To Light and Guard (19 page)

I have to do this.

“I need you to find another Guardian for Paige.  Someone who can replace me,” I said.  My voice was flat, and it did not betray the emotions running rampant in my soul.  I needed him to do this for me because I couldn’t leave her right now.   Not right now.

Micah nodded without asking any questions.  That was what I liked about him.  He didn’t talk very much
, and he usually kept to himself. Micah knew that I flew with Paige every evening, and he never said a word to me about it. 

Micah was already flying when he reminded me.  “I’m trusting you to guard Emma while I’m gone,” he said.

“Of course, brother.”

I watched him fly
towards the east.  Micah would be back in a day or two.  It was all I have left to be with Paige because when Micah returns, I will have to leave her… I will let her live her life the way she had always been meant to live it - without me.  I do this for her.

Without a
ny warning, a tear slowly rolled down my face. I caught the tear drop with one finger and looked at it with wonder.  I rubbed my fingers together, trying to feel its texture.  In my entire life, I have
never
shed a tear before.  It was a human response to pain or sorrow, experienced only by humans.  I became alarmed and confused… because I am not human, and angels never cry.     

CHAPTER 39

It was daybreak, and f
rom the Harper’s backyard I heard them coming.  I looked up and saw seven demons approaching fast from the west.  They were flying in a random pattern, in a battle formation, and the randomness of their placement in the sky made them more unpredictable - more dangerous. 

My entire body tensed,
preparing for battle. Right now, I needed the strength of a fighter, a soldier, so that I can protect Paige.  I know that the demons are here to hurt her.  I ran and leaped into the air.  My wings snapped out automatically, and I flew up to fight the demons. 

              In the air, I used my speed and my momentum. I flew towards a very large demon with long silver hair; he was carrying a very large sword, and he was the closest to me.  I punched him on the face, and I watched him fall.  There was no need for an introduction.  I knew why they were all here.    

A demon approached
from my right. I twisted and kicked his side as I felt my right wing jerked from the top by another demon.  I winced when I felt my wing almost yanked off. Almost immediately, I felt my wing snap back into place.  With the demon still holding onto my wing, I let myself drop backwards.  At the same time, I kicked both of my legs up and struck the demon on the back.

A
nother demon approached my left side, and before my fist landed another punch, I stopped myself when I realized that it was Joshua.  I pulled my fist back and looked at him.

“Friend,”
Joshua said with a smirk.  Clearly, he made his choice, and just like that, we battled the demons together.  It was hard for him, I know, to turn against the demons he also called his friends… his brothers. 

But in the heat of this battle, i
t no longer mattered that Joshua’s wings were still black; our friendship was our bond. I could trust him.

A demon jumped on my back, and
Joshua kicked him off of me.  There were demons all around us.  I turned around, reached up, and pulled a demon’s leg, elbowing his knee, I heard it snap.  Then, I let go.  I saw a demon punch Joshua’s throat just as I felt a dagger strike the back of my neck.  In one swift movement, I pulled the dagger out and threw it at the demon who just punched Joshua; it hit him on the chest, and he pulled it out with a grimace on his face.  I felt the wound in the back of my neck closing as I kicked the demon on my right.

We continued fighting
until we were surrounded by seven demons, flying three hundred and fifty feet above the Harper’s backyard.  We were all furious, but we all knew how this was going to play out.  We never died.  So, they must be here for another reason. 

That was when
I heard Paige scream.  Even at this distance, I still heard her.  I quickly turned, preparing to drop, my wings tucked in.   Two demons jumped on top of me; each demon grabbed one of my arms, keeping me in the air.  Joshua pulled the wing of one of the demons holding on to me, and I elbowed the other one.  Both demons let go, but two more demons replaced them. 

Paige scream
ed again, and I became more desperate.  A demon was in the house with her, and she needed me.  I quickly shifted to my left slamming my body towards one of the demons.  It threw him off balance, and I almost got my left arm free.  A demon jumped on my back, and my wings became useless; only the demons were holding me up now.

I saw a demon kick
Joshua in the face.  Joshua fell a few feet away from all of us.  Before he had a chance to right himself, I yelled, “JOSHUA!”  I didn’t because I thought he was in trouble.  I knew he would heal.  I wanted to remind him what was important here.  He must have heard Paige’s screams. “Save the girl.”   

Joshua
looked at me as he fell from the sky.  He heard my plea.

“Yes
. Save the girl,” he whispered back.

It had been our motto for the last thousand years… because we had both failed to protect two precious girls. Joshua had to get to Paige in time.  Instead of returning back to fight with the demons, Joshua let himself continue to drop towards the Harper’s house.  

Th
en, I heard Emma scream.  I threw my head back, hitting the demon behind me in the head.  He immediately let go, but two demons still held each of my arms.  I continued to struggle.  If I could have pulled out my own arms to get free, I would have done that, too. 

From the Harper’s kitchen wall, Adra materialized. 
Joshua tucked in his wings to fall faster, and he flew inside the house in one smooth swoop.  I listened intently.  There was something very wrong.  I could hear Emma’s screams, but I could no longer hear Paige.

With madness in my eyes,
I watched Adra as she flew towards me, but there was something very wrong.  She was transparent. I stared at Adra in misery.  I quickly forgot the urge to fight despite the demons that still held me. As she approached, Adra became more and more transparent. If I tried to touch her right now, my hand will only feel air. I knew what that meant.  It was what I had always feared.  Adra was dying; she was disappearing into nothing, which meant only one thing.

Paige was
already dead.

CHAPTER
40

             
I always thought that demons feared death too much to ever kill a human.   I failed to consider Adra’s hate, and I believe that her hate was stronger than her fear.  Since she couldn’t kill me, she killed the only person I would have willingly died for. 

I
continued to watch Adra in silence, stunned by the realization that Paige was dead.  The fight in me was gone, and the demons holding me back didn’t have to use much effort. Adra said something, but I could no longer hear her.  She was vanishing right in front of me. She smiled one last time, and then, she was gone.  Vanished.  Turned into nothing.  Gone.

Joshua
was too late.  He couldn’t save Paige, and we didn’t have the power to raise the dead. 

Something inside
of me cracked, and I felt a pain coming from within my chest. It felt as if I was burning from the inside.  The silver-haired demon with the sword flew towards me.  I didn’t struggle to get free.  He pulled his arm back, plunged the sword into my heart, and let go.

I felt
the pain, and I looked down at the sword protruding from my chest.  The pain – it felt peculiar. My heart was tingling… and burning… and I fear that it might explode.  It was a very strange sensation – something I have never felt before.  

The demons let my arms go.
Still flying in the air, I held the blade and pulled it out, cutting both of my hands.  Instead of healing, blood poured out of my chest, dripping down my body.

I waited for my flesh to close up
- to heal - but only the pain remained.  The demons stared at me in shock.   My brain was screaming the same question that must be going through their minds. 
What was happening to me?

T
hen, I fell backwards, facing the sky.  Instinctively, my wings flapped in the air.  I tried to right myself, but it was an impossible task.  I descended to the earth slowly. My wings flared, trying to defy gravity.  I held my breath, and I prayed.  For what, I wasn’t quite sure, but I certainly wasn’t praying to stay alive.  I didn’t want that.  Not this time.  After waiting for Gwen for a thousand years, I didn’t think I could do it again a second time.

Gwendolyn
… Paige… I love you. 
 

It was unfortunate that I never told her
, but surely, she had to know. 

My chest contracted from the pain.
I was dying, and I was glad, because I knew where my soul was bound to go.  It only had one place to go, and I hope it finds her soon. 

But p
lease… let me remember her.

I tucked my arms across my chest and pulled my wings closer to my body.  Immediately, I fell faster towards the earth.  I closed my eyes thi
nking of her face, her light, her name. 
Please let me remember her.
 
I have to remember her.  Paige Harper.  Paige… Harper.  Paige… 

She
was my very last thought.

Then,
I surrendered my soul.

P
ART IV:  FATE

“People
make mistakes, but I am never wrong.”

                                                                                                                -Fate

CHAPTER 41

Los Angeles, California

Luke
heard two female voices calling his name, and he recognized both of them.   They were two separate voices, but they were the same soul. 
Gwen...  Paige... 
They were one and the same… but it was very dark, and he couldn’t see her.  He was trapped in darkness, and he couldn’t see anything. 

“
Please come back to me,”
they said over and over again. 
“I need you to come back to me.  Please come back to me.”

“I’m trying,”
Luke whispered, clawing his way through the darkness, trying desperately to follow the voices.  He tried to picture a face.  Her face -  her long brown hair, dark brown eyes, her lips… He concentrated on her scent, the scent of strawberries,  but only darkness remained.

“Follow the light,” they said in unison.  H
er light… Yes. Her light was the way to finding her. Luke closed his eyes, imagining her light; it was a very bright, white light that had the power to chase his darkness away. It was the only thing that can bring him back to her.

In
front of him, a sliver of light appeared.  It was small, but he knew that it was hers.  He followed the light as it flitted away from him like a butterfly.  Luke caught it and pulled it towards him.  The light expanded, and Luke waited patiently.  He wasn’t sure how long he waited; it could have been hours or it could have been days.  Through it all, Luke held on.  He was never going to let her go.  When it became large enough for him to pass through, Luke entered the light without hesitation.  This was the way back to Gwen… to Paige… to a place where light and happiness were abundant.

“
Please come back to me.  I need you to come back to me,”
the voices said.

As he passed through the light
, he felt a shooting pain in his chest. The pain moved slowly from his heart to the left side of his head, chasing the voices away. 

“Wait.  Don’t leave me,” he murmured
, but the voices were already gone.

When the pain became unbearable,
Luke screamed, and his eyes popped open. 

Looking around, the first thing he realized was that he was lying down on a narrow bed and was covered in a white sheet from the chest down.  He was breathing heavily, and he could feel something – a tube – down his throat and a plastic mask covering his mouth.  He looked to the side of the bed and saw the machines that were connected to him with wires.  Without thinking, he pulled the mask away from his face; the tube soon followed it. He almost gagged when the tube scratched the inside of his throat.  Then, he yanked all of the wires from his body, wincing in pain.

Where was he?
A hospital?
Luke almost laughed. Then, he wondered why he would be in a hospital.  He never gets sick, and certainly, he never gets broken.  

The last thing
he remembered was falling from the sky.  He remembered a face – a beautiful girl with long brown hair - and she meant more to him than life itself. 
Where was she?  Why wasn’t she here?  Did something happen to her?

Like the voices, the memory was chased away by t
he dizzying pain in his head.  Luke clutched his head in agony.  There was only one thought on his mind.  He needed to find the girl, and he will not allow himself to forget her. 

“PAIGE!”
he screamed with all of the desperation he felt.  

“PAIGE!
”