“Yes, ma’am,” I answered, forcing the foreign-sounding word out. I held out the leather-bound journal. “It’s from my mother. She used to work for the Abbey. I think it’s important.”
Theodora stepped forward and took it from me. Her eyes crinkled with kindness in a way that made me miss my mother something awful.
“Thank you so much, Miss Maren,” she said. “These things will be invaluable to us. We will make sure they get to the High Council immediately. Gavin has told us great things about your bravery. We are indebted to you.” My heart seemed to pump extra-warm blood through my veins at the mention of Gavin’s name.
“You’re welcome,” I answered.
The Record Keeper spoke for the first time, in a raspy voice, “Tzeteh’ Leshalom VeShuveh’ Leshalom.”
Theodora translated, “He says ‘Go in peace . . .’”
“‘And return in peace,’” I interrupted. “Toda. Toda. Thank you.” I bowed a couple of times like Hunter, and we, for some crazy reason, backed out of the room like lunatics.
We weren’t more than two steps outside the door when Hunter turned to me. “You speak Hebrew?”
“No,” I said. “Why?”
“Um, you just did,” Hunter replied. “And don’t tell me you must have read it somewhere or that it’s the motto of your high school.”
“No, no, it’s not. I don’t know. I don’t even speak Spanish, and I took it for three years,” I said. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure! You said ‘tova’ for ‘thank you.’”
“It’s toda, actually,” I said, then clamped my hand over my mouth. “Oh my gosh, I am speaking Hebrew! This is freaking me out!” I wondered if the magic of Magnificat was giving me special powers all of a sudden. Hopefully, they would last until my next foreign language test at school.
“All right, Babel,” Hunter said, grabbing me by the arm. “Let’s get back to our room. I’m dying to open this and find out about my new angel boyfriend!”
I was lying on my bed, watching Hunter get ready. Her new Guardian angel was named Jonathan. There was a portrait attached, and by all accounts, Jonathan was young, blond, and quite handsome. Hunter was scheduled to meet him, and leave with him, in half an hour.
As she packed, she filled me in on her wicked fantasies: how Jonathan would fall madly in love with her at first sight, and they would have gorgeous babies with fat cheeks and little cherub wings. I didn’t have the heart to tell her it didn’t work that way, that if her angel really loved her, he’d have to give up his powers, but I supposed they could still have beautiful babies. I tuned her out when she started detailing what an amazing kisser she hoped Jonathan would be. It made me ache for Gavin. I thought about our kiss beneath the crypt. My lips pulsed at the memory. I played out my own fantasy in my head. Gavin and I were alone in the vast, dirt-floored room; no Alfred, no Hunter. Gavin stuck the burning torch in the ground, and then took off his shirt and spread it out like a blanket. He sat down and then pulled me to him. I fell, and he caught me on his chest. He wrapped his strong arms around me, bent his head, and kissed me. I closed my eyes and let the warm tingling race through my body.
“Maren!” Hunter shoved my knee.
“What?”
“You’re not even listening to me, are you?”
I sat up. “No, I am, I’m listening. You were just saying . . . um . . .”
“That I was sorry . . .” She coached me.
“Sorry? For what?”
She sat down on the end of the bed, her face serious. “Maren, I have a confession to make.”
“Yeah?” My stomach knotted with worry. A minute ago, she’d been jabbering about a heavenly wedding, and now she was tearing up.
“I’m not sure how to say good-bye to you . . .”
“Awww, you don’t have to. We’ll see each other again.” I patted her hand. “I’ll drag Gavin back to London. This wasn’t a fair visit. Way too much excitement.”
She shook her head. “No, it’s not that easy. I’m leaving. For good. I’ve decided to go home with Jonathan.”
“What do you mean, ‘home’?”
“I mean back to his angel home in the south of England.”
“You can’t be serious!”
“I am,” she said, tears now streaming down her cheeks. “I’ve been thinking about it for days. Since St. Paul’s, actually. I can’t stay here, where the demons have locked on to me. I can’t always be looking over my shoulder, afraid of every shadow. If I go back with Jonathan and live with his clan, I’ll be safe. And I kind of miss having a family.”
It was hard to argue with that. But I had to try. “You can’t spend your whole life hiding in an angel village!” I protested, remembering Rielly trapped in Scotland, away from her friends and family. “It’s not fair! And you won’t be able to text or call and . . . and I’ll miss you too much!” Water pooled in my lower eyelids.
“I know,” she sniffed. “But until they figure out a way to erase my heartbeat from the memories of all the demons in a thousand mile radius, I have no choice. And I’m going to miss you terribly! You’re like a sister to me. The sister I never had!”
A sister. I had just been thinking that same thing about her.
“We are sisters,” I said. “We’re like family. Why don’t you come back to Scotland with me?”
“No, I can’t complicate your life any more than I already have. You were such a dear to come down with Gavin and rescue me. I’ll never forget you for it. But you have to live your life, and I need to find one.”
I didn’t know what to say, so I reached over and gave her a hug, and let my own tears spill. Once I started, I couldn’t stop. It was unreal how many tears I had, like I was plugged into a never-ending fountain of pain. It spilled all over poor Hunter.
I was devastated that she was leaving, but it was more than that. I had a lifetime of pent-up sorrow. I cried for the dad I never knew, the mom I had buried, the angel who’d just died for me. I cried for my lost youth, the other Abbey orphans, the victims of all the evil in the entire world. As she clung to me, Hunter started bawling, probably for the same reasons. We’d been through what no one else had; what other girls couldn’t even imagine.
After a bit, Hunter gently pulled away. “I have to go,” she said, and smiled through her tears.
“Let me walk you!” I said, standing up and wiping my face furiously to prove I could be normal again.
“No, stay here. I don’t want to meet Jonathan blubbering like a baby!”
I couldn’t believe she was actually leaving. I looked around the room, desperate for something to do, something to give her. “Here!” I said, removing the Tudor rose necklace from around my neck. “Take this. For luck. To remember me by.”