Rise From Darkness (23 page)

“
Forras
will be so pleased.” The other demon added.

“Poor little Gaby. Did you figure out your daddy is missing? News flash. We’ve got him. And now we have you.”
Gremory’s
laughter made her want to pull the gun out and shoot him on the spot but she had to use restraint if she would make it close enough to get
Forras
and rescue her father.

They held tight to her upper arms and pulled her kicking and screaming, but it was for real this time. She tried to pull away and reach for the gun but she couldn’t free her arms. They were dragging her away from her father and deeper into the woods.

“You thought you knew
Forras
’ plan didn’t you? Such a naive little girl aren’t you.”
Gremory
reached behind her back and pulled the gun from her shorts. “I think I’ll take that for now.”

Both demons laughed as
Gremory
tossed the gun up in the air with his free hand. “So this is the famous gun your daddy had? Doesn’t look much to me.”

“Let me have it if you think it’s nothing.” Gaby struggled to free her arms.

“No, I think I’ll hold onto it for awhile.”

“You’re nothing more than a pet. A slave to
Forras
. A fool!” Gaby kicked at the dirt and fought but it was no use. They were too strong.

“You think you’re so smart.”
Gremory
snipped.

“Alexander’s the fool.”
Forras
’ voice cut through the night and through her heart.

Gremory
let her arm go as
Forras
walked up. His eyes glowed red as he grasped her cheeks with his clawed hands. “You’re so naive. Did you really think I didn’t know you would come for your father? I counted on it.” One of the claws dug deeper into her skin. The mark on her abdomen started to burn as his claw punctured her cheek.

“Now all I need is Alexander swooping in to rescue you all. He’ll be so distracted trying to save everyone himself he’ll run right into the sword.”

Forras
released her face. Her eyes stung with tears. He was right. Alexander would try to save them all.

Forras
looked to
Gremory
as he left. “Bury her alive.”

****

“We have to hurry.” Alexander handed the vial of Amethyst liquid to Boon as he exited the woods.

A wave of fear and horror welled up inside him. He stumbled from the grief. “Something’s wrong.”

Boon reached out to steady him.

Maybe it was a wave of his powers returning as he left the cursed land behind him. He stood for a moment waiting for his head to clear.

No. Something was wrong.

“I feel it too. Alexander I think everyone’s in trouble back home. I can fly faster than you. I can take this to Grace and join you—”

“Yes. Here take it. But when you’re done try to find Bruce. I think he’s in trouble too. I’ll help Gaby. Between all of us maybe we’ll have a chance.”

“What did
Herak
do to you? Are you really Alexander Lorre?” Boon studied him with a wicked grin.

“Yes. We’ll talk later. But for now, go my friend and save the woman you love.”

Alexander felt a
tinge
of heat in his cheeks.

Boon looked back at him, eyes wide. He accepted Alexander’s hand and smiled. “I take it you know.”

“Yes. And I’m sorry. Now spread your Raven-like wings and fly as fast as you can.”

“You’ve read too much Edgar Allen Poe.” Boon said as he pushed from the ground.

Alexander took a deep breath and took off. His wings released from confinement with a sigh of relief. How did
Herak
live so long in that place?

Boon was right. He could fly faster. There wasn’t a sign of him in the clear night air. Spreading his wings out farther Alexander hurried back home to find Gaby. The sight of her would bring such relief.

The wind caressed his feathers as he flapped vigilantly through the few clouds he encountered. This was as close to Heaven he could get. For now.

Crossing the ocean, land came in sight and he worked harder to bridge the gap between them.

A flash tore through his mind.

Dirt.

Gasping.

Gaby.

His wings folded without warning as he plunged toward earth.

The vision played over and over again. His heart pounded against his chest. The folded wings shook but wouldn’t extend. He gasped and fought to stay in the air but the solid lump in his chest was forcing him toward the ground.

The same lump that had caused him to fall the night of the crash. The weight that kept him from flying for a year.

No. He had to fly. Gaby was in trouble. Fighting to stay up he kicked and flailed his arms like a bird but still his wings were paralyzed with fear.

It was too late. He smashed against the ground with the force of a meteor. Dirt and mud flung up all around him. Arms and legs were twisted beneath him. He couldn’t move as the ground shook beneath him. But it wasn’t the physical pain of the impact that kept him from moving. It was the weight in his chest.

“Gaby.” The whisper barely left his lips and he tried to roll over. The dream he had was coming true and there was no way to stop it. No way to reach her in time.

He felt each struggled breath she took. Her nails clawed the inside of a box. Screams and moans of terror filled his head. The sound of dirt hitting the box in a rhythmic pattern sent chills through his body. They were connected somehow. Dreams, feelings, and physical pain they experienced together.

He rolled over onto his knees. There was nothing else he could do. Even if he could fly, there would be no way he could reach her in time. There was only one thing left to do. Let her go. Pray to God to take her quickly and painlessly.

Doubled over he brought his muddied hands to his face and clasped them together. His body convulsed with the thought of never seeing her again. Never holding her in his arms. Forever separated by the two worlds. Still, he had to save her the only way he could.

Alexander sobbed as he began. “Dear God.”

Chapter Twenty

Alexander looked up to Heaven and continued to pray. “Don’t let her suffer. Please take her home. I realize now that this was never in my hands. Only you can save her.

There was no way to reach her and hold her as she passed. Short choking breaths echoed in his mind. He cried out breathless as his chest constricted. Death was at her door. The connection between them would soon be severed forever.

“I would rather suffer for eternity than cause her further pain. P-please take her.” Collapsing to the ground, he continued to sob as he dug his hands into the mud.

It wasn’t mud. Soft dirt ran through his fingers. He opened his eyes to see the sand, twisted limbs of old trees, grass, and moss of Florida. The distinctive smell of the Florida ocean breeze mixed with pine sent his heart soaring. Never had it looked so beautiful.

The sand had been moved. It looked freshly packed beneath him.

He’d used an old angel power to travel between spaces. The power must’ve been granted back to him. It wasn’t too late. He could save her.

Sand exploded around him as he clawed the ground. “Hold on, Gaby. I’m here!”

The vivid dream of the graveyard came back to him as he dug. This had been foretold to him in a dream.

The sand spilled back in as he scraped it from the hole. There was only one choice. Concentrating all his energy, he punched down into the earth. His fingers stretched out in an attempt to feel something.

Anything.

Nothing but sand.

“Gaby.”

Two of his fingers raked across a rough hard edge. A root of a tree? A jolt of electricity raced through his body. Flexing his wrist, he grabbed hold and pulled. Still she remained trapped beneath the sand.

He released his hold and ran his hand down. It was a box. A makeshift wooden coffin.

His pulse hammered against his neck as he dug his other hand down gripping each side at one end. With his last ounce of energy, he yanked the box from the Earth.

Ripping the lid off, he snatched her out into his arms.

Sand cascaded from her face. Ropes bound her wrists. Hair gray from dirt, face white as the moon, but she breathed.

“Gaby? I’m here my love. I’m here.” Brushing hair and sand away, he embraced her. “Thank God.” He whispered.

He scanned her dirty clothes for wounds but found little blood. They’d bound her wrists and buried her alive.

As his head lifted, their eyes connected for the first time. Hers had changed. Death danced across her pupils. Her eyes were black as night. She’d experienced the after-life. If just for a moment.

She sat frozen in his arms. Pupils fixed. “Gaby.” He swept her face with butterfly kisses. The gritty taste of dirt and salt brushed his lips and tongue. “Please, be okay. I love you with every breath of my being.”

He continued to stroke the coarse sand from her hair as he rocked. Pulling tighter he yelled into the night, “Death, release her! I command it!”

Power surged through him. Pressing his lips to her forehead, he concentrated on the darkness. With every current of energy leaving his body, the darkness faded. Yet her eyes remained a black hole.

“Listen to me.” Alexander took her face in his hands. Soft droplets of sweat fell from her hairline onto his skin. “Fight, Gaby. I can only do so much. You are stuck between two worlds, baby. Don’t let death win. Rise from the darkness and you will be in my arms once again or go home to Heaven. Just don’t stay with death.”

Alexander continued to rock as they sat below the moss covered old oak trees. “I love you more than all the stars in the sky, but please, go home if you must.”

A silver spark shone in the center of her eyes. “Yes, Gaby. Fight.”

Silver spread from the center with a wave of blue behind. Almost the natural color of her eyes. Alexander’s heart pounded against his chest, tears smeared his vision.

“A-Alex—” Gaby rasped.

“Yes, baby. It’s me. I’m h—”

Something grabbed Alexander from behind. He flew backward across the sand and slammed against a tree. Gaby ripped from his arms and landed against a tree root.

“Well,
ain’t
that touching?”
Forras
snarled. “You think you’ve put a wrench in my plans but don’t worry. There’s more to this show.”

Forras
raised an ashen deep-lined clawed hand overhead.
Gremory
and several other demons stepped out from behind the trees intermittently dispersed around the graveyard. Each one displayed a different menacing look, some with horns, and others with tails, but all full of evil.

“I’m not sure how you got past them, but I’ve got you now.”

Anger welled up at the sight of them. But Alexander stayed it. He bit his tongue sending a trickle of iron tasting liquid down the back of his throat. There wasn’t a chance he’d win a fight against all of them while protecting Gaby. Not even with his renewed powers. There had to be another way.

The demons stepped closer as
Forras
ran his claw down Gaby’s jaw line. His four dark horns glistened in the moonlight, a set of two on each side of his head. Skin resembling old worn leather hovered over blood orange eyes. A beak nose hung over sharp extended fangs, peering from hard lips. Alexander choked down a rancid taste but remained calm.

“What’s wrong? Alexander doesn’t want to play?”

Forras
pulled Gaby’s face to his and planted a kiss. Gaby squirmed under him.

Unable to subdue himself any longer, Alexander leapt across several graves and slammed into the side of
Forras
.

“That’s better. Now let’s have some fun.”
Forras
smirked.