by L. L Hunter
“No, Lake. And something doesn’t add up. I don’t remember ever coming here. Although, I do remember Adam.”
“Adam? What’s this got to do with your brother?” Lakyn was puzzled.
“He has the ability to erase memories. Maybe he wiped ours. Because we shouldn’t be in 1956, but rather, we should be in 1998!”
“Why would he erase us? I know he hates my guts, but… I really don’t understand.” Nothing made sense to him.
“He sent us here to teach us a lesson. That’s the only explanation I can think of,” she offered.
“But us together? Why wouldn’t he just send me to The Realm of Ice since he considers me a demon?”
“Oh, you’re not a demon. I think I sent us back here, in keeping with my dream. I always wished I’d been born in this decade.”
“But angels rarely use time teleportation nowadays.”
“Well, maybe…” the sky darkened suddenly. Storm clouds rolling over stopped Rachael in her tracks. And there was Adam standing in front of them.
“Adam!”
“Wiping your memories clean was to teach you a lesson, but you obviously haven’t learned.” Adam fixed his cold glare on Lakyn.
“Yeah. Well, thank you for your generosity,” said Lakyn, his voice dripping in sarcasm.
“You two are too freaking in love for anything to matter. No matter what point in history I send you…”
Rachael interrupted him. “You didn’t send us… I took us!”
“What?” confusion covered his face, clear to Rachael and Lakyn.
“I have the time travel Trait,” she pouted.
“That’s true!” added Lakyn, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.
“So, I’ll have to try something else then.” Adam stepped forward with raised arms and held two fingertips above the foreheads of each.
“You know, your father was right all along, Blackbell,” he spat, fixing Lakyn in the eyes. “Love is weakness.” Then he touched them.
“Adam, what are you doing? No!” Rachael cried out as she realised what he was doing. Lakyn quickly gripped her hand, but to no avail. Instantly, when Adam’s fingers touched them, they were pulled apart by an invisible force. Catapulted through time, their memories disappearing with them.
Present day
“Death? As in…?”
“As in taking people’s lives, Lakyn.” Rachael began pacing the room. Lakyn got up and stopped her, taking her hands and holding them firm.
“Has she really taken lives?” he asked. Rachael didn’t answer. She paused by the window and gazed out over the skyline. “Rachael?”
“Sadly, yes. I travelled back in time in order to save them, but my Trait didn’t work.”
“With Adam’s help?”
“No. Lakyn, I did it on my own.”
“You mean you…”
“Yes,” she paused. “It’s my Trait.”
“So, Adam has the memory wiping Trait and you have the time travelling one?” His voice carried sarcasm. But suddenly his eyes widened, and all the pieces fell into place. “So, it was you who jumped us back in time,” he stammered.
“Yes, although just to get away from him. Lake, I’m very sorry.” She turned to face him directly.
“What are you apologising for?” Lakyn moved towards her and pressed his lips against hers and her body against the windowpane. They kissed one another and it was as though it was the first time. Everything between them was restored, and the memories they had earlier lost were likewise renewed. Lakyn had healed her.
In that wondrous moment, Lakyn added, “You know… I think I can help her.”
“What do you mean?”
“Let’s just say there’s something different about my Trait.” The door opened and both their heads turned.
“You!” It was Eden. She stared fixedly at the stranger in the room. She pulled out her dagger.
“Eden, relax,” soothed Rachael. “This is just a friend of mine.”
“Sure.” she rebutted. “He’s the creep who grabbed me at the ruins of your old house.”
Rachael turned from Lakyn to her daughter. “Eden, I can explain.”
Eden dumped her bag where she stood and crossed her arms defiantly. “Okay. Explain then.”
“I think you’d best sit,” Rachael beckoned.
“No. I’d rather stand.”
“Very well. This is Lakyn, and um…” she hesitated. “He’s not exactly a friend.”
“Oh, my God! You’re sleeping with him, aren’t you?” she exploded.
“Eden!” Rachael objected, seeking to explain.
“What?” she defended.
“No.” It was Lakyn who responded. “We’re not sleeping together.”
“Good.” replied Eden. “You would have to consult me before bringing boyfriends into the house, or apartment, or hotel room.” She was pacified now.
Lakyn chuckled. “Gosh. Who’s the parent and who’s the child here?” But Rachael shook her head at him and urged him to forget it.
“Listen, Eden, honey,” Rachael said earnestly. “You know how I couldn’t remember who your father was?”
“Yes…” The cogs began to turn in Eden’s head.
“Well, I remember now who it is.” Moments passed and then everything clicked into place. Eden’s eyes widened suddenly. “He’s my father?” she objected.
“Yes, he is Eden. He’s your father.”
“No!” Eden shrieked.
“Eden?”
Eden turned to Lakyn, trembling. “You’re Lakyn Blackbell. You can’t be my father!”
“Well, I’m sorry,” replied Lakyn gently, “but I am your father.”
Eden looked angrily from one to the other. Backing up towards the door, she grabbed her bag.
“Eden, where are you going?” Rachael asked, her pain filling her voice.
“Out!” Then she ran and slammed the door behind her.
“Don’t do anything reckless, please,” Rachael said as a last desperate prayer.
“She’ll be fine. She’s half of me, after all,” Lakyn, offered her.
“I hope she’ll be all right.” Rachael bowed her head and stared at their conjoined hands.
Lakyn lightened the mood. “Hey! Want to go back to the fifties? I miss that car, you know.” He smiled at her.
“I think you loved that car more than you loved Eden and me,” she laughed.
“Never!” He too laughed and playfully kissed her mouth.
“I want to show you something, Lakyn. If only you could have been there at the time.”
“I wish so, too,” he added, kissing her again. And instantly they were transported back in time.
Epilogue
“Jacob? Jacob, wake up!”
Jacob stirred and opened his eyes. “Kat?” He sat up amazed, but her finger pressed against his lips.
“Shh. Don’t wake the others. Come.”
“I can actually feel you, Kat. What’s going on? I thought…”
“I am not yet dead, nor am I alive.” She led him from his room into the corridor.
“I’m very confused,” he yawned and scratched his head. Kat didn’t explain, but instead appealed to him.
“Listen, Jacob. I need you to do something for me.” She came so close their bodies almost touched.
“I’ll do anything.”
“I want you to find my soul.”
“What do you mean, Kat?”
Kat led Jacob into the chapel crypt and to the coffin where her body lay.
“Jacob, I need you to take my body to the Michaelites who will provide security while you go in search of my soul.”
“How was it lost?”
“The Gatekeeper stole my soul while you slept. From now and until you find it and return it to me, I am trapped in the Realm of the Dead.”
“The Gatekeeper? Of the Realm of Light?”
“No, The Realm of Death,” she told him.
Jacob’s heart stopped. The Realm of Death. Jacob kne
w that to be in the realm of which all souls were taken, that it was near impossible for an angel to go there, unless they were dead.
“I have a clue for you,” she offered. “The Gatekeeper dwells with Lakyn and the Lucifites.”
“All right. But how would I identify The Gatekeeper?”
“You need to discover that for yourself. Okay?”
“Okay.” Jacob assented and stepped closer to her.
“So, you will do that for me?” she asked, with big puppy dog eyes.
“I’ll do anything for you, Kat,” he insisted. “And I won’t give up until your soul is restored to you.”
Kat smiled. “Then we can be together,” she informed him. Jacob smiled too, but as he went to wrap his arms around her, her body evaporated, disappearing into thin air.
“Kat!”
Jacob sat up in bed. It had been a dream. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and tried anxiously to dismiss the dream, hoping that Kat’s soul wasn’t missing and that instead she was safe. Throwing off the covers, Jacob quickly ran barefoot to the crypt. He pushed open the heavy door, and in amazement, he saw her. Kat’s spirit was standing over her own body, her image translucent. In that instant, Jacob realised he hadn’t been dreaming. Kat’s spirit had indeed led him here. He knew what he had to do.
Sneak Peek
Introduction to
The Chronicles of Blood & Stone
Betrayal
Adam knocked three times on the cast iron door. It opened and a gravelly voice spoke.
“What business do you have here?”
“I bring news of Lakyn’s whereabouts,” Adam told the man through the small slit in the door. There was a moment of silence, and then the door opened wider.
“You may enter.”
“Thank you.” As Adam stepped inside, the heavy door closed behind him, and he was plunged into darkness. The smell of mildew was abundant in the gloomy staircase, and he would have tripped if it weren’t for the flickering of candles coming from below. The man with the gravelly voice led Adam through a dingy hallway towards some ornate wooden doors, a sight he never expected to see down there. The doors opened, and in the doorway stood an older man with a greying beard and cold dark eyes.
“I hear you bring news of my son.”
“Yes, sir.” Adam bowed his head reverently towards the older Nephilim, as if he were worshipping him.
“My, my, it has been fifteen years, but you haven’t changed.”
“Excuse me?”
“It is you, is it not, Adam?”
“Yes. It is me,” he said, but he still could not look at him.
“Then come inside and tell me about my son.” Zachariah ushered Adam inside where a hall built for kings awaited them. There were rows and rows of tables filled with laughing and merry Nephilim who were eating from a lavish feast. Adam was at a loss for words. Was this really what the Lucifites did all day? Zachariah led him towards a table at the back of the room and sat himself down in a large plush chair that looked quite like a thrown—decorated in gold and green velvet. Did Zachariah Blackbell see himself as a king?
“So, tell me about Lakyn. Where has my son been?” Zachariah asked once Adam had sat down. He took a large gulp from a medieval goblet and trained his eyes on him.
“He’s been living with my sister, Rachael, in a secret location with their daughter.” He saw Zachariah’s eyes widen, but he didn’t look surprised.
“Well, he has been busy, hasn’t he?” Zachariah chuckled.
“But that won’t be for much longer. You see, sir.” Adam leaned closer towards Zachariah as if to tell him a secret. “My sister and niece are going to move away, so Lakyn will have no choice but to come back here.”
“That is good news. Foolish boy. I never thought he would betray me like this. I always thought that would be my youngest. He has the same loving soul my wife has. But Lakyn… he is more like me, was more like me. But that is about to change.” Zachariah stood up abruptly and raised his goblet.
“Listen up,” he shouted, and the room fell silent. “Young Adam Daylesford has come as the bearer of good news. Lakyn will return to us soon.” A roar erupted throughout the room followed by the stomping of boots and a clanging of crockery. But it soon died down when Zachariah raised his goblet again.
“So I’d like to propose a toast to Adam. May he always be welcome within our ranks. To Adam!”
“To Adam!” mirrored the rest of the Lucifites, raising their goblets and drinking to Adam, who sat there speechless.
“I… I don’t know what to say,” he stuttered.
“You don’t have to say anything. Just join in the celebrations.” Zachariah took another sip of his wine and leaned in close to him. “Now, tell me, where exactly are your sister and niece moving to?” he asked. Adam picked up his own goblet of wine and leaned back in his chair, a knowing grin appeared on his face.
“To the Michaelite Sanctuary.”
Lakyn stirred. He could hear signs of activity within the bedroom. He opened one eye and saw Rachael moving about the room.
“Rach, what are you doing?”
“Oh, morning. I’m just cleaning.”
“With suitcases?” he asked, not buying it. Rachael stopped packing clothes into the open suitcase on the floor and looked at him.
“Rachael, what’s going on?” He pushed the covers back and sat up in bed.
She sighed and pushed her hand back through her hair. “I’m so sorry, Lake, but we have to do this. We have to leave. It’s better for her.”
“Leave? You’re leaving me? And taking Eden?”
“I don’t want to, but I have to.”
“Why? Why do you have to? I told you, I can help her.”
“No, you can’t. We have to go.” Rachael turned and picked up the bags on the floor. But Lakyn was quick and was across the room in the time it took for her to take a breath. He grabbed hold of her wrist causing her to drop the bags.
She gasped. “Lakyn, please. This is why you can’t help her.”
“Why can’t I?” he snarled.
“This! Your insatiable anger and your constant greed. I don’t want Eden to be like that.”
“Are you saying I’m influencing her?”
“Not your heart, just your ties with them. You are still connected to them. I can tell you think about them constantly. You miss them.”
“That is not true. I left them. I’m tied to you and Eden now. I’ve changed.”
Rachael tugged her arm away from him. “No one can truly change.” And she picked up her bags and walked out the door. Lakyn clenched his fist and threw the vase of tulips sitting beside the bed against the wall, leaving it dripping with water and the carpet soaked. He dressed and decided to leave the place he had begun to call home, without as much as a second thought.
Abraham picked up the Soul Sphere that contained Kat’s soul, and her spirit immediately appeared in front of him.
“Oh, good, Miss James. You’re here.”
“What do you want? Just because you hold my soul, doesn’t mean you have power over me,” Kat retorted.
“Feisty one, aren’t you? No wonder you’re still around. I summoned you here, not only because I like seeing your pretty face, but because I need you to do something for me.”
“A favour? I don’t do favours for demons,” Kat retorted.
“No, not a favour—a bargain. It’s the bargain of the century, and it won’t be around for long.”
“That’s worse! No, I won’t do it.” She crossed her arms over her body.
“Going, going…” he held the Crystal sphere over the desk in the office where they stood, threatening to smash it. An uncontained soul was unprotected and free for all to take.
“Wait! What’s the deal?”
Abraham smirked and hung the Soul Sphere back around his neck. “Tell your underwear model boyfriend that the only way he’s going to get your soul back is if he retrieves something for us.”
“What does he have to
retrieve?”
“An item of great importance to our cause, and it lays in a place only angels and humans can enter.”
“Tell me what it is. Otherwise, I won’t help you.”
“Patience, pretty one. Tell him to bring us The Golden Chalice of St Michael, and we shall negotiate the return of your soul.”
“That’s blackmail!”
“I know. It’s what we do best.” He smirked.
“How do I know you’re not just going to smash that sphere before he gives it to you?”
“Darlin’, we may be demons who have no souls with black hearts, but we keep our word.”
“Fine. Then I’ll do it.”
Lakyn felt soulless. The inescapable truth hit him in the face as he flew. Rachael was gone, and so was Eden. He had barely gotten the chance to know his daughter, and now he didn’t know when, or if, he would see her again. One thing he was glad for though, he had his memories back. He decided to reminisce on one of his favourites, back in a time when all was perfect. He wished he had Rachael to take him back there now.
“Rachael?” Lakyn called as he ran through the blue maze-like corridors of the hospital. This hospital was owned and run by Michaelite nuns and priests. He didn’t know why Rachael had chosen to come here. Nephilim infirmaries were perfectly all right.
“Rachael?” He turned a corner and almost collided with a nurse.
“Lakyn Blackbell?” she inquired.
“Yes, that’s me,” he replied as he tried to catch his breath.
“She’s through here.”
The nurse led him through a black curtained doorway. The hospital was dark, which was weird. Weren’t all maternity wards normally bright and cheerful? All the walls were painted the same shade of steel greyish-blue and black curtains hung from every doorway. Lakyn was perplexed. But everything made sense when he heard her.
“Rachael?”
“Lakyn!” cried Rachael desperately. “Lake? Is that you?”
“Yeah, it’s me.”
The nurse pushed aside another black curtain, and he saw her, lying on a bed, sweating, and holding her still-pregnant belly.
