The Garden

  of Death

  Book Two of

  The Eden Chronicles

  L.L. Hunter

  Copyright © 2014 L.L. Hunter

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN: 9781311302137

  Smashwords Edition

  Edited and formatted by Rogena Mitchell-Jones

  www.rogenamitchell.com

  Cover Design by

  Regina Wamba of Mae I Design and Photography

  www.maeidesign.com

  This book may not be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission from the author. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. All characters and storylines are the property of the author and your support and respect is appreciated.

  This book is a work of fiction. The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  The author and editor have taken great effort in presenting a manuscript free of errors. However, editing errors are ultimately the responsibility of the author.

  For Lauren and Lyndsi,

  For believing in and loving Eden.

  Prologue

  Asher

  “Everyone, come quick!”

  “What is it?” I asked as I looked up from my textbook. There was a commotion around the front entry to the Michaelite Academy.

  “Another one of the old hags has probably dropped dead again,” suggested Jaz, with the flip of her hair. She lay next to me on the floor of the library where we usually studied.

  “It’s the girl. We have the girl,” announced one of the elderly priests.

  “That’s great, but it’s very vague,” added Jaz, sounding bored.

  “I’m going to see what’s going on,” I replied as I got up off the floor.

  “What? You promised you’d study with me, Ash.”

  “I didn’t promise anything, and my name is Asher.” I sauntered out of the room and walked into the foyer. What I saw there stopped me dead.

  I knew what had happened to her, but I wasn’t expecting to see her so soon and looking the way she did.

  “Eden!” I ran to her side as the man who held her cradled her closer to his chest. I glanced up into his icy blue eyes. “Is she…”

  “Dead? I hope not. That’s why I brought her here. We don’t have much time.”

  “Come this way, sir.” Sister Constance hurried down the stairs and rushed to the gentleman who held Eden in his arms. “We don’t usually allow your type in here, but we’ll have to make an exception just this once.”

  “Thank you.” the blue-eyed man, whom I still didn’t know what his relationship to Eden was, followed Sister Constance through a door under the stairwell. I knew what this room was, and I was scared to hell of it. I followed closely behind so not to lose sight of Eden. When I reached the threshold, a hand came up to stop me from stepping over.

  “Asher, you’ll have to stay up here.”

  “But, Eden…”

  “Will be okay,” said my sister, Cecelia, with a small smile. She turned to head down the stairs.

  “Cecilia, wait. Who is that man?”

  She paused and looked me right in the eyes.

  “That’s Eden’s father.”

  Chapter One

  Eden

  You wouldn’t think dying in the place where death rules would change the fate of the world, would you?

  Well, it did.

  I died, and now everything is upside down.

  I stirred.

  First, I moved my head, then my fingers and toes to make sure I wasn’t numb.

  I wasn’t.

  I faintly recall having the strangest dream where I died in a field of vivid blue and purple flowers, and then soon after, I remembered feeling numb all over.

  But I wasn’t numb anymore.

  I could move my body freely. I wriggled my fingers and felt something cool and soft underneath my fingertips. I tried to open my eyes, but as soon as the light hit my retinas, my head pounded, and I quickly shut my eyelids again. I tried to move my left arm to the left of me and found nothing but openness. I moved my right hand to the right and found warm flesh.

  Warm flesh?

  My eyes shot open, and I turned to look at what I might be touching. My heart leaped into my throat when I saw who was lying beside me in the bed.

  “Asher?”

  He blinked and rolled over toward me.

  “Hey, baby. Good morning.” He leaned over me and kissed my lips lightly before settling back down on his pillow beside me.

  “What day is it? Where are we?”

  “Are you feeling okay?” Asher placed the back of his hand on my forehead.

  “I think so. I had the strangest dream.”

  “Wanna tell me about it?” he asked as he leaned up on his elbow to face me.

  “I don’t even know if I can explain it.”

  “Try.” He reached out and threaded his fingers through mine and kissed my fingers. I tried my hardest not to get distracted from what I was about to say.

  “Okay, I was lying in a field of these weird looking flowers. They were surrounding me and appeared to be growing. They smelled really sweet like… well, sweets, and then I remember seeing a really bright light and then… nothing.”

  “A light? Like you were going into the light?”

  “Yeah. I think that’s what it was. I think I died.”

  “But, babe, you know it was only a dream, right?” he leaned over me once again and kissed me, this time more forcefully. “You’re not dead right now. You’re lying in bed next to me, and you’re very much alive.” His fingers stroked my cheek, which made me shiver.

  I let out a breath. “I suppose you’re right. Anyway, you didn’t answer my question before. What day is it?”

  “It’s Sunday, babe. Our one day to relax and do whatever we want.”

  “No, I mean the date. What year is it?”

  “It’s 2022.”

  I sit up straight. “What?”

  “Are you sure you’re feeling okay?”

  “I… I don’t know. I guess I do feel a little weird. How can it be 2022? Last time I remember it was 2012, and I was sixteen.”

  “Sixteen? Babe, you’re twenty six. My beautiful twenty-six year old wife.” He picked up my arm to kiss it, but I pushed him off me, ripped the sheets off, and jumped out of bed.

  “Wife?”

  “Yeah? Don’t you remember that, either? You must have hit your head or something in your dream.”

  “I… I guess I may have.” I rubbed my hands over my face. “I need coffee. And food.”

  I ran out of the bedroom into a living room that I didn’t recognize, the living room of a house that wasn’t mine. I ran into the unfamiliar kitchen and tracked down the coffee machine and a mug. I seriously needed to wake myself right up so I could figure out what the hell was going on.

  Chapter Two

  Asher

  Eden’s father?

  How was that possible?

  How could Eden’s father retrieve Eden from the Realm of Death?

  Then I remembered.

  Because he could.

  Because he was a demon.

  The man that had just brought Eden’s lifeless body into the Michaelite Sanctuary was the infamous Lakyn Blackbell, the leader of our opposition–the Lucifites. And the Michaelites had let him walk right into the heart of their sanctuary!

  I realized I had to get into that room below the stairs. Screw what my sister had said. I had to protect Eden from the likes of her father.

  But would her father really hurt her?

  I shook my conscience away. No, he wouldn’t hurt his own daughter. He’d try to infiltrate us now that he was across enemy lines, though. I reached for the doorknob and was about to swing it open when an irritating voice stopped me.

  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” I put my hand back down to my side and clenched my fists. I turned to face the witch.

  “Jaz, Eden wouldn’t be in this mess if it weren’t for you. You put her in that coma! You poisoned her with those flowers!”

  Jazmine put a hand on her hip and flicked her hair back behind her shoulders. “Oh, quiet now. I was just having a little fun. It’s very boring here. That Nephilim is fresh meat, and you know that.”

  “You wouldn’t be bored if you paid attention in class and actually did your homework. And aren’t you Nephilim, as well?”

  “Correction: I am only part Nephilim, but part something else, as well. Something much better than a stupid weak Nephilim,” she said with a chuckle while admiring her nails.

  “What are you?”

  “Please, do you think I’d share my little secret with the world? If I did that, then everyone would do what I did, and then I wouldn’t be so unique, would I?”

  “Whatever you say, Jazmine. I am getting into that room, and you can’t stop me.”

  “Good luck. I’d like to see you try. Unfortunately, the room is warded.”

  “Warded? Against what?”

  “Supernatural beings.”

  “Then why were Eden’s father and Eden allowed to enter?”

  “Because the Michaelites allowed them to. You have to have permission. And since I clearly heard your sister tell you no, that means you don’t.”

  “How do know so much about that? You never pay attention in class.”

  “Babe, I d idn’t learn that from a stupid textbook. I learned it simply by being observant.”

  “You mean, by being a brown noser.”

  “Words, Asher. Whatever you call it, you should try it sometime. It’ll get you much further than sticking your head in a book. You might actually learn something.”

  She gave her unnaturally shiny hair a flick and sauntered off out of sight.

  I growled and turned back to the door. Was Jaz telling the truth? Was the secret room really guarded by a magical ward against all things supernatural? I smiled to myself as I realized I wasn’t supernatural. I put my hand on the knob but was immediately thrown backward against the opposite wall. I slid to the floor and shook my head. That was when I remembered that I was. I had died and had somehow come back again, making me now supernatural.

  Shit.

  Now what was I going to do?

  Chapter Three

  Eden

  2022.

  Twenty-six.

  Bloody hell, I was twenty-six-years old!

  Ten years had passed, and I had no memory of it.

  Oh and how could I forget the fact that I was married to Asher! Holy hell, I was freaking married!

  The coffee machine finished filling up my mug, and the sweet and alluring scent of coffee now filled the small house. I picked up my mug and inhaled. I walked to the fridge to fetch some milk, and when I opened the fridge door, I saw that it was filled and fully stocked with all my favorite things. My favorite vanilla flavored milk was in the door… well, several bottles of it, actually. There was chocolate on the top shelf along with Promite, Marmite, and jam. There was also a tub of Kalamata olives and beetroot hummus. What was going on? Had Asher done this? I hadn’t even told him what my favorites were. Had I? I took out the vanilla milk and poured some in my coffee. I found the bread and placed two slices into the toaster. While I was waiting for the toast to pop, Asher came stumbling out of the bedroom wearing nothing but long pajama pants. I took in the sight of his naked chest and had to use all of my strength not to drop my coffee cup on the floor. I quickly turned back to the toaster.

  “Mmm. That smells good, babe. Can you put some in for me, too?” he placed a kiss on my cheek as he walked past. He got a tea bag and started making himself a cup of tea.

  “Uh… sure.”

  When the kettle had boiled, and he had poured himself some tea, he made his way to the kitchen bench and placed his cup down before walking out of the room. I was unable to move my eyes away from him. A few seconds later, he shuffled back into the room with a rolled up newspaper under his arm. He unrolled it and opened it as he settled down on a stool.

  This was the weirdest thing ever to see. Asher was acting like my mother, like the priests and nuns back at the Michaelite Sanctuary. Well, he is supposed to be twenty-six or twenty-seven. The first lot of toast popped up, and I headed to the fridge to grab something to put on it. I grabbed the jam and the butter, as I knew that’s what Asher likes. I had seen him eat his toast like that back at the Michaelite Sanctuary. I spread his toast and placed it in front of him.

  “Here you go.”

  “Thanks, babe.”

  That’s when I saw what he was reading.

  “Oh, my God!” I snatched the paper from him and turned it around so I could read it.

  “Hey!”

  I studied the headline and the photo below, and suddenly, I felt nauseous. It read:

  “More mysterious deaths and strange phenomena witnessed”

  I looked to Asher for confirmation.

  “More strange deaths?”

  “Yeah, this isn’t the beginning, I’m afraid. It’s increasing.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, people have been disappearing, turning up dead, and then reappearing to their families.”

  My eyes widen. “No way! People are dying and coming back? Are they ghosts?”

  “No, I don’t think so. One of the witnesses said her daughter drowned in the pool and turned up a few days after the funeral looking as new, fleshy, and warm as the day she died.”

  “Oh, please don’t tell me they’re zombies! Please don’t tell me this is a zombie apocalypse!”

  “No, that would be stupid.”

  “Then what are they? They obviously can’t be Nephilim anymore.”

  “No one knows what they are.”

  I read the article. A thought occurred to me.

  “How long has this been going on?”

  “For about ten years.”

  My suspicions were right. It can’t be a coincidence!

  “Eden? Babe? Are you all right? You’ve gone pale.”

  “This is all my fault!”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I have to go.” I forgot about my toast and ran to get dressed.

  “Eden? What do you mean? Where are you going?”

  “I’m going to try to fix this.”

  “Fix what?” I pull on jeans, a singlet top, and lace up my sneakers before grabbing a hoodie. “Eden!”

  I ran to the front door, but Asher grabbed my arm and turned me back around.

  “Eden, will you please fill me in. What’s going on?”

  “What if this is all my fault? I think I’m the reason this is happening. I’ve upset the balance.”

  “What on earth are you talking about?”

  “I died ten years ago, Asher. That was not a dream I had early this morning. That was a memory. You died, as well.”

  “Okay… I think you need to lie down, or eat something. You’re not making sense.”

  “No! I have to go find Jaz. She’s the one who had caused me to die. She was the one person who had the ability to harvest souls and return them. Killing me tipped the scales and now everyone who dies, and who was meant to go the Realm of Death, gets spat back out again.”

  Now it was Asher’s time to turn a ghostly shade of white. I realized he had no memory of what I was talking about. He had no memory of our deaths. Could Jaz somehow have tampered with his memories? I had to track her down and set things straight and restore the balance in the world. I went to open the door, but Asher’s voice stopped me.

  “Eden, are you talking about Jaz, as in Jazmine my ex-girlfriend?”

  I clenched my fists.

  “Ex-girlfriend?” Oh, that little witch. I was going to end her and send her arse into the Realm of Death to live with Abraham. Let’s see how she likes that!

  “Yeah, before I married you, I dated her.”

  “You dated her? But how?” All this was doing my head in.

  “Babe, I’ve only known you for about a year. Before that, I was with Jazmine.”

  “A year? But I’ve known you since I was sixteen. We met at the Michaelite Sanctuary. Do you not remember that?”

  She had definitely tampered with his memories. I was going to find her and tamper with her memories.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Well, since you seem to know her so well, do you know where she might be?”

  “Yeah, babe. She lives right next door.”

  Chapter Four

  Asher

  I stood back up and shook my hands before walking back toward the door. Maybe if I knocked, they would answer. Then I could barter with them to let me in. I was determined to do anything to get through that door and be with Eden. What were they doing to her down there, anyway?

  I raised my fist to the door to knock. As soon as my fist touched the wood of the door, a sharp jolt propelled me backward again. Damn it! I couldn’t even knock to ask for permission.

  That means I will have to try to find another way of getting my sister’s attention. As I picked myself up off the floor again, a thought occurred to me. I wondered if I could find a window to the basement from the outside. Then I could try to get their attention that way, and be able to look in. I headed off toward the garden, but as soon as I was near the door, I heard an annoying voice coming from behind me.

 

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