Chapter 19
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Javier had a broken rib, Bastian a concussion, and Jamie’s arm needed several stitches, which Sarq administered sans anesthetic. My dad was still unconscious and Sarq sat with him, watching over him like a doctor would a patient.
I wanted to go over and check on him, I should have, but I didn’t want to see the pallor of his skin up close. Didn’t want to touch his fevered skin. Didn’t want to consider that he might not wake up.
Maybe I was a coward for steering clear.
Or maybe it was the fact that if I realized how close to death he was, I’d regret my decision to make a deal with Shem, and in doing so realize that I wasn’t as much of a martyr as I liked to believe.
That I hadn’t made the deal for all the people, I’d made the deal for him. For my father.
I didn’t want to look in that mirror and see my selfishness reflected at me.
So I turned away and hid in the bosom of my work family. Injured and exhausted, the guys slept. But even in sleep they made sure to keep me protected, positioning their blankets around me so I was coddled in between them, cocooned in their body heat.
The hole in the roof meant that the previously warm barn was now drafty as fuck, but I was so tired that I could have probably slept outside on the gravel if need be.
I drifted off to the whistle of the wind and straight onto a moonlit field of white flowers. A man stood with his back to me, tall, broad-shouldered, with golden hair that fell to his shoulder blades. Black and silver armor hugged his body.
Wait… was he an—
He turned to face me, and I sucked in a sharp breath because this close the celestial was almost too beautiful to look at. But I made myself take him in, and recognition dawned.
He was the celestial from the ascension ceremony, the one who’d taken Bee, except this time his cold blue eyes were filled with warmth as they raked over me.
“Hello, Rue,” he said.
I swallowed the lump in my throat, mind racing as questions tumbled one over the other. “Where’s Bee?”
He frowned slightly.
“My friend, Bee. You took her from base fifteen.”
Something passed across his features that I couldn’t decipher. “Your friend is safe in the golden city, and you too can be safe. Tell me, where are you?”
My senses, befuddled by his presence, were coming back online, and this situation, which a moment ago seemed perfectly normal, now made no sense. I was in a field of flowers with a celestial.
No.
I was in a drafty barn asleep.
“This is a dream.” I let out a shaky laugh and approached the celestial, circling his epic form to take in the details.
His armor was made of overlapping minuscule scales.
His hair gleamed, each strand defined like strands of gold.
Nice ass, pert and perfectly rounded. I stopped to look up at his face, noting the slight golden stubble on his hard jaw and the thick, dark lashes framing those icy blue eyes.
“Wow, my brain really has filled in the blanks.”
“This is no ordinary dream, Rue. This is a dreamscape, and I’ve summoned you here. We don’t have much time. Without my sword I’m unable to hold you here for long.”
Wait. “What about a sword?”
“You found it, touched it…Wielded it.”
“That’s your sword?”
“Yes, lost in battle. In my bid to keep the human in my care safe, I left it behind. I thought it lost until I felt it flare to life and then…I felt you.”
“I don’t understand…how can I wield it? How can you feel me?”
“I will explain everything to you once you’re safe here with me.” His hand fell to my shoulder and a calm, warm heat infused me. My eyes pricked with tears of joy. “You belong with us, Rue, but I can’t find you.”
“You brought me here.”
“Because you touched the sword. I can now draw you to my dreamscape when you sleep. But when waking, you are lost to me.”
“We’re in the deadlands.”
“Yes. I lost my sword over those lands, but I need to know exactly where.”
“A barn at a farmhouse. There’s a group of us. We were just attacked by herald claws and—”
“Herald claws.” His grip on me tightened. “You’re not hurt, are you?”
“No, Shem and his crew saved us, and—”
“Shem? Shemyaza?”
Was it my imagination or had he gone deathly pale?
“He has you?”
“I…” My mouth went dry. “I made a deal with him. Get my people to the gates of the golden city, and I’d go with him.”
His chest heaved. “No. You can’t do that, Rue, you can’t let him have you. He is a creature of darkness and manipulation. A master of lies. He will seek to use you.”
Fear unfurled in my belly. “Because I can wield your sword?”
His eyes flinched. “Yes. A celestial sword is a powerful thing.”
“So how can I wield it?” I needed him to tell me. I didn’t want to wait.
“There is no time to explain that now.” His eyes blazed with fervor. “You must allow me to find you. To save you.”
“You’ll come for us?”
“Yes, Rue, I will come for you. All you need to do is touch the sword again and I’ll be able to pinpoint your location.”
He made it sound so easy. “I can’t, it’s wrapped up and carried by one of Shem’s party at all times. Why can’t you just come? We’re en route to the golden city.”
“And under cover of the forests, no doubt,” he said.
“The deadlands are filled with creatures hungry for celestial light. We are prohibited from alighting on those lands, but as soon as I felt your presence, I petitioned the high echelon for permission for boots on the ground and they granted it, but only when I have a specific location. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
He reached up to lightly touch my face with the smooth pads of his fingers. “I will find you, Rue. I promise I will bring you home.”
Home… I didn’t understand why that felt so right. I needed to ask him why I was important. I had to have answers as to why I could touch the sword, but when I opened my mouth, it was with another question entirely.
“What’s your name?”
The corner of his perfect mouth lifted in a crooked smile that filled his expression with an achingly familiar character.
“Michael. My name is Michael.”