Redemption (33 page)

Her hair was...blonde? It was blonde, the color of gold, of sunshine, of summer. He was sure of it.

The sound of her voice? Yes, he could still hear her. He could remember her laugh, the way it floated around him, lifting him from his pain, making him smile and believe that there was still something good he could hope for in life.

There had to be a way to overpower Mara. He’d broken free of her once, and he could do it again. His brain screamed for an answer.

After spending a good part of his day talking to angels; maybe he should try talking to their boss.

You must be up there,
he thought,
so now would be an excellent time to prove it.

Bryan felt the weight of a hand come to rest on his forehead. A wave of peace rippled through his body. Mara seemed unaware of what he was feeling and continued to search the room for more stones placed there by Bastion. With some distance between them, Bryan found that he was able to manage small movements of his head and arms. He looked at his fingertips to see a faint, glowing, white light. It seemed to encase his body, wrapping itself around him as a protective barrier.

Rest
, a voice said.

As his legs buckled from beneath him and Bryan fell to the floor, he knew he was safe. Even as he heard the echo of Mara’s rage-filled scream as it filled the room, he was certain that his cry for help had been answered.

 

Cassidy was going out of her mind. She couldn’t shake the sensation that something was terribly wrong. The fact that she still wasn’t getting an answer from either Bryan or Luscid wasn’t helping her at all. She looked at the clock; it was now nearly 11:30. She’d never sleep, not until the feeling went away. The terror that began winding its way into her heart and mind earlier had since burrowed deep inside her. Goosebumps covered her arms, and her heart was pounding in her ears.

Cassidy stood and walked to the window. At some point during the evening, snow had begun to fall. Now a thick blanket covered the ground and draped the tree limbs like lace. She wrapped her arms around herself for warmth, for comfort, for reassurance that would not come.

“Luscid,” she called to the air, her voice thick with fear, “if you think you’re being funny, you’re not! Where are you?”

She no longer cared if anyone heard her or if they thought she was crazy. She felt more than unease; she felt emptiness.

A part of her soul was missing.

“Cassidy.” His hand was on her shoulder. “I’m here.”

Turning quickly to face him, Cassidy melted against the angel she’d always known and trusted. She wrapped her arms around his waist and allowed herself to sink even further into his broad chest.

“Where were you?” she whispered, fighting to hold back her tears.

Luscid sighed, “Something has happened, Cassidy. I need to talk to you.”

“You haven’t answered my question,” she said.

“We were trying to get to Bryan,” he began. “He’s been taken.”

Cassidy’s legs turned to jelly, and Luscid tightened his arms, keeping her from falling. She couldn’t have heard that correctly. She’d seen the angels, she knew that powerful protectors had been sent. How did they manage to
fail
? How could they let Bryan be taken?

When she found her voice, she was angry. “Taken?!”

He lowered his head and propped his sword against the wall. Now that Cassidy was looking at him, she could see that he was covered in sweat, a gash running down the his left arm, a burn on the right. Luscid wiped his brow with the back of one hand.

“It was the demon. She must’ve been waiting for him after he left us at Starbucks. She had him before we even had a chance to stop her.” He looked tired. “We need your help, Cassidy. We’ve tried to break through her wards, but it isn’t working. As the Sandals, you are the only one.”

“First of all, I need you to slow down, Lu; and second, you’re a mess. Sit down. I’ll be right back.”

Cassidy left her room and limped to the linen closet in the hallway for something to clean Luscid’s wounds. Her leg still hurt from the damage that Rhys had done. Her hands shook as she held the towel under cold water from the faucet. She had never seen him like this. It had never occurred to her that angels could even
be
hurt much less look the way Luscid did now.

When she returned, he was standing by the window. His posture was rigid, and his face was a mask of determination. Luscid was standing guard. She walked to him and gingerly dabbed the blood on his cheek with the cool towel. He flinched slightly.

“Why was Bryan at Starbucks with you?” she asked.

“He went to see Miranda,” Luscid answered, his eyes focused on the storm outside the window.

“Miranda?” Cassidy had a hard time keeping her voice calm. “Why her?”

“She is the Dreamer, Cass. She had answers he needed, could tell him things about what happened earlier today.”

Cassidy waited for him to continue.

“She was there the whole time, hiding somewhere,” he began, still looking out the window. “I don’t know how she hid herself from us, but she did. Somehow, she knew just when to make her move. He didn’t have a chance.”

“She who? Miranda? And I don’t understand what you think I can do about this. If
you
can’t get to him, what will I be able to do?” Cassidy asked.

He turned to face her. “I need you to sit down, and trust me when I say that you’re not going to be happy that we haven’t talked about this before today.”

Cassidy narrowed her eyes. “You’ve always told me everything I need to know; I don’t understand.”

“Sit.” He extended his hand toward the bed and waited for her to comply.

Cassidy stared at him for a second, then sighed and sat. “Explain.”

“Bastion isn’t thrilled with me for keeping this to myself,” Luscid said. “He thinks I was wrong, and in retrospect, I have to say that I agree. I thought I was doing the right thing, protecting you, but I never should’ve been silent about this. Not this.”

“You’re starting to scare me.” Cassidy pulled her hands inside her sweater, a habit when nervous, or thinking, or just cold. Right now, all three applied.

“I want you to think back to the car accident when you were fifteen.” Luscid sat next to her. “What do you remember?”

“Well, I don’t really remember all that much. I guess I remember right before it happened, we were all laughing at something stupid that Amy said. Then the truck came out of nowhere. That’s the last thing I remember before waking up in the hospital.”

“Try harder.” He put his hand on her shoulder. “Remember all of it.”

She wrinkled her nose and made a face. “I’m not really sure what you mean. How can I remember what happened when I was unconscious?”

“Try.”

Cassidy shook her head and closed her eyes. She’d been out with friends, and they were on their way home. They stopped at the light; and when it turned green, Amy continued forward. The truck ran the light, barreling into the side of the small Toyota Corolla and sending it spinning through the intersection. Another car crashed into the opposite side, creating a pinball machine effect. Cassidy remembered the screaming, she remembered the pain as her head crashed into the side window of the car. She remembered the crunching of the bones in her leg as the dashboard pinned her to her seat when they hit the telephone pole.

She took a deep breath. There wasn’t anything else to remember. She woke up at the hospital, heard the news from her parents about her leg, and had to face the end to her figure-skating dreams.

That was everything that happened, wasn’t it?

Cassidy looked at Luscid.
Wasn’t it?

“That’s not all of it, Cassidy. Search your mind,” he said, his tone soft and encouraging.

She closed her eyes again and tried to recall anything else that had happened at the time of the accident. Her memory went blank at the point of impact with the pole, the crushing pain in her leg, and standing beside Luscid.

Standing beside Luscid?

“When was I standing next to you? My leg was broken, shattered. I couldn’t walk or stand. How was I standing next to you?” she asked.

“Keep going,” he urged.

Cassidy replayed the accident one more time, as though watching a movie. She sped up certain parts and slowed others. As she neared the end, she slowed it even more. She cried out as her head hit the window; she screamed and shielded her face as the pole grew closer. Then she was with someone with white hair. He spoke to her, laid a hand on her shoulder gently, and she was beside Luscid.

“Who was it?” she asked. “Who did I see?”

Luscid smiled, relieved. “Melchisadek, chief angel and keeper of the peace of God.”

“He said something to me, touched me, and was gone. Why?”

“He gave you a gift, Cassidy, a tremendous gift. You don’t just embody the peace of God, you
are
His peace. There’s a reason people feel calmer when near you, a reason you always try to ease the problems of others. Yes, it was always in your nature, a part of who you are. You
are
the Sandals, but Melchisadek left a bit of himself within you when he touched you which amplifies who you are, intensifies it. You have incredible power inside yourself, a power that we need you to use to save Bryan. The wards won’t work on you, and you have the ability to take him back.”

Cassidy didn’t know what to think or do. Her jaw dropped, and her eyebrows pinched together. Sure she knew of stories about apostles who’d performed miracles. Yeah, she read news articles about modern-day people who seemed to have Divinely-given abilities to do things others could not. But...
really?!

“Now? You wait until now to tell me this?” she asked.

“I’d hoped you’d never need to know,” Luscid answered.

“Well, that didn’t work out too well, did it?” Cassidy remarked. She took a deep breath and shook her head. “You’d better start talking, Lu.”

B
ryan was standing in a room, a very bright, very warm room. He wasn’t exactly sure where he was, but he was strangely unconcerned about that fact. A person stood in front of him, as if he’d been waiting for him. Bryan was certain that he didn’t know whomever this was. He took in the man’s pale, nearly white, blonde hair, his lavender eyes, his flowing pants and matching shirt.

He’d remember someone like this guy.

“Getting ready for yoga?” Bryan asked, smirking.

The man smiled. “I am Melchisadek, chief angel and keeper of the peace of God.”

“That’s some name. Got a shorter version?”

“You can call me Mel,” he began. “I am also the one who brought you here, Bryan.”

“Okay, Mel. Let’s start with that. What exactly happened to me back there?” Bryan folded his arms across his chest and waited.

Mel waved a hand through the air, and they were instantly standing in an outdoor living room. Overhead, the quiet
whoosh, whoosh
of a ceiling fan could be heard as it moved slowly, and beneath their feet Bryan felt a bamboo rug. There were two couches with soft, overstuffed cushions and fabrics in soothing hues of green and blue. A small table with two glasses of clear liquid stood between them, and before them was a perfect view of the ocean, waves gently lapping against the sand. A gull could be heard somewhere in the distance. The angel sat and motioned for Bryan to do the same.

“I’m at the beach?”

“No, Bryan. You’re still in the hotel room with Mara. We’re in your subconscious. This place is where you go in your mind when you need quiet, when you need, as you call it, space,” Mel explained.

Bryan thought about that for a minute...then decided to stop thinking and just go with it. What Mel said made sense; being near the water always relaxed him, made him feel more centered. He shrugged. So he was having a conversation with an angel somewhere inside his mind. At least there were waves.

“Go on,” he said, sinking into one of the couches and putting his feet up on the table.

“Right now, your body is on the floor of your room, and Mara is doing everything in her power to bring you back. You’re being shielded, of course.” Mel smiled and then grew serious. “Bryan, you asked the Maker to prove Himself to you, and He allowed me to intervene in order to do so. Your role in the Circle is very important; you need to understand that. And in case you’re wondering, no, you won’t remember any of this when you wake up.”

“Well, that sucks,” Bryan said. Mel raised his eyebrows, and Bryan shrugged. “Why
am
I here?”

“I needed to talk to you, and you needed to get away from Mara. She’s got a very strong hold over you.” Mel tilted his head to the side and studied Bryan. “She’ll be a problem.”

“I’m over her, problem solved.” Bryan reclined back and folded his arms behind his head.

Mel sighed. “Problem not solved. But she isn’t the only reason you’re here.”

“She’s not?” Bryan asked, eyes closed. He could get used to this place. It was so peaceful, tranquil. He could stay here. Life would be much simpler here.

“Bryan, one, you can’t stay here. This place is imaginary, a creation of your mind,” Mel said shaking his head. “Two, I know Bastion has told you of your role in the Circle, as the Breastplate.”