Earth Angel (Angels and Seers: Book One)

by Stephanie Woods

Chapter 24

  And work, we do. Over the next week, thousands of angels show up to our training camp, along with hundreds of human seers from family lines all over the world. Sam’s call to angels went out across the galaxy; though he is only king of the Earth Angels, many other Planet Angels from other kingdoms came, as well as angels of virtually every caste, including, to our immense surprise and excitement, a couple of archangels who decided to put a real stake in this fight.

  Those who weren’t already personally invested in protecting the Earth came to put a stop to Jonathan before their own homes and charges became targets. The Earth Angels who came brought seers with them, and other seers came from a magical call sent out by Linda and her band of elders. We’ve had to build barracks to house everyone, but with so many here now and more coming every day, it takes no time to get new buildings up. The town of London is expanding far beyond its original borders, way back into the forest behind it. We’ve gotten close to the Canadian border now, and thanks to the cloaking spell the elders did while Sam and I were in the AngelSphere, no humans outside the town will notice if we cross it. With hundreds of acres of forest between us and the next town, we’ve got plenty of room to grow as needed.

  No one questions Sam as the new Earth Angel king. Seeing the halo crown over his head was enough for every Earth Angel to follow him. They were actually happy to see him take over the kingship when they heard about Josiah’s betrayal. The angels from outside Sam’s kingdom treat him with respect and acknowledge him as the one in charge here, even the higher caste angels. The lower caste Nature and Elemental Angels on Earth easily accept him, too, as their kingdoms are vassal ones to the Earth Angels. We’re all coming together into a cohesive and increasingly powerful unit.

  Since I’m already the leader of the seers, and am now looked upon as the consort of the resident angel king, everyone, angels included, is giving me a huge amount of deference. If someone wants to talk to Sam and he can’t accommodate them right away, they come to me. I speak with not only the authority of a military leader, but also a queen. It’s quite a change from directing five year olds in how to play Duck Duck Goose. Who knew so much could change in such a short time?

  Another of the many things that has changed since our trip to Sam’s home is my career as a teacher. Upon our return to Earth, it became apparent this would not be wrapped up by the time school starts in a couple of weeks, so I called my district to request a leave of absence for the coming school year. My administrators were super kind about granting it, believing I was still having a hard time with what happened to Harry, and told me I was welcome back whenever I was ready. I can’t even think about when and if I’ll ever go back now, because there’s so much to do. Honestly, though, it seems like such a different life now, I don’t know if I will go back when this situation with Jonathan is over. I love my job, but it feels far away, like it belongs to someone else now, someone I used to be, but am not anymore. I don’t know what I’ll do if I don’t return to teaching, but that’s a question that can be tackled when the time comes. There’s no room to give it any attention now.

  Though he is now the king of the angels in this area, Sam still trains daily with the rest of us. A good king goes to war with his subjects, and leads them into battle. Right now, he needs to be a military king, like Henry V, and he’s extraordinarily good at it. As always, I’m his private training partner, while the rest of the soldiers train in regiments of a dozen or more each.

  Between recruiting and training, plus entertaining the questions, concerns, and requests of the seers and Sam’s angel subjects, there isn’t much time for us to talk to each other. Our only private time now is when we retreat to our room at Linda’s house each evening. There’s been some call for us to get our own residence, since the other angels see that as more fitting for a king and his consort, but we’ve assured everyone we’re happy with our current accommodations. Plus, every house in town is occupied, so we would need to have a new one built just for us, and that is not a good use of our available resources at this time.

  Besides, what little privacy we get at Linda’s house would totally disappear if we had our own place; a court of angels and seers would accumulate around us, servants would offer to see to our every need, and dozens, even hundreds of our followers would move in with us, eager to serve and be near their leaders. We don’t want that. We want to blend in with everyone else as much as possible, which is getting to be more of a challenge with each new seer or angel who arrives to take up arms with us.

  My grandmother is picking up on angel magic like a pro. You would think she’d been practicing it her entire life, which she should have been. Though our family kept the book of angel lore for more than a thousand years, it wasn’t long enough for us to remember our true seer heritage, which was lost long before the book began. She’s catching up on all that lost knowledge so easily, you’d think she knew it her whole life.

  Together with the rest of the elder council, she was instrumental in putting a cloaking spell on the entire town. With so many elders on the council now, from every part of the world, the magic is quite powerful. There is a kind of Underground Railroad to get new angels here. They are guided by recruiters along routes through space that are always changing. Once near the town, Earth Angels who are stationed around the perimeter of the planet guide them in the right direction, while other angels who stand guard at the border of the town see them coming and lead them inside. Any angel who comes is made to swear an oath of loyalty to our cause and to repudiate Jonathan before being allowed inside the town.

  New angel recruits are also searched for signs of special emblems on their clothing that might indicate an affiliation with Jonathan, and scanned for traces of the energy signatures of Jonathan, Daniel, or Jasper on them. We don’t want to take any chances with spies entering our camp, or enemy combatants who would be a threat to us before we’re fully prepared to take on Jonathan and his army. It’s not an exact science, and there is always the risk of letting in someone who shouldn’t be given access. We do the best we can, knowing we must take some risks to build up the army we need to stand a chance of winning when the time comes to engage the enemy.

  When it comes to bringing in new seers, the process is much the same, except they are brought through ever changing paths on the ground, either by angels who are known to them, or other seers.

  After a month, we are ten thousand strong, not enough to take on Jonathan’s triple-sized army, if the reports of the Messenger Angels can be believed, but getting closer.

  In the meantime, my powers are really coming to the fore, and I surprise myself every day with what I can do. Most seers simply see and interact with angels; a lucky few know Enochian and can do angel magic. Some seem to have natural fighting skills above what is normal in most humans, and a scattered three or four are able to sense angel energy. I, on the other hand, am a whole other story.

  I can flip, jump, and somersault like a Ninja, and handle any weapon handed to me as if I’ve practiced with it since birth. My strength is greater than any other seer, though my muscles remain as lean as they’ve always been. The agility I display is almost super-human. Do I feel like a superhero? Oh yeah. And it’s incredibly cool. But that’s not all.

  I can read minds! Hearing the thoughts of the other seers is easy, and if I concentrate, I can also make out what the angels are thinking…even the higher caste ones, including the archangels who joined us this week. This ability is causing a lot of excitement among everyone, since most angels are not telepathic at all; the lower caste ones can barely read an archangel’s energy, much less read their minds. Only guardians have this particular ability.

  The archangels who came assured me they were correct in choosing me to be the human leader in this, and for the first time, I believe them. I don’t even chastise them for killing Harry; I finally understand why they did it and, knowing Harry is okay with it makes me okay with it, too.

  Control of the energy around me is ano
ther power I’ve recently discovered. A couple of weeks ago, I totally surprised myself and everyone else in the training yard by stopping Sam’s sword thrust with a flick of my hand, pushing the energy around us back on him. I even knocked the sword out of his hand with another twist of my wrist. It was a truly empowering moment, and one I practiced the rest of the day, making sure I could repeat it at will.

  The coolest part of my emerging powers so far is my intimate connection with the fabric of the universe. It came on slowly after Sam opened my third eye, well after the other powers became obvious, and I’m still playing with it to learn exactly how it works, but so far, it’s awesome. I can feel, and sometimes even see, the molecules of everything around me, if I pause to concentrate on them. Because I can see them, I can manipulate them using my fingers, like I’m playing a video game on a touch screen. This manipulation allows me to create things out of seemingly nothing; I see how I’m doing it, but it looks like magic to everyone else. Sam says I’ll eventually learn to do the manipulation with my mind alone.

  The other seers have had their power centers opened up, as well. We need everyone to be as strong as they can be. While none of them have the abilities I do, they all become stronger, more agile, and better able to sense the energy of the humans and angels around them. I’m starting to think maybe we can take on Jonathan’s army without having his numbers. What we lack in soldiers, we more than make up for in power. Having seers on our team, which he doesn’t (as far as we know), is a huge asset to us. When Jonathan comes, I’m confident we can take him.

  That doesn’t mean training can stop, and it doesn’t mean we’re going to be the initiators in any engagement with him. What it does mean is that our chances of saving the planet are exponentially greater than when we started.

  One more wonderful thing that’s come out of all of this, something that’s even better than my powers, is my relationship with my new best friend. That would be Ella.

  Since she arrived in town, we’ve become super close. Any moment we’re not training, and I’m not fielding questions from seers and angels alike, practicing my new powers, or spending what little time I can with Sam, Ella and I are side by side, talking and goofing around like sisters. I often forget she is an angel, she seems so human.

  Most of the angels seem human-like once you spend enough time with them. Either that, or we become more like the angels. It’s hard to tell which way it goes. The exception are the archangels, who are decidedly alien creatures who tower over us in height and whose ways and mannerisms are unlike ours in every way. I guess when you’re in charge of all the angels in the universe, as well as guarding the universe itself from invasion from other ones, it makes you different than the norm. They don’t scare or intimidate me like they seem to with some of the others, but they are unquestionably unusual.

  No one dares approach the archangels except for Sam and me; if any interaction goes on between the archangels and the rest of the camp’s residents, it is the archangels who initiate it, which almost never happens. Sam and I let them be unless we really need their attention for something. It’s not that we’re afraid of them; we just recognize the fact that they have their own ways. They aren’t even unfriendly; they are just plainly “other,” even to the rest of the angels in the camp. They train with us sometimes, but they only do it to see how the rest of us are coming along. I get the distinct impression they will do fine in battle without our assistance.

  These days, I concentrate most of my attention on my duties and my loved ones, and that includes Ella in a big way.

  She is like the sister I never had, and she says she feels the same way about me. We’ve got each other’s backs, and plan on fighting together alongside Sam when the time comes. Since we’re not at the point of battle yet, we make use of what little free time we get together by doing silly, girly things like styling each other’s hair, making flower crowns, trying on new clothes and modeling them for each other, and doing what girls do best…gossiping. I love her thoroughly, and I’m having difficulty remembering a time when I didn’t know Ella. It seems like she’s always been part of my family.

  So, things are going well in our little corner of the world. Sam and I are doing great together, learning more about each other all the time, and feeling our bond grow. Even a mere look of love from him can make my toes curl in ecstasy, and he is only too eager to get me alone every night. I love that about him. Heck, I love everything about him.

  One night, as Sam and I lay naked together in the large king-sized bed we’ve moved into our room, having given the twin beds to some new arrivals in need, satiated from some much-needed and deeply satisfying love making, Sam draws me even closer than I already am, my head snuggled under his chin in one of our favorite cuddling positions. He speaks softly, gently, like a summer breeze through the tree tops.

  “Lucy? When all this is over, will you marry me?”

  I freeze, wanting this moment to last forever, to remember every second of it. Goose bumps run down my arms and my stomach flutters with delicious, tingling butterflies. The hairs on top of my head even raise a little. I swear, I’ve never heard a more perfect sentence spoken, or felt more loved and cherished by anyone than in this wonderful, transcendent moment.

  “Yes,” I whisper, barely able to form a word at all, I’m so stunned and ecstatic. Of course I accept his proposal. “Yes,” is the only possible answer to the question.

  “Good,” he says quietly. I don’t look at him, but I can feel him smiling that sweet, boyish smile of his, the one he uses when he is at his happiest. I can feel tears of joy forming in the corners of my eyes, not just for me, but for him, too.

  “What else are soul mates supposed to do?” I tease him, hoping to avoid the typical ‘girl crying at a proposal’ thing.

  “Stay with each other forever,” Sam whispers, answering my playful question.

  We are soul mates. We did the soul mate test weeks ago at Ella’s insistence. It was a simple thing involving mixing a single drop of blood from each of us in a circle of angelic runes in the sand, and muttering a short incantation. When our blood drops made their way across the circle from their opposite ends and found each other, blending seamlessly into one, we knew we were one of those rare, special pairs that are so talked about but so seldom seen across the multiverse. As far as any of us know, we are the first angel/non-angel soulmate pair in the history of everything, though we can’t swear to it. Ella couldn’t have been more thrilled at the results. Sam and I were happy for the confirmation, but we already knew. The test was just a formality, for her benefit.

  “You know we may not see each other again until we’re both in Heaven, once I’ve gone through all the lives I’m supposed to live,” I tell him, reminding him of the big difference in our lifespans. “You’ll continue to be an angel for eons, while I will be born into life after life. There may be a lengthy separation at some point. We’re just lucky we found each other in this life.”

  “Then I will always find you in any life you lead,” Sam promises me. “Our soulmate status means we’ll always be drawn to each other. Your soul stays the same in whatever life you’re in, and since it’s the other half of mine, I will always be able to sense you and find you. No matter what you look like or who you are in the physical plane of existence, you are always still fundamentally you, because your soul never changes. That is who I love. You’ll be able to sense the connection to me, too, whether you’re a seer or not, and that sense will make you want to be with me. And remember, thanks to the elders, we now know the spell that can make angels visible to those who aren’t born seers. I will use it on you in any life I need to. We will always be together, regardless of where or who you are in any given life. You have my word on it, Lucy.”

  I believe him.

  “Then we have a long time to enjoy each other,” I say, smiling as I pull his arms around me and cozy up to him even more.

  “Yes, we do.” He kisses the back of my neck, then runs his tongue exq
uisitely down my back to just below my shoulder blades, and back up again. I put one of his fingers in my mouth and kiss it intimately. Sam shudders with barely contained pleasure behind me, and I feel him growing hard with desire for me again. Thank God our physiologies are compatible for sex!

  “Hey, what is an angel wedding like?” I ask, suddenly curious as to what getting married to Sam will mean, and what the ceremony is like.

  He grins impishly. Then, rolling on top of me in a movement so swift I barely see him do it, he answers my question in exquisite detail while he makes love to me with the unbridled passion of someone who just had his most cherished dream come true. I know how he feels, and respond in kind, because it’s not just his dream anymore. It’s ours.