The Complete 8-Book Guardians Adventure Saga

by Summer Lee

  “Give me a minute to freshen up,” he said, heading for the bathroom.

  “Sure.”

  The morning sun was shining at an angle through the window that caught her attention. Achava felt an energy inside her heart that caused her to want to move forward. The problems would be minimized. Her mouth was tight. Her hands were sweaty. She needed to know God’s will.

  Achava stood and stared out of the living room window in Sam’s house. She wondered if there would ever be a time when she would be able to pass the torch of protecting Israel. She assumed that she would die as Israel’s protector, but she wondered about all of the things she might be missing in her life by not getting married.

  She had devoted herself to God, so she could fight off evil spirits when they came against God’s land of promise. She had to walk in the spirit, but she also realized that as long as she was in the flesh, she would be subject to the temptations of the world. She did her best to look not through her eyes, but through her Heavenly Father’s eyes. It was sometimes easy to think that her wants and desires were godly. That was how some Christians think about God.

  She turned around and saw that Sam was still in the bathroom. She knelt in front of the window, absorbing into her soul the light of the day that shone through the window. She clasped her hands and bowed her head.

  “My holy Father,” she whispered. “As always, I am Your willing and able servant. I have been given great tasks to perform to keep Your words in my life. I have feelings as any normal woman would, but I don’t want my flesh to betray me. Lord, I have feelings for Samuel Godfrey. He is not a warrior, but is fearless nonetheless. He is a good man and I believe he seeks You in his life. I have a problem. I would never think of being with anyone who did not place You first. I know that Sam is not there yet. So guide me. Amen.”

  Achava kept her head lowered as she smiled with one tear rolling down her cheek. She turned to God often for help. She was doing it again. This was a strange mission that she was embarking on.

  When she looked up, she saw Sam standing expressionless near the kitchen doorway.

  Her eyes widened when she saw him. She didn’t know what to say, so she wiped the tear away and cleared her throat. “Just talking to my Father in heaven.”

  He cocked his head to one side. “I guess I can rule out you putting in a good word for me with your Father.”

  “Not really.” She placed the palms of her hands together again. “Lord, take us supernaturally to Mt. Nebo. Please.”

  Sam leveled his blue eyes on Achava. “So you think we are both up to this mission?”

  “I think so.”

  “Do you want me to be your assistant?”

  “No, I think we make a good team.”

  “I will accept you on your terms.”

  He walked over and sat down on the couch near her. She turned and sat down too. Not close enough that they touched, but it was close enough that Sam could smell her freshly washed hair. She reached over and patted his hand and then pulled her hand back. They sat like that for about ten minutes, before he said, “Well, should we go?”

  “Come.” She clasped his hand and led him down the street. They walked hand in hand out of town and up on a small hill.

  “Close your eyes,” she said firmly, clasping his bicep, “and do not open them until I say to do so.”

  “I would rather go by plane.” That was the last he said before he felt the wind blowing them forward.

  Chapter the Eighth

  SAM DID NOT SAY ANOTHER WORD until he and Achava appeared on the ledge near the entrance to Herod’s treasure chamber on Mt. Nebo. “Are we there yet?”

  “Yes, Sam. Open your eyes.” The first thing he saw was her petite body and luscious lips, which would never be his. He immediately lost his balance on the thin ledge and started to fall. He wasn’t prepared for landing there.

  “What the heck!” Sam showed immediate rage.

  “It’s okay. Don’t be a baby.” She had picked up on his anger.

  His arms flailed as Achava grabbed his hand and pulled him back onto the ledge. He was noticeably distressed. “What the hell, Achava? You said you were concerned about tourists, which is why we traveled early! I assumed that meant that we were going to appear somewhere where tourists could see us!”

  “I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you, Samuel Godfrey,” she replied in a monotone voice.

  He squinted. “Seriously? Wow. You could have warned me that we would land on the ledge.”

  “I saved you. Didn’t I?” she responded with a coldness.

  “That’s it!” he exclaimed. “I’m not moving from this spot until we talk this out!”

  “Suit yourself,” she said, calmly as she proceeded to set fire to the bush that always grew back after it was burned away.

  “That’s all you’re going to say to me, Achava?” Sam was livid. “After all we’ve been through? You’re just going to treat me like an unwanted distraction?”

  She glared at him. “You are not unwanted, Samuel. You are a necessary component to this and previous missions. I... need you.”

  “You need me, or the mission needs me?” he asked, as his eyes teared up.

  After the bush burned and the platform appeared, she turned her full attention toward Sam. “I need you... to help me with this mission. It was your idea that brought us here, after all.”

  Sam looked at her with surprise. He shouldn’t have been surprised after what he heard her praying about. He was a distraction. She basically said that he was a distraction when she only replied that he was not unwanted. He couldn’t do it anymore. He knew that in her denying her feelings, she would make it almost impossible to work with. “I’m going home.”

  “What?” Achava practically shrieked as she stood on the platform. “Why are you doing this, now? If you want to feel sorry for yourself, then maybe you can do it later when we are not working.”

  He heard the words, but couldn’t make sense of them. Did she just say that his feelings were secondary? He knew she was trying to hide her feelings, but to act in a cruel way toward him was more than unfair and hurtful. His eyes teared up as he gritted his teeth. “Did you ever think that maybe your God was trying to bring us together for more than just His missions?”

  “We are friends.”

  “You mentioned something about people getting caught up in their own ideas about what He wants and yet that could well be the exact thing you’re doing! Maybe you don’t want to marry me and maybe you don’t care anything for me, but I at least deserve to be treated like a friend, if nothing else!”

  “I have befriended you.”

  “How dare you pretend to be better than me! At least I don’t hide behind someone else’s laws and rules, so that I can justify alienating the one person I should be holding closest!”

  “You don’t know what you are talking about.”

  “I’m done, Achava! I plan to go home! You can take me or I’ll catch a plane.”

  She clenched her fists. “We’re not done yet, Sam. We have...”

  “This isn’t my fight!” He interrupted her before she could finish. “Not anymore. I no longer care about the stupid fleece.”

  He saw the realization in her face. It was never his fight. He went on one expedition, because of Professor Salinger. He only agreed to more missions, because of the way that he felt about her. He thought she felt the same way about him.

  “What about my dreams?”

  “I never wanted you to give up anything,” he continued. “I wanted to be a part of your life, no matter how crazy and dangerous it was. I knew that was the only way I could get close to a woman like you.” Sam started to wheeze. He pulled out his inhaler and sniffed deeply.

  When his breathing was under control, he continued. “Ask yourself this, Achava. When have I ever asked you to stop doing what you’re doing? I may have asked you if you were going to do it forever, but I supported you in everything you’ve done so far. Even if I didn’t u
nderstand most of what was going on around me. That’s what partners do for each other! Support one another! Even if you couldn’t be the kind of partner that I wanted, I was still there for you!”

  “Was?” Achava asked.

  He sighed. “You can’t accept me as anything else except a partner who’s there when you’re ready to pull the strings. I could never get a woman like you in any reality setting on this planet. I know that, but I didn’t need to be constantly reminded by you. Just when I was willing to accept the situation for what it was, you turn around and get all crazy on me. Yes. Was. I said, I’m done. Take me home, or at least lend me the money for a flight back to the States. I don’t have your power anymore. I can’t Soul Merge anywhere I want anymore. I don’t care about your missions anymore. Just let me go back to my mundane existence, where I don’t have to think about saving the world every Tuesday. I was never meant for anything greater than to be just plain old Professor Samuel Godfrey, who has now retired. It’s time I went back to the role I was born to play. Good luck, Achava. Maybe you can find a new partner, one who you can stomach being around.”

  Achava held out her hand as tears flowed down her cheeks. Did what he said get to her? Obviously, because of the tears. What he needed from her was for her to tell him that she would at least try to be a friend to him and knock it off with the Jekyll and Hyde routine. He hoped that his words found a place in her heart that he still had access to. He reached out his hand with faith in his words. Faith in himself. Faith in her.

  When they touched hands, he smiled, thinking that all would be well and she would talk to him, so that they could get on with the mission. He smiled at her as he felt her hand in his.

  In the next instant, he was alone in his house. His faith was gone. Achava was gone and with her, any chance that she would ever accept him. When he heard her prayers about him being a distraction, he was willing to work things out and just be friends and mission partners. When she heard how he felt, she cut her ties.

  He dropped to his knees as he cried uncontrollably. She accepted his proposal to go home without giving so much as an argument as to why they should remain partners. It really was over. She was done with him if she couldn’t have him on her terms. He couldn’t stop crying as he pulled himself up from the floor and rushed to the bathroom. He looked around the house, on his way. He expected her to be there. Somewhere, waiting for him. She was not.

  He stared into the bathroom mirror and grimaced. “It never fails, Godfrey. Women find you repulsive. Being a hermit isn’t so bad. Maybe I can even get back into teaching. Yes! That’s a great idea! She’ll need me and I will never be there again for her. Not on her terms! Never on her terms!”

  “I wouldn’t say repulsive.”

  The voice was female and it came from behind him. He looked in the mirror. Just over his shoulder, he could see an incredibly tall gorgeous woman standing about three feet behind him. It was Anthea.

  “I’ve seen worse, Samuel,” she said as she looked him over.

  He dropped his head and placed his hands on the bathroom sink. “What do you want? There’s nothing here for you!”

  She smiled. “My sister really did a number on you, Samuel. Can I call you Sam?”

  “I don’t trust you, Anthea!” he exclaimed, nervously.

  She leaned in close to him. “I could have come to you in this form...” Her body started to shape-shift when she touched one of her tattoos. She almost took the form of Achava. “...but I didn’t.”

  “Stop it!” Sam yelled, while trying to wipe away his tears.

  Anthea shifted back to her original form. “The fact of the matter is, I could have showed up in Achava’s form and you wouldn’t have been the wiser. I could have tricked you into believing that I had a change of heart and wanted you to be in every aspect of my life... but I didn’t.” She got even closer, as she ran her hand through his hair. “I could have seduced you under the guise of my sister, hoping to ensnare you into whatever devilish plot I may have cooked up... but I didn’t. I could have made mad passionate love to you as Achava, making you think that everything was perfect, but I didn’t. I could have even accepted your recessive proposal, to further my cause... but I didn’t.”

  Sam looked at her suspiciously, while he waited to see why she was there—why she was talking so much. He didn’t need to say anything, because she seemed to know enough already.

  “I could appear as anyone or anything,” she continued, as she backed away from him. “I could have appeared as your beloved Professor Salinger. Anyone... but I didn’t.”

  Sam finally spoke. “Okay. Now that I know what you didn’t do, I want to know why you’re here. What do you plan to do?”

  She cocked her head to the side and crossed her arms in front of her bosom. “I will end up being the most honest person that you have ever met. My honesty will surprise and even irritate you at times, but at least you don’t have to worry about me lying to you. And I will never keep my feelings hidden. Don’t get me wrong, I will never love you. That’s not me. I may not ever like you, but I would like to work with you.”

  “Do you think I’m that gullible?” he replied. His curiosity was getting the better of him. He wanted to know more. “You appeared after Achava and I had a disagreement, and now you hope to come in and prey on the possibility that I’m vulnerable enough to be manipulated. Nice try!”

  Anthea laughed. “Do you see why I want to work with you? I like to laugh, but I haven’t been around enough people with the ability to make me laugh. Everyone I associate with is usually solemn and long-faced. I can’t stand it! I think you and I are going to get along swimmingly.”

  “You can look like her, but you don’t talk like Achava,” Sam said cautiously. “I’m not convinced.”

  “I am my own person, Sam!” she said in huffing tones. “I embrace the life I’m living! Look, if you’re going to be comparing me to my sister all the time, then maybe this wasn’t such a great idea.”

  They had been standing in the bathroom the entire time. He stepped toward the hallway. “I agree. It was a bad idea.”

  “Fine.” She left the bathroom as well. “Have a great life Sam.”

  “Wait!” Sam said, regretting it as soon as it was said. “I want to hear more.”

  “I will probably see you again,” she said. “I’ll explain it then.”

  “Tell me now. Why are you really here?”

  “I thought you’d never ask,” she replied, as she went into the living room and sat down on the sofa. Sam followed her closely. She patted the seat next to her as an invitation to sit down beside her.

  “All I want is the person I’m associating with to be honest with me,” he said as he sat next to her. “I don’t expect anything less than what I’m willing to give in return.”

  “Whoa there, Sam!” she said as she inched away from him. “That sounds like relationship talk and I’ll have none of that, or I am out of here!”

  Sam shook his head and sighed. “That’s not what I’m talking about, Anthea. I mean in any relationship. Friendship is a relationship too.”

  “Is poor little Sam looking for a new friend?” she responded in a sarcastic tone, her smile fading. “Understand one thing, Sam. With me, ‘what you see is what you get.’ I don’t have to lie to the people I work with, unless it benefits me. I’ve never betrayed a partner before and I have no plans of doing so now.”

  “Unless it benefits you,” he added.

  Her smile came back. “Right! See? You got it!”

  Sam glared at her. “So you want to work with me, involving something that probably has your own best interest at heart. And you won’t lie to me, unless it also benefits you. Well, that’s definitely honest. What do you want me to help you with?”

  Anthea squinted her eyes, trying to figure out if he was serious. “I’m really not a bad person. I have my faults, but I have my good points, too. Achava is getting into something that she needs to just leave alone. The Fleece of Gideon is some serio
us business.”

  “Why are you trying to interfere now, and not when we went on those other missions?” he asked.

  “Because those missions were just...” she answered, raising one eyebrow. “You know.”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Trust me, this one is not like anything else. Why do you think the fleece has been hidden so completely all of these centuries? Some things just weren’t supposed to be found. I know you felt drawn to it and that’s the archeologist part of you, being interested in finding something that was never meant to be found. I know it was your lead, but Achava should have known how dangerous it could be to bring the fleece out into the open.”

  “What could be that dangerous?” he asked, innocently.

  “Are you familiar with Pandora’s Box?” she asked as she stretched out and crossed her ankles on top of his coffee table.

  Sam nodded.

  “Good,” she continued. “The fleece was once used to prove God’s mission to Gideon and to restore G-man’s faith in the Lord. In the wrong hands, the fleece would have the opposite effect. It can drain all hope from whoever touches it.”

  She now had Sam’s complete attention. “What happens if it falls into the right hands?”

  She shrugged. “Not sure. No one knows what happened to it after the war with the Midianites. Your theory is the closest anyone’s gotten to finding it.”

  “If you remember in the myth of Pandora’s Box, letting all the bad stuff out was not the end of the story.”

  “What was the end?”

  “We know that Pandora broke the rule and opened the box. A lot of bad stuff was released. Epimetheus, her husband, heard her weeping. He came running. Pandora opened the lid to show him it was empty. Before she could shut it again, one tiny bug named Hope flew out. The bug spread the hope to Pandora with a big smile in thanks for his freedom and flew away. Hope still makes all the difference in the world.”