Lailah (The Styclar Saga)

by Nikki Kelly

  I returned his urgency and wrapped my legs around his waist, easing him toward me. He didn’t object and I found myself guiding his smooth, perfect hands from my back down to my sides. He skimmed my skin gently and finally grasped my hips, hugging my body tightly with his own. We were entirely entwined. His aroma was a mixture of yuzu and sandalwood; he tasted like citrus.

  I ran my hands up under his shirt and felt his broad shoulders, then ran my fingertips down the length of his spine. His hand traveled down to the opening of my jeans and he tickled my navel, bobbing his finger in and out contemplatively. An elated tingle raced through me as he pawed the top of my panties. Using my hips, I tried to encourage him to wiggle me free. My whole insides seemed to light up at his touch; there was no question in my mind that we were connected in some profound way. Kissing my neck, he found my now cold ring resting on my collarbone and, regarding it hesitantly, he seized up.

  Moving away from me, he placed his hands on my waist and held them there, eyes still glowing. He tugged my jeans up and rebuttoned them. I didn’t know what to say, so I said nothing.

  “Let’s get you back in the warmth, back to the house. You’ll catch your death out here,” he said.

  What? Why had he stopped? I was utterly perplexed. I had felt him—he wanted me as badly as I wanted him, but yet again something was holding him back. I eyed him with bewilderment.

  “I’m more likely to catch my death in there actually. I’m not going back inside.” My words were fierce, covering my disappointment.

  “Stay here, don’t move,” Gabriel said, springing up.

  I waited for him to return, freezing to the bone and completely dumbfounded. But I did as he asked. He was only gone a few minutes before reappearing carrying a thick duvet and pillows. He wrapped me up tightly inside and I turned my back to him, hurt.

  He nestled in next to me, under the quilt, and placed his sturdy arms around my body, nudging his nose into the dip of my neck. Pushing my tangled hair from my face, he grazed his fingers over the lacerations scratched into my cheeks. I curled in embarrassment; I was a mess. He was so perfect, and I was a fool to think he would want me.

  “Don’t worry. The way your body works, I’m sure they’ll be gone by tomorrow,” he whispered lightly.

  He confirmed my fears: I was a mess. I struggled to keep my tears from falling and closed my eyes self-consciously.

  Intertwining my bare feet with his own, he bound them together, expelling waves of heat, bringing them back to life. I was grateful to him for that.

  The image of Gabriel glowing in light swept through me. I wasn’t sure if what I had seen was real; though deep down I knew it was.

  You ended Thomas. I saw you.

  He didn’t reply, but he was listening.

  I didn’t think Angels were killers, especially for their own gain. I tried again, hoping to provoke a reaction. Although I was sure that I was misplacing my anger, it was his rejection that truly upset me.

  I granted Thomas an ending he would never have received otherwise. His last moments were filled with light. I did what was asked of me.

  I left it at that and, warmed by the heat that radiated from Gabriel, I fell asleep in his arms.

  He had rejected me only minutes ago, yet lying here, he locked me in as if I were the most precious and expensive jewel in the world. I didn’t realize it yet, but I had, and would continue, to cost him everything to keep me safe.

  And he didn’t yet know what I truly was and who I would become.

  THIRTEEN

  I SAT UP TO FIND THE DOOR to the cottage ajar and a chilly breeze seeping through. Gabriel wasn’t next to me anymore. Wrapping the duvet around my body, I made my way to the door. I was taken aback by what I saw. The silhouette of Gabriel was positioned in the stream of light that was rising from the horizon. His body was illuminated and flashing gold, while twinkling star-shaped crystals exuded from his skin. He floated above the grass, absorbing the waking morning. As the sun rose higher in the sky and night gave way to day, his glow changed and his full form came back into focus, but he hesitated before he turned around to greet me.

  “I was created and born from light; on Earth the sun fuels me.”

  It was a straightforward answer to a question I couldn’t recall asking.

  He paced the length of the slated path and met me at the entrance. He peered down at me and placed his thumb and index finger under my chin, tilting my face upward to meet his eyes. He ran his gaze over me, finally touching the corner of my eyebrow softly, and I flinched a little.

  “All gone, but that cut might take a little longer,” he said.

  I scratched my head, tousling my blond hair, which added to my messy appearance.

  “You are especially striking in the sunlight,” he said, observing me as several rays of light warmed my face.

  The winter sun was blinding and I squinted to watch Gabriel’s expression as the light rose above his form and cascaded over me.

  He pulled my body, still wrapped in the thick duvet, in to him and leaned down, resting his chin delicately against my temple. Running his nose down my cheek, I felt his breath against my skin, soaking up the fragrance of my hair. “Citrus,” he murmured.

  “Sorry?” I whispered against his cheek.

  “Your scent. It’s never changed.”

  I almost laughed, for I was sure he must have smelled himself; his essence had reminded me of the same.

  “Gabriel,” I started with a serious tone, “tell me where you come from.”

  He thought about my request before replying, “Okay, Lailah.”

  Squeezing my hand, he led me back through the building to the sitting room.

  Helping me to the floor, he lifted the sheet from over the new fireplace and stoked some logs on the fire, allowing it to blaze warmly. Once he was sure the room was comfortable, he knelt down beside me.

  “Our world has many names. Mortals on Earth call it Heaven; some call it the first dimension; but its real name is Styclar-Plena.” He paused as I took in the information.

  Styclar-Plena. Its name alone sounded extraordinary.

  “Existence of our kind evolved from a large crystal sphere that floated at the center of what became our civilization.”

  I looked at Gabriel, confused. He answered my unspoken question.

  “How it got there, we don’t know. Some speculate that it was a star that fell, but no one really knows for sure. But beautiful, stunning creatures grew and flourished in its light, the beings existing in pure splendor. Life for our kind first began tens of thousands of years ago, by your understanding of time. It was in the peak of my ancestors’ history that the silvers and golds exuding from the crystal began to dull and weaken. The crystal seemed to be running out of energy.”

  His brow creased as he continued the story. “The light began to recede, and creatures and beings began to vanish where the darkness took its place. Our kind were not just born from the light, but needed it to survive. Not many still existed when the great leader Orifiel, who had begun to fade and wither, saw a silver sparkle forming just on the edge of the brightness.”

  I was captivated. “What did he do?”

  “He watched it flutter; he had never seen any such thing before. From the fading crystal, he carved a small piece and held it in his hand for comfort. He started moving toward the silver cracks that were forming in the air. It is told that when he reached them, they mesmerized him, willing him nearer. The crystal carving in his hand began to glow once more, and resonated heat. He stepped into the swelling air and passed through to another dimension; we know it as the second, and you know it as Earth.”

  Listening intently as Gabriel relived the beginnings of his world, I felt completely honored to be the chosen audience. “How come they had never seen it before?”

  “How do you see light against light?” he replied, seemingly impressed with my question. “It was only as the darkness crept forward that for a few moments in time, the faint crack of a bright,
shimmering silver contrasted against the void. He explored the new world and found landscapes, rivers, and animals. He glowed as the sun that penetrated the Earth’s atmosphere warmed his face, and he realized that he could exist in this new world. Humankind was very young then; they hadn’t even begun to make a mark on their world. Orifiel traveled as fast as he could, trying to find something, anything, that might help keep our dimension living.”

  “Why didn’t he just rescue the others and bring them to Earth?” I said.

  “Though Earth had its own beauty, nothing could compare with the majesty of Styclar-Plena. He discovered mortals—humans that grew from children into adults and eventually ceased to exist. Death, the end of things, was not a natural cycle for those in the first dimension. Our ancestors did indeed grow, but the stages of their life were vastly different. Time moved there at a far slower speed than on Earth. Once our beings and creatures became all but a day old, which on Earth is the equivalent of nearly twenty years, they remained fixed, frozen in time, and their forms—immortal. It is in that first day of our graced life that each of our kind is brought to the crystal. It is the only time in our existence that we are permitted to touch it. In that one day, all the history of Styclar-Plena is revealed to us and our purpose made clear. The story of our origin, our heritage, and the days that followed are unveiled to us in a series of images and memories.”

  “So you touched the crystal?” I asked.

  “Yes. I can’t even begin to explain its magic. An all-encompassing feeling of calm, contentment, and acceptance flows through every inch of your being.”

  It sounded magnificent. It reminded me of how I felt in Gabriel’s presence. He almost started to glow as he recalled his experience.

  “Orifiel became aware, very quickly, that he had gifts that were unusual in this dimension. He could do things that mortals could not. He was far faster and stronger; he had the power to influence; he could make himself invisible to them should he choose, to name but a few. And it was while Orifiel searched for answers that he stumbled upon a young woman who was dying. As she passed, he witnessed a light so white and pure, which was remarkably similar to the light from our crystal. The brightness ascended into the air and floated above the woman’s body. He noticed that none of the humans who surrounded her could see what he could. The light seemed to be drawn to his carving from the crystal. The essence traveled toward Orifiel and as it did, the crystal once again came to life, becoming bright and bold and luminous in his hand. Suddenly waves of silver formed like hairline cracks in the air, just the same as when he had passed through. They appeared in front of him and Orifiel returned to our dimension with the woman’s essence.”

  “He stole her soul?” I asked, a little unsure.

  “He didn’t steal it; he simply guided it to where it wanted to go. I witnessed, through the images, Orifiel returning with her energy. It seemed to dance and almost sing as it traveled into the crystal sphere that dulled where he had left it. The sphere immediately lit up once more, and the gold and white sparkles outstretched. It was in this moment that Orifiel realized that he had found the key to our survival. He returned with others of his kind, and they learned how to harness the energy that left a mortal’s body in death and lead it through the second dimension back to the first, Styclar-Plena. Using carvings from the crystal they were able to command these gateways to open, and from there, life in the first dimension flourished once more, and was even more majestic than it ever had been. It was as if this was the way it was always meant to be. The light spread farther and wider and our world grew vast and deep.”

  He looked at me and encouraged me to ask the questions that hung on my lips.

  “So what you’re saying is that when a person dies here on Earth, beings from your world, from Styclar-Plena, open these gateways and collect their souls and use them to, well, fuel your world?”

  I was trying to make sure I had it clear.

  “Essentially, yes. But it is a wonder for the souls that feed the crystal; they continue to exist in a form of beauty, different from anything on Earth, as brilliant light … love. Humans don’t have it far wrong; it is a form of Heaven, only their souls don’t continue to exist in the same way—they live on, but as something else. Another being, a structure, air … Their essence is transformed by the light and they still go on existing.”

  Gabriel paused to make sure I understood. Then he continued. “But as the days passed and the ages moved forward, a more structured society was born out of necessity. Now, so that Styclar-Plena would continue to flourish, select beings were appointed by Orifiel, to ensure the survival of our world. They were later given the name ‘Angel.’”

  “Like you?”

  “I am an Angel, but I am an Angel Descendant; I was not one of the first. I have existed for nearly two hundred years in Earth terms, which is still very young when it comes to my kind,” he answered. “Though I only inhabited Styclar-Plena for that one day before I was tasked.” He stopped abruptly. His body stiffening told me that it was not a comfortable subject.

  “How are you a Descendant?”

  “There were only a few of our kind who could fulfill these duties. They were the most human-like of all. There were only forty left after the day the darkness fell: twenty male and twenty female, including Orifiel himself. Not enough by any stretch to move souls to our plane. So they did what no other being in our dimension could do. Having seen how the human race populated, Orifiel devised a similar solution. Through the exchange of light and energy, a male and a female Angel would conceive a child. Around the same time, another male and female Angel couple would also create a child in the same way. A special ceremony was then held and, harnessing the bright white light and energy from the crystal, it touched both unborn Angel children in their mothers’ wombs, bonding them together. One light, split into two.”

  “An Angel Pair?” I mumbled.

  “Two Angels, fated to be each other’s mate; fated to work together in their tasks on Earth, in the same rank, guiding and supporting one another; fated to share a love like no other.”

  “But why would they want to do that?” I said.

  I could feel an unsettling feeling rising inside me; was Gabriel half of an Angel Pair, and if so, where was she?

  “In the beginning, only one Angel Descendant was conceived at a time, not linked to any other. But as time moved forward, Angel Descendants began to fall, choosing to exist on Earth as mortals—and to die.”

  “But why?” I asked.

  “Parted from Styclar-Plena in order to carry out their tasks on Earth, they grew weary. It was at the loss of so many that chose to fall that Orifiel decided to pair up the Angel Descendants. So although Angels had the duty, and to a degree, the burden of sustaining our world so that others could exist in paradise as they had once before, in return Orifiel gave us something none of the Arch Angels possessed: the immediate connection to another via an all-encompassing love, a love that bonds the two souls together for eternity. It no longer mattered how long they spent away from our world, as long as they had each other, their lights continued to shine brightly. These Angels then worked up the ranks, put in place by Orifiel, together.”

  I looked at Gabriel, saddened. He didn’t love me after all; he was fated to someone else. I didn’t want to ask him about her; I couldn’t bring myself to.

  “And you were an Angel of Death?”

  “Yes. There are nine different ranks of Angel, all of which are tasked with continuing to collect the pure energy of souls from Earth, but in different ways. Some Angels are messengers, visiting Earth and influencing mortals to make the right choices, to find their grace, so that when the time comes their energy is pure and an Angel of Death can collect it and move it across the dimensions,” he explained.

  “What if a person’s soul is not pure? What if they are bad people?” I asked.

  “If the soul is tainted, it is darkness, not light, that leaves a mortal’s body. Styclar-Plena was born from light, an
d light is what keeps all its inhabitants living a pure and beautiful existence. We have no use for dark souls. Their energy exists on the Earth until the scavengers appear and snatch it for the third dimension.” He raised his eyebrows, waiting for my reaction.

  “The third dimension?” I stared back at him, bewildered.

  “It is believed that Orifiel’s passing between the dimensions created rifts. The more that Angels moved between our world and this one, the more fissures formed, creating a passageway between Earth and another dimension which sits on the opposite side of our own. We call it the third dimension; mortals on Earth call it Hell. It’s from the third dimension that Pureblood Vampires have emerged.”

  I tried to understand. “Did they already exist in … Hell?”

  “We don’t fully understand how they came to exist. I was taught that when the dark souls left a human body, they would linger and then move toward an opening. Orifiel, during his investigations, followed one and watched as it levitated over a black crack in the atmosphere. He believed it to be a doorway to the third dimension. The more the Angels visited Earth, the more these cracks appeared. At first it didn’t seem to have an effect on anything, but during the time when so many Angel Descendants fell, Orifiel lost track of them on Earth. They were separated from Styclar-Plena and had become mortal, so they became lost. There were rumors that some of the fallen Angels had passed through the doorway, to the third dimension, but Orifiel couldn’t determine if that was the case.”

  “But how could Angels, beings born out of light, exist in darkness? Wasn’t it the darkness that began killing your world in the first place?” I pressed.

  “They were fallen. They had lost their light and gifts when they fell; they became mortal. But their souls were still created and born out of light. If they did move across, who knows what would have become of them. Soon after this, Orifiel learned of new creatures—terrifying, dark, and evil—which were crossing over to the second dimension and existing on Earth. The Arch Angels watched over them and observed them killing mortals using their fangs to bore into human flesh and drinking the blood until the mortals were empty. What was even more disturbing was that these humans didn’t release any light or dark energy, so it was as though these monsters were consuming their souls along with the blood.”