Page 93 of Death Deals

We continued to observe the plane as the stairs were rolled away, the doors were closed, and the craft readied to pull out onto the runway.

“We should go, too,” Eli said, his tone calm.

To Heaven, he meant. Back to where we belonged.

“Michael’s waiting for us,” he said.

I sighed, my entire body sagging. Guess I’d put it off long enough. My earthly visit was finally over. Although everything that’d happened this past week could hardly be considered a “vacation.”

“I don’t have to fly, do I?” I asked. “I’m not sure I’m ready for that yet.”

He chuckled. “No flying. I’ll guide you through it for the first time, but it’s quite simple.” He slid his hand in mine, and I tensed, glancing at our linked fingers. “Just close your eyes and imagine Heaven—the oasis—in your mind. Will it to be.”

Will it to be? What the heck was that supposed to mean?

“Close your eyes,” he coaxed and squeezed my hand lightly.

I did, feeling absolutely ridiculous, but I did it.

“Picture the oasis, the elevator platform, the Ascension building…”

I shifted, uneasy on my feet, but brought the images he spoke of into my mind’s eye.

“Call to the power within. Let it fill you.”

His pressure on my hand a constant connection to him, I felt my chest warm as my power awakened. There was a strange pulling and stretching sensation, and a prickle of energy raced across my skin.

Still, Eli’s hand held me firm.

“Alright, open them.”

On his command, I did and was shocked to see that we were now standing on the elevator platform in front of the magical waters of the oasis and the high-rise Ascension building.

Stunned, I gasped.

Beside me, Eli beamed. “Welcome home.”

Home.

That was a loaded word, especially for me. After my death, the afterlife never felt like where I belonged because of my missing past, and when I’d moved in with Eli into Heaven’s Holdings, that hadn’t felt right either.

After seeing my living memory and the turmoil that had occurred in that apartment, it was clear home had always been something intangible for me, even in life. So now that I was back in Heaven, the uneasiness of not belonging was quickly wiggling its way through me again. As an Archangel, this is where I was supposed to belong. This was where I was meant to be, yet I was empty here. Lonely. Still searching for something I couldn’t seem to ever find.

How many souls would have killed to be here? Heaven was the crème of the crop, after all, and I had a V.I.P. ticket to paradise. But I didn’t want to be here.

With our hands still linked, Eli guided me over to the oasis. As I stared down at the crystal blue depths, he said, “You’ll be able to use it now, you know. Look down onto earth and see your friends.”

He was telling me this to cheer me up, I knew, but observing them from a distant place was nothing like being with them. I frowned.

“Go on,” he encouraged. “Put your hand in and think about Kay. You’ll see her.”

I slipped my fingers into the cool water and imagined my friend’s smiling face. As the ripples spread out, my reflection distorted and changed. Expensive white-leather chairs and dark wood paneling—we were getting a top-down view of Andre’s plane as it carried him, Kay, and Arianna back to Virginia.

Kay and Arianna sat facing each other, talking excitedly while flipping through magazines. From all the flower arrangements and long white gowns on the pages, my guess was that they were discussing wedding plans now that Kay and Laurence were engaged.

In the corner of the picture, I spotted Andre’s dark figure sitting near one of the plane’s windows and staring out, lost in the wanderings of his own mind.

“They seem to be enjoying their flight home,” Eli said as he viewed the image at my side.

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