“They must have screwed up and there’s no fucking way I’m accepting it,” he snarled.
“Your acceptance or rather lack of it is irrelevant. It is what it is. What has been written so shall come to pass.”
The calm way in which she stated the fact only served to rile him further.
Angrily lifting his chair from where it had fallen, he slammed it down facing Darla before sitting. Taking a couple of steadying breaths he clasped her hands demanding her undivided attention. “Darla.” Quinn looked down at her elegant hands entwined with his captivated by their delicate beauty. Please don’t let it be true. Not her! “You need to help me out here,” he said gently, raising concerned eyes to meet her ice cool stare. “I have to ask you some questions and I need you to be completely honest with me.”
“I can try, but then do you promise to tell me what this is all about?”
“I promise.” Taking a deep breath Quinn hoped that she wasn’t about to give him the answers that scared him the most. He desperately needed more than anything for this all to be a huge mistake because if it wasn’t……. then surely nothing in this world or any other would he be able to save her. “Baby, I need you to tell me why you jumped.”
Shocked at the endearment, but startled by his unexpected request she snapped her hands away from his, intensely aware of all eyes on her. How dare he ask her this in front of the others too! Didn’t Maisey state that everyone in Redemption had a story; their own personal reason for being there? Well why did hers suddenly need to be so damn public?
Noting her withdrawal Quinn patiently took her hands in his once more, gently stroking her skin with his thumb, his face awash with concern. “I swear to you I wouldn’t ask this of you if it wasn’t absolutely necessary, but you gotta trust me when I say that if I have any hope of saving you I need to know this.”
The sincerity in his eyes spoke volumes. Darla found herself looking away, knowing that with what she needed to tell him, the one thing she couldn’t bear to see in his face was condemnation.
“Because I desperately wanted to die. Okay, are you happy now?” Saying the words out loud seemed so strange. It had been her guilty secret for so long, one that she had only ever shared with God before now
Quinn choked on the words. “Why baby? Why would you want to end your life?”
Drawing strength from his comfort and concern she bit her lip, blinking away the tears that threatened to fall. “Because there was nothing left for me to live for. Everyone I had loved had died.”
Quinn swallowed hard feeling a tightening in his chest. He knew that feeling well enough. It had been his constant companion for longer than he could remember; a gnawing aching emptiness that clawed at his soul.
“You mentioned someone – Adam – the day I found you; you asked me if Adam was here. Did Adam die?”
Unable to speak Darla nodded, her eyes pooling with unshed tears.
“Was Adam your husband?” he asked her softly, strangely bothered by the idea of someone claiming that title.
She shook her head. “My son; he was my beautiful baby boy.” A sob caught in her throat as the familiar pain engulfed her; raw and emotional as it always was whenever she thought of him. “He was just five when he died.”
Quinn ached to hold her in his arms, help sooth away her pain. Watching a tear fall onto her lashes and steadily trail its way down her cheek he impulsively reach out brushing it aside before caressingly smoothing his palm across her cheek. “I’m so sorry.”
The unmistakably tender moment was received with a mixture of shock and amazement by the others in the room. Quinn was not well known for his compassion.
Wishing he could give her more time, Quinn pushed on with his questions. “When your son – Adam – when he died, did you at any point renounce God? Blame him for what happened?”
Darla looked baffled. “No, of course not! Why would I?”
Quinn cursed beneath his breath all hope diminishing minute by minute. “And when it happened, was there no-one for you to turn to for support, husband, parents; anyone who could have been there for you?”
“My husband and I had split during Adam’s illness and although we had remained good friends, he had moved on with his life, with a new partner and a bright future. He certainly didn’t need me holding him back.”
Quinn had to wonder at what manner of man could let go of someone so precious. The idea of her being left alone to struggle with her pain and grief made him want to kill him. Slowly.
“And as for anyone else…I’m an only child and my parents were murdered a long time ago.”
This time it was a collective groan that resonated around the room.
Darla looked up sharply. “Why do they keep doing that? What is it you’re not telling me?”
Quinn gently brushed her jaw with his fingers drawing her focus back to him. “I just have a couple more questions and then I promise I will tell you everything.” Without waiting for a reply Quinn pressed forward. “You say your parents were murdered, did the police catch the person responsible?”
“Yes he was brought to trial. I don’t understand what this has to do with the people who are after me.”
“And how did that make you feel? Did you attend? Become angry? Desire revenge…?”
“No... I…I forgave him.” Seeing how angry her reply made him Darla became very defensive. “He was just a frightened boy who’d made a terrible mistake. No amount of condemnation on my part would have made the slightest difference. His life was ruined the moment he pulled the trigger. Even if he ever gets paroled his life will remain irrevocably changed until the day he dies.”
Quinn closed his eyes, despair crushing him with the knowledge that all was lost. Her soul was pure. Her blood was the source of innocence as foretold throughout time. But one question still remained unexplained. She had taken her own life and that was definitely a mortal sin in God’s eyes. So why had he not sentenced her?
“Darla, the night you jumped, was that the night Adam died?” he asked clinging to one last final shred of hope.
“No Adam died two years before. Every day since I have gone to my church and begged God for permission to end my suffering and every day I heard the same echoing reply in my head ‘not yet’. The night I arrived here that voice had finally fallen silent. I knew in my heart I had finally been given his consent and…… well, the rest you know.”
Quinn groaned with sudden understanding. It was no accident that she was the 999th soul to enter Redemption, she had been chosen. God had hand-picked and determined her destiny as surely as if he’d delivered her there himself. No wonder Maisey was unable to uncover anything. Willingly offering someone up as sacrifice to fulfil an ancient prophecy was not something God would have wanted broadcast.
Releasing her hands Quinn dragged his hands through his hair feeling more angry and frustrated than he believed possible. He couldn’t lose her not now. He wasn’t ready for that.
“Quinn.” Darla snapped her patience at an end. “You promised me answers.”
Needing to put some space between them in order for him to think more clearly, Quinn rose swiftly to his feet and resumed his pacing once more.
“Maisey.”
Taking direction from his simple command Maisey instantly switched into business mode and began to explain.
“Okay, here’s what we know as fact; Centuries ago before all life existed- not just human life but others also; vampires, demons, lycan's- there were a race known as ‘The Ancients’. Demi Gods, created even before the time of the angels – their purpose- to act as companions to God. But soon after God decided these Ancients were to ‘godlike’ for him he was searching for something more. And so he created his angels, not as companions this time, but as warriors to worship and adore; a celestial race of beings that existed purely to love and serve him. Many centuries passed with all living in happy accord. But it wasn’t to remain that way.’
‘Bored with complacency God decided he would create th
e Earth and mankind with it; an experiment to occupy his time and thoughts. To add further interest he decided he would make ‘free will’ an important criterion of which made us human. But of course with free will amongst humans he quickly saw a strong developing distinction between goodness and evil and so therefore designed a place that could accommodate each soul at the time of death; heaven and hell.’
‘Disagreeing with God’s idea of absolute good and absolute evil, the Ancients questioned his judgement. They believed that with ‘free will’ there was also the possibility of a fine line dividing the two, an area of grey that wasn’t quite so cut and dry.’
‘They petitioned God with the idea of creating another realm to be used as a place of judgement. A place of second chances….. Salvation or condemnation. God granted them their wish –Redemption was born.’
‘Under his direction the Ancients became the founders of this land; rulers in their own rights. The more interested they became in the Human way of life the more the Ancients coveted their subjects until finally one of them seduced a mortal, impregnating her with his young. The hybrid product of that and subsequent unions was the birth of the supernaturals; Vampires, Pixies, Shapeshifters, Lycan’s- the list is endless.’
‘Over a period of time the ancients eventually lost their interest in Humans and so became bored with life. They made the choice to move on into what you would refer to as the afterlife- although in reality it is simply just a different level of consciousness to what we all understand.
‘Before they left they gathered the ancient seers of old and instructed them to create a book, an ancient text of laws, ideas and prophecy’s; the book became known as The Codex Seal.”
“As fascinating as this is, I don’t understand how it all relates to me.” Darla stated feeling no closer to knowing what had caused everyone to get so riled up.
Larissa stood and moved away from the table drawn to the world outside the window. Night was closing in fast and with the fading light the forest seemed unusually quiet to her. “She is trying to tell you that you are an innocent with a pure soul.” She answered her attention divided between what was happening in the room and a niggling feeling at the edge of her consciousness.
“What Larissa is referring to is a connection between you and a prophecy from the ancient text,” explained Maisey.
“You mean those words that Mama Grace recited with the whole glowing eyes thing?”
Maisey nodded. “There are two parts to the prophecy. The first part pertained to the 666th soul, the blood of which was prophesised to have the ability to destroy the gates of Hell. Needless to say Lucifer deals swiftly and mercilessly with any potential threat to his domain.” Maisey’s voice trailed off, the fate of the doomed man going unspoken.
Quinn stopped abruptly behind Mama Grace’s chair. “Could this all be Lucifer’s doing? Could he be the one behind all of this?”
“No, it’s not him,” the young seer replied, traces of exhaustion still evident in her voice.
“How can you know for sure?” growled Quinn still seething with anger. “He has enough reason.”
Mama Grace twisted around to face him. “Destroying the gates of heaven does not necessarily mean over-throwing God. He is protected by the most powerful army that has ever existed; Lucifer knows that better than most. Besides, Lucifer enjoys ruling so much more than he does serving. I assure you, it’s not him, although I do have to agree, this does appear to have the mark of a Fallen all over it.”
“What’s a Fallen?” Darla asked desperately trying to keep up.
“One of the Enosh; Lucifer’s army.” Maisey explained. “When Lucifer took up arms against God he raised an army consisting of one third of the most powerful angels, to fight beside him. Finally, defeated by Michael, Lucifer’s punishment was to be cast out alongside his two generals and the rest of the Enosh. Their fall contorted them, altering their appearance so they would never again appear as the divine creatures they had once been. No longer to be blessed by the grace of God, they would live out their existence known as the ‘Fallen’, guardians- and in some cases parents- to those that you refer to as demons.”
Maisey’s eyes briefly flicked towards Quinn, the movement so subtle that Darla missed it. “All but one of the fallen still exists. They are incredibly strong, incredibly powerful and now form the hierarchy of the entire demon race.”
“So the question is, which one of them has managed to get hold of the codex seal?” Gallion’s soft spoken question hung in the air. “It is my people’s belief that the last existing copy of the book was destroyed by Lucifer himself.”
“Yeah, I heard that too.” Quinn snarled. “But what I can’t figure is why God would bring her here,” he said nodding towards Darla.
“Maybe he wants for this to happen.”
Darla’s comment caught the immediate attention of everyone gathered with the exception of Larissa who was still preoccupied by whatever had disturbed her beyond the window. “What I mean is, perhaps he has some alternate agenda. If I am really and truthfully here and this isn’t some crazy drip fed pain relief dream, then I don’t believe that it’s all down to pure coincidence. It could be that I’m just a small cog in a very big wheel. Maybe I am supposed to die here in Redemption.”
“No!” Quinn snarled his anger reaching boiling point.
“But Quinn she’s right. It could be a possibility.” Maisey tried in vain to reason with him.
He looked over at her with deadly menace. “I don’t give a fuck what game these assholes are playing but I sure as hell ain’t gonna stand back and just let it happen.”
“Uh… hey guy’s…” Larissa’s soft call went unnoticed amongst Quinn’s wrath.
Pivoting to face Darla his eyes glinted with smouldering anger. “I will not let you be sacrificed. I swear to you that while there is still life in my body I will fight every step…”
“Guy’s!” This time the urgency in Larissa’s voice cut through Quinn’s rage silencing him instantly. His head snapped towards her. “Something’s not right.” She whispered.
She slowly backed away from the window, still unable to turn away from the forest beyond, now barely visible in the waning light. With sudden clarity she turned her head, her eyes wide revealing her urgency. “We’ve got incoming!”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Larissa barely got to deliver her warning before the room was engulfed in a blinding flash of white light. The surrounding air was sucked vacuum style towards the main entrance by an invisible force. Rapidly building in pressure and intensity it twisted and twirled compressing into a tight ball of energy, expanding and growing until in a final pulsating turn it collapsed in on itself, producing a muffled boom. The heavy wooden door exploded with force shattering into millions of tiny shards that flew in slow motion towards the group. An invisible wave of energy rushed through the house in an intense burst of air repelling everything in its path. Both people and furniture were propelled through the air, their bodies caught in a stream of slow motion, held within the powerful web of invisible destruction before finally falling softly to the floor completely motionless.
As everything stilled and the dust settled the silent, unknown assailants stealthily approached the destroyed entrance to Mama Grace’s home, cautiously peering inside before proceeding. Tentatively they picked their way amongst the destruction and chaos of the energy wave, side stepping the suspended droplets of water still floating buoyantly in the air. Advancing further they swiftly took note of each inert person one by one, mentally relaying the information to their leader.
Deeming the room secured the assailants all turned their attention to the open doorway, reverently bowing their heads as their leader entered.
Slowly gauging the scene before him the leader smiled extremely pleased by the success of the attack. Commandeering the presence of a powerful being he effortlessly manoeuvred through the debris to stare down at the first figure he encountered. Analysing the slender male’s outer appearance he
tilted his head to the side and closed his eyes as if listening. Crouching low he leant forward and inhaled deeply absorbing the creatures scent. Pixie!
Dismissing the Fae man as insignificant he made his way over to the next inert form, his stealth like movement resembling the feline grace of a large cat prowling dangerously in a territory where it knew its position as top of the food chain; unchallenged and fearless.
Raking his eyes along the contours of her body poorly disguised beneath the unfeminine style of clothing, he crouched down low and on hands and knees he crawled his way up her body until his face hovered inches from her own. Tilting his head first one way then the other he studied her features before inhaling deeply as he had with Gallion. This time his eyes narrowed in response to her scent. Lycan! Tasty! Leaning closer still he opened his mouth and slowly dragged his tongue the length of her face from jaw to brow.
“You will not harm her!”
The man jerked to his feet at the impossibility of such a sound, his body coiled and ready to attack. Raising his hand a smaller more intense wave of energy burst from his fingertips aimed at the direction of the unknown voice.
A small gasped cry was the response.
His eyes narrowed, locking onto the source of the threat. Crossing the room with unearthly speed he confronted the one who had not only continued to remain immune to his powers but had dared to issue a command…..to him!!!
Fearlessly she faced him her body pressed back against the solid wall of the house grateful of its support. “You will not harm her or any of the others. I will not allow bloodshed in my house.”
The leader of the assailants cocked his head slowly to the side, his strange and mesmerising eyes burning right through her. A brief moment of recognition flickered in their depths followed immediately by doubt and finally shock. Closing his eyes he brought his face within inches of Mama Grace’s youthful appearance and inhaled deeply.
Redemption - A Darla Gray Novel Page 19
