My superstitious side is not left waiting. The third strike hits almost immediately following the second. I’m instantly deafened as the sky lights up once again. Screaming out, I hit the ground and make my body small, but as soon as the ear shattering is over, I bounce to my feet noticing the electric charge shimmering over my skin. I stare up at the roof. My house cannot catch on fire! Over the roof and behind the house, I see the top branches of the sacred pine alight in crackling orange flames.
“Grandma!” I scream and run for the backyard.
Chapter Seventeen: All’s Fair
Nathaniel
“Ye might even hit the target in the next century if ye keep throwing like that,” Liam scoffs as he watches me practice.
I don’t appreciate the peanut gallery, but I was surprised when Liam suggested I warm up. Gee, it’s only been like twenty-five years since I threw an axe or a hatchet. I grit my teeth and try again. Feeling the weight of the small axe in my hand, I step forward and let it fly. It hits the wood planks, but the angle is slightly off, or I didn’t throw hard enough, and the hatchet falls to the ground. The blades are sharp. I checked all three of them and found their edges gleaming. Liam’s hatchets are different from the tools I used to split kindling with as a boy. They’re sleeker and newer in design. They’re also smaller. But, I’ve learned throwing any blade is about weight, balance, and focus. I move into position to take my last practice throw and remind myself to aim with my entire body, and especially with my eyes. Step right foot, left, then right, swing and release. This time it sinks inside the circle marked on the thick wood and stays. It’s only a couple inches high of the center of the target.
“Ye’ve one useful talent. Hurrah, angel,” Liam says, clearly unimpressed.
I feel him watching me as I retrieve the three hatchets. Somewhere behind me the hilltop drops abruptly, ending at a rocky shoreline. The tenebrous ocean stretches to the edge of the world reminding me there is an eternity of distance between me and Juliana at the moment. It hardens my resolve to end this duel with a victory.
“Best throw of the three wins this round,” I say.
“Very well,” he says and moves into position, about eight paces from the target.
With reluctance, I hand over the hatchets. I don’t trust him and his antics. Agreeing to the duel has gotten me out of the fairy lock, but I’m not sure I’m in a much better situation.
Liam takes the weapons from me. Before I have a chance to blink and step away from him, he spins the handle of one hatchet, finds his grip, and swings it at my side. The butt end crashes into my ribcage. I relinquish my physical body instantly. I felt the blow, but no real pain. He moved too fast. As fast as I can move — with supernatural speed.
“You have some serious issues,” I say and place myself thirty feet away from the crazy old man.
He wields an axe in each hand and grins. “Yer wheel may be turnin’, but the hamster died long ago.”
I clench my jaw, hold my tongue, and wait for this insufferable man to take his turn.
Liam faces the target and throws one of the hatchets. It hits inside the chalk circle with a clean stick. “Ye think you can come waltzin’ in here and ask yer foolhardy questions.”
He throws with his other hand and again hits the mark. This time it is slightly to the left of dead center. Not as good a throw, but more accurate than I could do with my left hand. Liam pulls the third hatchet from behind his back where it had been tucked into his belt. He aims, steps, and throws, hitting the center.
I am going to have to hit the exact center all three times to win this challenge.
“Ye’ve no idea what ye’ll be up against. The path of the Fallen is not a simple one. Ye’ll be removed before ye take one breath in a new life.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Why would anyone remove me?”
“See there. Yer ignorance alone will get ye murdered. Throw the damn hatchets,” he says and sits on top of a large stone.
“Why did you swing at me?”
“So ye’d know how unprepared ye are, twat face.”
“Unprepared for what?”
“Dry yer arse and throw the damn axes. This conversation has no purpose. Ye’ll soon be existing inside the fairy’s cave.”
“What do I need to prepare for?” I ask again.
“Did ye think coming back from the dead might be a little unsettlin’ to some folk? There are forces in this world that might want to stop ye.”
I move to the target, putting as much distance as possible between me and Liam before bringing back my body. The old man is shifty. God only knows what he may be planning next — and maybe not even God, considering what Liam is.
I contemplate throwing an axe at him and disappearing before he pulls another trick on me, but I don’t. I’ll keep my word, no matter what. I would like to return the favor of hitting him with the axe though, just for the satisfaction of payback.
“I didn’t know,” I say as I pull the hatchets from the thick plank.
“Idiots hardly give a thought to what exists past the end of their fecking nose, now do they?”
“Are you going to shut your hole long enough to let me throw?”
“By all means,” Liam says.
I’m hyper-aware of everything around me, the call of the gulls and terns, the ocean breeze, the thick grass under foot, and the sun trying to penetrate the layer of clouds, but Juliana is always the motivation for my every action. I’m doing this for her. For us. I focus on the white circle. The handle of the hatchet is comfortable in my hand. I’m an Angel of Death. I can hit the center of the board with my eyes closed. Stepping forward, I raise my arm and throw. The hatchet revolves through the air in perfect circles. I know it’s going to stick dead on center. Just as I think I should hear the blade connect with wood, the entire target disappears.
I bend down and snatch up the other hatchets from the ground by my feet. I launch the first one at Liam’s head without thinking about what I’m doing. He moves with unearthly speed and easily avoids being cleaved.
“What are you playing at!”
“There’s the fire, lad. Let me see what ye’re made of,” he says as he stays on his toes and begins circling me.
I switch the last hatchet from left hand to the right, readying myself to either swing or throw.
“What kind of devil are you?”
“Aye, not a devil. A master.”
“And this,” I point at where the target used to be. “Is it all a sick game to you? I have to get back to Juliana and Vivi!”
“So this is for the girl,” Liam says, then spins on his booted foot, disappearing from sight.
Just as I’m about to retreat and forget I ever laid eyes on Liam, he reappears next to my side and claps a hand on my shoulder. I relinquish my body and slip away from the wizard like a wisp of smoke.
“Mind yerself. We’ve made a bargain.”
“Our agreement was void the moment you cheated.”
“No statements were made regarding the use of magic,” Liam says. His pale silver eyes shift purposely toward the trees.
I chance taking my eyes off him and see the boards with my hatchet stuck nicely in the center on the target has reappeared. “I’ll not be party to any of this. And I’ll be sure to tell Vivi she was right about what a shit you are.”
“Be away with ye. The world doesna’ need another skiver such as yerself. And yer girl, well, she needs a better man than what ye’re offerin’.” Liam looks me over as if I were something dead lying along the shoreline. He also appears quite satisfied with himself that he’s gotten to me once again.
I make a move toward his crabby self-righteous face with my fists ready. He knows nothing about me or Juliana. I see the boxing gloves lying on the ground by his pack. They were going to be our third round. I walk over to them and create my physical body at the same time.
“We’re going to finish this. Then you will answer my questions.” I grab the gloves and toss a pair
in his direction. “Ready yourself, old man.”
Full of fire and not much sense, I jab my hands into the mitts and throw a fast right the second I am within reach of Liam’s nose. He blocks the jab and lays one into my gut.
With a little more thought, I hunker back into myself, shuffling my feet, and keeping my arms tucked in close. When I’m ready for a second shot at him, I put my weight into an undercut and lunge at his kidney. He looks confident in his fighting skills, and he twists to the side, deflecting the majority of my punch. His fist comes back around fast and catches me in the side of the head. Even though it’s a direct shot, I don’t hesitate as I swing again. The impact to his jaw is the most satisfying feeling I’ve had in years. His head whips violently to the side, and I get a surge of testosterone-driven mania. The life I so badly want to regain seems to surge through my blood with renewed vigor.
He takes the hit with barely a flinch, but he backpedals a step or two. Feeling that I have him retreating, I move into a new position wanting to feel my glove connect with his face again. He narrows a silvery-blue eye, then Liam spins a half circle and disappears. I clench my jaw and wait for his return. I didn’t specify “no magic”, but I don’t care anymore. He obviously doesn’t think integrity has any importance, and my angelic powers allow me to move with superhuman speed as well. So let him bring it. If he wants to play dirty, I can too.
Liam is a flash of faded ginger and white hair as he shows up next to my side. He runs me down with a full body blow. I fall hard into the grass, roll, and come back up in a crouched position. Liam is gone again. Holding perfectly still I wait for the next attack. I don’t have to wait long. As soon as I sense a shift in the air around me, I jump on him. He boxes me in the eye, but I don’t shrink away and manage to get my arms wrapped around him. He kicks my feet out from under me and we crash to the ground.
He’s a big man and thick in his upper body, but I’m not exactly a small person either. I feel something hammer into my back and my left arm is wrenched into a strange pretzel. I twist and yank to get my arm free and then grope, punch, and throw all my weight onto him, wondering if at any second he’s going to fade into nothing, but he doesn’t. Somehow I manage to grip his shoulders and flip him onto his stomach. With my knee jammed into him, I wrap an arm around his neck. He tries to flip me off, but I stay put like a boulder on his back.
“Give up,” I say.
Liam struggles against my choke hold but says, “We’re boxing, not wrestling.”
“I don’t care. Give up, or I might break your neck.”
“Ye’d never, angel boy.”
“Never say never,” I warn.
“Ha!” he snorts. “Ye’re softer than a pig’s belly.”
“Uncle! Uncle!”
Our focus is instantly broken, but I don’t lessen my grip on Liam. The young boy, Kevan, runs past the front of the stone cottage. He hasn’t spotted us on the ground, but in the next couple of seconds he’s going to.
“Uncle Liam! Mam needs ye straight away. It’s Becky.”
The air seems to stir around me. It’s a subtle vibration or current which shouldn’t be there. I don’t wait for Liam to pull his disappearing act again. I let go of my physical form and move a dozen yards away from the man.
He climbs to his feet like he’s an overgrown boy, not a trace of his age showing. Kevan spots him and his eyes widen with surprise.
“What are ye doing on the ground, Uncle? Don’t tell me ye’ve gone and hurt yerself. Mam is already off her nut,” he whines as he runs up to Liam.
Liam straightens his shirt and brushes the grass from his clothes. “Aye, I’m right as rain. Tell me about Miss Becky.”
“It’s her asthma. Mam wants to know if ye can come down and help so she doesna have to go to the hospital?”
“Of course.”
Liam wraps an arm around Kevan’s shoulders and squeezes him in close. “I’ll grab me pack and then we’ll take care of yer sister.”
He releases the boy and stalks over to his bag. As he passes me, he gives me a look that says I’ve been saved by the kids and we both know it. “Eileen and the wanes need me. A man of his word will finish this.”
I stare coldly back at him, staying on guard and processing the name he just gave me.
Little Kevan looks around after hearing his uncle speak to someone he can’t see. “Are there fairies about, Uncle Liam?
“Never ye mind,” he gruffs as he slips his pack over his back.
I don’t move from my spot among the tufts of grass until I can no longer see the top of Liam’s head as he trots down the hillside. Then and only then do I let myself consider what to do next.
Eileen is the name of Vivi’s daughter. Could it be her? Before I entered the cave, I assigned myself two tasks — find Liam to have my questions answered, and try to locate Vivian’s daughter, Eileen Rose Bell.
How many days have I been missing? Liam, the old codger, can wait. Checking in with Vivi and Juliana cannot. In the next breath, I leave Ireland behind.
Chapter Eighteen: Messages for the Misled
Juliana
If nightmares became reality, it would look exactly like my life.
Seeing my dead father ride off in an ambulance with my family was surreal to say the least. He said very little to me. We just didn’t have time. Grandma was knocked out by the lightning strike and when she came to she wasn’t responding well. I’ve never seen her so out of it before. Her eardrums must have blown too because she could barely hear us. Even my mom was having a hard time with her ears and she wasn’t nearly as close to the strike as Grandma. The look of concern on my dad’s face was enough to have me in tears, but of course I fought against them. No tears were going to fall down my cheeks tonight. I wanted to hug him, and for him to hug me and tell me everyone is going to be fine, but hugging a spirit isn’t possible. Unless it’s Nathaniel, but he isn’t here, and he hasn’t shown up since I whispered his name and asked him to please come back.
Having heart palpitations and constrictions in my chest isn’t pleasant either. I seriously can’t say anything about my problems when Grandma has been struck by lightning and Mom isn’t a hundred percent either. They’re both on the way to the hospital and I have to stay home and deal with the fire department because — one, the chimney caught on fire and two, so did the big sacred pine in the backyard.
Jared left with the rest of my family. My mom made him go. She figures since they’re all going to be at the hospital anyway, she could have a doctor look at him. At least Chris stayed behind with me. I can’t begin to express how grateful I am for his help.
As for the rest of Chris’s spirit helpers, they’re still hanging around, too. My dad was the only one I recognized, and I’m not sure how I feel about the house being surrounded with spirits. I think they’re harmless, maybe even helpful, but dead people are still dead and they give me the willies.
“You’re very lucky, young lady,” a fireman is telling me.
He has sharp blue eyes and a scruff of beard over his jaw. “We’re just about finished here and I think it’s safe to say the secondary search is all clear. We found no damage to the roof, but you should have an inspection done. The tree will have to come down as well.”
I stare at his lips moving and hear, “Wha-wah wha-wah…” For some reason, I can’t comprehend everything he’s saying. I heard the all clear, and that’s the part that has me moving toward the front door.
Chris interjects since I’m apparently unable to give a coherent response. He thanks the fireman for me. “I believe Miss Crowson will want to be with her family tonight.”
“Like I said, she’s very lucky. Other than the chimney, the house sustained no damage.”
I notice firefighters and volunteers packing up their trucks and pulling away.
Can I go inside the house now? What if the portal isn’t closed? Did Chris finish what he started? On the front porch, I hesitate before going inside. I should wait for Chris and find out if he ha
s anything to say about the ceremony before going in.
I sit down on the bench and wait, relieved to be away from the commotion of the emergency crews and putting a little distance between me and the glaring lights of the vehicles. I rest my head back against the porch railing, close my eyes and stretch. My hand brushes something next to me. It’s the book from the metaphysical store.
Life, Death, and the Afterlife. This simple leather bound book was the start of my chaos. How could one little object, a combination of words written on the page cause so much disorder? Thanks to Chris I now know what a real object of power feels like and this book isn’t it. So how had I managed to screw my life up so utterly? Demon spirits loose in the house. It’s a nightmare. My grandma is in the hospital and I almost burned the house down because of it.
I pick up the volume, ready to hurl it out into the yard and away from me forever. It slips backward out of my hand and splatters onto the deck. I wish it actually splattered into a sloppy disorganized jumble of letters and characters, but alas, it lays open, bruised but otherwise undamaged. The front porch bulb sheds enough light that I can see what’s on the page. Another drawing. The black ink looks sort of chaotic as it covers the entire two pages in a wilderness of scribbles. Something about the curve of a line or the randomness of it makes me bend down for a closer look. I see the stars and the moon over a vast forest. A stream drifts between and around a thousand trees. The eyes of the forest creatures are staring at me. A fox, a badger, an owl, a skunk, all faint outlines, but the beasts can be seen in the drawing.
A winged man appears within the drawing in the shadows of a rocky cliff. He walks into the moonlight and I’m caught up in the urgency to know where he’s going, who he is, and what he’s doing in this forest beneath the night sky.
He moves to the stream and kneels in front of the water. His large wings are like a cape down his back and spread gracefully to both sides. He scoops up a handful of the water and drinks from cupped palms. The angel stands and turns as a woman moves out of the trees. She walks straight to him. He reaches out and takes her hand. The lady tips her face up to his. He moves in closer to her, raising his other hand and cups her cheek. She leans into his muscular body and his wings wrap around her.
Haunting Me (An Angel Falls Book 3) Page 19
