by Ciana Stone
“Sabine. Child,” he said softly and opened his arms to her.
Sabine didn’t hesitate. She went eagerly into his embrace and the moment his arms wrapped around her and his wings curved to envelop her, she felt a sense of wholeness she had never known. It was as if until now she’d been only part of a person. Now she was complete. Aside from her love for Logan James, this was the most sublime moment of her life.
She didn’t know how long it lasted, but when Joe released her, his wings vanished. She willed her wings back into invisibility and took the hand he offered. Then she noticed the people watching her. There was amazement in their eyes and tears on more than one face.
“Well, heck folks, this ain’t no time for tears, lessen those are tears of happiness,” Joe said. “It’s not every day a man finds his child.”
Sabine laughed in delight. “Where did you get that accent?”
Joe shrugged. “I’ve spent a right smart amount of time in these parts.”
“No duh.” She grinned and squeeze his hand. “Well, I don’t care what kind of accent you have.” Her expression sobered. “But I do need your help.”
“I figured it might be something like that for your mama to send you in search of me. What troubles you, child?”
“The Umbra.”
Joe’s expression, his entire countenance, altered. He seemed suddenly taller, harder and more commanding. “This isn’t a subject to discuss in front of humans.”
“But it is, Father. We’re all in this together or we’re all doomed. Besides, a Shifter stands with us. One who has been poisoned so he cannot shift.”
Joe looked over at the people assembled and his eyes stopped at Logan. He held Logan’s gaze for a moment then looked and smiled at Cia. “Could I trouble you and Kade for a bit of hospitality?”
“Since when have you had to ask, Joe? Let’s all go up to the house.”
“Thank you, kindly.” Joe started for the house as Cia and Riley turned in that direction.
Logan, Wayne and Ravyn waited for Sabine and Joe. Joe looked at Logan and smiled. “So you’re the one my child loves?”
“I love her as well, sir.”
Joe nodded and clapped Logan on the shoulder. “Yes, I believe you do, son. And who is this fine couple?”
“My sister, Ravyn and her—” Logan looked at Ravyn.
“My fiancé,” she offered. “Wayne Garen.”
“It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” Joe looked up ahead at Cia. “I sure hope she has pie. Believe it or not, she makes a real good apple pie.”
Sabine could tell that everyone was trying to make sense of things. An Angel who liked apple pie? If these were not such serious times she would have found it humorous.
“You have to hold on to your humor, child, otherwise you get lost in the concerns and worry and forget to see the beauty.”
Hearing her father’s voice in her mind made Sabine break out in a smile. “I make a pretty good apple pie, too. Just in case you might want to stop by sometime.”
“You know I will.” Joe stopped at the front door and gestured everyone to follow Cia and Kade inside.
Once they were all seated around the dining room table, Sabine spoke up. “Cia, Kade, I want to thank you. I didn’t mean to drag you into this, but since you already know what my father is, you might as well know all of it.” She looked around the table. “My mother left me on a woman’s doorstep shortly after I was born. This woman was a witch in the Legendre coven. She took me to the Mistress of the coven, who gave me to her daughter to raise. Her daughter is Genevieve Legacy, Logan’s mother.
“When I was seven, Logan and some of his friends were attacked by an Umbra. The Umbra wasn’t really interested in the others. It just killed them for pleasure. It wanted Logan and me. If it killed either one of us, it prevented him from one day mating with me.”
“I don’t understand,” Cia spoke up. “What danger would that pose to this…umbra?”
“There is a better than average chance that should we have a child, that child would be able to open the doorway between worlds.”
“You want to say that again?” Wayne blurted.
Sabine couldn’t blame him for his disbelief. “You know what I am. What you don’t know is that Logan is a Skinwalker, a Sngelhifter.”
“Isn’t that something supposedly achieved by Native American shaman?” Kade asked.
“Normally yes, but Logan was born that way. Only he’s never transformed because his mother has fed him a tincture his entire life that inhibits the ability. She and her people didn’t want him to know.”
“Why?” Wayne asked.
“Fear, I suppose.”
“So back to you and Logan,” Ravyn said. “Why would the Umbra fear your child opening this doorway? And who’s to say it could?”
“Well, first, they don’t know what power the child would have. Like I said, I’m the child of Angels and he’s a Shifter. Would our child possess both sets of power? Neither the Umbra or the Council want to face that possibility. It threatens their power. And whoever opens the doorway controls it.”
“I’m lost,” Cia admitted. “What the heck is this Umbra anyway and a doorway to what world?”
Sabine quickly told them the story of the murders that happened when they were children. “As to what the Umbra are, that’s why I needed to find my father—so the others could see him for who he is and so he could tell us all exactly what we are and who our enemy is.”
She looked at Joe. “Will you please explain, Father?”
Joe pursed his lips, blew out and then leaned back in his chair, regarding everyone in silence. Finally, he straightened, placed his forearms on the table with one hand covering the other and opened his mouth to speak.
Gone was the southern twang, accent and incorrect English. His voice was deep and soft and flavored with an accent reminiscent of the romantic tribes of Europe.
“We are the Numina. Humans named us the Fae. There are many races of Fae just as there are races of humanity. We have been looked up to by humans as something godlike and omnipotent, but in reality, we are not divine any more than any other living creature. Yes, we do possess varying degrees of what you might call supernatural powers. We are all psychic to some degree, along with being telepathic with our own and some other races. Our abilities include shape-shifting, controlling elements in nature, animals and human minds to mention a few.
“We are stronger than humans and have vastly longer lifespans but we are not gods. We are simply the Numina, one of the Original People of this galaxy and the parents of humanity. Because of that parentage, we have always felt a certain responsibility to humanity. Some of us still do. But there are far fewer of us now than there were.
“Where we came from is what you would call another dimension—one that exists beside this one. At one time the doorway between dimensions was open and we came and went at will, along with other races of what you might call supernatural beings—Angels and fairies, Daemons and Wizards, Shifters and Vampires.”
“Hold the deal, Lucille,” Kade interrupted. “Vampires and demons?”
“It’s just a label, Kade, but yes, and they are no more unholy than you or me. Just different. And that’s a tale for another day. Right now, we’ll focus on the Numina. As I was saying, we felt responsible for humanity. After all, they were our children.
“But some of us tired of stewardship, didn’t want the burden. They wanted to be free of it. Dark Numina from the next dimension lured them with promises of power and pleasure and these lost Numina pledged fealty to a new family and adopted a new goal—to lord over humanity, not embrace and protect it.”
“Those who wanted to control and enslave humanity because filled with lust, greed and avarice and their natures darkened. They came to take pleasure in pain and suffering and they became twisted in spirit, shadows of their former selves. The Umbra.
“They became enemies of man and of the Light Numina. We sued for peace, we sent representative
s to their leader but they would have no part of it, and so the Umbra and the Light Numina became enemies.”
When Joe fell silent, Sabine looked around at the people seated at the table. There was incredulity, even Logan’s. She felt a bit crestfallen, but then she noticed something else. The curiosity in Cia and Kade’s eyes.
Wonder why they’re not freaking out?
“Because of what they do.” Joe’s voice sounded in her mind and she cut him to look to see him smile and nod.
“You don’t seem particularly shocked,” she addressed Cia. “May I ask why?”
“Well, I’m surprised. In all the time I’ve known Joe, he’s never revealed this to me.”
“So, you believe him?”
“Well, I did see his wings, and yours and—” She looked at Kade and after a moment, he nodded. Cia then continued. “What we do—our work with the SACU, it’s a very specialized division within the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is comprised of people with psychic ability. Now, maybe we just attract otherworldly or paranormal events and beings because of our abilities, but whatever the case, I’ve seen things that aren’t supposed to be real. So, I guess I’m not so closed to the idea of other forms of life.”
Sabine smiled. She liked this woman. “Thank you.”
“I am curious. If the Numina have bred with humans, why haven’t we heard more stories about Angels?”
Sabine looked at Joe and he shook his head. “You’ve got this. Go ahead.”
“Okay, but correct me if I’m wrong.” She turned her attention to the others. “As I understand it, while there have been many offspring that have resulted from the mating of Numina and humans, of those who have been born, there have been none who inherited the genetics for wings.”
“Then how do you explain your wings?” Kade asked.
“I am not a hybrid. Both of my parents are Angels. My mother is the daughter of the King of Angels in the other dimension.”
“And you’re here essentially to find out from Joe how to destroy the dark Numina?” Cia asked.
Sabine shook her head. “Not destroy but contain and the only way to do that is to find who is leading them and find a way to subvert the power he or she has. Also, we need to open the doorway. We need to find a way to allow Light Numina of great power entrance into this realm. They may be able to stop the Umbra.”
She looked at Ravyn as she spoke the next words. “When Marcus Bannon left my house, he gave me an address where he’d been instructed to go. It’s your grandmother Beaudreaux’s home.”
“Why would an Umbra be meeting someone at Grandmother’s?” Ravyn looked to Logan for the answer.
He shrugged. “It makes no sense to me either, but we have to get to the truth of it.”
Sabine listened to Joe’s voice in her mind, then nodded and turned to Cia and Kade. “It seems to me that we might be of mutual benefit to one another.”
“In what way?” Kade asked.
“Obviously, you’ve not been introduced to those of my kind,” Joe answered. “But you will be soon, as I understand, we are in preparations to make our presence known to humanity. However, until that time, perhaps there is help Sabine and I can lend. And maybe your team could help us. If you could help us figure out who Bannon might have been going to meet and how the Beaudreaux family is involved.”
Cia and Kade looked at one another. “Well?” he asked.
“I say yes. Let’s take it to the boss and see what he says.”
Kade looked at Sabine. “That’s the best we can do for now.”
“I understand—and I’m very grateful. Thank you for allowing us into your home and for helping me find my father.”
“We didn’t do anything but are glad to have met you,” Cia replied.
Sabine looked around at the others. “We should go.”
“Can you give us a number to contact you?” Cia asked.
Sabine looked at Logan and he nodded and recited his number. Kade pulled out his phone, entered it and nodded. “Got it.”
“Thank you.” Sabine looked around at her companions and they all got to their feet. Everyone headed outside.
When they reached the helicopter, Wayne and Ravyn were the first to say their farewells. They got into the helicopter.
“Thank you again,” Logan said and offered his hand to Kade and then Cia.
“You bet. And we’ll be in touch,” Kade replied.
Logan extended his hand to Joe. “I will protect her with my life.”
“I know that,” Joe replied, his words once more spoken with a southern accent.
Logan nodded and touched Sabine gently on the back before climbing into the helicopter. She smiled at Cia and Kade. “I am in your debt. If ever you have need of me I will come to you.”
Cia smiled and reached for Sabine’s hand. “That goes both ways.”
“For both of us,” Kade added.
Sabine smiled and turned to Joe. “I’m so happy we met. I feel whole.”
“My precious child.” Joe gathered her in a hug and Sabine felt the knowledge flow into her. She now understood why she had been left by her parents and who had left her. Her love for her father was no longer an abstract. Now she felt him as a part of her and for that, she would always be grateful.
Yet not all the knowledge he imparted brought joy with it. She hugged him tighter, grateful there was no need to speak to communicate.
“Do you not trust my mother?”
Joe’s response was not immediate. “What you told these people is not entirely true. Many centuries ago, your mother fell under the sway of the Umbra. She was tempted to join their ranks. Tempted, but she saw them for what they were and broke free. Her newfound understanding of them inspired in her a devote desire to defeat them. She and a group of the most powerful among us, the ArchAngels, banded together with others of the Light to try and effect change.
“To prevent detection required a high degree of secrecy and they had to work slowly. It was then they started to breed with humans. They had children by or fathered children with humans. In six hundred years’ time, they had given birth to a new breed of hybrids they named the Kindred. There are pockets of the Kindred scattered across the globe. They plan was to one day unite all these children, when their numbers and the power was enough.
“But more was needed. Our numbers had not grown. We needed to give birth to our own kind and so a new generation of Angels were born. You are one of that generation. You and the others of your time were meant to unite with and lead the Kindred against the Umbra.
“But your strength is not yet superior to theirs and so it is not yet time. Now is the time to watch, to whittle at their ranks a little at a time, to subvert their members or confine them where they can do no harm.”
“And the Numina trapped in the other dimension?” Sabine asked. “If we release them are you sure they will help us? And what exactly is it we need to open the portal?”
Joe pulled away with a smile. “That’s a talk for another day.”
“So, you go to the Skinwalkers?” he asked aloud.
Sabine nodded and stepped back. “There is much for Logan to learn and his uncle is the only one who can teach him.”
“Then go. We’ll speak soon.”
“Yes.” Sabine looked at Cia and Kade again and was seized with a certainty that their meeting had set them upon a mutual path. “See you soon and thanks again.”
She got into the helicopter, fastened her harness and put on the earphones Logan handed her. Wayne tapped her on the shoulder and she looked back at him.
“Why did you want us to come here with you?”
Sabine had wondered if he or Ravyn would ask. “Because I wanted you to know the truth and to hear it from someone besides me. You need to know what you’re getting involved with. Both of you.” She turned to look at them. “Both of you have wealth. You could leave. Disappear and have a life of your own—away from all this.”
“I can’t leave my family,” Ravyn protested.
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“Nor can I,” Wayne added.
Sabine nodded. “I understand. That’s why it’s important you know and understand that you could be in danger.”
Wayne and Ravyn looked at one another and then Wayne looked at Sabine. “I’ll protect her with my life.”
“I know you will.” Sabine smiled and turned her attention to Logan James. “Do you think your uncle will be willing to put us up for a few weeks?”
“Weeks?” Logon asked, clearly surprised by the question. “Why would we need to spend weeks there?”
“So you can learn to shift and I can hunt.”
She could have sworn she felt a collective shiver from everyone else in the helicopter and didn’t say anything to comfort them. They should be concerned, even afraid, because even though the time was not yet ripe for war, that did not make the Umbra any less of a threat.
Chapter Fourteen
Sabine sat beneath the shade in the small grove of cottonwoods beside Joe, watching Logan, who sat at the bank of the stream. He was bare-chested and barefoot, clad in only a pair of loose drawstring pants.
Sweat beaded on his back in the mid-day sun. Muscles twitched in his back, indicating he’d lost concentration. It wouldn’t be long before he would abandon his position. She knew to expect frustration and anger. For nearly a week, Elijah had worked with him, trying to help him learn to shift but thus far he’d achieved no success.
Sabine suspected it had more to do with the lingering effects of the years of drugs in his system than his inherent ability but was careful not to voice that opinion. Elijah felt Logan was holding himself back with his disbelief that transformation was possible.
How to get someone to believe in something they considered an impossibility was tricky. She thought she’d come up with a plan but it was more than a little sneaky and might make him angry with her. Still, she thought it worth the risk.