| Chapter 41 Brian sat on the beach enjoying the warmth from the morning sun. The last couple of weeks had been crazy. The contract for the book had arrived, been signed and sent back. Lyn had next day aired the book to the publishers. They in turn had rushed it through editing and were already printing the first copies. Brian had been to a photo shoot for the cover and for the media blitz that was already going on. He had to give it to Jason and the rest of the management team. Once they got behind something, they gave it 150%. Brian couldn't turn the TV on without seeing a commercial for his upcoming book. Lyn had also sent the guys, Leighanne, and Brian's parents copies of the book. After they started reading, they began calling with comments and for lack of a better word, pure amazement. It seemed everyone that read the book felt that way. Brian laughed at the thought of them thinking he actually wrote it. Well he did, he typed it anyway, but the words.... those came from God. The words that came out even amazed Brian, but when he thought about what was said, it was all true. Every part of it. He sighed thinking about the promotional run management wanted him to do. It wasn't much, a few TV interviews, some radio interviews and a few book signing's, but he still didn't want to go. Something was telling him to say put. He'd spoke to Lyn about it, and she had told him that if he felt that way, there had to be a reason for it. So he called Jason and told him he would to interviews by remote, but that he just couldn't leave Vancouver. He could tell Jason was disappointed, but knew that they would make things work. Brian lay back in the sand, looking up at the blue sky. He wondered how the war was going, and if Nick and Tara were alright. It was getting harder to cover for them with fans and management. Everyone wanted to know where they were, and the �off on personal business' line was wearing thin. Even Bob had called the other day to see if Brian had heard from Nick. He hated lying to Nick's dad like that, but he couldn't very well tell the truth either. "Brian," Lyn called from the balcony of the house. He sat up and looked over his shoulder at her. "Jason's on the phone," she called. Brian nodded, getting up and brushing the sand from his clothes. "Duty calls," he muttered, turning and walking into the house. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "OK, three more and we're done," Jade said, looking over at the house they were to go to next. "Yeah, let's get this over with," Tara said. "Um guys, I'm not so sure. Maybe we should just go back," Aleisha said. Both girls looked at her. "What's up?" Jade asked. Aleisha shook her head, "I don't know. I don't have a good feeling about this. The word has gotten out about what we're doing, I just don't feel right." Tara put her hand on Aleisha's shoulder, "We're so close to finishing though. Let's just get these last three done, then we can go home." Aleisha bit her bottom lip, and nodded, taking her place as look out. Tara and Jade crossed the street and walked up to the door. Jade knocked on the door, and was surprised when it opened. "Oh thank god, I was starting to think I was the only one left," the woman said. Tara glanced at Jade, "Yeah, we've been on the run for a while, can we come in?" "Oh yes, hurry before someone see's you," the woman said, opening the door wider and letting them in. Tara and Jade walked into the woman's living room, stopping dead in their tracks. Tara eyes widened, "Evi, what are you doing here?" Evi stood up, glaring at her, "I'm making sure you get what you deserve." Suddenly they were surrounded by demons with their swords drawn. Jade and Tara went back to back drawing their swords. "Jade, next time Leish has a bad feeling, remind me to listen," Tara said, facing her attackers. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nick stood on the battle field, his sword drawn. So far they had avoided actually engaging in battle, but it looked as if their luck had run out. Several hundred demons had entered the lower realms looking for a fight. Nick and his army were there, waiting on them. It was easy to tell these were renegade demons. Itching for a fight and tired of waiting for the army to get organized, they deserted and came on their own. Nick could see there was no clear leader in the group, and it wouldn't take much to defeat them. Still, he wanted to give them a chance to leave. Nick took several steps forward, "Who is your leader?!" He could see them hurriedly pick one demon out and push him forward to face Nick. "I am," the demon said, standing tall. Nick stared at him for a moment, "You have a name?" "Jonas," the man said. "Well Jonas, look around you," Nick said, gesturing, "You are outnumbered. What you're doing is a suicide mission and you know it. I'm giving you a chance to turn around and leave." Jonas glared at him, "We will do no such thing." Nick sighed, "So you're gonna sacrifice all your buddies lives for your own pride, is that it?" Jonas's eyes filled with anger and he drew his sword, rushing Nick. "I guess so," Nick muttered, blocking the first blow as the armies melted into one mass, demon and angel in combat with each other for the first time in eons. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tara and Jade were out numbered. They managed to block the blows aimed at them, but knew they couldn't for much longer. Evi and the other siren stood back, watching. Evi smiled at the sight of Tara fighting for her life. Tara and Jade were still back to back, facing the demons that circled around them. "Jade, start singing," Tara said, as she barely managed to block a sword heading straight for her heart. "What?" Jade asked. "Sing!" Tara screamed, ducking to avoid another sword. Together Jade and Tara started singing. They knew it was working immediately as the demons started to stumble, and make stupid mistakes. Tara managed to relieve a demon of his sword, and send him flying across the room. "Oh no," Evi said, grabbing the sword from the floor, "This is not happening again." She rushed into the circle bringing her sword down on Tara. Tara screamed as the metal sliced through her flesh, and dropped to her knees. Jade quickly turned around, grabbed Tara's arm and vanished from the room before the demons could stop her. "Leish!" Jade yelled as they appeared a few feet from her. "Oh God, what happened?!" Aleisha asked, running to them. "We were ambushed, we've go to get outta here," Jade said as Aleisha helped her hold Tara up. "Where are we going?" she asked. "Somewhere safe," Jade said as they vanished. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brian and Ted sat in the kitchen talking. Ted had come over for lunch, and he and Brian had gotten into a discussion about the book. Lyn listened as she cleaned up the dishes. Suddenly Tracy, William and Lucas appeared in the room with them. Brian and Ted looked up. "What's wrong?" Brian asked, seeing the concerned look on all their faces. "I'm not sure," Tracy said, "We just got the feeling that something is about to happen." Lyn turned around, seeing William and Lucas fingering their swords and glancing around the room. Like they were waiting for something to appear. And it did. Jade and Aleisha appeared in the living room, holding Tara between them. "Help us!" Jade yelled as everyone ran from the kitchen to them. "God, what happened?" Brian asked, taking Tara in his arms and quickly taking her into the extra bedroom. "They were waiting on us," Jade said, "We were out numbered. Evi was there, she did this." Brian lay Tara on the bed and moved out of the way, letting Tracy and Jade in to help. Tracy quickly placed her hands over the wound, and healed it. "She's lost to much blood," Jade said. "Can't you do something?" Lyn asked. "We can heal the flesh, but we can't replace blood," Tracy said. Brian looked at Ted, "Can you do something?" "We'd have to give her a transfusion, and I don't think she'd make it to the hospital," he said. Brian looked at Tara, then back to Ted, "Do you have the stuff here to do it?" "I think so, but we don't have the blood," Ted said. "Yes you do," Brian corrected, "We're the same blood type, you can take mine." Ted stared at him for a moment, then jumped into action, "Alright, let's get going then." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nick made is way over to Micah, "You alright?" "I think so," Micah said, looking over himself. He had a nasty cut on his arm that Nick quickly took care of. "Thanks," Micah said. "Don't mention it," Nick said, looking over the field. The demons had put up more of a fight than Nick had expected. But still, it wasn't enough. Several angels had been injured, but none had fallen. More than he could say for the demons. Not one of them survived. Nick took a shaky breath, willing away the exhaustion he felt. Gideon came over to them, "The wounded are being cared for, and the bodies will be left at the entrance to their realm. Let's hope it serves as a warning to them." Nick nodded, "Let's hope so." "Nickolas!" Lucas yelled, running to him. "Lucas, what are you doing here?" Nick asked, "You're suppose to be with Lyn and Brian." "Something's happened," Lucas said, "You need to come." Gideon put his hand on the younger man, "What happened?" "Tara and Jade where ambushed. She's hurt and they couldn't make it here," Lucas said. Micah watched as Nick's face paled and fear filled his eyes, "Take me to her." Micah put his hand on Nick's shoulder, "Nick..." "Tell the generals to stay in position. It won't take long for the army to mass and make their way here. I'll be back as soon as I can," Nick said, then quickly left with Lucas. Gideon and Micah looked at one another. "This isn't good," Micah said. Gideon nodded, "We just have to trust that he knows what he's doing." "Gideon, we were both around the first time this happened. I don't want to see history repeat itself here, there's to much at stake this time," Micah said. "I know, but we have to give him a chance," Gideon said. Micah sighed, "I know we do, but there's more than just him at stake here. All of heaven and earth could be lost if he screws up." Gideon put his hand on Micah's shoulder, "Then we won't let him screw up." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lyn sat on the edge of the bed holding Brian's hand. Ted had improvised a direct blood transfusion between Brian and Tara. He was concerned because it was hard to regulate how much blood was being transferred. He didn't want to take to much from Brian, so he carefully watched, trying to judge when to stop it. He looked up at Brian, noticing how pale is face was. It was hard to tell if it was because of to much blood being taken, or from Brian's immense fear of needles. "Brian, how are you feeling?" Ted asked. "OK," Brian said in a weak voice. "Don't lie to me. If I take to much you could be in as much trouble as Tara's in," Ted warned. Brian sighed, "I'm sleepy." "Do you feel weak?" Ted asked. Brian nodded. "OK, that's gonna have to be enough then," Ted said, clamping off the transfusion. "But what if it's not?" Brian asked. "Then after you've recovered, we'll do this again," Ted said, unhooking the tubes and pulling the needle from Brian's arm, placing a cotton ball over the hole and holding his arm up to stop the bleeding. "But what if she doesn't have that long?" Brian asked, concerned. Lyn squeezed his hand, "Honey, just rest and let Ted take care of her, OK?" Brian nodded, turning his head and looking over at Tara lying on the other side of the bed. Soon his eyes became to heavy for him to keep open, and he drifted into a deep sleep. Ted finished unhooking Tara and pulled the needle from her arm. Lyn and Jade grabbed a couple blankets from the closet and covered both Brian and Tara with them. "Do you think it was enough?" Lyn asked, looking at Ted. He shook his head, "I don't know." Just then Lucas appeared with Nick. Nick looked at the two lying on the bed, then to Jade, "Tell me everything." He listened as Jade relayed what had happened. His blood boiled when he learned that Evi was the one that had hurt Tara. "I can't believe I let her go," he fumed. "Nick, you couldn't have known this was going to happen," Lyn said. Nick looked at her, and his eyes softened, "I know, but I still feel like it's my fault." Ted put his hand on Nick's shoulder, "Don't." Nick sighed and walked over to the bed, sitting on the edge and taking Tara's hand in his. He gently stroked her cheek with his other hand, "Baby, I'm right here. I promise I won't let anyone hurt you again." Lyn reached across the bed and touched Nick's arm. He looked up at her and smiled. She returned it, taking his hand in hers, "I'm sure she'll be alright." He nodded, "Yeah, I have Brian to thank for that." Lyn looked down at Brian, "He'd do anything for the both of you." Nick smiled, "Yeah, even face the dreaded needle, he's a great friend." "So are you guys," Lyn said, looking back up at him. Ted walked over to Lyn's side, "I'm sure they'll be asleep for a while, why don't we let them rest?" "I'd rather stay here," both Lyn and Nick said at the same time. Ted chuckled, "I thought so. I'll be in the living room if you need me," he said, turning to leave the room. He ushered everyone out, leaving Nick and Lyn alone with their loved ones. Chapter 42 |