The Gatekeeper: The AngelQuest Chronicles, #2

By Lyndie Ferguson

The Saga Continues…

 

The Queen of Purgatory wants Earth for her Playground…

 

Seren Bachman, Earthbound Angel: Takes the next step in her relationship with Lucas but finds herself stalked by Quinton, taunted by her brother's murderer, and played as a pawn in the Gatekeeper's deadly game…

 

Lucas Hawke, Warrior Angel: As the object of the Gatekeeper's affections, he finds he may have to forfeit the AngelQuest, along with his newfound love with Seren, to save Seren's life…

 

Quinton Slade, Dark Angel: Seeks to retrieve his crystal sword from Seren, and devises a plan to exact revenge on the Gatekeeper, which could cost Seren her soul…

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lyndie Ferguson
• Release date: Jun 13, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201301712

Lyndie Ferguson

 Lyndie Ferguson has a sixth sense of her own; she sees stories. A bible verse, a song lyric, or even a snippet of conversation could be the catalyst for a paranormal plotline. She loves books and movies with humor, romance, and suspense mixed with otherworldly (and quirky) characters. Out of that love was born the Urban Fantasy series The AngelQuest Chronicles. When she’s not writing or spending time with her family, she loves to bike ride and backpack. Follow her at www.AuthorLyndieFerguson.com and Facebook.com/Author Lyndie Ferguson.

Book preview

Prologue

And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.

—Luke 16:26 NIV

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Purgatory, Twelve Years Ago…

Sergio stood on the deck of the yacht, looking over the rail. He watched as Seren fell through the air, landing in the frigid water below.

Before he could climb the rail to take the plunge himself, the man grabbed him from behind.

Swim, Seren! Swim! he screamed.

Sergio felt the swift cut of the knife. A paralyzing pain seized him, and he sunk to the boat floor. But the pain ceased, and he realized he stood over his own body. He wondered how he could be in two places at one time. As he saw his body convulsing, blood pouring from his throat, he stood there feeling nothing.

Then just as quickly, he disappeared from the boat where his body lay. He was in a great expanse with three doors before him. As he looked at the doors, flames of fire licked out under one of them, a mist from another, and the last one a brilliant light.

The door with the flames of fire opened. It was as if a giant vacuum tried to suck him into the door, but as he came close to the doorway, his body stopped. He could feel the pull of the door trying to suck him in, but it could not prevail.

Suddenly he was thrown back. The other two doors opened simultaneously, one full of eerie mist and the other a blinding light. The vacuum began again, but this time both doors were drawing him to them. Back and forth, he was pulled between the spaces of the door, as if a great battle ensued, with Sergio not knowing where he would end up. With a surge, the door with the mist pulled him to the opening, and he screamed aloud, grasping the door frame to keep from entering in.

No! I want the light door! The light door! But as he spoke, the door with the brilliant light closed, and he was abruptly pulled into the mist. The door close behind him. He was thrown to his knees, and as he looked around, he discovered he was at the bottom of an ancient stairway leading to an opened gate. His eyes followed the mist as it traveled up the stairway hovering at the edge of the gate.

The mist moved as if it were alive, and it condensed to form itself into the likeness of a person. The mist dissipated, and in its place emerged a beautiful creature. Sergio was struck with awe as the creature transformed further until it was a woman.

Who are you? asked Sergio.

I am Danica, the Gatekeeper.

When she spoke, it was a siren’s call, and Sergio was reminded of the Hollywood starlets of old, who knew the power of their beauty and wasn’t afraid to use it.

Come, her silky siren’s voice beckoned. Sergio rose to his feet, debating whether to answer her call or to keep still. She shifted her weight, and a pair of glistening gray wings unfolded behind her back.

He felt the pull of her allure, and while he knew it was a trap, he could not stop himself from climbing onto the first step. Then the second. And third.

He reached the top. He half expected the beautiful creature to turn into a monster like it would have been in a horror movie. Looking beyond her, he saw rainbows of light emanating all around. He took her outstretched hand and let her pull him inside.

He was startled when the crashing sound of the gate closed behind him. The rainbow-colored light disappeared, and all around him was dreariness as if storm clouds blocked the sun. All around him was gray and mist.

Where am I? he asked.

The woman laughed. You're in my domain now. Purgatory. Tell me your name, child.

Sergio.

One of the twins. How interesting. You weren’t supposed to make it here.

Then, why did I?

You weren’t bad enough to go to hell, but not quite good enough to go to heaven. And you know why.

I was trying to save my sister.

She eyed him up and down. How’d that work out for you?

I may be here, but she’s safe. She will pray me out of here. You’ll see.

Right. We will see about that. Now off you go, boy; I have others to enter the gate.

She dismissed him with the wave of her hand, and suddenly, he was deposited in a great mist. The ground beneath his feet was solid, but he could not see beyond the gray cloud surrounding him. He slunk to the ground. It would take a lot of praying to get him out of here.

Chapter One

Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it.

—Habakkuk 2:2b NIV

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Earth, Twelve Years Ago…The Beginning…

Seren pulled back the bed covers. Come on, Sergio, hissed Seren under her breath. We’ve snuck out a hundred times. What’s so different now?

Sergio stared at his twin sister. Get out before the nuns hear you. You know what Father Renzo said. If he catches you in the boys’ dorm again, you’ll be moved to another orphanage.

″Just one last time."

″You always say that, Seren. Do you want us to be separated?"

Seren sighed. Alright, Sergio, you win. Goodnight.

Sergio watched until his sister slipped out the door, then pulled the covers back over his head.

Seren tiptoed down the hall to the stairwell. She peeped over the banister. No one was in sight. Slowly she took the stairs down to the girls’ floor. But instead of going inside the large dorm room, she kept going down the stairs to the main floor.

Once there, she slipped into the kitchen and turned the lock on the basement door. Stepping inside, she turned on the light and shut the door behind her.

Seren stood still, trying to convince herself to go further. Sergio was always with her when they went through the secret tunnel that led out to the docks. Sergio was the brave one. She was nothing without him.

She heard a noise at the basement door. If she were caught here in the middle of the night, she would be shipped out for sure. Quickly she shut off the light switch and bolted for the secret crawl space, ducking inside. Once able to stand upright, she grabbed one of the flashlights she and Sergio kept here for this purpose.

She flipped on the flashlight and ran.

In a few minutes, she was winded, so she slowed down. Her adrenaline was subsiding, and elation replaced it since she had escaped her fate in the basement. But now, she realized how far she had come in the tunnel. She started to tremble. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. She thought about going back, but if someone had locked the basement door, she would have to wait there till morning, hoping that Sergio would miss her and come to her aid.

Judging from the water at her feet, she knew she was close to the grate beneath the State Street alley. She started walking.

When she got to the grate, she stopped to listen. The lively night sounds of the city filtered through the grate. One day, when she was older, she’d be able to walk on State Street and listen to the sounds up close. But for now, she’d have to settle for the quietness of the late-night docks.

A few minutes passed as she continued to walk. The low moan of a foghorn filtered through the tunnel, alerting her she was close.

She stopped at a ladder and started climbing. A grate was partially slid over to the side, just like Sergio left it. It took all her strength, but she managed to shove it over enough to slip through to the crawlspace beneath the tackle shop. Quietly, she removed the panel that Sergio had unscrewed and crawled out into the night air.

Observing no one in sight, she stepped out of the shadows and inched her way to the dumpster. Spying the docks, she made her way to the corner of the building. She dashed to the boardwalk and crossed it, jumping over the side to the land a few feet below. Walking toward the water’s edge, she stopped and smelled the salty air. Before she could take a deep breath, a hand cupped over her mouth.

″Don’t make a sound."

Seren wrenched herself around. Sergio! You scared me to death!

″Are you stupid? I knew you wouldn’t leave it alone. What if that wasn’t me that snuck up on you?"

″Well, it wasn’t. It was you playing mean tricks."

Sergio shook his head. Since we’re out here, we might as well go down to the marina.

Seren followed close behind him. They walked along the dock, tiptoeing past a houseboat with blaring music.

″Look at that one," said Seren.

They both looked out at the dark water, where a large yacht was anchored away from the marina. Lights glittered all over the huge vessel.

″Those people have got to be rich," said Sergio.

″I wonder who they are," said Seren.

″You’re about to find out," said a voice behind them.

Seren squealed.

″Run!" Sergio yelled.

Sergio took off in a run, and when he looked back, Seren wasn’t behind him.

The man who had spoken to them had grabbed Seren. Sergio ran back to his sister.

″You let her go!" he yelled.

Sergio pummeled at the man who had grabbed Seren. But the man back-handed Sergio, sending him sprawling onto the dock.

″Watch out!" screamed Seren. Before Sergio could rise, two more men had joined them. Both men held out knives. He froze.

The two men hauled Sergio to his feet, half dragging him along the dock. The man holding Seren had produced a knife, holding it at Seren’s throat.

″Not a sound out of either of you," he said.

″Please, just let us go. We weren’t doing anything wrong," said Sergio.

The man laughed. We’ve been watching you for weeks. We finally traced you back to the orphanage. No one will miss you.

Seren began to cry.

″Shut up," said the man. He took the hilt of his knife and hit Seren in the head. She cried out in pain but quieted her crying down to an occasional whimper.

They stopped at a motorboat, and the men pushed them both into the bottom of the boat.

″Stay down." One of the men said, pointing his knife at them.

The boat motor roared to life.

Sergio wrapped his arm around Seren. It’s going to be okay. I’ll figure something out.

They had only traveled a few minutes when the boat stopped.

″Up the ladder," one of their captors commanded.

Seren looked up at the yacht they had seen earlier. She had always wanted to go on one, but not like this. Slowly, she followed Sergio up the ladder.

″Just let us go home, said Sergio, when one of the men pushed him forward. We won’t tell anyone what happened."

″We know you won’t," said one of the men, who shoved Sergio down some stairs, where he tumbled to the bottom.

The man who held onto Seren dragged her down the stairs.

″Not so rough with the merchandise," yelled someone from below.

″Sure thing, boss," answered one of the men.

When Seren reached the bottom of the stairs, the man released her.

Seren stood still. Sergio was hunched over in pain.

A man in an expensive robe lounged on the couch. He took a long pull from his whiskey glass before he spoke.

″We can do this the easy way, or we can do it the hard way."

Seren trembled. She knew it would be the hard way.

Chapter Two

For death is the destiny of everyone…

—Ecclesiastes 7:2b NIV

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Earth, Present Day…

SEREN BACHMAN THOUGHT ABOUT all the things that had transpired over the last few weeks. It was surreal. She had freed a good angel imprisoned in one painting and trapped his evil counterpart in another one. She shuddered to think what would have happened if she hadn’t gained the upper hand—Quinton would be free, and she would be what? Dead?

She looked over at Lucas as he drove his rental car. His muscular frame was too large a fit for the size of the sedan.

I never did ask you, she started, how did you learn to drive? Do they have a school or something that teaches angels how to do earth things? Seren reached out to touch his golden hair, gently pushing the long strands behind his shoulders.

Lucas laughed. "We inherently know how to do some things. We just decide we are