Chloe's Guardian (The Nephilim Redemption Series Book 1)

by Cheri Gillard

  ***

  Dear Reader:

  Thank you for reading my book. If you enjoyed it, won't you please take a moment to leave me a review at your favorite retailer? And if you want to find out more of what is ahead for Horatius, Chloe, and all the characters you recently got to know, I'll share some from the opening of the next book in the series. Just keep reading after the "Book Club Discussion Questions" section.

  Keep tabs on what's happening with me and my books by following me on Twitter, Facebook, and on my website, where you can e-mail me directly, if you'd like. I'll post when the second in this series is due for release, as well as the upcoming releases of several other titles I already have in progress.

  Again, thank you for reading my book. If you liked it, please tell a friend. That is the greatest compliment you can give me!

  Cheri Gillard

  Connect with Me:

  Visit & like Chloe’s Guardian Facebook page: facebook.com/NephilimRedemption

  Explore my website: cherigillard.com

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  Like me on Facebook: facebook.com/cheri.gillard.writer

  Smashwords interview: smashwords.com/interview/WriterCheri

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  Book Group Discussion Questions

  1. What are Chloe's weaknesses?

  2. How do her weaknesses lead her into trouble?

  3. What symbolism did you see and what significance does it have? How do the symbolic images help to develop the plot, or help to define characters?

  4. Choose any particular setting and discuss its symbolic function.

  5. How does the split of Chloe's parents impact each family member? How do they respond differently?

  6. Discuss the roles of secondary characters, including Michelle, Kaitlyn, and Billy.

  7. What function does Benji serve?

  8. What function does Chloe's mom serve? How do her obsessions and addictions influence Chloe's perspectives?

  9. What is the relationship between the mule/Bethesda and both Billy and Horatius? How do these relationships reflect the moral character of each, as well as Horatius' subsequent development?

  10. Which characters help save Chloe, and how do they save her?

  11. What is Horatius' main goal and how does he move toward it? Does he have any conflicting goals? How does he sabotage himself?

  12. What value does Billy represent to Horatius? What truths does Billy reveal, and how does he do so?

  13. Compare and contrast Billy's physical traits with his spiritual traits.

  14. What do Horatius and Chloe do for each other? What conflicts do they or their circumstances create? How do they find resolution to those conflicts?

  15. What did you like or dislike about the imagery of heaven? Of hell (or Hades)?

  16. What can you do to protect yourself against negative thoughts or feelings? Do you think demons exist, and do they wish us harm?

  17. Do you believe angels are real? Do they help us? Communicate with us?

  18. What do you think of the character They?

  19. How does Horatius change by the end of the book?

  20. How does Chloe change or evolve?

  21. Which characters do you particularly admire or dislike? What are their primary personality traits, motivations, inner qualities? Do they seem real and believable? Do any of the characters remind you of people you know?

  22. In what ways can you empathize with either or both Satarel and Panahasi? What are their goals? What motivates them to pursue their goals?

  23. What motifs in the book can you identify? What parallels do you see between characters, situations, conflict, or reactions to circumstances?

  24. What is a favorite scene and why do you like it?

  25. How has this novel changed you or your viewpoint? Has it taught you something new?

  26. Did you find the ending satisfying? What would you change if you could?

  27. What is the main theme of the book? (In other words, what do you think the book is about?)

  28. If you were to talk with the author, what would you want to know?

  If you would like to include the author in a book club discussion, contact Cheri via the "Contact" tab at cherigillard.com to set up a phone chat.

  Read on to see where the story picks up in Chloe’s Watcher, Book Two of the Nephilim Redemption Series:

  The fire turned to smoke, the forest went dark, and Kaitlyn got up on wobbly legs and backed into a tree. She pressed against it and wrapped her arms backwards around it, hoping its solid trunk would help her body stop shaking. She wasn’t going to turn her back to where Billy’s lifeless body lay next to the headless witch. The witch’s severed head was still making Kaitlyn gag, but at least she was farther away from it now. She was not going to move until Horace came back. He promised he would be right back. Time travel meant she shouldn’t need to wait. No matter what happened, he could just come back to this moment in time, like he promised, and get her.

  “Horace? Can you hear me? Horatius? Where are you? I’d like to go home now. Please?”

  The forest was so quiet. The sticks in the big fire stopped popping and sizzling. The circle of seven small, different-colored flames had died down by the time the witch tried to cut off Horace’s head and got her own chopped off instead. The weird smell the fires made was gone now, chased away by the wind coming through the trees. Now Kaitlyn smelled only the smoke of an old campfire mixed with the thick, wet leaves on the ground. And blood.

  The smell of the blood was impossible to ignore. It was all over her skirt, where she’d used it to wipe the blood off Billy’s face. And where she’d knelt in the puddle of blood next to him and Horace before Billy died and Horace exploded into his glowing angel self and went after her best friend, Cello. The wet sticky fabric stuck to her shin, drying there like a giant scab. But she wasn’t going to let go of the tree and pull it away. She wasn’t going to move at all again until Horace came back and took her home. Like he’d promised to do.

  But he didn’t come.

  Kaitlyn was panting. Her throat tightened and she gagged again. She closed her eyes and concentrated on relaxing. She listened past her own fast breathing. No birds, no crickets, no frogs. Nothing. The witch or the fires or the demons or the killing or Horace’s explosion must have scared all the animals away. The air shifted and the leaves rattled up high in the trees that reached out the top of the forest. The branches squeaked. She concentrated on them, picturing them bending in the wind. They made the only sound. Any second she would hear Horace return. She strained her ears for his footsteps in case he had materialized farther away and was running to her. The pitch black in front of her face was confusing. She blinked her eyes hard to make sure they were open. She wanted to see him the second he appeared. She listened. She watched. She waited.

  And still he didn't come.

  After what had to be at least an hour, her pulse felt normal again and the shaking had stopped. Her legs were stiff and cold. At some point, without noticing, she’d let go of the tree trunk behind her and her arms were wrapped around herself in a hug. She wasn’t listening for Horace anymore. Once or twice her eyelids drooped and she nearly fell asleep. But she wasn’t going to let that happen. She was going to stay awake and be ready when Horace came.

  Awhile later, Kaitlyn decided it wouldn’t be so bad to sit down. Staying tight against the tree, she sank to the ground. It felt good to sit. And to close her eyes for just a second.

  ***

  Present Day: Denver, Colorado; Chloe, Seventeen Years Old

  Only the concrete steps, the broken flower pot, and the porch of the burned-out shell of Nana’s house were recognizable. Blistered boards textured like charred snake skin stuck up at odd angles as if someone had played a giant game of Pick-Up Sticks. The bottom two-thirds of the charred staircase went up to nothing in the middle of the cremated house. The leaves and branches of the tree outside of
where Chloe’s bedroom window used to be were singed black like they’d leaned in too close to see the fire inside.

  The sight of it sent a shiver up Chloe’s spine even though she’d just spoken to her mom and knew everyone was safe, that no one had been home. She remembered through a dream-like fog the balls of fire that Horace’s father had hurled at the house, the demons that had chased Horace, Kaitlyn, and Chloe away into other dimensions and times where they couldn’t help save her family. Had it really happened? Had the past been changed? Because her family had been inside before. But now, they hadn’t. Something had changed, but did that mean everything was different?

  She wanted to know more about what had happened. The old neighbor with the terrier she and Horace had talked to had walked back up the street. He was still out in his yard tossing a ball to his dog. With Horace gone to get Kaitlyn, maybe she had a minute before they returned to go ask the neighbor more. The shock of everything had left her too brainless to ask better questions before when he came by and told them about her family being away on a trip that kept them safe from the fire.

  The old man lived five houses up the street. Chloe walked up the sloped sidewalk, which was cracked and chipped from years of snow and salt and melting and freezing. The neighbor was wearing Horace’s Stetson hat, which he’d taken in trade for letting Chloe use his phone. He looked ridiculous in the huge thing. Horace was twice as big as normal guys. It kept falling down over the old man’s eyes and he tried to keep it up by propping it too far back on his head.

  “Excuse me,” Chloe said. “Um, can I ask you some more questions?”

  “Sure,” then to his dog in a childish voice, “Bring it to me, baby. There you go, Poo-poo Bear. Good doggie.” He took the soggy tennis ball from the dog’s mouth and tossed it down his long side yard. “Isn’t he brilliant? Watch this. I just taught him to fetch.” The dog ran to the ball, then plopped down in the grass next to it panting with his tongue hanging out.

  “I was wondering, could you tell me again what you know about the trip my family took?”

  “Bring me the ball, Poo-poo. Come on! Come on!” The dog stayed in the grass and started gnawing on the ball. “Oh, it was your family? Well, like I said before, some men came visiting from that church—the one a few blocks south on Federal?—and apparently they had a vacation package to give away.” He pushed the Stetson back up off his brow. “Someone donated it and they were looking for a family to take it. They said they got your name from a visitor card or some sign up. It was a limited time, almost expired, so your family had to leave right away. They couldn’t wait for you to get back. I guess you were already away with your band.”

  “Orchestra.”

  He looked at her blankly.

  “I play cello. It’s an orchestra, not a band.”

  He shrugged. “Well, anyway, they left the next day and have been gone about a week. Then the house caught on fire night before last. The street was closed off with fire trucks everywhere. They couldn’t save it. We’re lucky the whole block didn’t burn down. It was incredible. We were scared to death! We hooked up our hose and stood guard, ready to water down any and every ember that came near us.” He clapped at the dog to return with the ball, but he was too busy chewing on the grass.

  “And you said I was in Brazil?”

  He looked at her like she might be a bit crazy. “Weren’t you? Well, I guess you know where you were. I’d just heard that. I think Mrs. Klassen across that street said it. You know better than me if your band—orchestra—was in Brazil. Come on, Poo-poo. Bring me the ball.”

  Chloe didn’t know if she’d been to Brazil. Maybe in another timeline. In her world, she’d been in Scotland on an orchestra trip where she’d met Horace. Then they ended up in sixteenth-century Scotland and got stuck. And that’s where Horace had left Kaitlyn and had gone to bring her back.

  She checked down the sidewalk to see if he was back with her yet. She needed to talk to them.

  They weren’t there so she thought about calling her dad.

  “Can I borrow your phone again?”

  He pinched his lips, exhaled fast, and whistled through his hairy nostrils.

  “That Stetson is worth a lot of money,” Chloe said.

  “When I accepted the hat in trade, your big friend said it was for one call. I have limited minutes. Well, I think I do. These new phones. All right. Just be careful. I don’t want the screen scratched. I just got it.” He handed it over and held on a little longer than he needed to.

  She dialed her dad and got his voice mail. “Dad, I’m at Nana’s. I imagine you know it burned down. Or maybe you don’t. Mom is flying back with everyone, but I don’t have my phone, or car keys—I don’t even know if the Jeep is out of the shop yet. Anyway, I’m borrowing this phone, so you won’t be able to call back. Um, can you just come over here? And we’ll figure out what we’ll do? I guess I need a place to stay. Anyway, okay, I hope to see you soon.”

  Chloe ended the call and noticed the brand icon. “I thought you said this was a Pantech phone. It says Panatech. I think you might have a Chinese knock-off here.” She handed it back feeling a little sorry for the guy who’d been suckered into an imitation phone.

  “It is Panatech. That’s what I said. Everyone knows that. It’s even bigger than Cingular.”

  “You mean AT&T now?”

  “What’s AT&T?”

  Wow. This guy really was out of touch. Go online now and then, man. “Never mind. Thanks for letting me make the call. I appreciate it. Enjoy the hat.”

  She walked back to the burnt-up remains and sat on the lower concrete step to wait for Horace and Kaitlyn. Though she had no desire to relive everything that had happened, her thoughts drifted to her memories of flying through the sky, transferring with Horace into different dimensions, and experiencing heaven with its amazing love and peace. Images flashed through her mind of battles with demons, the terror of hell, and the horror of seeing a child slaughtered before her eyes. She shook off those nightmares and instead remembered when she and Kaitlyn were at Agnes Stewart’s castle, Dunnottar—a fortress on a rugged hilltop just outside of the village of Stonehaven, playing for their supper. It was silly and ridiculous when Kaitlyn struggled to play the viola with her elbows pinned to her sides with that crazy dress Horace had created when his powers were all going haywire. She also struggled not to gag when she either smelled meat smoke or saw all the animals on cooking spits—that was a huge challenge for her, and it seemed people were always cooking meat. It would be so good for her to get back where she could get tofu and her protein bars.

  When Chloe came out of her reverie, she realized a lot of time had passed. The step was too hard to sit on any longer and the shadows of the giant trees along the street had shifted. She got up and shook out her legs and rubbed the feeling back into her bum. She looked up and down the street, wondering again where Horace and Kaitlyn were. The man with the dog wasn’t in his yard anymore. A woman pushed a baby stroller across the street with two whining toddlers following behind her. The woman craned her neck to look at what was left of Nana’s house.

  Chloe gave her a pathetic wave and the woman finally looked where she was going and left Chloe alone. A bunch of cars drove by, slowing to gawk, the drivers rubbernecking to see the burned Pick-Up Sticks of the house. Every time a vehicle turned the corner onto the street, Chloe strained to see who was driving, hoping to see Horace. Of course she knew it was dumb to think he’d show up in a car, but it was an automatic response. She wanted so much to see them.

  When Chloe thought the stream of macabre-minded people had finished coming by, a black Audi with dark windows pulled over to the curb. This morbid curiosity is getting old. The motor turned off and the driver’s door opened. Chloe didn’t want to talk to anyone.

  Her dad stood up from the car.

  “Hey. I was in a long meeting.”

  “Dad? When did you get a Audi?”

  “What? It’s the same one.”

  Same as what?
“You never told me you had an Audi.”

  He looked annoyed. “Where is your phone? I tried to call you. You should keep it with you.”

  “I think it’s in there.” Chloe pointed at the missing house. “I think my cello might be in there too.”

  Ugh. His exasperated look. She shrugged. What was she supposed to have done?

  He glanced toward the house like it was registering for the first time. “The house—it looks…wow. It really burned up.”

  “Yeah, it’s bad.”

  “Were you home? Or were you over at Karen’s? Did you leave the stove on?”

  “Dad, it wasn’t my fault.”

  “I’ve always had to tell you to be careful.”

  No, you just never trust me. “It was some kind of explosion.” The fire bombs Horace’s father threw at the house were to blame.

  “Why is the Jeep in the shop? What did you do to it?”

  “The axle? Remember?”

  “You didn’t tell me about that. Don’t think I’m going to pay for more car problems if you and Michelle don’t take better care of it. And now your phone and cello. You’re killing me.”

  Chloe sure hadn’t missed her dad’s antagonism. And his lack of attention to what happened to her. How could he forget about her car accident? How could he care more about her phone than her own safety? But she didn’t want a lecture about expenses, and she couldn’t even think of her cello yet, so she changed the subject. “I talked to Mom. They’re on their way back. I forgot to ask when they’re getting back.”

  “They land tonight at eight. She’s been leaving me messages all day. Where are you going to stay?”

  Really, Dad? Really? “Well, I thought with you. I can’t stay here.”

  “What about Karen? Can’t you stay there?”

  “Kaitlyn. Her name is Kaitlyn. I don’t know. She isn’t home right now.”

  “Your mom can get a hotel or something.”