“So, where are we going to land when we get back?” Miguel asked her curiously. “You grew up in England, didn’t you? Is that where you would prefer to restart? I don’t think there is anything left of Spain. It got hit really badly by one of the bombs.”
“I think home did as well.” Of course, Raegan wanted to be home, but she had to remember this mission wasn’t for reminiscing alone. They had a job to do. “Maybe America, if that’s still there. There isn’t any guarantee anywhere looks the same…”
“We can work it out when we get there.” Miguel held her hands softly. “Let’s just get there.”
The angel surrounded them in a glowing white light, one that lifted them from the ground and twisted the universe around them. The sensation sickened the humans, but they managed to keep the nausea to a minimum by recalling where they were headed. The place where they had always been trying to get to. It had been a very long time, practically a lifetime, but Earth was coming for them and they were about to embark on a brand new chapter…
“Woah.” Raegan tumbled to the floor as soon as something firm appeared underneath her. The sensation of grass surrounded her, transporting her back to way back when. “Earth.”
She wasn’t sure how long she lay there on the floor just soaking it all in, but the angel and Miguel left her to take all the time she needed. Thank goodness, because there was so much to wrap her head around. Least of all, the concept that she needed to lead from here on out…
“Other people,” she rasped, finally pushing herself upwards. “Where are they? How will we get them here? I really don’t want to do this by myself. How will I delegate?”
“Don’t worry, Little One.” The angel patted her gently on the head in a way that managed not to be patronizing. “I do not intend to leave you here alone. Now you are on the planet and ready to rule, it is written that the angels will help you all return.”
“You’ll get them?” Raegan stared up at the ethereal being through her slightly sodden eyelashes. “All of them? Including my father?”
“Alan Stevens, he is on my radar. I will bring him back to you.”
“Miguel told me that he has a group of humans,” she gushed, desperate to get across how important this really was. “He’s leading right now. If anyone can give me advice on how to make this work, it’s him. I need him. I don’t know if I can do this without him.”
Raegan barely even got to the end of her sentence before the light vanished and the angel was gone, leaving her and Miguel alone on Earth at long last.
“I’ve never been to America before,” Miguel declared to break the tension of the moment. They both needed a bit of a laugh before they delved into the serious stuff. “It’s big, isn’t it? And look, you can see in the distance that the White House is still standing, of all places to have survived. We need to go and check it out, right? We can’t pass up on the chance…”
“There will probably be information there too,” Raegan replied with her head firmly on work, not that Miguel found himself surprised. “We have time before everyone else arrives. I don’t know how much time, but I want to use it wisely. The more we can learn about the mistakes of the past, the less likely we’ll be to make them again. We have a higher responsibility this time around, more species relying on us. We have to make it work.”
“You’re right.” Miguel nodded determinedly. “What better place to begin.”
Their hands connected as they admired the journey ahead of them, and that didn’t just include the walk to the White House, but everything else to come afterward. Raegan and Miguel had a lot to deal with, a lot to overcome, but since they’d already survived so much together, there was one thing of which they could be certain…
That this was a journey they would walk through together.
Together and in love.
Twenty
“Why is no one here yet?” Raegan groaned as she hung her head over the toilet just in case another wave of vomit came flooding from her. “Why hasn’t the angel brought any humans to Earth yet? She said she wasn’t going to be long and I need a doctor…”
She couldn’t believe her bad luck. After being back at home for only a few days, she had caught what seemed to be a terrible sickness bug, which took her out of action for far longer than she would like. How could she rule with this illness plaguing her? She wasn’t getting much decision-making done in the bathroom.
“The angel will be back soon.” When Miguel wasn’t rubbing Raegan’s back and getting her glasses of water to help her feel better, he was doing everything that Raegan wanted to take charge of. He was devouring every document that he could get his hands on in the White House to make sure they had all the information they needed. “Humans will be here before you know it. Things will all get started in time.”
“The stress of waiting is killing me.” Raegan wiped sweat off her forehead. “Literally.”
What she really wanted was her father. She needed Alan Stevens to be back with her after all these years. She assumed the angel would have him back to her within hours, but days had passed and there was still no sign. It was incredibly frustrating.
“You should get back to bed, Raegan. I think you need to rest.”
Miguel took the glare shot his way because he knew how Raegan was suffering. He hated seeing the strongest woman he knew struggle when there wasn’t anything, he could do about it. But he had to remain calm, he couldn’t allow his anxiety to show, Raegan needed that from him. If she needed to yell at him too, then he was happy to take that as well.
“I don’t want to rest.” She gladly took the glass of water from him and sucked it back like there was no tomorrow. “I want to know what’s going on. I want…”
Miguel understood, but he knew that there was nothing he could say. So, he tucked himself underneath her armpit and took her to the bedroom where it was time for her to lie down if she wanted to or not. He needed Raegan to rest so she was back on top form as soon as she could be. He needed her, she was the one who could get things done, the universe wanted Raegan back.
“I will do some more reading,” he told her gently as she caved to the exhaustion and she finally let her head hit the pillow. “So, I’ll be in the next room. Call me if you need me.”
“I love you,” Raegan whispered as sleep started to come for her. “I love you, Miguel.”
She might have been asleep already, but Miguel declared his love for Raegan as well. She didn’t need to hear it to know that it was real, but he still adored saying it. Those words felt phenomenal.
WHAT IS THAT NOISE? Raegan didn’t want to be disturbed, not when she was in the middle of the most peaceful dream of her life, but the racket on Earth shook her from her slumber regardless.
“Miguel?” Her voice croaked, it struggled to leave her throat as she propped herself up onto her elbows. “What’s going on, Miguel? Is something happening?”
She got nothing back which only piqued her panic. Raegan couldn’t remain where she was when the planet that she’d only just gotten back could’ve been crumbling apart underneath her. Even if every inch of her body ached, she would discover the events unfolding around her. Once upon a time, Raegan Stevens could handle anything, but that was before sickness claimed her.
“Miguel, where are you?” Her hand clapped to her forehead. “Why aren’t you here? I need you…”
Just as she could feel herself starting to get really wound up, at the very moment she feared an outburst of rage might erupt from her, a bright glowing light surrounded her and calmed her in an instant.