The Accidental Gatekeeper (The Accidental Midlife Trilogy Book 1)

by Carla Rehse

“Luna?” I hurried to the stairs, but Chase smoked me like I hadn’t moved. He opened the door and pulled Luna inside, before I reached the first step.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked.

  Luna bent over, huffing and puffing while using Chase to brace herself. “Had to … warn … DeMarcus!”

  “DeMarcus?” Lawson tilted his head. “Quad-team Five’s leader?”

  Luna nodded. “He made it to the sanctuary … though he’s seriously hurt … lost a lot of blood. Said they were attacked by something invisible. Killed Mattie and Doug. Took Linc!”

  “Linc!” Lawson took the stairs two at a time but paused at the door. He shook his head. “Can’t help him if I go off half-cocked.” He punched the door. I understood his frustration. And confusion. First Heather, then Sadie, and now Lawson’s son?

  “But this is good news!” Janice said, taking a couple steps back due to the stink eye Lawson and I shot her. “No, really. Think about it. Children of the Popas, Russos, and Valencias? Whoever or whatever must want to use them for a Marked conjuring.”

  “Not helping,” I growled, since a conjuring equaled blood magic. The kind where the blood donor never survived. The demons might want me to open the Hell Gate so their friends and kin could come over and party, but a conjuring meant the witch or witches wanted to control a high-level demon. As if that ever ended well. But sometimes you just couldn’t fix stupid.

  Janice scoffed. “It should be! Those kinds of spells have very specific requirements. Like the full moon. Which gives us two days to find them.”

  Lawson trotted down the stairs. “Makes sense. Why go through all of this without waiting for a huge lunar jolt?”

  “Sounds logical.” I frowned. “Let’s just get the books, swing over to the Apothecary to grab whatever herbs are still there, then figure this out at the sanctuary.” My gut told me something else was going on, but I couldn’t explain it. “We need to find a couple of book carts so we can haul them out of here.” I didn’t mention the truck, but I had no doubt I wasn’t the only one not getting back inside that thing.

  Janice headed toward the supply closet, with Chase following behind without being told. He was smart enough to know this wasn’t the time for any of us to wander off alone.

  Lawson, Luna, and I moved to the back, where they stored the true Archives in a special room. We passed a roped-off area, and I couldn’t help smiling. They still had an area set aside for movies, with the same floor cushions lined in rows. The projection screen had been replaced with a huge eighty-inch flatscreen. With no movie theater in town, we gathered here to watch films. Stolen by demons, no doubt, as we always managed to get new flicks weeks before their official release.

  “Still doing Movie Night Saturdays?” I asked.

  Luna nodded. “Yep. And the high schoolers sell popcorn now with fresh butter made from Old McFanally’s goats. We raise the corn ourselves!”

  “Good times,” Lawson said.

  “Yeah.” The two of us went every Saturday, along with most of the town, so maybe it couldn’t be considered a date date, with his dad and Mama nearby. But it still had been fun.

  My happy reminiscing lasted a few more steps until I spotted a huge stained-glass window taking up much of the wall. The Archangel Michael stood on a boulder with four lower angels flanking him. All carried flaming iron swords. A single white dove flew over their heads. It was still the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.

  I’d been an antsy, restless child, so twice-weekly church services were the bane of my existence. I wanted to be doing, not sitting. But this window sparked my spirituality far more than the preacher’s sermons, no matter how blasphemous most here would consider that. I spent uncountable hours praying to Michael and to his troop of soldier angels to make me stronger. Smarter. Better. The perfect warrior.

  It still saddened me no one answered those prayers.

  “Everly?” Lawson nudged my shoulder. I hadn’t realized I’d stopped in front of Michael.

  I shook my head to clear out the cobwebs.

  Luna had also stopped. It wasn’t the stained glass catching her attention but the Celestial Hero display. All humans, mostly Hunters, who’d died since the opening of the Crossing Shadows’ Gate had a portrait hung in a tasteful display of mourning. Luna stood at the end of the row. Where her father’s portrait hung.

  “We need to hurry,” Lawson reminded us.

  Luna stepped back and exhaled. “Sorry. I haven’t been here in a couple years. First time seeing my dad’s picture.”

  I put my arm over Luna’s shoulders and prodded her to the frosted glass wall separating the library from the Archives. “He and the Bakers’ son were killed cleaning out a nest of vamps, right?”

  Luna shook her head. “No. They were just doing recon. No one really knows what happened.”

  I glanced at Lawson. If he knew, he kept it to himself. Figuring I had enough mysteries on my plate, I relegated the murder of Luna’s dad to the back of my brain. Normally, I would’ve jotted a reminder on a Post-it as my mind lately leaked like a sieve, but none were available. I’d have to raid Mama’s desk. Maybe she’d also have a stash of Mrs. Baker’s cookies, as they had tea here daily.

  The creak-creak-creak sound of the metal cart rattled on the opposite side of the room. At least something was going right. Not that I didn’t dread having to explain to Mama how we got her invaluable books to the sanctuary.

  As I neared the door, my eyesight flared, for lack of a better way to explain it, and the metal disc embedded in my arm warmed to an uncomfortable degree. Loops of fading light covered the glass, obscuring the wards placed around it. With ancient manuscripts stored in special hermetically sealed boxes, not just anyone could wander in there. I didn’t know what the loops meant, but the faint stench of sulfur gave me a huge clue. “Demons have been here.”

  “Demons?” Chase exclaimed. Claws popped out of his fingertips and fur grew to his wrists. He grimaced as he examined his hands. “Hate when I prematurely transmute,” he mumbled.

  I tried to hide my grin as I unlocked the door. Everyone but me had a weapon ready, so I flattened against the wall before nudging the door open. Lawson and Chase burst into the room, with Luna dogging their heels.

  “Uh … Everly?” Lawson called out.

  I joined them after finally pulling Luna’s knife from my boot. I dropped the knife, and it clanged on the cement floor. The huge room was empty. Completely empty. Not only were the scrolls and books missing, but also the shelves, desks, and chairs. Even the wooden flooring had been removed.

  Only a small pile of yellow sulfur remained in the middle of the room.

  I knew what had happened.

  I didn’t want to believe it, but I knew.

  My body went cold, and the room spun. For the umpteenth time today, I dropped to the ground. Luna hovered near me with her rapier ready.

  “Those … those … demons!” Janice howled. “I can’t believe this! Now what will we do?”

  I tried to shake my head, but it caused the spinning to increase. “It’s not demons, but the Summa Occultatum.”

  “The what?” Lawson asked.

  My entire body shook, so I clasped my arms around my shoulders to keep myself together. “A binding spell protects any manuscript or scroll considered priceless. For everything in this room to be gone, it can only mean one thing … My mother has died.”

  TWELVE

  And the hits just keep on coming …

  Janice pointed to the pile of sulfur. “I don’t know what your occultum-whatever means. Maybe you’ve spent too much time away, playing at being a housewife, but sulfur indicates the presence of Hellfire. Which means demons.”

  I glared at her while clambering to my feet with Luna’s knife in hand. “You really think that after gathering the books, the demons decided to do a little renovation with their free time and stole the freaking flooring, too? Seriously?”

  Anger—my old friend—coursed through me, overshadowing pain an
d grief. All I needed to completely lose it was one more nasty, snarky word from her. Since I had a few brain cells still firing, I shoved the knife into my boot sheath.

  Janice opened her mouth. I skirted around Lawson, who had his hands up. I might’ve “spent too much time away,” but he apparently remembered my blowing-a-gasket warning signs. Luna and Chase, wise for their young years, scooted out of the way.

  Lawson did a nifty spin move to block my path. “Sadie.”

  I staggered to a stop, then closed my eyes to focus.

  He squeezed my shoulder. “We need to get to the sanctuary and see what’s going on. Then come up with a new plan.”

  Of course, he was right. My anger toward Janice was just a distraction from the truth. Not only was Sadie still missing, but my mother had died. I knew she had, no matter what Janice said. I’d been four when the last Archivist passed away. Mama had brought me to this same, bare room with an identical pile of sulfur. It remained the clearest memory I had of that age.

  Mama was gone, Saints preserve her.

  It didn’t sound real, even in my head. But facts were facts, no matter how ugly and painful. I returned the knife to its boot sheath, mainly to buy myself a few more seconds before I had to speak.

  And then I remembered, with a huge stab of guilt, that Lawson and Luna had family at the sanctuary. Family who could also be dead or dying. If I hadn’t insisted on going to the Archives, we would’ve been at the sanctuary. Maybe we could’ve helped. Plus, Heather and Linc remained missing. I was such a selfish ass that kept making things worse for everyone.

  I removed a tissue from my pocket (’cause as a mother I always had a tissue stuck somewhere) and picked up as much sulfur as I could. Why? I couldn’t answer that at the moment, but it felt like something I needed to do.

  “We need to hurry.” I marched to the front door. Questions formed in my head but flitted away before I could properly focus on them.

  Lawson caught up to me. “Luna used the alleys to get here. Since demons are patrolling the streets for vehicles, stealth would be safest. You up for a run?”

  I flinched as a memory of Mama bounced into my mind. She loved running and used to ask every morning if I’d join her. Most of the time I went along. I’d forgotten about those early morning foggy runs, which always ended with a walking gossip session.

  Lawson brushed the bangs from my forehead. “Everly? Talk to me.”

  Grief would only get in the way, so I shoved it to the side. In my Hunter training, I’d been taught to compartmentalize my emotions, to focus on a goal. I concentrated on Sadie. Not the last time I saw her, when I had to explain about her dad, but several weeks earlier when she visited with her girlfriend. Saints help me, I’d forgotten about Laney. If justice prevailed at all in this world, she would be safe somewhere. Unlike Sadie.

  I exhaled loudly. “I got this.”

  Lawson didn’t appear overly convinced, but he let it slide. “I’ll go first, then Ev, Luna, and Janice. Chase, you got our six?”

  Chase waved his shepherd’s staff. “Always, boss.”

  While Lawson unlocked the door, I retrieved Luna’s knife from my boot. Stowing my weapon in the moment of crisis showed all my cylinders weren’t firing. I had to do better.

  Outside seemed weird. Silent. After so many years of living the suburban life in the human world, the lack of barking dogs and chirping birds unnerved me. Though not hearing motorcycle engines was certainly a plus.

  The silence wasn’t the only weird phenomenon. Crossing Shadows normally kept the atmosphere somewhat normal, if you overlooked the foot of snow that fell every Christmas Eve. In the middle of Central Texas where shorts and barbequed turkey would be more usual than a parka. Now, the ever-present breeze had completely died down, and though it couldn’t be past noon, the sun had begun to set, illuminating the sky in brilliant—and blinding—oranges and pink-reds.

  Otherworlders tended to do poorly at sunset and sunrise due to the brightness. Chase had his arm up, shading his sensitive eyes. So, no wind to help spread our scent and blinding light? It must be Crossing Shadows’ way of being on our side. We definitely needed it.

  Lawson edged around the building, staying in the shadows as he moved to the alley between rows of houses. After waiting for five seconds as trained, I followed. Halfway to the edge of the building, I tripped—over a completely flat surface since the sidewalk had recently been resurfaced.

  Embarrassment flamed my cheeks while I staggered to my feet. My knees promised retribution for my inattentiveness. I took two more steps, then stumbled again. This time, I managed to grab the building before falling. The rough brick tore into my palm.

  “The hell?” I whispered.

  The disc in my wrist heated up as a drop of blood dripped from my hand. In a move even my eighteen-year-old self couldn’t execute, I swung the knife and caught the blood on the flat edge of the blade. My blood bubbled, then disintegrated. The self-cleaning, always sharpened spell that kept a blade perfect still worked fantastic on this old dagger. This was an … interesting example of Gatekeeper power. Too bad I couldn’t control any of it.

  The shadow by my feet elongated into the image of an arm. It reached toward the knife.

  “Shadow being!” Luna hissed.

  I jumped back, though not in time. The shadow arm grabbed my ankle with surprising strength since it was a freaking shadow and less capable of complex thought than a poltergeist. It yanked my leg and knocked me to the ground. I gritted my teeth against the pain and tried to free my foot from my boot. The shadow’s grip remained too strong. A ribbon-thin piece of shadow twisted up my leg and headed toward my bleeding palm I had cradled against my chest.

  Luna lunged forward in a perfect fencing thrust and stabbed the shadow arm with my rapier. The arm retreated into the shadow mass.

  Lawson gave a sharp whistle as he pulled a small baggie of salt from his pocket, then tossed it to me. I ripped open the bag and poured it over the shadow. The stench of rotting meat filled the air, making my eyes water. The shadow disappeared.

  Embarrassment heated my face again as I scrambled to my feet. I couldn’t believe I’d idiotically forgotten about the knife. Iron would’ve slowed the spirit. Instead, I struggled to free my foot like an untrained five-year-old. Shadow beings were just nuisances. If that had been a real threat, I would’ve been dead.

  “You okay?” Lawson called out.

  “Yeah. Just unbelievably stupid.” I turned to Luna. “Thanks for your help.”

  She gave me a wide-eyed look. “It wanted your blood! Like a vampire. A shadow vampire.”

  Chase leaned over and sniffed me. He frowned, sniffed again, then took several steps back. I had enough pride to say that kinda hurt. I showered this morning and used my favorite floral deodorant.

  Lawson gave an impatient wave at the entrance to the alley. I jogged—um … walked faster than normal—to him, then entered cautiously, scanning for more shadow beings. Salt took the juice out of all spirits, but shadow beings recharged quickly. I didn’t remember them having a blood attraction, but it would be my luck to run into the first shadow being/mosquito/vampire mutant.

  All the backyards in town had tall, wooden privacy fences, so the narrow, dirt alleyways had the uncomfortable feeling of being cattle chutes. The only items allowed in the alley were trashcans as the City Beautification Committee took its job seriously. So we had no junk, like old fridges or broken-down cars to avoid. Which made it safer. But I couldn’t shake the cattle chute feeling. Twenty years ago, I could’ve scaled the wooden fence with ease. Now? I got a crick in my neck just from looking at the top of it.

  Lawson led the way, quick and silent, ensuring we stayed in the strip of sun lining the edge of the alley. He had really grown into the promise of a man that I’d known as a kid. But it saddened me the sweet, loving goofball had disappeared into this intense, jaded-eyed Hunter. Nothing gave a complete and thorough beatdown like life.

  A crunching sound behind the fence froze
me in place. Luna stopped, but Lawson, in front of me, kept going.

  “Psst,” I hissed as quietly as I could.

  He turned; I pointed to my left. He tilted his head, then shrugged. He must not be able to hear what sounded like someone chomping on potato chips. Something chomping on potato chips. Lawson gestured for us to join him.

  I let the others pass me, pointing at the fence as they did. Luna and Janice appeared confused, while Chase stopped and narrowed his eyes. He must’ve heard the sound as well. Slurping replaced the chomping. Whatever it was, I wanted no part of it.

  Chase whispered. “Demon?”

  I shrugged. In Crossing Shadows, any time you heard weird crunching, slurping noises, or your car keys went missing, demons tended to be the reason.

  White light flared through the wooden slats. That color of light usually meant—

  Sebastian materialized in front of me. Right in front of me. I yipped and stumbled back into Chase.

  “Gatekeeper.” He’d changed his torn clothes and wore a modern-ish outfit. Modern because I doubted skintight, purple leopard-printed pants were worn at any time earlier than the 1980s. But I had to say, his knee-length, wedged heeled boots were smokin’ hot. I needed to find out where the Seraphs did their shoe shopping.

  “Seraph Sebastian.” My tone didn’t match his solemnness but ran more toward a “what in every circle of hades are you doing popping next to me like that?” with a side of “please tell me that wasn’t you snacking.” As far as I knew, angels didn’t consume food or drink. But … I didn’t hear any more chomping.

  “I did not expect to meet you and your companions in an alleyway.” Sebastian’s dark eyes flicked from me to Lawson, ignoring the rest of our ragtag crew.

  I tried to figure out a polite way to frame my response. “We are headed back to the sanctuary. A vehicle would be too noticeable, and we didn’t want what happened to Tien to happen again.” Angels weren’t the Chatty Cathy types, but I hoped if I acted as if I knew what happened to Tien, his boss might let something slip.

  Sebastian snapped his fingers and the others disappeared.