My Soul to Keep (The Soul Keeper Series - Young Adult Paranormal Romance) (13 page)

     
“Sam I'm
not feeling well all of a sudden, we left Emily's car here when we met today to
get our hair done, I think I am gonna go home, but I will see you tomorrow
okay.” He looks worried. He knows I've been drinking.

     
“Let me
drive you.” Great, this is all I need. I need to hurry before he comes back.

     
“No, I'll
be fine. I just need to lie down, okay?” He nods.

     
“Brennen
wait, at least let me walk you out.” He grabs my hand as I start off. I agree,
and quicken my pace and he keeps up behind me. I know I may only have a few
minutes before Elijah realizes I have left. I wonder where he went. He is stuck
here until he can force everyone back in the limo. But of course I have already
thought of the fact that he could have a backup agent nearby. I just have to
cross my fingers he doesn't.

     
I reach
the car and kiss Sam's lips good bye.

     
“Bye
babe, I hope you feel better. You are sure you’re okay to drive?”

     
“Yes, I didn’t
even finish the one, I’m fine. Bye, thanks and I'm sorry.”

     
“Don't
be, you just get some rest okay.” I nod trying my hardest not to look
impatient.

     
I get
home in 35 minutes driving like a lunatic at times. I kick off my heels and run
to Elijah's house. I dig out a spare key I saw him hide under the deck railing,
and unlock the door. He's never even invited me in. His house is filled with
beautiful paintings and sculptures. A neutral modern sofa sits in his living
room accented by orange pillows and an ornately woven tapestry rug.
 
I go over to the rustic white desk and find
it locked. I search around underneath and find the key, really Elijah? I shake
my head, CIA my hind-end. The leather bound journal is inside a cubby hole. I
gently take it out and unwind the worn leather string that is coiled around it.
It is heavy and feels very old. The pages are yellowed. I read an entry near
the front:

~June
7, 2000 Journal of E.M~

You
have quite a voice on you, I heard you singing today, 'You are my sunshine,'
you stole my breath away. You were building a sandcastle on the beach while
your grandmother read a book nearby. We had a close call with that stray dog
this morning. They made it mad with rage for your blood. Thank goodness no one
was looking when I snapped its neck. Poor guy never saw what hit him.

I cringed and skipped ahead a several pages. Another
entry read:

~June
5, 2005 Journal of E.M~

           
My
dear sweet child, I still can't understand why they crashed an entire plane
just to get to you. I know you are very special, and I was glad I was able to
keep you safe. But I have never heard of them going to such drastic measures
for one person. You must have a great destiny ahead of you
.

P.S:
If they weren’t aware you had a Keeper before,
they are now fully educated.

What in the world? I skipped back to previous
entries until I found one that included all the details of my plane crash as if
I was reliving it moment by moment.

~June
1, 2005 Journal of E.M~

Today
was the worst day of my existence. It started when you were going to the
airport.
 
I soared beside the plane with
the wind in my wings, gliding effortlessly next to the window. I loved to fly. It’s
like no feeling on Earth. You looked adorable today in the dress your father
chose, I hoped your mother would treat you with kindness this trip, that woman
concerns me a great deal. You poor girl, you kept making trips to the restroom
and I suppose this altitude was problematic for you. Suddenly out of the corner
of my eye I spotted a yellow eyed evil one. He ripped and tore at the plane’s
wing I flew over to him and destroyed him. Then I saw dozens of them, they were
all over the plane slipping inside the engine compartment and wreaking their
havoc on its fuel lines. I killed as many of them as I could but then I heard
you cry out inside, you were in trouble and beyond frightened.
 
I noticed the ones I had destroyed had
already been renewed and this plane was inevitably going down. Why haven't my
people sent reinforcements? I thought.

     
You were still in the stall when I came
inside. The passengers were terrified and I felt horrible knowing that I could
only save one. I opened the door and found you there on the ground. It was the
first time you had ever seen me, you looked frightened of me, as if I could
harm you? I was able to gain your trust after a minute, and I wrapped my wings
around you as we plummeted to the ground.
 
The plane was engulfed in flames, smoke billowed in every direction, but
I stayed with you, blowing fresh air into your mouth until the fire was
contained. It was the first time I was able to ever physically touch you. You
were the most innocent and sweetest child God ever made despite what life had
given you to work with. “Brennen,” I called to you when I knew help was near, I
didn't want them to mistake you for one of the many bodies. You began to stir,
saying back to me “I'm here.” in the softest whisper I’d ever heard. I hugged you
one last time knowing it would be ages before I would ever touch you again. A
few of the demons still lingered outside the carnage, when they saw me emerge,
they darted off every which way but mine. I focused on one in particular and bestowed
him my wrath. ~

I heard the door click and looked up as I had read
his most recent entries regarding our time on the boat. He rushed to me eyeing
the book in my hands. His face was morbid and drained entirely of color. He
just stood there staring at me a long while, slowly but surely regaining his
composure.

     
“Thank
heaven you're alright. I was worried sick when I couldn't find you.” I stared
blankly at him wondering why he was taking this all so coolly. I mean I had
just confirmed the fact that he is not what or who he says he is, and from what
I have just read, I think I have just uncovered the biggest secret known to
man, but I am still processing exactly what that is.

“What do you have there?” he asks and I pull my head
back and look at him with disbelief.

“Apparently your daily journal from the last fifteen
years or so, give or take a decade.” His face is once again colorless and he
eyes me with suspicion. He looks down at the book and back at me. What on earth
is he thinking?
 

“Oh, did you find anything of interest?”

“Oh well the bit about, surrounding me with your
wings while my plane went down in flames was the highlight for me I think.” He
shakes his head no. He looks at me, disbelieving again.

“Brennen, it should not have been possible for you
to read this book,” he says slowly, as if he is still trying to process the
information.

“Well when you hide the key right under the drawer
like that, it makes it pretty easy,” I smirk. He still looks morbidly at me,
like I was just shot in the head.

“No I mean the text, it shouldn't even appear to you
and it's not even written in any human language, you couldn't possibly
understand it.” He looks again into my eyes begging for an answer I don't have.

“Okay, well I understood it, and I read it, and now
you are going to tell me out loud what you really are.” I stand up, feeling
very small in the chair all of a sudden.

“I don’t know what they would do to us!” Fury and
fear mingle his voice.

“Who are they?” I narrow my eyes and lean
forward.
 

“You can never know the truth Brennen, knowing would
be fatal.”

“Then kiss me so I can die happy.” He searches my
eyes franticly once again. His eyes finally settle as if his explanation is
imminent. He whispers in my ear.

“You looked so beautiful tonight, I felt jealous of
Sam. I was so worried about you; don't ever do that to me again.” I feel sorry
for making him worry.

     
“Tell me
Elijah,” I persist. I need to hear him say it before it can be real. He
hesitates. He walks away from me, and paces the floor rubbing the back of his
neck in contemplation. His muscles flexing in his arm as he does so. After what
feels like an eternity, he comes back to me and takes my hands in his. His
electric blue eyes are lit from within like some neon sign illuminating from
within a dark bar.

“It would be easier to show you.” His soft lashes
meet his cheek and his face appears serene. I hear a strange sound like an
umbrella opening and I witness a beautiful plume of snow white wings emerge
from behind him. He flexes his back and they fully extend to an impressive
expanse of at least ten feet. I suck in a breath and take a step back in awe of
his majesty and grandeur.

His eyes flutter open and he declares, “I am the
keeper of your soul. I have guarded you since you were a baby, and I will guard
you until your time here is through.” He pulls me into his chest. “And I love
you,” he says as if admitting it to himself for the first time out loud. And I
know without a doubt, that this is what love feels like, I don't know why I
even tried to fight the feelings I knew would never die for this man.

     
“I love
you too Elijah.” His blue eyes are dazzling, like stars on the water, he smiles
that beautiful smile that is able to melt my heart and then his smile withers
as quickly as it bloomed. His eyes turn down and a tear rolls down his cheek.
“What is it, what is wrong?” My stomach turns inside out; I know instinctually
that what he is about to say will be devastating. His eyes slowly rise to meet
mine and he places his hand behind my head. His brows are peaked with worry.

“Our love is forbidden. I have been ordered to keep
our relationship platonic.
 
I am not
allowed to physically show you any affection. I am not human Brennen. I have no
control over my body when it comes to direct orders. I can’t even kiss you
right now though I am desperate to.”
 

“So that day in the stairwell, that is what happened?”
He nods his head with his eyes worshiping the floor. I take everything in, gradually
trying to wrap my head around what I have read and what he has said. I marvel
in a jaw dropping stare at his full body length wings. He said he was the
keeper of my soul, what does that mean? Is he an angel then? He has no free
will. How does that work? He told me he loves me, which is not exactly keeping
our relationship platonic. So if I understand correctly, he can talk about his
feelings for me, but he can’t act on those feelings? I have to know more.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Yes,” he says with reserve.

“Are you an angel?”

“Yes.” His tone changes to proudly acknowledge his
lineage.
 

“So is it all true, the Bible, Heaven…
God?”

“It is all true.”

“Wait, you lied to me, if you can lie to me then
wouldn’t that make you one of the fallen angels talked about in the bible,
Satan is said to be the master of deception.”

“I have never lied to you.”

“You said you were in the CIA. Elijah.”
 
A wry smile grows on his face as he pulls his
wallet from his back pocket, presenting me with the badge once again.

“Look closely.”
 
I take it from his hands and examine it.
Atop the gold shield rest a dove not an eagle. CIA is in raised letters across
a blue banner. The United States is not recognized anywhere on the badge. I
look at the printed card next to the badge, it reads, Elijah Moran – Elite
Angel, his name and rank. Above his name and in fine print says, Cherubim
Infantry of Angels –C.I.A. How did I not notice that before? He had laid it all
out to me weeks ago and I was too hormone riddled to even read into his
explanation.

“I cannot tell a lie Brennen.”
 
I am still for a while, absorbing the
knowledge that without a doubt God is real. An angel is in love with me and I am
in love with him. I ponder the fact that our love is forbidden, and righteously
so. My thoughts move to the plane crash, all of their deaths, merely a plot to
kill me – no mind paid to the murder of hundreds of innocent bystanders.
Nothing is as it seems.

“What about your first comment, someone wants to
find out what I know concerning my father’s death?
 
Was his death at the hand of rebel militants,
human or demonic?”

“I can’t say for certain, as you know Lucifer is the
master of deception. They can make it look like it was a human encounter, as
they do most of the time.” It is all too much for me to bear. Rubbing my
forehead is futile, the pain is emotional not physical, but I do it
anyway.
 
Elijah walks into the kitchen,
his wings disappearing silently enough to cause me to look twice.
 

“Can I get you something?” he asks. The room is an
open concept so I watch him as he puts ice in the glass and fills it with
water. He takes a bottle of wine from the cooler and uncorks it. “Or perhaps
you would prefer to have a glass of wine.” Wine did sound nice.