Heavenly Lover (27 page)

Chapter 37

Josh was seething. A human and a Guardian were making a fool of him. When word of this leaked out, it would tarnish his perfect reputation. After all, he was looked up to by all the younger darks. He was the standard. He had more angel conquests than the rest of them combined.

He was so sure Daniel and Claire would want to spend eternity together, he hadn’t really think about a Plan B. The power of the dark side was way more tantalizing than the power of love, but these two were completely, utterly, unbelievably stupid.

Well, it isn’t over until it’s over.
They were going to find out what kind of a devil they’d decided to tangle with.

It’s not how you play the game, but that you never, ever lose.
He drummed this into his recruits during their training.

He searched Daniel’s home for some sign, some clue as to where they were going. He found nothing.

Then he tracked down Angela and found her in bed with James.

“Look at how you two squander your powerful, immortal dark lives. Pretending you’re human? This you can do for all eternity. There’s urgent work to be done.” He crossed the bedroom, looking out the window to the night sky, at time slipping away.

“We’re in love, Josh.” James looked back at his sponsor across their entangled bodies on the deep maroon sheets.

Josh flared back at him in red, lunging toward them.

“How can I get hold of Doris?” Josh gripped Angela’s arm, yanking her naked body out of bed so quickly she howled. James instantly shot up between them.

“Excuse me?” James’ voice was confrontational. He immediately wrapped his arms around the naked and shivering Angela, who folded her head away in James’s bare chest.

The smell emanating from these two lovers before him was turning Josh’s stomach. Sex and sweat, a combination he liked sometimes when he needed to be serviced, but now, in the middle of a crisis, when he was about to lose his perfect record, it was a disgusting smell. The smell of too much bliss wasn’t healthy for a dark angel.
It makes them soft, ineffective. Like drugs or alcohol to humans
.

“Oh, give it up, James. This isn’t the time to make a stand. I’ve got to find them, damn it.” Josh was about to toss James aside like a bag of dirty laundry, when Angela spoke up, in his defense.

“Trace all the places she took him in his dreams. You’ll find them at one of their favorites.” She glared at Josh.

“Fuck! I don’t know where the hell she took him, Angela.” Josh stepped back to brace himself, but his voice was booming, sending them both shuddering. “Daniel and I never talked about it.”

 Angela suggested he go look at Daniel’s paintings for clues. Well, there certainly were no jungles in Northern California that he knew of, and as a human, Daniel wouldn’t be able to transport, like the angel, to some exotic tropical climate. Josh didn’t think looking at the jungle scenes would give him any ideas, besides, he hated looking at those awful things.
Ridiculous pink leopards and penguins.
Maybe it was good that Daniel couldn’t be turned.
He’d have been another one, like James. All love, no bite.

“Think. Think, damn it,” Josh spat out, smacking his forehead with his palm. Angela jumped, but James looked like he wanted to rip Josh’s head off.

All Josh’s recent converts were turning out to be morons. He already regretted his decision to admit this pair to his brotherhood.
These two would rather make love than claim souls. They’re too soft for this work.

Josh was so angry he considered doing away with them, but he was concerned he might need Angela to lure the Guardian to him. And having new recruits made Joshua more powerful.

He could tell Angela was rethinking the wisdom of her decision to turn dark. Josh knew it would only get worse as she learned the nature of her new dark friends. Probably thinking about finding a way out already.

Well, big deal. Nothing was turning out the way it was supposed to anyway.

Josh had to get away from them. Their love scent was overpowering, blurring his vision, making his ears buzz and his nose itch. It annoyed him more than he thought it would have.
All these people who can’t live without each other. Damned idiots!
He’d have to make an example out of Angie and James in the very near future, otherwise he would never be able to exert control over his new recruits.

But first, he had to find the angel and her painter. Maybe he’d vaporize Daniel just for spite. No angel had ever humiliated him so much. He’d make her pay. Hatred boiled over inside him like a thick black sludge.

What was going on? Why were they not at the house? Where could Doris have transported them? Or did they go on their own?
He knew they weren’t leaving the area completely; Daniel had left behind all his things, including his paints and his work.

Josh searched downtown haunts. He went to a Latin disco. He went to all the twenty-four-hour Laundromats he could find, scaring half the homeless population in the downtown area who were trying to find a little shelter from the rain. He searched the paintings at Daniel’s house, looking for evidence. One of his new paintings depicted pieces of colored glass discarded on a smooth white beach, glistening in the sun.

Where are they?

Chapter 38

Daniel put the little star pendant around Claire’s neck and kissed it where it lay in the hollow below her collarbone. “I hope he will let you have this, and I hope you remember our time together whenever you see it.” Daniel leaned down to kiss her, whispering, “Know that I love you.” The star twinkled, like the droplets of tears in the corners of her eyes.

He was aching with the hole in his heart, too.

“Don’t. Don’t cry, Claire. It’s going to be all right. You’ll see. This is for the best.” He stood naked in front of her and then pulled her to him. Their arms entwined. He claimed her mouth, hungry and waiting.

He wondered if he could stay up all night. He didn’t want to waste a minute of their time together. He led her to the bed where he sat, reaching out to her.

“Come to me, Angel.”

Claire was in his arms and showering him with kisses. She straddled him as he lay back on the bed, her breasts pressing to his chest. She drew her fingers through his shiny hair and kissed his forehead.

He lowered her down and to the side, turning her body so his chest encased her back. She felt his kisses to her neck as his arms pulled her into his groin, his hand playing with the folds of her sex. When he entered her from behind, she was panting into the pillow. As he thrust inside her, she was grateful he could not see the trail of tears covering her cheeks. She felt the ripple of pleasure course through her body, but it increased the dull ache in her heart.

Even the pain of this last pairing I do not want to be without. The more he gives me the more I am mortally wounded. Wounded forever. This is a pain I will bear forever, gratefully.
At last, he moaned her name at the back of her neck, pulling her into him.

Later, they sat on the balcony overlooking the roar of the ocean, wrapped in the bedspread. The wind was cold on her skin, but she was on fire with need for him, a need that would live for centuries.

For the rest of the night Claire tried to keep Daniel awake, but she was having a hard time doing so. He dozed in and out of a sleep. She knew his brain was willing, but his body had given up after the second time they made love.

She watched as the skies turned from dark to light grey and then blue, with a blush of pink coming from a sunrise on the other side of the motel.
Another ordinary day starting. I’ll let him sleep five minutes longer.
She heard the gulls calling to each other over the regular pulse of the waves tumbling to shore.

At six they got a call on the room phone, the ringing waking Daniel. Daniel looked startled as he shot a quick glance at Claire. He put the call on speakerphone and they listened to a nervous clerk inform them he’d been persuaded to give their room number to a man. A man who was on his way to their room at that moment.

Daniel gaped at Claire, then they rushed to get dressed. They were racing down the hallway before the clerk even knew that no one was listening to her any longer.

Chapter 39

They left the passenger door on the Mercedes ajar and ran to the beach for Claire’s transport back to Heaven. Daniel pulled her forward, hiking her duffel up onto his shoulder. Glancing over her shoulder, she gasped when she saw Josh’s black Hummer roaring down the rise of the highway about a quarter mile away.

The two of them flew over the sand dunes and the uneven ice plant that bloomed bright pink. Mounds of brittle brown seaweed littered the beach, scorched crisp after days in the sun. Salty sea excrement assailed her nostrils. Out to sea, a thick fog had been pushed back, waiting for a chance to pounce.

The muted sea sounds and the icy cool early morning air chilled Claire to the bone. The stiff breeze tugged at her tears. Her heart was racing and her mouth was parched. She was coming up to the threshold she had dreaded for so long. This was like Daniel’s act of jumping out of the airplane to an unknown future, she thought. She was not entirely sure there was one, but she rushed toward it anyway, terrified not to make it in time. Terrified to leave. Terrified to leave Daniel forever.

Forever!

The sun was low, just peeking behind the mountains at their back. Large white clouds writhed in an otherwise clear morning sky, then spread out and began to grow in ominous proportion.

Daniel and Claire continued running for the water’s edge. They stopped when small foamy waves lapped at their feet. As the water pulled away, the slick beach was littered with black holes and bubbles that hissed and then went silent.

Creatures heading for cover. Back to their homes in the sand from a trip to the big ocean.

Daniel turned to her, cupping her face in his hands. She heard the screech of tires as Josh’s car turned off the highway and onto the frontage road.

Daniel gazed at her tears, wiping them with his thumbs. His face reflected her own pain but somehow his eyes still smiled, as they always did for Claire. Love etched his features. She would always remember him this way. Strong. Handsome. His face full of love and his heart full of passion.

Would he still have those same eyes as the days and months passed without me? Would they shine for someone else when he found his true mate, the woman meant to share his human life? Will I fade into distant memory with the passage of time?

His eyes went to her mouth and he covered it urgently with his own. She had heard the expression before, “gallows kiss” and this was one. Their love would live forever in her heart. She would count every year of his life and then go on alone.

So unfair. I would trade places…

She didn’t want to miss the warmth of his lips. She could stay forever, but he pulled away. Behind him a large amber stairway was forming in the clouds. The massive marbled yellow and golden structure reached halfway to the beach. A small figure in white stood at the top of the stairs.

Father has come.

Daniel took in the sight before him, his face filled with wonder, then she watched the worry lines appear at his forehead and bridge of his nose. She read regret and sadness as he turned to her.

“It has to be done.” Daniel said, reaching out to her, engulfing her in his long arms. For a second, she thought perhaps he wouldn’t let her go. His breath was warm and raspy as he whispered into her ear, “You have taught me to have faith. I know somehow we will see each other again. If it takes a century, or another lifetime, I will find you. Somehow.”

“If you tell me to stay, I will,” Claire pleaded.

“Yes, I know, my love. But I am asking you to go. Do it for me. Can you live for me, Claire?”

“For you, but without you.”

“Yes. It has to be this way.”

She nodded, unable to speak.

“You will still be with me, here.” He said as he placed her palm at his heart over his strong muscled chest—that place that had been her sanctuary. “Forever, Claire. You have to believe that.” He grabbed her again. “Please believe for me. Live for me, Claire.”

“I will love you forever, Daniel.”

“And I will love you forever, my angel. My Claire.”

The stairway touched down to the sandy beach with a deep rumble that shook the ground and then was silent.

Josh appeared at the top of the dunes and hesitated. Claire saw a red bolt of light flash just short of where she and Daniel stood. He wouldn’t miss the next time.

“You must hurry,” Daniel urged. She knew she had to go of her own volition, as he was not going to push. Her legs betrayed her and she wobbled for the bottom step, and then turned to look at him.

The first stair made her safe from anything Josh could do. She saw the red laser light sent from Josh’s eyes was truncated at the golden aura surrounding the stairwell, engulfing her in Father’s protection. Daniel breathed a sigh of relief.

He wants me to go. He actually wants me to go!

 Each step got remarkably easier. As she ascended, her sandy slippers made scratching sounds on the massive steps. Daniel became smaller and smaller. Finally, he was just a toy figure on the beach with another speck of a figure beside him.

Josh had joined him. She took one long look, then turned and approached Father, who stood tall at the top of the stairs, light dancing with a swirl of golden clouds at his back. His face was stoic, but Claire thought she saw a tear glistening in the corner of one eye.

Claire’s own cheeks were shiny with tears. She wanted to walk past Father into the clouds. He stopped her, turned her around to see Daniel one last time. Father bent down and put his face next to Claire’s, watching with her, his cheek pressing against her angel flesh. With hands on her shoulders, he held her up and steady.

“He will be safe now, Claire,” Father whispered.

Claire wasn’t so sure. Father knew the concern in her heart.

“If we have to, we can send someone down to watch over him. But I think Josh will give up now that you’re gone, and Daniel knows the rules. As much as I hate to admit it, you have armed him with the rules, and that will help.”

They continued watching the two specks on the sand as the stairway started to retreat.

“Do you want a new Guardian for Daniel?”

“No.” Claire didn’t have to think twice about it. She felt oddly reassured. Daniel was still there, standing, unharmed. And she was safe. Safe forever.

This is just not worth it. But Father said you will be safe, my love
.

The stairway removed itself, as it had appeared, one step at a time, until at last the top step with the two small figures was lost in the white cloud. Then the cloud imploded back on itself, the last bit of white swirling mist evaporating into thin air, leaving a blue clear sky. Daniel sighed. Josh shot a quick look at him. The man had been holding his breath.

“You didn’t have to do this,” Josh said. “There was another way. You two never gave me the opportunity to explain how differently this all could have ended.”

“And I should believe you why?”

Josh shrugged.

“What, no witty repartee? No dark understatements? No jokes from the man responsible for taking…” Daniel did not finish. He turned his back on Josh and made a bead for the car.

“Look, okay, I misjudged everything. It wasn’t going to work, anyway. This whole scene was inevitable. You two were just the last to get it. Everyone else knew.” Josh was still talking to Daniel’s back. His words bounced off Daniel like a gentle breeze. Daniel did not slow or veer off course. His determined gait carried him toward the parking lot, concentrating on one step in front of the other. “You want to be angry at someone? What about Him?” Josh pointed to the Heavens. “He knew this was going to happen. He chose her to come to you. He did it,” Josh said to Daniel’s back.

Daniel stopped, slowly turned. He marched back towards the dark angel until he stood a foot from him. Daniel leaned in further as he spoke.

“You lost.” Daniel tapped Josh’s chest with a stubborn forefinger right over the angel’s heart. “The big bad dark angel lost the battle. Face it, freak. No one in the universe cares anything about you. You don’t have what I have. You’ve never
owned
what I’ve
lost
.” He started to step away, backwards, anger increasing the volume in his chest, waving his hands through the air as he continued.

“You’re insignificant. Irrelevant. Unnecessary. How does it feel to be measured by what you take away and not what you give?”

Josh stood motionless as Daniel rounded the top of the dunes and disappeared. He heard a car door open and close. An engine revved, tires screeched and then all was strangely calm. Josh felt alone in every sense of the word. He shrugged his shoulders, rolled his head from side to side, and sighed.

His anger had evaporated into fear at the sight of the golden stairway and the man at the top. He was glad none of his recruits saw how he lost the angel, and how small and afraid he’d felt staring into the face of Father himself.