Broken (Endurance) (44 page)

Cressida nodded as she leaned her head on his chest. Maxwell hugged her. "Take care of my princess and grandson.  Mei is pregnant. She will need to be taking care of."

"I will, but Max does a good job. All of you Martinez men do." Cressida smiled.

"I love you. Now get your butt on that plane." Maxwell walked her to the steps.

Tamarius looked down at his wife. "When I can, I will come and get you."

"Are you sure about this?" Makayla asked.

"I won't be fighting alone."

"If I don't see you come back, I’m going to kill you," Makayla said.

"You’re going to dig me up and kill me?" Tamarius smiled.

"If I have to, yes."

"Not even death will stop me from coming home to you." He kissed her. "Now get your ass on that plane. I got work to do."

Makayla pulled away from him. In her heart she knew she couldn't stay. She prayed silently for him as she walked away and got on the plane.

Maxwell stood next to his brother as they watched the plane take off with their most treasured gifts.

God, come into my life

Tamarius looked over at his brother and smiled. "Let’s kick some ass."

"You shouldn’t curse. You want our protection to leave?" Maxwell scolds his brother.

"I didn't curse. Ass is in the Bible."

"I don't see any donkeys around here," Maxwell replied as they turned around.

"I'm going to leave that one alone. It's too easy," Tamarius joked.

"Whatever." Maxwell smiled.

Tamarius looked down at his watch. It was four forty-five. "We need to get the ring."

"You’re wearing it. I can't control that thing." Maxwell looked at his brother as they walked back towards the secret passage way.

"Why are we walking?" Tamarius asked.

They both stopped, looked at each other, then vanished only to  reappear in front of the glass case containing Solomon's ring; the ring that was used to control demons.

Behind them appeared Archangel Michael. "That won't help you now," Michael said.

Maxwell and Tamarius spun around to see the glorious sight of the eight-foot Archangel Michael dressed in gleaming armor with his sword which hung at his side. "We need to destroy those demons, not make them wash our dishes." Michael smiled.

"There are legions out there," Tamarius said.

"Nothing is more powerful than God."

"Amen," Maxwell and Tamarius replied.

Another angel appeared and walked over to Michael. He leaned over, whispering something in his ear.

Michael nodded as he left. "We have secured the front to give you time to prepare. It was wise to send your family away. As we speak, God has commanded some of His angels to surround the plane. They will be safe. Don't worry. You will both need your strength as this will not be easy. Go prepare yourselves. We will stand guard until the time has come."

Maxwell and Tamarius found a comfortable spot to meditate, each finding separate corners of the room to focus their energy and pray. Maxwell and Tamarius meditated until two in the morning without breaking. Their bodies hovered as their strength increased.  Michael smiled and nodded as he saw their swords appear beside them, strengthening along with them.

***

Mei watched her husband who looked nervously out the window. She knew he was trying to hide his feelings and gently reached for his hand as she sat next to him. "Babe, your father and uncle will be fine. They’re not so old and feeble." She tried to lighten the air.

Max turned and smiled at his wife as he squeezed her hand. "How do you feel?" He placed his hand on her stomach.

"We’re fine."

"When we get back to the campus we need to go to the doctor."

"Campus will be closed."

"I want you to take it easy," Max replied.

Mei nodded in agreement. She knew he was just trying to get his father and uncle off of his mind. Mei leaned on his arm as her own thoughts drifted back to Maxwell and Tamarius. 

Makayla and Cressida sat next to each other. Cressida was weeping silently as Makayla was a million miles away. Lin looked at her niece, speaking to her in Chinese and trying to get her to think about something else. Makayla was so far gone, her thoughts rested on Tamarius. Her heart was aching for him. It was late in the afternoon by the time they reached the family vacation villa.

Everyone seemed to move silently as they each found a place to sleep for the night. Winston led the staff to a second nearby house .that had been built especially for the Martinez's staff.  Before leaving, Anna helped Lin to bed and made sure her every need was taken care of.

Makayla sat in the dark living room looking through the window at the beach. She couldn't cry anymore; the worry was too intense. She curled up on the couch and closed her eyes. Tears trickled across her face as she began to pray for her husband and brother-in-law.

Cressida closed herself off in her room and cried. The guilt consumed her.  If anything happened to Tamarius or Maxwell… she couldn’t bare the thought of that possibility.  She conjured up the image of her father and tried to understand why her father would do something so awful. She didn't recognize him as the man she’d grown up with. She lay back on her bed and tried to make sense of everything that seemed so nonsensical. Disturbed and distraught she fell into a light and troubled sleep. 

A light tap at her door brought her to reluctant wakefulness.  She pushed off the bed and sluggishly got up to open the door.

"How are you holding up?" Makayla asked with both concern and fear in her eyes.

"Come in." Cressida stepped back and returned to her bed. "I'm so sorry I got everyone in this mess."

"You didn't do anything wrong. Stop doing this to yourself. Look, I don't really know what happened back there.  I got up, took a shower and came out to see my bags being packed.  My first impression was, okay he wants to get rid of me."

"Tamarius loves you.”  Cressida was quiet a moment.  “Okay, I have a confession to make. Exactly one hour before Tamarius met you, he had asked me on a date. I was really surprised. I mean, one minute he seemed to like me and the next, it's like I wasn't even standing there. I can't believe I'm telling you this."

"I guess it doesn't matter anymore." Makayla smiled.

"Well, from the second he laid eyes on you, I knew I’d lost him. I've never seen that side to him before, and I grew up around his family. I found out later that Maxwell had forced him to ask me out on a date. But Tamarius knows what he wants, and found it in you," Cressida said, looking at Makayla.

Makayla smiled, as she sat down on the bed. "I find myself praying for them constantly."

"Good. They’re going to need it.  This morning…” Cressida gazed pensively at the ring on her finger.  She could almost feel the touch of Maxwell’s hands over hers. “I had some mundane task to take care of before we left for our honeymoon.”  Her voice was a hush and her gaze distant. “I wanted to ride my Bentley, but I didn't want to go through the hassle of calling a driver. It's the holidays and, well, they deserve a break."

"Yeah, I understand."

"Well, I got to my client’s house and dropped off the paperwork. It took two seconds. I got back in my car and felt something cold and hard poke the side of my neck.  I froze.  Actually, to tell you the t
ruth, I almost peed in my pants.
I was so scared.  I glanced down and saw a gloved hand holding a pretty impressive gun to me.  I knew right away how stupid it was for me to drive a Bentley around town, as if nobody was going to notice.  I thought I was getting robbed. The man told me to drive to my father's law firm. I knew my father had sent him."

"Oh, my goodness."

"The thing is, everything I saw as I was dragged through the office was just... unbelievable. I was brought up in a perfectly normal home. Everything was normal. I had a father and a mother who loved me, and two siblings. I don't know how to absorb all that’s happened."

"Hey, you gotta put God first, especially being married to a Martinez." Makayla looked at Cressida.

"Before my wedding, the last time I’d stepped foot in a church was at Max and Mei's wedding."

"Do you see any of us breaking down the church door come Sunday morning? Don't feel bad. We aren't perfect and God knows we aren't, but don't condemn yourself because you don't go to church religiously. Go to church because you want to be there, not because you feel you have to. Church is great and it's amazing therapy; very healing for the soul. The thing is God should be in your heart always, not just on Sunday," Makayla said.

Cressida nodded as she looked at Makayla. "When we went to church it was just something we did on Sundays, something to do before Sunday brunch. I never felt connected.  Having been raised around the Martinez family I didn't always understand them and at times just thought they were weird."

"And, now you’re one of the weird ones." Makayla smiled.

"Yeah, and I couldn't be happier."

"Me, too."

"Where are you sleeping tonight?" Cressida asked.

"I don't know... I don't even think I care. Part of me wants to go outside and just throw myself in the sand, praying that when I wake up my husband will be here," Makayla replied.

"I feel the same way," Cressida mumbled. "How long do you think they will be gone?"

"I don't know. When we were in Trinidad, Tamarius spent most of the time fighting, just a few demons at the orphanage. We were there for a couple weeks."

"Did he succeed?"

Makayla smiled as she bowed her head thinking back to the night he showed up late for dinner. “One night Tamarius was supposed to meet me at a brand new restaurant that had just opened up near the mall. I was so mad at him," Makayla began. "I thought he’d stood me up. But it turned out that Tamarius had successfully chased off those demons.  He’d closed the portals and cleansed the building. He still says it should be burnt to the ground and the earth overturned. Anyway, that night he stayed at the orphanage late; he couldn't just leave. In the end I was happy to know I still had him. Maxwell and Tamarius are strong fighters and they won’t be alone."

"That does make me feel a lot better.  Why don't you bunk with me? I don't mind."

"I don't know if I can sleep, but I will try."

"What do you mean by they won't be alone?" Cressida asked.

"Has Maxwell told you everything about his family?"

"Well, I’ve seen some things I would never have believed humanly possible today. I’ll be honest, I'm a little freaked out. To know that my father did things I never knew he could do.”  Excitement flickered in her eyes as she turned to look at Makayla. “Like, did you know your man could just like... vanish into thin air?"

"Yeah.” Makayla settled comfortably on Cressida’s bed.  “Has he popped in on you in the shower?"

"He can do that?" Cressida asked, her eyes widening.

Makayla laughed. "I'm pulling your leg, but I'm sure they can, though.  They don't like to play with their gifts."

"So just because they can doesn't mean they should." Cressida tried to understand.

Makayla admired her enthusiasm. Most women would be heading for the door. "Well, with the teleporting thing, they can move from one place to another by passing through portals. They do need to know where they are going. Tamarius has a natural gift for opening and closing dimensions. He explained it all to me. It was like sitting in a quantum physics class. I had to use toothpicks to keep my eyes open. I love knowledge, but don't get that boy started on quantum physic unless you need to sleep," Makayla joked.