Galin

This
is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of
the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed
as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locations, organizations, or person,
living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

WCP

World Castle Publishing, LLC

Pensacola, Florida

Copyright
© Kathi S. Barton 2014

Print
ISBN: 9781629891705

eBook
ISBN: 9781629891712

First
Edition World Castle Publishing, LLC, October 27, 2014

http://www.worldcastlepublishing.com

Licensing Notes

All
rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner
whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations
embodied in articles and reviews.

Cover:
Karen Fuller

Editor:
Maxine Bringenberg

Dedication

To my very own Denise Bush. You keep me
straight, sane…well, sort of sane and you make me shine. I could not, nor would
I want to do this without you. Simply put, you are the best at whatever you do.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart and then some for everything!!! You rock
it girl!!!

Prologue

Michael moved down the hall toward the
office. He knew that the other protectors hated to be summoned to this
particular office, but he didn’t mind. He loved going in and conversing with
the Creator of all things. Boss, as He wanted everyone to call Him—as it
sounded so much friendlier—was a man of men. A kind yet firm man, and one who
could change things in a hummingbird’s heartbeat. Michael paused in mid-step.

He was going to change things again. Things
were running very smoothly right now, and He’d want to shake things up a bit.
Michael tried to think what it could possibly be, and looked up when someone
laughed.

“I was thinking.” Boss nodded. “Am I going to
regret coming here today?”

“Possibly. And I know you were thinking. I
heard. You think much too hard for a man who has it all.” Michael snorted, a
habit he’d been trying to break himself of. “You think I would lie to you?”

“Nay. I think you believe whatever you wish
will be wonderfully simple when it seldom is.” Boss moved back into the room
He’d come from, and Michael followed. The walls were covered with images of the
protectors.

Protectors had long since been the ones who
helped Boss in His daily work. A chosen man or woman would be given the
assignment to watch over a child when they took their first breath. They never
interfered with the person but whispered advice, gave them guidance, and when
the time was right, they would be there with them when they drew in their last
breath.

“I do wish to change things. But not for all
of my protectors—just a few.” Michael sat down, knowing that he’d have to carry
out these duties no matter what they were. “You have noticed that they
are…unhappy?”

“I have. But it’s happened before. They are
bored. The last time this happened we gave them a few days to interact on earth
and they were happier for it.” Boss shook His head. “You do not want that
again.”

“They wish to leave me.” Michael sat there,
stunned. He’d not heard that. But he knew to leave here would mean…. “I don’t
want that to happen.”

“No, nor do I. Who is it? Maybe I can talk to
them.” Boss shook His head again. “You don’t mean to kill them, do you? I know
that is the way of things. When a servant is ready to end their time as a
protector, they are sentenced to…. Please tell me of your plan.” He was
worried, as worried as he’d ever been when this happened. As much as they loved
the job, there was only so much they could take. Michael missed them terribly.

“I wish to have them…perhaps it would be best
if I showed you what I have in mind.” The wall took another shape and images, a
great many of them, started to move. The faster they moved, the more movie-like
they became. Twice Michael had to ask him to slow down, and after He explained
it to him, it moved on. Michael sat there for a long while after the movie
stopped, and stared at the images of the few men he’d seen there. They were men
of worth, men he would never have thought of being unhappy in what they did.

“They will not be happy with your
interference. I believe they will be most upset with you.” Michael looked at
Boss when He didn’t say anything. “Nor will Tholan. He will believe that he is
not worthy of such a gift. He does not think himself worthy of much of anything.”

“He will be the hardest to convince, yes, but
if we deal with him later, then perhaps he will see it is not such a bad thing
to have happen to him.” Michael doubted that. Tholan had a weight on his heart
that no one seemed able to help him with. “I would like to start with these
five men before Tholan. I want…do you think you could help me get this
started?”

“When would you like for this to happen?”
Michael was looking over the files when he realized he’d not been answered.
“You have already started this, haven’t you?”

“I thought it best that we do some arranging
to make sure that the other half of my project was well within hand for us.”
Boss laughed. “Do not look so crestfallen, Michael. The new group, my Mystics,
will be a greater force than we ever imagined. You will see. They will be the
best we have turned out in forever.”

They worked well into the night, and when
Michael left His office, Boss was smiling. Michael would be, too, if he wasn’t
so worried about Tholan. The man…well, that would be something they’d deal with
at a later time. But now he had to give the list of men to him and hope that he
didn’t ask too many questions.

“It is going to be a long time before we will
be able to say this worked.” Michael heard Boss laugh and flushed. “You should
come with me. He will have a fit.”

“Nay, he will not. He is a good man. But a
man who feels he has failed many. You’ll do fine.” Boss laughed again. “You are
the Archangel Michael, men tremble at the sound of your name.”

Eighteen
months later

Dusty McGee watched the second hand move
around the clock face. It would only need to pass the twelve eighteen more
times before she could go in and see her sister again…if Rose lived that long. It
had been a long and hard week, and she had a feeling it wasn’t going to get
much better. She looked over at Kip, her sister’s son, as he sat beside her. He
was watching the clock too.

“You can go first.” He glared at her and she
took a deep breath. “They will only let us stay there for ten minutes, and I
thought you’d want to go in first this time. She might be—”

“I don’t care if I ever see her again. What
the hell was she thinking, anyway?” Dusty didn’t answer him, because frankly
she had no idea what her sister had been thinking. Not on the day she’d been hurt,
nor when she’d decided what the lawyer had told Dusty about just that morning. But
Kip didn’t know that part yet. Dusty was still trying to deal with what she’d
been told.

“You don’t mean that. Not seeing your mom
again will hurt you someday.” He got up and she was again surprised at how tall
he’d gotten. “Kip, she’s your mom, no matter what she’s been doing.”

“Fuck off.” His favorite thing to say to her
since she’d arrived last week. And when he walked away from her, she didn’t go
after him this time. To be honest, he was wearing her out more than visiting
her dying sister was.

Eight days ago she’d been on her way to work
when she’d gotten a phone call. A very nice officer had told her that her
sister had been in an accident and was asking for Dusty. This had happened
before with Rose. She’d get in a jam, hurt herself, and call for Dusty to bail
her out. Dusty was ready to tell the officer she didn’t have time when he
cleared his throat. In that second she knew this time was different.

“She’s not going to live long, Miss McGee. The
car that hit her knocked her into a busy intersection and she was hit three
more times before she was thrown from the car. Her injuries are…they’re
horrific, and her body is broken.”

“Where is Kip? Her son? Was he with her?” He
didn’t say anything for several seconds and she knew he was thinking of a way
to tell her he’d not made it. “Please tell me he went quickly.”

“We weren’t aware there was a boy. I’m
sending someone to her house now. Do you know anything that would help us talk
to him?” Did she? Not really. She barely knew the boy herself since she and
Rose had parted company about eight years ago.

“He’s twelve now…no wait, not yet. He’s
eleven. But he has a mouth on him like an adult and will cut you to ribbons
without a single thought.” She closed her mouth when she realized what she’d
just said. “I’m sorry. I’m…I’m on my way. I’ll be there in the…where will I be
coming to?”

“Mercy General. She’s in surgery now but I
had to assure her I’d call you before she’d let them take her in.” Sounded like
Rose, stubborn to a fault. “Do you need someone to pick you up?”

“Actually, I need more than that. I don’t
know where my sister has been for the past eight years. We never were very
close.” She pulled off the highway and sat there wiping at the tears. “Is she
really dying? I mean, she’s pulled crap like this before. Having someone call
me to tell me she was grave, only to find her healthy as an ox when I got
there. Tell me this is like that. I won’t be mad, I swear I won’t. I’ll just
give her whatever it is she wants and leave again. It’s become a game we play.
I don’t particularly like it but she seems to get a laugh out of it. And some
of my money.”

“I’m sorry, Miss McGee. This is the real
deal.” He told her what city and state her sister was in and asked her if she
wanted him to pick her up at the airport. She told him no, that she’d rent a
car. When she hung up, Dusty called her assistant.

“I’m going away for a few days. There’s some
family problems I have to take care of.” Denise Bush laughed. “I’m serious. My
sister has had an accident.”

Denise’s tone changed in an instant. “How
bad? And don’t worry about a thing. I’ll take care of it. Will you need for me
to set some things up for you? Hotel, car rental while there?” Dusty loved this
woman because of all she was. “I’m calling in a few favors now to get you
whatever you need. Wait, it might help if I knew where you needed this done. And
how soon you have to be there. You aren’t there yet, are you? That would be so
like you to simply go without telling me what was going on.”

“Denise?” She shut up, and after Dusty explained
where she was going she hung up. It wasn’t until she was at the airport that
she realized she might not make it to see Rose. That had been so long ago, and
now Dusty wasn’t sure she’d ever feel as if she wasn’t in a dream. A nightmare,
she supposed.

“Miss McGee?” She looked up at the man who
was smiling down at her, bringing her from her daydreams. “It’s time for you to
see her again. I’ve looked for Kip but he said that he…there he is coming now.”

Dusty followed the man, a male nurse, down
the hall again. She had no idea why it was so far away from the intensive care
unit, but it seemed miles since she’d gotten up. When they were outside the
door he turned to look at her.

“I was told you wanted us to be honest with
you from the start. And I will be now. She will not be with us much longer. If
you can, I would suggest you say your goodbyes now.”

Dusty nodded and looked down the hall as Kip
came toward her.

“I will allow you both in together this time.
Please, stay as long as you wish. As I said, it won’t be long now.”

Kip took her hand and she squeezed it tightly.
As they entered the room the machines keeping her sister alive were eerily
quiet. She looked at the form on the bed, having just yesterday stopped thinking
of the broken body as just that and trying instead to think of her as her
sister, a broken woman who would die soon. When the officer had told her Rose was
bad, he’d not even been close to what had happened to her.

“Mom?” Kip moved to the bed and held his
mother’s hand. Dusty stayed back, giving him all the time he needed. She tried
to think of the last time she’d spoken to her sister and all she could
remember, like every time she tried to remember, was that they’d fought…as they
did all the time. When Kip looked at her she realized that he had said
something.

“She’s going to die, isn’t she?” Dusty nodded
and moved toward him. “What the heck am I going to do now? I have nothing. They
won’t let me…I called a lawyer, and he said that I wouldn’t be able to stay in
my house any longer, that I wasn’t old enough. Not to mention, it’s not even
ours. I’m all alone and I don’t have a fucking clue what to do.”

“You’re coming with me. She—your mom—made
arrangements for me to take care of you if anything should—”

“I’m not going with you. I don’t even like
you. And neither does my mom. Why the hell would she say something like that?” He
looked down at the one person who had made them related. “You’re a liar just
like she said you were. I’m not going anywhere with you. Mom will get better,
you’ll see. And then I’ll make sure that she never needs you again. I’ll take
care of her, you’ll see.”

Her heart, already so tender she wasn’t sure
if it was beating or not, shattered. He started sobbing and she wanted to go to
him, even took a step toward him, when the machine near Rose’s head started
screaming at them. She was shoved out of the way as two nurses came into the
room, but neither of them made a move toward her sister. It had been
predetermined by Rose that if she was too far gone for them to try to resuscitate,
they would let her die peacefully…or in this case as peacefully as she could. They
all watched as the machines finally stopped. The monitor over her head simply
straight lined. Dusty knew then that her sister was truly gone.

Dusty stepped into the hall when the doctor
pronounced her gone and tried to think what she should be doing now. Nothing
came to mind. She could hear Kip in the room screaming at them to wake her up,
but Dusty had to get away. She was moving to the front doors when a man stepped
in front of her.

“You will survive this.” She shook her head
and tried to step around him, but he moved with her. “Look at me, Dusty. You
will survive this. And you will be stronger for it. Kip will learn to love you.
He’ll come to need you more than—”

“Stronger? I’ve never been strong in my life.
My sister is dead and her son hates me. And as of twenty seconds ago, he’s my
responsibility and I have no idea what to do with him, or for that matter, for
him. I don’t know what to do with a kid. I can’t even keep myself straight
without an assistant.” She realized she was screaming at him and took a deep
breath. “I’m going home now. If he doesn’t want me, then I guess there isn’t a
damn thing I can do to make him go with me.”