Michael bounded out of the doorway next to the ticket booth. The axe lady grinned, waved us through. “Eve!” he screeched. “I thought you were dead. And not dead as in caput and be brought back to the sparkly place, but dead as in sliced open with the immortal blade where the serpent feeds on your soul. That kind of dead.”
“Gee, your full of positivity today, Michael.”
“Always,” he said, grinning. “Come on, Adam's back and they’re waiting.”
“My family? They’re here?”
“Yeah, and a few extras, by the look of it.”
Gabriel and I followed Michael through the door, down the corridor, and into the main atrium where Adam stood tall engaging with his fellow angels to calm the disarray around them.
“They can’t be here,” one female angel yelled.
“They’ll be the death of us all!” a man exclaimed.
“They have no right.”
“What about the rose?”
“Yeah,” a crowd of angels said. “Did you forget the rose, Adam?”
I stood at the back with Gabriel; watching, waiting.
“THAT IS ENOUGH!” he demanded. “You have no right to question my orders. These people are from a number of different races. It is OUR duty to protect them.”
The crowds fell silent. My Darkwater family were sat bloody and battered in the corner of the room, tending to each other’s wounds. Where was Lucian?
Adam shook his head and walked over to them. He appeared to look twice. “MOTHER!” he yelled at the top of his celestial lungs, running over to her like a child in tears. “It can’t be,” he said as he held her head, inspected her, and hugged her tightly. My mother was crying tears of joy as she looked over and gave me the biggest smile. She was home, we all were.
A gallant Irish bloke skipped over to me. “Well, if it ain’t Ol’ Luci’s Mrs. right ere’.” He inspected my stomach. “You’ve got to be shitting me. You’re the size of a baby elephant. What did Lilith do to you?” Joey asked, picking his jaw up from the floor.
“She’s pregnant, you idiot,” Gabriel said.
“With what, a fucking rhino?”
“Two rhinos, actually,” I said, brow raised, smiling.
“Jeez, Ol’ Luci is packing that sperm, right there. They’re mighty babies, them ones.”
“Yeah, you could say that.” I grinned. “Where is Lucian?”
“He went over there.” He said pointing over to a crowd of celestial people.
“What’s happening?” I asked, walking over with Joey.
“I dunno, but I can hear someone crying.”
“What? Why?”
“How am I supposed to know?” he asked as we picked up speed and ran as quickly as I could. Shit. Who got hurt? Nic? Harland? Elisha wouldn’t have let anyone near her, not with her power. Then who?
Running into the crowd, I toppled forward, landing beside Lucian and face to face with the pale body of a loved one.
The body of little Eli lay before us, his wispy brown hair coated with the blood of the fallen. His mouth was wide open in the scream of the innocent. It couldn’t be. Not him. He was barely a child, only seven years old, had never seen an ounce of life past his own. He’d already lost too much, too young. Why him? Why did they have to kill him?
Joey fell to the ground beside us. “Eli! Mate wake up!” he yelled. His pale face corrupt with grief.
Lucian was sat silent, mouth wide open, shocked to the core. His distraught body shook as he wept sullen tears, turning to look up at me. I flung my arms around him, gripped him tight, held him as he cried. Why did this happen? Why is it always the sweet, young, and innocent that perished in such a horrific way? What hope did my children have in a world like that? Eli’s face haunted me as I closed my eyes. A single tear whispered down my face, landing on Lucian's shoulder as we held one another.
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 that 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 yo
u,” 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, they 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 a mighty 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 alrigh
t?”
“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.
Eternal Devastation (The Celestial Rose Book 3) Page 13
