The Book of Elements Read online

  "Walk with me a ways, Vin." Raphael began to walk away expecting Vin to follow him, which he did after one last furtive glance at Michael, who stood patiently waiting with Tabbris.

  "Don’t worry about those two. They will wait. I believe you will have more success if you stop trying to figure out what Michael is thinking and pay attention to the topic at hand. Besides, dwelling on Michael's presence will not diminish its effect on you."

  "That's for certain. He completely intimidates and confuses me. I thought Michael came here to hand out my punishment, and I was admittedly scared of what it might be. Yet, he has said nothing beyond his initial greeting, and that frightens me even more. I assume someone of his importance doesn’t stop by for a visit without a purpose. I'm hesitant to discover that purpose."

  "Valid concerns, all of them. That is why we are walking and he is waiting. There is no shame in your feelings. Intimidation is one of Michael’s best assets, and he has had millennia of practice. In fact, there are times when he has the same effect on me, and other times when I have to let him know he is getting a bit soft around the edges. Someone has to keep him on his toes, you know." Raphael tried to relieve Vin’s apprehensions with humor.

  It helped. Vin could not stop the sudden outburst of laughter as he imagined Michael with the beginnings of a beer belly and brandishing a warm pretzel while Raph lectured him about too many calories. Vin had no idea why that particular image popped into his head, but it was enough to finally break the tension.

  "Raph, your words are good for the soul," Vin replied as soon as he was able to stop chuckling.

  "You do have a knack for knowing exactly the right thing to say. I can only imagine the look on Michael’s face if you really said that to him." Vin was glad for Raph’s company, even for a little while.

  "The look on Michael’s face was not all that you imagined."

  Raph joked with a smile and a slap on Vin’s shoulders, which caused him to start laughing all over again. Vin had again forgot to keep his thoughts to himself. After he spent his last bout of chuckling, Vin felt much better and was ready to face the next step.

  "Ok, Raph. You have worked a small miracle on my mood. I think I’m ready to pay attention now."

  "Good. I’ll try to make this explanation less cryptic than the last. Your talent to manipulate the wind is very strong, and you can use it on both sides of the barrier. This is a rare and exceptional combination. Your link to Caeli is a vital catalyst that permits your ability to exceed typical expectations. All this you know."

  Vin nodded his affirmation. This much was clear to him.

  "There are two additional things you have yet to consider. First, your enemy on the other side knows about you and Caeli. He has been planning for many years, waiting for this particular time. The time when he could fulfill his desire and gain the power he seeks."

  "The Book of Elements. He is aware of it and wants it for his own use. Knowledge of the book means he also knows about the bloodlines. He must be a distant relative. I figured that out a while ago. That’s why he wanted me dead, so I would not be in competition with him or interfere with his plans. Caeli’s injuries during the crash were collateral damage."

  Raphael did not respond immediately, aware of the impact his words would have. Vin knew the truth, but he had chosen not to see it. It was buried within his mind. Raphael was about to bring it into the light for him. He hoped Vin would be able to handle it. If not, well, Michael was close at hand. Raph stopped walking and put a hand on Vin's shoulder.

  "Eyvindr, it was not you he intended to kill."

  Those words came crashing down and sent Vin’s mind reeling. He felt a chill run down his spine. Details from the night of the accident suddenly flashed through his mind, and Vin could not deny the truth of it. Caeli was the one who had been injured. Her side of the car had been slammed into the tree. She somehow tripped at just the right moment to hit her head on a rock in the middle of a muddy field. It all fit into place; the jammed seatbelt that kept him from pulling her to safety; the winds which prevented him from getting back in the car; the same winds that carried him away and formed the prison which kept him from leaving the clearing. All of this had been staged so that Vin's involuntary struggle with the angels, who were trying to save Caeli, forced them to divide their attention between him and Caeli.

  How could he not have seen it before? As his mind raced, Vin thought for a moment that he stood beside Caeli in her hidden room. She tossed in her sleep while he stood there, but then she settled and the scene faded away as quickly as it arrived. Vin tried to put the pieces together correctly this time.

  "What else did I overlook?" Vin asked himself.

  Obviously, the angels must have done much more than he could remember because Caeli was not dead. Vin stood his ground and gave his life to shelter hers. After that, Michael and the others kept the hounds at bay until she was rescued. But what else had they done?

  Then Vin remembered the men at the house. They had not been sent to kill her. Why not? It was too much to contemplate, but now he was desperate to know. Vin's thoughts became blurry and his eyesight fuzzy. A roaring wind howled in his ears. Raphael's hold on his arm became tighter. Vin swayed on his feet and might have fallen into his own wild mind if the angel’s touch had not provided him with a renewed steadiness. Vin did not notice that they returned to Michael’s proximity, nor did he notice when Michael placed a palm against his forehead.

  "Eyvindr! You must stop this!" Michael’s unexpected command reverberated through his entire being and jolted Vin back to his senses with a head-splitting rush of pain.

  "Aaargghh!!" Vin cried out and pressed his hands firmly against both sides of his head to try to block the stabbing sensation which echoed throughout his mind for several minutes before beginning to dissipate. When he was finally able to raise his eyes, Vin saw Michael standing before him. Tabbris was near, and Raph was still at his side firmly clasping his arm. He let himself sink to the ground, sitting with his knees drawn up and his arms wrapped tightly around them.

  Vin knew what he had to do just then. He needed to get control of himself. He leaned his head forward to rest on his arms and focused on calling back the winds he had stirred. The air slowly settled around the group. The roaring in his ears subsided. Vin closed his eyes, steadied his breathing, and finally returned his focus to those around him.

  Michael’s normally unreadable face revealed an underlying sincerity and empathy.

  "I am truly sorry to have caused you pain. I tried to avoid causing you harm, but it was the only way to reach you and bring you back."

  "I am sorry to have lost control again. If that was you holding back, then I would hate to feel your power unrestrained." Vin was certain that Michael’s desire not to hurt him was the only safeguard that prevented him from suffering permanent damage, despite Raphael's concurrent grasp on his arm. Vin sat quietly for a few more minutes before he spoke again.

  "You need not worry any longer, Michael. I think understand now. You were waiting here in case I reacted impulsively again and got some foolish notion about trying to run back to Caeli. You would have been forced to stop me and, without a doubt, would have succeeded. However, unless there is more news of this magnitude, then I can assure you that I will not permit this to happen again."

  An ominous hush was the only response, and that silence spoke volumes. As unfathomable as it seemed, there was more bad news yet to be heard and, apparently, they believed this news would be just as devastating as the last bombshell had been. Why else would Michael remain? Vin turned pleading eyes to Raphael, whose own reflected the anguish in Vin’s soul.

  "What else? How bad is it?" Vin forced his shaky voice to ask the questions.

  "We know more of the enemy and his plan. It is the second revelation I wanted to discuss with you."

  Raphael seated himself next to Vin in the grass and again placed his hand on Vin’s arm, offering his support. By now, Vin knew that Raph’s touch was providing him wit
h more than friendship. It was a tangible support, an influx of energy that calmed and comforted, renewed the spirit, and healed the mind and soul.

  "His original intention was to kill Caeli. That was going to be his leverage over you. He planned to take advantage of your grief, exploit your need to avenge her death, and draw on an unknown kinship in order to convince you to help him. He knows how much you love her. He has kept tabs on you for many years. He was hoping you would be tempted by the promise of a power that could span the gap between the two sides of the barrier and reunite you with her."

  "That sounds vaguely familiar. In fact, it sounds almost exactly like a man who sought a book from Caeli's grandmother years ago," Vin remembered the incident that took Jaddah's life. Caeli had barely survived that week.

  "It should. It is the same book sought for the same purpose. Understand that the power he seeks is not to dominate man or rule the Earth, nothing quite so petty as all that. He seeks power over life and death. Vin, the enemy plans to destroy the very barrier itself."

  That was definitely serious, though Vin was not able to grasp the ramifications of such an act just now. He did not even understand why it would necessarily be a bad idea, but he was certain the explanation was more intricate than he was ready to comprehend. He did not even try. Vin already knew that he wanted to help prevent it from happening simply because it was his enemy who was going to attempt it.

  "Before the enemy could even begin to contemplate such an undertaking, he needs a connection from his side of the barrier to this side. Since he no longer has a bond that strong with anyone, you and Caeli were to be his bridge. He intended to use your bond with her to further his ambition. That is why Caeli’s assassination was needed. Unfortunately, it did not work out exactly as he intended."

  At the moment, Vin was more concerned about the first part of the plan. Who was this person? Who knew him well enough to devise such a plot? It had been foiled, and Vin died in Caeli’s place. So why send those men to abduct her?

  "Because the enemy is adjusting his plan. The emissary enacting it for him is known to you. His calls himself Kent."

  Vin quickly ran through a short list of the names of his and Caeli’s immediate friends. The name did not register. Then he expanded his list to coworkers and people they did business with, and Vin had his answer. Kent was their insurance agent. Vin liked Kent the first time they met. He was personable and, after a brief conversation, found a few interests in common. They became friends and, occasionally, went racing or target shooting together. Caeli, ever the skeptic of snake oil salesmen, had taken a while longer to warm up to the man. Kent wrote most of their insurance policies for the last few years.

  It was difficult for Vin to attribute all of this to Kent, but he did not doubt Raphael's words. It was a cruel abuse of their friendship, and Vin vowed to himself that Kent would eventually pay for it. This was the second time that one of Vin's friends betrayed him in an effort to hurt Caeli, though the first occurrence had happened nearly ten years earlier.

  "I know the man, but I don’t understand. Why would Kent send those men to snatch Caeli?"

  "On this, we are not certain. We surmise that he will try to determine whether or not your bond with her survived the trauma and separation of death. The only way he can find that out is through her. But he will not try to take her life again, at least, not yet. If he discovers your link to Caeli, as you have, the enemy may still want to use your bond to bridge the barrier. He may even find this accidental reversal puts him in a better position to use your skills on this side of the barrier. Our best hope is to prevent him from discovering your status," Raphael explained.

  Vin thought he was finally beginning to understand, and the ramifications were mind boggling. How could such a burden rest on one man's shoulders? Knowing the truth did not make it any easier to accept.

  "That is why you don’t want me to visit her. That is why she should not know about this side of the barrier. And, while Kent may not desire her death right now, Caeli is still in danger because he needs to ascertain that information. My presence and actions on that side would give him undeniable confirmation. Her awareness of me could be gleaned during conversation or by coercion, so it is better if she believes that I am truly gone. I begin to understand what's at stake. I am beginning to see the larger picture at work."

  "Good. That should help sustain you as you work with Tabbris to hone your skills."

  CHAPTER 15

  After an interminably long morning of personal phone calls, detectives and their questions, and dealing with the mental aftermath of the attempted abduction, Caeli went on with her day. Salma and Captain Erickson left shortly after Kent, and Caeli set about her errands. The routine of normal tasks such as grocery shopping and going to the bank helped distract her. She was trying to convince herself that last night's misadventure was the result of some greedy nutcase who thought a recently widowed lady might be able to pull in a nice ransom. It wouldn’t be the first time such madness happened in this crazy world. Since one of the men died and the other, who escaped custody, was probably fleeing to Mexico, Caeli did not really expect any further trouble.

  Regarding her conversations with Vin, which still seemed so real, Caeli decided it must have been her mind’s coping mechanism to help her through the worst of her grief on such a terrible day. It could not possibly have been him. Those types of fairy tales just didn't come true in reality, as much as she would like to believe they did. Furthermore, Caeli no longer believed the two occurrences, the accident and the abduction attempt, were related. The probability of a conspiracy against her, compared to a mere coincidence, was pretty slim. She filed Vin's death and both subsequent events into the ‘worst week ever’ category and tried to think of a more pleasant topic.

  Caeli was on her way to the bank to deposit the life insurance check that Kent dropped off earlier. She walked into the bank and up to a teller. She completed the proper forms and tried to sign the back of the check. The thin paper somehow got caught by a stray breeze and wafted out of her grasp twice to land face up on the unusually dusty floor. She finally managed to wrangle it and secure it under the palm of one hand while she signed it with a pen held in the other. Within a few minutes, her transaction was finished and Caeli was on her way.

  She pulled into the parking lot of the local grocery store, grabbed a shopping cart from the line by the door, and began a leisurely stroll up and down the aisles. After approximately ten minutes, she began to feel a little lightheaded. Caeli pulled a piece of chocolate out of her purse and ate it. She almost always kept a sugary treat with her to satisfy her sweet tooth. Now, Caeli figured that her blood sugar was a little low because she had not been eating well the past few days. She would be sure to fix a more substantial meal when she got home.

  The dizziness passed after a few minutes. Caeli found the last few items that she wanted and completed her purchase at the checkout lane. With groceries on board, she headed for home, a few miles outside of town. As she neared her driveway, the fingers on her left hand began to tingle as if they were going numb, much like the feeling she would get when her leg fell asleep after she sat for too long with her feet pulled up underneath her. Caeli concluded that she must still be overly tired, and her body was finally reacting to the strain.

  She pulled the car into the garage, got everything unloaded and carried inside, and put the groceries away. That small exertion left her feeling more drained than she should have been, and now her entire left arm and hand were numb. Caeli wondered if maybe she pinched a nerve in her neck or shoulder the previous night and was only now beginning to notice the effects. The way she tossed and turned in her sleep, Caeli would not be surprised if that were the case. Maybe she needed a trip to her chiropractor’s office. If the feeling got worse or was still there tomorrow, she would make an appointment.

  Caeli put a single serving of rice in a pot to cook on the stove and poured herself a glass of ice water. She sipped on the water until the rice was ready
. After adding some butter and a pinch of salt, Caeli filled an oversized bowl with the springy grains and carried her meal over to a barstool where she could sit and eat at the kitchen counter. The warm food, though tasteless, felt good as it filled her stomach, and she began to get a little drowsy. Just as she thought she might drift off with her head laying on her arms on the cool countertop, the doorbell rang.

  She got up from her seat and walked slowly to the front door. Caeli could see Kent’s face through the peephole. She unlocked the deadbolts and let him inside. While she talked, Caeli went back to the kitchen to wash her empty bowl and fork. Kent followed her and took a seat in the barstool she had vacated.

  "Did you find your briefcase outside?" Caeli asked. Her friend, Salma, who spent the morning with her and had been screening her calls from the incessant flood of reporters wanting an interview, said the insurance man phoned to let her know that he inadvertently left the case after the commotion of his earlier visit.

  "Yes, I did. It was in the flowers right where I thought it would be. I wasn’t going to bother you. I was just going to grab the briefcase and be on my way, but I caught a glimpse of you lying there and wanted to make sure you were all right," Kent replied.

  "Thank you. I’m fine, just a bit tired. As you might imagine, I have not slept well the past few nights. I’m going to turn in early tonight and hope to get some rest this time."

  "Well then, I will be on my way."

  Kent got up to leave, and Caeli followed him toward the front door once again. Halfway across the living room, her left leg suddenly gave way causing her to stumble and catch herself on a table next to the wall. Kent rushed back to help her, and Caeli leaned on him until she could reach the couch. Her head began to feel heavy, and her eyelids suddenly felt like lead.