by Ching, G. P.
Bounding down the stairs to the main floor, God approached Malini and Jacob. “Now, one more thing,” he said. “It is my will that you two should raise Hope as your own.”
Malini gasped. “What? I don’t know how to raise a baby.” The panic in her voice surprised even Jacob.
God laughed. “Malini Gupta, you raised the dead. You slayed hundreds of Watchers in my name. Is a baby such a burden?”
Her jaw snapped shut.
Jacob reached out for Hope and gathered her into his arms. “We’ll figure it out.”
“She’s yours, Malini. Your parents were disappointed but supportive.”
Wide eyed, Malini bobbed her head absently.
“You must teach her about me and about her power, and when she is old enough, she will become a great leader and defender of humanity.”
While Malini backed into a chair and sat down, Jacob poked Hope’s giggling belly and said, “Great leader? Let’s start with great eater. I bet you’re a hungry girl.” He kissed her forehead.
God returned to the platform and stood next to the scorekeeper. “Home,” he said. With a gesture of his hand, all of the angels and the scorekeeper ascended through the hole in the roof.
“Wait,” Bonnie pleaded. She threw herself at the platform. “Please, what about … Abigail and Gideon? What about Master Lee? When you set things right, will you bring them back?”
“I will not disturb their peace. I know it is difficult for you to understand, but it would be evil for me to do so.”
“What about Cord?” Her voice broke.
God squatted down and took her hand in His. “Do you know, Bonnie, that you played a part in his redemption? Malini was correct that you amplified Hope’s power that day, but it was what you did after he became an angel that made him powerful.”
“I treated him like dirt.”
“In the beginning, but then he loved you and love, the ability to love another, even if that love is not returned, is a gift, a transformative miracle.”
“It was returned,” she whispered.
“I know.”
“But, he wasn’t human.” Her voice faltered. “So, is he just gone?”
“Energy, Bonnie, has no beginning or end, it simply changes form. Angels are made of positive energy. Cord’s energy has returned to me.”
Bonnie wiped under her eyes, thankful for her mother, who wrapped an arm around her and guided her away.
“Now, all of you, I recommend you leave this place as soon as possible and find your way home. Grace, Samantha, and Bonnie you have a restaurant to run.”
The three Guillians looked at each other in surprise.
“Malini, Jacob, and Dane, you have finals. Lillian, you are already late for work. Yes, Laudner’s Flowers and Gifts is back in business, and John, Carolyn, and Katrina have no memory of its ruin. Cheveyo, your tribe needs you.”
“What about me?” Jesse asked. “I have no one left.”
“Perhaps Grace would make a place for you?”
The redheaded woman smiled and nodded. Samantha pulled him into a tight hug.
Everyone turned to look at Ethan.
“Oh, I think Ethan knows exactly where home is for him,” God said, laughing.
Without another word, not even a goodbye, the carpenter broke apart into a column of light, and they never saw him again for as long as they lived.
Epilogue
The Service
Eight years later.
“Hope, why aren’t you in your dress?” Jacob coughed to clear the tickle in his throat and straightened his tie. Perched on the side of her bed, he appealed to her across her pink bedspread.
“I don’t want to wear a dress. Why can’t I wear pants?” Hope held up a pair of stretchy pink yoga pants. Hope loved pink. Her walls were pink. The carpet was pink. Even her toothpaste matched the theme. Ironically, the first time Jacob had seen eyes just like hers, he was living in a pink room—the day Abigail came to his window.
“Because it’s a special occasion. Grandma is going to be there.”
“I thought Grandma was at her other house.”
“She flew in last night.” Jacob was looking forward to seeing his mom after so long. Lillian spent her winters in Hawaii now that he was managing Laudner’s Flowers and Gifts full time. He missed her.
“What about Mom?”
“Her flight from Tel Aviv came in late. She’s going to meet us at the church.” Jacob coughed again. Okay, now it was more than a tickle. He was definitely getting sick. Probably the flu that was going around.
“I want to see her show.” Hope crossed her arms across her chest.
“Now? We’re going to be late.” He coughed again, shaking his head.
“I’ll put on my dress,” Hope singsonged, raising her eyebrows in promise.
“This is blackmail, you know.” Jacob stood to pluck a tissue from the box on her desk and blew his nose. Definitely, getting the flu.
Hope stood on her bed and placed her arms around his neck, planting a kiss on his cheek. A familiar warm flow of energy seeped through him, clearing his head and chest. Jacob tossed the tissue into the garbage, not needing it any longer. “Thanks, but you had me at the dress.”
She grinned.
He turned on her television and found Malini’s latest broadcast on the DVR. They called her the Peace Warrior. Her show on CNBC focused on highlighting leaders and causes across the world working for peace. As the youngest journalist ever to anchor a news show, Malini traveled nonstop and was rarely home these days. Hope missed her, but Malini loved it. This was what she’d wanted to do for as long as she could remember.
Jacob could have felt bitter or lonely to be left behind to care for Hope while she followed her dream, but he didn’t. He felt proud. He felt like this was how it was supposed to be. He didn’t realize it until it happened, but his family was his greatest love. Caring for Hope was his joy and accomplishment. If he wasn’t coaching her softball team, he was volunteering at her school or teaching her about Abigail. Everyone loved her. She couldn’t go anywhere in Paris without a familiar pair of eyes looking out for her. As much as he had once hated it there, the small town had become his one true home and the perfect place to raise Hope.
Malini’s latest show featured her interview with the Dalai Lama at Tel Aviv University. Dressed in a red suit and seated in a teal blue chair against a gray backdrop, she looked the ruby and saffron robed man in the eye and asked her first question.
Your Holiness, thank you for allowing me to interview you, Malini said.
The Dalai Lama nodded graciously.
On the eve of the third annual Peace Gathering in Tel Aviv, what do you think is the most important ingredient for a peaceful world?
The Dalai Lama answered in his distinctive accent. One word, compassion. Each of us, everyone, wants to be happy, but too often we focus only on ourselves and our problems. We think more money, more things, will bring happiness. True peace, true happiness, comes when we expand our minds to value and respect others as our brothers and sisters. If we do this, then we know we must treat them with compassion.
When you say our brothers and sisters, are you talking about those who are similar to us in religion and heritage?
The Dalai Lama smiled. Compassion toward those who are like us is much easier, but true peace comes when we exercise compassion for all. Some believe in God, others do not, but we are all human, all striving for the same happiness, the same end of suffering. We breathe the same air, and we drink the same water. Acceptance of each other, different cultures, and different environments is vital. A single reality, a single truth like God, can naturally be interpreted differently among diverse peoples. Compassion and universal responsibility, therefore, are key to peace.
Jacob raised an eyebrow at Hope. With one eye on the screen, she picked the dress off her bed and removed it from the hanger. He backed out of her room to let her get dressed. The ringtone Jacob reserved for Malini sounded from the kitchen, and he jo
gged down the hall of their sprawling modern home to retrieve his cell phone. He toyed with the wedding band on his finger as he answered it. She’d arrived and was safe. She’d meet him at the church.
He smiled. He couldn’t wait to see his wife today.
* * * * *
Across town, Dane Michaels leaned over his sink to get a better view in the mirror as he shaved a path through the foamy cream on his face. He was looking forward to seeing everyone at the service today. Jesse and Samantha had missed the reunion this year with the birth of their twins. Boys he’d heard, with red hair just like their mom.
“We’re going to be late,” Ethan said from behind him, slipping a tie through the collar of his dress shirt.
“How’s Mom?”
“Resting comfortably. I gave her a pain pill. The nurse will be here soon. She’ll be fine while we’re gone.”
“Maybe we should ask for Hope?”
Reflected in the mirror, a smile slashed across Ethan’s face. “She had her gallbladder removed, not open heart surgery. She’s going to be fine. Besides, you know that Jacob and Malini are trying to limit how often Hope uses her power. It’s already suspicious that no one in her third grade class ever gets sick.”
“I guess.”
Ethan wrapped his arms around Dane’s shoulders and kissed the patch of just shaved skin on his face. “Stop worrying.” He pulled back and wiped away a blob of misguided shaving cream.
“I’ll tell you what I’m really worried about,” Dane said.
“What?”
“The nine pounds I’ve gained since we got married. It’s like the words ‘I do’ completely stopped my metabolism.”
“You look great.” Ethan tied his tie and buttoned his cuffs.
“My dress pants are tight.”
Ethan caught Dane’s gaze in the mirror. “You look great. Buy bigger pants.”
Dane finished shaving and rinsed his face in the sink. “Jesse and Sam are bringing the twins.”
“I heard. I can’t wait,” Ethan said, moving into the bedroom.
“Do you think they’re too young for kids?”
“They’re in their mid-twenties. Couldn’t be a better time.”
“We’re in our mid-twenties.” Dane punched one arm up the sleeve of his jacket and allowed his thoughts to drift as he finished putting it on. The words hung like a rain-bloated cloud over the bathroom. Maybe it was too soon to have this conversation. Maybe Ethan hadn’t even heard him in the connecting bedroom.
A full minute later, Ethan appeared in the doorframe, mouth pressed into a straight line and face pale. “Do you think you’re ready for a baby?”
“Who is ever ready?”
“People are going to talk. We will get hate mail from half the town about how a gay couple should not be allowed to adopt children.”
“Half the town? You said the same thing about our wedding, and more than half showed up to support us. Do you think Carolyn Laudner is going to refuse the chance to hold a new baby? I bet her feet never touch the ground.”
“Her?”
Dane shrugged. “I pictured us with a girl.” Heart thudding in his chest, he stared at Ethan, waiting for some reaction. Relief flooded him when the corners of his partner’s eyes lifted, the start of tiny smile lines folding above his cheeks.
“I think there’s an adoption agency in Terre Haute. I can call this week,” Ethan said.
Dane beamed.
“Now come on. We’re going to be late.”
* * * * *
At the appropriate time in the service, Bonnie positioned herself at the center of the altar at the front of the church. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jacob and Malini in the third row. The two sat so close together their shoulders touched, Malini’s fingers tangled with Jacob’s and resting on his thigh. Hope, in a fluffy pink dress, looked content tucked protectively under Malini’s free arm and next to her grandma, Lillian, who smiled encouragingly at Bonnie.
On the other side of the church, her sister, Samantha, with her husband, Jesse, each bounced a ginger-haired baby boy on their laps—Gideon and Gabriel. Her mother, Grace, reached for the one in Samantha’s arms—Bonnie couldn’t tell them apart yet—and cuddled the baby against her shoulder. Near the back of the church, Bonnie grinned when she saw Dane and Ethan, but it was the couple next to them that sent her mood through the roof. Cheveyo and Raine had come all the way from Arizona. She guessed Dane or Malini had paid for their tickets. The two didn’t make much money living on the Hopi reservation.
It was time for her to begin. All at once, she was tempted to hide behind the pulpit. Something about the rectangle of wood always made her feel more confident and secure. But in seminary, she’d learned that this more vulnerable position, out in the open, connected better with the congregation. Her hands began to sweat and her mouth went dry and cottony. She adjusted her microphone. Could she do this?
Wings. Amid the sound of rustling bulletins and the occasional throat clearing, the shadow of two outstretched wings spread across the carpet in front of her toes. She raised her face to the skylight window in the roof above and saw a dove there, stretched and flapping against the glass. Cord, she thought as she looked into the light. The scene reminded her of waking up in his arms the day he healed her.
All that tragedy was over now, but somehow this bird in the sun gave her comfort. Cord’s presence seemed to surround her, to remind her of why she was there.
“If you haven’t met me yet, my name is Bonnie Guillian,” she began. “I have accepted the call to be your new pastor.” Absentmindedly, she ran a finger under the clerical collar at her throat. “This is my first sermon here. I hope I won’t disappoint you. I’m not nearly as longwinded as my predecessor.”
As the church erupted in laughter and she continued with her sermon, Bonnie made a point to meet the eyes of each of the Soulkeepers. Awash in gratitude, she couldn’t help but think of their journey together. Her time as a Soulkeeper, her successes and her failures, her moments of pride and of regret, had brought her to this. Cord’s life and death had moved her to pursue seminary school, to pursue her greatest love, connecting people with their creator. Oddly, losing Cord had taught her to value every day as if it were her last, and value every person as if he or she might fall through her fingers at any moment. The loss had changed her.
Then again, none of the Soulkeepers had been the same since the day they vanquished Lucifer. And, in her modest opinion, that was a good and purposeful thing.
Book Club Discussion Questions
1. Who do you think changed the most over the course of the series and why?
2. Do you think the Soulkeepers were too hard on Cord?
3. If the story was real and you needed the brand to buy, sell, or earn anything, would you allow the mark on your hand?
4. Why do you think God chose Tom Sawyer as the symbol of the society that would undermine Lucifer’s curse?
5. The Hedonic Party offered a government that would allow total freedom and no consequences. Would you like to live that way? Do we need our government?
6. In the end, Damien chooses to walk away from a fight with Malini and save himself. Do you think Malini did the right thing to let him go?
7. Do you believe someone who has done evil in the past can truly be redeemed?
8. Which of the challenges in the labyrinth did you find most disturbing and why?
9. Were you surprised Lucifer did not accept God’s offer of redemption in the end?
10. Did Bonnie’s choice of careers surprise you? What do you think will become of Hope?
About the Author
G.P. Ching is the bestselling author of The Soulkeepers Series and the Grounded trilogy as well as a variety of short fiction. She specializes in cross-genre novels with paranormal elements and surprising twists. G.P.'s idea of the perfect day involves a cup of coffee, the beach, and her laptop. She splits her time between central Illinois and Hilton Head Island with her husband, two children, and a bri
ttany spaniel named Riptide Jack.
Learn more about G.P. at http://www.gpching.com and more about The Soulkeepers Series at http://www.thesoulkeepersseries.com.
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Acknowledgements
As I bring this series to a close, my deepest appreciation goes out to Karly Kirkpatrick and Angela Carlie, whose support, encouragement, and careful eye helped make the series what it is today. These two have been a part of the development of this series from start to finish. On that note, another big literary hug to H. “Dani” Crabtree and Kristina Circelli who edited all six books.
I also want to thank Leta Gail Doerr and Nida Kazim for reading an early version of the Soulkeepers and encouraging me to pursue the idea. The series wouldn’t have grown to what it is today without their reassurance that the manuscript did not belong in the rubbish bin.
Additionally, I need to thank my family for standing by me during the ups and downs of writing this series, and there have been quite a few of both. Finally, thank you to the fans who have made this series what it is today. In the end, you are what really matters, and I am so thankful you’ve come along this journey with me.
