Authors: Melanie Tomlin
“Some of them seemed to be
enjoying
it,” I said.
“I know,” Danny agreed, and his eyes became clouded, “and it concerns me also.”
He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and opened them again, all trace of consternation gone.
Do not dwell on what you cannot change.
“What else were you thinking about?” he asked.
“How different my life would have been if my parents hadn’t died.” My voice took on a wistful note and my eyes lost focus as I remembered the image I’d conjured in my mind. “I imagined myself growing up in a middle-class home in suburbia, with middle-class friends. My first kiss, my first love, getting married and having children, growing old and being content.”
“You can never grow old and you can never have children, yet I hoped that with me you would be content,” Danny whispered.
“I am,” I said earnestly. “I’ve found with you peace and contentment I never would have thought possible. Knowing my life — as sordid as it’s been — has led me here, to you, is a wondrous thing. But haven’t you ever wondered how different things would be if at some point during your long life some event had or hadn’t occurred?”
Danny brushed my cheek with his fingertips. “Yes, but I would wish for you that you could have all you desired.”
I clasped his hand to my cheek, enjoying the warmth of his touch.
“I was also thinking about how long it’s been since we first met. I have
no idea
how much time has passed. What’s today’s date?”
“Does it matter?”
“Maybe after a few hundred years of being immortal — if I survive that long — it won’t matter. For now it does. I like to keep track of time.”
“By the mortal calendar it’s September eleven.”
I sagged against Danny’s body, burying my face in his chest. I thought it might have been late August, but not September already. Certainly still far away from the eleventh. I had no idea it was today.
“Oh,” I mumbled into his chest, dejected.
Even though Danny was still fatigued from keeping us hidden he managed to worry about me and the things that would upset me. He reached out and ran his fingers through my hair.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
His capacity for caring, for kindness and compassion — his capacity for loving — knew no limits. It was these things that were at the core of his very being. When the world was going to hell it was these things that acted like a beacon in a dark place. As long as Danny lived there would be good in the world, in my world.
I lifted my head to look at him, pouting. I could
feel
the sadness on my face.
“It’s my birthday. Today I’m twenty-three.”
I stood up and paced around, wringing my hands and generally feeling nervy, a sense of dread washing over me. I ended up behind the couch, leaning over the back, patting the cushions in an agitated manner and looking at Danny.
“I never really thought I’d see twenty-three, and twenty-four looks just as doubtful.”
Danny grabbed my hands to still them and kissed the palms.
“What do mortals do to mark the passing of another year?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “It depends on the individual. Most people celebrate.”
He kissed my palms again. “I’m sorry, Helena. Unfortunately we need to keep a low profile for a while. I
promise
that if we’re both still alive on your next birthday we’ll hold a celebration to rival all others.”
I kicked a leg in the air and flipped over the couch, to land seated next to Danny. I turned towards him and rested my hands on his legs.
“September eleven is a day when bad things happen. I wish I’d been born on a different date,” I complained. “If it wasn’t bad enough that my father was murdered on this day and my mother changed, acts of terrorism against freedom were committed on this day in the year 2001. Now I have to live with immortals wreaking havoc and destruction on my birthday as well. What else could possibly happen to rival that … the apocalypse?”
“The apocalypse is no laughing matter, Helena.”
I slid off the couch onto the floor, hugged my knees to my chest and mumbled, not caring if Danny heard or not, “Was I laughing?”
All around us thunder continued to boom — an ominous sound — and I shivered.
25.
Blind Spot
The trees at the edge of the garden were burning. We stood outside and watched embers float up into the sky. Danny’s resolve to stay remained unwavering. I was at a loss to explain why, when all around us the forest burned. Wildfire was raging, flames licking at our door.
We stayed and watched the trees around us burn, until there was no more fuel to burn, yet the garden and cottage remained untouched. It was nothing short of miraculous.
“How can this be happening?” I marvelled. “We should have been burnt to a crisp.”
“Apparently He, in His infinite wisdom, created what I refer to as blind spots. These are safe havens. From above they cannot be seen and from the ground they can only be found when stumbled upon. To all eyes outside the boundary of this blind spot the area appears to have been consumed by fire. No cottage or garden exists. We do not exist.”
“That’s amazing,” I said, “but how did
you
find it if it’s a blind spot?”
“A few centuries ago I was in pursuit of a lesser demon through this area. When he vanished I knew something wasn’t right. In my haste to catch him I transported to where I had last seen him, and started running again. I caught him here, in this very clearing. It was unfamiliar territory to me, which was strange, for I’d been patrolling these lands for thousands of years.”
Danny showed me a demon running, with him following close behind, and the clearing. It was an image that would have been familiar, if the cottage and garden had sat upon it.
“When I had turned him to ash I sought the skies, to see what this area looked like from above,” the image changed to an aerial view, “and found I could not see the clearing, or the pile of ash. It baffled me and I returned to the ground, some distance away. Still I could not see the clearing. I knew I had not imagined it though.
“I covered the area using a spiral search from my starting point, until I came upon it again. For days I looked at it from all angles — in different light and conditions, and at different times of the day. I wanted to see if there was a window of opportunity for discovery, yet there was none.
“In the last century two more blind spots were revealed to me, though the most recent one is not like this one. Anyone can find it, anyone can see it, but no one can detect what type of being — angel, monster, demon or mortal, resides within it. The blind spot has been secured and is available should this one become compromised. Of the other, I discovered that to call the name of an angel out loud acted as a summons, allowing them access to the blind spot. Luckily the angel I called did not realise what he had been called to.”
“So that’s why you won’t let me say your superior’s name out loud, why I can’t say any angel’s name except yours.” I felt a sudden dread. “What about
Amrael?
” I whispered. “We’ve both said his name out loud.”
“Only after Amrael was dead did we speak his name. The dead cannot be summoned here,” Danny said.
“And demons? We discussed Satan often enough.”
“It doesn’t work that way either, though I don’t know why. Perhaps I can only summon other angels because I’m an angel.”
“Then what about me? I’m part angel, part Satan-created monster. Surely if I called a demon by their name they’d come?”
“I’d rather not take the chance. We’ve spoke of Satan, true enough and he hasn’t appeared, but neither has He whom we have also talked about.”
“What, God?”
“Yes, Him.”
I shrugged my shoulders. “Maybe we’re not important enough in the scheme of things.”
“All of His creations are important,” Danny lectured me. “You just don’t realise your own worth.”
Yeah, right. God afforded me the same importance He gave angels and those who dedicated their lives to Him. Even Mary Magdalene was a saint compared to me.
“Okay, if this is a blind spot, how did the cottage come to be here? You said yourself this was a clearing. The cottage wasn’t here in the beginning.”
“You should know the answer to that already,” he replied.
“Right,” I thought about it for a moment, “and that would be because you
made it so?
” He nodded. “Why a cottage though?”
“It had to do with something from my past, a long time ago, that was once important to me. At the time, I think I needed to hold onto it. I couldn’t let it go.”
“And it’s not important anymore?”
“No.”
“So are you going to elaborate?” I asked.
“No, let’s just leave it at that.”
“What if I asked you to make it more like the type of home I always dreamed of living in?”
“I would change it, for you. What would you like me to do?”
“Not a thing,” I replied. “I just wondered if you were really ready to move on and leave the cottage behind.”
Danny laughed and pulled me to him, nuzzling my hair.
I knew now that provided someone didn’t stumble upon us we’d be safe. We could spend eternity here if we had to, making the odd hunting trip when my hunger became too much for me. If the angels thought we were dead — killed in their fire — we could live in peace, just the two of us, without a care in the world.
“I
have
made some changes,” Danny said. “Nothing major, but I think you’ll enjoy them.”
“What?” I asked.
“Why don’t we start in the bathroom,” he replied. His smile said it all.
Epilogue
If an earth-bound angel can be corrupted by evil, would it not stand to reason that heavenly angels could also be corrupted, were there demons powerful enough?
Is it possible Michael was warning me of corruption within the ranks?
More angels will fall, I think, before this is done.
When I take everything that has happened into consideration — the hunting and killing of earth-bound angels — and weigh up the facts, I believe that to be the case. This is not meant to be
our
way and He would surely be weeping for His children who have lost their way, yet again.
Helena and I can only hope, and pray, that Michael will rally the other angels, for the two of us alone are no match for the might of heaven — the heavenly host. We must have faith, for He is always with us, though Helena, on some level, does not believe this. Instead she places her faith in us — that we will endure.
Until He performs the miracle I know in my heart and soul will occur — for our stories cannot end here — we will wait, content to be together for as long as He allows it, and plan for the time when we are free to walk on His earth, and do His work, again.
— Danizriel
A Little Bit More ...
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‘Angel’s Curse’ will be the second book in the ‘Angel Series’.