“God dammit! Watch where you’re going!”
Her eyes lifted and collided with Denise. Denise looked as if she was trying to place their faces, and Z dropped the food and touched her hand. He muttered a spell and Denise’s eyes closed as she fell asleep. Z caught her before she could fall and hurried her to their car. Analise was still in shock as she followed in closely behind them and jumped into the back seat. Z tore down the street and made it quickly to their house. He carried Denise inside and lay her on the couch.
“Can you fucking believe this?” Z said as he looked down at the sleeping angel.
“How? What the hell?” Analise smiled.
“Right time, right place!” He picked her up and spun her around while she giggled and laughed. “This couldn’t have been any more perfect!”
Analise looked over at her and then nervously at Z.
“What if she wakes up?”
“That was a pretty powerful sleeping spell. We should have at least a couple of hours.”
Analise looked in shock as she watched the angel sleep on the couch.
“We’ve got her.”
49
Mary came tearing down the stairs.
“MOM! She’s gone! Denise is not in her room.”
By this time, Marcus and his sons came into the house. They all ran to the kitchen as Mary started to talk.
“I went to take a shower and I was going to check on her, but she was gone. Her purse isn’t here either. I didn’t even hear her leave.”
“I didn’t either.” Rebecca told her.
“Where would she have gone?” Logan asked. “Why would she leave?”
Mary explained the conversation that they had that morning and Logan’s eyes widened in horror.
“She must think that I have taken advantage of her.”
“No. She would never think that. She is disappointed in us that we didn’t tell her,” Mary offered.
Rebecca walked over in front of her daughter. “We’ve got to find her. Can you feel her?”
Mary closed her eyes a focused. She got excited because she felt her sadness and then surprise, then nothing.
“Something happened! I can’t feel her.” She looked up at the Guardian that stood behind Marcus. “Can you help us?”
I cannot. I must stay with my charge, but heaven is aware of what is transpiring down here.
Mary sat down heavily in the chair and put her head in her hands.
“I can’t lose her.”
50
Jeriah was surprised and pissed off as he watched the witches manhandle his bride. He followed them to a house and listened to their excitement over capturing her. He waited for his partners to catch up, and he told them to wait there. He was going in to save his bride. She would have to be with him after this.
Z had tied her hands behind her and sat her in a chair. The spell was wearing off, and they had to be ready just in case they had to put her to sleep again.
“What…Where am I?” she asked groggily.
Analise walked in front of her and smirked.
“You got away from us the first time but not this time.”
Denise’s eyes widened in apprehension. She knew that she had seen their faces before. They were from Grandmother’s story. Denise’s heart started to race. She shouldn’t have ever left. She tried to pull her arms, but she was still weak from the spell that they had put on her.
“What do you want from me?”
“Your powers, silly. Do you know that having someone who can heal and bring someone back to life is the ultimate weapon?”
“I’ll never help you!”
Analise looked and Z and poked out her lip.
“Aw, babe. She thinks that she has a choice.”
Z laughed and then the front door burst open and all heads turned towards it. Z and Analise flew backwards and hit a wall while Denise’s chair fell to the side. Denise craned her neck to see what just happened, and she saw a pair of legs walking towards her. As the person got to her level, she stared into a pair of yellow eyes.
“You. I remember you,Denise whispered.
“Give me just a moment, love. I’ll be right back.”
He freed her arms and she backed up against the wall and watched him stand in the middle of the room. He put his arms out wide with his wings fully extended and looked at Z. Z ran toward Jeriah while yelling out a spell, but Jeriah’s face remained stoic as his hand shot out and caught Z around the neck. Jeriah’s head tilted to the side as he watched Z struggle to breathe. His fingers pressed inward as he felt Z‘s throat collapse. As much as Z was struggling, Jeriah’s body never moved. He just held fast until Z’s body was motionless in is hand. He tossed his lifeless body to the side and looked at Analise. Her face turned pale, and she was shaking as she watched Z’s body hit the ground.
“I do not need you in my way or you shall be like your friend here.”
Analise couldn’t talk. She just shook and watched the angel walk away. She hurried over to Z but it was too late. He was dead.
51
Jeriah walked over and knelt down in front of Denise and put a handout for her to take. Denise’s hand shook as she placed her hand in his. He helped her up and then walked them out of the house. When they got outside, Denise backed away from him.
“Who are you? How did you find me?”
“I am also an angel. I am here to take you home.”
“Home?”
“Yes.” He pointed to the sky. “Home.”
“No. I—I can’t go up there.”
His face was angry as he stalked closer to her.
“You are the only reason that I’ve come here, and I mean to take you with me.”
Denise shook her head and tried to run. She was cut off by three other men and she stopped short.
“Don’t fight me, love.”
Denise turned around and looked at him.
“Who in the hell are you?”
He smirked. “You can call me husband.”
Her eyes widened and then everything went black.
52
When Assan ascended into heaven, he felt the void of his daughter as soon as he passed the lower tier. He didn’t have emotions like humans, but he felt the loss. He wished that he had more time to spend with her. She was funny and caring. He never understood love in human terms but if her were to try, he’d see Denise as love. When he reached the third tier, he could feel something shift. There was a buzz in the air and the excitement of his homecoming was being overshadowed by something dark. He walked to the Throne and placed his face to the ground to thank God for allowing him the see his daughter. As he arose, an Elder angel came to him.
“Assan, we have a problem.”
“Elder, what is it?”
“There are those who wish to strike at the Tiered.”
“Who? That makes no sense.”
“It’s been rumored that the lower tier is planning something. We must stay vigilant.”
“Of course.”
As the Elder walked away, he walked to the river to see his daughter. He smiled at the vision that he saw. Denise was hugging her mother. She was upset that he had left so soon, and she missed him. He watched her for hours. Angels came to congratulate him and he received them but he never left the river. When he looked back down, his body shook. Lenora was running and then she fell. Blood blossomed on her shirt and he felt his daughter’s soul cry out for help. His vision went to his daughter and she was in pain. She felt the pain of her mother. Assan ran to the throne and fell to his knees.
“Father, please let me go back. My daughter needs me!” God was silent.
Assan prayed for what seemed like hours but God never spoke. He ran back to the river and looked down. He gasped and called the Elders as he looked. They all appeared before him in question. Their mouths didn’t move, only their thoughts were heard.
“Why have you called us Angel Assan?”
He pointed to the river and they looked down.
&nbs
p; “What is this that we are seeing?”
“They are from the lower Tier. They are going to earth,” Assan told them.
“But why? What are they doing?”
“I don’t know, but I fear that this has to do with my daughter.”
“The prophesy.”
Assan looked at them in question. “What prophesy? She is already fated to another.”
“If a lower tiered angel would marry a daughter of an upper tier, they would have access to any tier.”
“But how would anyone in a lower tier know that?”
“Angel Assan, do not be so naïve to think that angels are perfect and accept their status. Since the beginning, you know that some seek power and standing. Look at Lucifer. He wanted power and is fallen forever. If he had won, we would not be.”
“I can’t let anything happen to my daughter. I have to get to her. Please help me.”
“We cannot help you in this. Whatever is meant to be has already been written by God. God is the only way.”
“No! I have to help her.”
“There is nothing we can do.”
With that, they disappeared and Assan ran back to the Throne and lay before it.
“God, please! You said that she was special. What did you mean? Please send me back!”
God was still silent. Assan didn’t know what else to do. He could only watch as his daughter cried out to a god that was silent.
53
Denise woke up and sat up quickly. Her head spun as she tried to take in her surroundings. She was in a dark room on a bed. She saw a door and ran to it. It was locked from the outside and she banged on it.
“Hello! Is anyone there?”
She listened and didn’t hear any moving. She closed her eyes and tried to focus, but her head began to hurt. A bright light shone, and the guy from the funeral home was in the room. She backed away from him and her back hit a wall.
“What am I doing here? Where am I?”
He smiled and stalked forward. His piercing yellow eyes glowed in the darkness of the room as he walked slowly toward her. He was now standing in front of her and placed a hand on her cheek. She turned her head away and he gripped her cheeks and turned her head back.
“You are here because you are about to make me the most powerful Angel in heaven.”
“What? You’re crazy. Let me go.”
He smiled and put his face close to hers while still holding her cheeks.
“I have been waiting eons for you to be born. I will have what I am owed.”
“I’m not helping you.”
“You have no choice. You should be happy. Tomorrow is your wedding day.”
“Wedding? What?”
“All you have to do is say yes, and you can go back to living your miserable human life. All I need is your consent.”
“No!”
His face turned angry, and he squeezed her cheeks harder and she screamed. He was on her one minute and then he was thrown across the room. He crashed into the wall so hard that there was now a hole in the plaster. Her eyes were wide as she looked around. How did I do that? She didn’t know what else to do so she centered her breath and focused. Her body hit the floor with a thump, and the last thing that she heard was footsteps running and him screaming “no!”
54
It was another day, and Assan was once again in front of the Throne. He just needed God to let him go. He pleaded and pleaded to no avail. God was still silent. As he walked back to the river, two Guardians appeared before him.
“What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be protecting the warlocks?”
“Aye, but we have information. The angel Jeriah plans to marry your daughter and start a war in heaven. You have to prepare the others.”
“Is she okay?”
“Aye. We will do our best to protect her through our charges, but it will not be easy.”
“Thank you.”
They nodded and disappeared. Assan looked back at the river and remembered the day that he saw Denise sitting in the waiting room of a sterile building. He knew that it was the place that held the dead. His heart had ached for her. Just as turned his head from that vision, he looked over and saw a face that he didn’t think that he would see again. Lenora. She looked around and her eyes found Assan.
“Assan? Is that really you?” She looked around. “Is this where I think it is?”
He walked over and took her into his arms.
“It is.”
“There was a voice that said I was to come here. I was the mother of the first daughter?”
Assan smiled and looked at the Throne. At least God was talking to someone. He just had to trust that there was a plan.
“Yes. I am glad that He allowed you here.”
“I thought that I would feel sadness at leaving Denise, but I don’t.”
“That is because you loved her and there was nothing left unsaid between you. You are at peace.” He let her go and smiled at her.
“I just wish that I could see her one more time.”
Assan took her hand and nodded. He closed his eyes and projected them to a cold room. He let her remember that day after she had died with him. They saw Denise stand on the side of a table and looked up at them. Lenora smiled and blew her a kiss. Denise ran to them, but Assan could not keep that projection up long. When they were back at the river, Lenora smiled and hugged him.
“Thank you.”
“You are welcome. Now you must go and see your new place.”
Lenora turned and looked as the street glowed. It seemed to be leading her away. She looked at Assan, and he nodded his reassurance. She smiled and followed the road to where she would spend eternity. He knew that the human souls who ended up on the upper tier would forever rejoice in a love that the human body could never comprehend. He watched her disappear over the hill and prayed that he could keep her peace safe from this upcoming attack. He knew that if heaven was ever taken over, that peace would be forever shattered.
55
Denise woke up in her box. She was all alone and she called out to Grandmother. She didn’t think that she would answer, but there was a knock on the outside. Denise focused her energy to see the outside and saw Grandmother standing there. She quickly allowed her access and engulfed her into a hug as soon as she appeared.
“Nana!”
“Hello child. I’m so glad that you are safe.” She let her go and looked at Denise. “Do you know where you are? We don’t have much time before he figures out where you have gone.”
“But this is our safe place.”
“And he is an angel on a mission. Did he say what he wanted?”
“He said something about marriage tomorrow and I don’t know where I am. I’m in a dark room and there are no windows.”
“Okay. I need you to go back and focus your energy. I will have Mary track you, but we are running out of time.”
A loud bang hit the side of the box and they both looked over.
“He is here and trying to get in. Leave child. We are going to find you.”
Denise gave her one final hug and left the box. She woke up on the floor, cradled in his arms. He looked down at her in astonishment.
“What did you do? Where was that place?”
“How did you find me?”
“I followed your lifeline.”
Denise sat up and pushed him away.
“I won’t help you.”
He angrily stood up and walked to the door.
“You won’t have a choice. I know what you value, and I will have your consent.”
His words made her heart beat faster. She couldn’t let him get away with this. She closed her eyes and opened herself to Mary.
56
Mary had been crying for hours now. They have split up and gone looking almost everywhere for Denise. She tried to follow their soul tie, and then it disappeared. When they got back to the house, Marcus suggested that she go and lay down for a while to save her strength, but she couldn�
��t. Not while Denise was out there. Where could she have gone? Mary kept trying to reach out to her, but either she was hurt or she was blocking her.
“Mom, where could she be? This is all my fault. I shouldn’t have ever kept anything from her.”
“Mary, you can’t just blame yourself. We all had a part in this.”
Mary hugged her mom. “She is my other half, I can’t lose her, Mom.”
“I know. Hopefully Nana can find her.”
They all sat in the kitchen while Grandmother went in and out of meditation to see if she returned to the box.
“She’s not going to go to the box. She is running from us.”
“You never know, she may.” Rebecca placed a hand on Mary’s and looked up at Marcus. “Anything?”
Marcus shook his head. “I’ve put out a summoning spell, but she’s blocked it somehow. Her angel side must be activated by her agitation.”
“Dammit. She couldn’t have gone far,” Logan offered.
Mary sat straight up and gasped. “I’ve got something. She’s scared.”
Mary closed her eyes and focused on their tie. She saw her downtown, and Analise’s surprised face. Dee, can you hear me? Dee? The connection went black. Mary’s eyes shot open and she looked at the expectant faces.
“Analise!”
Curses sounded all around the kitchen and Rebecca sat up straighter.
“Did you see where she was?”
“It looked like downtown. Analise looked surprised to see her though. She wasn’t looking for her.”
Logan looked at his father and Marcus nodded. Logan tore out of the house and drove downtown.
“It all happened so fast. She was there with me and then nothing. They must have knocked her out or spelled her. I can’t feel her at all.”
Angel’s Fury Page 10