Dark Angel (Anak Trilogy) (10 page)

Zell turned to me, “
Long story from an ancient text, the
Book of Enoch,
made short, the archangels Michael, Uriel, Raphael, and Gabriel went before God and asked him to do something about the giants who were killing mankind and my father, Azâzêl, who was teaching all of mankind how to make weapons from metal which was an eternal secret of Heaven and never intended for mankind. God turned the hearts of the Nephilim, or Anak, the giants, against one another, so they would exterminate themselves. I am from the race of the giants, the offspring between a human woman and a Fallen Angel. I have fought each of them that has come for me and won against each one. I am the last of the race, the race called the Anak, children of the Watchers. However, I have never been like the others. I hate what I am. I love God, and I have never shed the blood of the innocents. Conversely, I have spent my life protecting mankind hoping that God would forgive me my heritage and redeem me. I have longed for impossible things—to be human—to have you.” Zell finished with a heart so heavy that I could feel his torment. He reclined back against the chair and buried his face behind his arms not finishing his sentence.

I sat in shocked silence trying to absorb everything Zell had just told me.
After what seemed to be an eternity, Zell uncovered his face turning it to look into my eyes.

“Can you imagine what it feels like to be the only one of your kind? To wander the earth for thousands of years knowing you were soulless but still trying to save the world? You, Annie, have kept me going. I have known you for thousands of years before you were born. As a young man, I had a vision of you. I knew our destinies were intertwined. You are going to change the world. It is my job to protect you until your destiny is fulfilled, and it is my heart that will protect you even beyond the fulfillment of your destiny,” Zell
moved closer and whispered to me with such emotion that I almost believed what he spoke was true. Even though I believed he may believe that he was speaking truthfully, it was hard for me to think that I would ever do anything to change the world, even if I could get past his children of the corn story.

When my mother died, I was young, but it is still a memory that is burned into my mind. I still see my father standing at my mother’s coffin crying. Even that was not sadness as deep as this sadness that Zell carried within his soul. He
said he was without a soul, yet I found that hard to fathom. Even though he knew things about me that I couldn’t explain, he never had done anything to harm me. He seemed so righteous and good. I reached out my hand and touched the part of his face that was not buried in his arms.

“Please don’t be sad. You’re breaking my heart,” I whispered. The atmosphere between us was so emotionally charged that not meaning to
, I rose and moved close to Zell. I put my arms around him, and l laid my head against his shoulder. Zell hesitated then turned in my arms. He wrapped his arms around me.

“Please don’t hate me Annie. I could not bear it if you did. Mine has been the loneliest existence
possible—waiting for someone not yet born. Not knowing, even when you were born, if I would ever find a way to reveal myself to you. Not knowing, if you would look upon me as a monster,” Zell whispered into my ear.

“You are not a monster Zell. I don’t hate you. Honest, I don’t. I’m sorry that I have been rude to you, but I still cannot believe this story you have told me. I haven’t believed in anything since my mother died. Maybe
, I’m mad at God for taking her from me if He exists.”

“Maybe it was not God who took her from you.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Ask me
another question,” Zell avoided answering my question.

“What happened at
school today when you kissed my cheek?”

I saw the corner of Zell’s lip turn up as he remembered the scene with Johnny.

“Annie, I’m sorry. I didn’t know just kissing your cheek would do that to you. It seems that I have this effect on humans. If I kiss one, they have a reaction. Remember, I am one-half celestial. Humans tremble, shake, and seem to lose the ability to think and remember the event. It is only temporary, and there are no bad effects other than no memory of what has occurred. It seems to be a defense mechanism my body has; however, if I were you kiss you often enough, you most likely would build up a tolerance to me. The effects of my kiss would lessen. Should we work on your building up a tolerance?” Zell suggested his somber mood lifted, and he moved within centimeters of my lips smiling.

I huffed. “What do you mean humans? What else would you kiss?”

“Questions three and four,” Zell shouted jumping up.

“That’s not fair,” I shouted back.

“All’s fair in love and war,” Zell quoted. “Come with me Annie. I want to show you something,” Zell pleaded.

“Where do you want me to go?” I asked.

“It’s some place very special,” he replied reaching out and taking my hand.

“I don’t know. I’m still not sure you are not a serial killer or whack job.”

“Annie, one thing you can bet your life on is that I will never, ever harm you. I am here to protect you.”

“Protect me from what?” I asked holding up my hands and looking around.

“I don’t want to tell you. It will frighten you.”

“I am not frightened. I don’t buy into your fairy tale. You tell a good story, but don’t expect me to believe it.”

“Then come with me. It’s Friday. There is no school tomorrow,” Zell pleaded. “Please come.”

The thought of spending a few more hours alone with Zell was terribly exciting
though frightening, but I decided to bargain.

“If I come, I get my third question again,” I said smugly laying out my terms.

“Deal,” Zell agreed sticking out his hand for me to shake on it. I reached for his masculine hand and agreed. “Now, close your eyes, and don’t be afraid. I am going to put my arms around you, but remain very still,” Zell cautioned. “Do you promise?”

“Yes, yes, I promise.” I groaned exasperated with his pleading. Zell moved behind me, and I sighed and leaned against him. I could feel Zell hesitate. Then he wrapped his arms around me. What happened next is still impossible for me to believe, but it happened. Of that, I am sure. Zell held me close, and we began to rise. My feet felt as though they had left solid ground as Zell held me close to his beating heart. I
turned in his arms and looked up into his eyes. The sadness that had been there was evaporating. He gazed back into my eyes. I was distracted for a moment, lost in his handsome silver gaze until I was startled by a bird that flew close by, and I glanced in its direction. It was then that I noticed that we were far above his lovely home by the shore of Lake Lanier. It was growing smaller and smaller. We were airborne! I screamed clutching Zell to me. I could see strong, white and silver wings stretched toward the sky lifting us increasingly farther from the ground.

“Zell,” I screamed.

“It’s fine Annie. You're safe with me.”

Frantically, I tigh
tened my arms around Zell. “Let me go!”

Zell grinned back at me. “Are you sure you want me to let go of you?”

“No!” I screamed hysterically clutching at him.

I began to hyperve
ntilate. Zell kissed me on the forehead, but that brief contact soothed me. My breathing became even.

“Don’t worry. I won’t let you fall,” Zell reassured me. “I want to show you something.”

“No, let’s go back. I’m afraid. Someone may see us.”

“No one can see
us; we are moving much too fast for the human eye to keep up with. They will think we are just a cloud moving with the wind,” Zell answered.

He was right. I could feel the speed with which we were moving, but he cradled me and protected me from the wind and force of gravity as we moved. Suddenly
, I felt as if we were slowing and moving downward. Gently, we touched earth again, and I sighed deeply with relief tentatively opening one eye and then another.

It happened so fast. I barely noticed as the wings that had held me disappeared behind his back.

“What were those?” I asked fearfully.

“A gift from my father,” Zell joked.

I meant to ask him more, but I looked around where we landed and could not believe my eyes.

We were in the middle of a body of water on a small secluded island. The island rose sharply from the water with steep bluffs on every side keeping even the most adventurous human from putting
a foot on the island. There was a thin narrow, sandy beach that circled the island before the land climbed up the bluffs. Someone would need a helicopter to land there, or they would need Zell. The top of the bluff was a paradise. There were flowers of every color and description here. Everywhere, there were flowers.  Even where there should have been grass, there was white and purple asylum that covered the soil like a carpet. On the far end, the bluff was higher, and as it fell back toward the plateau stones cascaded down piled one upon another making a beautiful waterfall. The pool at the base of the waterfall led to a larger waterfall that flowed over the bluff. This was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen.

“
Oh Zell,” I breathed softly, “This is exquisite.”

“I’m glad you like it. It is for you.”

“What are you talking about, for me?”

“I mean that I created this garden for you. I just hoped that someday I would be able to show it to you.”

“But how did you create all this?”

“I can kill a great beast with only a sword. What kind of a challenge are a few flowers to me?” Zell laughed. He reached down and snapped the stem of a deep red rose in half. He pulled the thorns from the stem and gently ran the rose underneath my nose.

”Ummmm, that smells heavenly, but seriously,” I replied not impressed with his humor. “How did this place come to be, and what beast are you speaking of?”

“I wanted a place where we could be
totally alone, so I created one,” Zell answered sweeping his hands out toward the landscape.

“You really created this place.” I replied in wonder.

“Yes, for you.” With that, Zell placed the rose in my hand.

“But you live alone already.” I murmured quietly lifting the rose to my nose to inhale its fragrance again.

“I have a housekeeper and an assistant who runs the family business, and they, also, can pose as my mother and father when needed. They live on my property.”

“I didn’t see them.
”

“They are very discreet.”

“Mmmm,” I replied not knowing whether I answered him or was responding to the scent of the rose.

“How long did it take you to
make it this beautiful place?”

“Only a hundred years or so.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

“No, I’m not. It was just a big rock in the middle of the ocean when I began,” he answered.

“What did you mean when you said a minute ago that you could kill a great beast with only a sword?”

“Do
you not remember what happened the night you left school late after basketball practice?” he asked.

“No, I tried to remember earlier, but I felt frightened and just stopped thinking about that night. I only remember waking up late the next morning.”

We walked to the side of the island with the waterfall. I moved to a flat boulder that rested against the rock wall making a sort of natural chair and sat down to gaze toward the side of the island we had just come from. It was breathtaking. There were trees with long, limber branches like a willow, but were covered in violet and rose-colored blooms. Hydrangeas in hues of azure, purple, red, pink, and white grew expansively along a wall of bamboo.  In front of the hydrangeas grew marigolds, petunias, dahlias, coneflowers, and multitudes of other flowers that must have been tropical because I was not familiar with them. In front of this row of flowers grew low growing, flowering border plants in white, blue, and purple. Zell sat on the carpet of flowers at my feet leaning against my calves and the rock upon which I sat. Shyly, I looked at his profile. He was unlike any young man that I had ever seen. There were no imperfections in his face or body. I looked at the smooth line of his jaw and wished I could run my fingertips along it.

I forced my hands to remain in my lap. I could not let myself fall in love with him. I have a boyfriend. I have a boyfriend. I have a boyfriend. I repeatedly recited this fact in my head to keep from touching Zell.

I looked at his back, and there was no evidence of wings. There were no bumps or any indication that his back had been a mass of wings.

As if I had spoken his name, Zell turned
looking at me.

“Where are your wings?” I asked running my fingers over his smooth back.

“They are there.”

“Where? I don’t see or feel anything.” I answered wondering if I was going mad. Wondering, if we had really just flown here, or if I was dreaming again.

“They are there.”

“Where?”

“Let me see if I can explain this.” Have you ever seen any of the older model sports cars whose headlights flip up when you turn on the lights?”