Chapter Fourteen Resurrection
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“Cameron!”
Brie had held it together in the morgue. The moment she’d scrambled backward and her pendant had disentangled itself from the poor soul’s thumb, he slumped back to the slab, and she sat on the floor on the other side of the room, too shocked even to scream. She’d stared in complete disbelief, first at the corpse and then at the pendant, before stuffing it back into her shirt. She’d rearranged the dead man’s body and slammed it back into the locker. She’d checked the lock five times.
Brie had held it together in the hospital. She’d locked up the morgue, turned in her tablet, and even managed to smile at Sherry as she told tales of her parking lot heroism all the way home. She’d waved goodbye and agreed to some yoga, biking, walking exercise, and a shopping day during the upcoming weekend.
Brie had held it together on her front porch. She’d fitted her key into the lock without breaking it with her shaking hands. She’d shut the door behind her without once screaming at the top of her lungs and waking all her new neighbors.
Brie was done holding it together.
“CAMERON!”
He walked into the room a moment later, dressed in a white T-shirt and jeans. “Hello there. How was—?” His expression changed into a look of alarm as he rushed over. “Are you alright? What happened?”
“Oh, nothing. Nothing at all. Nothing except this thing ,” she grabbed the pendant and held it between them, flashing in the lamplight, “reanimated a corpse in the morgue today.”
The color drained completely from Cameron’s face. “It… it did… what?”
“Brought some unsuspecting dead guy back to life, Cameron. It hooked around his finger when I was looking for my shoes, and the next thing you know, a dead guy is sitting up and talking to me, just like I’m talking to you right now.”
His face stilled in confusion. “When you were looking for your—”
“For my shoes, yes.”
“What were your shoes doing in a dead man’s—”
“That’s not the important part of the story, Cameron!”
He looked at her like he was trying to calm down a rampaging honey badger while also trying to figure out how it had gotten into his living room. “Okay, okay. Are you alright?”
“No, I am not alright,” she cried. “A dead guy talked to me. A drunk threw up on my shoes. Some blonde lady wants a doctor in my hospital to do something terrible to a kid. Apparently, there’s a rash of unexplainable deaths sweeping the nation that nobody’s talking about, and meanwhile, Sherry gets to deliver babies in the parking lot!”
She slumped down on the couch, suddenly exhausted. Her little rant had used up the last of her adrenaline reserves, and she was left with nothing but hollow disbelief that this was her life.
He approached her cautiously and sat down beside her. “Do you want some tea?”
She let out a low growl and slumped down further.
“May I rub your back?”
She considered this, then nodded faintly.
He shifted around so he was behind her, then started to massage her shoulders. She groaned involuntarily and closed her eyes, leaning back ever so slightly as his thumbs traced delicate patterns into the muscles along her spine. Her breathing hitched, then slowed. Her pulse did the same.
Either he’s extremely good at this, or I’m getting a magical massage.
Just go with it.
It wasn’t long before the tension started draining away, and the pain began to fade. Only when her breathing had returned to normal did he venture a hesitant question. “So, someone threw up on your shoes?”
She laughed despite herself. “Yes, I’m afraid these are done.”
“I could fix them for you if you want?”
“That’s okay. Even if you did, I’d always know these are the vomit shoes.”
He nodded as though this made sense and decided to push the conversation a step further. “Your necklace reanimated a corpse?”
She nodded glumly. “Yup.”
“You think a blonde lady and a doctor are plotting something to do with a child?”
“Uh-huh.”
“And Sherry delivered a baby in the parking lot?”
She sank back into the cushions. “Yep. Yes, she did.”
“Okay.”
He leaned back as well and was quiet for a moment. Finally, he said, “So, what I’m hearing is that I left you alone for less than a day, and while you managed to single-handedly raise the dead, you can’t even be trusted to keep your shoes clean?”
Their eyes locked for a second, and his lip curled up in the faintest hint of a grin.
She lost it. She laughed so hard that her sides hurt. At first, he smiled, proud of himself for his little joke. Then, he laughed along with her for a while. When she showed no signs of stopping or slowing down, he kept laughing despite himself but grew quietly concerned.
She finally managed a slightly hysterical, “But anyway, how was your day?” Then she cracked up again for a full minute.
This time he just waited for her to calm down. “I’ve had better, though it doesn’t hold a candle to yours.”
That sobered her up. “Oh, your father. I’m so sorry. In all the drama, I didn’t even…” She shook her head quickly, trying to gather her senses. “I’m so sorry, Cameron.”
He shook his head. “There’s no need to apologize. You’ve been through more in the past week than any mortal should ever have to deal with.”
She studied his face. “What happened?”
He shifted uncomfortably. “I told my people about your predicament.”
“All of it?”
“All of it.” He looked at her seriously. “It is not in my nature to lie. And on a subject of such importance as that of your safety, I would never keep a part of the story to myself.”
She sucked in a deep breath. “What did they say?”
He looked down and took her hand. “That they wish I’d come to them sooner.”
She studied the look of quiet remorse on his face. “Was your father angry with you?”
“He was disappointed,” he said frankly. “Which is only fair. The manner in which I have behaved is disappointing. I took matters into my own hands rather than entrusting my information to the council. I disobeyed their directive not to check on you. For five years, I disregarded their advice, thinking I knew better. And worse than keeping this from the council, I kept it from him.”
He came to a sudden pause, one that stretched a lot longer than he realized. “But if I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have been able to save you in the woods.” He took her hand and rubbed his thumb over her knuckles. “I’d never even have experienced the touch of a human who wasn’t dying.” He looked into her eyes almost defiantly. “I’m not sorry. And I told my father that.”
Her eyes widened. “What did he say?”
“He said I am more human than he realized, even after all this time.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? You aren’t human.”
His brow furrowed as his chin dropped down. “I am, and I’m not.”
She gave him a flat look. “Cameron, I’m sure you can appreciate why I have no patience for your poetic deflections on this particular night.”
“Of course,” he quickly assured. “I’m not trying to be cryptic. It’s difficult to explain and painful for me to talk about.”
She waited silently as he took a steadying breath.
“How much do you know of the Bible?”
“Only what I was taught in Sunday school when I was little. My mom wasn’t very religious about being religious. She said we were ‘spiritual.’”
He nodded. “Well, there are two human figures in the Bible who never died.”
“Oh, I do remember this. One is Elijah, right? Something about a fiery chariot?”
“Yes. Do you know who the other is?”
“No idea.”
“The other is a man named Enoch. Your Bible teaches that he ‘walked with God: and then was no more; for God took him.’ He left this world having never felt the sting of death. God took him to Elysium to preside over the realm, to live forever immersed in the energy of life and to keep the forces of evil from ever touching even the edge of Heaven. He was appointed the head of the archangels and became known as the Metatron — the mouthpiece of God.”
He drew a deep breath. “Enoch is my father.”
Brie stared blankly. “How?”
Cameron traced patterns on her hand. “My mother’s name was Naamah. She was a descendant of Cain.”
“Wait, Cain? As in Cain and Abel? The murderer?”
“The First Man and the First Woman had only three sons: Cain, Abel, and Seth. My father was descended from Seth. Many in his family intermarried with the descendants of Cain.” He looked at her ruefully. “It wasn’t as though they were spoiled for options. But my father had something that was virtually unheard of in that day. He had a marriage of love.”
He was quiet for a long moment, staring at his hands.
“My father loved my mother very, very much. She bore him many children — my brothers and sisters.” He looked at her suddenly, amused. “You called me by one of their names the other day. Methuselah was my older brother.”
Brie stared. “The oldest man in all of history?”
Cameron nodded. “He had a wonderful sense of humor. One time he tied a barrel full of sticks to a donkey and—”
“Cameron.”
He nodded. “Right, not the time. My father lived three hundred and sixty-five years on Earth.” He drew in a breath. “Until I came along.” He let go of her hand and leaned forward. “My mother died while she was in childbirth with me.”
Brie’s mouth opened in shock. “Oh, Cameron, I…”
He shook his head and paused before continuing. “My father was one of God’s favorite creatures. He often walked with God, praising the greatness of creation and asking questions about the wonders of the world and worlds beyond. When my mother died, her belly round with me still inside, struggling to be born, my father’s heart broke. He called upon God and begged him for a reprieve for his wife and unborn child.”
He drew in a deep breath. “God granted half of his request. My mother was a pure and loving soul, and she went on to Heaven. I was taken from my mother’s womb and allowed to live with my father in Elysium. He presided over the realm and protected it. I grew up immersed in the life force of all the souls who ever passed to their next world, nourished by their spiritual energy, never knowing the human world except in my duty to help the dying depart.”
Brie was so enthralled she nearly forgot to breathe.
“So you see, I am human, and I am not. Time flows differently in Elysium, as in Heaven and Hell as well. In fact, it does not flow at all but rather pools and has its own currents and waves within the confines of its shores. I stopped aging when I reached maturity. Being around spiritual energy, for even a short period of time, changes you. You’ve seen that I have abilities that humans do not possess.” He stopped and sighed. “Before you, I never interacted with the human world except to help souls pass into Elysium peacefully. I never played with my brothers and sisters. I only watched. I never ate human food before last night. Well,” he amended. “Once. On a dare.”
Brianna was silent, trying to process this. He took her hand. “Are you alright?”
She nodded. “It must have been terribly, terribly lonely.”
He stiffened a bit. “It wasn’t. Not always.” A look of pure melancholy swept over him, before he flashed her a shy smile. “In fact, Elysium is a beautiful place. I am excited to show it to you.”
She sat up straight. “Show me?!”
He nodded. “My father and our elders are concerned for your safety and need more information about your pendant. They have requested that I accompany you to Elysium, immediately.”
The excited sparkle in her eyes faded a little. “Immediately?”
He nodded. “We can go tonight. Now, if you like. You don’t need to bring anything.”
She shot him a worried look. “So, this would be a short trip?”
He tilted his head. “How do you mean?”
“I mean, how long would we be gone?”
He frowned. “It’s difficult to say. As I said, time moves differently there, and such things are not always possible to calculate.”
She pulled away. “You mean, you have no idea.”
“Well, not exactly, but in light of recent events, I assumed you felt some urgency about the situation.”
“I do. Of course, I do. But you want me to leave my world behind and travel… I don’t even know where you would say this is, leaving everyone and everything I know and love behind for an indefinite period of time. A time that passes differently over there than it does here.”
He took her hand again. “It is an honor afforded to very few mortals to enter our realm.”
“Yeah. Very few mortals, none of whom ever came back.” She pulled her hand away. “Have any mortals ever come back from Elysium, Cameron? Ever?”
He looked at her and couldn’t seem to think of a response.
“I can’t go to Elysium, Cameron.”
He looked confused. “You have to.”
She arched an eyebrow. “I think you’ll find I don’t.”
“Brianna—”
“I can’t just up and leave,” she insisted. “Especially if there’s no guarantee that I’ll return back at the correct time. I have friends and family. I have a job. A life. A thriving, vibrant plant.”
He studied her. “Surely, you must be joking.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “Joking that my life here is worth defending? Joking that my friends and family are worth sticking around for? I am most certainly not joking, Cameron.”
He exhaled in frustration. “Brianna, I didn’t mean… look, you were the one who said you needed answers about your pendant, and you were absolutely right. And now that the Elysians want to give you those answers—”
“But that’s not what you said, is it? You said that they need more information about the pendant themselves, which is why they want me to come. To study it. To study me. And who knows when or if they’ll see fit to return me to my world. My life.”
She got up off the couch and started to pace. “You said the darkness can’t find me, right?”
“Yes, but—”
“My family and friends are safe. If my leaving would make them safer, I’d leave in a heartbeat. But if they’re fine, and if I’m invisible to all the dark forces trying to get me, then I’m not going to leave my life and go hide in some state of fear and paralysis in a place where ‘time flows differently,’ Cameron. What if going there changes me? What if, I don’t know, what if I come back five years older than I was when I left? Or ten years younger?”
Her pacing continued and intensified.
He cleared his throat. “I don’t think—”
“You don’t think . But do you know ? Can you imagine what that would do to Sherry? To my dad? He’s already lost so much. That would break him.” She shook her head. “Leaving poses the greater risk of hurting those I love. Not to mention… I don’t know if you were listening to me earlier, but there is something extremely weird going on at that hospital, and I intend to find out what it is. I might want answers about this pendant — hell, I might be desperate for answers — but it doesn’t sound like your people have those answers. And I’m not keen to trek off to some alternate dimension on a lark.”
She stopped abruptly in front of him and crossed her arms over her chest, looking for all the world like Denise until she jutted out her chin like a defiant child. “I’m staying. That’s final.”
Cameron’s face processed several conflicting emotions, landing on exasperation at least twice before settling into something like bemused resignation. He rose to stand before her. “Then I’m staying, too.”
“What?”
“I was gone maybe twelve hours, and you raised the dead, Brianna. God only knows what you’d manage to get up to if I left you to your own devices any longer.”
She studied him shrewdly, unable to believe he’d be willing to accept defeat.
Her angel had been alive for centuries. Many centuries. Given the mere sight of him, given all that he’d come to represent, she couldn’t imagine there was a single thing she might refuse that he couldn’t insist upon by force.
Especially if he thought it might help. Especially if he thought it was the right thing to do.
“You’re really okay with this?” she asked warily. “You’re not going to stand there all unassuming, then drag me off into the ether the second I close my eyes to sleep?”
She was about to add something threatening like, “Because I carry mace.” But in hindsight, she was always quite glad she decided against it.
His lips curved up with a look she was becoming increasingly familiar with, one of amusement and exasperation, as though he knew exactly what was running through her head. But when he spoke, there wasn’t any pageantry, and there were no games. He was simply honest. “It is your choice, Brianna. Such a thing must always be your choice.”
She took a step back, blinking in surprise. “So, you’re really—”
“Okay with it?” he finished with a touch of sarcasm. “No, I wouldn’t go that far. But that’s the tricky thing about free will. It doesn’t matter how I feel.” He tilted his head, eyes twinkling with mischief. “A fatal flaw in an otherwise perfect structure.”
She snorted with laughter, stepping towards him once again. “Or maybe it’s the only thing that gives us a fighting chance,” she countered.
He opened his mouth to contest it, then grew abruptly serious. “That may well be.”
The two of them stood for a moment in silence, each thinking of the disasters that lay behind them, each imagining the vast uncertainty that lay ahead.
After a few seconds, he cleared his throat. “I’ll stay,” he said again before hesitating. “Unless you want me to go.” He looked around the little house as though suddenly unsure. “You never chose any of this, and I don’t want to intrude on your life—”
“Of course I want you to stay.”
His whole body relaxed in relief. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, Cameron. I’m sure.” She took his hand. “I’d love to see your home. Someday. In the future, when I’m not in the middle of my work orientation. When I haven’t just moved across several states and been through more traumatic events in a week than most people see in a lifetime. When your people might actually have some answers for me, and I’ve had some time to wrap my head around the fact that I’d be voluntarily traveling to some crazy extra-dimensional celestial realm to meet your Old Testament father who never died.”
She took a deep breath. “But I know that this isn’t the right time. That will all have to come later. Because right now, all I want…”
He took a step closer, watching her closely. “Yes?”
She stared into his eyes. “…is a hot bath and a bowl of sour gummy worms.”
? ? ?
The bath was heaven. The gummy worms, unfortunately, never materialized.
Thirty minutes later, as she was toweling off, she caught a glimpse of herself in the bathroom mirror. At first, it didn’t register. Only when she did a double take, and then a third, did she let out a little cry. Cameron was there in an instant, bursting through the door on high alert.
“What is it? What’s happened?”
She was too stunned by what she saw to even be startled at the manner of his arrival or self-conscious about the fact she was wearing only a grey bath towel knotted up around her breasts.
She was staring at her chest. “My scar,” she murmured as though very far away.
She traced it with her finger. The jagged white line that she’d borne for five years was fading. No longer a raised, bold lightning strike distinctly marking her flesh, it had faded almost to the color of her skin and was flat and smooth beneath her fingertips.
Cameron looked at her, awestruck. “May I?”
She nodded vaguely, her eyes still trained on the mirror.
His fingertips traced the line, now barely perceptible.
“You were with me the day I got this scar,” she remembered.
He looked at her seriously. “I was.”
“Why is it healing now?”
He looked down at her pendant, hesitant to say.
“Oh.” She reached up automatically to touch it. “Of course.”
“Still.” He lifted a finger to touch it himself but again shied away just before contact. “I’m curious why it would start healing you now. It’s almost as if…”
She looked at him and froze. “As if what?”
He faltered another moment, then met her eyes. “It’s almost as if something has woken it up.”