“We’ve seen enough,” Michael said as he appeared thinly between the two of them. “It is safe to drop the shield now. You have done well.”
“Michael,” Raphael began, “she tore the very fabric…”
Michael raised one hand, silencing Raphael. “At the moment, Sister, it is the only way. Unless you have a better suggestion, of course.”
“Perhaps if she tried it without the stone? Seraphinite has always opened a channel to the angels for humans; perhaps it is amplifying her abilities,” Raphael said, focusing her attention on the stone.
“The stone awakens her energy, it does not amplify it,” Michael said dismissively. “At any rate, she is not able to function without it. Taking the stone from her would leave her vulnerable. Look to what happened in the few seconds it was not within her grasp. A woman lost her arm.”
“And would have lost her life if not for Raphael,” Gabriel agreed, feathers twitching. “I do not like this. An unknown beast and an unknown weapon to counter it. I feel as though we are being led into a trap.”
Raphael and Michael both turned their heads toward Gabriel as he gave voice to their concerns.
“Perhaps it is simply the natural balance of things, Brother,” Michael said. The three of them stood wordlessly, their heads bowed, for several minutes.
Gabriel’s quiet words caused them all to lift their heads and exchange uneasy glances. “Or perhaps it will be the end of us all.”
XXIX
THE Child strode through the streets of Sydney, oblivious to her effect on those surrounding her. The dark figure observed her every movement from a few feet away. He had himself shielded so that neither she, nor her so-called guardians, could sense him. It was an interesting new perspective for him.
She stepped past an elderly lady who relied heavily on her cane to take every step. The dark figure watched as the corners of the Child’s mouth turned down, sensing the old woman’s pain. He saw the tendril of energy flow from the Child to the woman. One thread. He would not have noticed had he not been watching so closely.
The elderly woman straightened and set her shoulders back, likely for the first time in many years. The cane swung with every step she made, but the dark figure knew it was no longer necessary. She was the fourth person the Child had healed in the last twenty minutes. The dark figure’s irritation increased with everything he witnessed.
He observed all the children’s heads swivel, their necks craning when she walked by. Their smiles brightened, though they were not sure why. Animals, too. She would pass and dogs’ tails wagged. Birds that would normally take flight as a human walked by sat and cocked their heads, watching her. Feeling her. Seeing her.
He had been sent to witness and report on Zachariah’s offspring—a task that grated on him. For every person she healed, he longed to strike ten down. She was an abhorrence who would never be human and never be angel. He despised her loathsome crossing of parentage, and despised her even more for the weight she added to one side of the scale. There would never be balance with beings like her wandering around, and her accidental healings were eventually going to be noticed.
The more he watched, the more he was certain—she needed to be terminated.
-Control yourself,- the voice rang heavily in his mind. -You must not be seen, and you must not interfere.-
-I am not interfering,- he answered silently. -But one of us should. This one is out of control. There is no balance in what she does, and no discrimination. She will heal the whole of Australia if left to her own devices.-
The dark figure heard no further response. He had his orders, and now he must follow them. But he didn’t have to like it. One day he would be out from under Uriel’s thumb, but until he could make that happen, he would be stuck monitoring this Child.
He glanced back at the elderly lady, the renewed spring in her step infuriating him. He dearly wanted to shatter her thighbone and even up the score. He sighed and continued to follow the Child.
She stopped suddenly in the middle of the sidewalk and pulled a vibrating cell phone out of her small leather handbag. When she looked at the display screen, a swirling beacon of light rose from her essence. The dark figure stopped cold.
The Child put her cell back into her purse, unanswered, and the light vanished. She was frowning now. The dark figure wondered who had rung just then, why the intense spirit reaction, and why the Child had refused the call.
There would only be a spirit reaction like that if the caller was another Child. Or a soul mate.
He growled softly. -I need to get my hands on that phone.-
Julia tucked her phone back inside her purse. That was the third time she had tried to call Charlie, and the third time she’d been sent straight to voicemail. If only Charlie would answer, so Julia could apologize and get the squabble behind them. Charlie was the only person Julia knew she could talk to about anything—well, almost anything. I’ll try again later. She has to answer the phone eventually.
Having had a few minutes before the bank opened, Julia had tried to call Charlie while waiting just outside. Now she stepped through the door, just as it was unlocked. She smiled at the man holding it open for her. “Thank you.”
The man nodded and let the door close behind her as soon as she was through.
Julia made her way toward Milla, the girl at the service desk, who rose to meet her.
“Ms. Samson, what can we do for you today?” Milla stretched across the desk to shake Julia’s hand.
“I’d like to access my safe deposit box, please.” Julia gave her a firm handshake.
“We’re all ready for you, Ms. Samson, assuming you have your key with you. Please follow me.”
“It always pays to come early,” Julia said, walking down the long corridor to the room that held her safe deposit box. She had decided to bring Alex’s journals and his letter, to take away the temptation. She knew reading them would only hurt her heart more. She could do it some other time, and this way she knew they’d be safe. She wasn’t quite sure why she thought she should safeguard them, but she was more and more willing to follow her instincts.
Julia clutched the books tightly to her chest until she was able to lock them away. She felt a large weight lift from her shoulders as she made her way back out to the street, but she also felt like something wasn’t quite right. Like she was being followed.
She casually turned her head from side to side, scanning everyone in sight. Nothing. It occurred to her that she possibly wasn’t looking for a human stalker, so she had another look, this time trying to lift her vision above herself and view all the way around her. Still nothing. But that nagging feeling was still there.
What am I doing wrong? she thought. Oh, that’s right. The stone.
Julia grabbed the green stone from her pocket, closed her eyes once in what appeared to be a long blink, and when she opened them, she was surrounded by the glowing essences of all the people on the street. She continued toward her car while she quietly examined each of the beings around her.
Human essences were each unique, but similar. They all appeared to be of solid light, flowing in different shapes and patterns with a variety of colors. She could see Michael walking beside her this way. His form was different from the humans, almost misty, and his massive wings were tucked squarely on his back. He was still made of light, but he held the form in which she had always seen him—like a large robed human with wings.
-What are you doing, girl?- Michael’s deep voice boomed in her head.
She was looking at him with a different sense, so her head and her eyes remained focused on what was in front of her in the physical plane. He must have sensed her examining him. -Looking around, Michael. Something isn’t right.-
-Explain.-
-I’m being watched.- Julia continued to cast her gaze around her, then caught her breath. -There!-
On the other side of the street, standing with arms crossed and wings unfurled, was an angel Julia did not recognize. The second she gasped, however,
it disappeared.
-I don’t see anything, girl.-
-He’s gone now, Michael. It was another angel. I think it was the same one from Woodgrass.-
Michael stopped and looked at Julia, and she almost walked past him. When she realized he had stopped beside her car, she willed her vision back to normal.
-You saw one of us at Woodgrass?-
If Julia hadn’t known any better, she would have said he was shocked. She would have liked to take credit for blocking the thought out, but the truth was she had simply forgotten. So much had happened since then. She smiled, looking at Michael’s frown. He really didn’t like it when he didn’t know something; no matter how much he tried to keep his expression smooth, his eyes sparked with anger.
-I forgot all about it, actually.-
-And you are now able to alternate your vision at will?-
-I’m learning.- Julia unlocked the car. -Slowly. And I still need the stone.-
-You’re remembering that which your spirit already knows,-Michael corrected. -And you’re doing it a lot more quickly than you think.- Whatever anger he had possessed was now gone, and Julia was surprised at her strong relief.
She lifted the handle and opened the car door.
“Ugh,” she cried out, gagging as she spun her web of light. Her head flew side to side, frantically searching for the A’nwel that was certain to accompany such a foul odor. -I don’t see it, Michael! I only smell it!-
Michael’s form solidified before her. She watched as he sent out a pulse of energy, the same way he had the day Alex died. It appeared to go right through every person on the street, and rippled the air as though a stone had been tossed into a pond. It revealed nothing.
She looked inside her car, her jaw dropping open. -Michael, look!-
Sitting on the driver’s seat was a manila envelope with only her name written on it. She reached in, picked it up, and opened the flap. She pulled out three photographs, all shots of her at various times. As she shuffled through them, the odor dissipated, and she realized it was coming from the envelope.
-Stop gawking and get in the car.-
Michael’s calm voice pulled her from her shock. He already sat in the passenger seat, his hands folded neatly on his lap. She climbed in and closed the door, releasing her shield. Once inside the car, she spoke aloud.
“What are these, Michael?” Julia asked, passing him the pictures. “I can tell you recognize them. What do they mean? Where did they come from?”
“I have seen them before,” Michael said. “In the apartment rented by the man who shot Alex.”
Julia absorbed the full meaning of that, pushing away the uneasy feeling that came with the knowledge. “I see.”
Michael’s brow was furrowed, his jaw tight. He seemed to be staring at the photos, but Julia could tell his focus was somewhere else.
“The smell, Michael.” Julia started the car and put on her signal, waiting to pull out and into the traffic. “I don’t think it’s linked to that thing. The A’nwel. Not directly, anyway. It has a slightly different smell. Something spicy around the edges. Something…human?”
Michael’s attention turned to Julia, but he said nothing. She realized that when he was focused on her, his form was more solid.
“I think at the core it’s the smell of evil. The A’nwel smell was similar, but more earthy. It was rotten earth, where this smell is just rotten.” The fine hairs on Julia’s arms stood as she continued. “When I spoke with Lori, I could taste her lies. Now, I think what I smell is evil.”
“That makes sense,” Michael mused. “You have a human form and human senses, but also the abilities to sense things as an angel.”
“Yes.” Julia was excited to have figured something out for herself. “I think my body is translating for me. Why didn’t I ever smell things like this before?”
“You were not open to learning before. It was not your time.” Michael glanced out the window and sighed. “It is all part of the same experience. Heightened awareness means heightened senses. Vision, smell—they are just becoming sharper.”
“I see.” Actually, she didn’t see, not really. But she was tired of asking Michael questions she knew he wouldn’t answer. Julia wondered if her hearing was sharper, too. Maybe that was why she could listen in on the angels. Well, sometimes. She frowned.
“Interesting.” Michael let his eyes fall back to the photographs, then looked directly into Julia’s eyes. “Describe the angel you saw in the street.”
“So that you can see him, like when I described the A’nwel?” Julia asked. When Michael commanded something, most beings, human and angel, felt compelled to do as he said, but Julia forced her question out.
Michael arched an eyebrow. After a short pause, he gave her a curt nod. “Describe him.”
“He was shorter than you, but his wings were almost the same size.” Julia bit her lip and tried to remember. “I’m sorry, Michael. I just didn’t get a very good look at him. I only saw him as he faded. Twice.”
“You saw enough, girl. Take the next left. There is something I want you to see.”
-The murderer’s apartment.-Julia put her turn signal on. -Am I reading his mind now, or do I just know?-
-You see what I want you to see.- Michael’s deep voice penetrated Julia’s mind with a chuckle. She glanced over at him.
That makes two of us, she thought.
“We have trouble on more than one front, it seems.” Gabriel’s voice sliced through the mist.
“We do.” Michael’s wings sat high on his back. “I thought we were in possession of those pictures.”
“We saw them, but left them at the apartment to allow the humans their investigation.” Gabriel crossed his arms. “They should have been at the police department.”
“It was a scare tactic,” Michael said. “An ineffective one.”
“She doesn’t frighten easily.”
Michael turned to face Gabriel with half a smile. “Careful, Brother. You are starting to sound prideful.”
Gabriel twitched the tips of his wings and shook his head. “Did you see? Who was following, I mean?”
“Yes,” Michael said.
“As we feared? Uriel?”
“Yes. Send Zachariah. We must know what Uriel is up to.”
Gabriel nodded. “And the pictures?”
“I will look into it myself.”
XXX
JULIA followed Michael’s directions through the city, to a rundown building on the East Side. The square, beige-painted brick walls stacked four stories high were out of some slumlord’s wet dream. She parked the car, pulled her cell phone from her purse, and looked at Michael with a meek grin. “Just one quick call before we go in.”
Michael arched an eyebrow. He reminded her of Spock when he did that and she suppressed a grin, dialing the number she had tried so many times these last few days. She had an unsettling feeling that, if she didn’t get hold of her friend soon, something bad was going to happen. On the fourth ring, she got voicemail.
“Damn it! Pick up the phone, girlfriend,” Julia muttered. At the beep, she spoke into the phone, “Hi, sis, it’s me again. I wish you’d pick up. I hope you’re okay, and I know I’m worried about you. Did you think about what I said? I love you. Call me back. Please!”
Tucking her phone back into her purse, Julia looked up to find Michael staring at her with his head tilted to one side.
“What?”
“Hmm?”
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Julia frowned. It was an expression she hadn’t seen before, and she didn’t like not knowing what Michael was thinking.
“Who did you just call?” Michael asked. “You don’t have a sister. Not a human one.”
“My friend, Charlie.” Julia grinned. Twice in one day he didn’t know what was going on and she did.
“I haven’t seen you interact with her.” There was a seriousness in Michael’s tone that made her feel guilty.
“She doesn’t live here,
” Julia explained, wiping the smile from her face. “I met her online, actually. During a Facebook poker game three years ago. We’ve been like sisters ever since.”
“I haven’t seen you speak with her.”
“No. We haven’t spoken much lately…” Julia chose her words carefully. “I want her to leave her husband. That makes her angry. She thinks I’m judging her, but I’m really just concerned. Afraid, really. That man is evil.”
Michael’s wings raised a full half-inch above his shoulders and he tilted his head further. “Evil?”
Julia cleared her throat. “Evil in the way a man is rotten to his wife. Not evil in the way…”
“Yes?”
“You know. In the biblical way you might use the word.”
“Perhaps not.” Michael dropped his eyes to Julia’s purse. “I would like to meet this girl.”
“Really? Why?” Julia asked. “She lives too far away. We’ve been talking about one of us taking a vacation to go see the other, but something always seems to come up. Usually her husband.”
“Where does she live? Travel doesn’t seem to bother you.”
“Australia.” Julia watched as Michael’s form tightened and rippled, his wings fluttered. “What is it, Michael?”
Michael stayed silent.
“Tell me what is going on. Please.”
“Not here. Tonight. Right now, let’s go in and see what you see.” The second he stopped speaking, the car doors popped open.
Julia stepped out of the car and looked toward the building, then back at Michael. She wanted to press him about Charlie, but she knew Michael only answered questions as he pleased. With a shrug, she stepped forward, then gasped when she saw the condition of the lawn.
-Speak without words.- Michael’s voice came to Julia without sound.
-Michael, the grass is dead all around the building. And the trees.- Julia nodded toward the large willow tree on the front lawn. -They’re dying.-
-Use all your senses, girl. Tell me everything you see, feel, taste, hear, and smell.-
-I feel them dying. It’s painful.- Julia had to resist the urge to place her hands upon the tree trunk. -Like someone walked by and sucked all the moisture out of everything. The trees are fighting to live, the rest is too small.-
Divinity Page 20
