Secret Worlds (382 page)

Through the fog of agony, he felt Luke grip his shoulder. “Is something wrong, my friend?”

“Get away from me,” he gasped and pushed out his hand blindly. He had to get out of there. The pain intensified; suddenly, he had a vision so vivid that it was as if he was there. He was at a stream, watching a young woman washing her hair. When he drew closer, the woman stood up and flipped back her hair. She looked at him, her eyes twinkling with recognition.
Naomi!

“No,” he moaned. He couldn’t understand what was happening. Why was he having visions of Naomi—and why did they feel as if they were memories?

“Don’t fight it, Lash.” Luke pressed a hand to his temple and whispered, “Hizaher.”

A flash of light seared through his mind, and he felt his knees hit the ground. A surge of visions filled his mind, one after the other. It was another time, centuries ago. He walked up a grassy hill, a staff in one hand and Naomi’s hand in the other. They maneuvered their way around a herd of sheep to the top of the hill. They whispered promises of forever, and he kissed her deeply. The vision shifted to what looked like the inside of a small cottage. A woman with hazel-eyes was crying. A golden-haired man threw a clay bowl against the wall and when he turned, familiar blue eyes glared at Lash.
Raphael’s eyes!

He shook his head and pushed Luke away. “Stop showing me lies.”

Luke grabbed hold of him and pressed his hand against his head again. “You know what I show you to be true. Hizaher!”

Lash groaned as the vision took over and everything around him disappeared.

He was back in a small room in the cottage. Raphael lifted him up by the shirt and threw him across the room. Lash stood and was about to lunge at him, when someone grabbed him and twisted his arms behind his back.

“Stop it, Jeremiel,” the hazel-eyed woman begged. “You are hurting your brother.”

“Naomi is to be
my
wife,” Jeremiel said. “It is my right as firstborn.”

Raphael approached the woman and placed an arm around her shoulders. “Rebecca, an agreement has been made with the girl’s father. Jeremiel will be betrothed to her soon. Lahash must be patient. We will find him another.”

“No!” Lash screamed as he fought the vision and shoved Luke away from him. “Get away from me.”

“Search within yourself, Lahash. Memories of the past, of your other life, are still there,” Luke said softly. “I give you nothing but the truth.”

“You lie.”

“Come now. You’ve seen it with your own eyes. You’ve experienced it with your feelings for the woman you’ve been sent to protect.”

“No. I won’t fall for it.” He shook his head as the memories continued to flood his mind. Was it possible that he was with Naomi before? Why didn’t he remember? What happened, and why hadn’t Raphael told him? Was Jeremy his brother? And the mysterious woman, Rebecca, was she the same person that was Welita’s guardian angel?

“I see the questions on your face. And I have the answers for you.” Luke brushed the dust off his suit. “You can have her. I can help you get back what you lost a long time ago. As long as you and Naomi join me, no harm will come to either of you. You can have forever with her. You have my word.”

“None of the fallen has that kind of power.”

“Oh, but I do. Join me. You and Naomi will be quite safe,” Luke said.

“You were trying to kill her, and now you want to keep her alive? Why?”

A strong wind blew, making the dust whirl. Lash turned and saw a large mass of dust roll down the highway; then he heard a loud engine. Jeremy, on a motorcycle, shot through the dust cloud, and flying beside him was Raphael. Jeremy skidded to a stop in front of the pair, and Raphael landed by his side.

“Lucifer,” Raphael said.

“Raphael, my old friend.” Luke smiled.

Raphael narrowed his eyes at him for a moment and then turned to Lash. “Get Naomi and leave. Now.”

Lash hesitated as he looked between Raphael and Luke. He could feel that there was a familiarity between the two, more than he was comfortable admitting to himself. Whatever it was, he couldn’t dwell on it now.

“Naomi!” he yelled as he ran back to their room. He found Bear scratching at the door and scooped her up.

The door opened, and Naomi took in the wild look in his eyes. “What happened?”

“Let’s go.” He grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the room.

“Did they find—” Her eyes widened when she saw Jeremy on his motorcycle glaring at Luke. “What are Jeremy and Luke Prescott doing here?”

He shoved her into the car, and she scowled at him as he slid into the driver’s seat. “Sorry, I’ll explain later,” he said as he peeled out of the parking lot.

***

Jeremy got off the motorcycle and stood next to Raphael. He took in Luke’s expensive suit and smirked. “So
this
is Lucifer?”

“The name is a bit dated, don’t you think, Jeremy?” He held out a hand to him. “My friends call me Luke.”

“Lucifer,” Raphael growled. “Leave the child alone. Michael has orders to save her at all costs.”

“Michael and his guard are of no concern to me,” he scoffed. “Look at what he sent to protect her. A fallen seraph.”

“Lash is loyal to his family,” Jeremy spat.

Luke turned to him and gave him a wide smile that made him shiver. “That is exactly what I’m hoping for.”

Jeremy looked puzzled for a moment and then charged after Luke. “We’ll not fall for your trickery, Lucifer.”

Raphael held Jeremy back. “Enough, Jeremiel. Take your heavenly form and do your duty.”

“I’ll stay here and fight with you,” Jeremy said.

“My dear Jeremy. I do not wish to fight with your
friend,”
Luke said. “We’ll have a nice chat about the good old days and talk about the lovely woman he and I were acquainted with long ago. Perhaps you know her? Her name is—”

“That is enough!” Raphael roared, his nostrils flaring.

Jeremy was taken aback. He’d never seen Raphael this angry, even when Lash got himself into trouble with Gabrielle. He looked from Luke’s smug face to Raphael’s intense glare and knew that there was something going on between the two of them. Luke was not lying. They did know each other. He looked at Raphael with new eyes. Like Lash, he couldn’t remember anything before the first day he’d met Raphael, it was as if he’d always been there. One day he woke up and there he was.

Raphael lowered his voice. “Take your leave now, Jeremiel.”

“Raphael?” Jeremy had a million questions to ask him. Were the images Sal had shown him actual memories?

He looked at Jeremy, his eyes apologetic. “Please. Now is not the time.”

“It’s too late, Raphael. As we speak, Sal is gathering our forces, and we will take the child by force if necessary. Although, based on what I’ve seen, I’m confident that Lash and Naomi will join us willingly.”

“That will never happen. I know Lahash.”

“Do you really?” Luke shook his head and bent down. There was a tearing of fabric as he shot up into the sky and dark wings emerged from his back. Jeremy swallowed at the power represented in Luke’s wings. They were larger than even Raphael’s.

Luke circled over Raphael, taunting him. “It’s your unconditional love of others, your trust in their goodness, that will make you lose the fight. And you’ll lose Lahash and Jeremiel once again.”

Lash willed the car to go faster as he pressed on the gas. So many thoughts whirled in his head, but he pushed them all away to focus on getting Naomi to the safe house. There was one thing he couldn’t get out of his head—the sight of Naomi on the hill. It was a different Naomi, yet the same. He glanced at her from the corner of his eye as she looked out the window, her face strained with worry.

Was it possible that Luke—no,
Lucifer
—was telling him the truth? If he was, then that meant that, in another lifetime, he’d been with Naomi and they’d wanted to be married. That would explain why he was so attracted to her from the beginning—why being with her felt like coming home. He wanted to believe it—but if he believed that, then he would have to believe the other part too, and it pained him even to consider it. Never in his wildest dreams could he have imagined that Raphael and Jeremy would purposely keep him from someone he loved.

“We’re not going to make it, are we?” Naomi asked softly as she continued to look out the window.

“Don’t think like that. We’re almost there.” He shook away his doubts. “Jeremy and Raphael will help us.”

“Raphael’s here?”

“He was with Jeremy when you came out. You didn’t see him because he was in his angel form. If anyone can help us, it’s him.” A thought of the Raphael in his vision went through his mind, but he shook it away. No, Raphael had always been there for him. He’d come through with this, too.

Naomi nodded, peering out into the distance ahead of them. “That looks familiar.”

There in the horizon stood a towering rock formation.

“Where’s the GPS?” she asked.

“In the glove compartment.”

Naomi pressed a few buttons on the device. “That’s strange.”

“What?”

“The location of the coordinates you entered says ‘Shiprock.’ I was expecting to see an address for a house, not a landmark.”

Naomi jumped at Bear’s sudden barking, and she dropped the GPS to the floor. “What’s wrong, girl?” She unbuckled her seat belt and turned to check on Bear. “Holy crap! There’s one hell of a storm behind us.”

Lash glanced in the rearview mirror, and his eyes widened at the huge mass of dark clouds rolling in their direction. Streaks of light flashed in the sky followed by a crash of thunder. Hidden within the rumbles, he heard it—the sound of wings flapping.

He slammed his foot on the gas pedal.

“Calm down, Bear.” Naomi patted the dog’s smooth head. “It’s only a thunderstorm. We’ve got other things to worry about.” She turned forward in her seat.

He tried to keep his cool as he kept glancing in the rearview mirror waiting for Lucifer’s army to emerge from the clouds. It was only a matter of time before they were on them.
Raphael, I need you,
he silently prayed.

A loud clap of thunder coming from their right made him and Naomi jump in their seats. “That sounded so close. Whoa, look at that. It’s a huge dust devil.”

Don’t let it be what I think it is.
He took a deep breath and looked in the direction she was pointing. Through the swirl of the rising dust, he saw Deborah wrestling with one of the fallen.

He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Deborah, who had died only a few days ago, was now an angel with the wings of a powerful warrior. Her face radiated a fierce beauty that left him breathless, and for a moment, he thought of Nathan, wondering if he’d ever get to see his wife again. Suddenly, he realized why she’d been taken and why Jeremy had had to do what he did, even if it meant separating her from her beloved Nathan.

Deborah’s wings flapped furiously as she struggled to hold the titian-haired fallen angel away from the car. When she pushed her away, the angel screamed with frustration, her black wings flapping wildly. They continued to circle each other, their wings causing the dust to swirl. The angel lunged again toward the car, and Deborah grabbed her by the waist. They whirled around, making the dust devil larger.

“Look out!” Naomi screamed.

Sal stood in the middle of the road. As they were about to crash into him, he lifted his arm and flicked his wrist. Naomi screamed as the car flipped.

Shattering glass and the crunch of metal muted her screams as the car rolled over and over. Her body slammed against the roof. Lash tried to get a hold of her. Just as his fingers touched her arm, she was thrown out of the car.

Before the car stopped, he tore through the crushed door. “Naomi! Naomi!”

In the distance, he saw her motionless body, and his heart stopped.
No!

When he reached her, he stifled a cry at her blood-streaked body. His hands trembled as they hovered over her battered body, struggling with whether his touch would hurt her even more. Delicately, he lifted her into his arms, and he heard a faint heartbeat. He let out a breath of relief. “Stay with me, Naomi. Do you hear me? Hang on.”

A cold wind blew hard, and the sky grew dark with dust and clouds. Then he heard barking as Bear scampered out from behind the mass of metal. She ran toward them. It was a miracle she was still alive.

“Lash, take her away! They’re near!” Deborah cried as she struggled to hold back the titian-haired angel.

He could just make out the shapes of the fallen angels within the clouds. Lucifer had brought his entire army.

He looked toward Shiprock, Naomi’s salvation. It was far for him, but he could fly it. He had to.

He pushed out his wings and pressed her close to him as he stood. “We’ll make it, Naomi.”

He took off into the air and flew as fast as he could. His eyes scanned the ground below and the sky, and there was no sign of Sal. That was when he saw a little brown furry animal chasing after them.

“No, Bear. Go back.”

She continued to chase them as he struggled. Shiprock grew closer, and though he could feel himself growing tired, he pushed himself to go faster. He couldn’t stop. He had to keep going.

Something rammed hard against his back, knocking the wind out of him and causing him to lose hold of Naomi. She fell a few feet before he was able to grab onto her arm, leaving her body dangling in the air.

A harsh laugh came from behind him. “You can barely fly.” Sal flew a few feet in front of him, his black wings spilling out his back, taunting Lash. “And you call yourself a seraph.”

He tried to maneuver himself away from Sal, but Sal wouldn’t let him pass.

“Pathetic.” Sal punched him in the chest. Lash buckled in pain but kept a tight grip on Naomi as he struggled to fly away from him.

Sal shot up higher into the sky and circled him like a hunter circling its prey. “Give it up, Lash. Let go of the girl, and I may just spare you.”

“Never.” He gritted his teeth as he struggled to pull Naomi up.

In one swoop, Sal caught hold of one of his wings and ripped it.

Searing white pain coursed through his body, and he screamed. His wing went limp, and he started to fall.