“Is there a river or stream there?” I was visualizing a route, focusing completely on the sensation of being in the dense thicket. I imagined the limbs slapping at my legs and face, and the drone of bloodsucking insects. My body was still welted from my last adventure in the woods and it was easy to bring those sensations to the fore.
“Yes, a stream, shallow enough to wade through.”
I could see my feet, in the short boots I wore, moving through the cool water of the running stream. I reached down and brought handfuls of water to my face to calm the bites from the insects.
Gabriel pried and poked around the edge of the narrative I mentally clung to. I would not let him dig deeper into my precious memories or the emotions that were mine and mine alone. He was an intruder, an unwanted thief coming to steal the essence of who I was and turn it against my friends. I littered the path with sounds and sensations, driving him out, forcing him to follow me on my imaginary journey.
“Are you okay?” Sister Luisa asked.
“Yes.”
“Should I get Father Kilroy?”
“No. Don’t disturb the men. They have to be able to concentrate and fight.”
“Why do these men want to hurt you?” One of the sisters at the window stared down at Lucais and his men.
“Because they’re evil.” I had no doubt I spoke the truth. “They serve the darkness.” I couldn’t be distracted from leading Gabriel away. I could see he was looking at the church and then toward the thicket. He was tempted to follow my thoughts. If I could lead him away…he started toward the side of the church. “Where does this woodland path end?”
Sister Ursaline smiled. “A mechanic shop. The only one for miles around. Junior Albee runs it. He survived his ordeal, but he’s a—”
“He’s a little slow, but a good mechanic.” I finished for her. “And so my journey through the woods ends up where I knew I’d have to go. Somehow, Junior Albee is also a part of this.”
“You’re only going to imagine going there, right?” Sister Rosamunde asked. “We can’t let you leave.”
“Only in my mind.” I smiled to hide the lie. I would take Gabriel into the woods with my mind, but I couldn’t trick him for long. He’d catch on that he was tracking only my thoughts. But that would give Reginald, Slater, and Michael time to hunt for Elizabeth and her family. “Could you leave me so I can focus on my journey?”
Sister Ursaline was not so easily tricked. “Perhaps we should restrain you.”
“Sit outside the door. I can’t leave. But I must concentrate hard if I’m to shift the danger away from the church. I simply want to keep everyone as safe as I can.”
They all nodded and filed silently from the room. I heard the click of the lock.
Looking out the window, I saw Lucais ordering his men into a formation to storm the church. There was no sign of anyone else on the street. The day had broken, but no one was bustling about. Gabriel stood beside the car, and he seemed to be sniffing the air. Could I really deceive him? I had to try.
I closed my eyes and concentrated on opening the door and slipping down the cool corridor toward the exterior exit. I was on my journey to Junior Albee’s shop. As I visualized myself stepping into the dim interior of the woods, I peeked out the window and was gratified to see that Gabriel was moving toward the woods.
Chapter 34
It chaffed me that I couldn’t know what the men were going to do to rescue Elizabeth, Ramone, and Callie. Their plans were secret from me, but I knew they would try no matter how desperate their scheme. I didn’t doubt that. Even if they suspected Elizabeth had lured us to Sand Mountain. Reginald would risk everything if he thought he could save her and Callie. Slater and Michael seemed equally dedicated to saving her and Callie.
I pushed my thoughts away from that, clinging to the sensation of going through the calf-high weeds and underbrush soaked with dew. I was being followed. Someone sly and silent was behind me, keeping pace with me, careless of the crackle of sticks or the angry cry of a mockingbird. Gabriel was with me, which made me question who had the Maslows. If not Gabriel or Lucais Wilkins, who? Where were they?
I felt Gabriel trying to edge into my mind, trying to bleed me of my secrets and thoughts. Using mental imaging, I leaned against a tree trunk to get my breath, and I felt intensely the warming of the day, the sweat moving down my back and between my breasts. I’d never considered sweating sensual, but I felt the response from Gabriel. He pushed harder into my mind. He was trying to physically locate me, but he was stymied. For the moment. I focused on the drone of yellow flies and their painful bites as three found exposed flesh on my bare arms and neck. The pain helped me shake free of Gabriel’s menace. I plowed deeper into the woods in my mind. The longer I could keep Gabriel occupied, the better the chance the men had to enact a rescue.
I’d only gone a short distance when I realized Gabriel was back. This time with a lulling memory of a cool night on Folly Beach at Charleston with the ocean breeze lifting my long hair. It was before the war, before I cut my hair and my ties to my old life and stepped into the modern world as a high school teacher.
The sound of hammers turned me toward the boardwalk under construction. The workers’ noise was muffled by the shushing sound of the surf. The day was so beautiful that it was almost painful to look out on the sand and cresting waves.
Plans for the pavilion were the big news in the city, but on this evening, the beach was deserted. A storm was moving in fast from the East, and I remembered the tales of pirate ships, shipwrecks, and danger that my parents had told me when I was little. I missed them, and the pang of loss almost made me stagger. Instantly I felt the push of Gabriel into my emotions. I forced myself away from the ocean and returned to the hot woods of Victoria, Alabama.
I tried hard to hold onto the feel of the tree bark against my back and hands, the drone of the flies. Birds cried in the distance, warning against my intrusion into their wild terrain. Pushing off the tree I started forward down a trail where brambles ripped at my bare legs above my little boots. Ferns hid roots that almost tripped me. I squeezed every bit of intensity—tactile, aural, and visual—from my imagination. Gabriel’s grip loosened.
Keep moving, keep moving, keep moving. I settled on that mantra and pushed on, now going uphill, scrabbling in the leaves and tree roots. At the top of an incline, I paused to search for the trail. It had suddenly disappeared. Before it had been clearly marked. Almost too late, I realized this was Gabriel, exerting his will once more. He’d hidden the way from me—the way I’d created in my own mind. He was on to me, I feared, and this mental game I played with him. How much longer could I keep him focused on me?
For a brief moment, I mentally returned to the room where my physical body remained by the window, hidden from view from the street. The watchers, both vulture and human, remained at the front, but Lucais and his men, the touring car, and Gabriel were all gone. Were they chasing Reginald, Slater, and Michael? I didn’t know. Couldn’t know.
Gabriel, I hoped, was in the woods behind the church looking for me. Lucais, with his thugs and guns, was a serious threat, but not nearly the danger Gabriel could be if he decided to attack my friends.
The room in the church was very quiet, and I suspected the sisters had gone about their daily routine, trusting me to remain in the room. They’d locked the door, but I doubted they’d set a guard. It wouldn’t matter anyway. I pried open the window. There was just enough room for me to slip out and drop into the shrubbery around the church. I’d reached my decision. There was no waiting for my uncle and Madam to arrive. Time was against us. Elizabeth and Callie would soon be lost to me, either through death or corruption.
I landed soft and crept through the thick vegetation, taking care lest one of the human watchers saw me. The longer I could hide my location, the more help I would be to Reginald and the others. Slipping along the side of the church, I made it to the woods. The path wasn’t hard to find. It was much as I imagined it. I started down
it at a trot.
This time I meant to be found. No longer would I hide from Gabriel or his followers. Lucais Wilkins couldn’t scare me anymore. Nor the buzzards. I’d come upon an idea, a way to win this battle. I had no clue if it would work and no one to ask. In an attempt to save the others, I put only myself at risk.
I’d had little sleep the day and night before, and I was exhausted, but I pushed deeper into the woods. Come and find me. Come and find me, Gabriel. I projected those thoughts as if I played an innocent game of Hide-and-Seek. Gabriel was behind me. I heard him. He could move as silently as a feather through the wind, so he was deliberately letting me know he was following me. Deeper and deeper into the woods. Farther and farther away from safety and my friends. I hoped he believed he was herding me toward his ultimate win. As long as he believed he was going to conquer me, he would follow.
The woods were every bit as difficult and treacherous as I’d imagined. It was September, but the heat was unrelenting, the insects ravenous. In the thick woods with underbrush there was no breeze. Sweat poured down my body, making me slick enough that some of the briars actually slid off my skin without snagging me.
I stayed on the trail and pushed hard, going as fast as I could. If I could make the mechanic shop, there was a chance the Albee boy might know how to help me. I doubted he’d been possessed by a demon, but he’d survived an exorcism. I believed he’d survived an attempt at possession by a dark angel. Perhaps he held some knowledge that might save me.
The truth I knew was that I was not really taking a risk by my actions. Gabriel would follow me to Mobile or New Orleans or Katmandu. No matter where I went, if he wanted me, he would find me. Here, with my friends near and my uncle and Madam on the way, I stood the greatest chance of survival. If I could only make it a little while longer. I knew one other truth, too. Gabriel was enjoying this hunt. He had the power to stop me at any time, just as he’d stopped me in my dreams. He could sink my feet into the ground like the deep roots of a white oak tree and I would be helpless to fight him. Until he did, I forced myself through the woods.
The path had narrowed as it came down an incline. At the base of the hill was a small creek, just as I’d imagined. I half-slid down to it and sank into the water. My body was raw from the bugs and brambles. The water was clear and cold, murmuring as it skimmed over boulders and rocks. I sank into the water and splashed it up on my face, wetting my hair. I could stay here forever, sinking beneath the cool water as it soothed my skin.
The pool was only waist deep, but I ducked beneath the surface, completely immersed, and finally came up for air.
Gabriel stood on the bank, watching me.
Chapter 35
“Come out of the water,” he said.
He didn’t compel me, but I obeyed anyway because I needed time to think. The water pulled at my skirt and blouse, but there was no supernatural force slowing me. I clambered up the bank and sat down on a rock, removing my boots that had once been fashionable. I busied myself, trying to calm the pounding of my heart.
“You led me a merry chase.” Gabriel came closer.
In all the times I’d seen him, I’d never really paid close attention to his features. He was handsome, incredibly so. His dark hair was a match for Elizabeth’s inky curls and his brown eyes held a soft glow. Thin, masculine lips formed a sensual mouth. His features were symmetrical except for a small scar that ran from the corner of his eye to his jawbone and marred the left side of his face. It didn’t detract from his beauty, but somehow enhanced it. How had I never noticed?
He touched the scar. “A battle wound.”
“Angels have the power to heal, yet you choose to wear your scar. Why?”
“Perfection can be boring.”
“How did it happen?” I wasn’t feigning curiosity. Madam had told me that by accessing Gabriel’s thoughts I might gain an advantage. When he talked about himself, he revealed things. He was vain. He’d shown me that. What else could I uncover? I had to find some way to defeat him, otherwise he would kill my friends and take Callie.
“A farmer thought I was flirting with his wife. He attacked me with a cleaver.”
“And were you? Flirting with his wife?”
His smile was self-satisfied. “Eternity can be dull. We should never have been forbidden to mate. We were denied the ability to feel the pleasures of sex. Forbidden. Because that joy was to be special for the inferior creation of humans.”
The meat cleaver was an added detail that brought me back to Ruth Whelan and her bloody, brutal death, but it was his anger at humans that I focused on. This was definitely a clue. Gabriel was involved in Ruth’s demise. He’d laid it out there for me to discover, a puzzle he believed I was incapable of solving. Now I only had to figure out how it fit into the web of evil and blood in Mission. “Were you involved with Ruth?”
“No. Though she spoke my native language. Imagine her surprise when I answered her in Hebrew.” He seemed to grow larger, to swell. “Just before she died.”
It clicked. “The journal that Elizabeth had kept was written in Hebrew. Why?” I had to keep him occupied and his vanity would work to my benefit. He would want to show me how superior he was.
“Hebrew is the language of the angels. Ruth and Elizabeth are highly educated women, but only Ruth spoke my tongue.”
“Yet you chose Elizabeth to be your mate. She said you’re Callie’s father.”
“Why is that of interest to you?” He was toying with me, amusing himself because he knew I was afraid of him.
“It’s forbidden for angels to…fornicate with humans. You put yourself at great risk of punishment in creating Callie.”
He laughed, and it made him even more attractive. “Rules are meant to be broken. Not all angels follow the rules, as you surely know by now. Those of us who rebelled against the rules, well, we’re here. At least those of us who survived God’s retribution. We’ve remained here in isolated places, searching for those who desire what we can give them. Power. Wealth. Success. Believe me, most humans are only too willing to trade their souls for power and comfort.”
I was no Biblical scholar, though I’d been exposed to religious doctrine. I tried to remember what Madam and the Sisters and Father Kilroy had said. Most of all, I had to keep him here, with me, even though I understood that when he stopped talking, he meant to hurt me. “Was it worth it? Being cast down?”
“There are benefits.” He reached out and brushed his fingertips under my jaw. “The pleasures of the flesh are not to be denied. Soon, I’ll show you. I’ll push those memories of Alex right out of your head.” He stepped back.
To lose my memories would be to lose my identity. Oh, he knew how to strike at my deepest fear. I lifted my chin. “You and the other fallen angels lost everything. What benefits could possibly outweigh your angelic heritage?”
“Here, no one checks my power. Humans are easily tempted with baubles, easily manipulated. They’re weak and can’t resist. You’re a weak and inferior creation, and one day our Father will see it and put you aside. For now, corrupting you passes the time.” He eased closer again. “So many questions to stall the inevitable. You will be mine, Raissa. No one is coming to save you. You took so many precautions to get me here, alone, so we could finish what we started.” His thumb traced over my lips. I couldn’t move away from him. My feet were anchored solidly in the rock. He was playing with me, teasing me, and I could feel my body respond even as my spirit rebelled against him.
“Are you attracted to all human women?” I found it harder to talk.
“Not all. Still, some are worth the risk.”
“What risk? I can’t move or defend myself if you desire to make me helpless. How is there a risk for you?”
“To enjoy the pleasure of a woman, I have to assume human form.”
“You need a willing vessel?”
There was no answer, just the flutter of wings as the buzzards flew around me from all directions. It was as if they were driven mad by Ga
briel, who had folded himself in his own dark wings. The fetid smell of death wafted from the buzzards’ wings as they brushed my face, making me gag. I shut my eyes, praying for strength to combat whatever was coming at me.
A rustling in the woods told me someone was coming. I didn’t dare look. I didn’t want to give Reginald away, if it was him.
“Raissa?” Gabriel’s voice had changed. It had more lilt.
I opened my eyes to face my fate. Ramone was standing where Gabriel had been. He wore the same clothes he’d had on when last I saw him. The scar from his eye to his jaw was much fainter than it had been on Gabriel. He licked his bottom lip. “Hello, Raissa.”
“Not Ramone.” I wanted to cry. This was Elizabeth’s brother, her family, the one she’d risked everything to find. “Don’t take him.”
“Oh, he’s been mine for a while now.” He held out his hands and turned them over. “Clumsy and earthbound, but with such intensity of feeling. Do you understand the joys of eating a peach, or kissing a woman, or feeling the cool water of a stream run across your flesh? It’s exquisite—and this has all been denied me.”
I recognized those hands, from my dream of Hildy and her death. It had been Ramone. He’d snapped Hildy’s neck and thrown her in the well. He’d probably killed Ruth, too. Not really Ramone, of course, but Ramone guided by Gabriel. “Why would you even want us humans? We grow old. Our bodies fail.”
“Eternity is not the benefit you may think.” He paced around me, eyeing me like a heifer at an auction.
“You should leave. And leave Ramone too. He’s of no use to you. Give him back to Elizabeth. She thought she truly loved you.”
“As I said, humans are so easily tempted. But I need Ramone. He’ll serve for this one last use. He won’t last long now.”
“Why not let him go?”
“I’m trapped in this flesh until I can set it aside. When I leave, his deterioration will be quick.” He smiled as if he’d told a joke.
A Visitation of Angels Page 28