by Aleah Raynes
“Rylee. I have something to show you.”
Who said that? I stood in the middle of darkness. It was similar to the space in my head where Cal had taken me to shield my visions.
Visions I hated. They could tell me I was going to die, then Dad was killed instantly. The visions were useless. A curse.
“You are not cursed. Therefore, your visions are not a curse.”
The voice was closer now. I whirled around in a circle. “Who’s there?”
A man dressed in black slacks and a white dress shirt appeared in front me. His long black hair cascaded over his shoulders. The darkness drifted away from us, revealing a large living room open to the rest of a house. House was an understatement. Mansion. No, castle, maybe.
White tile floors stretched throughout the room. The railing of the stairs to my left was dark wood and led to the second floor and circled above the living room.
“Who are you and where am I?” How did I get here?
The man offered me a seat, but I shook my head. He shrugged and sat in a lounger near the French doors. “I am Archangel Michael. You are in my home.”
Wait? I was dreaming. Had to be. “I thought you lived in Heaven.”
“You are dreaming. Well, your body is asleep, but you are here. Some call it astral projection.” Michael gestured to the sofa, “Please have a seat. You’ve come here seeking something.”
Astral projection? I’d read about that when nosing around in Tyler’s books from the Thornehart school. It was when someone’s spirit traveled to another place, while leaving the body behind. I hadn’t a clue how I managed to do it.
Why would I?
Dad! Tears filled my eyes again. “Is he really dead?”
Again, Michael pointed to the sofa. “Please. I’ll explain.”
I sat because I thought my knees would give out otherwise. “Why do I have visions when they don’t help me fix things?”
A sigh slipped from the angel’s lips. “Visions are a glimpse into what could happen. The future isn’t set in stone and can be altered. You must learn to decipher your visions.”
“I don’t want them. They cause me pain and I’m pulled in too deep.”
Michael conjured a couple tea cups and a pot. “Because you allow yourself to be pulled in. Never forget that you are in control and you have the ability to separate yourself from the victim in the visions.”
“How?”
“Calvin and Reed can help you with that.” Michael poured the tea and handed me a cup. “To answer your first question, yes, John has passed on. He sacrificed his life for yours. He will be spoken of as a hero as he stopped the end of the world.”
The apocalypse. “So, everything the guys told me is true?”
“Do you not believe them?”
“I guess.” I glanced down at my hands. “It doesn’t matter. I’m not staying. Dad is dead because of me.”
“By leaving, you put humans in danger too.”
I froze and stared into his sky-blue eyes. “What do you mean?”
“Lucia and her followers will hunt you down. You are safer with your kidetos.” He sipped his tea before continuing. “Lucia is too much like Lucifer. Greed rules her. She wants to rule the people, both human and Capissian. Lucifer was cast from Heaven for the same greedy desires. When he fell to earth, he created his own angelic race to rule. That was when I and my brothers stepped in. We created our own descendants to balance the evil he spread.”
I sniffed my tea and sighed. Black tea with notes of orange blooms and cocoa. My favorite. “Since that didn’t go well, the Order was created.”
Michael smiled. “Yes. Then a seer came to me about a month before you were born and told me about the end of days.”
“I got picked because I was due sooner than anyone?” I knew it was a cocky answer, but I didn’t ask to be the one to save and end the world.
“No. I did not pick you at random, if that’s what you think. Each bloodline has a chosen to play a part in this war. The chosen are born with a mark, a set of angel wings. Each Archangel selects their chosen long before they are born. You are the chosen from my bloodline, the fourth daughter born in the Thornehart family.” Michael held my stare as realization settled in.
I wasn’t just a descendant of the archangel, I was his granddaughter. “As in the old fashion way of creating life and not the magically created?”
He nodded, but didn’t say anything. Thoughts of my dad came back to the front of my mind. “I’m not sure how to continue without Dad.”
“You are stronger than you believe. Your kidetos will only make you stronger. You must trust them. John did what he thought he had to do to save your life. Never forget he loved you with everything he had.”
I nodded and sniffed back the tears. I set the cup on the coffee table and asked, “Is Dad with Mom?”
Michael smiled. “John is preparing for his next journey where he will fall in love with her all over again.”
The grief eased a little. Dad wouldn’t want me to give up. I was a Thornehart and a Baker. Strong minded and stubborn to the core.
Plus, I had a killer to track down and a world to save. “I guess I’m part of the war now. Where would I go anyway?”
With my five guys at my back, we would take down Lucia and her army. Or die trying.
About the Author
Aleah Raynes loves paranormal, fantasy, mystery, suspense, reverse harem, and anything else that hooks her from the first page. She writes new adult and young adult fiction and romance in the genres she loves to read.
She is co-authoring the Vaskell Empire series with Mandy Caruso. Book one, Touched of Ice releases September 2017. And her debut solo novel, Visions of Pain (Capissian Order, book 1) - a clean new adult reverse harem – releases in October 2017.
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