Fall from Grace (Book 2: An Angelblood Novel) (26 page)

One by one, each of them introduced themselves to
their guests.
When she came to Myra, Aura introduced
Mahlyssa. “This is your mother.”

“My mother how can that be?” she asked.
“I’m sure you have a lot to talk about, but first I
should bring in our other guest.”

 

Aura went to the door and whispered for Arian to
come in and join the others.

 

Jade saw him first.
She dropped her drink and ran
straight to his arms.“Arian is it you?”

 

“It’s me Jade. I swear it’s me.”

Will
turned around. “It can’t be,” he said to himself.
He got up to greet Arian, still not believing his brother was
alive. The two boys hugged. “I thought you were dead.
What happened to you? Where have you been?” Will asked.

“It’s a long story. I’ll tell you about it
, after I meet
everyone,” Arian said.
He looked at Jade; really looked at
her. “What have you done to your hair?”

Jade’s long brown locks were gone leaving behind a
short bob which covered her blue eyes.
But it was the
scarlet streaks that held his attention. “I can change it back
if you don’t like it.”

“Don’t bother
it suits you,” Arian laughed. “There
isn’t anything about you thatI don’t love. It may take some
getting used to, but I think you should keep it this way.”

“About that little disagreement we had about
Natalie,” Will said apologetically.

 

“What disagreement?” Jessica asked. “Is
there
somethingyou haven’t told us about you and Natalie?”
“It’s alrightJess, Will explained everything to me,”
Rita smiled.

 

Arian looked around the room. “Are we having a
party?”

 

Jade
giggled. “It’s an engagement party. Your
brother and Joshua are gettingmarried.”

 

“What? I leave for a couple of months and you’re
bothengaged?” he teased Will.

 

Will smiled as he introduced his brother to Rita and
Jessica.

 

“I guess congratulations are in order.
When is this
wedding?”

 

“Next week, and now you won’t have any excuse
for not being there,” Joshua said.

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Arian hugged
both of the girls and offered a congratulatory hand shake to
Joshua.

Aura was about totell the family Mahlyssa’s story,
when she stopped her. “Please – I need to tell her.”

Aura nodded. She motioned for the others to take a
seat.
The little ones surrounded themselves around their
new friends.

Mahlyssa clasped her hands together and stared into
Myra’s eyes. “I don’t know what you’ve been told about
how you came to be here.
You probably think I abandoned
you, but I swear nothing could be further from the truth.”

She hesitated for a moment, before telling them the
story of how her father Marcus had cursed her and then tried
to bargain with Virgil, Myra’s father, for his wings.

“Even though he k
new it was wrong, he consented.
When the wings turned to ash, I thought Virgil deceived
him.
I blamed him for a long time, but after a while, I
realizedthat Virgil was trying to save me from my father.”
She continued to tell her how she searched desperately for
Virgil and how Richard kept them apart.

“I knew I shouldn’t have trusted him, but I believed
he was being honest with me.
Aura told me the truth.
Richard had no intention of allowing me to find your father.”

“How is it thatArian was in your custody?” Will
asked.

“Richard asked me to keep him there. He never said
why, but he promised he would remove the curse if I agreed
to help him. It wasn’t that I cared about myself, but I
wanted to find Virgil and tell him how sorry I was. Your
brother was near death when Richard brought him to me.
I
thought many times he was going to die.
I did all I could to
save him,” Mahlyssa said.

“I wasn’t mistreated Will,” Arian said. “She’s telling
you
the
truth.
She
healed
me
and
made
sure
I
had
everything I needed. She wouldn’t let me leave. It was
probably a wise decision. I would have gone after Richard
for what he did to mom and dad.
I know you may not
believe me, but she saved my life.”

Mahlyssa continued.
“Richard came to see me a
couple of days ago. He said his daughter was in trouble and
asked if I could change her identity.
He removed my
father’s curse, so I agreed to help him.
Once the curse was
removed, I knew I could resume the search for my husband
and daughter. She bent her head in shame. “I found out this
morning, Richard killed Virgil.
I never got to tell him that I
was sorry.”

Rita glared at her.“So you changed Natalie?”

“Yes. I know it was unforgiveable, but I feared for
the safety of the others.
Richard would have killed the only
family I had. I know they were brought with me as servants,
but I swear I never treated any of them as such. I am sorrier
than youknow for helping him,” Mahlyssa said in earnest.

“Before any one passes judgment on Mahlyssa, I
should inform you I’ve had a conversation with Michael and
Uriel in regards to her past deeds.
They agree there is no
need for her to appear before the Council. They are aware of
her actions and the reasons behind them.
Heaven holds no
ill will towards her,or any of those in her company,” Aura
said.

“Dad built a house on Hespa’s property and they are
staying there.
Since the ground is hallowed, they will be
safe from Richard.
She has put herself and those she cares
about in great danger by helping us. If they were not true to
Heaven, they would have burned when they stepped on
sanctified ground. They did not.”

Myra took her mother’s hands. “Perhaps it wo
uld
be better if you stayed here with us. Eve’s shield can protect
you.”

Mahlyssa smiled kindly at her daughter. “I am not
concerned for myself, but I would like to keep the others
safe. I am the only family they have and the same is true for
me.”

Myra smiled. “That was before.
You have family
now. You have all of us.”

“There is no reason any of you should be placed in
danger,” Bren said. “We can protect all of you.” She looked
to Tracy and Alannah who supported her position.

Mahlyssa spoke candidly.
“I have no right to ask
any of you to risk your lives for me. Richard will be furious
when he realizes I have released Arian to you.”

“All the more reason you should be sheltered,” Jade
said. “I can’t speak for the others, but I will be forever in
your debt for saving Arian’s life.”

She looked to Will who nodded in agreement. “If
what my brother says is true, then you have saved him from
the same fate that took our parents.
The manner in which
you did is of little consequence to me.
I too am indebted to
you.”

Mahlyssa started to weep.
“Aura told me you would
welcome us here, but I never expected this. I am so sorry for
my past mistakes, but I promise I will do all I can to help
you bring Richard to justice.”

Myra was overwhelmed by her mother’s honest
y.
She looked to her husband Martin.“I think we have an
obligation to my mother and the others.”

Shannon
ran
over
and
put
her
arms
around
Mahlyssa. “It’s OK mum, we’re home now.” Mahlyssa
picked her up and cried softly on her shoulder.“I never
thought I deserved you, but I thanked God for you every
day.”

“Where are the girl’s parents?” Myra asked.

Mahlyssa sighed.
“I had to ask them to leave. After
my father’s death, some of the younger Enchantor’s decided
to follow me to New York.
They were looking for a better
life. There were more of us when we first arrived. But I had
a rule. We would practice no dark magic in my home.

One of the young men, Robert O’Hara, stared at
Mahlyssa.“I thought they decided to leave on their own?”

“I should have asked
them to leave when I first
suspected
they
were
dabbling
with
the
dark
spells.
I
couldn’t prove anything at the time, but I learned the truth a
short time ago. I know you believed the others were killed in
an accident, but that wasn’t true. Shannon’s mother was
responsible for their deaths.”

“How could that be?” Robert asked.

Mahlyssa looked
at the entire room,
before she
spoke. “The Cavanaugh’s were good people at one time; at
least that’s what I thought. Shortly before Shannon was
born, Richard came to my home. He didn’t ask for anything
at the time. He wanted to tell me he still didn’t know where
Virgil was.
Colin and Claudia Cavanaugh were there.
I
wasn’t aware Richard had a conversation with them. I
suspected Claudia was experimenting with the dark spells,
but as I’ve said I couldn’t prove anything.”

“The only plausible explanation for the turn of
events is that she must have wanted to prove her loyalty to
Richard. I wasn’t there for the accident, so I can only
presume what happened.”

“
It was one of those rare occasions when I left the
house, shortly after Shannon was born.
We went shopping
to get her layette. When we returned, our friends were dead.
Colin and Claudia said there was an explosion of some kind.
I had no reason to doubt them.”

“
A
week
later,
I
overheard
them
having
a
conversation.
Claudia was laughing about the deaths.
I
confronted them. They agreed to leave Shannon with me, if I
allowed them to disappear.
I wanted to protect her, so I
agreed.
That
was five
years
ago
and I haven’t heard
anything from them since.”

“How did you find out they were responsible for the
deaths?” Bren asked.

 

“Shannon told me.”

 

“How could Shannon know? Wasn’t she just a baby
when this accident happened?” Bren asked.

“Shannon is a gifted child. She was born with the
sight,” Eve said. “To my knowledge this power has never
been given to a mortal.”

“So now you know most of my story. I won’t blame
you if you want nothing to do with me, but I beg you to
protect the others,” Mahlyssa pleaded.

“You will all be protected
,” Martin said. “I spoke to
Eve before you arrived.
We are in agreement.
You should
be allowed to remain in Aeden and adopt Shannon.
Since
there is no proof other than a conversation, I doubt we would
beable to convict the Cavanaugh’s. We can however,
assure the safety of your daughter.”

“Does that mean you’re going to let me have wings
too?” Shannon asked hopefully.

Myra laughed. “You will be given a beautiful pair of
wings, like the other little ones.
After all, you are my little
sister. How could we refuse such a request?”

She looked at Martin.
“The best protection we can
give all of them is the angel’s blood. If they would consider
holding
the
Feather
of
Trust,
we
can
perform
a blood
exchange, as we did for the other mortals.”

“I don’t see why the High Council would have a
problem with that. But we willneed their permission,” Paul
said.

“You could meet with them now Dad; the sooner the
better,” Aura said.

The Guild looked at each other and agre
ed. “Why
don’t you all spend some time getting to know each other
and we’ll have a quick word with them?”

They walked out, leaving Mahlyssa and the others in
the care of their family. Martin couldn’t help noticing how
happy Myra was.
When Mahlyssa adopted Shannon, she
would become Myra’s little sister.
He suspected Shannon
would be treated more like a daughter because of her young
age.

Mahlyssa could finally have some peace in her life.
She was home with her daughter.
If only Virgil was there.
She knew Richard would come looking for her, but she also
knew Aura and the others would fight to keep them safe.

Chapter 25

When Natalie left, she immediately went to Jeziels
cottage. She looked around to make sure that she wasn’t
followed.
It would be just like Aura to make her think she
was free, but then send someone after her.
She knew the
Guild was still looking for Jeziel.
It wouldn’t benefit either
of them, if they took custody of her.

She
approached
the
cottage
and
as
she
looked
through the window, she could see that Jeziel was sitting on
one of the sofas in the living room.
She was thankful that
her cousin was home.

She knocked softly on the door. When Jeziel opened
it, Natalie ran inside, quickly closing the door behind her.
Jeziel’s eyes were quickly drawn to the scar on
Natalie’s face. “What happened? Did the spell wear off?”

Natalie
walked
into
the
kitchen,
with
Jeziel
following closely. Spotting a wine bottle on the counter, she
grabbed a goblet and filled it to the brim.
After taking a
long drink, she plopped on one of the chairs.

“She recognized me,” Natalie cried.

“Who recognized you? I didn’t even know you
when you first appeared before me, and we share the same
blood.”

“Aura saw through my disguise. My father warned
me about her.
I should have listened.
How could he send
me there like that?
It was like sending a lamb to the
slaughter.” Natalie emptied the goblet and filled it a second
time.

“You should slow down.” She took the glass and
the bottle from Natalie. I’ll make you some tea.”
“I need something stronger than tea to settle my
nerves.”

 

“This tea has sedative properties.”

Natalie
watched
as
she
pulled
a
jar
from
the
cupboard and scooped a teaspoon of the powder into a cup,
before adding hot water. She stirred the tea and handed it to
her cousin.

“This tastes like the tea Jayden gave me, when Ella
died,” Natalie said.

 

“It’s an ancient recipe. I’m not certain of all the
ingredients, but it does contain myrrh and chamomile.”

As Natalie sipped the tea, Jeziel walked outside to
make sure she wasn’t followed. When she returned, she
took a seat next to her cousin. “Tell me everything that
happened.”