The Divine Whisper (43 page)

Ramiel’s grip on the
ax loosened, and Gemariah took the opportunity to use his strength and pull it from his chest right before he pushed off the body still on top of him. The weight was still Nicole’s and so the body crashed into the fireplace to the right of them.

Gemariah jumped up and swung down with the
ax, but at the last minute, Ramiel held up the fireplace poker to block the blow before hooking it and flinging the ax and the poker to the side.

The action didn’t deter Gemariah in his pursuit.
He picked up Ramiel and slammed his fist into his face. The body would have gone far, but since Gemariah still had a hold of Nicole’s shirt, he easily struck again. That time, he released his hold and watched as the body hit the fireplace again.

Having had enough, he reached down and picked up Nicole’s body by the throat.
Taking a few steps, he moved her so her back was to the wall and lifted her a good three feet. With his free hand, he reached for his ax on his hip, but then remembered it was across the room. Ramiel then started to laugh.

Gemariah pulled him away from the wall, only to slam him back against it.
The action was so forceful that it created a dent in the sheetrock. “What’s so fucking funny?”

“I’m just so proud of you, boy.
Look at how bruised and bloody you made the love of your life. I didn’t think you had it in you.”

It had taken a while, but Gemariah had enough confidence, to know that he would never willingly hurt someone he loved.

“We’re more alike than you think,” Ramiel continued.

“We are NOTHING alike!”
Gemariah looked back over to his ax and tried to think of the best way he could get it without losing the upper hand.

“I still remember the look on your soul mate’s face whenever she would be found after hiding from her parents.
It was a look of terror mixed with pleading; pleading for mercy that would never come. It was addicting.”

His grip tightened around Ramiel’s throat.
“Shut up!” he yelled.

Just then, a door slammed and pounding footsteps were heard.

Ramiel looked over at the two people that had just entered the room, and his face morphed into something softer.
He sobbed, “Help me! Oh God, please get him off of me.”

Gemariah was shocked at how much it sounded like Nicole, and was even more surprised when her tears started to hit the hand holding her up.

“He just snapped.
Please, help!”

Gemariah looked over and saw Malachi holding back Trinity from rushing over.
He could see the look of uncertainty on Malachi’s face. Thank God, Trinity chose to bring him. He would sense that something wasn’t right. “What’s going on here, G?”

“Don’t listen to him.
He’s just trying to psych you out.”

“Let her go, you monster!” Trinity yelled as she thrashed in Malachi’s arms.

“You’re not making any sense. That’s not a ‘he’. That’s Nicole, and you need to let her go.”

“No!” Gemariah yelled and tightened his grip even more.
“It’s not Nicole. I would never hurt her… ever. It’s Ramiel.”

“The fallen can’t possess people.
Think about this for a minute.”

“I know that’s what we thought, but you have to believe me!”
Gemariah gestured to his ax. “All I need is my ax, and I will show you.”

“No!” Trinity screamed.

When Malachi still looked reluctant, Gemariah tried again. “Brother, don’t you feel it? It was the first thing I notice when I got here, so I know you can. We can all feel its presence, if you just concentrate.”

Malachi took a deep breath, but still didn’t move.
Trinity had even gone still.

“Why are you just standing there?
Please, do something,” Ramiel sobbed to sound like a helpless Nicole.

Malachi walked forward, and Gemariah thought he was coming to pull him off, but instead walked over toward the
ax and picked it up. He handed it to Gemariah and said in a stern voice, “You better be right.”

“Are you serious?”
Ramiel shrieked and started to thrash. His nails bit into the arm holding him up, but the pain didn’t register to Gemariah.

He then turned his head back to Gemariah.
“You are an abomination and I’ll be looking forward to the day you die, because unlike you, I will be around forever.”

“Not in her, you won’t,” was all Gemariah said before pushing the
ax deep into Nicole’s chest.

Her mouth opened on a soundless scream.
Instead of the usual black smoke drifting from the wound on demon possessions, it looked as if her silhouette was being pulled from her body. Once it was clear of her, the shadow started to become solid.

Gemariah knew that he had to act fast before Ramiel could gain all of his strength back.
He gently slid Nicole down to the floor, and caressed her face before standing back up. Standing there watching, he saw the figure flicker once more before becoming whole.

Wasting no time, he slammed his
ax into the figure that had haunted him for centuries and recited the words he learned at a young age. “Lord, please accept my gift to you. Your messenger has abused his power…”

Ramiel yelled out and started to struggle hard enough that Gemariah had to grip the
ax tighter so it would stay in place. He then quickly finished what he had to say.

“… and is here to wait for his judgment.
Do with him what you wish.”

Almost immediately, a force strong enough to knock Gemariah over swept through the house.
When he landed on the ground, his ax hit right next to him.

Ramiel stood taller, and laughed down at Gemariah.
“Oh, how the mighty has fallen,” he sneered, but when he moved to take a step, he found that he was routed to the wall. His smile then faltered.

Suddenly, he was flung forward and twisted in midair before going through the window, making glass shards fly everywhere.
They watched as he flipped and instead of landing on the grass, a crevice had started to form and he fell inside the fissure. They could still hear him scream as the ground sealed itself back together.

Gemariah couldn’t believe that Ramiel was actually gone.
It had been so many years, so the new feeling was too surreal. Just then, he heard a small moan from the corner and instead of dwelling too long on the feeling, he remembered that there were other things more important in his life just then.

He got to Nicole at the same time as Trinity.
He loved Trinity, but right then, he needed to be as close to Nicole as possible. “Trinity, will you please go take care of the babies. They’ve been crying the whole time, and really need to see someone that makes them feel safe.” She paused and looked at him. After what she just saw, it was the moment of truth if she still trusted him or not.

She smiled and put a hand on his.
“Of course. Holler if you need anything.” She stood up but paused as if she needed to say something. Letting out a loud sigh, she looked down, “Gemariah…”

He didn’t need an apology.
She was only trying to protect someone he loved. There was no way he could be mad about that. He waved a hand as if to wipe her thoughts away. “Tell you what, you change their diapers too, and we’ll call it even.”

Trinity let out a laugh and said, “Deal,” before turning around and walking towards the stairs.

“Malachi…”

“I’m right here,” he said before placing both hands on Nicole.

He watched as the deep wound from the
ax slowly knitted together and the other cuts and bruises vanished to nothing. She didn’t make a sound except when she felt the deeper wounds start to heal.

In a matter of minutes, Malachi was done and he stepped back.
“I’ll give the two of you some time,” was all he said before following in the direction of his wife.

Gemariah moved closer, wrapped her in his arms, and started to gently rock back and forth.
The whole time, he repeatedly whispered, “I’m so sorry.”

It took a few minutes, but eventually she looked up at him and placed his face in between her two hands.
“You have nothing to be sorry about,” she said fiercely. “You did what you had to do to protect your family. It’s hard to put into words exactly how much I love you right now.”

“I should have protected you better.”

She was already shaking her head before he finished talking. Letting go of his face she borrowed into his chest. “Besides love, do you know what I feel whenever you hold me?”

He started to play with her hair, running his fingers through it.
“What?”

“Completely and utterly… safe.
You are mine, and I am yours forever till the end of time.”

He let out a breath he had been holding.
What did I ever do to deserve you?” he lovingly asked.

“You were just you.
That was enough.”

He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers.
He could thank God every day for giving her to him, but it still wouldn’t be enough.

EPILOGUE

Nicole was jarred awake by a strange noise.
She reached over to Gemariah’s side of the bed, but he was missing. It was then that she started to panic. In her mind, she knew that Ramiel was gone, but the feeling of helplessness and worry was still too fresh in her mind to let it go.

Suddenly, the noise sounded again.
It was a deep and scratching growl, and she realized that it was coming from the baby monitor. Throwing off the covers, she was about to jump out of bed, but stopped when she heard Gemariah’s voice.

“Okay, this will be our little secret.
If you breathe a word of this to anyone, I will deny it whole heartedly.” The sound happened again, and she realized it was just him clearing his throat.

“Go to sleep, little girl… and boy.
Let your dreams be peaceful…”

Nicole was amazed when she heard him start to sing to the children.
He went on singing and told them to shut their eyes and relax their fingers and toes before ending by singing for them to dream of love. It was a very soothing lullaby, but what was even better was the sound of Gemariah being the loving father she knew had been in there all along.

When he was done singing, one of the babies blew a raspberry and Nicole had to put a hand over her mouth to stifle her laugh.

“It was that bad, huh?” she heard him ask.

It was nice to hear laughter in his voice again.
For the past week, he had been working nonstop to find Conner. The comedian renegade had wormed his way into their lives and everyone was affected differently by his disappearance, but none as much as Gemariah. Because of that, she knew that he wouldn’t fully rest until Conner was found and home safe.

The floor creaked and she knew exactly where he was, because she had stepped in that exact spot every night on her way to the rocking chair.

“Since you’re not going back to sleep like your sister did, we’re going to have a little talk, man to man.
It’s going to be our job to look after your mother and sister. Do you think you can help me with that? If Issy is anything like your mother, they will both be stubborn enough to get themselves into trouble. I’m not even gonna get into what their beautiful looks will get them into. It’s going to be us, crackin’ skulls and asking questions later.”

Nicole rolled her eyes at the image Gemariah portrayed.
It didn’t look like Issy would be leaving the house till she was at least thirty
, she thought with a smile.

When Gemariah’s voice came through quieter, she had to strain her ears to hear him.
“I want you to know something though. I will always be there to watch over you. Some days, it might feel that you have the weight of the world on your shoulders, but always remember that I am right there with you to help you lift it. Not a day will go by that I won’t show you how loved, cherished, and needed you are.”

She wiped a tear from her eye.
There was no better father for her children.

“Did I really bore you that much?”

She didn’t understand his question until she heard the familiar creak and knew that Alex must had finally fallen asleep. After a moment of silence, she heard him whisper, “I love you… you too Baby Girl,” then she heard the door as it quietly clicked shut.

She shut her eyes to make like she was sleeping, even when the bed dipped letting her know that he had climbed in.
He then curled his body behind hers, wrapped an arm around her waist, and pulled her in closer.

“I know you’re awake,” he whispered in her ear before lightly biting her lobe.

“Mmmhmm…”

“We got some pretty awesome kids in there.”

She smiled and turned in his arms.
“Yeah, they take after their mother.” Her words were joking, but she made sure that she filled her heart with everything she loved about the man.

He groaned at the feeling and rolled on top of her before he lifted up on his elbows.
“Maybe we should practice at making more?”

“With me?” she teasingly asked, “but I thought I was just stubborn and beautiful.”

He laughed. “Oh trust me, you are so much more.” He lightly pressed his hips down against her, and she gasped at the sensations flowing between them. “But I love you because you’re stubborn… and beautiful,” he finished, but with his wicked grin in place.

“You are incorrigible,” she chuckled, but she didn’t give him time to answer before pressing her lips against his mouth, and arching her body into his.
Instead of saying how much she loved him, she showed him with her body and soul until they reached a place beyond words, reason, or time. It was a place where it was just the two of them, where they could never be separated, together as one, forever.

******

It was cold, but he had been through worse. It seemed like he had spent lifetimes locked away, only to be taken out when someone needed a plaything or something to experiment on.

He looked around the cell he had been placed in that time around.
Everything was made of steel; steel walls, bars, ceiling, and floor. The bed and even the fucking toilet were steel as well. Plus there were the added electrodes that coursed through his body whenever he touched the bars or when the scared little humans constantly watching him felt like messing with him that day. Too many times, his heart had stopped and everyone held their breath to see if he woke up. Unfortunately, he always woke up, and whenever he did, he was still in the same craphole.

Life had gotten boring on the inside.
Too bad there wasn’t a pretty little raven haired girl here to keep me company
, he thought.

Shaking himself away from the thought, he pushed the girl to the back of his mind once again.
He didn’t want to remember her voice bringing him back from the edge or her constant jabbering filling his day with more than just blood and pain. Most of all he didn’t want to remember the look of disbelief on her face when she died not twenty feet in front of him. He might as well have wielded the knife himself.

A loud sound brought him out of memories best forgotten and he got up off the steel slab they called a bed and walked up to the bars.
He got close enough not so get shocked, and peered down the corridor. That was when he saw two of the guard he had dealt with before shoving a tall blonde man into a cell three units down. He couldn’t see into the cell, but could hear the roar of anger before the click of the bars slamming shut. Then he watched as the guards walked away laughing at the threats the newcomer was sprouting.

He sighed in exasperation as he heard the blonde thrashing around in his new home.
“It’s no use,” he yelled out, but the blonde wasn’t paying any attention.

He decided to speak louder.
“Whatever you do, don’t…” Before he could finish, the lights flickered, and he heard a faint buzzing sound. The newcomer must have grabbed the bars and instead of letting go during the initial shock, he had held on. “
Blödmann
.” Dumbass.

All of a sudden, a voice came out of the speaker.
A speaker that was flush against the upper corner of the wall.

“No talking!”

That was all he heard before the buzzing started again, but it was him that fell to the ground, convulsing from the raw power flowing through him.

He didn’t care how long it took, but he knew the first chance he got, he was going to kill them…
jeder einzelne von ihnen
—every last one of them.