Page 20 of Sorrow & Strangers

Rafe lies back down beside me, and I glance at him.

“Nightmare?” he asks, obviously knowing the answer but trying to fill the silence, the void screaming of our trauma and grief.

I nod and take another sip of water before lying back down.

Rafe wakes me from that same nightmare four more times throughout the night. Every time he patiently waits for me to calm down, offering me that same glass of water, but he doesn’t say anything again. He doesn’t ask any questions or offer any consoling words, and I am so grateful for it.

Chapter Twelve

Summer

I’ve been here almost seven days, quietly watching and reflecting. Zane continues to leave the house at 4:00 a.m. every morning. Zach is distracted and prickly, with none of his easy charm remaining. Luke is glued to his mother every waking hour, though he has relaxed a little since my arrival and is currently out training with Uriel and Zach. Rafe told me he was training now, but it didn’t really register. Luke is not a warrior. He has a different calling. I found it very confusing the first day I watched the three of them leave. It made little sense to me until Farrah explained it was his way of coping, of feeling closer to Connor. Rafe stays mostly to himself, except now he comes downstairs for meals. This small act obviously means the world to the whole family, and they all light up when he takes his seat at the table.

“Summer?” Farrah’s gentle voice pulls me from my thoughts, and I look up at her. Her eyes are still lined with grief, but they’ve become a little lighter over the days I’ve spent in Eden.

“Yes?”

“I’m going to the market. Would you like to come with me?” she asks.

“Of course. I would love to go with you.”

I’ve barely left the house since I got here, but I’d rather she not go alone. Realistically, I know it won’t make any difference, because while all her boys are fiercely protective of her, I have learned that Farrah is more than capable of taking care of herself. I always suspected she was strong in her own right, but I didn’t realize how much of a force she is until I sat with the Morningstars and listened to their stories. We spend most evenings in front of the fire, where they take turns telling me about Connor and the boys’ childhood, and through those memories, I am gaining a better understanding of Uriel and Farrah as well.

I pull on my jacket and meet Farrah at the front door, where she waits with a kind smile and a warm embrace.

“Connor took you to the square the last time you were here?” she asks, and while I still feel a sharp pain whenever I hear his name, whenever I am reminded of a memory of him, when it is one of them, who love him as much as I do, it shrouds the pain in something warm and fluffy, blunting the sharp edges.

“He did.” Farrah slides her hand through my arm but remains silent as we walk to the elevator. “I met the Almighty there.” The words spill from my lips, and I am not sure why. Other than telling Connor, granting him that one truth, I had kept my encounter with the Almighty to myself.

Farrah squeezes my arm, and I can feel her eyes on me. “You know, I’ve met the Almighty a handful of times. She attended each of the boys’ births, but I met her once before Uriel and I married. Just once.”

The elevator pings as we reach our level, and I bristle at the interruption. I want to hear this story. We step off the elevator, and I relax when Farrah continues as we start walking.

“As you know, I am not an archangel. I was not born into any sort of hierarchy.” She pauses, and I glance at her to see her scanning the streets, her eyes filled with love for her home. “When I was young, many, many years ago, Eden was not as it is now. It was divided. This area was named The Lower, and it was not as beautiful or peaceful as it is now. The archangels lived in The Upper, which was an Eden in and of itself. Rarely was anyone from The Lower permitted entry into The Upper. Anyway, as you know, I was accepted to Avalon University. The first non-archangel to attend. Avalon is where I met Uriel.” Farrah looks lost in the memory, her eyes sparkling as they always do when she thinks of her husband. “Anyway, we dated and fell in love while we were there, but when we returned, it went about as well as you can imagine.”

“They wouldn’t let you be together?” I ask.

Farrah looks at me and smiles softly. “Uriel was not just an archangel. He is also a son of the Almighty. The breeding pool for him and the rest of the Seven was already shallow. They were not going to allow him to marry someone who was not only not Arch but also from The Lower.”

“So what happened?”

“At first, we tried to make it work. We stole secret moments, wrote letters, but it quickly broke down and we . . . separated,” she says, and I can see the flash of pain cross her face at even the memory of being without him. “Around six months later, I was walking down this very street when she approached me.” Farrah smiles again. “I still remember how taken I was with her beauty, amazed at how blinding her aura was.”

“What did she say?”

Farrah sighs. “She said that she knew who I was, that she knew her son loved me more than anything in the realms. She said she could see my potential, and that she wanted the same change I wanted.” A tear slides down ­Farrah’s cheek, but her smile remains. “She said that I was worthy of her son, that I should make him show me he is worthy of me, and she gave us her blessing.”

“Then what happened?” I ask, as we meander through the stalls of the market, so entranced with her story that I’m barely taking in anything else.

Farrah laughs, the sound so lyrical and lovely it makes me shiver. “I made him work for it, and we started to dismantle the hierarchy that kept Eden so divided. Slowly, we broke down the gates that kept us apart, instead working to build bridges between The Upper and The Lower.”

My lips tilt in a way that is so foreign now, warmth settling over me.

“Should we make chicken pot pie for dinner?” she asks, and I nod, allowing myself to bask in the story a little longer. The Almighty approached Farrah, just like she approached me. I wonder if she offered her a question too. Should I ask? Is it rude to ask? Would I reveal what I asked? Probably not.

Farrah smiles at one of the vendors. He is obviously very taken with her, yet her kindness endures. Everyone knows her as Uriel Morningstar’s wife, and everyone grants her respect. No longer is she the girl from The Lower. She is now one of the most powerful people in all of Eden. I long to know more about the changes made, more of this remarkable woman’s history, but I realize we have all the time in the world for that, because this is my family now—the Morningstars and Alice. Connor gave this to me, and I am so grateful.

The days pass, and I spend them with Farrah, helping her cook and clean, even doing some gardening. The boys offer to take me to the training grounds with them, but I decline each time. My time with Farrah is healing, and the hours spent with the whole family are even more so. By my tenth day of being back in Eden, it seems we have all settled into a new normal. The kisses Uriel gives to Farrah before he leaves for work are less robotic and awkward, and when he pulls back, their smiles are a little wider each day. This is still a picture of a broken family, but they are starting to heal. They are still hurting, but they are holding one another together with support and love.