something happens and I can help you?”
“I'm coming, too,” Minna added.
Rhett exhaled in apparent frustration. “I need at least one of you to stay here—look, Alex is with Dracht, she knows how to get in. Dragar and Christian don't. I had phone contact with them not long before we got here, so all I have to do is tell them where to come. But I need someone to take them through the colonnades in case they show up before I do.”
Minna considered it. “I'll stay here then and watch for them.”
Her sister was always the voice of reason. Evelyn wasn't surprised she decided to stay behind to help out in what way she could here. But she was going with him. Period.
“Rhett. I'm not staying here. Minna's got this end covered. Let me come with you. I might not have her and Alex's talents but I do have a few of my own.” Evelyn argued her point, fingers curled into his shirt.
He grabbed her up by the outside of her arms, a gentle grasp that propelled her toward the pylon door. “Let's go. There's no time to waste.”
Chapter Nineteen
Forty-eight hours. The thought raced through Rhett's head while he guided Evelyn through the tall doorway and back into the real world. He resisted looking back at Eden, at the enormous gate and beyond that called to him like nothing else ever had. Everything that he was, what made him a man, what made him Rhett, demanded he take Evelyn back there and live out a life of promised peace that was inherent, he suspected, with that sacred place. On primal levels, instinctual levels, he knew nothing would ever harm them there.
The second they were through the doorway, the sunshine vanished. An overcast, brooding sky obliterated the black sun, casting a pall all its own over the water-drenched landscape. It was such a stark difference from the warm haven with its sweet smelling grass and chirping birds that again, he fought the urge to turn around and leave here.
At least the rain had stopped as Ashrael promised. The earth seemed at a standstill; nothing moved except rivulets of water draining away from the high ground. A funeral type pall cast a great hush through the atmosphere, a silent, indrawn breath of expectation.
It made the skin on his arms prickle with goosebumps and he felt them on Evelyn's when he skimmed his palm down to claim her hand. The look on her face mirrored exactly what he felt inside.
“We need to hurry.” Rhett took off at a run with her, boots sloshing over the saturated ground. Most of the rain had run off into the Nile though huge puddles remained. Splashing through them rather than bother to go around, they passed through the center of the east and west colonnades, around several other ancient stone structures to the dock where the boat waited. He considered searching the island for a maintenance office or other modern building—there had to be one somewhere, he thought—but that would waste valuable time.
Helping her into the boat, he jumped in behind her and cut away to the keypad.
“So what's the plan? Where are we going?” Evelyn asked, plopping down into the seat across from him.
“We're going back across to the mainland and find the first gas station or convenience store in sight. They'll have a phone somewhere. I don't want to risk trying houses because people might think we're attacking them and fight back.” The engine rolled over and he steered them away from the island, zooming through the rollicking water toward the shoreline. The two inches of water in the bottom stayed there. He didn't waste time bothering with the bilge pump again.
“What if the phones are out, Rhett? We can't drive all the way back to the coast and take another boat to Greece. It'll take three and a half days at least.”
“I know.” Rhett understood they had to make contact by phone as soon as possible. Retrieving them from the safe house would take too
long. Besides going, there was the trip back to consider. It would take as long to return as it did to go.
“What's the plan if that happens? If the phone service is out?”
“Let's worry about that when we have to.” He gave her a grim smile that didn't feel as encouraging as he wished it did.
Gliding into the same dock they left from, Rhett pulled the boat into a slip, cut the engine and tied the boat off. The sound of running feet pounding on wood surprised him just when he reached for Evelyn's hand to help her out.
He looked up in time to see a group of eight or so men running down the docks. Their eyes were wild, clothes and hair wet, words babbling out of their mouths at such a high rate of speed he couldn't decipher it. Stripped of his weapons during the interrogation, he had no gun in case they needed it. He hoped they wouldn't.
The group must have seen them pull in, because they headed right for them. Rhett yanked Evelyn behind him, feet braced apart on the boat for better balance.
A young man, no more than eighteen or nineteen Rhett guessed, gestured at the boat, shouting and screaming. He wanted Rhett to drive him somewhere—no drive all of them somewhere.
“You can take the boat! We want off,” Rhett countered in the same language, speaking slowly so he would be understood.
“No! No you take us!”
“We're getting off right here--”
“You take us!” The youth reached under his sopping, overlarge shirt and pulled a gun out.
Rhett found himself staring down the muzzle from a distance of less than four feet.
The young man's companions, ranging in age from teens to mid-fifties, ranted and rambled and made furious gestures.
They must have tried to take one of the other boats and had no success finding keys. There were too many buildings close by they could have been taking shelter in this whole time, waiting, afraid to go anywhere else because one never knew when the earth was going to start in again with an event more devastating than the last.
It didn't really matter the whys and hows, it only mattered that the boy had the gun. Rhett considered luring him into the vessel and overpowering him, but any one of his buddies might have a weapon and even if they didn't, eight men against one wasn't a fair fight in anyone's world. He had Evelyn to consider, too. Silently, he cursed a blue streak.
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