Beyond (59 page)

“
Claud ia, your room is on the fourth floor and Michael ’
s is on the third. I ’m reminding Michael since he ’
s the one who design ed this place. No hanky panky until you ’
re married, ”
Davin scolded.

“
Hint…hint. We ’
ve never been to a wedding before. I would love to pu t one together, ”
Vivian said , thinking of how she could decorate and make it look like a fairy tale wedding.

“
Is it even possible for angels to get married ?”
Caleb asked.

“
Who cares ?
Is not like we follo w the d ivine rules anyway…well…
some part s of it , at least, ”
Davin said.

“
We are in the same room. Please keep your thoughts to yourself .
”
Michael folded his wings close d and exposed Clau dia , who flushed with redness.

“
U
mmm…hello, ”
she waved to everyone, seeing them right by the entrance smiling and giggling.

“
Looks like Michael made you up his way , after all the work I put in making you look good, ”
Vivian teased.

Claudia
flushed with warmth , and her cheeks were red as could be. She i mmediately smoothed out her dress , brushed her hair back with her fingers, and wondered how bad she looked.

“
I ’
m glad some things haven ’
t changed, ”
Caleb said.

Davin smacked his hands together.
“
Okay…now , since the reunion has ended, it ’
s time to start the pa rty on the first floor. I ’
ve brought some drinks and chips and salsa, ”
he winked.

Claudia laughed out loud
, recalling how much Davin wanted to try them.

“
Ready?
”
Michael asked Claudia. With a nod, Michael held her hand. They stood close to the edge. Claudia inhaled sharply.
“
You ’
ll be fine. I promise, ”
Michael said, knowing how she felt about heights.

“
I know, ”
she smiled. She knew she would be. She wasn ’
t the same person Michael had met in Crossroads. She was braver, wiser and stronger. Claudia had changed in ways she had never thought possible ; to her own, to how she was meant to be, her destiny.

Chapter
3
9

Without
a care in the world, the music blasted as they laughed and ate chips and salsa. Davin gave Cl audia the update on things that had happened during the time she was bed ridden at Island of Eden . Samuel took his last breath , along with all the demons , when Aliah ’
s soul was destroyed. Though sad to have seen someone who they considered a part of the family betray them, Delilah was a casualty of war.
They found out she was one of the leaders of the a ngel fighter s , working undercover for Callum .
Austin ha d officially been ordained as one of the Twelve. He and Jeremiah were bumping heads, like he said he would. Michael had decline d his position so he could be with Claudia.

By the orders of Katherine and Austin, the
angels were to set Michael and Claudia free as long as they would lend them a hand in times of trouble. Holly was now in charge of the C
urators —all one hundred of them. They had assigned new C
urators due to the loss of so many by Aliah ’
s doing. Avalon suggested V
ictor to be assigned as one them. With his help, they were able to hunt down most of the Angelus Pugnators.

After the updates, Michael and Claudia slow danced to their song again . Afterward, re quested by Davin, they danced till they couldn ’
t dance anymore. When Claudia had a private moment with Davin, she asked about Avalon. Davin told her he knew the reason why he felt the way he did. He understood it was a crush, but he didn ’
t love Avalon the way he s aw Michael loving Claudia . A l kins rarely fall in love , so he told her to cherish it, nurture it , and enjoy every moment of it , for it was precious to find the one in a million epic kind of love .

Claudia excused herself and retreated to her room. All the excitement and not sleeping for several days had drained her. But the alkins continued to drink, listen to music and eat chips and salsa.

Claudia opened the door to her room. It was bigger than she thought it would be. There was a queen size bed, a dresser , and a table that was positioned the way it had been in her room, the room she had when she lived as a human .

T
hen she opened a huge walk in closet door and beamed a big smile. Never had she seen s uch a grand closet before.
An abundance of clothes she didn ’
t recognize were hung neatly by colors , and there were rows and rows of shoes any girl would dream of.
She made a mental note to thank Vivian and Michael when she got the chance.
Along with shoes, there was a row filled with purses. She even spotted the one she ’d left at Gamma ’
s house and wondered how it got t here.

Reaching for her black purse, she pulled out the pictur e she took from Gamma ’
s house. Tears started to well up as she gazed at it. She brushed over Gamma ’
s cheek with her fingertips , recall ing her words …
that she would always be there for Claudia even if she couldn ’
t see her. Then her eyes moved to Ava, the woman she called M
om , the one who had taken care of her. Ava had no memories of her , and th ough it deeply pained her, she knew it was right for her to have her life back.

Carefully, she placed the picture on the table adjacent to her bed.
After she changed into her nightgown, she opened the door to what she thought would be the bathroom , and sure enough she was right . Admiring the way the room was m ade from only the best material s , she entered, and h er bare f ee t glided across the cool white marble floor t hat had a hint of caramel . Admiring the large whirlpool bathtub, the frameless glass doors to the shower, the white sink enclosed by a marble counter that was the same color as the floor, she stood there in amazement as she sh ook with excitement. Then she closed the door behind her and headed for the bed.

She tucked hers
elf in and stared at the candlelights . The candles reminded her of Austin and his words , ‘
Y
ou make a beautiful candle.
’
Though it was for the best, her heart was broken from missing his friendship , and she hope d that one day soon she could see him again. She was just about to fall asleep when there was a soft knock on the door. There was only one person who would come up to see her.
“
Come in.
”

Michael peered in.
“
Just making sure…
.
”
He lost his words.
“
T
hat you found your…bed.
”
He cleared his throat, chuckling , knowing that was the most ridiculous thing he ’d ever said.

Claudia sat up
. Lifting the b lanket, she gestur ed for him to lay beside her , and he did. She la id her head on his chest and held him t ightly.
“
Thank you.
You ’
ve made a beautiful roo m for me. It ’
s more than I could imagine it to be.
”

“
I want you to be happy here.
”

“
It wouldn ’
t matter where we were . As long as we ’
re together , that will be all that matters; however, I do love everything about this place.
”

“
Our place, ”
he corrected.

“
Yes, our place, ”
she repeated , looking up at him.
H
is arms were crisscrossed behind , supporting his neck, afraid to touch her, too afraid of not being able to control himself once he did.

Michael finally gave in
to the temptation and ran his hand through her hair, making her sleepy. Even after she fell asleep, he stayed, watching her sleep. As he interweaved her left hand into his, he removed the ring and slipped it over to the ring finger . How wonderful it would be if they could have this kind of human life together, to get married , and have children of their own. But would she ever want to , and could they even attempt to was the question. For now, they had to take it one day at a time.

Adoringly, he
gazed at the being beside him who ha d changed so much. She wasn ’
t the only one. He had changed too. For all the right reason s he wouldn ’
t want to be a human, like he did before . They say life experiences lead you to where you are , to what you become. Learning from his past —every wrong turn, every mistake and every time he lost his way fighting alongside Aden —everything he was be fore had come to this moment, and he wouldn ’
t change a thing.

Though she was sleeping in his arms, he couldn
’
t believe she was here with him , and more so , he couldn ’
t believe she loved him back. With her, he could see the light.
With her, all dreams were possible.
With her, he loved who he was. With her, his heart was so full he thought it would burst from happiness he never thought he deserved ; all the more reason to never let her go.