Chapter 30
I shift in quietly, focusing on Sam, but aiming for behind the staircase. As long as Jonathan isn’t searching out my energy signature, he shouldn’t notice I’m there until I’m ready to reveal myself. I want to get a look at Sam, see what condition he’s in, and what they’re doing to him before I make a move. It will do neither of us any good if I go rampaging in there without a plan.
Fortunately, I land just where I intend, and carefully peek out from behind the staircase just enough to see Sam, looking much as I saw him in the vision with the elders. In addition to the diamond chains I saw around his wrists, there is also a set around his ankles. The power in the gems are blocking his powers so he can’t shift out of here. Unfortunately, the power blocking ability of diamonds only works if they are actually touching the angel, or we would have surrounded the entire town with them. There are some Nature Angels among us who could have easily procured a vast supply.
An angel I immediately recognize as Jasper approaches Sam with a cup of water and lets him drink. Jasper is wearing thick black gloves that have the glow of power emanating from them. They must be to protect him from being weakened by the diamonds, should he accidentally touch one.
Jasper moves away from Sam as quickly as he came, and goes to lean against the opposite wall. I suppose he’s Sam’s current guard. Of course Jonathan would give his main generals the task of keeping such an important prisoner secure. I’ve no doubt Jasper and Daniel are both here and have been taking turns.
Other than looking exhausted, Sam seems remarkably unharmed. He might have been tortured many times in the week he’s been here, but he would heal quickly, as any angel. That’s an actual bodily process they possess, and not a real power, such as healing other people. However, just because he heals quickly doesn’t mean I don’t need to get him out of here ASAP. Plus, as I saw with his broken wing bone after his initial fight with Jonathan, the more exhausted he becomes, the longer it will start taking him to heal.
He needs to know I’m here. I don’t want him to think I’ve abandoned him.
“Sam, it’s me,” I send the message out telepathically, hoping he gets it. Angels aren’t telepathic the way I am, but if I’m the one sending the message, putting it in his head, maybe he’ll hear it. “I’m here, behind the staircase. I’m going to rescue you.”
He darts his eyes quickly in my direction, then immediately sets them looking straight ahead again. Excellent! He did get the message, and doesn’t want to draw Jasper’s attention to me.
Then, I get a message of my own. He’s not sending it out on a telepathic wavelength, because he can’t, but he’s thinking it, knowing I can read minds.
“Get out of here, Lucy,” his thoughts come to me rather frantically. “Stay away. It’s a trap.”
Of course it’s a trap. Jonathan wants to draw me out. I knew that before I came here. It’s not enough to keep me away. Nothing is enough to stop me from rescuing Sam. I send him another message telling him so.
It would be easy for me to dispatch Jasper, take Sam, and leave. But Jonathan knows where we would go. We can’t even stay hidden here, not just because our people need us, but because Jonathan can get back in here on his own now that he’s been here once. He’ll find us wherever we go, so I want to meet with him face to face and settle this once and for all. If that means fighting him myself, so be it. This is my territory. It’s designed to work in my favor. I’m reasonably sure I can take Jonathan here. The only issue is keeping Sam safe while I do it.
Before I can relay this message to Sam, Jonathan appears, materializing in my house as if he were teleporting anywhere else in the universe. Trespasser!
He immediately walks over to Sam. “I’ll offer you one more chance to join me,” he says slowly, walking from one side of Sam to the other, like a cat stalking its prey.
“Leave me alone or kill me, Jonathan,” Sam says, disinterest dripping from his voice, calculated perfectly to enrage his foe.
I can hear Sam thinking. “What is he going to do to me that’s really going to matter, Lucy? If he kills me, we’ll be reunited in every future life we lead, and then forever in heaven. If he keeps me prisoner, there’s a chance I may escape and get back to you on Earth, which is where you should go right now. Either way, we will be together in good time. He can’t keep us apart forever. It doesn’t work that way with soulmates.”
“Do you really want to be so obstinate?” Jonathan asks rather pleasantly, oblivious to our mental conversation. He’s turning on the charm, but it isn’t going to work on Sam. “You are a strong, powerful, and well-respected angel in these parts. A king! We could accomplish so much together. Our partnership could be mutually beneficial in so many ways. All you have to do is convince your human to work with me. Do that, and you can have anything you desire. I’ll set you both up as rulers of Earth, or this entire galaxy if you like. You can have the fealty of quadrillions of life forms and be with your true love at all times, except when I need her to help me conquer stubborn civilizations. You’d be safe, and so would your families. Doesn’t that sound nice?”
“It does sound nice,” Sam thinks silently, knowing I’ll hear it. “The part about always being with you and our families being safe, I mean. I have no desire to rule anything but my own kingdom of Earth Angels, which was always mine by birthright. Working with this repugnant creature to get any of it, though…well, that isn’t happening. I know you feel the same way. It would be betraying everything I am as an angel, as well as all the angels and seers who depend on me and look to me for leadership.”
Not having anything to say out loud to Jonathan, he remains silent and turns his head, refusing to deign to even look at his enemy. His entire expression says his royal eyes are offended by the sight of such rubbish.
Jonathan groans dramatically, as if Sam is pushing him to do terrible things he would prefer not to do. I know it’s all an act.
“Nothing to say, Sam? I was afraid you would continue to be stubborn. You’ve always been so self-righteous, such a do-gooder. Basically a real thorn in my side. Tracking you down has kept me from getting on with the business of conquering the Earth and moving on to more planets. Allowing your defiance of me in our first fight won’t do in the eyes of my followers. I would have killed you in the second battle on Earth if I hadn’t seen what your woman can do. She’s the only reason you’re still alive, you know.”
Sam refuses to say anything about me.
“Well, you’ve forced my hand, Sam. This could have been so easy if you would only agree to accept me as your leader. Now, we have to go the ugly route.”
Sam still refuses to speak to him, but he does turn back to face him, raising his eyes in question. I know he can’t help it. Like me, he has an idea of what Jonathan is going to do, but needs to hear him say it.
“I’ve sent Daniel to your little military camp on Earth with a note to give to your people. They are to either give us Lucy, or she is to surrender herself and come work for me, or I will begin to torture you. Then, if she waits too long, I will kill you as I should have done long ago. And after that, I’ll come down there with my army, and we’ll kill all of them.”
I’ve heard enough. The time has come for me to do something. But the fierce thoughts emanating from Sam give me pause. They’re directed at Jonathan this time, not me, even though Jonathan can’t hear them.
“Jonathan, you smug, tricky bastard. I don’t care what you do to me, but I won’t let you bring Lucy any pain, and killing me would cause her pain. I hate you, more than I ever thought it possible to hate anyone. Angels are bred for love, and though we are capable of experiencing hate, I’ve never experienced it. I do now. I hate you so much, I would rip you apart with my bare hands if I wasn’t bound in diamonds. Just let me out of these chains, Jonathan. You’ll see what I’m truly capable of doing. I’m not the same angel you fought all those months ago. I will end you if given a chance. Show me just how brave and powerful you are and unchain me. We’ll see
who wins. I don’t even need a weapon.”
A shudder runs through me involuntarily. I absolutely believe him. Those thoughts were made of pure ice.
Jonathan leans in close and stares into Sam’s eyes. His are almost black now, no longer angel blue with the light of goodness inside them, but dark with his increasing evil, little reddish-orange streaks crackling through the black here and there. The sight of it makes me nauseous. He can no longer realistically be called an angel, though he might have all the outward trappings and powers of one. No. Jonathan is an abomination.
“So, I see that got to you, though you don’t speak,” Jonathan says, tauntingly. “You may be defiant now, and so may Lucy, but we’ll see how long you both hold out before giving in when the torture begins.”
That’s it. I’ve heard enough. I shift out, then shift back in right behind him.
“Yes,” I say, slyly, “let’s see. I’m curious to know how that will go.”
Jonathan spins around, surprise and horror plastered on his face in a strange mix of confused realization.
I raise my purloined starstone blade in my hand, the one I took from Josiah, my eyes blazing with fury.
The future of the Earth, and maybe even the universe, is about to be decided in this mansion.