She’d been pulling wicked long hours during the spring and the beginning of the summer without a break. After long days in the Jeep, she’d go and sit with her father in the nursing home; feeding him dinner, making one-sided small talk, and assuring herself of the excellent care by the staff. She’d cut back on both, but it didn’t help. Now, with Jared coming home with such an extravagant gift for her…. Well, she hoped everything was on the up and up. Deep down, though, she knew better. But what could she do? While driving up the winding path to the house, she let her mind wander back through memories of her childhood. She and her brother had played their own special tag game of roadrunner and coyote in the desert landscape surrounding the house. At twilight, while watching the sun set on many an evening, she’d often tell her dad that when she grew up, she was going to ride people around showing them the beauty of the land. She’d promised to live in that very home with her husband, five
Outside Prophet’s Point, ArizonaTwelve months agoJared couldn’t stand himself any longer. He stunk from puke and urine, both of which had made permanent stains on his clothing. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d showered or even eaten. How the hell did he wind up such a fucking mess? Only an asshole would ask that question of himself. I guess I’m one big asshole. His first mistake, stealing relics from Dr. Chappo. His second, pawning them for heroin. I should have stuck with cocaine. He’d been on the run since passing off the last relic to his sister, the one of Sirona. I’m just one big fuckup. Now he’d be lucky to live past the day. If only he could get some food in his belly and drugs in his veins.At daybreak, after hours of wandering aimlessly and finally collapsing, he found himself lying beside a huge tent with heavenly smells emanating from the rolled-up windows above him. Too weak t
Sedona, ArizonaPresent“Well, I hope you all enjoyed your Spiritual Enlightenment tour. May you find yourselves refreshed, re-energized, and on your way to spiritual contentment. Please come back and join us anytime you need to recharge your batteries,” Serena chirped, dying to recharge her own.“Oh, thank you so much, Serena.” One of the ladies in the group gave her a hug and stepped back. “We had a wonderful experience and can’t wait to bring our friends next time! Good-bye!”She smiled and walked into the lobby of her office. Callie sat at the reception desk, talking on the phone. “Yo, Serena! A delivery came for you this morning. It’s in the office on your desk.” She immediately went back to her phone conversation.A delivery? I’m not expecting anything, am I? My birthday is a good six months away, but maybe…could it possibly be…?Running a
Mingus MountainJerome, ArizonaRaphael loved hiking in the mountains. It fixed whatever ailed him. These days, he was desperate for the mountains to work their magic, but no such luck. He’d been hiking the Mingus, the supposed spiritual center of the valley, for almost a week now, and he felt no better than when he first began.Six months ago he’d healed thousands of angels and innocents in an epic war between Good and Evil. “We can never save them all.” He’d spoken those words to the Great Savior Mother, Emma. She’d fought tirelessly to save as many innocents as possible, and now that simple statement came to haunt him daily as he fought to reconcile his ineffectiveness at saving one of his own. He constantly thought of Seraphiel, a Brethren Warrior, who had been ruthlessly killed by Agremon, Satan’s henchman. He had tried to retrieve a stolen ritual knife meant to be used by Satan to sacrifice Emma&r
Serena had backed into something hard and unyielding, with bad breath. Before she had a chance to scream, a thick hand came around to cover her mouth, while the other wrapped firmly around her waist. He dragged her back into the house and threw her onto the pile of trash she used to call her living room. She had no purchase to scramble away and hardly any breath left, since her hard landing had knocked it clear out of her. Splinters of some unidentified piece of wreckage poked through her shirt and scratched her back. Plumes of fluff from a seat rose in the air. Dazed and in pain, she thought a bear hovered above her, but it morphed into a burly man with a ski mask. He pounced on top of her, squeezing out the last pockets of air in her lungs. He’d drawn his arm back, and a meaty, clenched fist seemed eager to pummel her face. And then, the thug growled as his eyes glowed a fiery red.She closed her eyes and braced for a brutal assault that never came. Instead a voice sh
She had reached as far as the time parameters would allow and started back down the dusty trail. But the men blocked her path. “Uh, guys, we need to head back down toward the Jeep if we’re going to make it back to base on time. So, if you’ll walk back towards the left, please….” “I don’t think we’re going to make it back in time, Serena,” said the one the others called Steve. “No, I really don’t think so.” “I’m not following, Steve. Turn around and walk back down, please.” Annoyance clear in her tone, she tried to move past the three of them, but again they blocked her path. “What’s going on here?” She wasn’t so sure she wanted to know at this point. Her heart thrummed in her chest, and it took all of her fortitude to keep her voice steady. She could kick herself for not stopping the tour earlier when their behavior deteriorated. Now she’d put herself in a vulnerable position. “It’s called you’re coming with us. Now you can make this real easy
It’d been a week since Raphael put Serena in the hands of people who could really heal her. Besides having an insatiable curiosity, he also had an onerous task to do. It was long past time to “man up.” He needed to tell her about her brother and be done with it. The hospital staff had been very kind to give him daily updates on her status, something they normally wouldn’t do, but because he used his persuasive Brethren abilities on the staff, they extended the courtesy. After being in critical condition with an assortment of internal injuries, fractured ribs, and a concussion, she was now upgraded to stable. In the beginning, she’d had no shortage of visitors, he’d been told, with friends coming round at all hours, but that had dropped off sharply. He decided to drive back to the hospital before visiting hours were over for the day, with all intentions of telling her the news and saying his farewells. When he saw her, those intentions flew right out the window.
Serena slept fitfully, at times calling out for his help while jerking and flailing her arms about, and then she’d have full-blown, one-sided conversations in Gaelic. He stayed right there to soothe her with shameless murmurings of love, and stolen feather-light kisses on her worried brow. Through it all, she never awoke. He knew he’d pay dearly for those indulgences later, but he could no more stop a tsunami from wiping out an entire village than stop the desire to touch the one who could somehow be his long-lost love.In the moments of calm, Raphael worked. He called Michael to get the safe-house ready, and Kemuel to help with locating the thug hell-bent on killing this enigmatic woman. He knew his team would act first and ask questions later. To know the why of Serena’s predicament would be the all-important question when she awoke. Then he called E.L.He would surely have some answers for me regarding Sirona. But am I ready for them?****“I’ve been expecting your call.”“Whatever