The Scent of Lilac: An Arrow's Flight Novella

by Casey Hays

  Tara’s expression is unreadable as she scans the crowd. After a moment, she faces Kate. “It appears the Archer has spoken.”

  Kate smiles. “It has never been the Archer.”

  I raise a brow, confused, and despite her words, a roar rises up as one voice, and fist after fist shoots into the air. “The Archer has spoken!”

  Tara purses her lips, an uncertainty clouding her eyes as they connect with Kate’s. The Council stands in the background, warily waiting for Tara’s cue. Leah’s fingers tighten in my hand. And in a single moment of humility, Tara exhales a slow calculated breath, dips her head in a traditional nod, and drops to one knee before our leader.

  Chapter 17

  I

  n all the excitement, I lose sight of Blaer and Fallon. I search through the crowd of women mulling around the stage until I spot them. When our eyes meet, Blaer’s smile is brighter than the sun, and before I have another thought, I fling my arms around her neck.

  “You found her,” I say close to her ear.

  “Actually, we didn’t.”

  I lean back in surprise, looking from Blaer to Fallon and back again. “But—I don’t understand.”

  “She found us,” Fallon explains. “She was already on her way back to the Village.”

  She nods toward Jesse who stands near the platform, ready to come to Kate’s aid the moment she might need him. It’s still so odd to see him here—free and in our midst.

  “Where’s Gina?” I suddenly ask.

  “At the river. She waits for word from us.” Blaer casts her eyes toward the Council assembled on the platform. “Leah thought it best if it were not known that Gina was involved. She believed Kate could better gain the Council’s loyalty if they saw this as only a breeders’ rebellion and not widespread.”

  I nod. “And Chad?”

  My heart skips a beat or two when I say his name.

  Blaer smiles. “With Gina. And John.”

  I crease my brows. “John?”

  “Yes. He was Kate’s mate after Ian,” Fallon offers. She exchanges a knowing glance with Blaer. “We heard every single bit of the story from Kate herself on the way here. And much more.”

  “Fallon exaggerates,” Blaer laughs. “But between Kate and Jesse, we learned enough to wrap our minds around what she has endured since she left here.” She tosses her eyes toward the platform. “She is truly amazing.”

  That she is. I follow her eyes, see my best friend consulting quietly with the Council. All around us, the women wear faces of giddiness and relief in varying degrees as they mull around, speaking in low voices, smiling, throwing glances at the platform. I feel it, too—the relief that our leader has returned to take her rightful place.

  Jesse lifts his blue hat, habitually rubs at his curls. The first time I saw him, he terrified me—giant and fierce. His earlier scowl is replaced with caution as he keeps a steady watch on the women. Several of them flash quick glances his way, curious and obviously frightened and unsure of a male loose in the Village.

  “I’ll be back,” I say.

  Tentatively, I approach Jesse.

  “Hello.”

  His eyes swivel down to meet mine, and flash back toward Kate, still protective.

  “Hi,” he answers. He adjusts his cap.

  “We met once before.”

  He looks at me again. “Mia. Right?”

  I lift my brows, impressed that he remembers. “Yes. That’s right.”

  He’s silent, arms crossed guardedly over his white short-sleeved shirt. His eyes flash toward my belly, and I shuffle uncomfortably, not quite sure what to say next.

  “So tell me…” Jesse pins me with steely, green eyes. “Is Kate going to be okay here? I’m not going to have to worry about that bunch turning on her?” He nods toward the Council, and my eyes follow. They surround Kate, some smiling, some not so much. Tara stands apart, rigid, and I wonder...

  “I believe—” I hesitate only briefly. “She will be fine now.”

  He narrows his eyes, unsure. “All right. Because Ian would kill me if I left her here without being sure.”

  “Ian?” Stunned, I study him. “But—he died.”

  “False alarm,” Jesse says. A corner of his mouth lifts into a half smile.

  “That’s—not possible. He fell—just as Mona did. How could he have survived?”

  “Turns out it’s hard to kill that boy. Even harder than it is to kill the rest of us.”

  I’m not certain what to think of his words, so I say nothing in response.

  “Well, Mia. It’s nice to officially meet you.”

  I study his offered hand. It’s three sizes bigger than my own, but when I meet his eyes, they tell all. He cares for Kate. He brought her safely home. I can trust him.

  I reach out. His touch is surprisingly gentle. He nods, this male. And my world grows one size bigger.

  *

  I rush to the river and straight into Chad’s arms. We sink to the ground, his kisses a medicine for my heart, promising me that we will never have to be apart again. Our joint tears tell everything, even eliciting a small smile from Gina. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her genuinely smile. And so, Kate’s tale has changed us all.

  “This must be John,” I say, rising to meet him squarely.

  Of course, he says nothing. Kate mentioned him only once all those months ago, and here he stands. John—straight from the stock—just like Chad. I take a step, lay my hand on his forearm. After a hesitant moment, he smiles and casts his gaze to the ground.

  As the warmth of his flesh imprints on my palm, I’m fully aware of the magnitude of Kate’s return. For John. For Chad. For me. For all of us—life will never be the same.

  *

  With Chad tucked safely in my hogan—our hogan now—I go to Kate. I find her sitting on the edge of her mat, staring at nothing. She asked the Council to give her one night to acclimate—to adjust to life here again before she took on her new duties. She still isn’t positive whether she will move into the cabin, although the Council strongly encourages it for authority’s sake.

  Our embrace this time is full of warm friendship and intimate closeness, and we cry for a long time. We spend all night curled on her mat, our foreheads together, and we talk until the sun shows its face on the morning clouds. She tells me every detail from the moment she left to now. And after what she describes, I am truly amazed she’s here at all.

  Kate waited to make the journey back to the Village until after Diana had given birth to a baby boy she named Caleb. He was born too early, and Diana had a difficult time of it. But Penelope worked her skill to save the tiny boy. Kate says it was a miracle, but with a smile she adds, “That’s what Penelope specializes in. Miracles.”

  Talking about Ian is harder for her, and leaving him was more difficult than “chewing off your arm,” she surmised.

  “But look at you, Mia.” Changing the subject, her whisper is wet with tears as she lays a hand on my abdomen. “Soon to be a mother yourself.”

  I’m overcome by the term, and all I can do is nod, slightly bumping my forehead into hers. She laughs softly.

  “It’s so hard to imagine life outside the Village,” I say. “It seems like a dream.”

  “There is more life than you could imagine in your wildest dreams.” She smiles, her eyes floating off a bit. “I have so much to share with you. Things I never would have believed until I saw them with my own eyes.”

  I confess her stories are unbelievable, but her account is sincere, and I can’t help but believe every word.

  “How is Diana?” I ask. “Truly.”

  “She’s coping.” Her voice grows sad. “She has a boy named Henry to raise… along with her own son. This has kept her preoccupied and has somewhat filled the void Tabitha left behind. And... Caleb was born with the strawberry mark visible on his left wrist. He will live, and this is a comfort to her.”

  “And my baby?” I ask, hesitant to hear the answer. Once she told me of the virus, my fe
ars mounted and rode off with my joy. “Will he live?”

  Kate raises up, crosses her legs beneath her. “I don’t know,” she answers plainly. “But I will pray for it.”

  She will pray. Not to the Moirai, but to Yeshua. This is what she calls him. I’m unsure of her trust in this new god, but I will not stop her from praying to him or to anyone for my baby’s life.

  She tells me many more incredible things. Ian is not only alive, he is a “supernatural” as she calls it, just like Jesse. And God has chosen him to train other supernaturals to control their abilities, beginning with five babies who are more powerful than any baby born to date. When she left Ian, he and Justin had already made some progress.

  “Ian will come to me when he can,” she says at one point in our conversation. “We don’t know when that will be, but when he can, he will come.” She smiles then and reaches up to fumble with an arrow tip threaded through a thin leather strap that hangs from her neck. “He always comes to me,” she whispers.

  I understand then how deep and strong their love is, perhaps even more so than my love for Chad. Their separation is a sacrifice, and the more she relates their time together, the more it seems to span eternity, and I can’t see how anyone could compete. Even distance and time cannot thwart it. She will wait for him until her last breath if it takes a hundred years for him to get here, and that kind of love is undeniable. To our village, it is a foreign concept, but I’ve no doubt Kate will teach us.

  “Is this your token from Ian?” I ask, reaching up to caress the shiny edge of the arrowhead. She smiles.

  “I suppose it is.”

  “I have one.” I hold up my hand to reveal the worn leather strap still securely tied around my thumb. “Chad and I, we—we exchanged them one night. On the riverbank.”

  Surprised, Kate takes my hand, squeezes it slightly. “You Mia? You exchanged tokens—with a dog?” Her words are teasing, and when I nod, she smiles knowingly and adds, “And you pledged yourselves to one another?”

  “Yes,” I answer hesitantly, not quite certain yet if she approves, although I can’t understand why she wouldn’t. But my anxiety dissipates the moment she tugs me forward into a tight hug.

  “Oh, Mia. You’re married.”

  I lean back with a sheepish smile. “I am.”

  She nods enthusiastically and takes up my hand until both of us can clearly see the leather token.

  “I cannot be with my love for now, but you can.” She squeezes my fingers. “Go to your husband. Make a life with him.”

  I nod, tears welling. Make a life with him. Never have there been more beautiful words spoken.

  Epilogue

  I

  give birth to a boy, and together Chad and I name him Mason. He lives, although through the years, four of our seven children are not as fortunate. We grieve, but we lean on our love for each other to pull us through each heartache. And we survive.

  With the help of the Council, Kate emerges into a strong, practical leader, and she governs us well. Daily, she studies from a book she calls the Scriptures, which seems to give wisdom and bring her comfort simultaneously. She teaches it to those who show interest, reading to us from the pages and telling us of her God. Some of it is strange, and I’m not sure I will ever believe. It seems wrong to fully turn my back upon the Moirai. Perhaps one day. None the less, her soothing voice brings me peace.

  Over the next two years, the Village slowly begins to change as the men are carefully immersed into our culture. Celebrations calling us to our destined duties end as each of us is allowed to explore options. Families are created; lives are renewed. I can’t say the transition is easy, but it is freeing. So much so that even Tara eventually comes to fully trust in Kate’s judgment.

  Unlike Mona, Kate is a merciful leader, and I soon learn that mercy is an immeasurable gift sprinkled with forgiveness and grace. It brings with it all good things.

  This is why I am not surprised one quiet morning—three years after Kate’s return—to see a shadow emerge from the mountainside and take the shape of a tall figure. Kate and I lounge on a blanket, watching my two small boys run in circles with their father. I see Ian first, and I nudge Kate with my elbow. She looks up.

  As usual, his blond hair stands out in all directions on his head, and even at a distance, his eyes are as blue as the sea. His beard is thin along his jawline, and his only possessions are a large pack on his back, a quiver, and a bow slung cross-wise over his chest.

  Kate stumbles to her feet, tears bubbling up in her eyes. She runs; he fumbles out of the heavy pack and drops it just as she rushes into his arms, safe and whole. My own tears well as Ian lifts her from the ground and buries his face into the folds of her hair.

  “That must be Ian.” Chad settles down beside me. Kate has Ian’s face in her hands now, and he leans in, kissing her.

  “Yes. He came for her just as he promised.”

  “Of course he did,” Chad replies. I glance at him, and I catch my reflection in his eyes.

  “Of course,” I whisper.

  He presses closer until I raise up to kiss him. The moment is made that much more perfect by little Aiden who clumsily crashes into his daddy’s chest and breaks us apart. Chad scoops him up and nuzzles in until Aiden giggles and my heart melts.

  Before Ian came into her life, Kate believed love was a foolish thing to die for, and for the longest time, I believed it, too. Love was too dangerous for my taste, but when it finally captured me, I had to succumb, just as Kate had before me. Kate bears the marks of her love on her body. As for myself, I carry my own scars because of my love for Chad. But love is the great healer.

  Mason climbs into my lap and wraps his chubby arms around my neck, and I’m reminded again of how wrong we were to have ever believed that love was foolish. I turn to Chad.

  “Do you still carry my bottle of shampoo?”

  He wrestles around Aiden’s squirming frame and digs the bottle of purple liquid from his pocket. “Everywhere I go.”

  I take it from him, hold it a moment, and kiss the top of Mason’s dusty head.

  “Thank you,” I sigh. “For loving me when I was so ugly and clueless.”

  He gives me that crooked grin that wins me over every time. I open the bottle, take a deep sniff of its contents. The scent tumbles me backward to my village days as a young girl, and with it the memories of my friends explode. I cringe in remembrance at the sacrifices they were each forced to make—some that cost their lives—and I wonder what they would think if they could see our village now. Would they think the sacrifice had been worth it?

  I set the bottle into Chad’s waiting palm, but he doesn’t let go of my hand. The bottle pressed between us, we cast our eyes toward Kate and Ian still encased in each other’s arms. The sun glints off Ian’s bow and consumes them both in light, and in the glow, I remember Kate’s story. I see a miraculous Truth which holds their love together. And it is truly beautiful.

  It is a love story that saved us all.

  And now... a sneak peek at

  A Heart of Flesh

  An Arrow's Flight Novella Volume 2

  Coming 2017

  For Justin every single day is unpredictable. It’s been four years since he discovered five babies with unprecedented abilities inside his father’s lab in Eden... the last of the Gaza babies to have been subjected to Project Nephilim and injected with an advanced mixture of the Serum. And with Ian gone, the responsibility of training these toddlers falls to Justin.

  Fortunately, he has the help of Penelope and Aaron... and Diana. With her nurturing heart, love of children, and a knack for bringing everything into balance, she is the perfect partner. She strives with Justin every step of the way as he works to teach self-control and harmony to the tiny, yet dangerous lives left in his care. And as Justin's heart bends more and more toward these children, something inside him begins to change. But how long will they be safe? And what will happen if all his efforts aren’t enough to restrain the insurmountable
strength that rules every fiber of these children—the last of Eden’s legacy?

  Turn the page to read an excerpt from Chapter 1

  Acknowledgements

  I never planned to write a novella. My plan? Write three books in The Arrow's Flight Series and move on. But then, I hosted a reading marathon where I was given the opportunity to connect with readers and find out what they really wanted to get out of this series. It turns out they weren't finished with my characters yet, so I couldn't be either.

  It has been a true joy to write Mia's story, and I owe the experience to my readers for encouraging me to tell it. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

  I also must thank my Street Team who have worked their booties off for me getting word out to the public about my books, especially Cheree Castellanos, Mary Clark, Cambri Allison, and Samantha Burchman. You've spread the word through author spotlights, helped me create merchandise, and co-hosted book parties. I couldn't have done half of what I do without all of you!

  Thank you Molly Phipps for creating the most beautiful bookcover ever! I still can't stop looking at it!

  Thank you VK Bussen for taking time out of your life to be my photographer. I love you, lady!

  Thank you Aubrey Smith for being the best Mia I could ask for with your beautiful self. I will have a lot of fun making teasers and swag with your image. Love you bunches!