Angel's Messiah (39 page)

I set the daisy chain on the ground and blew on it gently, imagining it crystallising as I did so, turned it over and repeated the process until each petal, leaf and stem was cold and hard, the colour trapped within the crystal. I hoped the white flowers would change colour when I sat it on Gina’s head.

I must have spent a good hour working on the daisy chain and they still hadn’t returned. I retired to the garden swing, the daisy chain hidden beneath my leg. I listened to the birds singing and the crickets chirping. If Danny and Gina were still talking they were doing so softly. I couldn’t hear
any
voices.

It was close to sunset when they returned. Danny kissed Gina, smiled at me, and went to wait in her tiny home.

“Are you allowed to take something back with you, apart from your wings?” I asked.

“Little Mother, you can’t come with me.”

I hadn’t even thought of the possibility of returning with Gina.

“No, I have a gift for you.”

I held out the daisy chain for Gina and she clapped her hands. She knelt down in front of me and I sat it on her head. The flowers changed from white to a lovely bright yellow. I was glad my gift was working as intended, and the colour was not dull or washed out. It was a happy colour. I took the chain off her head, much to Gina’s disappointment, and the flowers returned to their natural white colour.

“Take hold of it for a moment Gina, I want to show you something.”

Gina held out her hands and I gently laid the chain in them. As soon as my fingers let go the flowers changed to the beautiful yellow colour again.

“Ooh, that’s pretty,” Gina said, wide-eyed.

“How do you feel at the moment, Gina?” I asked.

“Happy.”

“Then yellow is your happy colour. I hope the flowers are always yellow for you.”

“Why were they white for you, Little Mother?” she asked.

“Because the gift of colour is only for you.”

“Thank you, Little Mother. It’s beautiful and I shall treasure it always.” She leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially, “I’m sure our Father will bend the rules just this once so I can take it with me.”

She sat the daisy chain on her head and I straightened it for her, weaving a few strands of her own hair around it to make sure it stayed in place.

“I have a gift for you, Little Mother.”

Gina stood up and sat next to me on the garden swing, and we turned to face each other.

“I shall always be with you, Little Mother, here,” she said, placing one hand on my heart, and the other on my forehead, “and here.”

Gina looked into my eyes and smiled. I felt peace wash over me, and with it came thousands of memories from her short life. She was giving me the gift of her life, to look at from her point of view, and I saw she had only one regret — a yearning for a simple kiss from one of the many people she’d saved. Her life had been happy and full of joy, though part of getting her message across was tied up in her death. She had not lied to me about coming back, for here she was, but she hadn’t been entirely truthful about the circumstances in which she’d return.

She hugged me to her and kissed my cheek. “Take care of Father, Little Mother. He’s more fragile than he would have you think.”

“I will,” I said. “I love you, Gina, and I will never forget you.”

“Of course you won’t forget me,” Gina laughed. “Immortals have long memories that never fade.”

“And you’ll not forget us, in heaven?” I asked.

“No. I shall always remember and will be watching, so please try to behave, Little Mother,” she giggled.

I laughed. “That’s a lot to ask, Gina, but I’ll try.”

“There is one last thing I would have you do for me, Little Mother, when I’m gone.”

“Name it.”

“Please take this,” Gina held a golden coloured crystallised feather in her hand, “to Uncle Drake and tell him I love him.”

I took the feather and lightly stroked the crystal vanes. They chimed melodiously, singing. Gina smiled.

“Do you think he’ll like it?” she asked.

“He’ll love it.
You
could give him your toenail clippings and he’d love them just as readily.”

Gina giggled. “You’re so funny, Little Mother.”

Gina stood up and offered me her hand. I took it. We walked slowly to the place she’d called home for almost a year while she’d lived with us in Eden. Danny was already in the bedroom, gently stroking the wings he had carefully laid out on her bed. I went to Danny and slipped one arm about his waist. I gently brushed my fingers against Gina’s wings, which were surprisingly warm to the touch.

“If you’ve both finished fondling them,” she laughed, “I’ll have my wings now.”

Gina touched each wing and they disappeared from her bed, only to appear on her back. She extended them, as though stretching out after long hours of having been in the one position, and gave them a little shake. She beckoned us forward. When we were close enough she closed her wings around us and wrapped her arms about us, before kissing first Danny, then me, on the cheek. She folded her wings back, let go of us and stepped away.

“I love you both, Helena and Danizriel Malakh. Of all the angels in the heavens and of the earth I am glad you were my parents.”

She smiled. Millions of small, soft white lights swirled around her until we couldn’t see Gina any more. The lights spun upwards and faded. As they did so, Gina disappeared.

I leaned my head on Danny’s shoulder, happy and sad at the same time, and my stomach rumbled quietly.

“What are you thinking?” Danny asked.

“How hungry I am,” I laughed. “In
more
ways than one.”

Danny chuckled. “It’s good to have you back, Helena. I’m glad Gina was able to give you the peace you deserve, and the absolution you needed.”

“I do have one more thing to do,” I said hesitantly. “It was Gina’s final request.”

I retrieved the feather from inside my shirt, where I’d tucked it between my breasts for safekeeping. I ran my fingers along the vanes and we listened to the chimes and soft, melodious singing. The song was different to the first time I’d stroked the vanes. Danny nodded his head.

“I understand,” he said. “Go.”

Danny grasped my arms gently and kissed me passionately, a promise of things to come. I closed my eyes to enjoy the moment. When I opened them he was gone.

Drake was sleeping when I arrived at Gorema. I sat patiently at the edge of the bed, waiting for him to wake, lost in my own thoughts. He stirred and opened his eyes.

“Helena?” he said sleepily.

“Drake, Gina came to us,” I said softly. “She was resurrected, just for one day.”

Drake leaned on an elbow, more awake now.

“She wanted to see you, but couldn’t leave Eden.”

Drake gathered the sheet about his waist and slid over to where I was perched. I stood and walked a few metres away, suddenly uncomfortable with his closeness. Drake followed.

“And?” he asked.

“She asked me to give you a gift.”

I held out the crystallised feather. Instead of taking it he sank to the floor. I sat next to him and gently stroked the vanes, to make it sing — it played yet another song. How many different songs had Gina imprinted on it? Drake reached out and gently touched the feather. A new song began to play. His face was a mixture of emotions — sadness, joy, regret, anger and frustration. I pushed the feather into his palm and closed his hand around it.

“Gina’s words when she gave me the feather were
tell him I love him,
” I said. “She also asked if I thought you’d like her gift and I replied by telling her that she could give you her toenail clippings and you’d love them.”

Drake laughed at last, as I hoped he would. Gina had wanted us all to be happy, not sad. I pressed my forehead against his and stroked his cheek, not even feeling the coldness of his skin. We did have a connection, there was no denying it.

“I do love you, in my own way,” I whispered. “Perhaps if I’d met you first things may have been different. I may have chosen you over Danny. Gina said a heart was capable of many types of love and she was right.”

Drake kissed me gently, tenderly, and my heart raced. It
was
capable of loving more than one man at a time, though I would not act on it. It was Danny I thought of as Drake kissed me. It was Danny I ached to be with.

“I shall wait for you, Helena, lover of angels and monsters alike,” Drake said. “I have all the time in the world.”

I took a deep breath, taking in the sickly-sweet scent I’d come to know so well, before pushing myself away.

“Be gone,” Drake said, waving his hand at me, “before I decide to keep you for myself and the angel be damned.”

Wearing a smile, I allowed myself the luxury of fading slowly from his view, something he wouldn’t have seen me do before, and he laughed at my apparent theatrics. Instead of four steps, as Danny needed to take, I’d taught myself a new trick — four seconds.

Drake continued to laugh and said, “You’re incorrigible, Helena.”

As I faded from view I was sure I heard him whisper
come back soon.

I returned to Danny and took his hands in mine, still smiling. He didn’t ask how my visit had gone, though he could surely smell Drake’s scent on my skin. He kissed my forehead, eyelids, cheeks and lips, and I was reminded of the first time we made love. I could finally call it that and not cringe inwardly, but even that didn’t fittingly describe what
happened
between us.

We
were
love.

Epilogue

That we were blessed with a child is a miracle.

That one small, yet bright soul can make all the difference in the world is a miracle.

That a soul can endure so much torment, to be thrown into the dark recesses of madness and return unscathed, is a miracle.

The world is full of miracles, yet most do not even know they’ve occurred, and do not know how fortunate they are. There are two miracles that most take for granted every day — life and love.

Life itself is a miracle, and only those who are barren can appreciate the true gift of life, of being able to bring another into this world, to nurture them and help them grow.

Love is a miracle many underestimate. To have the unconditional love of a partner and child is a precious thing, a priceless gift.

I have been blessed as the beneficiary of both miracles and constantly wonder if I am worthy of such gifts, for surely I am nothing special, to be rewarded with such things.

I have also learned there
cannot
be light without darkness. To find your way into the light you must sometimes embrace the dark.

— Danizriel

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Also by Melanie Tomlin

Angel’s Kiss

Angel’s Curse

‘Angel’s Body’ will be the fourth book in the ‘Angel Series’. Read on for an excerpt from chapter four.

The Amazon

“Danny, where are you?” I called out.

“Up here,” he yelled from the ballroom. “I was just about to practice. Perhaps you’d care to partner me.”

I climbed the stairs and ran into his arms, happy to be home and to see him again. It had been a long and exhausting day. The plight of the homeless had reminded me of a similar situation I had been in, in the not too distant past. Then there had been nowhere for me to turn to. At least now these people had a chance.

“What’s the matter?” he asked, stroking my hair.

“What a day I’ve had.”

Danny started some music and we began to dance, very slowly, cheek to cheek. It was soothing to my soul. Dancing was one of my passions — something I’d loved since I was a child.

“
Tell me,
” he whispered.

“There are still so many people out there that love her, Danny. It was heart-warming, yet sad at the same time.” I thought about the many people I’d met and talked to during my day, most of whom were in need of help. Others, like John, were providing that much-needed help. “And the strangest thing is that I met a couple of kids, well they’re almost adults, named Gina and Dan. We went on a tour of the studio together.”