Veiled (47 page)

“
I would like to spend my
life with Alex…and Dorian,” I added for good measure.

“
Yes, we know about Alex.
Don’t worry, he made sure of that already.”

I flood of relief rushed
through me. “In that case…I don’t much care.”

I noticed one of them
raised an eyebrow, and next to my image, appeared
another—Agatha’s.

“
Whoa, whoa, wait a
minute. I guess I didn’t…”

“
She doesn’t have to be in
your life, but she should,” another one said.

I could tell that they
could see things I could not, their eyes were tracking as if there
were moving figures in front of them, and only I couldn’t see
them.

“
Why?” I asked, and then
Dorian appeared in the image as well, he was thin and tall for his
age, but still Dorian.

“
You said you wanted
Dorian in your life?”

“
Yes.”

Suddenly Agatha’s image
disappeared, now it was only me and Dorian. I was holding him in my
arms, we were both crying, but I could tell that I was consoling
him. Something pulled at my heartstrings, and I yearned to help
him.

“
This prophesy has been
given,” one of them said.

“
It will be fulfilled,”
assured another.

“
Do you accept this
challenge, Tess?” one of them looked intently at me.

“
Yes!” I said firmly. I
didn’t have all the details, but I knew I would be there for
Dorian. He was counting on me and I would never let him
down.

Another image appeared, it
was me again, I was walking down a hallway, and then I made a quick
turn into what looked like a classroom. I turned my head as soon as
I entered and there he was. A young version of Alex, he sensed my
presence and lifted his head. Our eyes met…we couldn’t look away…we
knew…

Another image, this time
it’s that of Agatha. She is down on the floor, she looks hurt, she
is bleeding. She was pushed by someone…Amanda! I tap Amanda’s
shoulder and tell her something, and she looks murderously angry
with me. Agatha looks puzzled and gets up from the floor, she
rushes to Amanda’s side and knocks her down.

The High Council shake
their heads in clear disapproval, but say nothing. Then they
continue to see things I don’t.

“
It’s your choice, Tess,
we would never ask you to put up with her,” one of them
said.

“
But Tess will be a
completely different person if she does not take this challenge,”
another one said and looked at me for a second opinion.

“
How am I supposed to
choose which Tess I want to be?” I asked, exasperated.

“
It all comes back to the
first question, who do you want to be, Tess?”

“
Can I be given some
examples?” I asked timidly.

“
Certainly,” the short one
said with a smile. “The challenges you will face while dealing with
Agatha will teach you to be independent, tough, decisive, sure of
yourself. Without her you might end up…weaker, timid, and dependent
on others for your own happiness.”

“
Regretful,” another High
Councilor added, then he pointed to the images in between us and I
saw me. I was laughing and running down a sandy shore, Luz was
chasing me. Amor and Paz were sitting on a blanket surrounded by
food. We looked happy.

“
Dorian will not be
there,” the short High Councilor said. “You are his link to her.”
He pointed to Luz.

Thoughts of Dorian
reassuring me that we would help each other, came to me. Then
another picture came up, it was me clinging to Alex with
uncertainty. Now the images started moving faster and faster, but I
saw them all. Alex loved me, but regarded me as a child, he took
care of me, but I was weak and had to be coddled. I didn’t want
that, I wanted to be strong and independent.

They seemed to read my
mind. “It will come with a price, perhaps a heavy price,” one of
the High Councilors said.

“
How heavy?” I
asked.

“
Sorrow is a good teacher,
tough, but good.”

“
That doesn’t answer my…”
I started to say, but Dayspring shot me a warning look.

“
Loneliness is also a good
teacher,” said another.

“
But you already know a
little about that?”

I thought about my
experience with loneliness and did not recommend it—not even to my
future self.

“
It will be worse than
that,” another said, discerning my thoughts again.

Another image appeared, it
was Alex, he was young…a teenager. I was crying, my face buried in
my hands. I could feel the utter misery I felt. He approached,
puzzled, he didn’t know how he found me, but he got down on one
knee and put his arms around me—and I was safe.

“
I’ll do it!” I said
again. “If he is going to be there, I’ll do it.”

I turned to look at
Dayspring who shrugged her shoulders. “This is your life,” she
mouthed.

I turned back to the High
Council and the image had changed. Alex and I looked as we do
now—we were on a boat sailing, the sky blended with the ocean, his
arms encircled me—we were happy.

“
Not all will be pain, you
will have much joy.”

My mind was made up, I
nodded once and the image disappeared.

“
A path has been
preordained,” the one in the center declared and tapped the
mallet.

* * * * *

Chapter 41

Dayspring and I headed to
the Herald and Sentinel headquarters in Antarctica. There were
several new spirits who were being initiated, in much the same way
we had been—by way of a snowball fight.

“
Doesn’t it get old?” I
asked Dayspring.

“
Not to them.” She
laughed. “Unsuspecting recruits are always fun for
them.”

Amid the newcomers were
Dorian and Alex, who as veterans, were trying to help them win the
fight. They had gotten some good moves in, but the Cherubs’
abilities were no match, even for Dorian who could see what their
next move would be. Alex was a good strategist and had improved a
lot, but Kerubiel had a lifetime of fighting under his belt, and
Alex…well…he didn’t stand a chance.

Dayspring and I chose to
watch the match from a safe distance. The great white expanse had a
mountain range and we watched from one of the closer peeks. I
turned to look at Dayspring with a sudden jerk of my head. She
didn’t mean for her thoughts to get away from her, and she quickly
reeled them in, shooting me a warning look in the
process.

I raised my eyebrows,
surprised at the thoughts I had just heard. She intensified her
glare and made it look more alarming than ever, she might have even
growled a little—I couldn’t quite tell.

I decided to put some
distance between us, but she nearly pounced on me when I started to
move—so I stayed. Then, changing her mind, she grabbed me by the
elbow and dragged me away from the sight of exulting Cherubs, who
had apparently won—again.

“
If you say anything…” she
warned through gritted teeth.

“
Who am I going to tell?
Besides, pretty soon I’ll forget everything and everyone I have
ever known. Your secret is safe with me,” I assured her.

She didn’t respond, she
just looked at me with intensity.

“
I don’t understand, why
don’t you tell him?”

“
Tell him!” she snapped.
“Are you crazy? What good would that do?”

“
He might feel the same
way,” I suggested. “He has no mate right?”

“
Lots of Seraphs and
Cherubs have no mates. It doesn’t mean anything.” She looked down,
her anger had passed and all she felt now was misery.

“
I know I don’t have much
experience with these matters…” I began.

“
None!” she
corrected.

“
OK, no experience in
these matters, but I still think you should tell him.”

“
You don’t understand,
Tess. Even if I told him, even if he felt the same way I did, it
could never be.” A tear was forming in the corner of her
eye.

“
Why? If I have learned
anything so far is that anything is possible.”

“
Easy for you to say,
Tess. Your experiences have come mostly from watching couples who
are both Human! Kerubiel is a Cherub and I am a Seraph, we are from
different species. We can’t … It just can’t be done.”

“
But surely the Eternals
know how you must feel?”

“
If They do, They have
said nothing concerning the matter, which only supports my point.
It cannot be done!”

“
Have you asked Them?” I
asked incredulously.

She looked aghast. “Of
course not! What, you think I should just go up to them and say:
‘Excuse me, may I have special permission to mate with a Cherub?
Oh, and while you are at it, would you tell me how it can be
done?’”

I chuckled. She shook her
head and rolled her eyes.

“
Besides, he probably
doesn’t even feel the same way I do, so there’s no point in
asking.” She paused and her misery seemed to increase to an
unbearable point.

“
Remember when I told you
about my life?”

“
Yes.”

“
After my brother died, I
was able to secure a peace treaty with the leader of the Cherub
military forces. He was not what I had expected, he actually asked
to meet with me. Even though he was accustomed to war, and was a
master strategist, he didn’t like the senseless loss of life this
war had come to be.

“
I was pretty tired of it
myself, I had lost everyone I had ever loved in this war and wanted
to either die myself or have peace once and for all—I didn’t even
care if we were slaves to them—I wanted the fighting to end. So I
agreed to meet with him.

“
I knew it was wrong, but
the moment I saw him…I think I loved him. My enemy! What a traitor
I was!

“
As he spoke of a peaceful
end to this war I loved him all the more, but I was cold to him,
rude even—I didn’t want to betray the feelings I had for
him.

“
He was patient with me.
He ignored all the snide remarks and the cool treatment with
dignity. In the end we were able to reach an agreement and the war
ended. With the excuse of keeping diplomatic relations healthy, we
saw each other often. He received me in his planet, his home
even.

“
We both lived a long life
and our friendship grew, this only stabilized the state of affairs
between our planets even further. By the end of our mortality the
two planets had pretty much gotten over the social friction, and a
new era of friendship and free exchange had begun. This never
ended, our planets became allies, and remained that way until they
both expired.”

“
We were hailed as heroes
from that time on, and eventually became legends. Stories were
written and theatrical performances as well, in some of them they
made us out to be secretly in love.” She chuckled with irony at the
last comment. “Little did they know…. Well, that’s how I felt
anyway, he never showed any sign of returning that same feeling.”
Dayspring was quiet and too lost in her own wretchedness to notice,
but I did.

Kerubiel was looking
straight at us from a distance. His usually cheerful face was
serious and fixed on Dayspring’s form. I focused all my energy into
reading his feelings, but my exertion was not necessary. The legend
was true, he loved her as well.

“
Tell her,”
I said through my thoughts, hoping that he would
hear me.

Suddenly he turned his face
and looked at me. His countenance looked dangerous, like I’d never
seen it before—his secret was out and he felt exposed—then his face
softened.

“
I will,”
he answered.

* * * * *

Chapter 42

I knew my time here was up.
I could actually feel the Veil looming over me, but I no longer
feared it the way I used to. I was now certain that somehow things
will work out. I also knew myself a little better and looked
forward to experiencing all the things that I’d seen others
experience—the warmth of sun light on my skin, the smell of a
flower, an embrace, a kiss…

We soon made our slow march
toward the Veil. Once there we could see clusters of spirits, who
like us were about to cross over.

“
How do we know when it’s
our turn to step in?” Dorian asked while looking around for
flashing signs or someone who looked to be in charge.

“
Well…when Dane left, he
just seemed to know it was his turn. I bet the Eternals just told
him to go,” Alex answered, and then looked at me with curiosity, I
was pacing impatiently. “What are you so worried about?”

“
I wonder who will be
assigned as our Guardian Angels. I hope they know we want to be
together,” I told him.

I hoped to see surety in
Alex’s face, instead he mirrored my worry. “It’s true…we knew who
they wanted to be with, who do we have that remembers us?” His eyes
darted to Katie.