Eternal Devastation (The Celestial Rose Book 3)

by Annalee Adams

  “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 withstand 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.

  Lucian grinned. Adam smiled and kissed my head again. He grabbed Lucian and monkey scrubbed his hair. “Welcome to the family!” he said. Lucian laughed. “Now we need a huge celebration!” He yelled. “Michael, Gabriel, Charmeine; plan a celestial celebration for tomorrow... we have a wedding to plan!”

  I laughed at my brother’s enthusiasm. My mother stood up and hugged me, then Lucian, as we all laughed at Adam ordering the angels around to prepare for tomorrow's 'event of the century'.

  Chapter 26: Taylor

  That evening, we sat under the starlight on the edge of the plateau that hovered above the garden of Eden. Dangling our legs over the edge, we sat hand in hand, watching the planned festivities below. Elves were running amuck, dangling bunting over the trees that surrounded the large clearing. Fairies flew, sprinkling glittering dust over the plant life, enabling them to grow and flourish all around the area. Centaurs were doing the heavy lifting, alongside the ogres who were mounting flagpoles and raising a huge marquee that was being sewn as we watched. Large silkworms were caressing the silken thread that flourished from their magical bodies and entwined with the light magic of the Ladies of Light, an order created on Earth by a coven of witches to protect the light adorned race from the darkness of the serpent.

  “It’s magical,” I announced to Lucian as we sat in awe. “All this, for us.”

  “I’m so lucky to have you, Taylor.”

  “I’m lucky to have you, too.”

  “No, I mean, you’ve all welcomed me with open arms here, accepted me as part of your family.” Tears formed in his eyes. “I’ve not had that in such a long time.”

  “Had what?” I asked, soothing his tears with my delicate hand.

  “Love. Your family is willing to show me their love even though I hold the darkness within me.”

  “They accept you for who you are, Lucian, not for what Lilith did to you.”

  He smiled, moved over, and kissed me. A soft, delicate kiss where are lips touched, igniting fire within our souls.

  “Oi oi, mate, that’s enough of that.”

  “Hi Joey,” I said. Lucian nodded to him.

  “These angels fink’ I’m their goddamn errand boy. They asked me to give you another message.”

  I laughed.

  “Why’s she laughing?” he asked Lucian.

  “No reason,” Lucian said, smiling. “So what did they send you here to say?”

  “I don’t know, wasn’t listening much. Something about God being back.”

  “What?” I exclaimed. “Did they really say he was back?”

  “Yeah, your ol’ mum is pissed.”

  “I bet.” I said. Jeez what did I do? I couldn't run and hide again. Think, Taylor, there has to be a way out of this.

  “What does this mean?” Lucian asked me.

  I shrugged. “I’m not sure. I don’t know what to do.” I paused “Joey, what did Adam say?”

  “He dint, he kept his gob shut.”

  “Okay, that’s not a good sign.”

  “Shit.” Lucian said.

  “Shit indeed,” I said.

  “You coming then?” Joey asked impatiently. We nodded, standing up and heading back over the bridge to the atrium.

  Hands interlocked, we arrived. The atrium was abuzz of angels battling with their voices to be heard. Mother was stood, talking to my dad; not the godly one, the actual, human version. Caleb was stood beside a little girl of about the same age, hand in hand, they were smiling. I gushed. He’s found himself a girlfriend. This place must really be Heaven, I smiled.

  Mother waved us over. Dad turned and ran to greet me, slowing down to see the huge waistline I’d grown. “Taylor! I’ve missed you,” he exclaimed as he ran over and placed his arms around me, pulling me in close for a big old bear hug. Those were the best cuddles, I remembered them so fondly.

  “I’ve missed you, too, Dad.” I said, teary-eyed.

  Caleb and his partner walked over. “Hey sis,” he said. I pulled him to my chest, squeezed him tight, then stepped back and ruffled his hair. “This is Jennie,” he said. “Jennie was alone here, so Dad said she could stay with us.”

  “Good plan, Dad,” I smirked. “Nice to meet yo
u, Jennie.”

  She curtseyed. I frowned, why was she curtseying? “It’s good to meet you, ma'am.”

  “Err, thanks.” I said, frowning at Dad. What year was she from?

  “Jennie here was the child of the Ripper family in the late 1800’s.”

  “What, like Jack the Ripper?” I asked. He nodded. My jaw dropped, noticeably it seemed, as Jennie gulped.

  “But wasn’t Jack a lone wolf? He didn’t have a family?”

  Lucian laughed. “Taylor, I forget you don’t know the real history of our land. Jack was indeed a lone wolf. He was a Lycan that left his pack and rampaged the women of London’s streets.”

  “He was?” I asked.

  Lucian nodded. “So who was Jennie's mother?”

  “Elizabeth, the last of his victims, bore his child. She was the only one that survived the change.”

  “So how did you end up here, Jennie?” I asked.

  “I perished from tuberculosis, ma'am.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry to hear. Were your wolf genes not able to fight the infection?”

  “I was never a wolf, ma'am.”

  “How?” I asked, turning to Lucian.

  Lucian answered. “Not every child born from a Lycan family will be a true Lycan themselves, they may just be a carrier of the gene.” I nodded.

  “Thank you for clarifying.” I smiled and turned to Jennie.

  “That’s okay, ma'am, I would never hurt Caleb.”

  “I know.” I said. “Otherwise you wouldn’t have made it to Elysium.” I smiled.

  “Yes, ma'am.” She said.

  “Please, you really don't need to call me ma'am or curtsey.” I said.

  “But you’re Eve, ma'am. Caleb told me.”

  “Yes, but that doesn’t mean I am any more important than any of you.” I smiled.

  “Okay ma...” she smiled.

  I grinned. She’d get there. “Dad, I’ve heard God’s back? Do you know anything?”

  He shook his head. “Only what the rumour mills have been saying.”

  “Which is what?”

  “That he never left.”

  “Huh? How can that be?”

  “I don’t know, Taylor, you’ll have to speak to Adam.”

  “Mother, do you know what Adam’s talking about?”

  “Not completely, but Adam said he believes he’s been governing Hell all this time.”

  “What, after he killed Lucifer?”

  “No. Adam thinks Lucifer is alive and working alongside his grandfather to govern Hell.”

  “Then why is Lilith trying to take down the celestial rose? I thought it was to bring her son back?”

  “I don’t know, Eve, there appears to a large chunk of information we’re all missing.”

  Lucian nodded. “If God's in Hell, then he controls the humans after death. He could wage his own war on Elysium with the skeletal remains of humanity.”

  “What? So we have the possibility of not just Lilith’s army, but God’s, too?”

  He nodded. “Jeez, we are screwed.” I said.

  Joey laughed. “Mate, I like this one.”

  Lucian nodded, smiling but with the sad realisation of the inevitable end looming in his eyes.

  “What about my friends?” Caleb asked. “They aren’t here, are they still alive?”

  “I don’t know, kid,” I said. “But you’re right, we need to save as many humans as we can. We can’t let Lilith destroy everything we’ve built and become.”

  Adam walked over, listening in. “Yes, we need to save your humans, Eve. But we cannot keep them all here. This place is for the dead, not the living.”

  “Where, then?”

  “Earth is a shit ’ol now, can’t be keeping them there.” Joey said, “Those demons will be ‘avin them for breakfast.”

  I shuddered. That was no way for any person to live, or to die.

  “What has she taken out so far? Is it just England that she’s been fighting in?”

  Joey laughed. “No, shit me, you didn’t know? Your ol’ mate, Rowena, has been commanding each country to target itself. It’s like a nuclear firework party out there.”

  My jaw dropped, hands clammy. Had my big sister really caused the end of the world? “I don’t believe it, it can’t be.”

  “It is,” Adam said. “Look for yourself.” He motioned over to the pool of tears. As I reached it, I thought of each country one by one. Every battle, every fight, was bloody and cold. Ash clouds burst into the sky, rain dropped serrating the flesh from the skin of the living. Was there anywhere safe? Westminster had been hit; the blast circumference had taken out all of London and surrounding areas. The prime minister was down and four of our nuclear submarines had opened the letter of last resort and targeted the middle east, destroying Pyongyang and beginning the nuclear world war three.

  It looked like Scotland was safe from the nuclear aftermath, as well as the top end of England, but they weren’t safe from Lilith’s armies, which had already taken down Elvington, my home town, and were now heading over to decimate any surviving villages.

  As for the rest of the world, it was pretty much the same; nuclear explosions at their capitals, demonic gunfire throughout the surrounding towns, and whole countries taken down as causalities of war. I couldn’t even see Bolivia anymore, the whole area had been destroyed, there was no longer anyway back to Enoch... not that I’d want to go there anytime soon. The rest of America was in ruins. It looked as though some states had made it, fought off the demonic beings and barricaded themselves in, but for how long? How could they last with the amount of bloodshed her demons bought with them? The surviving population was minimal, but at least part of humanity had survived.

  “We can’t let them all die.” I cried as I turned away from the pool, shedding tears at Adam. “There has to be something we can do, anything.” I paused as my heart broke for all of humanity. “Please, Adam.” I begged.

  Lucian placed his arms around me, holding me steady as I shook. “It’ll be okay, Taylor,” he said. “We’ll figure out a way.”

  “But they’ll all die; the whole human race will be wiped out.”

  Adam stood silent.

  “What about the rose?” Mother said, “The power contained within it created humanity, can it not do as we wish and transfer the survivors somewhere else?”

  “Yes,” I said, wiping my tears. “It could. We could transfer the humans to another planet.”

  “What about the one we just came from?” Mother asked. I must have looked puzzled. “The one with the blue and green people.”

  “Oh!... Perfect, it’s just like Earth. They can start again there, make a new home, a new place to live.”

  “No.” Adam said.

  “What?” I asked.

  “We can’t, Eve.” He asserted.

  “Of course we can, Adam!”

  “No, Eve, it’ll use up too much of the power.”

  “We have to, Adam. They’ll die.”

  “I know.” He said “I’m sorry, but the answer's no. We can’t save them.”

  “Shit. That’s harsh, man.” Joey said. Adam glared at him.

  “But Adam!”

  “I have to protect you, Eve, and your babies. I have to keep every person in Elysium safe. I can’t do that if I use all the power to transfer the humans to another planet. They’re wouldn’t be enough left to keep the shields up or fight back against Lilith and God when they get here.”

  My mind cleared. Realisation hit. He was right. Without the celestial rose, Elysium would be defenceless. What did I do? What could I do? Lucian had remained quiet the whole time. Why? “Lucian what are you thinking?” I asked.

  “The important thing is that we prevent the human race from extinction.”

  “Yes, but without the rose, I can’t see how we can.”

  Lucian addressed Adam, who remained silent and tense. “Adam, how many people could we move so that we have enough power left within the rose to keep Elysium safe.”

  Adam
raised his head, frowned then raised his brows. “What a perfect idea!” he exclaimed. Lucian smiled.

  “What?” I asked, looking up at Adam.

  “Mother, what was that planet called that you said you and Eve survived on?”

  “I don’t know but I could describe it to you.”

  “Yes, we need to find it in the pool, then we will know where it is.”

  “Okay.” She said.

  “But what about the people?” I asked.

  “We can’t save them all, Eve, but we can save some of them. Hopefully with enough humans they will flourish and begin again.”

  “How many, though?”

  “The same amount as you began with when you created them for Lilith.”

  “A thousand?”

  “Yes.” He said, smiling.

  “What about everyone else?” I asked.

  Lucian turned to face me. “Humanity will find a way here, Taylor. You have to have hope.”

  I nodded.

  “How do we choose, though?”

  “We don’t.” Adam said. “We let the light choose for us.”

  “Okay,” I smiled. At least humans could start afresh on a new planet. “Perhaps if we survive this war, afterwards we could start the repairs on Earth and make it habitable for humans again.”

  “Yes,” Adam said.

  “Hopefully some will survive the apocalypse and be there to help with the rebuild.” Lucian said.

  “Okay,” mother said, “Let’s find this planet, Eve.” She took my hand and pulled me over to the pool as we searched and searched through the universe to locate the one true civilisation that lived on an Earth-like world that would be perfect for our human population to live on.

  Before our eyes, Sola, the little green child smiled. A giggle and laughter creased her open lips as she ran through the forest of wonder, ready to greet her family. “It’s here!” I yelled over to Adam. Adam walked over and gazed at the moving image before us.

  “Ah, that’s Aesteriah. Father modelled it on his home world.” He said.

  “Yes, I can see the resemblance.” Mother said.

  “When can we move them?” I asked.

  “First, you need to sleep, shower, change, and prepare to enjoy your celebration tomorrow. Then tomorrow, when the sun dips and day turns to night, we shall move the humans as they sleep.”