The Celestial Rose BoxSet

by Annalee Adams

  Elisha ran over, unbeknownst of the fate that had fallen her little comrade. “Noooooo!” she screamed, falling down beside his body, picking him up, and cradling him in her arms. It was the scene of a child dead in the arms of his beloved mother figure. He had looked up to her, loved her, and she him. The angst driven pain that hollered from her soul broke the hearts of every being there that day.

  Mine was already ripped open, seeing my beloved succumb to the agony of losing his little friend was treacherous enough. But to lose someone so small? My motherly emotions panicked at the thought of losing my own children one day, just like I’d lost Caleb to the Beast all that time ago. My two unborn babies kicked vigorously inside, attacking the pain that drove throughout my system. Their lights continued to beam through me as they tried to calm their mother and heal her pain. But no matter how hard my babies tried, they could not help heal me in this moment, nor could they piece back together the million pieces their daddy’s heart was broken into. He was grieving the loss of a child he’d vowed to protect. The kid had died on his watch. He would take the blame for his death and may never mend from that moment in time.

  Gabriel had gone to fetch Adam. They walked over. “Where is his soul, Adam?”

  Adam knelt beside me, placing his arm around my shoulders. “His body is too far gone, Eve. Even if we knew where he was, it’s too late to bring him back” He said, “I’m very sorry.”

  “Where is he? Which room is he in?”

  “I don’t know. The gates...” He paused. “They were closed when we heard of Lilith’s arrival.”

  “So, where is he?”

  “I’m sorry, but I have no idea.”

  “What!” I said.

  Lucian turned with anger in his eyes. “What, you’ve lost him?”

  “No,” Adam said, “we never had him to lose, he never made it here.”

  “Then where the fuck is he?” Lucian said, eyes like daggers.

  Gabriel walked over and placed his hand on Lucian's shoulder. “Calm down, mate. We’ll find him.”

  “How? The kid had a shitty life and now you’re telling me he doesn’t even get a break in death?”

  Adam lowered his head. “I’m sorry, Lucian. I had to protect Elysium, I didn’t know.”

  Lucian scowled, pushed Gabriel away, and walked off.

  I sat silent, wiping my cheeks and watching Elisha hum a tune to the child she cradled.

  Gabriel sat down beside me, giving me a handkerchief. Adam walked away. “Come on, Eve, we’ll find him.” He said. “It’s not Adam's fault.”

  “I know,” I said. “I’m just a mess of emotions right now.” He stood up, offering his hand. I took it. I couldn’t stay there; seeing him like that was too much.

  As we walked away Nic came over. “Come on, TayTay,” Nic said. “We need to bury him.”

  “Where? How?” I asked.

  “We’ll go back to Earth and bury his body there.”

  “You can’t,” Gabriel said. “It isn’t safe.”

  “You’re right.” I said. “We need to bury him.”

  Gabriel frowned. “You’re right, too,” I said to Gabriel. “It isn’t safe yet, but we will bury him.” I assured. “Gabriel, can you take care of his body, keep him safe until we can head down to Earth again?”

  “Of course,” he said, kissing my cheek and walking off towards Elisha. The cries of Elisha grew louder as Gabriel gently removed Eli from her arms. Harland went and sat beside her, holding her while she wept.

  “I need to find Lucian,” I said, drying my eyes.

  “He’s over there, looking over the balcony.” He pointed.

  “Thank you,” I said and headed over to where Lucian was. The balcony overlooked the clouds of Earth below. This place was within the world, but not at the same time. If you studied the maps, you’d find that Elysium was a planet all of its own, accessed by portals throughout the clouds, and portals that only souls could travel through, or those that wielded the light.

  Lucian stood sniffling, wiping his tears on his sleeve. “Here,” I said, giving him the handkerchief Gabriel had given me.

  “Thank you,” he said, smiling faintly.

  I placed my arms around his waist and turned him towards me. “I’m truly sorry, Lucian. You loved the little guy, we all did. We’ll find his soul... if anyone can, we can.”

  “I know.” A few more tears fell from his watery eyes. “I’m just worried he’s afraid, that he’s all alone.”

  “Me too.” I said. “But this is Eli, we’re talking about. If anyone can get through purgatory alone, he can. The kid had a knack of laughing in the face of danger.”

  “Yeah and look where that got him.” Lucian said. “Damn, I’m so sorry Taylor. I’m over the moon to finally be with you again. I love you so damn much it hurts. But to lose him too, it’s just too much.”

  “It is.” I soothed. “Come on, let’s go for a walk.” I said.

  He nodded.

  Walking through the crystal fields was a journey upon itself. The purification the shredded blessings gave was wondrous and godlike. It was a place of beauty, a passage through a lifetime of splendour. It really was the eternal resting place, a unique abyss of creativity and imagination all rolled into one. I remembered a lot of its creation, just not quite all. Some memories were still amiss and hard to reach. At least now I remembered my mother, my father, in his grand almighty state, and the injustice as he turned to the serpent and fell in line under its reign. There was once hope with him, just like there was with Lilith, but now, now I wasn't so sure.

  “How did he not know?” Lucian asked, interlocking his hand with mine as we walked.

  “I don’t know, perhaps he did.”

  “Then why didn’t he stop it, change his fate?”

  “I can only believe that he thought this was the best option, the best chance for all of our survival.”

  “But what about Lawrence? Why didn’t he stop it?”

  “I’m sorry, Lucian, I really wish I knew,” I said, turning to face him, placing my arms around his chest, bringing him closer.

  “I love you, Taylor Lane,” he said as he looked at me with watery eyes.

  “I love you too, Lucian Darkwater,” I said, kissing him gently.

  Holding each other for a moment, we stood in silence. Two sides of the same coin matched together for an eternity. It was in moments like that where I truly realised how lucky I really was. “We have to hope, Lucian,” I said. “We have to keep going.”

  “I know.” He smiled. He lifted my left hand in his and looked at my fingers, all four of them and one thumb. “How?” he asked.

  “Mother,” I said smiling.

  “Well, it’s only right that such a beautiful finger should have a beautiful ring on it.” He said, placing my engagement ring back on my mended finger. I grinned, kissing him. Was it possible to ever love him more than I did in that precise moment?

  Walking towards the woodlands my brother had ran me through all those years ago, I smiled. If only I knew where I would be back then. If only I had realised what fate had in store for me. Would I smile, laugh, or cry? A little of each, I believed. It hadn’t been an easy journey, but it’d been one worth taking. It’d been a lifeline of tragic mistakes, misery, and regret. But it had also been one of love, triumph, and joy. Every life was worth living, no matter how hard it got sometimes. In that moment when I looked into his eyes, when my babies kicked and wriggled, I realised mine was worth living too.

  As we entered the woods, a slight, teeny fairy whizzed past. They were so small. It was easy to miss them, to forget they existed. I’d always seen the unbelievable as coincidence or magic, but magic wasn't real. It was simply science we didn't understand yet. Take my light, for example, it was gifted to us from a far superior race, one that was advanced in the realms of science and intellect. My father brought it with him, he knew. It was just that my upbringing, Taylor's upbringing as a mortal human, was in a society where those things weren’t real, t
hey didn’t exist. Not because they didn't actually exist, but because they hadn’t yet been discovered, quantified, and proven. Only then was it science, not magic. Then it was believable.

  “Taylor, can we sit for a moment?”

  “Of course.” I headed over to sit beside an old tree. They weren’t just any trees, they were trees that gave fruit to crystals and creations. That world wasn’t just any world, it was what our Earth was based on. Except Earth hadn’t quite reached the wonder of Elysium, Earth had taken on its own path through technological advances.

  Sitting together felt nice. It was quiet there, time for just the two of us to talk. As I sat, I laid back onto Lucian's chest, his legs on either side of me and arms wrapped around, caressing my stomach. “Are they really ours?”

  “Yes, they really are.”

  “I thought miracles didn’t happen, Taylor? Not to me, anyway.”

  “Or to me. The fact that you’re alive, that you survived; that is an almighty miracle in itself.”

  He nodded and smiled, “Joey saved me.”

  “Really, Joey?”

  “Yeah, he was pissed at having to dig me out of acid, though,” he smiled. “His arm was all mangled. He’ll never stop complaining about that one.” He said chuckling. I laughed, it was good to see those tears blow away, replaced with the amusement of my loved one. “And...” he said, “Gabriel put him up to it.”

  I snickered. “Really?”

  “Yeah, that’s the expression I would have had if I’d have had a face at the time.”

  I couldn’t help it, shrill laughter echoed out of me. My stomach jiggled as our babies danced about, resonating in their mother’s hilarity. Lucian laughed too. I turned around, wiped the hair from his eyes, and kissed him. I kissed him hard and fast; vigorously. I’d missed him so much. I’d missed everything about him.

  “Are you sure?” Lucian asked as I pulled off his top.

  “I’m sure,” I said between heated breaths. His pale, muscular body could curl the toes of any woman. Just to look at him was making me hungry. Turning around, I climbed on top, pulled up my muddied white gown, and kissed him. Together we grinded, rampantly fondling each other’s body. He was discovering my new curves, my ample breasts, swollen stomach, and motherly frame and I admired his strong masculinity, his cold bloodied body, and his sharp, spine-tingling fangs. Taking our time, we rhythmically danced all the way to the freeing sensation of orgasmic pleasure, kissing and holding each other as we came. One by one the orgasms reached their finale in a strengthening screech of fiery delight and celestial power.

  “Shit. The trees on fire.” Lucian yelped, lifting me off him and jumping up to flap the flames with his trench coat. I laughed; a naked Lucian flapping flames was quite the sight. “What?” he asked as he brushed his coat off, admiring his handy work.

  “Nothing.” I smirked, grabbing his hand and pulling him down next to me. One long kiss later and we were ready to dive in to play again.

  “Mmm,” he said, “you’re too tempting.” He laid me down and climbed on top of me.

  Joey came speeding over to us. “Woah, mate, that’s dangerous, that!”

  “Shit, Joey!” I yelped, grabbing my dress to cover me over.

  “Damn, Joey, really?” Lucian asked, raising his eyebrows.

  “Yeah, oh like, erm...”

  “Joey, what do you want?” I asked, flustered.

  “Your old man wants you.”

  “My what?”

  “Adam, the big guy.”

  “Oh, why?”

  “I don’t know, mate, somethin’ about another dead vampire.”

  “Pardon?” I asked, eyes wide.

  “Yeah, them dead folk are really stacking up.”

  Lucian grabbed me, threw my dress over my head, and sped us back to the atrium. As we arrived, my dress was on backwards and I stood picking leaves out of my hair.

  Harland joined us. “Seriously, you’d think you’d mated enough by now.” He said, looking down at my bump.

  Brows raised, I asked, “what’s going on, Harland?”

  “They found Lawrence.”

  “Is he alright?”

  “Yeah, he’s full of beans, it's Pearce and Jessie that’s the problem.”

  “Jessie survived?”

  “Err, yeah, where you been?” He asked and then realised. “Oh yeah... by the way, Jessie survived.”

  “Okay, so what’s happened then?”

  “It's Pearce.”

  “Where is he?” Lucian asked, charging through the crowd in search of him.

  Running after him, parting my way through the crowds, I found Lucian stood over the cold, dead corpse of Pearce. His head had been smashed in, brain crushed, and one arm missing. Jessie was lying beside him, on the other side, sobbing.

  “What happened?” I asked.

  Jessie looked at me, fright entered her immortal eyes as she backed off away from me.

  “It’s okay, Jessie, it’s me, Taylor. I won’t hurt you.” She remained silent. “You know that wasn’t me, don’t you?”

  She nodded, a faint smile crept over her face. Lucian turned around, face paler than usual. “The last time she saw you was when Rowena commanded you to... you know what.”

  “I know,” I said. I sat on the floor beside Pearce, opposite Jessie. Lucian watched. “I’m here for you, Jessie,” I said.

  Jessie jumped up and sped around Pearce’s body. Lucian growled, ready to pounce. Did he think she was a danger to me? Jessie saw and knelt beside me, flinging her arms around me. I held her tight as she sobbed. Her body shook as deafening roars left her system. She was heartbroken. Was this really the end of her love story? After everything the two of them went through, this couldn’t be all it amounted to, could it?

  Letting her go, I sat upright. Maybe I couldn’t heal a human and bring him back from death, but what about an immortal? Where was his soul? If he was like Eli, he’d be wandering the Earth. But then Eli was a mortal, human child. Pearce wasn’t. Pearce was a Dark One, turned and changed by Lucian. That meant he had to have a fighting chance. After all, Lucian was back from an acidic end, couldn't Pearce overcome a crushed brain injury and a missing limb?

  Could Elisha give him life? She could take it, but could she give it? “Elisha, can you force life into him?” I asked as Elisha walked over to us.

  “No,” she said. “It doesn’t work on the dead.”

  “Okay, what about you, Lucian? You came back from a terminal ending.”

  “Yes, but I’m the original, Taylor. He doesn’t have the power needed to repair this.” He said, pointing to Pearce’s smashed up brain.

  “So, it’s power he needs?” I asked.

  He nodded.

  My mother stepped up, placed her hand on my shoulder, and nodded at me. I smiled. She knew, just as I did. Between us, we could boost his abilities, giving his cold dead body the energy it needed to start its own healing process. Well, I hoped that was the case.

  I looked at Jessie. “Can we try something?” I asked.

  Wiping her soulless eyes she said, “Yes, please, anything.”

  Edging myself closer to Pearce, I placed my hands-on top of his chest, closed my eyes, and felt the surge of energy rush through me. My mother's light was immense, that alone radiated through me like when the sun shined through a magnifying glass.

  Deep breath in, concentrate, then out and repeat. It didn’t take long until my body was at ease, relaxed and providing the vessel for our power to flow through me and into Pearce. I could feel my friend's pain as he laid in the palm of my hands. His body began to shake, tremble, and vibrate beneath me. Opening my eyes, I could see the light streaming out from his pores. My body waned, my mother's hand quivered; she, too, was succumbing to the draining nature of using our light in that way.

  “THAT’S ENOUGH” my brother flew in and yelled.

  “You cannot continue to give him all of your energy. You’re pregnant, Taylor, and share the host of a human’s body. It will not wi
thstand the abilities you are forcing it to do. Do you want your heart to give out?”

  “No, I...”

  “Adam,” Mother said, appearing a little wobbly.

  “Mother, we have only just got you back. Please try and stay alive longer than one day for me.” He said, smiling.

  She smiled back. “Of course. Adam's right, Eve, that’s all we can give him right now. Let’s hope it made a difference.” She said as Adam supported her and helped her walk away to rest.

  Lucian lifted me up. “Thank you for trying.” He said.

  “I just hope it helps him.”

  “Me too.”

  Jessie stood up. “Thank you, Taylor,” she said, smiling and pulling me in to hold me tightly. I nodded. “I’ll stay with him and wait for him to wake up.”

  “I hope he does, Jessie, but he may not,” Lucian said.

  “We have to have hope.” I said before giving her a smile and walking away.

  Heading over to find my mother was the easy part; she was by Adam's side. The two were talking, laughing, and joking; full of the joy of finding one another again. It had been too long, too many stolen years taken away from us. But even with her not being there for centuries, they appeared as though she had never left.

  “Eve!” she shouted, waving us over. Lucian and I walked over, one hand in his and the other on my stomach.

  “Mother,” I said and smiled. “I’d like you to properly meet Lucian.”

  “He lives!” she exclaimed, smiling.

  “He does,” My grin stretched from ear to ear. “Life is full of miracles.”

  “It certainly seems to be.” Adam said, looking over at my huge stomach and winking.

  I laughed and nodded.

  “I think a celebration is in order.” He stated, standing up and kissing my forehead. “We have so much good to share. With Mother and Eve back, and children on the way, this is the time to rejoice and come together as one big family.”

  “I couldn’t agree more.” Lucian said, shaking Adam's hand.

  “You forgot one thing, Adam,” I said, wriggling the fingers on my left hand; my ring sparkled in the light.