Great. He was changing the subject. It was no use pressing him to tell her.
“She’s not the same,” she said. “It was hard seeing her like that.”
“Is she okay?”
“Yeah, I guess. I mean, she seems to be doing well, but she looked so fragile. The year has really taken a toll on her. And...”
She hesitated to tell him what she had done, appearing to Welita. Would he get mad?
“And what?” he prodded with sapphire eyes that glowed with openness. He was on her side. She could trust him.
“And she saw me.”
He grinned, dimples flashing. “Did she freak?”
She laughed. “Of course not. She already knew I was there. My grandmother has always believed in angels. Didn’t Lash tell you that your mother was her guardian angel?”
There was a tense silence. Hurt passed over his face, and she bit down on her lip. How could she forget that Lash was barely on speaking terms with him?
“I’m sorry. I forgot about you and....well, what about Raphael? Didn’t he tell you about Rebecca and my grandmother?”
“I haven’t been talking that much to Raphael lately, either. I had to leave soon after you were reunited with Lash. I was sent on assignment, remember? Raphael mentioned it.”
“Oh, right. Why were you sent on a job so soon? I thought Gabrielle would cut you some slack. She likes you.”
He studied her face for a moment, and she felt that pull again, as if he was silently urging her to him. After a moment, he let out a breath and looked away. “I wasn’t really on an assignment. I had some...things I had to do.”
“Oh. I didn’t mean to pry.”
He groaned and fell back into the grass, gazing at the stars in the cloudless sky. “It’s not easy being the angel of death.”
She furrowed her brow, wondering what he was talking about. “I can imagine.”
When he turned his head toward her, long spears of grass brushed against his flawless face. “I wasn’t happy being a seraph. I wanted to be an archangel. I even tried to convince Lash to be one too. He didn’t want it. I thought he was holding himself back and being his rebellious self. Now I know it was because being an archangel would’ve stifled him, taken the best out of him.”
She knew exactly what he meant. She felt the burden of being an archangel, and she hadn’t even completed her training yet. Oh, Lash. Welita is right—we are a perfect match.
He chuckled as he continued to reminisce. “You should’ve seen the things he did to rile up Gabrielle. I miss him.”
She felt an ache in her chest. She missed Lash too. What she wouldn’t do to have him there at this moment. She desperately wanted to see him and tell him she was sorry: sorry for staying mad at him, for hurting him, and that she understood now why he’d done what he did.
“There’s one thing about being the archangel of death that amazes me though.”
“What’s that?”
“People can be so strong in the face of death.” He sat up, bracing himself on his elbows. “Almost everyone I’ve had to take over to the other side finds a way to put themselves at peace with it. They ask forgiveness from loved ones or mutter a prayer. But the ones that amaze me the most are those who take danger head on, knowing they’ll more than likely die, and yet they face that danger anyway. And the psalm they mutter. It’s so beautiful.”
She thought back to her catechism classes, remembering that a psalm is like a song or prayer. There were so many. “Which one?”
“You know the one that starts off with ‘Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death’?”
“Yeah. You like that one?”
He nodded. “There’s something about it when a person mutters it under his breath, you can feel a sense of peace. Like they’re resolved to face their death. Sometimes, I wonder if I would be able to do something like that.”
“What do you mean? Face your own death?”
“I don’t know if I’m strong enough to do it.” He barked a laugh. “Imagine that. The angel of death afraid of dying.”
“Why would you even think it?” Her mind flashed to Uri and Rachel.
He pulled himself up and walked a few feet away from her. “Because, I guess, deep inside, I know I’m a coward.”
“No, you’re not.” She went to him and turned him around to face her. “You and Lash are the bravest people I know. You had to make sure I got to the top of Shiprock. And you had to do it without telling your best friend. I know he’s still mad at you, but he’ll come around. And you had to know that he’d get mad even though you were doing what was best for him.”
Jeremy dropped his head. “You think too much of me. I didn’t know you were going to join us. I was just doing my duty.”
“I wasn’t talking about me. You knew that he’d go back home after you...uh, after your job was done.”
“Say it, Naomi. After I killed you.”
“Jeremy, look at me.” Her hand reached out to him, and when it touched his strong jaw, his breath hitched. He tried to pull away from her, but she firmly lifted his head to make his eyes meet hers.
“Naomi, please don’t.” His voice was raw.
“Don’t what? Don’t tell you ‘You’re a wonderful brother’? Don’t tell you ‘You’ve been a great friend to me’?”
“If you knew what I was feeling, you wouldn’t be saying those things.”
“I know you may be...confused about your feelings for me, but—”
“I’m not confused,” he said, his sapphire eyes gazed deeply into hers.
“Jeremy. You may think that right now, but with time, as you get to know me, you’ll see things...you’ll see us more clearly. There’s one thing I know for certain.” She placed a hand on his chest. “This heart loves his family deeply and will do anything for them.”
His eyes smoldered at her touch, and she swallowed at their intensity. He reached out, and his fingers ghosted over her face as if memorizing every single inch. When they reached her lips, she gasped as his thumb gently stroked her bottom lip. Slowly, he leaned in toward her, lips parting. She was about to pull away from him when something crashed into his body, sending him twenty feet into the air.
A blur whirled past her, straight to where Jeremy lay groaning. She was about to run to him when the shadow stopped and turned to face her.
Lash!
16
Naomi’s heart skipped a beat at the glorious sight of Lash. His hazel eyes blazed with fury as he stared down at Jeremy. His fist clenched tightly against his side, muscles straining, tensing, ready to fight. The sides of his jaw jutted out, and he gritted his teeth, emphasizing his handsome chiseled face.
“Lash,” she breathed.
He turned, and his face softened when his eyes met hers. “Naomi. I’m sorry about...everything.”
She heard a groan, and her eyes darted to Jeremy as he lifted himself from the ground. Whirling, Lash took a threatening step towards him.
Naomi rushed to Lash and grasped his arm. “Don’t. He’s your brother.”
Hurt flashed across his eyes as he studied her face. “You”—he swallowed thickly—“care for him?”
“Of course I do.”
He sucked in a breath as if he’d been punched.
“He’s my brother too,” she explained. “At least, he will be soon.”
He blinked and looked at her as if he couldn’t believe what she was saying. “You still want to be bound to me? You forgive me?”
“Yes! Yes!”
Before she could say another word, fevered lips pressed down on hers with such passion, she felt like she would float away at any minute. Tears streamed down her face, thinking of how stupid she’d been to hurt him the way she did. She kissed him back deeply. Her arms clung to his neck as she drowned herself in his kiss. This was where she belonged, in his arms.