Mother fixed my hair with tears in her eyes. “You are lovely, daughter.”
I gave her a hug before I stood and peeked out the window. “When will Finn be back?”
Mom laughed. “So anxious to get married, I see.” She came up behind me to look out the same window. “He ran to get something. It’ll only take a few moments, darling daughter.”
I knew what he had run to get. He thought he was so secretive, but I knew Finn like the back of my hand. He went back to the meadow that we loved to meet at. It held my favorite flower. He had mentioned today that no bride should go without a wedding bouquet. I had a feeling my charming soon-to-be husband went to fix that.
Chamuel came into our view. He was my favorite uncle. Not that I’d tell anyone that, but he loved to spoil me rotten. He was holding his belly, and there was a funny look on his face. Blood slowly started to seep through his fingers.
Not caring if I tore the train off my dress, I ran out the door, even as mother tried to hold me back.
He fell to his knees.
“Uncle,” I screamed, “heal yourself.”
“Can’t,” he gurgled.
There were screams and shouts coming from the barn that still adorned the simple wedding decorations. Uncle Sandalphon dragged a bleeding Raphael and Zadkiel over to my mother and I.
“Heal them,” he shouted.
My mother dropped to her knees. She placed her palms on Zadkiel’s stomach.
His blue eyes held regret. “The Flaming Sword did this.”
“No, no, no!” I shouted. That meant their wounds were fatal. I was in shock as my mother still tried to heal her brother regardless of what information they just gave her. I dropped to my knees beside her rocking as Uncle Uriel came up beside me, a wound gaping from his chest, I screamed. He was telling me to run. But run where? And without my family?
Mother was saying something to me, but I couldn’t hear the words.
Giant wings soared above us. The commotion was growing louder and louder. I watched as the darken fought with the archangels. Uncle Jeremiel swung his sword cutting through one of the darken. It wasn’t a killing blow because he didn’t wield the Flaming Sword, but it would ensure that the darken wouldn’t be getting up for the rest of the fight. A darken with red hair stalked towards me. Uncle Jeremiel went to intercept her but a darken stabbed him in the back. The red headed angel smiled as she sliced through my uncle. Sandalphon tackled her to the ground and then I lost them both as they chased one another. Uncle Jeremiel crawled toward me. Tears were streaming down my face as I looked at my uncles. Surely my mother could fix this.
More shouts were coming from the barn, the place that I was supposed to marry my love.
Mother stopped trying to heal Zadkiel. Why had she stopped? In a voice that I wasn’t used to mother commanded her brothers that surrounded us.
“Their wounds are too deep,” mother said with tears in her beautiful eyes. “We need to change our priorities.”
They each placed their hands on me. A heat like no other radiated from their palms.
“What are they doing?” I asked Mother.
“Protecting you!” she shouted. Mom laid a warm hand on me, making me almost dizzy with the contact. She pointed at Haniel. “Stay here and guard her. I need to help Sandalphon push them back.”
I was holding Chamuel’s hand as he took his last breath.
I heard someone shout a moment before the redheaded darken appeared in front of me. Before I could blink, she swung a blade toward me. It cut right through my stomach. I watched as the blood seeped through the white wedding gown as I fell unto my back.
Haniel’s scream was enough to make the ground quake.
I saw the beautiful red-haired angel sneer at me as I lay there in a pool of blood in the middle of my dead uncles, understanding that I would have the same fate as them.
In horror, I watched as the darken cut my grieving aunt down. As she fell, she grabbed my hand, pouring warm energy into me. She died clutching my wrist.
Knowing that I was dying, I watched the scene unfold around me with what little time I had left. The demons were dead, and it looked like the remaining archangels were defending as best as they could, but they couldn’t kill them, not without the Flaming Sword that one of the darken were somehow wielding now.
I looked around at all the darken. They all had replicas of the Flaming Sword. The archangels were having a hard time pinpointing which was the real sword. This was planned.
Blood gurgled from my lips as I watched my mother take a cut to the lower abdomen. She stumbled over to me, half-falling on top of me. I tried to stroke her hair, but my hands couldn’t move.
Boots came into view. Then flowers. White peonies from the meadow where Finn and I loved to meet fell to the ground. My wedding bouquet.
I looked up into the most beautiful green eyes, wanting to tell him that I loved him, but no words came out.
His roar made my insides clench. Then he attacked the beautiful red-haired darken who held the Flaming Sword with such ferocity. She lost her hold on it after Finn broke her wrist, and he snatched the blade up.
The darken fell on him like a pack of wolves, but he never once lost the blade. My love had turned into a different person. He took out more darken than the archangels that were currently falling around me. I watched in amazement as the remainder took to the skies, retreating in defeat.
Blood covering him, he then knelt beside me as Azrael laid a hand on him. My love shrugged it off. “Heal her.”
“You know that I can’t. I can’t heal any of them.” Sadness was in his voice.
Finn tilted his head back and roared. “This is my fault. My father must have found out about the wedding.”
Azrael shook his head. “We should have known better than to all congregate at one place like this, and it was I who got jumped by the lot of them. They got the sword because of me.” He cleared his throat. “I can’t heal her, but I could give her another chance at life.”
Finn snarled, “Then do it.”
Pain like no other radiated into me as Uncle Azrael chanted. I watched as the blade disappeared and poured into my soul.
My love dragged me out from under my mother and cradled me to his chest. His warm, spicy scent comforted me. Tears gathered in his beautiful green eyes.
I placed a bloody hand up to his face. I needed to tell him something one last time. “Finn, I love you.”
“Maka”—he tightened his arms around me—“you will come back to me. Do you hear me? You must return. I am nothing without you.”
Maka meant wife. Even though we hadn’t made it to the ceremony, I knew that, in Finn’s heart, that was exactly what I was. His wife.
My vision started to swim as I heard Azrael say, “She will come to you when the time is right.”
“With her death, my father has killed us both.”
I tried to speak again, but he laid a gentle finger to my lips. “Shh, sweetheart. It’s all right. Everything is going to be fine.”
I tried to give him a smile. He always did lie so well.
Azrael leaned down and brushed the hair from my face. My pain faded a bit. “I have given her an additional few minutes.” He stood then, giving us privacy.
With new strength, I said, “Don’t grieve too long for me. Promise me.”
Tears rolled down his handsome face. “I will grieve for you until the day you come back to me.”
“Tell me a story,” I whispered.
“There once was a girl who held all the beauty in the world. Her smile was infectious to all. She was so pure because her heart was made of gold. Wherever she went, she brought a light with her that was so bright that it would chase the darkest shadows. My heart didn’t beat until the day I first met her, and it will stop the day that I lose her, for she is my light, and I’m so afraid of the dark.”
I took my last breath on that cold, dirt floor and, along with it, I took Finn’s heart.
I awoke in a cave. Trev had
lit a fire and was warming some sort of meat over it.
My heart was raw with pain. Twice, in both my lives, I have found love and I have lost it. A long time ago, I had been about to marry Finn. He had loved me more than life itself. The girl who he had mourned was me.
I couldn’t wait for him to save me. No, I had to save myself. I had to get back to Finn.
“Ah, you’re awake,” Trev said.
I rolled my head to look at him. “Let me go.”
“Sorry, love. No can do. Sleep as much as possible, for tomorrow is a big day.”
I tried to sit up, but I was too groggy. “What’s tomorrow?”
A sad smile was plastered on his face while regret shone in his eyes. “Don’t worry, beautiful. I’m not taking you to the gates of hell. A close second, though. You are going to the Empowered Academy. Once there, you won’t be allowed out without permission, and I have a feeling they won’t be giving that anytime soon.”
“Why?”
He knew exactly what I was asking.
“They want the commander to chase after you. He knows where the Flaming Sword is. It’s the only thing that can kill an archangel or a darken. Without it, this war continues. Destruction will carry on until there is nothing left of the humans. I was sent to the academy to find Finn’s weakness. You, beautiful, are that weakness. He will come for you, and I have a feeling he will finally tell us where that sword is.”
“How?” I asked. “How could you betray me?”
“Easy, love. They have the twins.”
“Your sisters?”
He nodded.
“Who has them?”
“The commander of the Empowered Academy.”
He stared off into the fire. “I never meant to hurt you, Gabriella. Maybe that’s the way it always goes, though. The archangels broke the rules, the darken were allowed to let demons roam, and then there’s us—Nephilim, fully blessed, and demis fumbling around, determined to be on the right side, only to fall short.”
My limbs were starting to feel less like Jell-O. I tried to summon my power to me.
Trev sighed reluctantly as he pulled out the dart gun.
“No,” I pleaded.
“Sorry, beautiful. If I don’t get you to the academy, my sisters die.”
I felt the pinch of the tranquilizer dart hit me in the neck. Tears fell down my face. My only saving grace now was keeping my secrets safe until I could escape. As long as they didn’t know who I truly was, I should be relatively safe.
I felt the heaviness of my eyes as they began to close. Would I ever see Finn again?
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This is for the fantastic people in my life who I call family. You guys are a blessing. I thank God for each one of you every single day.
Matt, my hubby who gives me tacos. Cole and Caity for hands-down being the coolest kids ever. The year of double digits and teenagehood. Lord, help me.
Big shout out to Brook (with no e) and Martha Ann for being awesome beta readers.
Thanks, Rebecca, for going over the book even though I decided to do a complete re-do. It's just what crazy perfectionists do. Molly Phipps at We Got You Covered for the beautiful book cover. Kristin Campbell for taking this baby and making it shine. Michelle Bryan, for your advice.
Love you all.
Brandi Elledge lives in the South, where even the simplest words are at least four syllables.
She has a husband that she refused to upgrade…because let’s face it he is pretty awesome, and two beautiful children that are the light of her life.
* * *
Find her online at:
brandielledge.com
Blessed: Academy of the Seraph Page 20
