Earth Angel (Angels and Seers: Book One)



  Earth Angel:

  Angels and Seers (Book One)

  Earth Angel:

  Angels and Seers (Book 1)

  Stephanie Woods

  Copyright 2015 Stephanie Woods

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  Chapter 1

  “Lucy, if you’ll just let me speak….” the tiny angel implores me for about the millionth time today.

  “Forget it, Aaron!” I shout back, cutting him off mid-sentence. “As far as I’m concerned, this is all your fault. You were Harry’s guardian angel. You were supposed to protect him. You have nothing to say I want to hear. Leave me alone.”

  It is my wedding day. Rather, it was supposed to be, if the universe had not seen fit to steal my fiancé from me. Am I bitter? You better believe it!

  I should be standing in front of my friends and family precisely right now, exchanging vows with Harry. In some other universe, maybe I am. That knowledge is the only thing giving me any kind of solace.

  In this particular messed up universe, which apparently harbors some grudge against me, my happy ending was stolen in what I can only imagine was a twisted joke. Or the fault of the miniature angel, now floating above my beloved’s headstone, who was apparently sleeping on the job when he let Harry get killed.

  Aaron has been trying to talk to me since Harry was hit by a car four months ago, and I’ve been steadfastly ignoring him. I haven’t seen him in the past week leading up to my would-be wedding day, and had hoped he was gone for good. But no. Here he is, rudely interrupting my plans for spending the day wallowing in my grief and misery.

  Not that I haven’t been wallowing since Harry was taken from me. In fact, I’ve turned it into a new art form. But today was supposed to be my masterpiece.

  Well-meaning friends and family have been bugging me all week to spend the day with them doing something fun, so I won’t be alone on this would-be nuptial day. I nipped those notions in the bud with a mass text sent out yesterday, letting everyone on my contacts list know I would be unavailable and keeping my ringer off. The text was simple and succinct, leaving no room for argument: “I intend to interact with no one but Harry today, and as such, will not be answering my phone or replying to any messages, so don’t bother trying to reach me.”

  I meant it, too. This was supposed to be the most special day in the world for Harry and me, so it only makes sense I spend it with him. That’s why I am perfectly happy just where I am, sitting glumly on the white marble bench in front of Harry’s grave, staring at his tall, gleaming headstone.

  I’ve been here since sunup, technically before the cemetery even opened to the public, slowly twisting my vintage diamond engagement ring around and around my finger, musing on how it would never have the matching wedding band to go with it. Harry’s parents tried to give it to me, but I told them to keep it as a memento of him. I couldn’t bear to see it. Still can’t.

  Of course, this isn’t my first time sitting alone here. I’ve been every single day since we buried Harry. This will just be my longest and most intimate visit. I’ve got plans for this day, plans that involve only Harry and me.

  The marble bench that graces Harry’s family plot is my good friend now. You get familiar with inanimate objects when you spend two hours a day, every day, with them for four months in a row. My family and friends were supportive of this at first. You’ve got to give a girl who’s lost her fiancé just before the wedding a little leeway on the crazy. But now I suspect they are starting to think I may need some counseling. Maybe I do. But, I’m not going to pursue it. If I can’t have Harry, I am happy enough to be the crazy lady who comes to the cemetery every day to mourn her lost love.

  Seeing as I have my future packaged so neatly, I do not need Harry’s annoying guardian angel badgering me yet again to get me to listen to his side of things. It’s a guardian’s job to protect their charge. He didn’t. That’s all I need to know.

  He sees this, and knows I’m not going to give him any attention or opportunity to state his case, Aaron throws his little hands up in the air in frustration and teleports out to parts unknown.

  Excellent. Now I can get down to business in peace.

  The sun is getting pretty high in the sky, so I check my watch. As I suspected, it is just after 11 in the morning, the time Harry and I were supposed to be being pronounced man and wife. Time to get really crazy.

  I reach into my large tote bag, the one I always bring here with me to carry water, snacks, books, sketch pads, and whatever else I feel like I need each day, and pull out my wedding veil. Crisp, snowy white, and lacy, entwined with a crown of yellow daisies (my favorite flower), it was custom made for me, a gift from my grandmother. I’ve only worn it once, when I tried it on the day it arrived at the bridal store. Now, it will adorn something else.

  Kneeling down on the new grass over Harry’s grave, I set the veil on top of his headstone. There it will stay until wind, animals, or thieves take it away. With any luck, it may be there forever, my gift to him.

  I trace the inscription on the gray granite marker with my index finger: “Harry Lucas Stanley, Beloved Son, Brother, Uncle, Intended Husband, and Friend, 1985-2014.” It almost feels like I am reaching out to touch him in whatever realm he now dwells. Almost, but not quite.

  In my jeans pocket is the wide, masculine gold wedding band I should have just placed on his finger inside the Presbyterian church we booked for the ceremony; I dig a little hole in the ground above the grave a few inches deep, put the ring in it, then cover it over, patting the dirt down firmly, sprinkling the bald spot with a little grass so the place won’t be obvious to the treasure hunters I know come here regularly with their metal detectors. Then, I kiss his name on the stone, completing our marriage ceremony in my mind. There will be no one else for me now, not in this life. My heart belongs to Harry, and as far as I’m concerned, I am now a married woman, even if my husband is a ghost.

  Our wedding completed, and consummated long ago in a tent on the plains of Kenya, I sit back on my heels, admiring the smooth, shininess of the headstone, gazing longingly at his photo there. I’m glad his parents opted to add it. It’s a good one, taken just after we both returned from our respective stints in the Peace Corps, where we met. It captures the essence of him, I think. His familiar smiling face is there, doing its best to tell me he is always with me and everything is okay. It is just like Harry to want to make everything better.

  Sadly, that very admirable and incredibly appealing desire is what lead to his death. My only consolation is knowing with absolute certainty he would be happy he went out while helping someone in need. I can’t fault him for being himself, no matter how much I miss him. It was that same selfless, caring nature that made me love him in the first place.

  Satisfied that the universe views us as married as I do, I’m just standing up to go back to the bench when a small breeze kicks up, blowing a few grains of sand on my face. I close my eyes to shield them from assault by the tiny grains. The breeze dies down almost as soon as it begins, and when I open my eyes again, there’s Aaron, floating just above the headstone once more, his tiny white tunic fluttering around him, white silken wings moving almost as fast as a hummingbird’s keep him hovering.

  Oh go
od grief. Is he never going to leave me be? Hasn’t he done enough already? Aaron should have moved on long ago to the dimension where guardian angels stay to wait for their charges to reincarnate. Why is he still here, stubbornly using his presence to keep reminding me of my loss?

  “You are not welcome here, Aaron!” I grind the words out from behind firmly clenched teeth, beyond annoyed the sight of this miniature angel, no bigger than a salt shaker.

  “Lucy, if you would only listen to me!” Aaron pleads, his normal, human voice belying his micro size.

  “You have a lot of nerve coming here, today of all days!” I shout, then look around to make sure no one heard me. I do not need people staring at me like I’m crazy. None of the handful of other people here today can see Aaron. Seeing angels and interacting with them is a unique gift bestowed on my family. I presume at least a few other families must have the ability, too, though I’ve never met any. No one remembers a time when the people in my direct maternal line couldn’t see angels, so the ability must go pretty far back in time. It’s an inherited gift, passed down to both men and women. However, only women are able to pass down the gift, which means my two older brothers inherited it from our mother as I did, but only I will be able to pass it on to my children.

  I may decide to have some through artificial insemination one day. I only wish Harry banked some of his own sperm before he died. But, I also know he would want me to have children, with or without him.

  My brothers’ children do not have the gift, as men cannot pass it down their lines. They know about it, though. Anyone who is in the family knows we can see angels, whether they can see them themselves or not.

  Why do we have this ability? No one knows. The answer to that question was lost to time long ago. These days, it’s just something we take as a given. Most of the time, I don’t mind it. Right now, I would be happy to not be able to see Aaron, or even know he exists.

  “I wouldn’t have to be here if you’d let me have my say any time in the past four months. Believe me, I wanted to leave you alone today, Lucy. I know how important this day is to you and understand your need for solitude. But time is running out. I need you to listen to me, and I won’t have many other opportunities to get you to.”

  “Why do you need to talk to me so badly, Aaron?” I throw up my hands, exasperated. “Do you want to say you’re sorry you let my boyfriend get killed helping an old lady change her tire because you weren’t paying attention? Save it. I don’t need to hear your excuses. You were supposed to keep him safe. What were you doing when that car hit him on the side of the highway? Off getting laid by some sexy female angel? Taking a nap? Reading a book? It doesn’t matter. You failed him, Aaron. He’s dead. You took away the one person I was supposed to be with, and now I’ll be alone for the rest of this life. There’s nothing you have to say I want to hear.”

  The last time I deigned to speak to Aaron, it was when he came to tell me Harry was dead. He got to me even before the cops arrived at our apartment. I sent him away in a fit of anger, horror and grief, with a command to never come to me again. To his credit, he left me alone that day and most of the next, seeming to be almost as upset as me. He didn’t stay away, though. In fact, he reappeared soon after, begging me to hear him out. Not only did he not stay away, he came at least once a day, sometimes more, and has continued doing so. I’ve thus far steadfastly ignored him, and talked over anything he’s tried to tell me. Eventually, he always gives up in a fit of frustration and leaves, only to appear again the next day and repeat his attempts to engage me in conversation. Not only is he an inept guardian, he is extremely annoying.

  “Lucy, give him a chance,” a female voice at my left shoulder urges me. It’s Kira, my own guardian angel. She’s encouraged me to talk to Aaron from the beginning. I love Kira, but I don’t need her input on this matter. It wasn’t her fiancé who died because someone else wasn’t doing their job. She can’t know what it feels like.

  “Kira, stay out of it,” I say, wearily, tired of having this conversation with her over and over again. Everyone has a guardian angel, hovering just over their left shoulder. Most people have no idea, of course. I’ve been aware of Kira’s presence from birth, and most of the time it’s nice to know I always have a friend with me. Sometimes, though, I wish she’d go away, just for a little bit. Like now.

  “He has something important to say, and it’s not just about Harry,” she assures me.

  “You keep saying that,” I grumble, annoyed. “How would you know?”

  “What do you think I do when you’re sleeping? Just hover there on your shoulder all night like a silent sentinel?” she gently chides me. “I have friends. I talk to people. I get messages from the angel network. Most of those messages pertain to you and the people in your life, because, you know…guardian angel. Aaron should have moved on to our home realm by now, to wait until Harry reincarnates and join him in his new life. He should be getting his break now. But he isn’t, because he really does need to talk to you. Lucy, give the poor guy a chance. He’s been trying for months.”

  I sigh loudly, sinking down into the grass in the lotus position, contemplating the mouse-sized angel with the beseeching eyes shining a bright sapphire blue…I call it “angel blue,” since all angels have it, regardless of their skin color. It is a deep blue that shines constantly, produced from their own inner light, which is the essence of their being.

  Kira may be a pain in my ass sometimes, but as my guardian and friend, she always has my best interests at heart. I know with unquestioning certainty she would never steer me wrong. I hate it, but if she’s insisting so hard that it’s necessary for me to talk to Aaron, then I need to give him his say. I just don’t want to.

  Honestly, I’ve always known I would eventually have to give Aaron his say, but today of all days….it just seems cruel for the two of them to gang up on me like this. Couldn’t they have waited another day? They’ve waited this long.

  However, it is abundantly clear he is not going to leave me alone until I relent. I may as well get it over with now, rather than prolong the torture.

  “You’ve got one minute,” I say, looking at my watch. I may let him talk, but I’m not going to make it easy for him. “Start now and make it good.”

  Relief floods his glowing face for just a moment. Then, seeing I’m serious about the minute limit on my attention, he jumps right in.

  “I’m sorry about Harry,” he begins, words tumbling out of his mouth one right after the other in a cascade of speech. “I loved him, too. You know all guardians love their charges. But he didn’t die because I wasn’t doing my job. I didn’t have a choice. You two were on track to get married and be happy together. His life plan was changed on the order of the archangels.”

  “The archangels?” I splutter, disbelieving. “Why would they care about Harry’s life path? They’re in charge of things that affect the whole universe, not the doings of individual beings.”

  Then, remembering my time limit on Aaron’s speech, I make myself shut up so he can continue talking.

  “You know the only orders that trump archangel orders are ones that come from any of the four angels who attend on God, or from God Himself. And, as you also know, we never hear from them. I had to let him go, Lucy. If it’s any consolation, I arranged it in the most humane, painless way possible, and in a way he would have wanted. But, that was all I could do. I can’t ignore an archangel order. They’re not just in charge of the universe. They’re in charge of all the other, lower caste angels, too, remember? They would have reassigned me to someone else, and I’ve been with Harry since the very first time his soul incarnated. They would have found a way to remove him from your life without me. At least this way, I had some control over it.”

  Aaron’s minute is up, and he promptly stops talking, respecting my wishes. He used his minute well, I’m forced to admit. But now I have some questions, and I damn sure want answers.

  A change of plans? Orders from the archange
ls to kill Harry? What the hell? Individual souls work out their own life plans before each incarnation, and those plans are only changed without their permission under the most extreme and unusual of circumstances. What could be so important it required Harry to die?

  My poor, darling Harry, only 29 years old, a history professor with a Ph.D. and a promising career in front of him. Sweet, romantic Harry, whose gentlemanly personality came straight out of the 19th century, who always used the word “courting” to describe our dating relationship, who treated me like a princess. Harry, who could always make me laugh with a few silly magic tricks or corny jokes, whose gentle, goofy sense of humor soothed every rock the world threw at me, whose excellent cooking skills made every dinner a gourmet event. His lean physique, fair hair, twinkling green eyes, and nicely developed, delectably flexible muscles from his daily yoga routines still graced my dreams. Some far away angels with an overinflated sense of self-importance thought this adorable, caring man needed to get “killed off”? For what? Good God, why would anyone want to kill someone as inherently good as Harry?

  “Do you know why they ordered it?” I ask sullenly, my voice like lead. There are just too many emotions rolling through me right now to process them all and still speak in a tone resembling anything lifelike.

  Aaron’s face crumples into sorrow. I glance to my side toward Kira, whose fixed position on my shoulder makes her only fully visible to me in a mirror. I can see just enough of her face to know she already knows the whole story.

  Hmph! My guardian angel and friend. Betrayal doesn’t even begin to describe what I’m feeling. She should have told me herself, rather than making me hear it from Aaron! Why didn’t she?

  “There are new plans for you, too, Lucy,” Aaron continues sadly. “Harry would have only been in your way. You would be focused on him and your marriage when you need to be focused on the task ahead.”

  “What task?” I ask, suddenly irritated at all the secrecy and indirect speaking. “Tell me or don’t! If you’re going to speak in code, just leave.”

  “I was informed about your new role shortly after Harry was killed,” Kira jumps in, deflecting some of my irritation from Aaron and onto her. “Before Aaron even came to tell you Harry was gone, I knew. There’s a war coming, Lucy. A war for the freedom of everyone on this planet, including its angels. If it’s not won for the side of good, everyone in the galaxy, and maybe universe will be in danger of becoming slaves. This includes God’s creatures and all others. What’s more, if the threat isn’t stopped here, it may spill over into other universes, too.”

  I note the way she uses the term “God’s creatures.” Thanks to her, I know the universe is filled with living beings, many of them sentient and some older and more technologically advanced than humans. But not all of them were created by God. Some just developed naturally from the creative nature God put into the universe. Not all of them are friendly, either. And some are just plain mysterious. Kira says she’s never met an angel, even an archangel, who knows of every creature out there in the vastness of space.

  “So it’s an alien of some kind?” I ask, perplexed at how this has anything to do with me or Harry. “Going after the sentient beings of the universe?”

  “No,” says Aaron, shaking his head. “It’s another angel, a very charismatic one, with ambitions far beyond what any angel should have. He’s called Jonathan, and until a few years ago when he disappeared, he was part of the Earth Angel kingdom.”

  The Earth Angels are the angels tasked with protecting this particular planet. They guard it from extraterrestrial threats such as aliens and asteroids. They also work on keeping its environment healthy for the creatures who live on it, though humans have been making that job more difficult for them in the past century or so. Every planet with life on it, sentient or not, has angels that protect it this way. They are part of the caste of Planetary Angels. Other than the lower caste Nature Angels, who tend to the plants and animals of this world, and the higher caste Guardians, the Earth Angels are the ones my family has come into contact with the most.

  “Jonathan has been working on this for a few years,” Aaron continues. “When he disappeared, no one knew where he went. King Josiah, the Earth Angel leader, considered sending out sentries to find him and bring him back, but decided Jonathan was just a bit wild and needed to test his wings a bit by seeing the universe. Then, he would come home and get back to the business of being an Earth angel. But, when Jonathan returned, he was different. Apparently, he saw enough to become dissatisfied with the way the angel hierarchy is organized and the universe is arranged. He decided he would be a better leader, but was corrupted by the thought of the power it would bring him. He started recruiting an army of angels from other planets to help him realize his scheme. He reappeared a few months ago, surrounding the Earth Angels’ home with his army and setting up camps in outposts throughout this solar system. He’s already gotten the angels protecting the non-sentient life on the other planets and moons in this solar system on his side. Any who tried to fight him were quickly killed.”

  “And why didn’t the archangels stop him?”

  “Some of them joined him,” Kira explains. “They were already dissatisfied with their lot, thinking they should be all-powerful, and that other castes of angels are unnecessary. This started a breach in the Archangel kingdom that is affecting everything they do. With some of their own on Jonathan’s side, they didn’t have the power required to put a stop to any of this.”

  “But archangels don’t talk to lower caste angels, except the Messengers,” I protest. “Why would they let a Planetary Angel lead them?”

  Archangels are extremely closeted beings, keeping mainly to themselves, believing their position makes it unseemly for them to talk to lower caste angels. Instead, they convey information through a network of Messenger Angels who routinely teleport all over the universe to deliver information and directives to their intended recipients. The Messengers are the only ones the archangels speak to directly.

  “That’s what the good archangels are trying to discover,” Kira says.

  “He intends to take over the Earth Angel kingdom, as well as the Earth, and enslave all of the planet’s inhabitants,” Aaron continues. “Since Jonathan was originally a protector of this planet, he knows it well. He’s using it as a test case, and if it’s successful, he will go out into the galaxy, and then the rest of the universe, and do the same thing to other planets, and maybe even the beings who don’t live on planets. He could eventually take his crusade to the multiverse. Jonathan wants get rid of the beings he considers inferior, then rule the rest of us with an iron fist, and so far, he’s proving he has the potential to do it. Worse, other angels agree with him. The Earth is the first line of defense for all of creation.”

  Well, that’s disturbing. Angels, regardless of caste, are the worker bees of the universe, part of the system that keeps it running smoothly, presumably as God intended. Unlike most creatures, they know their purpose from birth, and are a well-oiled, hierarchical machine. For one of them to go rogue is unheard of amongst them. Getting others to go along with it is almost preposterous. The angels may skirmish amongst themselves from time to time, but they always do their jobs of protecting and serving.

  Kira has told me stories she’s heard of alien races taking over other planets and even large areas of space, but as far as I know, not even the most technologically advanced societies have set their sights on controlling the multiverse and everyone in it. That’s just crazy! If he thinks he can do it, and if Aaron and Kira think he has the potential to succeed, that means this Jonathan is truly dangerous.

  “The most troubling part of this whole thing is that he’s had no trouble gathering others to his side,” Aaron continues. “That means he has a real chance of succeeding. He’s got a natural magnetism that makes it easy to think he’s perfectly reasonable when he talks about the universe having one king and purifying it of inferior beings. I would compare him to Hitler here on
Earth. He makes others think he has their best interests at heart, but his agenda is actually evil, with dark intentions. We’ve never seen anything like it.”

  “Why does this mean Harry had to die?” That’s one thing I still don’t understand. “I get that it’s a serious situation, but what did Harry have to do with it? He wasn’t a seer.”

  “Earth is an important outpost in this galaxy. As far as we can tell, humans are the most advanced beings in it,” Kira says. “With Jonathan making it his first target, the Earth Angels who protect it and the seers who work with them need to make a strong stand against him. The crown prince of the Earth Angel kingdom intends to fight him, and he has a good chance of being the first to win, or at least walk away, but he won’t defeat Jonathan entirely. Jonathan has become too strong during his travels and interactions with other beings to be beaten by one angel alone, no matter how strong. There is going to be an all-out war for the Earth. The archangels sent word to us that you and the prince must work together to stop Jonathan. Only the two of you, working together, stand a chance of defeating him. As a team, you and the prince will be able to raise your own army and give them the power necessary to save us all.”

  “Me?” I practically sputter.

  Defeat Jonathan? Raise and train an army? Who do the archangels think I am? The idea is utterly ridiculous! I’m a pacifist, and not military trained at all. I’m a Kindergarten teacher who does yoga, meditates, does volunteer work, and plants kitchen herbs for fun! Ask me how to handle a five-year-old having a tantrum or get a pot of basil to grow into a healthy, edible plant, I’m your woman. But leading a fight against a lunatic angel? You’ve got to be kidding! I am so not qualified for that job.

  “You suspect there are other people who can see angels,” Kira says. “You’re right. It’s not just your family. There are seven families in the world who were given that ability at the dawn of human history. Seers were meant to work closely with the angels who live here and visit here, to assist them in doing their jobs, sometimes by doing things they can’t do. You were also created to make sure angels were not all powerful, since too much power in the hands of one species can be dangerous. That is why seers were given certain powers and abilities that angels do not possess. It keeps things balanced. These days, though the number of seers has increased to millions and they’ve migrated across the globe, forgetting their heritage as they move farther away from it. Today, most seers only know they can see and talk to angels. Some of them don’t even know we are angels. Instead, they think they’re crazy. They have no idea they have other powers, because it’s been millions of years since any human seer needed to use them.”

  “We have powers?” Well, that is certainly new information.

  “Yes. And of all the seers on this planet, Lucy, your powers are the strongest. The archangels told us so. Once every few generations, a seer comes along who can do amazing things the other seers, and even the angels, can’t do. They become leaders of their kind and gain the highest respect from the angels with whom they work. It’s like that TV show you like so much, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Only, instead of once a generation a slayer is born, it’s more like once every 10 or 12 generations a master seer is born. That’s you, Lucy.”

  “Did you always know?” I ask, a little stunned.

  “Not until the messenger from the archangels told me.” There is more than a hint of pride in Kira’s voice, that her charge would be one of these ultra-rare master seers.

  “How come I never noticed any special abilities?”

  “You haven’t needed them until now. They are there, waiting for you to unlock them, and you will. They’ll come to you when you need them, and you’ll know instinctively how to use them. With your powers and the crown prince’s strength, the Earth stands a chance of being saved. Harry couldn’t be a part of this. Not only could he not see us, he would have distracted you from your purpose, and without your complete concentration on the task at hand, the Earth would likely fall. That can’t happen. When the archangels realized you were the most powerful human on the planet, they knew they had to change your life plan, and Harry’s along with it. Removing Harry was necessary for you to reach your full potential before you have to fight. Believe me, Lucy, they didn’t do it lightly. It’s kind of a big deal to interfere in any sentient being’s life plan and only done in the most extraordinary of circumstances.”

  I guess it makes a twisted and cruel kind of sense, but I’m still stuck on the “super-seer” thing.

  “I am the most powerful seer in the world?” It is so ludicrous, I almost laugh out loud. I can’t even get my cats to stay off of the kitchen counter. How am I supposed to fight a powerful dark angel with a huge army that includes archangels, and who already conquered the angels protecting the lesser life forms of this solar system?

  “You don’t see it now,” Aaron says, sensing my extreme doubt, “but you will.”

  “And if I refuse to fight?” Part of me wants to rebel against the archangels’ plans, in retaliation for losing Harry.

  “You won’t,” Kira softly assures me. “You care about the world too much. And if nothing else, you’ll want to ensure your family’s safety. I know you too well, Lucy.”

  She’s right, of course. I think of my grandparents, my two older brothers, their wives, their children, my friends, and even my cats. I would fight tooth and nail to keep them safe if I had to. Who wouldn’t? And I care about the world, too. It’s why I spent two years in the Peace Corps. I wanted to make a difference then, and I still do. Now, here is an opportunity to make the biggest difference of all. Will I take it?

  As much as I want to say no, I know what the answer is. Yes. Of course I will fight this Jonathan and his minions. I trust the “how” of it will be revealed to me later, since the archangels are so sure I am “the chosen one” or something.

  “And when will I meet this angel prince?” If there’s a task to do and only the two of us can accomplish it, and it has to be together, we should get to work on it soon.

  “The prince’s name is Sam, and he doesn’t know the archangels’ orders,” Kira says, gently. “Only Aaron and I were made privy to those, since our charges were the subject of them. They already know Sam will fight. It’s in his nature to protect his planet, his loved ones, and everything that has been entrusted to him, with every fiber of his being. He’s really quite noble. You’ll like him. His fight with Jonathan will eventually lead him to you. You need to be focused on getting the job done when he arrives.”

  “He’s innocent in what happened to Harry,” Aaron assures me, apparently concerned I’ll blame Sam for Harry’s loss. I don’t. I blame Jonathan. I also blame the archangels a little.

  “He doesn’t even know he’s supposed to work with you,” Aaron continues. “All he knows is he has to fight Jonathan to protect the planet, and he’s doing that right now, in the skies just above the Earth’s atmosphere. That’s why I had to talk to you today. There was no more time to let it wait.”

  “I know this is a lot to process, darling,” Kira says, stroking my hair with her tiny fingers. It feels like a spider crawling through the strands, a feeling I became used to long ago. “You just need to start working with Sam and gathering your own army. Under the leadership of the two of you, we stand a chance. If the Earth stands up to Jonathan and wins, his army will lose confidence in him and his plan and go back to their homes. The Earth will be safe, and so will everything else in creation. It’s an honorable task the two of you have been called to. Be proud that you were given it. Harry would be.”

  She’s right. He would be so proud of me for being given this honor. Though he never saw angels, he knew I could, and would know the importance of what I’m being asked to do. I need to do this not only for my planet, but for him. He would want me to, and would be encouraging me all the way if he were here.

  “I’ve got to go now,” Aaron says, the pleading look he’s worn for the past four months gone, replaced now with his normal beatific e
xpression. “We’re not really supposed to stay in this realm when our charges are between lives. I just had to tell you the truth. I felt like I owed it to you, and didn’t want you to hate me. And there was no order from the archangels to keep the truth from you. You deserved to know.”

  “Thank you for telling me, Aaron,” I say, suddenly feeling a bit more charitable toward this little angel who, as it turns out, was only following orders he could not ignore. I know he loved Harry, and became quite fond of me in the three years Harry and I were together. And, until Harry died, I liked him, too. I think I do again. I appreciate his tenacity in getting me to listen, and even feel bad about shutting him out for so long.

  “I’m sorry I was mad at you, Aaron,” I say softly. “Give Harry my love when you see him, will you?”

  “I will,” he assures me. “But he already knows, Lucy. He always knew. And Lucy? If it’s any consolation at all, he didn’t suffer. I made sure of it. There was no pain. He was here, and then he was in the space between lives. Once he was there and had his bearings again, I explained everything to him. He understood. He said he would never want to stand in the way of your destiny. And he asked me to send his love to you, too. That’s another reason I wanted to talk to you. I had to give you Harry’s message.”

  Tears well up in my eyes a little at the thought of Harry getting the explanation of our separation on the other side. Of course he understood. It’s just like him. And at least he left this life painlessly, which is a relief to know. Plus, he continues to know I love him and he still loves me, too. I can carry that with me the rest of my life and feel marginally better about the whole thing. I’ll always miss him, but this is something, at least.

  “Thank you,” I whisper, trying not to cry. Aaron bows low to me in respect, smiles, then disappears.

  I stand up and brush the dirt and grass off my jeans, straightening my bright red tank top as I do so. I am just about to ask Kira when to expect Sam to appear when a bomb falls out of the sky behind me, shaking the whole cemetery, and, I suspect, the entire city.

  Holding out my arms to steady myself, I manage to stay on my feet until the shaking stops a few seconds later. We don’t have earthquakes here in Orlando, so what in God’s name just happened?

  I turn around slowly, feeling a distinct heat hitting the back of my neck. The source is definitely not the normal steamy July Florida weather.

  I feel my eyes grow wide of their own accord when I see what lays just beyond the marble bench. It is a large crater in the earth, like a meteorite fell from the sky. Smoke emanates from it.

  The cemetery, which included a few visitors just a little while ago, is now deserted. Whatever this thing is, Kira and I are alone with it.

  Just over the edge of the crater, a bloody hand appears. Behind that hand is a cascade of pure white feathers. An angel wing.

  Sam is here. It has begun.