20 Scarlett #2
"He left her a letter, said his time had come. He asked her to hide you. He didn’t want his life for you" Tears burn behind my eyes.
"He knew about me?"
"He knew before she did."
The room goes silent once more.
"He told Laura their daughter would be extraordinary."
I feel Asher staring at me.
"He said she would carry both bloodlines."
"Both?" Grant asks
Thomas nods.
"The Guardian blood from Laura's family." His eyes slowly rise to meet mine.
"And the Seraphine blood from your father." The temperature in the room suddenly changes.
Warmth floods my skin and golden light begins to shimmer beneath my fingertips.
Everyone notices. Thomas stares in wonder, Asher takes my hand, Roman mutters a curse and Grant takes a slow step backward.
Whatever happened when I brought Asher back—It wasn't just a miracle.
It was the awakening of something that had been sleeping inside me for eighteen years.
A sharp laugh comes from over in the corner, I almost forgot she was still here. Celeste. She's still clutching her bleeding hand from where Roman shot the gun out of it earlier, blood drips onto the floor. Her eyes are locked on me, filled with hatred.
"Of course." Another laugh escapes her. "Of course she's special."
"Celeste—"
"No!" she snaps. Years of resentment pour from her.
"Do you have any idea what it's like to have your own mother care more about some freak than you. You were perfect at everything." I stare at her in disbelief.
"You made my life miserable." I screamed at her.
"You existed! I was never enough." Tears stream down her face now. "My mother loved you more."
"Celeste..."
"Shut up."
Golden light sparks across my fingertips again and her eyes immediately lock onto it. Fear flashes across her face.
"You see?" she says, taking a step backward.
"You're not normal, you’re a fucking freak!" The words sting more than they should, because for the first time... I think she might be right.
Another pulse of golden light spreads through my hands.
The journals begin to flutter, pages turning on their own.
Wind swirls through the basement despite there being no windows open.
Everyone instinctively backs away, everyone except Asher.
His hand remains firmly wrapped around mine, grounding me.
The pages continue flipping faster and faster.
The journal suddenly lifts from the table.
Harper screams. Roman immediately pushes her behind him.
"What the actual fuck?"
The journal hovers in midair and golden light spills from between the pages.
Then suddenly the pages stop turning. Every eye is fixed on the ancient leather-bound book.
I go over and look down into the journal.
At first the pages are blank, they slowly words begin appearing across the blank page.
Not written in but in beautiful golden script.
It slowly forms one letter at a time. Asher is staring at the journal confused.
“What is it, Red”
“You don’t see that, the writing?” He shakes his head no, but to me...the words are perfectly clear. My heart stops, at the top of the page are four simple words.
To My Daughter.
A sob catches in my throat and Asher wraps his arms around me. He places a kiss on the top of my head. The message continues writing itself.
If you are reading this, then the light has awakened.
First, let me say the one thing I prayed I would someday have the chance to tell you myself.
I love you.
I loved you before your first heartbeat.
I loved you before your first breath.
And I have loved you every day since.
Your mother believed she was protecting you by hiding you from my world.
She was right.
The day I met her was the greatest gift Heaven ever gave me.
The day I left her was the greatest sacrifice I have ever made.
You will be hunted.
You will be feared.
You will be betrayed.
Some will seek to control you.
Others will seek to destroy you.
But there will also be those willing to stand beside you.
Trust them.
Especially the one who would willingly walk through Hell to save you.
My breath catches and I immediately look at Asher, did my father somehow know that one day this would happen? The journal pulses warmly, almost like it is answering my question.
You have inherited two legacies.
One from your mother.
One from me.
Together they make you something that has not existed for generations
You are not merely Seraphine.
You are the bridge between bloodlines.
The beginning of something new.
Do not fear what you are becoming.
The light chose you because it already knew your heart.
And if the day ever comes when you doubt yourself...
Look to the people who stayed.
They are your true family.
And they will remind you who you are.
Forever watching over you,
Michael
The second the final letter forms, the page erupts in golden flame, causing Harper and Celeste to jump. The fire doesn't burn, the words rise from the journal like thousands of glowing embers and swirl around Asher and me and then just like that they are gone and the journal falls shut on the floor.
“Are you okay?” Asher leans over and whisper in my ear.
“I think I should be asking you that question, you did die and all.” I turn around in his arms and reach up to stroke his cheek and then bring his lips down to mine. We are lost in our own world for a few seconds before someone clears their throat.
“Not to break up this very happy and very fucking unusual display, but we need to decide what the fuck we are going to do, with these two, and we need to get a clean up crew out here to take care of the rest of the bodies.”
Roman gestures to Thomas and Celeste who are now huddled together looking at me in horror.
“I want them taken back to the house string them both up in the basement. No one touches them until I get there. I want more answers.”
Asher looks at Grant and Roman and they both nod.
He takes me by the hand and leads me and Harper up the stairs.
On the way out I can see bodies laying dead across the house.
One looks like it is missing an eye and a cringe, wondering how the hell that happened. I don’t think I want to know.
“Omg, Asher, Hannah is she okay. They shot her.”
“OMG What Hannah got shot! What the fuck! How the hell did our lives turn into this and why am I just hearing this. Is she okay? Declan must be loosing his shit? Is that why he isn’t here?”
God I love my best friend, she is the only person I know capable of asking six questions, making three observations, and having an emotional breakdown all in the same breath. For the first time since waking up tied to a chair, I actually laugh. The sound surprises all of us. Asher squeezes my hand.
"Hannah's alive," he says. "She took a round to the abdomen. Declan and Grant got her stabilized and Bennett met them on the way to the hospital." Harper visibly sags with relief.
"Thank God."
"She's still in surgery, last we heard" Asher continues carefully. "But Bennett thinks she's going to make it."
"Oh, thank God," Harper repeats. "How bad was Declan freaking out?"
Roman immediately laughs behind us. "Bad. He carried her out looking like he was about to personally declare war on humanity."
"He threatened to shoot three doctors before they even got her into surgery." Grant says as they haul Thomas and Celeste into the other vehicle and Harper looks delighted.
"I still can’t believe this all happened, Asher just died, resurrected like Jesus himself and Scarlett is some celestial being who glows."
I groan and Harper starts laughing and Roman shrugs.
"It was a stressful afternoon." The absurdity of the statement makes everyone laugh even Grant.
For the first time since being kidnapped, I feel like I can breathe again.
Then I stop. Several black SUVs have pulled onto the property.
Men dressed in tactical gear are already moving through the scene, cleaning, collecting evidence and handling the mess.
Knightfall: Grant never does anything halfway.
My gaze drifts upward, the sky is painted in shades of gold and orange.
It looks beautiful and peaceful, as though the universe didn't just flip my entire life upside down.
Asher slips his arm around my waist, like he's making sure I don't disappear again.
I lean into him and rest my head on his chest.
His heartbeat is steady beneath my cheek.
The realization hits me all over again. I healed him, not just healed him but brought him back to life.
The thought should terrify me, but it doesn’t.
I would do it all again, I would become anything I had to in order to save his life, because the thought of living without him doesn’t exist.
"You okay?" Asher asks
"No." The honesty surprises both of us and I stare out across the field.
"My whole life was a lie." Asher is quiet for a moment, then he speaks
"No."
I look up.
"It wasn't." His eyes meet mine. "The people who loved you were real."
A lump forms in my throat.
"Your mother was real."
My eyes immediately burn.
"Harper is real." Harper dramatically wipes away an imaginary tear.
"Damn right."
A laugh escapes me and Asher smiles.
"My brothers are real."
Roman points at himself. "I am particularly real."
"Unfortunately," Grant mutters and Roman flips him off.
Grant doesn't even look up from his phone.
"And me?" Asher asks softly and it makes my chest ache, the kind of ache that comes from loving someone so much it scares you. I reach up and touch his cheek.
"You're the most real thing I've ever had." I lean up on and capture his mouth with mine. He lifts me up and presses my back against the car door, and my legs instinctively wrap around his middle. Then Harper groans dramatically.
"Okay, we're back to the gross romance stuff."
"Seriously," Roman agrees. "Can they get kidnapped again? They were quieter." Asher reaches behind him without looking and flips Roman off.
Roman grins. And for the first time in forever I realize that I never have to be alone again, because we have created this beautiful family here and I don’t plan on ever letting Asher go.