Hope (Other World Protection Agency Book 1) (7 page)

“We can’t sleep together!”

“Why? Haven’t we been sleeping
together for days now? Or has it been weeks?”

“We have not been sleeping
together.”

“Then what do you call your head
on my chest as we lay down and close our eyes.”

“That’s not sleeping together.”

“Oh, what do you call it?”

“Well I mean, it is sleeping
together, but it doesn’t count.” She could feel her cheeks heating up and her
skin was light enough that she knew he could see how flushed she was.

“So we’re not a couple and we’re
not sleeping together?” He walked up to her and began to rub her cheek. “So I
guess you don’t want to kiss me?”

Kiss him? Memories of his lips
briefly touching hers as she escaped the hospital came back and warmed her
cheeks even more. Yeah, she wanted to kiss him, but she hadn’t waited so long
for the perfect man to just give up now. She wanted her perfect man, the one
that passed all the magazine questions, like all the other women.

She tilted her head up to meet
him as he lowered his lips to her. Nice and easy she thought as his lips
covered hers. Just one kiss and then she would go back to waiting for Mister
Right. His lips were hard yet smooth and warm and soft on hers. Instinctively,
her body swayed closer and he gathered her up against his chest. Her mouth opened
on a sigh and she felt his tongue slip in and caress her briefly.

Clutching at his shirt her mouth
opened even more, letting out a soft moan. His tongue invaded her mouth meeting
her tongue in a duel. Closing her eyes, she wrapped her arms around him and
kissed him for all she was worth.

Drawing back she gasped. “Wow.”

She watched as he smiled, looking
at her.

“Definitely wow.”

Breaking away she walked over to
one of the large paintings. “So you really just work? There’s no one special?”

“There is definitely someone
special.”

“How could you kiss me if there
is someone special in your life?”

“Because you are my special
someone.”

“You’re not funny.”

“You’re probably right, but you
should remember this. Every relationship is different and no two relationships
start the exact same way. So yeah, we missed the eye longing stage and two
straws in the milkshake, but maybe that was good. I know that at times you can
absolutely be down, but even then you bounce back and are ready for the next
thing. I know you care even when you don’t want to. I know you have a great
sense of humor. I also know you love cookies.” He winked at her.

“No I am not dreaming of a house
with a white picket fence, but I bet you are not either. You’re loyal and
you’re willing to lay down your life for another, even as you protest the fact
that they should be allowed to take another breath. You’re quirky and I like
it. More than anything though you’re honest and I would rather have honest than
shrimp and meaningless small talk. Bed time?” He stopped talking to look at
her, giving her time to take in all he had just said.

“Yeah.”

The morning had brought tensions
that Tara had hoped to avoid. She had woken up wrapped around Paul. For one
wonderful moment, she felt like she belonged. She had felt cherished and loved
and almost expected to look out the window and see that white picket fence she
always read about in her sinfully sweet romances. There was no white picket
fence. In fact, there was no house. She was on the second floor of a warehouse
that had been cleaned by a magical someone. He never really said what he was,
even though he resembled a Demos.

She was not loved. There had been
no dates and flowers. No dinners where he asked her to be his girl and promised
to love her at least for a while. So yeah, the tension was high, but not just
with him. What was she supposed to do with a parent that just shows up out of
the blue? She loved her right? Okay maybe she loved her and hated her at the
same time. She could have been spared years of agony if the truth had just been
spoken. The logical part of her brain was saying it had to happen this way. The
logical part of her brain should meet her heart. Now they were all downstairs
discussing what needed to be done.

“It’s very simple. All we have to
do is make sure the baby is born.” Three sets of eyes turned to look at Dora.

“If that is all we had to do
Mother, why would all of us be needed. Couldn’t we just send Paul? I mean he is
the doctor.”

“Settle down kiddies,” Charon
said with a sigh. “This will not be easy, Dora. No matter how much you may want
it to be. There will be factions and not just other Demos who wish this child
to never be born. There are too many species to name that have no hope on their
planet. Many of those species have the Demos to blame for being hopeless. So
there is the possibility of an all-out war. Before any of you get comfortable
you need to understand if this child dies, this world will suffer.”

There was silence. It should have
been tension filled, but for once it was not. It was almost like everyone was
lost in their own thoughts.

“So it really is simple, just
like my mother said. We go and protect one child, fight like crazy, do a couple
of Hail-Mary passes and pray everything turns out alright. Simple.”

“Since when did you start liking
football?” Dora’s face held a look of shock that was making Tara feel much
better.

“Football. Hate it. But you have
to admit a Hail-Mary pass is exactly what we need, besides I just love the
words together.” A genuine smile came across her face as she watched her mom
smile at her. It had been a long time.

“Hate to break up the love fest
children, but we have to go. Dora I know what these two can do, but what do you
think you can do to help?”

Reaching behind her back she
brought out a sword that looked lethal. “I was a very apt student Charon. Worry
about yourself.”

“Tara, if you will do the
honors.”

Without hesitation she opened a
door to Raimel’s mother’s room and walked through. Later, after it was all said
and done, she would wonder how she opened that door. Later, she would panic and
wonder if she was losing herself, disappearing inside of something she had
never asked to be born with. Those conversations were for later. Now she had to
focus on saving a life.

The room hadn’t changed. It was
dirty and dingy. The woman that laid on the bed seemed just as frail, but this
time she was dressed to go out. She began to rise as Charon approached, helping
her to fully stand.

“It is time. I smell the faint
aroma of hope about to be born. This time we will not fail.”

Charon put his hands around her
and simply disappeared. The rest took a deep breath and followed.

They were not in the brightly lit
and highly antiseptic hospital Tara was still hoping she would see. They seemed
to be in the bedroom of someone’s house, if you could call it a house. It
looked more like a shack that had nothing resembling running water or sanitary
conditions. In the middle of what should have been a bed was a female Demos who
was heavy with child. Kneeling beside her was a male that Tara assumed was the
father. There was no doctor or midwife in the room. There was just the two of
them as she panted and pleaded for somebody, anybody at this point, to help
her.

“I am going to help her.” Paul
was holding a bag in his hand that she had not noticed earlier.

“Is that even permitted?” Tara
asked Caron as she looked at Paul.

“I don’t really care if it is
not.” Paul replied as Charon stayed silent. “I am going to save this child just
like I saved the child on Earth.”

Tara heard his unspoken words. He
had lost the father and the mother and barely saved the child and he would not
permit another to die if he could help it. She watched as he stepped out of the
protective area with his hands up. It was the universal sign of I mean you know
harm. The father did not seem to either believe that or know what it meant.

He got up and ran towards the
intruder in his house. Paul managed to side step and only got clipped in the
leg. Limping he pointed to himself and then the woman on the bed. Doctor he
kept saying, as he battled the soon to be father. The woman on the bed screamed
as her body shook, which brought the semi fight to an end.

“I can help her.” Paul said, “I
really don’t care if you understand me or not. I will not let that child die.”
He was standing toe to toe with the father now. There was a shake of the
father’s head and he pointed to the bed.

“What happened?”

“There is not enough time to let
Paul discover he can speak Demos, so I translated for him. Next time he’s on
his own. Spread out.”

Charon took his frail bundle and
sat her at the side of the bed before drawing his weapon and fading into the
mist. There was the sound of uninvited guests moving closer to the house, their
loud voices filled with anger. They were Demos, those that had become use to
being hopeless. They were the ones that capitalized on it. They had preyed on
their own people and other worlds for many years. They didn’t want hope to
somehow interfere with their lives.

Tara caught one last glimpse of
Paul checking to see how many centimeters the woman was before she was
fighting. They weren’t nice and they were out to kill her. It was almost like
they could sense the very thing they hated inside her body. She took her sword
and fought back, swinging the blade as if she was born to it. Yet she knew
there was no way she would win. She was bound to die on this planet and she was
now sure she wanted to live. The knowledge was like a secret elixir in her
blood.

Swing, parry, thrust. Over and
over again that was all she did. Her mother and sometimes Charon would have her
back. The majority of the Demos were coming after her, which meant they were
leaving Paul and the child alone. Anytime they seemed to be about to turn away,
she would try to release the feeling of hope in the room to once again capture
their attention.

Swing, parry, thrust. Swing,
parry, thrust. It was official. She was not the best fighter, but she was
holding her own with the help of Charon and her mother. She wouldn’t be
tweeting about her mother coming to her rescue at her age. Although she had to
give her credit. She definitely knew how to fight. They had been at this for
what seemed like hours and her arms were beginning to get tired.

The waves of Demos seemed to be
slowing. Many had been injured and limped off to lick their wounds. Hopefully,
none of them were planning to regroup.

“How are you doing, Tara?”

He looks like he just woke up she
thought resentfully. “Doing well. Don’t worry about me.”

“Good because more are on their
way.”

“How may Demos can there be that
want to kill this child?”

“These are not Demos. This next
wave is just a few of the rest of the galaxy.”

The room was filled with beings
she had never seen before. Very few of them were humanoid in appearance.
Holding up her sword she knew there was no way she was going to make it.

Swing, parry, thrust. Swing,
parry, clatter. Her sword had been knocked out her hand by a reptile looking
villain. It was long and thick and it slithered, but it also had something that
mimicked arms and hands. It had to be one of the most disturbing species
represented and almost all of them disturbed her. It opened its mouth to reveal
long fangs and it seemed to smile at her. She stumbled backwards as it
slithered closer to her.

Think Tara, she screamed at
herself. You’re this doorway and you’re supposed to have all this skill. How
will you survive? Both Charon and Dora had their hands full. This time they
wouldn’t be able to save her. She had a sudden memory. When she was younger
there was a friend. She always thought she was just an imaginary friend,
although she could see her as plain as day. Her friend would say, ‘Tara hope
must always survive. It’s a potent weapon. Let me show you how to make it into
a weapon of good.’

Then she would work with her into
forming tiny sparks of hope. When your hope is finally released, you will be
able to bring down your enemies with it. Well, it was now or never. The
slithering creature was tall in the air with its mouth open about to tear into her
with those fangs. Turning inward, like her friend had taught her, she tapped into
what looked like a bright golden ball. Hope. She mentally formed a spear and
watched it appear in her hand. As that mouth dropped down to end her life, she
thrust the spear up watching as it lodged in its lower jaw.

The creature gave a huge cry, as
if it had been stabbed in the heart. It immediately started falling, making
Tara jump out of its way. Its body started to convulse as if something were taking
it over, as it cried out in agony. The other creatures in the room had a
horrified look on their faces and then as if they were telepathically talking
they ran at her in one large group. Fearing for her life, she began to shoot balls
of hope, hitting her targets in the front row. Almost as if the command to
retreat had been given, they left, leaving their fallen comrades on the floor
writhing in pain.

“Took you long enough.” Charon
said in that dry voice he sometimes used on her.

“I was beginning to think she
would never remember.” Dora beamed at her in pride.

“I knew she would remember.” This
came from Charon again. “I just wasn’t sure if she would do it before we died.”
The look he threw her way was somehow disapproving and approving at the same
time. Once again Tara was confused, but at least she was alive.

The sound of a babies cry rent
the air.

“Paul?” He looked at her and
smiled.

“He is perfectly healthy.” He
cleaned the baby up and laid him on the mother’s chest.

They all crowded in to look as
the mother kissed her child. The father knelt besides them with a smile that
was blinding. Raimel’s mother sat there and cried.

“Charon.” She said with power and
authority. The frailness of her voice having faded. “Where will you take them?”

“I cannot tell you that, Tayrel.
They will be protected. No harm will come to your grandchild.”

She nodded in what seemed like
acceptance. “Make sure no harm comes to my younger son, Charon. Remember your
promise.” With that she walked out of the shack, leaving all the occupants
inside with mouths open in surprise.

Tara pointed to the male on the
bed. “That is her younger son?”

Charon gave a mirthless laugh.
“Of course not, Tara. You know who her younger son is.” With that he collected
the family and disappeared from the room.

“Raimel.” She whispered knowing
she meant to kill him.