Redemption (34 page)

“Yeah,” Bryan settled in, making himself more comfortable, “he mentioned something about guarding hearts and emotions.”

“Pay attention,” Mel commanded. “You have no time to waste. Your role is not secure, based on your involvement with Mara and your indecision regarding the Maker. You have to pick, Bryan. You have to decide.”

For someone so generally mellow, Mel could be a fairly intense guy when he wanted to be. Bryan took a deep breath and let it out. “Decide what?”

“Do you want redemption or not?”

No one is beyond redemption, Bryan.
A voice in the breeze whispered to him.

This was his chance, his one, final chance.

“I want it. Tell me what to do,” he answered.

“By admitting that, you’ve taken the first step,” Mel replied. “She will help you take the rest.”

“She. You mean Cassidy.” Just saying her name made Bryan’s heart ache to be near her. He wondered where she was, what she was doing, if she was thinking of him, too.

The angel smiled knowingly, and, waving his hand through the air again, conjured Cassidy’s image. She sat on her bed talking to Luscid and was worried or frightened or both. She looked so real that Bryan reached for her, for one touch, to comfort her, to take her pain. As his fingers connected with what should be her skin, both she and Luscid evaporated into vapor, blowing out to sea. Watching Cassidy vanish soured Bryan’s mood.

“So, how long am I here?” he asked, suddenly wanting to get out of his head and back to reality.

“Just a while longer,” Mel began. “You need to regain a bit more of your strength to be able to fend off the demon. I’ll send you back before you’re needed.”

“Needed?”

The angel nodded. “Cassidy will be coming.”

Bryan was on his feet in seconds. “Send me back now!”

Mel’s eyes glowed faintly. “Doing so will accomplish nothing. Wait for her. When the time is right, the Maker will awaken you, Bryan.”

He could picture what was going to happen. He’d stay in this sleep stasis until Cassidy arrived, got her butt kicked, and then wake up to see Mara finish her off.

Yeah, not if he could help it.

“Waiting doesn’t exactly work for me,” Bryan grumbled. “I’m not going to sit on the sidelines and let Cassidy or anyone else fight my battles. Send me back, Mel. Now.”

“Sit down, Bryan,” the angel said, sighing. “You’re not going anywhere until He decides it’s time.”

Historically, Bryan had never done well with being told what to do. His parents, his teachers, former bosses...they’d all attest to this fact. Now he was being given orders by an angel with lavender eyes. Although none of this sat well with him, he reluctantly did as he was told.

“Promise me she will not be hurt,” he demanded, the muscles in his jaw tense.

Mel looked out across the ocean as if weighing his words carefully before answering. “I can’t promise you anything other than this - the Maker is in control, and He has only good in His plan for you.”

“Track record proves different,” Bryan remarked and turned his head to face the water. He was stuck here, he wanted to get back to Cassidy, and he wouldn’t buy this “good plan” deal until he saw that she was safe. No plan for Bryan’s life could be remotely good if it ended in anything happening to her.

 

Cassidy crossed her arms and waited. “Well, Lu?”

“You can see them,” he explained. “The demons. You’ve always seen angels, and since the accident you’ve been able to see the demons as well.”

“You said that before, but I don’t think you’re right,” Cassidy protested. “I don’t ever remember seeing anything that looked like a...demon.”

“You’ve managed to turn it off at times, but you have. So many, many times, you have seen them.” Luscid nodded. “I am right, and this is what makes you so dangerous to them, Cass. They do not want to be seen.”

“So I can see them, what does that even mean?” she asked, frowning.

“I means that you can resist them. You can march right in, push them back, and take whatever or whoever they have.”

She was clearly struggling with this information. “Push them back?”

“It’s Mel, the power that he left in you. He is the keeper of the peace of God. Are you understanding what that means?”

“His power comes directly from God, doesn’t it.” Pieces were coming together for her. Whatever Mel had left within her hadn’t just come from himself. It had come directly from God. Cassidy swallowed hard. “What am I?”

“You are the Sandals, Cass. Just like you were born to be. And right now, we need you to be the person He created you to be. We need you to do what He’s gifted you to do.”

Luscid didn’t like putting her in this position. It was his job to protect her, not send her straight into a nest of demons. He stood and walked back to the window. Snow fell even harder now, making it difficult to see. The Dreamer’s vision had been right in every detail, as he’d known it would be. It was just that something about the demon in the dream tugged at him. Mara had been given six months to eliminate or recruit Bryan. Yet all she’d really done, other than unravel him and twist him up inside, was play house with him. Why hadn’t she finished the job? What was she waiting for?

And why had she allowed him to return
here,
to the safety of the Circle?

“She loves him,” Luscid said aloud, his voice barely audible. From the beginning she’d been fluctuating between her duty and her desire. He turned his face upward as if waiting for confirmation. He could feel the answer wash over him, reaffirming what he’d just said. Luscid closed his eyes.

This changed everything.

“Are you talking about me or Miranda?” Cassidy asked.

Luscid faced her and shook his head. “Mara. She hasn’t finished the job because on some level, she doesn’t want to. It’s why she let him come back here. She feels something for Bryan, and that makes her even more dangerous.”

“Why? Can’t we use that?” Cassidy was confused. Who was Mara, and love should be a good thing, right?

“No,” he answered shaking his head. “Mara is a
demon,
Cass. She hasn’t felt any real emotion for longer than you can comprehend. This must be driving her mad. She won’t know what to do with feeling something again.”

Cassidy stood and walked over to Luscid. “Take me to Bryan,” she said.

He wrapped his arms around her, flashed from the room, and in seconds they were soaring through the air. Cassidy had never flown with Luscid before, but right now she didn’t have a chance to focus on how incredible this might be. Every thought was of Bryan. She had no idea what she was supposed to do once they got to him, or how she was supposed to break through these wards, whatever they were. But if Luscid and the others believed she could help, she’d do anything they asked.

This was for Bryan.

 

When they arrived at the hotel, Luscid bypassed the clerks by flashing Cassidy inside. Bastion and the others were gathered outside the room, looking very angry and impatient. Every angel had eyes that illuminated the halls. If Cassidy hadn’t grown so accustomed to the sight, it would’ve terrified her. Whoever came up with the stereotype of passive, robe-wearing angels never saw a real one.

“Cassidy, thank you,” Bastion said.

“Don’t thank me yet,” she began. “I haven’t actually done anything.”

Bastion took her hand in his and closed her fingers over a smooth stone. “You’re here. That will be enough.”

She opened her hand, and it was the same stone she remembered seeing in the pendant Bastion had given her for Bryan to wear. She frowned. “I take it he didn’t wear this.”

He shook his head. “It wasn’t on him when she grabbed him. When you get in there and to him, put it in his pocket. Having it on him will create a barrier to her power. When the wards are fully down, we can flash inside.”

Cassidy nodded and took a deep breath. “Okay.”

A tall, blonde angel stepped forward. “Cassidy, we believe in you and know that you can do this. Move the stones that Mara has placed at the entry. We will do the rest.”

“I will.” She lifted her hand and knocked on the door. “Here goes.”

And with that, the angels vanished.

M
ara leaned over Bryan’s body and shook him. She couldn’t make him wake up. She couldn’t break through whatever power kept him from her. Mara hung her head and sighed, both weary and frustrated. Whatever had Bryan was too strong for her, and that could mean only one thing.

“The Maker,” she said aloud, frowning.

“Well, you’ve made a fine mess of things, haven’t you, Love?” a deep voice spoke from across the room.

“Rhys.” Mara gritted her teeth. “I suppose now I’m supposed to be able to stop the Maker? You’re able to do this, are you?”

He made a
tsk, tsk
sound with his tongue and shook a finger at her. Rhys strolled toward Mara, slow and predatory in his movements. “If I desired.” He stopped directly behind her, wound a fistful of her hair around his hand, and yanked it hard enough to pull her up from the floor. “Stupid, stupid move, Mara.” He snapped his jaw shut with a loud click of his sharpened teeth.

Rhys’s mouth was inches from her ear. His breath was hot against her skin. Mara knew what was coming; he wasn’t here to taunt or mock her this time. There were no more chances for her. Rhys had come to destroy. But he liked to play first, drag it out with a little torment and torture. She would find her window there, and that would be her only hope of escape - distract him enough to make a run for it before he finished her off. Her eyes glanced down to where Bryan still lay. Would she be able to move fast enough to escape with him? Mara took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

Doubtful, but she would try.

“What are you thinking inside that beautiful head of yours, Pet?” Rhys asked. He turned her so their faces were inches apart and caressed her cheek with one hand. He frowned. “It will be a shame to destroy something so pleasurable. But a deal’s a deal. This is just business, after all.” He shrugged and raised his other hand in the air, poised to deliver the first strike of many.

There was no time for words. Mara grabbed both sides of Rhys’s face and pulled him into a kiss. She felt him resist, his hand still high in the air. Slowly, as she pressed herself more firmly into his body, she felt him soften and return her kiss. He lowered his hand, pressing it against her back and pulling her against him even more tightly. Mara responded by smiling against his mouth and kissing him even harder. She could keep him busy while she thought of a way to escape. She knew exactly what he liked, what he’d want, and she would use this against him. It was the only weapon she had.

A knock at the door surprised them both, and Rhys pulled back, keeping one of Mara’s arms held firmly in his grasp. “Expecting someone?” he asked.

“No,” she answered, shaking her head. “It must be one of the mortals who works here.”

“Answer it,” Rhys demanded and pushed her toward the door. “And if you get a notion to flash out of here, remember that I have your precious pet.”

Mara glanced behind her to see Rhys leaning over Bryan. His knife was drawn and pressed against Bryan’s neck. He grinned wickedly.

“The Maker can’t keep him like this forever, Mara. You leave, and when he awakens, I will slice him open and coat this room with his blood,” he continued.

Mara narrowed her eyes, hoping her voice would not betray her and reveal the fury and panic she felt. “I am perfectly aware of what you will do, Rhys. There’s no need for the theatrics. Put the knife away.”

She unlocked the door and slowly opened it, taking care to shield Bryan’s body as she did so. Mara had no desire to explain anything to a mortal, neither did she feel like staining the carpet with one. All she wanted was to get Bryan away from Rhys. She could also be walking right into a trick. It could be Bastion or one of his annoying friends. There was simply too much going on.

“Well,” Mara began, arching a brow, “this I did not expect.”