Falling (The Soul Collectors Series Book 1) (22 page)

“I will. Well, you two have a good night, and I’ll see y’all later.”

Declan escorted her to the door. He waited around until she was gone before coming back with a look of questioning. “Her dad is a seismologist?”

“Actually, I don’t think she has a dad. I think she’s a rogue. I just can’t figure out why. That’s why I was going to ask you a few things. Like why would a Fallen seemingly try to make something better?”

“In order to redeem themselves, in order to play games with people’s emotions, and simply because they can. But I don’t think she’s a Fallen. Besides, she’s close to your age. You would know her as an Angel if she had been one right?”

“Depends. I don’t know all the angels, and as for her aging, here on Earth where everything moves at a different pace, there’s no way of knowing really.” I stated, but I was more focused on trying to remember if I had seen her face in Heaven before.

“I read Fallen Angels can’t be redeemed so that doesn’t seem like a viable reason. I need something more reasonable. Give me a day to do some snooping around and see what I can find. Until then, I wouldn’t act any differently towards her. If she is in fact rogue, she could be more dangerous than we know.’

“Aye-aye, sir.” I saluted him in response so that he knew I had heard him.

“You can be such a weirdo!”

“Such love. And you were so angry at me before.”

“Still am.”

“Whatevs.” I snorted at myself for using vernacular that was common among Hannah and her friends. Tomorrow was another long day of planning so I crashed with little thought of everything that had happened today.

The only true wisdom is knowing that you know nothing. ~Socrates

The next morning as I was passing the kitchen, I saw some movement outside.  I stopped to watch and saw it again. It looked like Father Paul was trying to sneak closer to the cottage. I wasn’t sure why he would be here, or why he would be sneaking, but I was certain it was him. I didn’t want Declan to know he was out there, so I went as quietly as possible to the back door, pressed my hand against it while turning the knob and slowly pushed it open. It creaked, and I froze, hoping it wasn’t as loud as it sounded. When I didn’t hear any movement, I opened the door the rest of the way and snuck out. I took as much care closing it behind me as I did opening it.

“Father Paul” I whispered barely above an audible level.

“Bayla.”

“Agh! Father Paul” I gave him a quick smack on his arm.

He chuckled. “I couldn’t resist.”

“What are you doing here? How’s Hadraniel?

“I am strictly forbidden by Elder Michael to discuss Hadraniel with you. I am on a direct mission for him with a message you are to receive and respond to immediately.”

“Okay…”

“You are commanded to stop all research unless it is directly related to keeping Gray and Declan safe. Elder Michael says it is not your job or mission to understand the why, just the what and how. The what, is Gray and Declan being saved from dying during the earthquake. He said the how is up to you as you are the expert. He also said to tell you that you were wrong in telling Hannah, but he would forgive you because he understood why you did it. Now, I cannot leave until you send your word with me to Elder Michael you will abandon this need for answers, and spend the remainder of your mission focusing on the mission itself.” He had a way of making you feel reprimanded in a kind way.

“I promise.” I sulked.

“I can say this, not everything is always as it seems my sweet Bayla. Some things are better not being known. I have faith that you will succeed in this mission just as you have in all of the others. Focus on the what and how, and you will do fine.” He pulled me into a hug.

I wrapped my arms around him, sighed and then in an instant he was gone. He was just doing as he was commanded, but some word about Haddy would have helped. The not knowing was killing me. I wish he had left a clue or made a slip of the tongue, but he didn’t. Father Paul was good at following strict commands. I wondered why, and then remembered I was no longer to ask the why. I suppose whatever reason they had for not telling me about Had was reason enough to not ask any further questions. On my way back into the kitchen, I took the list I had created and dropped it into the trash bin. I needed to make a new list.

“Hey, good morning. What were you doing outside?”

“Just needed some fresh air.”

“You look upset. Are you okay?”

“Yes, just need to make a list of things to do between now and when we leave tomorrow. I know for sure I need to get out and hide the water and food I bought with Sadie the other day in the areas that Hadraniel and I marked in the valley.”

“Make your list, and I’ll go with you.”

I rolled my eyes but didn’t argue. I knew it would be pointless to try, and I really wasn’t in the mood to deal with Meph alone today. I made a mental list of what else I needed to do before tomorrow. I knew I needed to gather all of the camping gear and pack up the remaining essentials for my mission, because once we left the cottage we wouldn’t be returning. I needed to get in some training with the swords somehow. I needed to make sure they were hidden, without Declan’s knowledge, in convenient areas in the valley. I needed to stretch my wings. That was not necessarily a requirement, but they were getting achy. Declan had already had the privilege of seeing them, so I didn’t think anything about letting them stretch while I was seated at the kitchen table. Just as they were at full length, I heard a gasp and turned to see Hannah standing in the door of the cottage.

“Oh, Hannah. Hi…” It was awkward having a human see me in Angel form.  It had never happened before, and I quickly retracted my wings. “I thought you would still be in Ohio with your family.”

“I came back early. I wanted to see if I could help you with anything.” She looked pale. The sight of my wings confirmed my story but would be intimidating I’m sure.

“There are a few things I could use help with, if you’re sure you don’t mind.”

“I don’t mind. You really are an Angel, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I’m sorry if my wings frightened you.”

“It’s okay. I just didn’t expect to see a full on actual Angel sitting at the table. What can I help you with today?”

I hesitated a little, knowing there were some things I couldn’t ask her to help with, even if I had wanted to. It would just not be safe. “I need to get the camping gear packed and placed by the door, and my clothes and necessary items put into a bag so they’re ready to just grab tomorrow. I think that’s the main thing I need to do right now.”

“Hannah, what brings you to the cottage?” Declan eyed me suspiciously. I’m sure he thought I was telling her more than I already had told her.

“I thought I would come see if Bay needed some help packing her gear. What are you doing here?” She arched her eyebrow and switched between looking at me and him.

“I’m staying in Had’s room while he is gone. He asked me to before he left, to make sure our Bay was safe.”

He ruffled my hair as he passed and went into the kitchen. Lying seemed to come second nature to him, although at this time, I was thankful for that skill. I wouldn’t have had a good answer as to why he was here. He seemed as cool as a cucumber for the most part, unless it had something to do with me not doing what he thought I should. Any other time, it might be fun to goad him, but I knew the stakes were too high right now to do that.

“Do you have all your gear ready yet? It might be a good thing to do this morning before we go run those errands you were talking about earlier.” I spoke loud enough for Declan to hear me from the kitchen.

“My gear is indeed ready. I can take care of the water and food for now, if you trust me.” Declan responded, almost in a challenging voice in front of Hannah. I couldn’t necessarily tell him no, because she would want to know why I didn’t trust him.

“Unconditionally.” My response must have stunned him. He cocked his head sideways, opened and closed his mouth a few times, before nodding and heading out the back door. I wasn’t lying either. For some odd reason, at that moment, I did trust him. Even if he didn’t hide the items in the spots Haddy or I had chosen, I believed he would put them in appropriate places. He had been to the valley as many times as I had, at least. He knew areas that were more suitable for us. I just wished I had told him to make sure to hide a few things in the cave. Most of my how, as Father Paul had put it, was depending upon that cave leading to higher ground somewhere or at least providing a decent hiding place until I was able to defeat Mephistopheles.

“Shall we head upstairs to let the fun that is packing begin?” I smiled, hoping to continue to ease her fear of me.

She nodded that she was ready. “Does he know?

“Know what?”

“That you’re an Angel. I mean, you had your wings out in the open like you weren’t concerned if he saw them? Wait...is he an Angel too? Is Had an Angel too?”

“Yes Declan knows I am an Angel. I shouldn’t have had my wings out, but they just were aching to be stretched. I’m sorry they scared you. Declan is most definitely not an Angel, and yes, Hadraniel is…was…an Angel too.”

“Can I touch your wings? They are beautiful. I think I was more in awe of them than truly frightened.”

“Unfortunately, you can’t touch my wings. I’m sorry.”

“Why, is it bad luck?”

“No,” I shook my head before I continued, “Nothing like that. They’re just tender, and touching them could be a little overstimulating.”

“Can I ask one more Angel question before we start packing your clothes? Are all Angel’s wings white like that?”

I grinned proudly. “No. My wings are very unique. My roommate’s wings are white, but they have speckles of brown and black throughout them.”

“Do you know why yours are different?”

I frowned. I had never thought of them as different. I had been conceited in my thinking actually. I had been proud that they were so beautiful.  I thought they were special. “No, I hadn’t put much thought into it.”

“Are you in trouble for telling me?”

“Yes, but that’s a choice I made when I asked you.”

“I hate for you to get in trouble for me.” She tossed me a bag to put the stuff I was folding into as she sorted what she thought I would need and wouldn’t need for the weekend.

While she wasn’t looking, I put the folders from the mission into the bottom of the bag. I needed to make sure they went with me, so I could debrief if I survived, and if I didn’t, they needed to be easily located by whomever was sent to collect them. She was packing clothes that could be layered because we weren’t sure how cold the valley would get in the evenings. We would only be there for one night, but I didn’t want to bring this up right now. I wasn’t sure what time the earthquake was going to happen, only that it was going to be Saturday. We had planned to be camping until Sunday so I knew we would be in the area whenever it happened. We worked in silence until we had packed all my clothes, toiletries and such. We were also able to pile the sleeping bags, tents, lanterns and cooking essentials Had, Declan and I had gotten on the shopping trip. That seemed to have been ages ago, not just five short days ago.

“Is that everything?” Hannah plopped down on the couch.

“I do believe so.” I took the chair across from her, “Hopefully Declan gets Alissa’s car tomorrow. I am really not looking forward to having to carry all of that.”

She giggled. “I wouldn’t be either.”

“Hannah, why was it so easy to believe me?” It was something I had been dying to ask her since our first conversation about her helping me.

“I don’t know. You seemed sincere. Besides, if you were lying, you sounded entirely too crazy to contradict, especially being in the cottage alone with you.”

“UH!” I giggled as I tossed a couch pillow at her.

“Must be nice to be such lazy bums.”

Whack! We both had direct hits to Declan’s head with pillows after his bold statement.

“Hey! That’s not fair. Two against one.”

“I’ll have you know. We are taking a much needed break, which we earned, if I do say so myself. And I do say so.” She stuck her tongue out at him.

“Here! Here!” I cheered, sharing my agreement with her statement.

He shook his head looking somewhat bewildered. “Well, I got all the water and food stowed. What else is on the list?” He’d sat down at the foot of the couch where Hannah was lying.

I looked at him hoping that he could see I didn’t really want to tell him in front of Hannah. I actually didn’t want to tell him either. How could I ask him to help me practice my fighting skills, when it could be him I ended up fighting? How could I practice without help though? I couldn’t sword fight alone; I could only practice evasion techniques, kicking and striking the air.

“I can tell she’s hiding something. What do you think, Hannah?”

She sat up beside Declan, hand on her chin and observed me. I tried to keep a straight face, but Declan moved to mimic her, making me laugh.

“I think you are right, dear Declan.” Hannah declared, her eyes alight with laughter.

“This is a serious situation, you two. Maybe I am hiding something because I don’t think either of you could, or should have to help with what I need to do next. That’s what Had was supposed to do.” My shoulders dropped some at the thought of Had. The ache was all over, not just in my heart. I wished Father Paul could’ve given me information about him.