Divinity (15 page)

“How am I supposed to do that?” Julia shook her head. “I don’t know how to spin out light like that! And you said humans can only do extraordinary ‘spirit’ things during times of crisis.”

“Yes. Humans.”

Julia’s mouth worked without sound for a moment. She looked up to the sky with a glare that was meant for Gabriel, even if she couldn’t see him.

“That’s right,” she spat, “I’m not human. And that’s probably why this thing came after me, and that’s probably why Alex is gone.”

Michael said nothing, waiting out the storm.

“If it weren’t for him,” she flung an accusatory finger up toward the clouds, “Alex would still be alive!”

Michael inhaled slowly, then released his breath in a heavy sigh. “What you are saying has played a factor, this is true, but what you do about it is still your decision. If you don’t help us, Alex will have forfeited his life for nothing.”

For nothing. The words rang in Julia’s head. She took a deep breath and shivered. Shoving her anger and grief aside, she lifted her chin defiantly. “I will not let Alex’s death be in vain. I’ll try to make the shield.”

“Simply decide that you will. Envision it, then do it. You will find it easier than you think.”

Julia shot Michael a skeptical look. “I’ll try. But what was that thing?”

“Try it now. Exactly the way Alex did it.”

Julia pursed her lips and fought the urge to continue the questioning. She closed her eyes, focused all her energy in her mind and envisioned a web identical to Alex’s, spinning out the top of her head and cascading around her. Nothing happened.

“Concentrate.”

“I am,” she huffed, but the truth was she wasn’t. Her mind was on Alex’s leg. The spot where the thing had touched him had turned black instantly.

“You are not,” Michael said, this time grabbing her shoulders. “Concentrate.”

Julia tried to clear her mind and picture Alex’s web, but again nothing happened. Michael held out his hand. On the center of his palm rested a polished green stone with white feathering.

“Seraphinite,” Michael explained. “Take it. Hold it in your hand. It will help you focus.”

With the rock in hand, Julia once again pictured the shield of light, and this time it materialized. Just as Michael said it would. She was surprised, but something felt off.

“It looks the same, but it doesn’t feel the same,” she said, opening her eyes. “Does that matter?”

“It’s perfect. Do it exactly like that the second you sense that thing anywhere near you.”

“I will, Michael. But what was that thing?”

“Right now, you must return. I will answer all of your questions in time.” He touched her forehead lightly.

Julia felt a jolt as she once again sat on the shoulder of the highway, cradling Alex’s limp body, rocking him as she wept, clutching his head to her breast, the green stone still clutched in her fist. She stopped moaning and blinked, looking up at the man who was approaching from the minivan.

“Are you hurt? I called 911,” the man said. He was clearly distressed.

“He killed my Alex,” she stammered.

The man’s eyes ran over the whole scene and returned to Julia. He repeated, “Are you hurt?”

“I’m not hurt.” Julia tried to wipe some of the blood away from her face. It was sticky and warm. The smell of rotting undergrowth clung in her nostrils, and she looked up, alarmed. Immediately she wove the shield as she had only minutes before, and she saw Michael’s head whip around, scanning the area.

The dog in the van was barking and looking straight into the woods on the other side of the highway, to the very place Julia and Alex had emerged from only moments before. The boy turned around to see what the dog was barking at and began screaming at the top of his lungs.

Julia watched Michael open his wings to their full span. She had only a moment to gape in awe at the full magnificence of him. He seemed to emit some sort of pulse from the center of his being, rippling outward. Everything it passed through shimmered, but remained unaffected. Within moments, the dog stopped barking and the child’s screams were reduced to incoherent whimpers. Julia heard the boy jabbering something about the Boogeyman.

She looked down to Alex’s body and stroked his blood-soaked hair. The black mark on his calf was there, torn right through his pants. Was it bigger than before? The smell faded quickly and she released her shield. The sirens in the distance seemed to signal the end of the crisis. When she looked back up, Michael was gone.

Gabriel watched as the others appeared in front of him. Raphael was already there, ready to cast her healing waves should Julia look to be on the verge of a breakdown again. Ariel popped into view next, then Uriel, looking as irritated as ever he had. Zachariah was less than a second behind him, and ruffled his wings.

“I do not see a threat. Nor a battle,” Zachariah stated, peering through the viewing hole in the clouds as it closed.

“What was it?” Uriel demanded. “Why did Michael give the battle-call if there was no battle?”

Raphael moved in between Uriel and Gabriel. “There was a crisis. A thing the likes of which we have not seen before, Uriel. But it disappeared before Michael could fight it.”

“That was not a being of the Creator.” Gabriel flexed his wings, clearly agitated. “I do not like this. It seems to be the opposite of us—darkness where we are light, disproportion where we are grace, ugliness where we are beauty. We cannot see it, only sense it vaguely.”

“Convenient that we are called in after the fact,” Uriel huffed.

Ariel and Zachariah exchanged a look. Zachariah shook his head. “I must go. I have other pressing matters to attend.”

“As do I,” Ariel chimed in, leaving small swirls of cloud in his wake as he vanished.

“What was it?” Uriel repeated. “If you cannot see it, how did you know it was there?”

“I am not certain, Uriel,” Gabriel said. “As soon as we know more, I will inform you.”

Uriel stood with his arms folded, facing Gabriel. His nostrils flared as he spoke. “See that you do, Gabriel.”

As soon as Uriel was gone, Gabriel waved a hand and reopened the hole in the clouds. He could see Julia, still sitting beside her car, cradling Alex’s body. Gabriel frowned, his wings drooping sadly on his back. Raphael laid a gentle hand upon his shoulder.

“Be well, Brother,” she said. She stepped away, then disappeared into the mist.

“I would have preferred there to be another way. She did not need this heartache.”

“As would I,” Michael said, stepping up beside him.

“Why would you have her surround herself in a shield you know is useless?”

“It is not useless at all, Gabriel.”

“Michael, you know it only worked for Alex because he wove his with spirit.”

“It is our alarm system, Brother—a beacon. We are unable to see the entity, but she can alert us in this way. It fled when I scanned the area, so until we can figure out how to deal with this thing, that is what we’ll do.”

“I see. The others answered your call.” Gabriel lifted his eyes to meet Michael’s. “Uriel demands answers, as usual. The others were too busy to question anything.”

“It is comforting that they answered, nonetheless. I have often wondered if they would.”

Gabriel raised an eyebrow, but let the statement pass unchallenged. He refocused his attention on the scene below. “That child saw you. And I believe it saw the other thing, as well.”

“Yes, I know,” Michael said with a wave of his hand. “Children can see it, and dogs—or so it would seem—and she can see it, now that she remembers how to see fully. And if she throws up that shield every time it is near, we will know it is there.”

“That ‘shield’ is too bright, Michael. It may attract other unpleasant things. A web of energy like that one is a beacon to those from whom we would sooner keep her safe.”

“I think that is the least of our worries.” Michael turned away from Gabriel, surveying the scene below once more. Both Archangels were still for a few moments, until Gabriel broke the silence.

“We have an unknown enemy. Did you have any sense of where it came from?”

“It was unnatural, Gabriel. Its every movement was unnatural. And the odor that accompanies it seems to speak clearly as to its place of origin.” Michael had a distant look in his eyes, even for him.

“It smelled of the Earth.”

“Rotting Earth,” Michael countered. “If not of its origin, then, at least it must speak of its intent.”

“Could it be Lucifer? Would he dare to leave his exile and break your laws of creation?”

“I don’t think even Lucifer would cross that line again, Brother. I believe we have a new enemy on the rise. You have much work to do. You are the Messenger. You must spread this word.”

“What word exactly would you have me spread?”

“That we have a new enemy. A new being—one that is not of the Creator. And that we must be alert.”

Gabriel bowed his head in acquiescence. “We all have much work. Be well, Brother.”

Michael stood silently for several minutes after Gabriel’s departure. He appeared more transparent than ever he had, trying to be everywhere and see everything, hoping to find some hint as to what they were facing.

XV

T
HEY
had to pry Julia’s arms from around Alex and pull her away. Once she had the okay from the paramedics, Julia was taken to the police station. As the officer led her to the squad car, her eyes lingered on Alex’s body. With a tightened grip on her stone, she tried in vain to will him back to life.

They told her that her car was evidence and had to stay at the scene to be processed. She looked at them and blinked twice.

“Processed,” she said. She heard their words, but none of it sank in.

Now that Michael had shown her how to remember, she rewound her time with Alex, savoring moments with him. Their first kiss. The first time he told her that he loved her. The day they met. Their last time being intimate.

I’ll just stay with him
, she thought.
I can still be with him
.

Tears trickled down her cheeks and slid their way down her neck. The officers escorted her into the station, and she vaguely heard them asking her questions through her visions of Alex. She lifted her hands to her face, and realized she could smell his cologne on her palms.

She inhaled deeply, going further into her memories—she was sitting on her sofa, snuggled up beside Alex. He had one arm wrapped around her shoulders. She could smell him, feel his warmth and even his heartbeat. She sighed.

-
You must not do this, girl
.- Michael’s voice echoed through her mind, sending a ripple through the memory.

Julia pressed her body closer to Alex, wrapping her arms around his waist. She looked up at him and he smiled at her in that way that always made butterflies dance in her stomach.

-
Leave me alone, Michael. I did what you asked. Now leave me alone
.-

-
You cannot stay here. You are needed on Earth. We need you
.-

-
I can stay here with him. He’s real here
.- Julia rested her head upon Alex’s shoulder.

-
You know that isn’t true, girl. He is a vision. You cannot leave everything behind to live within a memory
.-

-
Everything? What is everything? Alex was all I had!
- As Julia’s anger flared, the image of Alex wavered and started to fade.

-
You have many things. You have nurtured your business like a child. You have friends, like Sandra and Charlie. You have us. You have your family
.- Michael’s voice bounced off the inside of her skull.

-
My family? I don’t even know what family is! Leave me alone!
- Julia tapered off as her grief overwhelmed her once again. Her whole body shook as she sobbed into her hands, her tears washing away the last remnants of Alex’s cologne.

-
How will you learn what family is if you turn your back on your life this way? You are stronger than this. You have things to take care of
.-

-
I’m tired, Michael, and I want to stay with Alex
.- But Michael’s last statement had struck a chord with her, and her resolve waned. She knew she was responsible for the people who worked for her, if nothing else. Her staff relied upon her for their livelihood. But there was something else in Michael’s tone. Something that pulled at her core. -
What things?
-