Page 13 of Rescuing Air

I couldn’t help but smile to myself. Finally, we had enough to make a move. Once we had whatever information we could get from this company, it was time to bring the fight right to the Dark Lord’s doorstep. The Elementi have been waiting for this day for centuries and it was time to see what they were made of.

nine

Lailah

Sitting on the plane looking out the window, I didn’t quite believe we were heading off to Cape Town with a meeting scheduled with the head of one of the world’s largest supplier companies, Pride Resources. Yesterday, we did as much research about the company as we could, so we knew what we were getting into and who to talk to. It helped to have the sons of some of the most well-known families in business as my partners, allowing us to get a meeting with whoever we requested. They had items that would be useful to all the different businesses their families owned so it was easy to pretend we were looking for a new supplier.

“How did your parents take the news?” Parker asked, sitting across from me.

I’d decided not to tell them where I was going or what we would be doing when we got there. I made sure that Cami and Beth knew what was going on so they could contact them if it was needed, but my parents needed to stay out of this whole thing. “They didn’t like it but there isn’t much they can do about it when I won’t give them more information.”

“Your mom just worries and your dad only sees you as his little girl. Once this is all over, I’m sure they’ll understand why you chose to keep them out of the loop,” he said, giving me a half-smile.

“How do your parents deal with all this? You all fly around the world, living a completely different life without fear that they’ll get involved,” I questioned, knowing they hadn’t really checked in with their family much since coming out to Wisconsin.

Parker shrugged, looking out the window at the clouds below. “The moment they learned we were Elementi Knights, they no longer controlled our lives—the Elementi did. We went to training all summer long then back to school until we graduated. Instead of the split, it became a full-time gig to train while at school, giving us a slight break for the holidays and the summer. If you hadn’t been struggling the way you were, we wouldn’t have left for the summer. Instead, it would have been intensive training to get you closer to where we are in skills and knowledge. That’s our life, to be the weapons against the demons, always ready to be sent on a mission someplace. Personally, I think they would have pulled us out of school completely if we didn’t need to keep up appearances for the outside world.”

“You know, the more we talk about the Elementi, the more it sounds like they’re just as evil as the demons,” I commented, trying to fight against my anger at the whole thing. “The moment they found out who I was, they started to control my life without my knowledge. How is that not considered something the angels would disapprove of?”

Parker let out a dark chuckle as he met my gaze. “That’s where the whole freewill thing comes into play. The angels can’t control what we do, only judge the intentions of our heart, which is what they care about. To be honest, I’m surprised I wasn’t stripped of my powers once the Oath was broken because now I’m tainted goods.”

“Guess that means your heart is still in the right place,” I whispered, dropping my eyes to the book I’d been staring at but not really reading.

“There is only one person who I want to believe that, but it won’t be easy to convince them of that. In the meantime, I will do my damndest to prove that I’m worth the effort,” Parker stated.

I knew he was talking about me. Even though having him around all the time again the past few days hadn’t been as hard as I thought it would be, I wasn’t willing to accept things could be fixed. We fell into a comfortable silence and soon he fell asleep, his snoring filling the air of the cabin, making the guys glare at him. Choosing not to be bothered by it, I slipped on my headphones and reclined my chair, letting my music pull me into that place between wakefulness and sleeping.

“Synergy...”

My eyes snapped open, terror flooding my body, but the moment I saw I wasn’t in the darkness, I relaxed. Instead, I found myself lost in a vast world of bright white light with a being in front of me, wings unfurled behind them. I’d been here once before when I first accessed my powers and the angel told me who I was and what my mission was.

“Synergy, it is time to complete your mission.”

A sense of bone-deep weariness settled over me at their words, making me snarky. “Really, I wouldn’t have guessed that with how well things are going. You sure it’s time?”

The angel ignored my words and stepped closer to me. “You and your knights must defeat the evil that is flooding the earth before all is lost. This was never what God intended for his people, but they chose to allow the demons to gain a stronghold in their world. You six are the only hope because we of the Heavens can’t intercede. It’s forbidden.”

“So you want us to clean up your mess? The demons should never have been able to make this happen. Aren’t you supposed to keep them banished to Hell? What if we say no?” I challenged.

A glowing hand reached out and pressed on my heart. “You will not say no. The reason you were chosen as Synergy is the love you have for others. Who else could love five men the way you do? Even when one has broken your heart and betrayed your trust, you do not cast him aside as many would. Do not let the demons win by hardening your heart. You are stronger than you or the demons realize. Trust your heart and the men who each hold a piece of it.”

“How can you say that when you voided the Oath between me and Parker?” I snapped, shoving the hand away, but I never made contact. It just went right through the arm like it wasn’t even there.

“We did remove the Oath between you. When he gave the Oath, he thought he understood what he was saying, but he didn’t. We needed him to learn, to lose, to suffer, and to grow. It might seem cruel to you and him, but it is like when you prune a bush to help it grow bigger and stronger. It might hurt initially but the benefit outweighs the harm. All things will work out for the better... have faith in the knowledge that they were created for you and you were created for them. No one but the six of you can bring down this evil. We just needed to wait for the right time before bringing you into the world,” the angel answered.

Everything about this was crazy. None of it made sense. If the angels were able to make this happen then why couldn’t they clean up their own mess? Was God that cold that he would just abandon us to this fate because he wouldn’t step in?

“No!” the angel barked. “Do not let those thoughts dwell in your mind. They are from the devil and his minions. Everything about this is going according to God’s perfect plan. You might not see it but have faith and trust. What else do you have if not faith?”

The force that the angel said this made me take a step back in surprise. Who knew you could piss off an angel?

“When you return to wakefulness, all of you will be rejuvenated and healed. It is all we can do from this point forward. Heed my words, Synergy. Without faith and trust in each other, there is nothing else...”

A flash of white light blinded me and I gasped as I woke up, almost falling out of my seat as I got my bearings.

“Trouble, what’s wrong?” Parker asked as he kneeled in front of me, resting a hand on my knee. “I didn’t feel anything demonic.”

Clutching my heart, I shook my head. “No demons this time. It was an angel.”