Earth Angel (Angels and Seers: Book One)

by Stephanie Woods

  Chapter 9

  Sam has a sister? I’m sure my jaw must be touching the floor. It’s not like I don’t know he has parents. He told me their names and titles. But siblings…I just never thought of Sam having any. I guess I assumed he was an only child. It seems strange to me for angels to have large families for some reason, but I suppose there’s no reason why they shouldn’t. Still, this is like finding out Santa Clause and his wife are the parents of all those elves.

  Fortunately, Sam is so pleased to see her, he isn’t paying attention to me and my impolite gaping. He practically leaps across the entire room in one bound in his eagerness to get to his sister and wrap her in an enthusiastic embrace. She returns it with just as much vigor.

  “My God, Ella, it is so good to see you!” Sam cries, continuing to hug her as if she is the only oasis in a vast desert.

  “You, too, Sam,” she says, happily. “You’ve been hard to track down, you sneaky thing. Lowering your vibrational level, that’s pretty genius. But you should know you can’t hide from your family, even if you can make yourself invisible to Jonathan. When you didn’t come back after going out to face him, and no one could sense you anywhere, Mother and Father sent out all the extra guards they could spare to find you. One of them finally came back and said he thought he picked up your energy signature, but it was so light, he couldn’t be sure. I volunteered to come see if it was really you. I’m so glad it is!”

  “Why all the rush to find me? You all knew I wasn’t dead. You’d have felt it if anything happened to me.”

  “I know, but Mother was insistent on discovering if you were injured and needed any help. Father wanted to make sure his heir was still in a position to take the crown one day. I can see now why our guardsman said your energy signature was so light. Not only have you lowered your vibration, but you aren’t at full strength. Was it a really bad fight? Were you hurt, or just worn out?”

  “Both. And it was a pretty brutal battle. My wing was sliced up, and the wing bone got broken. Lucy helped get me to safety and treated my wounds. Then I rested. A lot.”

  “Lucy?”

  Sam finally lets go of Ella, just enough to turn his head to me and smile in pride at his sister.

  “This is Lucy McDonald, Ella,” he announces, sweeping his uninjured arm toward me in a grand gesture, as if I’m a visiting dignitary. “She’s a seer, and an exceptionally powerful one. The archangels have ordered us to work together to stop Jonathan from taking over this world. Lucy,” he directs this next sentence to me, “this is my baby sister, Ella.”

  “Pleased to meet you,” I say, pushing my breakfast plate aside. I stand up to go shake her hand, but before I can take a step, she’s already in front of me, throwing her arms around me like we’re long lost relatives.

  “Thank you so much for taking care of him!” she cries, her voice overflowing with gratitude. “Sam is my favorite brother. I don’t know what I would do without him.”

  “It’s only because I can never say no to you,” Sam teases her, sounding just like a big brother. I should know. I’ve got two of them.

  “No, you really are the kindest and gentlest of all of them, Sam. You’re the compassionate one. How can I not adore you? And you do have a lovely tendency to give me whatever I want.” She turns her head and winks at him.

  “You said ‘brothers,’” I point out. “How many siblings do you two have?”

  “Eight, counting the two of us,” Sam answers for Ella. “Six brothers besides me. I’m the oldest, obviously, since I’m the heir. Then there are five other brothers of varying ages who are younger than me. Ella is the youngest of us all, and the only girl. She is also extremely spoiled.”

  “Am not!” she insists, mock-offended.

  “Are too, and rightfully so,” he says, coming forward and touching her under the chin with one finger. “You are the shining, precious jewel in our family.”

  “They don’t really spoil me,” Ella says, turning back to me, shaking her head in amused exasperation. “They coddle me as if I were a child.”

  “Which brings me to another point,” Sam says, crossing his arms across his chest, the arm with the broken wing still sitting slightly crooked. “Why in God’s vast universe did Mother and Father allow you to come down here? They know Jonathan and his minions are about and could easily find you through our family energy signature. It’s way too dangerous for you to be here.”

  “They actually felt it was safer,” Ella says. “With your energy signature being barely traceable, they thought Jonathan might be getting frustrated with not finding you. The guardsman who thought he found you didn’t sense any other angel energy near yours, so we knew you weren’t Jonathan’s captive. Since it was plain you lived and got away, they were concerned Jonathan might come to our home to look for you, or to get information on your whereabouts. Father is locking down the place, but he and Mother wanted me gone, just in case Jonathan is somehow able to get in.”

  “No angel should be able to open the doors except Father once they’re locked,” Sam protests. “Not unless he gives someone special permission.”

  “Jonathan is no ordinary angel.”

  “Don’t I know it? When are you supposed to go back? Not that I want you to leave, but…”

  “Yes, I know,” Ella waves her hand dismissively. “You want to be sure I’m safe, too. With everyone sending me all over the place to keep me safe, I’ll end up being sent to another universe before long. I can tell by the looks on our parents’ faces that they’ve discussed it. But, to answer your question, I’m supposed to wait a day for word to come back. If no messenger is sent to me, it means disaster has struck, and I’m to go to the secret training base you and Father established behind the moon. You know, the one for the resistance fighters you planned to recruit to help defend the planet?”

  “They don’t intend for you to learn to fight?” Sam is plainly aghast at the idea of his little sister becoming a soldier.

  “Only if I want to, and only if something happens to the dome and the angels in it.”

  “The dome?” I ask, taking my chance to jump in with my burning question during the slight pause in this sibling back and forth.

  “Our home,” Ella says. “It’s high above the Earth, but still close enough for us to carefully monitor it and the area of space around it. It’s a large energetic sphere that we call ‘the dome,’ but it’s just a normal city inside. Most humans can’t see it, but you could, since you’re a seer. All you would need is a telescope and someone showing you where to look.”

  OK, now all I want to do is to buy a telescope, drag Sam and Ella to the nearest building with an accessible roof, and get them to show me their home.

  “I’ll be happy to show you,” she adds, helpfully.

  “Maybe some other time,” Sam waves off the idea quickly. “We have much more important things to consider at the moment, and no time for such trivialities.”

  Ella shoots me a look that lets me know she’ll show me as soon as she has an opportunity, and that she finds her older brother just as exasperating as I sometimes find mine. Sibling dynamics. You’ve got to love them.

  “Well, there’s certainly time for me to do this,” Ella sniffs, a bit defiantly, and turns to me again, putting a hand on each of my shoulders. Her fingers are long and thin, her arms slender and delicate. She looks just like you’d imagine an angel would look if you’d never seen one. She’s got the classic “angel” appearance that’s common among humans and has inspired countless sculptures, paintings, and little ceramic figurines. She is also visibly younger than Sam, maybe even younger than me by a few years in human physiology (though in actual years, I’m sure she’s ancient). Such a delicate looking, compassionate, kind-hearted beauty will absolutely inspire a protective instinct in men, and Sam has it for his little sister in spades. Even if he wasn’t standing right in front of me so I could see it, I’d still feel his screaming impatience to send her away from here before Jonathan
comes back.

  “Thank you for protecting my brother,” Ella says solemnly, looking me right in the eyes with that uniquely piercing angel gaze. “Not many people would have done this, knowing what dangers they faced, not even other seers. Jonathan probably would have found him and finished him off quickly if you weren’t so kind and brave and generous to take him in and clean his wounds. I and my entire family are forever in your debt. Name any favor you ask, and it will be yours. You don’t even have to ask now. Just know the Earth Angel kingdom is here for you whenever you need or want us.”

  Aw! That’s so sweet, I just want to hug her. “I only did what I thought anyone would do,” I protest. “It didn’t seem like anything particularly special, just the right thing. I couldn’t let him suffer. And I’m happy I did. I’ll continue to stand by Sam as long as he needs me, and as long as the word needs us together.”

  Before I know it, Ella is throwing her arms around me so enthusiastically it nearly knocks me off my feet. “You are my hero, Lucy McDonald! And you’re wrong. Not everyone would have helped Sam. Most seers would have ignored him, because they could see he brought trouble with him, and they wouldn’t want to get involved and risk putting themselves in danger. The working relationship between seers and angels is not as close as it once was. Believe me, what you did is extraordinary, and I love you for it. You are my sister forever for this.”

  Sam laughs, a rare and lovely sound that reminds me of wind chimes. “Well, that’s it, Lucy,” he says, full of mirth again. “Once Ella makes you family, you’re in for good.”

  Ella punches Sam playfully in the arm. “You make it sound like I adopt every stray in the galaxy who crosses my path” she gripes. “Not that you’re a stray, Lucy,” she quickly adds.

  “No, no, not at all,” Sam says placatingly, holding his hands up in mock surrender. “But you’ve got to admit, you’re very willing to adopt beings of all kinds into the family if they do the slightest nice thing for you.”

  “One good turn deserves another. And how many times have I done that over the centuries, really? Three, maybe four times since I was born? Really, Sam, you exaggerate way too much. Don’t take everything he says seriously, Lucy. My brother tends to embellish things…liberally.”

  My God, they really are just like a human brother and sister. How many times have I had similar exchanges with my own brothers? Jonathan’s megalomania aside, it seems that angels really aren’t all that different from humans at all.

  “I always tell the precise truth,” Sam says indignantly, lifting his chin just a bit. “Lucy can attest to that.”

  Okay, this banter is clearly familiar to them, and I sense it could go on for a while. It’s amusing, but we really don’t have time for it, like Sam said. I can’t believe it, but I am going to have to be the mediator and step in between this angel sibling teasing match. It’s like I’ve entered Bizarro World.

  “Yes, Sam, you’ve never been anything but truthful with me,” I say, nodding in complete agreement. “And Ella, thank you for your offer. It would be my honor to be your sister. I always wanted a sister, since I only have brothers, like you. I hope we can get to know each other better once this Jonathan situation is done.”

  That seems to bring them both back to the situation at hand, and they nod at me in unison.

  “You overheard our discussion about getting Jonathan’s blade?” I ask Ella. Time to get things moving in that direction, because Sam is right…Jonathan will be back before too long, and we want to be out of here when he shows up.

  “Most of it. Well, just the end, really. Sam seemed against it, but what I heard sounded sensible. If you’re not going to do it, someone should. I volunteer.”

  “Absolutely not!” Sam insists, using the exact same ‘I forbid’ tone he’d used with me. “I won’t put either one of you in danger.”

  “Well, you can’t do it yourself,” I say, sitting back down on the barstool by the kitchen island where my breakfast is slowly getting cold. “You’re not at top strength, your wing is still broken, and Jonathan would sense you before you could get close enough to do it. Even with your lowered vibration, he can’t help but notice it if you’re right behind him.”

  “Besides, I don’t think you have a choice if someone volunteers,” Ella points out reasonably.

  “As head of our family, I do,” Sam insists. “And I promised Lucy I would protect her.”

  “Well, we’re not going to let you martyr yourself just because you feel some responsibility to protect us, right Lucy?”

  There it is. She’s pulling me right into her argument with Sam, just like we really are sisters. She sounds so petulant, too. I wonder just how much younger than Sam she actually is.

  However, petulant though she may be, she’s right.

  “I agree with Ella,” I say, crossing my arms defiantly. “It’s two against one, Sam.”

  Sam runs his hand through his hair and looks at us both as if we are crazy. “Great. You’re both ganging up on me? How can you willingly put yourselves in danger?”

  “Because we care about you,” Ella says. “And we want to help. Lucy’s right. You can’t do this on your own.”

  Sam looks at me to see if I agree. I nod, letting him know I’m with Ella on this one.

  Sam glances silently from one to the other of us a few times, not knowing what to say. Obviously, his position of leadership at home means he isn’t used to being questioned. There is some incredible steely resolve in there under the sweet, unassuming exterior. Layers. The dude has layers. I shouldn’t be surprised, but I am. Humans have layers, of course, but most angels I’ve met, except for Kira, have been pretty one-dimensional. Then again, maybe they just seemed that way because I didn’t take the time to get to know them better.

  “I won’t talk about this right now,” he eventually speaks, using a tone meant to let us know he intends to brook no dissent. I’m not intimidated and I can tell Ella isn’t, either. We just smile and let him go on. Sometimes you have to give men their way, or let them think they’re getting it, in order to keep things peaceful. Ella obviously knows this secret, so it’s not something unique to humans.

  “Both of you, sit down,” he points to the empty barstool next to me and Ella goes to it, propping herself up with her elbows on the counter, and resting her chin in the cup of her hands. “Ella, I need news from home. I was going to contact you all once Lucy and I got to Vermont, to let you know I’m okay and discuss strategy for building up our army. But, since you’re here, you may as well relay my messages. We’re definitely going to need to build a powerful fighting force. If Jonathan doesn’t find me soon, he’ll come after our family and our people next. Father and Mother were right on that point. Everyone needs to be ready.”

  Sam sits down across from me, back in front of his unfinished breakfast. We really don’t have time for this conversation, either. But Sam isn’t going to listen to reason regarding the blade plan right now. I suppose it’s better to talk strategy for his people first. I can always work on him some more about getting the blade later. Surely he can be made to see reason once he’s had some time to think about it objectively.

  “Why are you going to Vermont?” Ella wonders.

  Sam explains the Vermont plan, which Ella agrees is sensible.

  “The whole dome must think I’m a joke, hiding when I should be fighting, or at least gathering forces to protect our home,” Sam says, a bit dejectedly. He’s still on that coward thing. Silly angel.

  Ella quickly disabuses him of that notion. “You’re hiding for our protection. If Jonathan kills you, there’s no one else around here who is strong enough to take him on. He’ll enslave us all, just as he has on the other planets and moons of this solar system. I understand that, and so does everyone else at home. Believe me, Sam, no one thinks you’re a coward. They think you’re doing what a leader should do.”

  “And what about Mother and Father?” Sam asks, clearly still looking for some reason to hate himself. “If Jon
athan or one of his seconds in command manages to get into the dome, they’ll massacre everyone.”

  “The chances of that happening are incredibly small. They would have to have an enormous amount of power to break that lock.”

  “It’s still a possibility.”

  “I know. And our parents have an evacuation plan for everyone if it should come to that. You should know they’re always prepared for practically anything.”

  “Does that evacuation plan include them?” Sam sounds concerned. Would his parents really stay and face the danger alone?

  Ella is quiet for just long enough to answer Sam’s question.

  He pounds his fist on the kitchen island in frustration, rattling the dishes.

  “Sam,” Ella says quietly, “you know they can’t leave the Earth unprotected. Someone has to stay behind, and they are the King and Queen. It’s their responsibility”

  “Jonathan will kill one of them to try to make the other one talk,” Sam whispers, looking down at the butcher block wood of the island. “They must know it.”

  “They do. It’s a risk they’re willing to take to protect everyone else, and to make sure the Earth still has at least one angel looking out for it. Jonathan will leave one of them alive, at least until he takes over the Earth and the Earth Angel kingdom and sets up his own rulers. He knows the Earth has to be protected if he wants to rule over it, and he definitely wants it to be the first major acquisition to the ‘kingdom’ he’s building.”

  “So while I’m down here hiding like a child, our parents are risking their lives to protect me, and Jonathan is still out there doing damage to the neighboring planets. I’ve got to do something.”

  “You are. You’re going to Vermont to access some seer magic and raise an army. It’s exactly what you should be doing. Your plan is the best chance you both have of stopping Jonathan. Now let me help by being the decoy for the blade.”

  “Under no circumstances!” Sam yells, a thunderous sound I hope to never hear again. Thank God my neighbors can’t hear him. They’d be calling the police, for sure.

  So, with that explosive expression, we’re back to the subject of the blade again. Great. And for the next several hours, that’s all we discuss. I swear, it seems like it takes days. Sam is a wonderful, caring, compassionate, and extremely protective angel, but I am beginning to see what Ella undoubtedly already knew…Sam has a stubborn streak a mile long. This is going to be a tough sell, whether Ella makes the grab for the blade or I do. Either way, it has to be done, and deep down, I know Sam knows it. He just doesn’t want to admit it. Sending anyone into danger on his behalf is anathema to him…that much becomes crystal clear as we talk the topic into the ground.

  Sam can argue all he wants. It won’t change anything. Getting the blade is the only way to give us our first advantage over the enemy. Without that, we don’t stand a chance at saving the Earth, its people, and its angels from Jonathan’s brutal rule. We must get the blade. And, whether Sam likes it or not, it’s going to have to be either Ella or me who does it.