Shaken awake by his voice, I jumped to the side.
“Officer, what happened?” someone in the crowd called out.
“Just a medical emergency,” the policeman said, all business and plainly not going to share anything else. “We’ll take it from here. You should all move on now.”
One of the bystanders, a hunched old lady with disheveled hair who was one of the library regulars, spotted me. She was a chatty character and I usually tried to keep my conversations with her short, but today I was glad to see her.
“I heard one of those detective fellows say it wasn’t anything violent,” she offered, nodding towards a figure in a tan trench coat that matched his sparse hair.
The man was standing with two younger men who appeared very solemn.
“I guess it was just old age,” the woman rattled on. “Too bad, he was nice. Guess we’re going to need a new librarian now. I hope that doesn’t mean they are going to change the reading room around too much. I like it the way it is. Two years ago when they...”
Lydia, perceptive as always, took my arm and said, “Come on, we’ve got to go.”
I allowed her to steer me away but not before I noticed that the man in the trench coat was now standing alone on the bottom step, as if waiting for the emergency vehicles to clear out one by one.
Lydia kept our arms linked and, along with Richard, we started walking. They were talking, but I wasn’t listening. My brain was running laps, trying to collect any details I could remember that would help me understand.
Our destination turned out to be Noel’s coffee shop, and with a shock I thought of the last time I had been here. It had been with Mr. Baker, and he had been fighting a bad cold. Could that have been it? Perhaps he had developed pneumonia? Should I have insisted on going to the store that evening to get him medicine?
An image of dark billowing shadows passed before me and I suddenly felt certain it wasn’t pneumonia. Mr. Baker had known too much. It was them. A cold shiver went up my spine. And I could be next. Even more than poor old Mr. Baker, I knew too much.
“I wonder what will happen to the library now,” Richard speculated, looking at me over his coffee.
I shook my head in reply, not really listening. I was watching Noel shuffling around, clearing the tables. He looked so sad. Did he know? Had he already heard about Mr. Baker’s death? I fought the impulse to walk over and speak to him. I had never spoken to him before and I didn’t want to be weird. But somehow my heart went out to him.
“... impact on your job?” Richard was asking me a question.
“Um,” I said, trying to figure out what the first part of the sentence would have been. “I have not a clue.”
I hoped that would satisfy Richard, but I caught his train of thought. What if the new administration had no use for part-time high school students? The job didn’t pay very much, but still I was putting all my paychecks into my college fund, a fund that seemed to promise the nice, normal future that I wanted, instead of the perilous present. My heart gave a sad flutter. No matter how hard I tried, I might never get to that future.
Lydia was leaning on Richard’s shoulder, her face grim. How much was I longing for a shoulder to lean on. Where was Jaden when I needed him? Did he know what was going on right now? Maybe if I were alone he might show up...
Mr. Baker’s funeral was short and simple. What he would have wanted, I felt sure. It had been hard for me to go into the cemetery, though. Adam was buried there, the little plot out of sight from us this morning but in actuality hardly more than a few steps away. I was standing in line with maybe fifty others who wanted to pay their respect to the town librarian. Jaden wasn’t among them. Despite the little clique of mourners, I felt alone and vulnerable, surrounded by painful memories and a burden of sadness that went far beyond my regret for Mr. Baker.
The past days before the funeral had been full of doubts. The police had announced that it had been a natural death. Something with his heart that wasn’t obvious at first. I doubted it.
First of all, Mr. Baker had been a protector of the angels’ knowledge and was well-informed about the existence of demons. This alone had made him a target. And then, he had shared his knowledge with me, which had made him a liability. Angels would never attack Mr. Baker. But demons?
I looked at the black-clothed crowd around me and shuddered. It should have been me. Not him. I knew too much, too. Or even more than too much.
I had to fight to keep my eyes on the little funeral before me and not seek out the spot where Adam lay in the earth, his grave now spangled with the tiny red blossoms of the maple overhead. And with Adam dead, I might as well be, too. It would be an act of mercy if they did kill me, and sooner rather than later. Not that they even knew the concept of mercy.
Someone squeezed my hand and I turned abruptly to find Ben beside me, a sympathetic smile on his beautiful lips.
“Thanks for coming,” I whispered at him as we turned to leave.
We filed in behind the rest of the people and slowly made our way towards the gate.
Once outside the gates, I found James, who also worked at the library, waiting for me.
“Have you heard anything yet?” he asked, his face pale and full of worry. “About reopening?”
“No, nothing,” I shook my head at him. “How about you?”
“No... although I did hear that the new librarian won’t cut our jobs. That’s good, at least.” He looked up from the ground.
“Oh, wow, for sure.” That was a relief. “So I guess we just wait.”
“Yep,” James said, and gave a brief wave as he headed to his car.
I turned to Ben. He was frowning into the distance.
“What is it?” I tried to get his attention.
His mouth twitched ever so slightly and he turned toward me.
“Don’t worry about it.” He shook his head.
That, of course, made me worry.
“What, Ben?” I tried again. This time I got a stronger reaction out of him.
“I don’t like the thought of you going back there. It’s too dangerous.”
He was obviously talking about the library.
“There is something about that place, that makes it more dangerous than others.”
I nodded in agreement. First the shadow, the first time Jaden had showed up. Then Colina. I swallowed. Then Mr. Baker.
Of course the ancient book about angels and demons, the one without title, might play a part in this. It had made the library a place where mythical creatures seemed to walk in and out every other day.
“Jaden is always looking out for me, Ben,” I tried to reassure him. “I’ll be fine.” But my heart rate went up, knowing, that I probably wouldn’t. Not much longer. And of course Ben would feel my anxiety. He put his hand on my shoulder.
We walked to my car in silence. Just when we reached it, something caught my eye. Ahead, a vague but familiar shape was standing under the spreading trees. It was no more than a shadow, but my heart did a quick flip flop. Adam, my subconscious spoke immediately. Not possible, my brain responded after a long second. Adam was dead. I had watched them bury him right here, in this graveyard. I shook my head at myself. My dreams, my nightmares had probably started following me through my days. I blinked hard and looked again, but the shape was gone.
I glanced at Ben but if he had seen or sensed anything, he gave no clue. He just politely opened the door for me and I slid into the driver’s seat. I took a deep breath and exhaled.
“You coming?” I asked Ben, wondering what the plan was.
“I’ll be right behind you.” He closed the door and walked away.
I pulled into my driveway just ahead of Ben, thinking about my most recent conversation with Sophie.
Another funeral? Sophie had asked. And she was right. It seemed like I was attending more funerals than anything else these days. I was grateful that Sophie was out of town for now. Having her in danger because of me was inexcusable.
Ben
walked me to the door. Had it been only three days since he had walked out, hurt and angry, and I had gone on that aimless walk to clear my mind? The walk that ended abruptly at the scene at the library?
“Do you want me to stay?” he asked.
I looked searchingly at him. I couldn’t read his thoughts, but I could feel how much he wanted me to say yes. I smiled at him the way old friends can smile when they are on familiar territory together.
“Do you want to stay?” I countered.
He dipped his head. “We need to have another talk.”
“Then okay,” I said, still smiling but on the alert for what might be coming next. I put the key in the lock. “Come on in.”
He followed me in and shrugged out of his jacket, aiming it at the hallway chair before following me into the kitchen.
Dishes and old mail were still on the table. Ben sat down and began artfully piling the china into a tower.
I reached over and took the dishes from him, wondering if, as wealthy as the Gallagers were, Ben had ever learned to wash dishes. For a moment I imagined him as a husband and father, helping some graceful young woman with the housework, maybe playing with the baby. It was a pretty picture. Ben was eyeing me as if trying to read my thoughts, and I was glad angels could not do that.
“Coffee?”I asked and quickly turned away, grabbing two coffee mugs from the cabinet. I needed for him not to see my eyes.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he started.
My hands stopped mid-air.
“Tell you what?” I held my breath, waiting for his answer.
“That you know so much about Chris and Jenna and—the rest of us.”
Ahhh. Of course. Sooner or later, all those angels living under the same roof would have had to discover all the many truths about each other.
And he would wonder at some point how much I really knew. That meant he would know that his angel-powers must come from somewhere. A genetic predisposition inherited from one of the parents. Or in his case—both.
“Hmmpf.” I set the mugs down and waited for the coffee machine to do its magic. “I guess, it wasn’t my place to tell. When did you find out?” I asked.
“Just this week.” His voice was dark.
“Did they tell you?” I poured the coffee and set the two mugs on the table in front of him before I sat on a chair next to him.
His face was unreadable. I could only imagine what emotions must be washing over him that moment.
He looked into his cup like he was searching for answers there. “After Mr. Baker’s death—”
I eyed him for one brief second and took a deep breath. Lucas Baker had known everything about angels. And he probably had died to protect the knowledge. To protect the Gallagers. Ben owed him as much as I did.
“—my parents decided it was time to warn me. They told me how you had let them know about Mr. Baker, and about how the demons were drawing closer and I was in danger because of my strong angel heritage.” He gave a grin somewhere between mischievous and triumphant. “You can imagine their faces when I told them I knew, that it had already happened for me. They couldn’t believe I had handled it all by myself. Oh, and they were really relieved when they found out I hadn’t marked anyone when I spread my wings.”
A shiver ran down my spine. Ben was lucky enough not to have marked anyone. The same as Jenna. At least neither one carried that burden. But that didn’t make their lives any less dangerous.
“I have two part-angels as parents. That makes my lineage stronger than most. I developed earlier because of that.” Ben looked up at me. “I wonder how they were able to keep it a secret for so long... At least they had each other to confide in. If I were to love someone the way they love each other, I wouldn’t ever keep a secret from them.”
“That is quite impressive,” I commented on Jenna and Chris, ignoring the last sentence he had spoken.
Ben’s eyes became molten steel. “I just want you to know that you have three Gallager angels left. We can’t ever replace Adam for you and... well, to be honest, you can’t ever replace Adam for us. But we are all bound to one another now through him. You carry part of his soul, and that makes you part of our family. Nothing is more important to us than to keep you safe in our love.”
I leaned back wordlessly, staring at Ben with widened eyes. I had never looked at it that way. His soul was alive, tied to mine. Even if it was just a fraction of his beautiful soul. The thought ripped through my dark mood like a ray of sunshine.
It was an hour later when Ben finally left. I was still sitting in the kitchen, sipping my cold coffee.
The conversation had left me hopeful in different ways.
All the secrets were gone. The Gallagers all knew about each other now, and I didn’t have to watch my words and actions the way I had before. They all knew and they all understood. It made me feel a little bit better.
With a small smile, I grabbed an envelope from the mail pile and opened it. It was the pay check from the library. And tucked in between the check and the envelope was a small piece of paper with Lucas’ scribbling on it, saying: Trust Liz!
I was staring at the words, trying to figure out their meaning.
Trust Liz! Who was Liz?
This was obviously Lucas Baker’s last message to me. He must have known they were coming for him. He had made sure I got this message even if he wasn’t alive to deliver it.
The Guard
It was Thursday. Almost a week had passed since Lucas’ funeral. And the conversation with Ben.
I was glad all the secrets between the Gallagers were finally gone. It had felt wrong, knowing more than the trusted and loved ones around me.
It felt like all of us knowing made us stronger than ever. A unit of supernatural—plus me, the weak human. But I was still determined.
This afternoon was dedicated to going through the nameless book yet again.
I had studied it from cover to cover. It had chapters that were definitely of use to us. But there were no specifics. No instructions on how to help Chris get his wings back. It just said that he might. It gave me hope, but it made me feel inadequate in my position as the researcher of our group.
Jaden had started wandering off by himself in the afternoons, doing research of his own. He was determined to find out as much as possible about the group of demons around Volpert. I shuddered at the name. His absence left me under the protection of the Gallagers.
It had been a long school day and it was going to be a long afternoon. Jaden would again be off to try and unearth what he could about Volpert. And so I found myself walking up to the library entrance, my hands sweaty and pulse elevated.
Ben would be somewhere nearby—just in case.
Thinking of Ben risking his life to make sure I was safe made me uneasy. Not because I didn’t trust him. His art-collection had made me see him in a different light.
I was anxious for Ben. I already had one of the Gallagers’ sons on my conscience. I couldn’t live with myself if anything happened to Ben.
The door made a low squeaky sound when I pulled it open. I was half-expecting to find Lucas Baker behind the counter. He’s dead. The same as Adam. The same as everyone who gets close to you, the voice in my head woke up. I knew it was the truth.
“Claire Gabriel,” a rich female voice greeted me from between the shelves. I turned in the direction it had come from and found myself looking at a woman in a trim, chestnut-colored suit with gleaming black hair and lively eyes.
“My name is Elizabeth Martinez.” She hurried over, stylish boots clicking on the floor.
I looked at her, not knowing what to expect.
“The new librarian,” the woman clarified.
She finally came to a halt in front of me and held out her hand.
“Pleased to meet you, Mrs. Martinez,” I managed to croak and shook her hand. I had gotten a note to come in today. But I hadn’t been informed about the new librarian.
“Mrs. Martinez was my mother,” she laughed
and exposed her pearly white teeth. “Call me Liz.”
Something clicked into place in my mind.
The library was empty except for us. James must have left early.
“Lucas told me so much about you,” Liz smiled.
We slowly walked up to the counter together, her firm footfalls a testimony to her womanly confidence.
“Coffee?” She held up a cup for me.
I took it from her hands. “Thank you.”
The hot beverage smelled good. Not the cheap drip coffee from the staff room, but strong, Italian coffee, the way you got it at Noel’s.
“You knew Mr. Baker…uhm...Lucas?” I was curious. It couldn’t be a coincidence. She must be the Liz from Lucas Baker’s note. Trust Liz!
“I did.” She looked down for a moment. “He absolutely adored you. Almost like a granddaughter. And when I look at you, I can see why.”
Another smile spread on her face. It made the faint lines around her eyes and mouth more prominent. I assumed she must be in her mid-forties.
Liz lifted her own cup to her lips and took a small sip. She had style and energy to spare, and she fixed me with her dark eyes.
“Lucas wouldn’t stop talking about you, Claire.... I can call you Claire, right?”
I nodded, still a little taken aback by how straightforward this person was.
“Fine then,” she set down her cup. “I was thinking about rearranging the library a little bit. I think I see where we can create a Young Adult department by moving some shelves and furniture. They’re such great readers.”
I listened to her, trying to figure out if she could be the Liz. She had known Lucas Baker. He had talked to her about me. It must be her.
“... and maybe a reading club. What do you think?...”
What had she just asked? My head was empty. I looked at her.
“Excuse me, I didn’t catch that last part.”
Liz smiled. “We should talk about those ideas soon. I’d really like your input.”
I nodded, unable to come up with a coherent comment.
Black Page 19
