Ignoring all the eyes that stare at her except the eyes of the child in front of her, she cups his face in her hands and whispers, “Because you are a Keeper of the Light, Alex. Without you, all is lost. Without you every human and angel will fall to shadow and the torture I endured will be nothing compared to the hell that will follow!”
Elina glares at the two archangels in the living room and her power begins to hum. She looks at them as she demands, “One of you better explain this to me!”
Malach speaks first, “Elina, I told you once never to think for a moment that you know God’s plan. I am just as dumbfounded as you. Simeon will explain it to all of us.”
Alex wipes his face on his sleeve, rises from the floor, and moves closer to his sister. With a quick surge, his power joins hers and the light emanating from them is spectacular. A glow of bright blue surrounds the Keepers and they look at each other and smile.
“Dial it back, Keepers,” Polly tells them “or we will have unwanted company!” With a small laugh Elina shows Alex in his mind how to slow the flow and cap it until needed.
“You are a fast learner, little brother.” Puffing with pride he looks at Simeon and waits.
Varena steps forward and tells her friend, “It was believed, Elina, that you were the Keeper of the Light. The day you were born the Ketuwah lit, and the village elder shared her vision with us all. My father and yours did not feel that to be all the truth. When Hemana was born, they thought it was possible that he too shared your gifts. The job of the medicine man of our village; my father was to protect you. The day the Mocker attacked our village; your father appeared to mine and ordered him to protect the Light. He didn’t appear to you, Elina. He was ordering the protection of the true Keeper, Hemana.”
Simeon interrupts, “That is only part of the story. You are both Keepers, the first ever born” he says gesturing to Elina and Alex, the second Keeper. “One of you has the ability to reunite the pieces of the book, while the other is tasked with protecting it.”
“Hemana,” Simeon says stepping closer to look at Alex, “you have the ability to strike a name from the book, or add to it. With this gift you can grant redemption or damnation for any soul or angel. It is a power all in Heaven, on Earth, or in Hell would do anything to have. It had to be protected; you had to stay hidden until it was safe.”
Elina whispers “But Simeon, it isn’t finished yet. I have not completed my task…” Looking in horror at her brother, she realizes that his fate is now tied to hers. Stumbling to the couch, she sits with her head down. Malach moves to her side and wraps an arm around her shoulder, feeling her fear and pain.
Ronnie asks, “What book? Why do I feel like I am missing something important here?” Looking up at her father, Elina glances at Malach and knows the time has come to tell them all the truth.
“The Book of Watchers is a book that my people were given to protect. It holds the power to free all the souls in Hell or condemn those who need to be there. It was a gift given to our ancestor for his faith. When our people were being executed, hunted and tortured to get to the book, they broke it up into five parts.” Standing up, she sees the shock on the faces that look at her. “Those pieces were hidden amongst the ten remaining tribes and scattered across the globe. I was tasked with finding and returning the pieces of the book before the Mocker finds them.”
Malach joins her and continues, “The Fallen want to be free to return to Earth and some of the angels in Heaven have begun falling again. They are all set on finding the book. They now know it was broken up, because the Mocker has a part of it. When the name of a Fallen is read aloud they are free, but under the control of the one who calls it. He is building an army of Fallen this way.”
“Why did you not tell us the truth, Elina?” Hunter asks, angry that he was not told the truth.
Alex pulls his towel closer and walks over to join Elina. “What is my part in this?”
Looking at her brother she is afraid to tell him. “I thought if I found all the pieces I could prevent the war from happening, but now I am not sure of anything?” She looks to Malach and her eyes plead with him for help.
Malach pulls her to his side to explain, “Elina was able to retrieve two parts of the book. Three more are remaining and we know one of those is with the Mocker. We have to retrieve that part and we have to keep Alex hidden and safe.” Hunter moves closer to his son, listening in shock.
Everyone is quiet, in shock from all they have heard. “I did not want to put you in any more danger,” Elina tells her family looking around at them; “I wanted to keep you safe.”
Ronnie pulls her close saying, “Of course you did. That’s what a Keeper does.” Ruby joins them reassuring her daughter with a touch and hug.
Varena watches and listens. She thinks of Mark and the scroll he gave her. Could it be what she
