chapter 28
Nikki was caught up on wings of eagles and carried to a hillside. Below her, steps led to a meadow, where colors as vibrant as oil paints fresh from the tube surrounded her, making her feel like she’d stepped into a living masterpiece.
And the pain. The pain was gone. She glanced down at her clothing, pristine, as if the nightmare at Vessler’s laboratory had never happened. But it did happen. It was as real as … the landscape she now saw.
This couldn’t be earth. Her gaze fell to flowers that seemed to smile as she glanced their way. Far off, she could see a city, its glory shining like a diamond in a field of emerald grass.
“Is it beautiful?”
The deep voice neither frightened nor surprised her. When she looked at him, her breath caught. He was the most perfect man she’d ever seen. Pure devotion seeped from a gaze so deep, she thought she could stare forever and not understand the depths of his adoration.
“Beyond imagination,” she said. “Are you …” But she knew. No human alive emanated such love. Such life.
A sash crossed from his collarbone to his hip and shone like diamonds. Then he smiled, and the entire realm seemed to swell with grandeur as if his very pulse gave life to the world around her.
She drew a breath of pure oxygen. So clean and clear, it cooled like mint as it permeated her lungs. It felt so good to breathe. She stretched, allowing her shoulder blades to expand. Nothing hampered their movement. And she felt no wings.
He gestured to the road and took a step. “Walk with me, Nikki.”
Her feet answered with movement before her mind responded. A feeling of peace rose with each footfall. She had no wings, but right now, wings didn’t matter.
His eyes were like mountain glaciers as he observed her. “That is the city of my Father. Do you know of it?”
The first sparks of panic set in. Vegan had told her something about the city of God, about Halflings never being able to enter it.
His smile melted her tension, and when he locked his hands behind his back and continued to walk, she continued too. “That is my Father’s kingdom. But my kingdom is my people.” Again, he stopped. “Do you understand?”
“Yes,” she answered, wondering where this clarity of thought came from. Fear quickly replaced comfort. “Humans,” she whispered. “You’re kingdom is the humans.”
Which she wasn’t.
“My heart beats for mankind. I love them beyond comprehension. I died for them.”
She drew in a slow breath, then another, but her heart kept speeding. She wasn’t a human.
She hadn’t been granted his love.
And she wouldn’t be able to enter the city. Her hands started to sweat and her mind spun. He wouldn’t bring her here — allow her to experience his beauty, his glory only to send her to hell. Would he?
“Peace,” he whispered. His breath, the breath of life, blew across her face, erasing the panic.
Nikki had never felt more loved.
“Halflings have captured my heart,” he said simply. “Will, he has been a good caregiver?”
“The Lost Boys’ devotion to him and his to them humbles me,” she said.
“And are you pleased that you were in his charge?”
Were. Everything in past tense. She was undoubtedly dead. “Yes.”
“What may I grant you while we’re here talking?”
“Uh.” She stumbled over words. Her mind raced. What should she ask for? Something for Mace? To feel her wings one last time? But with her brain reeling, the only person she seemed able to concentrate on was Will, her caregiver. “There is something,” she said, tentatively.
He waited for her answer, those eyes of peace coaxing her to continue.
“I know that Will was once a great general in your army. And I know he was demoted to being a caregiver for Halflings.”
“Yes, this is so.”
“I would like you to restore his place of honor.”
He stopped and turned to face her. “Of all the things you could ask? And all that is in my power to give? You ask this?”
She swallowed. “Yes.”
“Though your life hangs in the balance, you ask for forgiveness for another?”
Mace rushed to her mind. She’d never see him again. Pain followed a tear down her cheek, but she stood firm. “Yes.”
His smile lit the sky, chasing her anguish away. A hand fell gently to her shoulder. “Daughter of man, Will was restored to his position long ago. When offered the army, he chose you. He chose to serve Halflings rather than lead angels. And his decision is pleasing to me.”
Nikki nodded slowly, and wondered if she’d ever comprehend this new world she’d been thrust into, its every element at war with the principles she’d grown up with. Yet with each passing moment, understanding flooded her.
“Will’s current position is more vital than any he’s held. As I said, it pleases me. And so does your sacrifice to mankind and Halflings. It will be rewarded.”
Rewarded? She didn’t know what that could mean. And all she really wanted to know right now was where would she spend eternity?
“And now you wonder what will become of you.” He held a hand up. “Do you hear that?”
She listened until the faintest of sounds touched her ears. “It sounds like … Mace.”
“Yes. He’s praying for you. I must admit, his persistence is commendable.”
Mace was praying for her. Which meant he still thought she was alive. Her heart broke for him.
Mace would have to continue his immortal life without her.
Through the blinding tears and pain in his chest, Mace ran the halls of the Omega lab. At the far end of the longest tunnel, he spotted Raven. He skidded to a stop just as he turned. Their eyes met across the distance, and he realized Raven knew. The bag Raven carried dropped to the floor, and he ran to Mace, who now sagged against the wall. Strength came in spurts, as one second he was determined to find her and get her out, the next overwhelmed by the fact he’d never again hear her laugh, see her smile.
“What is it?” A midnight-blue gaze searched his face.
Mace stared back, but could only shake his head. Seeing Raven brought the last year flowing back. Moments with Nikki streamed through his mind.
“Is it Nikki?”
Mace’s chest became tight. “She’s gone. She’s dead.”
Raven collapsed into him. In the deadening silence, they gripped each other’s arms. Raven’s voice wavered as he half whispered, “I thought something had happened, but … No.”
“She’s gone, Raven.” Mace needed to say it. Hear it. Even though he couldn’t believe it.
Raven clung to him, hands squeezing his forearms as his head shook violently. And Mace held him, knowing this is the closest they would come to an embrace, but yet it was enough. They strengthened one another. Somehow, Mace had to make it through this for Raven, and he’d need Raven now more than ever.
A prayer started, without solicitation, in the depth of Mace’s mind. He heard himself crying out to God. “Please don’t take her. She belongs here. With me.” Over and over, his mind begged for Nikki to live. Though she was gone, he had no way of stopping the voice that pleaded for her life.
“Raven.” Mace shook him. “I need your help. You know the lab. I can’t leave her with these butchers. I need to find her … body.”
Raven swallowed and nodded. One hand released Mace’s arm to swipe away the tears. “I know where she might be. You go to the front of the building and work your way back, I’ll start here.”
“If you know where she might be, let’s go there.”
“It’s just a guess, and we need to hurry.”
“Why? Most of the Omega employees fled after that explosion.” As he spoke, he noticed a shift in Raven’s posture.
“The explosion was no accident — the whole building is wired to blow. Mace, we have about two minutes to find her and get her out.”
“Raven, what did you do? The authorities are on the way. They’re going to search the building for evidence to put Vessler away.”
“You can yell at me about this later. Right now, we have to find Nikki.” He looked at his watch. “We’ve only got a minute and forty-five seconds. Go!” He shoved Mace and ran toward the back of the lab.
Mace stumbled toward the front, scanning rooms as he went. Time was running low, and he began to wonder if they’d find her. But then he heard Raven yelling for him. Mace bolted to the main aisle. His legs gave way beneath him when he arrived, forcing him to cling to a door frame.
Nikki’s lifeless body was draped in Raven’s arms.
No, no, no. God, please. Her hair swayed with each pounding step, the only sign of life left in her body. She was pale, and when Raven stopped at Mace’s feet, he held her out to him. “Take her. You should carry her out.”
He thought she’d be heavier, but compared to the sorrow he bore, she felt like nothing in his grasp. For a moment, he cradled her. “I’m so sorry I failed you, Nikki.” Mace brushed strands away from her face. He sucked in a breath when he saw her brutally damaged skin. His grip tightened, a poor attempt to protect her from what she’d already suffered.
“Mace, go. I’m right behind you.”
He tried to turn, but his legs were concrete.
“Mace, go!” This time, Raven turned him toward the front door. Just thirty feet away. Raven shoved him. “Go. We’re almost out of time.”
Somehow Mace’s legs began to move, and soon he was racing to the door. Once they made it through, Mace turned to point Raven to the tree-lined parking lot … but he didn’t see Raven. He spun completely around, his eyes skimming past Winter, Glimmer, and Vine, who had rushed toward him. “Where’d he go?”
Glimmer was shaking her head, mouth covering her face as she stared at Nikki. Mace shifted his focus to Winter. “Where’s Raven?”
It took her a moment to answer. “He hasn’t come out.”
“Vine!” Mace dropped Nikki in the younger boy’s arms. “Don’t let anyone back in. The place is loaded with explosives.” He turned and bolted for the lab door; his foot cleared the threshold just as a blast hit him like a cannonball to the chest and threw him backward to the ground. A giant fireball erupted from the door and spewed over his head. For a moment, he thought the incinerating heat might melt his skin. Around him, screams rent the air and pandemonium broke out, people running in all directions. Before him, the lab was a hallowed cave of smoke, flames, and debris.
Mace crawled over the shards of glass that littered the area, his eyes fixed on the burning doorway. Raven was still inside. He’d lost his soul mate and his brother in the same day.
Smoke billowed over Mace’s face, enveloping him in its darkness. His only thought a futile prayer running through his head. “No. Please. I can’t lose them.”
There was noise behind him. An irritating one calling his name, pulling him from the blackness. Mace fought it. This new darkness was beautifully simple. But the sound kept tugging him. First a request, then an order. He wished whomever it was would stop and let him enjoy the dark, inky sea he was sinking into, but then he recognized the voice.
The next voice was Winter’s. “Mace, it’s Nikki. She needs you.”
Sheer will caused him to drag his eyes open and reject the dark he had wanted to succumb to. Vine and the others were there, and through the noise and the haze they helped him stand and stumble to the spot where Nikki’s body lay. People parted as he neared her. Her pale form looked asleep there on the green grass, almost like she was waiting on a kiss to awaken her. But Nikki was gone. And even though he knew — had begun to accept—still, his mind continued to pray.
Many were standing around him as he knelt to her, and he could barely stand entering an atmosphere so heavy with sadness. Someone had arranged her hair so it framed her face perfectly. A tremor, small but noticeable, made its way through the crowd that had all but closed the two of them in. Mace took Nikki’s hand in his. He bent forward and put his head on her stomach. And one more time, he prayed.
He couldn’t stop himself; his spirit was determined. He’d pray every minute of every hour of every day of every year if that’s what he had to do to survive in a world without Nikki.
Someone gave his hand the lightest of squeezes. A collective gasp exhaled from the crowd. Someone whispered “Stop,” and his head moved against Nikki’s stomach again. But he didn’t remember moving an inch. Mace shot to his knees and stared down at her open eyes.
“Stop praying, Mace. I’m here,” Nikki whispered.
Everything went black around him. Someone — Vine? — caught him by the shoulders and held him fast while he tried to breathe.
He blinked away the haze, looked down at his hand locked in hers. She squeezed, little more than a tremor, but she did indeed move. Mace stared at her hard. Am I hallucinating? Am I just seeing what I want to be true? Then came her voice, a little stronger in tone.
“I was with him. It was beautiful. We walked by the River of Life and I drank. He took my hand. You know what he said?”
Mace couldn’t speak. Alive … she was really alive. Vine bumped his shoulder. And he remembered she’d asked him a question. He shook his head, the only response he could manage.
Nikki moved, which caused her to wince. “He said, ‘You can’t stay here.’ And I was frightened, because I knew Halflings weren’t promised heaven. But he told me that wasn’t why. I couldn’t stay because you, Mace, wouldn’t let me.”
And then Nikki passed out.
Nikki awakened to unfamiliar smells and the sound of someone shuffling across the room. She tried to focus.
“Mace!” someone hollered. A familiar voice. Lilting and beautiful. Vegan.
Mace appeared at Nikki’s bedside and snapped his wings closed. He dropped to his knees and kissed her hands, her hair, her face. For a moment, she thought she was dreaming. But his feathery touch seemed so real.
“Where am I?” she whispered. The words were a gruff croak through a sand-dry throat. A horrid contrast to the perfect angel kneeling beside her.
“In my arms,” he said, scooping her off the bed and onto his lap. “That’s all that matters.”
She tucked her head against his chest in the safe circle of his arms. He surrounded her so completely, so fully, it left no room for fear. He dipped a finger beneath her chin, and she realized his breaths were as ragged as her own.
Still weak, she glanced around the room, struggling for equilibrium. Giant rock walls, tall windows, and a wide wooden door. Viennesse.
“We’re in Europe. You’ve been unconscious for three days.”
“I was in … I saw …” The lab, Vessler, the cage rushed to her mind. “Zero?”
“Shh.” Mace nuzzled her closer. “He’s fine. Cranky as ever though. Right now he’s downstairs with Dr. Spong fighting about where to set up the new computers.”
“New computers?” she echoed.
“Didn’t you hear? Zero runs the network.” Mace smiled, bright cerulean eyes sparkling and filled to their depths with love. “He said you called him a girl.” But even as he spoke, he pulled her closer, as if to integrate their bodies so there’d be no distinction where one ended and the other began.
She supposed three days was a long time to watch your perfect match fight to survive. When she smiled, her lips cracked, and she winced. “Think I may need some lip balm.”
“No,” Mace corrected. “I’ve been waiting for days to kiss away your boo-boos.”
She tilted her head back, letting it fall against his shoulder. “Did you hear me tell Krissy you’d done that? That was forever ago, Mace.” Not long after the beginning of this journey, shortly after her hands had been burned in the laboratory fire the night they’d confiscated a computer. A computer containing a file with Nikki’s name on it, with the words Genesis Project. If only they’d know then it was a clue she was Vessler’s prized creation.
“Yes, I heard you talking to Krissy that day. And I couldn’t think of anything else afterward.”
“That’s a terrible waste of your time,” she teased. His chest pressed against her, his scent wafting over her. Hints of soap from a recent shower, the cotton of his shirt, that faint tinge of spearmint all invaded her senses as he dipped closer to her mouth.
“And why was it a waste of my time?” His hand roamed over her shoulder, down her spine, and flattened against her back.
“Because you don’t need an excuse.” Her hands circled his neck, fingers sifting through his dark-blond hair. Nikki’s lips met his. They were warm, moist, filled with anticipation and want, and a hint of sugar cookies. But mostly the promise of peace.
They were interrupted by a flock of Halflings, some materializing in the room with loud snapping wings, some opting for the more conventional method of running through the large door. “Wow,” she said to the huge group. “You guys move fast.”
Zero grinned. “All our ancestral homes were built with rooms large enough to leap in and out. It’s good practice while we’re training.”
“Whoa, whoa,” an unfamiliar voice hollered. She heard a crash at the window. Half in, half out, giant wings and one arm clung to the sill.
Mace shot a disgruntled look toward the window and shook his head. “That’s Crash.”
Two Halflings grabbed the arm and tugged him inside.
“Hoo-wee!” Crash said in a thick southern accent. “Y’all see that?” He leaned out the window and almost fell, clambering for the sill again. Somehow, his wings got tangled in the drape. He smacked at the thick cloth until he noticed every set of eyes in the room watched him. He flashed them a crooked smile. “I was follerin’ Vine, then he cut left, but I was headed right. He was gonna show me this perty place. Then he shoved me into the wall.”
Vine face turned pink. “I didn’t shove you into the wall,” he said through clenched teeth. “And don’t tell people I was taking you to a ‘pretty place.’ It makes me sound like a little girl. I was going to help you work on your landings somewhere safe.”
Vine moved next to Glimmer. Beside her, Winter sat down on the edge of the bed, and in one corner, Vegan was arranging the various plants and flowers that seemed to cover the room. Their scent saturated the space, offering life in great bundles of green and splashes of red. Nikki took in the other faces, several she didn’t recognize.
Then, her heart thudded and a sick sensation rolled through her empty stomach. “Where’s Raven?”
Gold and blue gazes ricocheted around the room. Glimmer dropped her head in her hands and let the tears fall.
Mace pulled Nikki closer, but she felt his chest constrict. “He …” His stomach convulsed, and when she searched his eyes, she found only pain. “He didn’t make it out.”
She shook her head to clear it. “What?”
Silence answered her.
She pushed away from him. “No, no. That’s not possible. You … you saved us. Zero and me. If we got out, he could.”
Mace swallowed and looked away. “No, Nikki. There was an explosion.”
“Couldn’t he have leapt?”
“The hallways were too confined. He brought you to me and went back to stop more explosions from happening. The FBI was coming to investigate Vessler. Raven knew they’d need something concrete, so I think he went to stop the charges.”
Nausea rolled through her system. She grabbed Mace’s shirt and buried her head. “I’m so sorry,” she finally uttered, mouth quivering. “He’s gone?” But the very idea seemed inconceivable to her. Life without Raven.
“He made a choice to sacrifice his life for our protection.” Around her, the Halflings all nodded. Glimmer hadn’t raised her head from her hands, but tears fell in streams from her fingers. Several tried to sniff back their own tears, but the pain filtered through the room, unmanageable in its scope. “We have to honor that sacrifice. Even if this journey is over, there’s still much work to be done. We must be ready to fight, Nikki.”
She sucked in a firm breath and tipped her head back. “Then we’ll fight.” She raised a weak fist into the air. “For Raven.”
A room full of Halflings answered. “For Raven.”
Will materialized at her bedside. Bright blue eyes smiled at her. “You’re looking fit, Miss Nikki.”
“I just heard about Raven, Will. I know you loved him like a son.” The words poured out of her before she could stop them, or even think about them. Will had sacrificed much. All for his Lost Boys.
His face collapsed, but his words were even and sure. “As a heavenly angel, I am not engineered to feel love as the humans do.” He squared his shoulders. “Raven will be missed. His sacrifice was great.” Will nodded, lips thinning. “A good fighter. A good soldier.”
“A good son,” Nikki insisted.
The giant of a man’s shoulders began to quake. Not even a breath moved the air in the room. For a moment, life seemed to stop.
Dropping his head into his hands, Will wept.
Later that night, sitting in the gathering room of the mansion, Will hushed the Halflings with the only phrase able to stifle thirty teenage voices. “Heaven whispers.”
Twenty male and ten female Halflings had been ordered to reside at Viennesse until further instruction. And while Will was somewhat used to the level of madness, the other caretakers were going crazy.
Normally, males and females crossed paths sporadically, but they were never meant to reside in large groups in a single dwelling for extended periods of time. Will worried what the implication might be.
In addition to the new Halfling relationships, something was changing. The earth groaned for the return of its creator. He had to wonder if the end of days was upon them.
Like volts of electricity, the room lit with power. Tongues of fire licked at the air. The ground shook as if the building quaked in fear. Dust rose from every corner, seeping from every crack. Brilliant light appeared, so radiant that even the ancient rocks comprising the walls glowed.
An angel emerged from the glow, carrying the essence of heaven upon him and its glory with him. Another angel appeared beside him, gleaming in the dingy room. They bowed as another became visible between them, appearing like fire wrapped in flesh.
“You are the product of the sons of God and the daughters of man,” his voice boomed.
Will knew well the one standing in the center. He cast a glance to Nikki and saw the recognition in her face. She knew the lover of mankind as well.
“Halflings.” The authority in his voice shook the room.
Thirty sets of eyes rounded as if the nitrogen had been sucked away, leaving the air pure and cold.
“You’ve chosen to pay a staggering debt. Not of yourselves, but of your fathers. Some have paid with their very lives. I am honored to have you in my service. A new dispensation is upon us. Male and female Halflings will work together until the end of days. Time is short. Know clearly which side you dwell on.” When he said this, his burning eyes fell upon Viper.
Viper’s gaze dropped to the floor.
“I will hold you accountable for your actions on the Great and Terrible Day.”
No one moved, but apprehension had clearly developed in the onlookers.
Then the son of the Throne smiled, and like a warming sun rushes away the darkest winter night come spring, fear melted. He then looked to each Halfling gathered around. “But you have also captured my heart. I will petition the Father on your behalf.”
Questioning looks flittered from one face to the other as he pointed to Nikki and motioned her to step forward.
Slowly, she rose and came to him.
“When I give a gift, I do not take it back. Open your wings.”
Nikki closed her eyes and stretched. Almost instantly she felt the familiar weight of her wings on her back. The Throne’s son reached out and touched the bend in each wing, and as she opened her eyes he said, “You were crimson, but I washed you white as snow.” The blood-red color then drained away, leaving each feather as pure and white as porcelain.
He bowed to the Halflings, and they bowed their heads in return.
In a flash of light and fire, his feet lifted off the ground. Hovering above them, he spoke once more. “Oh, yes.” A soft smile. “Raven says hello.”