“The best thing for all of us right now is food and rest,” Hunter says when he notices how she tenses and begins wringing her hands together. “Alex, I know you mean well, but Varena will make those decisions later, when she is ready.”
Noting the serious look in his father’s face, Alex nods his head in understanding. “Okay, I’m starved. Let’s eat.”
Varena relaxes through dinner and laughs at Alex’s stories. She finds she is able to eat more than she thought. Insisting on helping with dishes, she is amazed by the dishwasher and stands in awe as they show her how it can be loaded. They try not to laugh when she opens it and closes it again and again.
Alex calls Varena to get her attention, “Hey Rena, check this out.”
In her mind she hears him calling her. “Rena, I am Shadow. Have you forsaken me?”
Hunter is there first, catching her before she hits the floor. Picking her up, he carries her into the backroom and Alex follows with his medicine bag.
“Get a cool cloth, son, and a glass of water.” He places the rag on her forehead, then takes her pulse, and then listens to her heart. He locates the baby’s heartbeat, and props her feet up for a few minutes, relieved when the color returns to her face.
“Varena, you are safe now.” She hears his voice calling to her, and she forces her eyes open.
A tear slips free and she looks at him. “I thought he found me, Hunter. I thought he found me. I am sorry I scared you. I’m so tired. Is the baby okay?” she asks clutching at her belly protectively.
“With your permission I would like to listen.” Hunter takes out his stethoscope and looks for a fast heartbeat. He listens carefully and finds it. “Would you like to hear your baby, Varena?”
Wonder fills her eyes. “Oh, yes, please!” He shows her how to hold it, and then he watches as she meets her child. Varena’s face lights with joy, she says, “Thank you.”
“My turn!” Alex says barely able to contain himself. He squats down by the bed, to listen and then asks in all seriousness, “Why is it so fast. Is that normal?” Hunter reassures them and they laugh when the baby kicks the scope, making Alex jump. “Wow, I guess he is telling us to leave him alone!” After laughing together, she yawns and Hunter decides to make her rest.
“Enough excitement for one day, you need to sleep.” After he puts away his gear, he urges Alex out of the room. “Varena, you are safe and protected here with us. Try to get some sleep.”
As she watches them leave, she says a prayer thanking her father for sending them to save her, and then falls into a deep, dreamless sleep.
Hunter paces outside in the living room as he an Alex try to figure out what to do next. “Tell me how you found her, son.” Then he listens quietly as Alex tells him. Sitting down in shock, he looks at his son, speechless for a moment. “You went WHERE? How is that possible, Alex. How did you know you could do it?”
With a shrug of his shoulders, Alex answers him, “I just followed the image in her mind.”
Stunned and feeling a little out of his element, Hunter tells him “We need to rest. Don’t make any plans. Alex, tomorrow you are going with me to meet Polly and the Keeper.” As he watches his son walk away from him, he worries for all of them and wonders what the repercussions of this choice will be.
Varena wakes early after a silent sleep and listens for sounds from the house. Wearing her dress from the day before, she folds the borrowed clothes and leaves them on the bed. Taking the scroll, she tucks it into the pocket of her dress. She hears no sound as she moves downstairs, so she heads outside to the deck and sees Hunter greeting the morning with prayer. Quietly she sits beside him and closes her eyes, lifting her face she greets the day. Hunter smiles when she joins him and peace fills his heart at the sound of her voice greeting God in prayer.
“Dear Lord, I thank you for the grace of being alive this morning, I thank you for the sleep that has refreshed me. I thank you for the chance to make a new beginning. Help me in all I do and say today, and when the day is over bring me home safely. Amen.”
Alex sits quietly listening from the kitchen, and is more determined than ever to keep her safe.
Twenty
Elina is in the living room at Polly’s starting a fire in the fireplace and laughing at the look on Malach’s face as she tells him, “This is how you start a fire, Malach.”
“A ridiculous waste of time,” Malach tells her with a small smile. He refused to leave her while Raphaim was close and she was not complaining. She loved her time with him.
“The demon said he had his hands on you, Elina. You will tell me what went on sooner or later.”
Glancing at him, she smiles, “He caught me at a vulnerable moment, but I handled it. Besides, he is not the first man to put his hands on me.”
Malach jerks her around to face him; he starts to say something, but is interrupted by Polly.
“Jake left a message for you. He took Elsbeth with him to visit a friend named Lucas. He said you knew who that was?”
With a look at Malach, Elina sees the question on his face. “Lucas was in the cave in Afghanistan when they were attacked. I wonder what that is about? Did he say anything else?”
Polly looks at
