Inception (The Reaping Chronicles, 1)

by Haviland, Teal

  “Close your eyes, my dear. You’ll be home soon.”

  Gabrielle did as he requested and closed her eyes. A smile moved her lips, brought on by Lucas’s face. Something stirred in her mind but also somewhere deep within—somewhere she had never felt such things. He was a distraction, and she didn’t fully trust him. But she still had the nagging feeling that she needed to protect him … she had to keep him safe.

  The smile on her face faded as quickly as it appeared as the vision expanded to a scene that caused her brows to push firmly together. Lucas was lying on the ground below her. It was a different scene than what little she remembered from her dreams. There was no one else around, just Lucas and Gabrielle and the energy of several others far off in the distance. She sensed where he was lying was close to sacred ground. More than that, the ground had been protected. She wasn’t concerned with the other energies or why the ground was protected, though. Her concern was Lucas; he didn’t seem to have life in him anymore. When she reached down to see if he was dead, Lucas disappeared, and all she touched was the hopelessness and pain of Darkness.

  What happened?

  She knew she wouldn’t get the answer to that question, but she did understand the heaviness and stench of the Fallen, and of those who live in Shadows, was filling her senses—even though it was only a vision.

  Why would they come after him?

  She felt something grip her inside, wringing her heart. She pulled her hands to her chest and pressed hard against her bones in a useless attempt to make it stop as Amaziah moved her swiftly through the air.

  “No,” she whispered softly.

  ‘It’s okay, Gabrielle. You are safe, now,’ Amaziah’s voice echoed in her troubled mind.

  She didn’t respond.

  Amaziah wouldn’t understand. How could she make anyone understand when she couldn’t grasp what this human was doing to her? Lucas was becoming a part of her in ways that were alarming. She would have to figure out how to keep an eye on him while still keeping her distance. He was in danger; of what, she still didn’t know. It was a danger she could physically feel, though—and that was never good. Nothing could stop it. It wasn’t just a possibility when she had this type of premonition—one that she experienced physically—it was a certainty.

  A sense of well-being and love suddenly filled her completely. She was …

  Home!

  Although, it wasn’t her dwelling on Earth. The joy and serenity of Heaven was all around her. Amaziah had brought her home. She looked at Amaziah, and he met her gaze with his brilliance.

  ‘Why did you bring me here?’

  ‘It’s too dangerous for you, Gabrielle. You’re staying here.’

  ‘No.’ Gabrielle struggled free of Amaziah’s cradling arms. ‘No, I’m not.’

  ‘Yes, you are. If I hadn’t intervened, you and Phalen would have been in terrible trouble.’

  ‘I was about to shed my human form just as you appeared, Amaziah. I would have been fine as soon as I was free of its frailty.’

  ‘At least you admit to being more frail when you are incarnated.’

  There was silence between them as Amaziah seemed to be picking his next words. He hated to argue, especially with her.

  ‘Really, Gabrielle … they could have killed you. Don’t you understand the risk? Do you actually have to have a Sundering Whip take off your head for reason to take hold of your thoughts?’

  ‘I think you are being over dramatic and unduly protective.’

  ‘Of course you do.’

  ‘Amaziah, I have to go back. I am learning so much. I couldn’t just let that girl be raped by them. I had to help her!’ Panic over the girl’s well-being gripped Gabrielle. ‘What happened to her after we left?’

  ‘I know you couldn’t leave her there to go through what they had planned, Gabrielle. I do not fault you for stepping in and interfering. It is expected. Nevertheless, you were at a huge disadvantage in your human body. It obviously can’t handle the physicality of an encounter with the Fallen if they are powerful enough.’

  Amaziah released a sigh. ‘The girl is fine. I returned her to the moment before she crossed paths with the demons. She will never know.’

  ‘Good.’

  Quiet settled between them. Gabrielle had to convince Amaziah to allow her return to Earth. How she was going to accomplish that was unclear.

  ‘I will be better prepared for my body’s reaction if it happens again.’

  She didn’t want to let him know how many opportunities to grow more accustomed to handling the effects she felt on her human form were possible. With all of the Fallen she’d seen in and around Nashville, there would be no hope for her continuing her task if he became aware.

  ‘Amaziah—’

  ‘Gabrielle … you are too important to lose!’

  ‘Yahuwah will make it without me, Amaziah! He’s YAHUWAH! But he won’t make it if Ramai and all the Darkness that lives in Hell and the Shadow World wins!’

  Amaziah just looked at her for several moments before responding. When he finally did, there was a sadness in his tone that Gabrielle didn’t expect.

  ‘But … maybe I won’t.’

  At that moment, she truly understood just how much he cared about her, and it touched her deeply. She had always looked at him as a father, but she wasn’t sure if his own attachment to her was as deep.

  ‘You are like a daughter to me, Gabrielle. I don’t want to lose you.’

  Gabrielle reached her hand out for his. He took it, then wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly. They stood like that for a long time, and she let the soothing warmth of his energy seep into every part of her own. When he spoke again, it was soft, caring but almost defeated.

  ‘You can go back. On one condition. If your human body even hiccups while near a demon, you will shed that form and take on your Divine one.’

  ‘I will.’

  Gabrielle wasn’t about to argue. She’d expected a much longer debate. The quick resolution had her wondering again about Amaziah’s lack of desire to assert his decision making power over her. However, it was a quick resolution she was going to be thankful for … for now.

  ‘Go, Gabrielle. Before I come to my senses and change my mind.’

  ‘Yes, Amaziah. Thank you.’ Gabrielle began to leave.

  ‘One more thing. I will be trying to visit you more frequently to check on you—to make sure you are well.’

  He turned, and at once, he was gone.

  Gabrielle exited her eternal home to return to her Earthly one.

  On the descent, she found herself consumed with questions about Amaziah’s willingness to go along with her wishes. First, when he said she’d been granted the ability to come to Earth at all and take on this task, and now … this.

  Why?

  The answer, she knew, would come one day. She felt it.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Gabrielle ~ The Shifter’s Realm

  Searching for answers about the Book had been an incredible distraction. Gabrielle had been trying to track down information about it for a few weeks, but Amaziah had been right about there not being many angels who remembered it or the war that was waged with its power. Those that did had no more information to give than what she’d already been told by Amaziah, which hadn’t been much. Since then, she’d seen him quite a few times. Once, when he came back briefly and told her that the information in her dream was still being looked into by the Council, telling her that they were considering the possibility that it hadn’t been destroyed. And all the other times that he popped in were just to check on her.

  It was almost smothering how concerned he had become after the incident at the Ocoee River. When she saw him two days ago, she asked him to give her space to collect the information she was on Earth to get a
nd to continue to find out what she could about the Book. He agreed.

  It had been nice not to have to worry about blocking thoughts concerning Lucas when she was with Phalen, as she did when Amaziah was near. Phalen knew her secret and had been there when she saw Lucas with Mara, so she didn’t press her about it.

  Phalen still wasn’t able to tell if there was anything strange about Lucas’s energy. Whatever caused the wavy effect that had settled around the gym that day was always there, but it would change locations. It made everyone’s energy look off that was anywhere near it. Phalen told Gabrielle she wouldn’t even be able to tell for sure that Mara was a demon if Mara was near it. Every time she’d come with her since, it had been the same thing. Neither one of them had been able to figure out an explanation.

  But there was always that flock of crows.

  Even with her suspicions about those birds, Gabrielle wasn’t ready to get Amaziah involved. She may not want to stay anymore because of Lucas, but she still needed to accomplish what she came to do. It was easy to avoid him. Mostly because Gabrielle felt he was also trying to avoid her. This made her even more suspicious. Why would he want to stay clear of her?

  Occasional words were spoken between them, but nothing that amounted to anything more than pleasantries, and only if they passed each other coming or going from the class they shared. The way Lucas looked at her sometimes, with varying mixtures of confusion, curiosity, suspicion, and desire, left Gabrielle more confused than before.

  When she wasn’t at school or taking care of karma, she and Phalen had been searching for information about the Book. But nothing seemed to prevent the thoughts of Lucas from coming altogether; the distractions only made it easier to push them aside.

  Trying to find help to get leads on the Book was what they were doing now. They were meeting with Gabrielle’s closest ally on Earth and leader of the oldest and most respected Shifter family, Grayson Torphine of the Turpin Clan. Grayson’s family was like royalty among Shifters, and Gabrielle had called upon him countless times to assist in giving karma. The Shifters had long been Yahuwah’s way of giving humans signs through animals—the Earth-bound messengers and protectors for humans that Yahuwah had put there for them. Now, she needed Grayson to help her with something else—finding information about the Book.

  Gabrielle and Phalen appeared in their human forms on the human side of the Shifter’s realm, and Gabrielle prepared herself to cross through the veil that protected it. She closed her eyes, stilled her mind, and thought of the image she needed while saying the name, Corstorphine. She reached out and took Phalen’s hand as she began to step closer, then went through the veil to the other side.

  “I never thought I’d get to see any of the realms of the Shifters,” Phalen commented as they passed through the mirage that protected one of the places where shape shifters lived in safety and privacy. “Hanging out with you has its benefits, sister.”

  “This one is called Corstorphine. Remember it well, Phalen. If you don’t, you will never be able to enter again unless you are with someone who does.”

  “Will do,” was Phalen’s response. No questions. Just, will do, then the sound of a popping bubble.

  As they stepped through the blurry haze, the air around them became clear again, and she heard Phalen’s breath catch.

  “I guess I should have prepared you for how amazing it is here,” Gabrielle said. “Yahuwah gives them abundant beauty to live among, and within, as reward and thanks.”

  ‘You’re not kidding! Amazing.” Phalen slowly turned in a circle with wide eyes and an even wider smile.

  Phalen had chosen the same body that she had used on the day they first came to Earth together, again, and Gabrielle wondered if Phalen had settled on a favorite look of platinum blond hair and blue eyes. Gabrielle just grinned as Phalen took in her surroundings. Gabrielle had also been mesmerized, at first, with the grandeur of the Shifter’s realms—especially Corstorphine.

  “This place is unbelievable …” Phalen continued. “Simply unbelievable. It’s almost as beautiful as our eternal home.”

  It seemed like forever since Gabrielle had looked upon Corstorphine. Since Grayson was her main contact with the Shifters and he seemed to be on the go and in other Shifter realms when she had called on him, it’d been quite a while since he was at his home base at the time they spoke. She threw herself into appreciating the scenery as much as Phalen was and tried to look at everything as though it was the first time she’d ever seen it, too.

  It wasn’t that the realm Shifters lived in was vastly different that the one humans lived in; it was just so much more colorful and just … more. What was lush was more lush, vast more vast, grandiose was more grandiose, and the colors … the colors were like you had an enhancement filter placed over your eyes. Shades never seen anywhere else were next to the brightest whites and truest blacks with lovely shades of grey that made the colors they sat next to contrast brilliantly.

  There were flowers that, in all her thousands of years, Gabrielle had never seen anywhere else. And so many animals roamed free that posed no threat to each other, or any creature, that stepped into this glorious place.

  “Yahuwah really out-did Himself, didn’t He, Phalen?”

  ‘Uh … yeah. This is almost Heaven on Earth.”

  That’s exactly what Gabrielle had always thought of the Shifter’s realms. “Yes, yes it is. At least as close as it ever could be.”

  After taking in some more of Corstorphine’s landscape, Gabrielle and Phalen made their way through the village to the castle where Grayson would be waiting to greet them. The Shifter’s dwellings were made of wood and stone. Their closeness with nature influenced their desire for structure, clothing, furniture, or anything they used to be from the Earth. There were no artificial fibers or materials in this realm. And since the animals of this world had no fear of becoming a meal since the Shifters were strict vegetarians, Gabrielle and Phalen were stopped by curious ones along the way as if to welcome them to the neighborhood.

  They were also cheerfully greeted by many Shifters as they made their way to Mareschall Castle, the home of the Torphine family and other members of the Turpin Clan. The castle was an impressive square structure built out of stone that sat on an equally impressive rise. It allowed those who dwelt in its great halls and rooms exquisite views of the surrounding hills that softly rolled toward distant crop and grazing fields, crystal clear lakes, dense forests, and the sometimes gentle, sometimes turbulent waters of the Brechin River that made up Corstorphine’s diverse landscape.

  The only thing lacking is snow-capped mountains and an ocean’s beach.

  In addition to the three levels that made up the castle main, four keeps were situated at each corner. A flag bearing the tartans and crests of each of the four clans that made up the Shifter society flew above each of the looming towers. The red and black tartan and crest of the Turpin Clan were displayed directly above the entrance to the castle grounds, as well.

  As they were about to pass through that entrance, Grayson stepped out of the front doors of the castle to greet Gabrielle and Phalen. He was every bit as handsome and intense as the last time she’d seen him. He didn’t have movie star looks. His brown hair, in long layers, was a normal shade; his blue eyes were not extraordinary in their color, but his heavy brows set at an angle made his gaze all that more intense when he wanted it to be. He was tall and muscular, but his muscles were long like a swimmers, and he was quite lean. As he drew closer, Gabrielle could see his face, unshaven for several days, and the feature that did make him exceptionally beautiful—his smile. She didn’t know if she’d ever seen one she enjoyed as much, except …

  Lucas’s.

  Gabrielle didn’t have time to linger on the thought. Grayson swept her up into a combination hug and twirl, allowing Gabrielle to laugh the sad thought about Lucas right out o
f her mind—at least for now.

  “Oh … m’lady. M’beautiful lady!” Grayson said and then put her down on the ground. With his arms around her, he beamed that smile at her that always lit up his eyes a few shades brighter. “Let me get a look at ye … yes, yer even more beautiful than last I saw ye. I believe I fancy this look you’ve chosen even better than the last.”

  She loved to hear him, or any of the Shifters, talk. They all spoke with a Scottish dialect, watered down from spending so much time in their other realms scattered around the world. There were four total: Corstorphine here in Scotland, and the other three in Jackson Hole, Wyoming; Madrid, Spain; and Vancouver, British Columbia. So even though they had a strong leaning toward a Scottish brogue, it was layered with the Mid-Western accent of the U.S. and, at times, even some Spanish words and accent or Canadian flair. At times it was a challenge to understand them, particularly when they got ramped-up from happiness or anger. Then, unless you were of Divine blood, a linguist, or a Shifter, you could end up with such a mish-mash of languages and accents, it would leave your head spinning from trying to figure it out. And, chances were, unless you were one of those three, you never would.

  “And you’re still quite the charmer, aren’t you, Grayson?”

  “I aim to please, m’lady, I aim to please.”

  Grayson let Gabrielle go and looked at Phalen, continuing to smile. “And yer Gabrielle’s comrade, Phalen.” He stepped closer. Phalen held out her hand to shake his in greeting. Grayson took it, but then he gave her a less dizzying hug. “No way someone so close to m’lady gets just a gentleman’s handshake fer a hello. Welcome to Corstorphine and Mareschall Castle, Lady Phalen. M’home is yers.”

  Phalen smiled back at him, doe-eyed, and glanced at Gabrielle. “You weren’t kidding.” She looked back at Grayson but still addressed Gabrielle. “He is a charmer.”