Fall from Grace (Book 2: An Angelblood Novel) (13 page)

“Fionn listened to Esra speak of the Great War and
the losses she suffered.
She lost a brother, a sister, and two
of the eternal children, whom she loved as her own.”

“They all suffered losses. Dad told us that already.”

“It was a dreadful time. Fionn thought their
marriage would relieve some of her pain, but Esra was very
close to her family.
When my mother was born she was
happy, but Alice only reminded her how much she missed
Avriel and the girls. Fionn felt helpless. No matter what he
did it wasn’t enough. Don’t get the wrong impression. He
loved Esra unconditionally.”

“One day he decided he wanted to
attempt to bring
Alorrah and Alexis home. He knew if he could do what the
others failed; Esra would finally have peace in her life.
He
met with Michael and the other Archangels.
They told him
he would have to summon the demon child, who always
traveled with one of Lucifer’s disciples.”

“They tried to discourage him from his mission, but
Fionn had his heart set on it. Even if he was not successful,
he felt he could no longer stand by and do nothing.
Fionn
met with Gideon, your grandfather.
He promised to watch
over my mother, who was still a child at the time.
Many
years passed and no one knew what happened to Fionn.”

“Esra finally told the powers of Heaven her vision
confirming that Fionn was taken to Hell. They expected him
to die like the others, but when Lucifer learned that he was
married to Esra,he kept him alive.”

Aura gasped.“My great-grandfather is in Hell too?”

“Yes. Lucifer spared hi
s life, hoping he could
persuade Alorrah to follow his commands.
Fionn would
never
allow
the
children
to
turn
away
from
Heaven;
regardless of how much he was tortured. He was a true child
of Heaven, even if he had mortal blood.”

“If Fionn was mortal wouldn’t he be dead now?”

“Esra’s certain he’s still alive. She gave her blood
to Fionn before Alice was born.
Lucifer would be able to
keep him alive indefinitely, because of his angelblood.”

“So he has Alorrah and Alexis, and Fionn too?”

Eve nodded.
“Esra knows Fionn would never betray
Heaven.
But by making him suffer, Lucifer thought he
could persuade Alorrah to succumb to him.”

Aura looked at Alannah.“Is Fionn still alive?”
“Yes Mommy, but he doesn’t have the same
protection as Alorrah and Alexis.”

 

“So Lucifer can hurt him?”

“Yes Mommy. Alorrah tries to protect him, but they
still torture him in front of her and Alexis.
Fionn made her
promise never to use her powers to help Lucifer no matter
what they did to him.
Betraying Heaven would hurt him
more than anything else Lucifer could ever do. The last time
he hurt Fionn, Alorrah burned one of them. She told Lucifer
she would burnhim too, if he didn’t stop. She said Lucifer
looked at her and laughed.
When she called for the fire, he
stopped laughing.”

“Who did she burn?” Aura asked.

 

“Samhael his hand will never heal,” Alannah said
proudly.

 

Aura looked at her mother.“I have to find a way to
bring them home. Somehow I have to find a way.

The girls heard the front door open and thinking it
might have been Aidan they raced towards it.
It was Paul
and the other members of the Guild and a few minutes later
Rita and Jessica came.

“Why are you back?” Aura asked. “I thought you
were going to New York?”

Rita’s response was frigid. “
Apparently,
Will
doesn’t want me there after what happened today. We killed
those creatures and did he even say thank you? No! Instead,
he acted like we did something wrong.
He was angry
because Jess and I killed them.
I tried to explain we had
stronger weapons, but he wouldn’t listen,” Rita ranted.

“So I take it Will’s ego is in need of a little
adjustment?” Aura said.

 

“He needs more than a little adjustment. Will’s ego
is in need of a major overhaul,” Rita scoffed.

 

Willow’s face dropped. “Does that mean I can’t
visit Matthew?”

Rita looked lovingly at her goddaughter, “Of course
not. We’ll take you tomorrow or the next day. I just need to
cool off before I have any contact with Will again; the
ingrate.” Rita mumbled something else under her breath, but
Aura was sure it wasn’t for young ears to hear.

“Joshua said that Will
won’t be returning to Aeden.
He thinks he’ll probably enroll in the Academy now,”
Jessica said.

“Good
let him stay there.” Rita’s wall was back
up.
Aura knew her feelings were hurt, so she chose another
topic to discuss.

Chapter 14

When Richard left Meredith, he headed to New
York to have Natalie’s appearance changed as soon as
possible. He didn’t wait for transportation. They used a
portal to transport themto Mahlyssa’s home.

As promised, Mahlyssa had everything ready when
he returned. Natalie couldn’t help feeling self conscious
about
her
scar;
especially
after
she
saw
how
beautiful
Mahlyssa was.

“I take it you have everything you need to proceed?”
Richard asked.

 

“I do. Why don’t you follow me to the dispensary
and we can begin.”

By
this
time
her
guest
was
wide
awake
and
shouting.“They will come for me! I swear you’ll all pay
when they do!”

Mahlyssa laughed.
“Ignore him; someone obviously
woke up on the wrong side of the bed.He’ll be asleep again
in no time. I’ve put a sleeping potion in his food.”

Natalie looked suspiciously at her father.“Are you
sure this is wise?”

 

“You have left me with no choice.”

Mahlyssa directed Natalie to one of the cots and
Richard sat in a chair nearby.
She had several potions
prepared and waiting.
She looked at Natalie.“No one will
recognize you when I’m finished.”

Natalie looked at her strangely. “Finished with
what?”

 

“Didn’t your father tell you? I’m giving you a new
identity.”

As Natalie took her seat, Mahlyssa handed her one
draught after the next, advising her she needed to finish them
all.
After thirty minutes, she took Natalie to a full length
mirror.“Why don’t you have a look?”

Natalie hesitated before looking at herself. Gone
were the long auburn curls and black eyes.
Instead, she had
golden blonde hair and blue eyes.
The scar was completely
erased. “How did you erase the scar? It was made with
angelfire?”

“I certainly can’t give away all my secrets. I trust
you’re pleased?”

Natalie was more
than pleased. Richard didn’t even
recognize his daughter.
The transformation was incredible.
“I am indebted to you Mahlyssa.”

Richard told Mahlyssa he would be in touch in a
week or two.
He was contemplating sending Natalie to the
Godwin Academy.
The Devereaux sisters were there and
Will and Joshua would be there soon.
If she could fool
them; it would be easy to fool the others.

“If all goes according to plan, I’ll find you a place to
live near the valley.
Richard looked down atNatalie’s left
hand.“You need to give me that ring.”

“It’s my wedding ring. Why can’t I wear it?”
“You’re no longer married and we don’t want to
make anyone suspicious.”

 

“I’ll put the ring on a chain, but please don’t ask me
to give it up.”

 

“Very well, but you’ll keep it out of sight at all
times. Are we clear about that?”

 

“Yes Father. I promise no one will see it.”
“I’ve been giving some thought to your new name.
I’ve decided on Natasha Eastland.”

“Natasha Eastland?”
“Do you have a problem with that?”

“I was thinking I should be Natasha Justice. It has a
ring to it, don’t you think?”

 

“I see your point. Perhaps you are anticipating a
little justice?” Richard smirked.

 

Natalie shook her head. “Shouldn’t you give me
some background information, so I can be convincing?”
“You were born in London on the first of February.
You’ll turn eighteen in a few weeks.”

 

Natalie laughed.“Well considering our home is in
Cumbria, I shouldn’t have any problem with that part.”

“
Unfortunately, the spell could not disguise your
voice. You’ll have to work on that.
Your parents were
killed a few months ago and you’ve been staying with
friends in London.
I still have a few faithful contacts there
that can validate your story.”

“I can’t wait to make Jessica regret what she did to
me.”

“You’ll do nothing to draw attention to yourself. It
took
a
great
deal
of
negotiating
for
me
to
alter
your
appearance.
You are to avoid Jayden at all costs.
Do you
understand?” Richard said impatiently. “I don’t have the
means to alter your appearance a second time.
I want no
troublefrom you. I can’t keep fixing your messes. I have
other tasks that need my attention if we are to take over the
Utopian colony.”

“I understand Father,” Natalie replied humbly.

Richard wasn’t convinced that Natalie
would heed
his warning.
He was still annoyed that she had failed him.
“If you are to be convincing, you’ll have to play the part.
Do I make myself clear?”

“I swear I’ll do whatever it takes. I won’t disappoint
you, I promise.”

Richard looked kindly upon his daughter.
“It won’t
be too long before you will have your revenge. Now let’s
find a hotel room and get a good night’s rest. Tomorrow
will be a busyday.”

Will and Joshua arrived at the Academy before
dinner. “I wasn’t expecting you until next week sometime.
Are Rita and Jessica notcoming with you?” Andromeda
asked.

“Apparently not,” Will said heatedly. “I trust you
have our rooms ready? I’d like to take a nap.”

Andromeda showed Will to his room.
Once inside,
he plopped on the bed. He had no intentions of sleeping. He
just wanted to be alone.
Rita would never forgive him for
being so cruel.
He regretted some of the things he said, but
it was too late to take them back.

Matthew was disappointed when Willow wasn’t
with them.
Joshua took him aside and guaranteed him she
would come in a day or two. “Rita never breaks a promise.
“Why don’t you call your friendlater?”

“Would it be alright mother?” Matthew asked.

“Of course, you can speak to her after dinner.”
Andromeda knew talking to Willow would make her son
feel better.

Andromeda
introduced
Joshua
to
the
other
residents.
Most of them were his age, but they came from
the other colonies, so he didn’t know any of them.

Meredith forbade him from leaving Utopia; except
for an occasional vacation with Will and his family. Perhaps
it was because she was afraid of what he would discover.
Joshua
heard
rumors
the
other
colonies
allowed
their
children to exercise free will like the inhabitants of Aeden.
She worried he would leave and take Will with him. Will’s
family was very wealthy and if he left Utopia, it wouldn’t
figure into Richard’s plans for the Crestwell’s money.

After lunch Aura asked the family to follow her into
the living room.
Alannahcouldn’t help noticing that Aidan
hadn’t returned. “Where is he? Shouldn’t we wait for
him?”

“We can talk to him later.”
“What’s this about?” Rita asked.

Aura retained her composure.
“Today after we
finished shopping we had an encounter with one of the
fallen.”

“You ran into a dark wing at the Mall?” Jessica
asked. “Who was it? Not Samhael I hope.”

“No, it wasn’t Samhael.”
“Who was it then?” Rita asked.

Aura took a deep breath and looked at her mother.
“It was Mortriel.”

 

“What?” Adam jumped up. “Mortriel was here in
the valley?”

 

“Yes, but he wasn’t actually in the valley. We met
him outside the mall in Baltimore.”

 

Paul looked at Aura.“What did he want?”

Aura tried to keep a handle on her sarcasm. “
He
was trying to see if Samhael was telling the truth about me
being here. It’s not like we talked over lunch. When he saw
Alannah, he made cruel comments about Alorrah, but when
he saw Bren and Tracy, I had to warn him to leave them
alone.”

“You didn’t show him angel-fire did you?” Aura’s
father asked nervously.

“No, but I did
introduce
him
to
my
shield.
I
promised him if he dared to touch any of the little ones he
would regret it.”

The Guild looked at each other. It was obvious they
were
thinking
the
same
thing.
Lucifer
was
planning
something. “Where is Aidan? Why was your guardian not
here?” Adam asked.

“He left this morning, probably to look for Jeziel.”
“Did he tell you where he was going?” Joseph
asked.

 

“He said he was going exploring. He left a little
after five and he hasn’t returned.”

 

Rita looked apologetically at her sister. “You need
to tell them Aura.”

 

“Tell us what?” Paul inquired.

 

“Aidan hasn’t been himself since Jeziel disappeared.
I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about.”

“Your guardian should not have left you,” Adam
reiterated. “Have you forgotten what happened to Elijah and
Ericah? This is unacceptable Aura. Aidan knows better.”

“He didn’t leave me. I can protect myself. I never
thought I needed a guardian in the first place,” Aura argued.
“Never the less, he should be here.
Perhaps we
should notify the High Council,” Joseph said.

Aura felt the need to defend her guardian. “You’ll
need to advise them of Mortriel’s visit, but Aidan shouldn’t
get into trouble for trying to find Jeziel.
I saw no reason for
him to go shopping.”

“Well there is definitely a reason now,” Adam said
with authority.

 

“I can take care of myself,” Aura said. “Have you
forgotten the gifts I have?”

“We are aware of your gifts, but its imperative
Lucifer doesn’t find out about them.
If he discovers what
you can do, he’ll send an army to take you back,” Paul said.