Eternity (13 page)

Chapter Twenty-seven

I awoke with the strongest sensation of peace and happiness. For a decadent minute, I allowed myself to relive the moment in the Sistine Chapel when Michael and I locked eyes and hands. I had felt closer to him than I had in some time. Maybe that had been Rafe’s goal, or one of his goals, anyway.

I showered and dressed as quickly as possible. Gathering up my homework, phone, and keys and sticking them in my bag, I rushed out into the hallway. I couldn’t wait to see Michael today.

As I descended the stairs, I swore I heard the television. In our house, we had one small television in the kitchen that my parents permitted me to use for the sole purpose of catching the news, like watching some of the earthquake coverage. My parents never, ever watched it in the morning, though.

The second I walked into the kitchen, my mom shut it off. Not before I saw a newscaster making a breaking announcement before the backdrop of a spewing volcano. My heart sank. Had Ruth’s prediction come true?

“What was that, Mom?”

“Nothing, dearest,” she answered. Averting my gaze, she returned to buttering my toast.

“Please put the TV back on for a minute, Mom.”

Reluctantly, she picked up the remote and flicked the television on. In horror, I listened to the newscaster describe a dormant volcano on an island off the coast of Greenland that had erupted without warning in the night. More startling were the images of its explosion. Lightning streaked across the volcano’s top as ruby-red lava flowed down its side, all against the backdrop of an enormous, billowing ash cloud. The scene left me shaken and speechless.

Ruth had been absolutely correct, eerily so. Now that I’d seen firsthand the deadly havoc the fallen angels could wreak, my newly restored confidence faltered. I’d failed with Kael, and this catastrophe was the result. How could I do battle against the fallen who possessed such might?

The path of the volcano’s initial destruction was vast but nothing compared to the worldwide destruction that could be inflicted in the coming hours and days. According to the newscaster, famine and disease could result if the ash plume expanded and blanketed the European skies as top scientists calculated it would. Just as Ruth had forecast.

Now I knew why Rafe risked using our powers outside the field last night. It no longer mattered if the fallen knew where we were or what we were doing. The second and third seal had been opened, and maybe others. There was no more reason to hide.

When Michael arrived in his car to pick me up for school, we decided to cut class to find Rafe. We desperately needed to talk to him. Figuring that the field was our best shot at locating him, we raced directly there.

As we hurtled down the narrow Tillinghast back roads toward the field, I thought of Ruth. She would be worried sick by the reports of the volcanic eruption; better than anyone else in the world, other than me and Michael, she understood the true impact of the news. A huge part of me longed to reassure her in person, although I knew a text would have to suffice.

I quickly typed into my cell, “You were right. Please don’t worry. We’re going to take care of everything.”

The words weren’t much, but they were all I could offer.

The second I stopped typing, my cell beeped. Poor Ruth must have been staring at her phone, waiting for my message. “I can’t stop worrying. So please take care of yourself. And all of us.”

I started to write her back, when the car suddenly lurched to a stop and Michael cried out, “He’s here.”

Thank God, Rafe did not disappoint.

“Did you see the news?” Michael asked the second we were in yelling distance.

“I didn’t need the news to tell me that more seals have been broken,” Rafe answered more quietly.

“You knew that this was coming last night, didn’t you?” I asked.

“Yes. I also knew that we couldn’t stop the breaking of those seals. The decision to launch those events had been made days ago.”

The import of Rafe’s words settled upon me. Kael. The seals.

I shook my head and muttered, “Two more seals opened.”

“Yes, Ellspeth. Famine and disease. Kael had control over those two signs,” Rafe informed me.

“This is all my fault.”

“No, Ellie. You can’t possibly be to blame.” Michael tried to comfort me.

“Michael, the fallen angel from the other night, Kael. He’s the one who released these signs. If I could have stopped him . . .” I couldn’t finish.

Rafe grabbed me by the shoulders and stared me in the eyes. “Ellspeth, listen to me. I told you before. You couldn’t possibly have prevented Kael’s actions. At the time he made contact with you, you didn’t know how to destroy him. The wheels of his destruction were already in motion. Swaying you would’ve been a bonus prize.”

“Surely the others will come soon. If Ruth is right and Kael’s volcano triggers two signs, then we still have four more angels to worry about. Wouldn’t Kael have told them where to find me?”

“The fallen don’t exactly cooperate, except to keep the end-days wheels in motion. Otherwise, it’s every fallen for himself, in terms of persuading you, anyway. You see, Ellspeth, the fallen who secures you is the fallen who wields the most power at the end.”

“But—”

“No more buts. We have only limited time left to prepare before your battles will commence. Let’s not spend it on useless regrets.” He gave me a small smile. “Or endless questions.”

As Rafe spoke, I watched Michael’s fists clench and unclench. He appeared willing to fly off that very minute to fell a battalion of fallen angels. “I’m ready, Rafe. I’ll do anything to protect my Ellie. How will we find them?”

“My Ellie.” It seemed so long ago that Michael last used those words. Perhaps our evening in the Sistine Chapel really had bridged the strange divide of petty jealousies and football and who knows what else that had formed between us since we returned from Boston.

“You won’t need to seek them out, Michael.”

“What do you mean?”

“The fallen need Ellspeth to fulfill their objectives, as you know.
They
are looking for you. Undoubtedly, they have sensed the powers you exercised last night outside the field. And I’m sure they sensed Kael’s failure to secure Ellspeth. Tracking you and Ellspeth won’t prove particularly challenging.”

“So?”

“So Michael, they are coming. The fallen will find you and Ellspeth. We just need to be ready.”

Chapter Twenty-eight

We spent the rest of the day and night practicing aerial maneuvers, mental blocking techniques, and weaponry skills until my limbs begged for relief. For once, I didn’t complain. Rafe had intimated that this was one of our last nights of training, and I could not afford to waste a single piece of Rafe’s celestial wisdom.

I started to attempt a particularly tricky sword exercise under Michael’s tutelage, when I heard Rafe yell, “Come. We must go.”

It couldn’t be that close to daybreak. Glancing down at my watch, I saw that it was only two o’clock, too early for breaking up. “Why are we leaving? I want to practice that one last—”

“They’re waiting, Ellspeth.”

“Who, Rafe? Who is waiting?” I was getting pretty tired of the mysteries. I knew Rafe had his reasons for doling out information in an enigmatic, molasses-like fashion, but my entire being told me we neared the end. There was no time for his obscurities.

“Your parents.”

“Our parents?” Michael sounded as shocked as I felt. I’d asked a couple days ago if we could tell them, and Rafe had categorically denied me. Why would they be coming to meet us now?

“Yes. I informed Hananel, Daniel, Armaros, and Sariel that we’d meet them tonight. I told you that I would let them know when it was time.”

Before I could ask any number of questions, Rafe took to the air. Michael and I followed him as he vacated our protected field for the skies over Tillinghast. Funny how quickly and expertly Rafe had schooled us; we no longer flew in his wake.

I glimpsed the town library and the Daily Grind beneath us, and in the far, far distance, the coast. It had been so long since Michael and I visited Ransom Beach. Would we ever have the luxury of going there again?

The three of us circled over the town green. I assumed we were making some wide turns before heading to some secluded, coastal spot, until I glanced down. A couple dozen people inhabited the green. What were they doing here at this hour? Why would Rafe have allowed us to fly near a crowd? Even worse, why would he schedule a reunion with our parents in such a populated place?

Then I looked again. The town green wasn’t occupied by ordinary people at all. From their luminous attractiveness and the faint arcs of light emitting from some backs, I saw that they were angels. My parents and Michael’s parents stood at the center of their circle.

As we lowered ourselves to the ground, I asked Rafe, “Who are all those angels? Are they like you?”

“No, Ellspeth, they are the Light Fallen. Unlike the Dark Fallen, they are striving for redemption and His light. Like your parents.”

“There’s so many of them. I thought my parents and Michael’s parents were some of a very few.”

“Twenty-five of the original two hundred are striving for grace. All the Light Fallen are standing on the town green.”

“Why are they here?”

He gave me that rakish smile I’d been drawn to since the first day we met. “They wanted to meet the Elect One.”

Our feet touched down on the soft grass covering the town green. Hesitantly, I walked toward the circle enclosing my waiting parents. Angels parted as I strode through their ranks. I recognized Tamiel from Boston, who smiled at me. Some nodded their heads reverentially, while others reached out to touch me gently, like my skin alone bestowed a blessing. I felt strange, like they thought I was someone I clearly was not.

My parents stood patiently with their arms outstretched. The angels’ attention made me feel peculiar. I was supposed to be this strong, impervious Elect One, capable of saving them all. I wasn’t sure what to say or how to act.

Until I collapsed into a sobbing heap in my parents’ arms. There—despite all my strides in confidence in becoming the Elect One—I became regular Ellie. Daniel and Hannah’s awkward teenage daughter.

My mom spoke first. “I’m so sorry that we had to try and make you forget who you truly are—again. After everything that happened in Boston, everyone thought it would slow down the advance of the end days if you forgot. We thought it would protect you . . and everyone else.”

“We’re so sorry that it didn’t work. And that you were left all alone to pretend to be a regular teenage girl, when you probably had so many questions and were so scared,” my more-emotional dad sputtered.

“I know,” I managed to say through my tears. And I did understand. “Rafe explained everything to me. Thank you for everything. You made so many sacrifices to raise me. I know what you gave up.” The thought of their forgone immortality made me cry even harder.

My dad squeezed me tighter, if that was possible. “Ellie, it was not a sacrifice but a gift and a privilege to raise you. Never thank us.”

“It seems so unfair that you and Michael must fight the fallen alone, even if the prophecy dictates it. I wish we could stand alongside you and fight,” my mom said, her voice cracking. It was hard listening to the sadness evident in her usually imperturbable voice. “Instead of being a liability.”

I understood what my mom meant, even though she hadn’t spelled it out. She and my dad were afraid that the fallen would use them as bait.

“Don’t worry, Mom. Michael and I can protect you. Rafe has taught us some pretty amazing moves.”

Despite all the heaviness in the air, my dad chortled. “My gorgeous, bright, clumsy daughter protecting us? I’d like to see that.” I knew he was only kidding.

“You needn’t worry about us, Ellie,” my mom was quick to add. “The other fallen striving for grace will protect us, to ensure that we don’t become pawns in this ugly game.”

“They’ll watch out for you too, my dearest. They will be limited in what kind of help they can offer—because the prophecy requires that only you and Michael destroy the key fallen, of course—but the Light Fallen can advise and get messages to us. Although, I don’t know how much help that’ll be.” My dad wanted to offer some assistance, no matter how limited.

So that was the reason the Light Fallen had assembled. It was for my parents’ protection. I had been wondering, since they could not help us destroy the necessary Dark Fallen. Despite what Rafe claimed, I seriously doubted that they simply wanted to meet the Elect One.

My mom continued: “Don’t worry about us, Ellie. You focus on doing your job.”

I almost laughed; she sounded like she was giving me one of her famous pre-exam pep talks. The laughter evaporated when I caught some of the expectant expressions on the angels’ faces.

I shifted my gaze to the ground. “I hope I can do everything that you all think I can.”

My mom lifted up my chin. “We
know
you can, Ellie. You were born to do this.”

The word “born” caught my attention. Knowing that I might never have another chance to raise the question that had been burning in my mind for weeks now, I asked, “Who are my parents?”

My parents glanced at each other, each seeking permission to reveal the long-buried secret. My mom, ever the tougher of the two, spoke for them both. “Your mother was a beautiful human woman named Elle.”

“Elle?”

My mom smiled at the question. “Yes, we named you Ellspeth in her honor.”

I liked that. “What was she like?”

“We knew her for a very short time. She had long, straight blond hair, just like yours except for the color. She was smart and brave—and very young.”

“Why do you say she was brave?”

“All alone, she brought you into the world, knowing exactly who and what you were. And she never faltered.”

My eyes welled with tears, thinking of my poor birth mother. Even though I knew the answer—Tamiel had told me as much, in Boston—I needed to ask the question. “Where is she now?”

“She died giving birth to you, Ellie. I am so sorry.” I could tell that delivering the news was very difficult for my stoic mom.

“What about my birth father? He’s a fallen angel, right?”

“Yes, he is.”

Suddenly, a possibility occurred to me. One more palatable than the alternative. “Is my father here? Is he one of the Light Fallen, like you?”

“No, dearest, he isn’t,” my dad jumped in. “If it’s any consolation, I do believe that your father loved your mother.”

My mom paused and added, “In his way.”

More questions bombarded my already overloaded consciousness. Yet when I studied my parents’ faces, they had expressions of such grief, I couldn’t ask them. I couldn’t waste my precious minutes with them talking about my birth parents.
They
were my real parents. Instead I grabbed them tight.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Michael with his parents. Although they shed no tears—Michael was such a
guy
, after all—I saw that their reunion was bittersweet as well. It was perhaps the last time we were our true Nephilim selves with our parents.