Light of the Sky (Of the Gods Book 2) Read online

  Light of the Sky

  Of the Gods - Book Two

  Gina Sturino

  Copyright © 2021 by Gina Sturino

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used in a fictitious manner. The author acknowledges the trademarked statue and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

  Scripture from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

  Editor: Finishing by Fraser

  Proof Reader: Briggs Consulting LLC

  Cover designer: Magnetra’s Design

  Created with Vellum

  For my family and friends. From Milwaukee to Monterey, you’ve helped create memories I will always treasure.

  Contents

  Prologue

  Part I

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Part II

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Epilogue

  Thank You!

  Also by Gina Sturino

  About the Author

  Prologue

  Sprawled on the grass, I looked up to pillowy clouds floating on a canvas of pastel pinks and blues. Wisps of sunshine leaked through, warming my bare arms. Over my shoulder, white butterflies and vibrant wildflowers danced in the wind.

  Fifteen years had passed since I’d laid eyes on the surreal beauty of the Hark. It still took my breath away.

  Lucille’s lithe footsteps tapped against the stone path, and I reluctantly pushed to my feet. In the few days since my return, she’d allowed time for me to decompress and relax, which should have been easy when sleeping in a bed made—literally—of clouds, yet I’d tossed and turned the last several nights.

  Slipping in alongside me, Lucille, my guardian, followed my gaze to the majestic mountains towering above a crystal-clear lake. My twin brother, Neal, preferred the energy of ocean waves to the stillness of the pond. As kids, we’d take turns altering the terrain in the back of our cottage. Only in the Hark could a tract of land change as easily as our moods.

  Lucille softly spoke, breaking the serene silence. “I had hoped your homecoming would bring you peace, Novalee. It brought Arthur and Anya peace. They found redemption.” She paused. “They found you.”

  Tears immediately sprouted in my eyes. “I didn’t even get to say goodbye,” I replied in a shaky whisper.

  “They understand, and Mira does too. You have earned the ultimate reward, a home in the Kingdom. They are happy for you.”

  Hearing Mira’s name only made my heart sink further. My dearest friend, I’d discovered, was my sister. The revelation came minutes before my mortal time ended. Our parents, Arthur and Anya, never knew I existed. Hunters first took Arthur, then returned for Anya during childbirth, just as Neal and I were born.

  I brushed the wetness from my cheeks and eyed Lucille. With a porcelain-perfect complexion, delicate nose, cherry lips, and glassy blue eyes, she reminded me of the dolls I used to buy for my niece. She looked young enough to be my kid sister, though I knew she was at least several centuries old.

  Questions swam in my head. When I was a child, innocent and pure, distrust and doubt didn’t exist between me and my guardian.

  But I was tainted now, soiled by humanity.

  “Did you know Arthur and Anya? You’ve never talked about my parents.”

  Lucille sucked in her bottom lip, then released it along with a soft sigh. “Your mother was the mother. I met her long before your time, before she was reborn as Anya. She went by Anna then.”

  “Hunters took her before she even got to hold us.” I shook my head and wrapped my arms around my chest. “She was stripped of her station… Arthur too.”

  Arthur, a scribe of the Sky, had fallen in love with Anna, mother to the Land. They didn’t recognize each other as gods from different realms when they first met, but soon realized their fatal mistake when hunters—the militia of the divine—brought them to the superiors. My parents’ transgressions and their forbidden love warranted harsh punishment, resulting in them both being stripped and reborn. Neal and I were taken to be raised in the Hark, home to the walking gods.

  “When you and Neal came to me as newborns, I knew you were unique. Being born of both the Land and Sky, of course you would have an unusual energy, walking gods usually do. But you are fated for greater things. I always believed you would earn your wings. It is your destiny.”

  I stared at my feet, toeing a patch of emerald-green grass. “A destiny that comes at the expense of my family. I’ll have to leave them.” I’d never again see Mira’s surreal gardens, share a glass of wine with her or hear my niece Calla’s sweet giggles. And, more pressing, there was my twin brother to consider. “I’ll also have to leave Neal.”

  Lucille’s small, soft fingers gently grasped my arm. Her touch sucked away the pain threatening to shatter my fragile composure. She understood my misgivings. She recognized the pain of humanity. She was tainted too.

  “Oh, Novalee. I wish you did not feel this way, but I suppose the child I knew is gone. You are a woman now.” Lucille released her hold on my arm. Strawberry-blond strands of hair blew across her cheek. She tucked them behind her ear. Along with everything else in the Hark, Lucille was breathtakingly beautiful. “You have learned the truth, and now you have a choice; claim your wings, or buck your destiny.”

  She made it sound so simple, but the consequences of my decision would last for eternity. Accepting my fate meant the ache of my humanity would cease, but so would my time among the mortals. I’d no longer be able to transcend the realms. I’d never see my family again.

  I could claim my destiny, my rightful place among the divine in the realm known as the Kingdom. A place of perfection. The heaven of heavens. I’d be whole again, cleansed of humanity, purely divine. An angel.

  Or I could refute my fate and remain a god, part divine and part human. I could choose to remain tainted.

  Lucille interrupted my thoughts by clearing her throat. “Cami will be waiting for you, to get you settled. Novalee, I know you will not remember this, but you must allow others to fight their own battles. We know Cami’s heart, and her intentions are good, but I worry her desire to save Celia will be her downfall. And Neal… I fear far greater for him.”

  My stomach twi
sted at her warning. Once as close as siblings, Neal, Cami, Celia and I were raised under Lucille’s firm but loving guidance. Cami, an orphaned demigod, assumed the role of surrogate older sister, while Celia, a walking god like Neal and me, was the doted-upon darling of our group.

  In the mortal realm, we had divine assignments that lead us along different paths. Cami became my confidant. Her station as a lumineer, a patron of light and hope, made her an invaluable ally in completing my mission. Neal and Celia, on the other hand, strayed from their calling, disappearing without a trace.

  I hadn’t heard from Neal in years. At one time, my estranged twin and I shared a connection that went beyond blood; we were two halves of a whole. Our journey to the mortal realm severed that bond. Neal discarded his divine duties and left me to deal with the repercussions. I’d spent years angry with him, resenting him for deserting me. Now I feared I’d never see him again.

  “You warned us, Lucille. Human emotion, temptation—we fell into its trap. There were times I put my wants and needs ahead of the mission, ahead of Neal and Mira.” Guilt gnawed at my conscience. “And Neal, well, I think he just gave up.”

  My twin’s actions led him so far from the divine, I wasn’t sure he’d ever find his way back.

  How can I leave him while he struggles?

  “You have always been logical, Novalee,” Lucille said. “That is why among the mortals you became a lawyer, a bargainer of right and wrong. You are questioning your destiny, conflicted as to whether you should accept your station as an angel, whether you are worthy of perfection, but you are neither judge nor jury. Mortals revere faulty courts of law that dictate good and bad, guilt and innocence, but sin and temptation are a part of humanity. They are inevitable. As I have always said, you will be tempted, Novalee, but profit and gain are not worth the forfeit of the soul.”

  Sighing, I shook my head. “Right now, I don’t feel so logical. I don’t know what to do. I need to see Neal. Before I make this decision, I have to see my brother.” I pinched the bridge of my nose, a trick I knew Mira used to ward off tears. She was the emotional one while I was always the logical one. “Arthur, Anya, and Mira may have found peace, but I haven’t.”

  Mira, my sweet friend—my sister—found more than peace. She found her lost love, Nicholas, and finally, after many years of heartache, her family was reunited.

  Closing my eyes, I envisioned Mira. Flowers and giggles. Mother and child. Husband and wife. She had everything I’d ever want for her, and I knew in my heart I’d fulfilled my duty as her protector—and as her big sister.

  But I also knew I had a duty to my other sibling.

  I opened my eyes and repeated, now with conviction, “I have to see my brother.”

  Lucille gave a firm nod and looked up to the sky. Her lips moved, but no sound came out. The plump, marshmallow clouds thinned into wavy, white wisps, and the fresh, earthy scent of an incoming rainstorm permeated the air.

  “How does this work?” I asked with a trembly voice.

  “Like a bolt of lightning, a falling star—”

  “A fallen god,” I sadly interrupted.

  “I hope not. The destiny you deserve—the destiny you earned—is a home in the Kingdom, a life among the saints and angels.” She nodded toward the swirling clouds. Rays of sunshine danced through gaps, illuminating the strawberry streaks in her blond hair. Her cobalt-blue eyes blazed, and for a quick second, I thought they’d turned into gemstones. Shifting her stare from the sky back to me, her eyes dulled out and rounded with worry. “Novalee, I hope you find the answers and closure you need before they find you.”

  My jaw dropped as I realized who Lucille referred to. Hunters. The same militant gods who had ripped Neal and me from our mother during childbirth would eventually catch wind of a fallen god. With their mysterious messengers—the divine creatures who acted as their eyes and ears—my time was certainly limited.

  “Are you sure you want to do this? It is going to hurt. On this journey, you will not have the powers of the gods, nor knowledge of the divine. You will wake with some memories of your mortal past, bits and pieces that may confuse you. Ultimately, your soul shall decide what memories are revealed to help you choose your fate.”

  I understood, because everything she said rang familiar. My memories had been masked, my powers stripped, when I was first sent to live among the mortals fifteen years ago. Upon waking in a strange, new world without the security of the divine, a barrage of emotions nearly crippled me. Lucille, my mother figure, provided me with a fake history, a pretend past to assimilate with the mortals, and then she was gone, no longer there to guide me. Her sudden loss was as immense as losing a parent.

  To prove myself as Mira’s protector, I had to overcome mortal challenges and obstacles, live life with human reasoning and emotions, and complete my mission in a harsh, new world filled with ambiguity.

  Now, I’d chosen to return there and allow my soul to lead my heart. I would decide my fate without the security of the divine.

  Uncertainty breeds unimaginable fear; I quickly realized that as my heart began to pound.

  “I’m scared—” I started to speak, but my words were cut off by the crack of lightning, a sound so loud it nearly shattered my ear drums. Bright, vivid flashes blinded my retinas and burned my veins. I lifted my hands to shield myself, but the next bolt struck something so deep within, my body and the world around me shuddered, vibrating and blinking from the flash of a million lights.

  Blindingly white… then blackness.

  Part One

  For I know the plans I have for you,

  plans for welfare and not for evil,

  to give you a future and a hope.

  (Jeremiah 29:11)

  One

  Two Percocet contributed to the first eight uninterrupted hours of sleep I’d had in a week. I woke with a leg kicked over my suitcase and an arm draped across its side—the most intimacy I’d had in months.

  Rolling onto my back, I stared blankly at the ceiling, consumed with nagging thoughts and a leftover headache. At least I didn’t have that dream again, the one which had haunted me since the car accident. I could thank the Percocet for that.

  On the nightstand, next to the prescription bottle, my cellphone ignited. It slid across the smooth surface, vibrating like a hissing jumping bean. I swatted it to the ground where the carpet cushioned its noise.

  Not yet. My head felt the best it had in seven days.

  Taking a moment to brace myself for the sharp jolt to my ribs, I swung my legs over the side of the bed while simultaneously hoisting myself to a sitting position. My body had always been agile and responsive, the result of ballet classes as a child and an affinity for yoga as an adult.

  Now, my limbs seemed to require an extra push from my brain.

  It’ll pass. I’m okay. I’m alive.

  I shuffled into the adjoining bathroom and leaned over the vanity to assess the garish bruise and gash above my left eyebrow. Skin glue held the thin, jagged edges of the cut together. Even with the guarantee of scarring, I counted myself lucky. Thirty-three years of life and I’d never had actual stitches.

  Then again, I could hardly call the events of the last week lucky.

  Sweeping a finger gingerly across the ghastly reminder, I squeezed my eyes shut and willed away the horrid memory of the accident.

  My cell ignited once again, lighting up and vibrating with a muffled groan against the carpet. A throb at my temples pulsed along with it.

  Time to face the day. Time to face the music. And time to face Darrell.

  The printer next to my laptop roared to life, quickly spitting out a sheet of paper. Lifting the still-warm page from the tray, I waved it gently to allow the ink to dry, then folded and stuffed it into a legal-sized envelope pre-addressed to Darrell Loft, Senior Partner of Loft and Associates.

  My office access fob and other work-related technology had been salvaged from last week’s car wreck and returned to Loft. Now, the only thing sep
arating me from a life free of Loft lay in my hand, tucked within the envelope.

  Before I could lose my courage, I swiftly tapped the screen of my cell and held the phone to my ear.

  “Thank you for calling Loft and Associates, how may I direct your call?” a familiar voice sounded through the earpiece.

  “Ellis, hey, it’s me, Nova,” I replied.

  “Novalee?” Ellis asked, surprise evident in her tone. “Is that you? I mean, how are you? I heard… obviously.”

  Yes, obviously. The crash made the paper and local news. Usually does when a lightning storm, three-block power outage, and Jaws of Life are involved.

  I wasn’t quite sure how to respond. How was I? Terrible. But when people ask that question, do they really want the truth? Would Ellis want to hear about the nightmares, the shock, the tears, the life-changing minute in which I witnessed what may have been an innocent person’s final moments?

  I still hadn’t the heart to inquire about the driver or that woman’s status.

  So, instead of honesty, I gave Ellis what was expected, responding with a soft smile and an equally soft voice, “I’m okay, hanging in there.”

  “I’m glad. We’re all so worried. I heard you may be out for another week?”

  “Yes, well, I need a minute with Darrell. Is he free?”