AllFreeNovel
Share Us
That familiar sensation of no longer being alone swept over me, and somehow, I knew it was her.
But I couldn’t bring myself to open my eyes.
“Mom?”
“Hey, baby.”
Her voice was as crisp and clear as a November day, and the scent of spiced apples enveloped me, tugging at the edges of my mouth to curl my lips into a melancholy smile.
Yet I still couldn’t open my eyes.
“Are you better now?” I asked her.
“So much,” she replied, and I could hear her smile.
I bet it looked exactly the way I remembered it as a little boy.
“I want to look at you, Mom. I need to—”
“Oh, baby, I know.” Her hand, soft and warm, barely touched my jaw, and I shuddered with a desperate sob. “But if you saw me, if you saw any of us … you would never leave.”
“Leave?” I croaked. God, why did this hurt so much? Why did I feel any pain at all? Wasn’t this supposed to be Heaven—a paradise in which no man knew hurt or sorrow or any of those awful earthly emotions and aches? “But—”
“You’re not supposed to be here yet, Soldier. It’s time to go.”
I shook my head, frustrated without understanding. “I don’t get—”
“It’s not for you to understand, baby. Not yet.”
Panic folded itself around me as an energetic pull tugged at my being. Yanking an invisible chain, forcing me away from her and this place.
“Mommy”—my voice broke as I laid my hand over hers—“I don’twannago.”
It didn’t seem fair. It didn’t feel right. I had fought so hard for so much of my life, to regain this version of her, and the thought of giving it up now felt like the cruelest punishment of all.
“You were always my sunshine, baby. But it’s time for you to be hers. There’s nobody left to save. I’m okay now—we all are. Now, go live your life.”
A violent pull of the chain sent me backward toward an unknown, and I begged my eyelids to open, just to catch a glimpse of my mother before she was gone once again. Just a peek. Just a reminder before I was left to embark on my journey without her.
I tried, and I tried, but to no avail until, finally, my lids slowly peeled back to stare out into the bright white of the warm light shining from all directions. And then, slowly, my vision adjusted, and I was greeted by the face of an angel.
Ray, I thought as I took my first breath in the next chapter of my life.
It was eleveneleven.
EPILOGUE
TWO WEEKS AT A TIME
There had once been a man named Soldier Mason, who was told since the day he had been born that he would be a hero and a savior, and he took it to heart. He proceeded to live life in the gray areas between black and white, doing what he knew was wrong to keep his heart on the edge of what was right, never once faltering to make good on the promises he had made to protect others at all costs.
And that was what he had done—until the night he died twice. Until he was set free and pulled back to this world to begin the third chapter of his life, unburdened by the brand he had worn since the first time he had entered the world.
My knees jounced beneath the table now as I thought about that man.
I hardly noticed him now when I looked in the mirror.Every once in a while, I’d catch a glimpse of residual hurt in his eyes or a hint of the past flashing across the scars he carried. But I was far from the man I had been before my reunion with Rain, before that night I saved her life one last time and she, in turn, saved mine.
The Soldier Mason I knew now was a friend, a husband, and a father of two. He was a homeowner and a member of theRiverCanyon town board. He was a hard worker at the local grocery store and grateful to call himself a partner in the business. He was a proud man, content and satisfied. But most of all, and most importantly, he was good.
