The Fallen (Angelic Redemption) (30 page)

“Yes, he will heal and we will get food.”

Walking away with Sophie, Maximo waved at his
father. Sophie glanced back at Joaquin once and signaled for him to go to the
room. The two then disappeared around a corner, leaving Joaquin to climb the
stairs, one painful step at a time.

While he showered, Joaquin realized his wounds
were beginning to heal and only the gaping chest injury needed attention.
Drying off, he heard Maximo’s laughter from the next room. Startled, Joaquin
wondered how much time passed while he stood in the hot shower, trying to
accept this new reality.

As the smell of hamburgers and French fries
filtered into the bathroom, Joaquin studied the wound on his bare chest. He considered
what was needed to tend to it, none of which was in the hotel room. Finally following
the food’s aroma, he found Maximo sitting at a small table while Sophie laid
out the food. Noticing him, she smiled.

“Feeling any better?”

Joaquin did not answer, just stared at her with
his dark eyes.

“Guess not,” she said, leaving Maximo to eat. “We
picked up some supplies for your wounds. Sit down and I’ll see what we can do
about the worst one.”

Joaquin did not respond nor did he move. Sophie
frowned at him as she approached. Her irritation soon shifted to concern as she
studied the chest wound.

“Does it hurt a lot?”

Joaquin only stared, unwilling to speak with her,
for every word made this situation more real, more permanent.

“Sit down,” she said, pulling at his arm so he
would sit down on the edge of the bed. “I’m not even sure what to do, but we can’t
leave it exposed like this.”

Sophie retrieved a bag of supplies then crouched
in front of him.

“When Lila was hurt, they bandaged her up, but I
didn’t watch them. I don’t know exactly what they did,” she said then burst
into panicked laughter. “I got Neosporin.”

Studying the tube of antibacterial paste, Sophie
stopped laughing and tears moistened her green eyes.

“I don’t know what to do. Neosporin isn’t going
to fix this. Maybe I should call Lila for help? Do you know what to do?”

Joaquin noticed Maximo staring at them with a fry
handing from his lips. For the first time since Sophie arrived, Maximo was
scared. Sophie was scared too.

Tears spilled down her cheeks and her lower lip
trembled as she waited for him to reassure her. His family needed him to speak
and Joaquin felt foolish to have been so stubborn after receiving such a
blessing.

Wiping the tears from her freckled cheeks, Joaquin
said what he should have said minutes earlier before she gave into her panic.

“We’ll cover the wound with a bandage and leave
the rest to God.”

Though her eyes were still full of uncertainty, Sophie
calmed herself.

“It’s going to be alright,” she said.

“Yes. Tomorrow we will meet with your friends and
start our new mission.”

Sophie sighed deeply. “I’m not used to being in
charge.”

“You’ll get the hang of it,” he said quietly. “In
a day or two, you’ll say jump and we’ll say how high.”

Sophie smiled as she rummaged through her bag for
bandages. “I’ll be a real dictator, huh? That’ll show Lila.”

Joaquin shared her smile and kept still as she
fumbled with the bandages.

“We are happy again, yes?” Maximo said with his
mouth full. “No more angry?”

Joaquin nodded at Maximo. “Yeah, we’re good,
kid.”

“We have Mama back and the murderer is dead. We
have a good mission now and lots of food. Mama bought lots of food.”

Sophie smiled wider as she taped the bandages to Joaquin’s
chest.

“Does that look okay?”

When Joaquin nodded his approval, Sophie stood up
and turned on the television. Maximo immediately cooed over the cartoons.

“It’s not as if I haven’t fed him or let him
watch television these years,” Joaquin said awkwardly. “He acts that way, but
I’ve spoiled him really.”

Sophie knelt down in front of Joaquin and gazed
into his dark eyes. Staring at him, her expression wasn’t sad or confused. She
just studied the man who was once her husband, yet who she had no memory of. Joaquin
wished he might say the right thing in this moment. His words felt inadequate though
and he kept quiet. If Sophie minded his silence, she never showed it.

“You can kiss me again, if you want,” she finally
said with a shy little grin.

Joaquin smiled and whatever strength he felt in
denying their fate together disappeared. He took her face in his hands and
kissed her and she kissed him back this time. Clutching him tightly, Sophie
trembled in his embrace, the day’s implications finally taking hold. When she
pulled away, she eyed him slightly embarrassed.

“I might still be a little bit lost,” she whispered.

“Me too.”

They looked at Maximo who again stared at them
with a dark frown.

“Why aren’t you eating? You said cold food was
bad.”

A smiling Sophie glanced at Joaquin and shrugged.
“It is bad to waste food.”

“Very.”

“Does it hurt too much?” she asked, touching his
bandaged chest.

Joaquin shook his head, no longer feeling the
wound. He only felt the peace that came from having her back with him and
Maximo. Joining them at the table, Joaquin ate his food and listened to Maximo
tell Sophie stories about their three years without her. To Maximo’s delight,
Sophie then told him about how she killed Karen.

Watching his family, Joaquin felt God with him
again. All these painful years, the Lord was always present. Yet Joaquin kept
Him at bay, afraid to feel anything that might distract from the guilt and sorrow.

Embracing a new sense of hope and redemption,
Joaquin felt the Lord’s presence warming him, healing his pain, and making him
whole again.

Blood and bandages were splashed around the hotel
room. Logan did most of the bleeding from several stomach wounds. Tending to
his brother, Connor played the silent nursemaid.

Lila sat nearby, watching them as her own wounds
healed. Even with all of Logan’s bleeding, she wasn’t too worried. A few hours
ago, she figured death was coming for her again. Now, she barely felt the chest
wound and all her other newer wounds were gone.

No matter her confidence towards their situation,
Lila didn’t dare speak and interrupt the self-induced silence among the men.
The brothers weren’t interested in her anyway. Their minds were on Roman who
was in the hallway speaking to Ethan on the phone. When he returned to the
room, his face didn’t hint at good news.

“Well?” Logan asked when Roman made no immediate
announcements.

“He’s fine. He’s got Anya and is heading this
way.”

“Got Anya? What does that mean?” Connor pushed.

Yawning, Roman rubbed his eyes. “I guess, it
means she’s being uncooperative. You know how Anya can be.”

“I don’t,” Lila said.

Roman watched Lila with an odd expression,
causing her to look away. They hadn’t truly spoken since the night Lila awoke
to find the world had changed for her. While she had no interest in talking to
him even now, she sensed Anya was being maligned.

“She’s just stubborn. It’ll be fine,” Roman said,
though Lila knew he was lying.

Also seeing through Roman’s lies, the brothers
frowned at him. Roman shifted awkwardly under their gazes and asked how Logan was feeling.

“Super. So has Ethan run into any trouble yet?”

“Sounds like the villains were making another
attempt on Anya. If they’re hunting down Lila’s old pack, they’ll be making a
move on Ivy too,” Roman said, glancing again at Lila who ignored him.

“And Gracie and Nina whose locations we still
don’t know,” Connor grumbled, sounding overly downbeat after a day with no
hunter casualties.

“We’ll find them,” Roman promised, trying to
soothe their panic. Turning to Lila, he changed the subject. “Did you talk to
Sophie?”

“Yep. She’s all cozy with her hubby and kid. One
big happy family. She’ll meet us tomorrow like planned.” Standing up, Lila
headed for the door. “If we’re good here, I’m going to my room.”

“I don’t think we should split up,” Logan said, his eyes immediately on Roman.

“I’ll be right next door,” Lila said.

“Yeah, but you’ll be alone,” Connor added.

Rolling her eyes, Lila opened the door. “Don’t be
a bunch of babies. If you need me, just bang on the wall and I’ll come save
you.”

As she left the room, she heard the brothers
grumbling at Roman to follow her. Succumbing to peer pressure, Roman did as he
was told and chased after Lila. When she saw him planning to follow her into
her hotel room, Lila tried to shut the door on him. Roman just pushed his way
inside.

“We should talk,” he said as Lila walked to the
dresser and fiddled with her weapons.

“What should we talk about?”

“We could talk about what happened today.”

Lila eyed him, her feelings fluctuating between
anger and yearning. Roman wanted to talk about Lila staying safe, about how
fragile she was, about how sick he was of her dying. He was going to talk about
how much he loved Lila. Then he would find a way to show her how he didn’t
really love her, but the dead woman from seven years ago. He would talk and
talk until she cried and punched him. No, Lila wasn’t looking forward to that
talk.

“I won’t apologize for trying to help Sophie
today or not hiding next to you like a child. I wasn’t created just to be your
mate and I refuse to shy away from my duty, just to make you feel better.”

“I know.”

“Good. Was there something else?”

Roman pondered his response. Lila watched him
consider his words and prepared for him to be hurtful in a totally sensitive
way.

“I need you to save Micah.”

“Huh?”

“You’re the only one who can save Micah. I need
you to do that.”

“Okay.”

“You can’t do that unless you do what God wills.”

Lila eyed him warily, ready for him to get to the
point. He instead stopped talking and stared at her. Lila decided to talk, even
if what she said led him to say things she didn’t want to hear.

“I had a dream when I was sick and I saw what it
was like to know God without feeling Him. In a very short time, He didn’t seem
so real anymore. Knowing isn’t enough for me to survive in battle. I have to
feel Him and the only way I can do that is to run towards danger. That’s what
I’m meant to do.”

“I know.”

“Then what?”

“Then I can’t stand in your way, even if that
means I can’t save you.”

Lila felt her frustrations growing. Walking to
Roman, she pushed him hard against the wall.

“What does that mean? I don’t understand and I
don’t like pulling Band-Aids off slowly. Just yank it off and tell me the
painful truth and be done with it.”

“You think I want away from you, but I just want
you to be safe.”

“And so?

“And so I have to let you be you.”

“You’re not telling me what I want to know. I was
always going to be me, whether you let me or not,” Lila said, staring into his
blue eyes and wishing he loved her even a fraction as much as she loved him.
“Tell me about us.”

“I told you that God gave you to me and I’ve
never regretted it.”

“Then you just regret bringing me back, is that
it?”

Roman frowned. “Lila, don’t.”

“Don’t what? Don’t say out loud what you’re
thinking?” Lila said, hating how her voice broke with rejection. Taking a deep
breath, she continued, forcing her voice to be strong.

“That’s your problem. You’re full of fear. It
holds you back with the mission, with me, with God. Don’t be afraid. Just say
it. If you can’t love me or be with me without thinking of death then just say
it. You think you’re not saying it with your actions, but you’re wrong.”

Roman nodded, eyeing her in that odd way again.
“You’re right that we’re made to do one thing and doing that one thing is all
that matters in the long run. If God needs you to die a hundred times, I’ll
have to accept His will.”

Lila frowned, turning away. “I give up. I can’t
tell what you want. Just leave me alone.”

Roman didn’t leave though. He stood near the door
thinking, forever thinking. Lila could smack him for all of the thinking he
did, but instead she studied her wound in the mirror. Sensing Roman approaching,
Lila spun around ready for a fight or some lecture or more mumbo jumbo about
his feelings.

Roman only smiled though and something about his
grin angered Lila.

“Don’t make fun of me.”

“You always were a brat.”