Pieces of Hope (43 page)

“Young
Catherine, speak your heart’s greatest desire.”

I stood
transfixed. It was
Gavriel’s
voice—alone, solitary—so
soft and comforting it brought tears to my eyes. I had never heard anything so
beautiful.

“Speak
now, young Catherine.”
Gavriel
cast a cautionary
glance to where
Verchiel
, bearing an impish grin, was
suspended beside him. My love stupor lifted instantly.

“I . .
.” My mouth felt dry. I swallowed a couple of times then tried again. “I want
to see my mother. I need to tell her something. Ask her something.” Tears were
flowing freely now, running like little rivers down my cheeks.

“Young
Catherine . . .”
Gavriel’s
compassionate eyes were
upon me. It seemed like he was staring into my soul. I suddenly felt hopeful I
might see my mother again. “Do your thoughts linger . . . even after the beauty
you have witnessed here, as to whether your mother is in a heavenly place? Do
you question her love? Do you doubt her heart’s desire for you to have a long
and happy sojourn . . . even if she cannot be beside you?”

“It’s
nothing like that!” I argued, sounding more like myself now. “I need to ask her
something important. My heart won’t let it go! Is there no way for you to
understand?” My voice was getting louder. “Is that too . . . too human for
you?”

“We
understand more than you know, Young Catherine.” It was the boyish
Verchiel
. His voice plucked my heartstrings like a harp,
persuasive yet soothing. A single tear rolled down his cheek. “We share your
misery; we know your pain. But even in this realm, there is free will. And
Young Vivienne must share your heart’s greatest desire or it shall not come to
pass. We, alas, cannot intercede. You should know she loves and misses you and
wishes you well on your sojourn.”

“And you
dropped by just to warn me to return?” I felt anger burning a hole in my belly.
My mother didn’t want to see me? How could that be? “Angels or not, you’re
wasting your breath! I’m not leaving until I see my mother!”

A warm
cloud of love and hope consumed me. The burning hole began to lessen. The
internal shaking ceased. I inhaled a full, sweet breath of air.
  

“Have you
seen Young Daniel recently?”
Uriel
asked me in the
deepest of baritones. I could see that he had risen higher above
Gavriel’s
head, his intense gaze focusing on me. It wasn’t
startling, as I would have thought, though I suspected he had the power to make
it so—if he wanted it. “We seek his . . .
assistance
in a matter.”

“You
seek Young Daniel’s assistance?” Great. Now I was talking like them. Next thing
you knew I’d be using words like omnipotent and avenge and sojourn and . . .

“We
believe Young Daniel may have wandered astray,”
Uriel
continued. “We merely seek to establish Order—Divine Order.”

“Oh, I
see.” I gulped. “Divine Order.” I didn’t like the sound of that or the
questions it raised. Were they hoping to protect Daniel from something else . .
. or from himself? When it came to Daniel, it wasn’t an easy guess. He had a
knack for getting himself into trouble, usually the worst kind.
 

“Very
well,”
Camael
broke in. His tight flaxen curls didn’t
move as he tipped his head in my direction. I had a momentary desire to go
create something—a house, a book, a picture—anything. “We shall continue on our
sojourn. And you, dear Young Catherine shall continue with yours.” They dipped
their perfect heads in unison.

In that
exact instant, I heard the dry grass crunch behind me. My senses were set on
hyper-speed, but before I could even think of turning on my heel,
Gavriel
said gently, “Young Ethan, has your sojourn proven
more fruitful in this lifetime?”

By the
time I’d twisted around, Ethan had that lovesick look on his face—the same one that
I’d seen on Brody—and I was reminded of what
Creesie
had said a few moments ago.
Any sensitive
individual would feel besotted.
Was that the real reason why Daniel was
immune to their effects? Was he not sensitive enough?

Ethan
was in no shape for speaking. I whirled back in time to see the Powers smiling
serenely upon us. Delivering a final blessing, they spoke as one in their
commanding voices, “Safest of sojourns.”

And with
that, they were gone.

Ethan
had dropped to his knees, drawing enormous gulps of air. I swatted him a few
times on the back. Hard. Until he grabbed my arm to stop me.

“I don’t
. . . require . . . the Heimlich.”

I
chuckled. “
Coulda
fooled me.”

Gathering
another breath, he muttered, “I suddenly have an acute understanding of your
emotional state. It’s a little off the charts here, isn’t it?”

“You
could say that.” I couldn’t wipe the stupid grin off my face. All the telling
in the world wasn’t half as good as Ethan experiencing it. He was still down on
all fours. He slowly raised his head, then stood on his knees. With my hand to
steady him, he got to his feet, shaky but better.

“Were
they what I think they were?” He shifted his chin toward the sky.

“Yep,” I
replied, still very smug.

“You
could be a little more sympathetic, you know.” He was referring to my grin; I
did my best to erase it, but the corners kept popping up. Ethan’s brow
wrinkled. “What did that question mean, anyway? The one about my sojourn being
more fruitful.”

“Don’t
you know?”

“I have
no earthly idea,” he mumbled, perplexed. I giggled at his use of the word
earthly—heavenly might have been where he needed to look.
  

Moments
later, my hand secured in his, we strolled along the bluffs’ edge. It was as
high as Brody had boasted—about a hundred feet—and Ethan insisted he should
walk on the outside, closest to the edge (a gentlemanly gesture, no doubt) but
it made me more than a little nervous to let him do it. I kept thinking about
repercussions.

“Amazing,
isn’t it?” There was awe in his voice, and I knew he was talking about the
Powers and their Divine gifts. “The things they make you feel . . .”

“Yes,” I
agreed. Before I’d met them, the closest I’d ever come to that sensation was
the way that Ethan made me feel. I looked right at him. “Amazing.”

“Speaking
of amazing, how soon will you be returning to the living realm?”
 

It was
an innocent-enough question, but I bristled. Something crawled up the back of
my neck—an irritation, a gnawing aggravation, and I bit my lip to keep from
speaking. I was about to say something mean, something I knew I would regret.
Someone else was with us. That was a given. And I only needed one guess to get
it right.

“Yes,
Hope, how soon will you be leaving this amazing place?” Daniel was loping
toward us, beaming a magnificent smile in my direction as though our chance
meeting was quite the happy accident.

I nearly
bit his head off. “What are you doing here?”

He
ignored my question, his eyes darting toward Ethan. Something sinister
reflected in his smile. “Try to imagine a world where you could be or do anything
you wanted . . . a world without boundaries, restrictions, or limitations. Why
would she ever leave here? After all, there’s nothing she would long
for—nothing she can’t create. And besides,” he added, his words burning through
me like acid. “I’ll be right beside her.”

An
uncomfortable moment passed as they glared at one another.

“Are you
arrogantly suggesting that you’re all she’ll ever need?” Ethan’s voice was low
and controlled. “Can it be that your desire to possess Hope is so irrational that
you’d ask her to give up her entire family to be with you? I thought you were a
little smarter than that.” He sized Daniel up. “Not much. But a fraction,
maybe.”

Daniel
smirked, seeming unbothered by the insult. “And what do you propose to give . .
. your undying love? That’s no less than what I’m offering—only I’m willing to do
it here.
Now
! Would you be willing to
make the same sacrifice?”

Daniel suddenly
stood straight-up. Not his usual casual stance—a challenging one. It surprised
me to see that the two of them were the same height. I had mistakenly assumed that
Ethan had a few inches on Daniel. Standing this close, I thought they resembled
one another in some altered universe sort of way. On second glance, the differences
were striking. Ethan’s shoulders were broader and he was much more muscular. Ethan
looked like a young Greek god when paired alongside Daniel’s boyish body.
 

“She was
going to ask you, anyway,” Daniel badgered. “And like they say, there’s no time
like the present . . .” My anger boiled to the surface. I really wanted to
murder Daniel. I thought it as hard as I could. Daniel looked over and smiled
lazily at me.

At
first, Ethan seemed puzzled. He looked at me, then at Daniel, then at me again.
I could see him turning it over in his mind, trying to decide whether Daniel
was lying. “Is that true, Hope? Were you going to ask me if I would stay with
you—here?”

I was
certain my face reflected the same bewildered expression that Ethan’s wore. I
took one of his hands in mine to soften the blow. “I considered asking, but
only because of my mother. I only need a few more days!” I insisted. “It’s
urgent that I speak with her!”

“But you
. . . considered it?” he repeated, his tone frightfully deep.

I
swallowed, nodded once. Ethan’s expression turned stony, and I shrank from the
anger I saw just beneath the surface.

“You
were considering,”—I instantly regretted using that word—“asking me to kill
myself?” The actual requirements were starting to sink in and I cringed at the
way Ethan had said it. “What method were you going to suggest? Did you prefer a
slow death, a handful of pills, or perhaps a leap off a cliff?”

I
swallowed hard, then attempted a joke. “Only if it was really big cliff,” I
teased. “I wouldn’t want you to be a vegetable for the rest of your life.”

Ethan
didn’t answer. He smashed his lips together, and I watched as the muscle in his
jaw started to jump. I thought I could hear his blood boiling.

“I take
it that’s a no?” Daniel was grinning again. “No noble excuses, no long boring
speeches? Frankly, I’m a bit disappointed. I really thought you were the one.”
He pressed the back of his hand to his forehead. “This will probably take me
all of fifteen seconds to get—”

I was
still looking at Daniel when it happened. There was a
floomph
,
the sound of air expelling very rapidly, as Ethan rammed himself
headfirst into Daniel’s stomach. For several seconds, they tumbled on the
ground at blinding speed. (Daniel’s doing, I knew.) Following the initial strike,
Daniel recovered quickly. He sprang lightly onto his feet as if it were little
more than a love tap, and grinning, he taunted Ethan until he finally charged again.
That was the first moment I’d seen Ethan lose his sense of permanent cool.
Head-down, red-faced, and roaring, he rammed Daniel like an angry bull. I awaited
the sound of crunching bones. But Daniel was too fast for that. At the absolutely
last fraction of a second, he took the smallest step sideways, removing himself
from harm, and infuriating Ethan in the process. Again and again, Ethan charged.
And again and again, Daniel did his last second sidestep dance. Fully aware
that he had the unfair advantage, he used it to the best of his ability to
torture Ethan with. Daniel knew, as a disembodied form, that Ethan—still a part
of the living realm with all its physical limitations—was no match for him.

“Knock
it off!” I shouted as Daniel stuck out his foot, tripping Ethan. “What’s the
matter with you two?” Childish didn’t begin to cover it.

They
both cast vicious glares in my direction.

“Hey, don’t
shoot the messenger!” I shouted. “I may be the middle man, um, girl . . . But
you two act like this is a long-standing feud. I half-expect to hear you’ll be
meeting at dawn to square this with a duel.”

“Hey,
that’s not a bad idea.
Whaddya
say?”

“
Danielle,
you wouldn’t stand a chance. I’ve
seen eight-year old girls who are more masculine than you.”

Daniel
cocked his head and quipped, “Don’t hate me ‘cause I’m beautiful.”

“Knock
it off!” I repeated. “Seriously, can’t either of you feel that?” With my hands
outstretched, I touched the air. “It’s palpable!”

“We
despise each other and yet you find that odd?” Ethan’s voice was almost cold.
“I must be missing something.”

“Yeah,”
Daniel agreed sarcastically, pointing absently at Ethan. “Who wouldn’t hate
that guy?”

I flung
my hands in the air. “Ugh! The two of you are exasperating! And to top if off,
you’re ruining my party! I haven’t seen my family in what seems like forever,
and your . . . your selfishness is spoiling everything. Haven’t I had enough
tragedy in the last few days to last me a lifetime?”

“It’s
not my fault.” Ethan’s eyes flicked over to Daniel, triumph burning in them.

“Yes, it
is your fault,” I insisted. “You and your polite coercion—”

“Excuse
me . . .” His voice dropped so low I barely heard it. “Coercion?”
 

“Yes! Bringing
our families here so they can remind me of everything I’ll miss. And if—or
rather,
when
I run into them in the
living realm, it will be my greatest fear that they’ll have some sort of
Hope déjà vu
which will only end up
making me feel guiltier for having stayed here as long as I have.”

Daniel
snickered.

“And
you!” I turned sharply on my heel. “Don’t think for one iota of a second that
you’ve slipped under the radar. Ethan’s right. You caused most of this mess
just by showing up when you weren’t invited. You do that all the time lately.
It’s obnoxious. It’s annoying. It’s . . . it’s exasperating!”