My instincts prompted me to step closer to him.
“Teagan, this is all so new to me,” he said cautiously.
“Angels are portrayed and referred to as messengers of God. We’re made of light. We represent hope.
We’re an example of the purest form of love, though for us to love another, as a human loves a human…it’s unheard of. But yet, I feel that for you.”
His revelation fell on me with the crushing weight of a million mountains so that I could scarcely believe my ears. Yet, while I processed his words, nothing could prevent me from believing them. An angel, my angel, Garreth…loved me. His words flowed repeatedly through my brain, shifting and reshifting themselves. I found myself scraping the inside of my hand with what little fingernails I owned just to prove I could feel something because, logically, this really didn’t seem possible.
As if sensing the turmoil inside me, Garreth took a step back. “I’m not asking you to feel the same. I’m not asking you to love me.”
I shook my head. “I feel something, I…just don’t know what yet. This is all so sudden. Please don’t be disappointed.”
With that, Garreth closed the space between us and took me in his arms. Kissing the top of my head, he said, “You could never disappoint me, Teagan.”
This confession was beyond my wildest wishes, and so much more now that it was not just an ordinary human boy proclaiming his feelings for me. Garreth was so much more than that. I savored the realization of his words as he held me, feeling the wonder of who he was. Then the sweetness sank in. I was his, and in return, he was mine. There was absolutely nothing that could compare to this — an unbroken bond formed long ago in heaven, created and bound for all eternity.
“In my eyes, guarding you is like protecting another angel. Your heart is so pure.” He softly swept my hair out of my eyes.
I smiled up at him as his eyes caught and held the gentle golden light of the sun. He seemed a little nervous now that so much had been placed out in the open, wondering if I could reciprocate an emotion so foreign to him. An angel, nervous. It was almost funny to me. Here was a soul, one so perfect, made of love and light, wondering if I could love him back. Silently, I knew he was already everything I ever wanted. He was perfect, but I was trembling inside, wondering if this was all a dream, wondering if my instinct to jump into this blindly was wrong. A mistake.
“Why did you choose to come into my life now? It’s so hard to believe that three days ago I had no idea…” I shook my head in wonder as I took his hand in mine and traced the star that was in his skin.
“I couldn’t help but be drawn into your world. It was too hard to be outside it any longer,” he whispered against my cheek.
Garreth led me to a small bench next to the altar.
“But explain your world. You know mine, you’re here…you watch me every day.” I leaned forward, my elbows resting on my knees. I was eager to learn about this unseen realm, how easily it fit into the world I lived in. I found it fascinating. “Like this, for example. I want to know everything.” I took his hand again, turning it over, tracing the lines of his star with my finger.
“Generally, each point in the star represents a lifetime.
You are now upon the Judgment Point of your existence, the eighth point that allows your purpose to come full circle, therefore completing the Order of the Octagram.”
“Judgment Point?” I asked.
“The Judgment Point is just as it sounds. It’s when your destiny is revealed to you. The circle closes and your star is complete.”
I looked at my own hand that was both plain and absurdly human, the bitten nails, the ragged cuticles, and tried to hide what I felt surfacing on my face.
“What happens after that?”
“It depends,” Garreth answered.
“Does this mean I’m going to die soon?” I whispered.
Garreth lifted my chin with one finger and tilted his head to one side. “No, you’re not going to die. Trust me, the universe has big plans for you.”
“But if this is my last life, then…will you still be with me?
When it’s over?”
“Most likely, but I’ve never been through this with anyone before. I’m your Guardian.”
This was all so hard to digest but, somehow, I felt reassured by Garreth’s presence.
“Well, either way, you’re my angel and you’re here with me now.”
But instead of the radiant smile I expected, his face suddenly crumpled with concern. Beneath the quiet blue reflecting back at me I saw something deeper.
“What’s the matter?” I asked hesitantly.
“I’ve known you for so long that your life has become mine. I’ve tried so hard to ignore and to accept that you are my charge, nothing more…but I couldn’t.”
His brilliant blue eyes were suddenly full of something I couldn’t name and there was an edge to his voice that I couldn’t put my finger on.
“I asked for something nearly impossible.” His voice was distant, reflective, and when my silence prompted him, he continued. “If I could have one moment to know you and for you to know me, in eight days’ time, then I would feel my duty as your Guardian is truly complete.”
“Eight days?” That was all? I calculated quickly. Five days left. How was my heart supposed to live with that?
Now I understood the protectiveness I felt whenever I was with him, the familiarity with him. My soul recognized my protector, my Guardian. And now I would lose him. The moment I first laid eyes on him that day in school, I knew my life was about to change significantly and now there was more to it: the truth, what he is, who he is…what we are to each other. I couldn’t give that up.
Not yet.
“Why only eight days?” I asked. It wasn’t enough.
Garreth looked at me with intensity, folding my hands within his own. “As each point of the octagram represents an incarnation, each day that I am allowed here with you is as significant as a lifetime. Life in general revolves around the number eight, the universal symbol for infinity. It’s all I have been granted,” he whispered softly, almost sadly.
I shifted closer to him, my body suddenly feeling an intense need to close the slightest distance between us. I watched his eyes turn softly toward me, watched the way the muscle beneath his jaw twitched as he focused on the words he was about to speak.
“I came to you to help you understand that light cannot exist without dark. The world cannot have one without the other. It cannot survive on monotony. And no matter how peaceful we make our world, no matter how safe, light is not always prone to strength…it isn’t foolproof.”
I forced my breathing to return to normal, although I couldn’t let go of the fact that we didn’t have much time left. And now he was cryptically explaining darkness and light? I was so confused.
Garreth kissed my forehead gently and led me outside.
“Darkness takes many forms. The time has come for me to tell you about Hadrian.”
There was no obvious reason why I should shudder at the name, yet I was very aware of the prickling sensation on my arms and I looked down to see the light hairs standing on end.
Hadrian.
Why should I respond so vehemently to a name my ears had never heard before? The look in Garreth’s eyes was clearly unsettling and I, in return, was filled with unfamiliar agitation.
I placed my hand back into the safety of his warm one and asked the question my heart was dreading. “Who is Hadrian?”
Garreth set his jaw tightly. I watched him cautiously.