“No,” he cried out as some of the thick, gelatinous substance splashed into his mouth. It tasted of death, and left his flesh dulled.
He’d had similar dreams when his angelic abilities had first started to manifest. He didn’t care for them then—and cared even less for them now. He intensified his battle to be free of it, but the nightmare did not relent, continuing to hold him fast in its grip.
Aaron was completely submerged now, the warm fluid engulfing him, lulling him to a place where he could quit all struggle. And it almost succeeded.
Almost.
Suddenly, in his mind, he saw a sword of light. It was the most magnificent weapon he had ever seen. Never in all his imaginings could he have built a sword so mighty and large. It was as if the weapon had been forged from one of the rays of the sun.
And as he reached for it, its unearthly radiance shone brighter, and brighter still—burning away the liquid-filled cocoon that held him and the nightmare realm it inhabited.
He awoke with a start, his body drenched with sweat. Gabriel had joined him on the bed, and his dark brown eyes glistened eerily in a strange light that danced around the room.
“Gabriel, what…?” he began breathlessly.
“Nice sword,” the dog said simply.
Fully awake now, Aaron realized that he held something in his left hand. Slowly he turned his gaze toward it—toward what he had brought back from the realm of nightmare.
A blade of the sun.
CHAPTER SEVEN
“What do you think it means?” Gabriel asked from the foot of the bed as Aaron stepped from the shower and grabbed a fresh shirt.
He pushed his arms through the sleeves and pulled the red T-shirt down over his stomach. “It was kind of like the dreams I had before this whole Nephilim thing blew up,” he said, fingering his hair in the mirror and deciding that he looked fine. “Where I was experiencing old memories that didn’t belong to me.”
“Like the sword?” the dog asked.
Aaron shuddered as he remembered the amazing sight of the sword that he seemed to have brought over from the dream. He knew he was not responsible for the creation of the blade. He was certain that it belonged to someone of great importance, but the question was who—and why had the weapon been given to him. It had only stayed with him for a short time. As if sensing it was no longer needed, it had dispersed in an explosion of blinding light. “Just like the sword,” Aaron finally replied. “And like the dreams, I think it was given to help me.”
“I thought it was all very scary,” Gabriel said, and sighed as he rested his snout between his paws.
“I agree,” Aaron said, sitting beside the dog to put on his sneakers, “but it all has something to do with this town.”
“Is this a mystery?” Gabriel asked, his floppy ears suddenly perky.
Aaron laughed and gave the dog’s head a rub. “It certainly is. Listen, I’ve got to go to the clinic this morning, but you need to stay here and give that leg a chance to heal. Why don’t you think about all our clues and see if you can come up with some answers.”
“I’ve always wanted to solve a mystery,” Gabriel said happily.
“All right there, Scooby.” Aaron gave the dog another pet and headed for the door.
“Scooby?” the dog said, his head tilted at a quirky angle.
“He’s a dog on television, very good at solving mysteries.”
Gabriel’s head tilted the other way.
“Never mind,” Aaron said as he stepped out into the hall. “It’s not important. I’ll see you this afternoon.”
“Have a good day, Shaggy,” he heard the dog say as he closed the door. And he began to laugh, marveling again at how smart his friend had actually become.
Aaron was busy at the veterinary clinic from the moment he stepped through the door. He didn’t think it possible for a town so small to have that many animals in need of care. Stitches, rabies shots, heartworm tests, a broken forepaw—you name it, he and Katie dealt with it that morning and well into the afternoon.
It feels good to be working with animals again, Aaron thought as he restrained a particularly feisty Scottish terrier, by the name of Mike, who was having some blood drawn.
“No hurt! No hurt!” the little dog yelped as his owner looked on, concern in her eyes.
“It’s okay,” Aaron said to the dog. “When the doctor is done, you can have a cookie and go home. All right?”
The dog immediately stopped its struggling.
“That’s it,” Katie said, placing the vial on the counter and turning to the owner. “I’ll send this out to the lab this afternoon and give you a call as soon as I know something.”
Aaron handed Mike back to his owner and escorted them into the lobby to settle the bill. “And don’t forget this,” he said, holding out a treat as the woman turned to leave.
The woman smiled, and Mike greedily devoured the cookie.
“I never lie,” Aaron said to the dog with a wink and bid them both good-bye.
“Next victim,” Katie said wearily, coming out of the examination room.
For the first time that day, the waiting room was empty.
“We’re good right now,” Aaron told her. “Next one’s”—he glanced at the appointment book—“a rabies shot at four. Gives us two hours to catch up.”
“You know, you’re really good with them,” Katie said, leaning against the desk.
“Why, thank you, doctor,” Aaron said, smiling. “I enjoy the work.”
“No really, they seem to trust you. It’s a talent you don’t see so often.”
“Well, let’s just say I speak their language,” he said with a grin.
Katie shook her head and looked at her watch. “You say we’ve got two hours before the next appointment?”
Aaron nodded.
She moved toward the door, took a ring of keys from her pocket, and locked the front door. “What’s up?” he asked, a little surprised.
“Being a fellow stranger in this burg, I’ve got something I want to show you,” she said, moving past him and down the hall. “It’s in the basement.”
Aaron followed her to the door at the end of the hall. There was a sudden tension in the air that hadn’t been there before, and it concerned him. “Does this have anything to do with your old boyfriend?” he asked.
“Yeah,” she said with a slight nod. “I think it might.” She opened the door and started down the creaking wooden steps into the darkness. “Kevin contacted me, asking me to come to Blithe to help him with something, but he wasn’t exactly clear as to what the problem was.”
At the foot of the stairs she reached out into the inky darkness and pulled the chain for the light, dispelling the darkness to the far corners of the underground room. “So I show up and I find him missing,” she continued, as she waited for Aaron to join her. “The office is in disarray. He hasn’t been here for appointments for at least four days.” Katie ran a trembling hand across her forehead.