by Carla Rehse
Before I could warn Lawson, he and Luna went through the door. I hurried as fast as I could, a bit surprised my knee didn’t give out when I jumped down the last three steps. The crying sounded louder.
I burst into the room. Blood was splashed everywhere.
Okay, after my initial shock, I realized that wasn’t exactly true. Sheets covered all the cots, hiding the bodies of Mama and people I’d known all my life. Blood dripped from each of them, pooling onto the floor in a macabre river of red.
Mama, I’m so sorry I wasn’t here for you.
Boone had his arms around a sobbing Delilah—her father would be one of the bodies. Alana stood by the door, hugging her children, Luna and Grady.
Janice stifled a scream. “Holy Saints! Are all the elders dead?”
Alana grimly nodded. “They started … bleeding out … We couldn’t stop it. They uh, didn’t wake up.” She pointed to the only uncovered body, motionless on a cot near the kitchen area. “DeMarcus is hurt real bad. Internal bleeding maybe. But he’s still alive.”
Gore covered Alana, Delilah, and the boys. All four looked understandably shell-shocked. I wasn’t sure how I appeared, but I felt hollow. Shouldn’t I be crying like Delilah? What was wrong with me?
Chase poked his head in, then quickly backed out. “Boss, it’s not good for me to be in there with that much blood. I’ll go guard the front door.”
Lawson, by his dad’s cot, didn’t say a word. He lowered his hand to pull back the sheet, then stopped. I didn’t blame him. I had absolutely no desire to view my mother’s bloody body. Thankfully, I had the memory of her at the restaurant last night to keep with me. Last night? By the Saints, it felt like a month had already gone by.
My eyes drifted to her cot, and I jerked my head to stare at the ceiling. The pain of her death carved a hole in my soul, but I still couldn’t cry. Maybe it was the Gatekeeper’s power warming my abdomen that was keeping me from falling apart. A constant reminder of my duty. Of Sadie.
I moved to the side of DeMarcus, the Lead Hunter in his quad. He appeared a little older than me and vaguely familiar. Blood trickled from his nose and left ear. Beyond that, I spotted no other injuries. I had a strong impulse to touch his forehead and stomach, so I followed my instinct. Gatekeepers couldn’t heal, but they had the ability to gauge how quickly a death would occur. A side effect of being the person who could open the doorway between Heaven and Hell.
I touched DeMarcus, and heat traveled from his body to my hands. I couldn’t be sure without more training, but it seemed like he wasn’t hurt as badly as Alana thought. Maybe. Of course, I was guessing that a cooler temp meant death and could be completely wrong. It wasn’t like I had an angel or a Reaper to ask.
A horrifying thought hit me. If the angels couldn’t escape Crossing Shadows’ lockdown, then a Reaper couldn’t enter. That meant the souls of Mama and the elders were trapped here. Lost and frightened.
Stomach acid scorched my digestive track, and it took all my willpower not to puke. The stench of the blood, coppery and meaty, didn’t help. But we didn’t have time for my human frailties.
I needed to figure out my powers, and we needed information and weapons. Real weapons. Offensive and defensive weapons. Ones not exactly approved by the Celestial Governing Body. But since they were nice and safe in Rome, they could kiss my Popa ass.
There was only one place left that could provide what we needed. A once-happy place that I swore never to return to. With time fading, I headed to Lawson.
“Lawson?” I tapped his shoulder, cringing at the inappropriateness of interrupting him while grieving. When he didn’t answer, I raised my voice. “Lawson?”
He turned to me, grief making his dark-brown eyes seem black. “What?”
I squeezed his shoulder, hoping to convey all the sympathy I didn’t feel comfortable saying in a room full of people. “We can’t stay here.” Oh yeah. Sympathetic. I oughta teach a class on tact.
Lawson went back to staring at his father. He stood still for so long, I began to worry. We needed him. I needed him. I’d seen that look of devastation on his face twice before. It still broke my heart. Finally, he glanced at Mama’s cot, then at me. We knew each other so well that we didn’t need to say anything to share each other’s pain. We never had. Of course, maybe if we had talked more about our feelings back then, things wouldn’t have ended so horribly.
“The wards are broken,” I reminded him.
He cleared his throat. “Right. This place is just a kill zone now. Got a place in mind?”
I shrugged. “The only place we can go to. We need to break into your Uncle Mack’s cabin and pray his defensive measures don’t kill us all.”
***
Ten minutes—and one very happy bathroom break later—we were ready to leave. Our only problem was DeMarcus.
Mack’s cabin sat on the far edge of the boundary, on the other side of Lake Shadows, and on top of the steepest hill in this part of Texas. A dense tangle of woods made up of oak, pecan, and cedar hid the cabin, and no roads led to it. While ATVs would be quicker, we’d have to scrounge for them, which would quickly draw the attention of demon patrols. Our only real option, once we got to the tree line, was to make the eight-mile hike on foot. DeMarcus wasn’t healthy enough to be carried that far.
I frowned at Delilah. “I don’t like the idea of leaving you here alone.”
“Why? ’Cause I’m a councilman’s daughter?” Delilah snapped. “News flash. They’re dead. Along with the Bakers and my boss and everyone else. DeMarcus always tipped me well at the restaurant, so I owe him.”
She glared at me with an expression I couldn’t quite place. Almost like she was impatient and had things to take care of, like picking up the dry cleaning and groceries. Everyone’s grief was different, I reminded myself.
Boone raised his hand. “Gatekeeper? We could move him to the Apothecary. The storeroom is warded against Hellspawn, so we should be safe. Plus, Mother’s journals and recipes are there. I always helped brew her tinctures and might be able to treat DeMarcus.”
I exchanged a glance with Lawson. “I’m not sure about splitting—”
“With all due respect, the demons will be hunting for the Gatekeeper!” Delilah snapped. “We’re safer without you. And I helped at the Archives, so searching for healing recipes will be a snap. I always did like helping Nick with his baking.”
I grimaced. “With ‘respect,’ huh? No wonder Mama likes—liked—you.”
Delilah blushed and swiped at a loose strand of dark hair from her messy bun.
Luna shot her a hard glance, then took a couple steps toward me. I gestured for her to stop. “You’re right, Delilah. I’m a walking ‘kick me’ sign.”
Lawson rubbed his goatee. “Okay, change of plans. Alana and Delilah will go to the Apothecary with Grady and Boone for protection. Janice? Got a preference?” The shock of his dad’s death weighed heavily on his face, but his voice sounded like he was in complete control. Fake it until you make it, I guess.
Janice rubbed her hands on her no longer pristine-white capris. “Until I find Heather, I think it’s best if I stick with you and Everly.” She turned to me. “Everly, I’m very sorry about your mother. And how rude I’ve been.”
I gave her a half smile. “You’ve got a lot going on.”
“That’s no excuse for me acting like a bitch,” Janice said.
Now I really smiled. “Maybe not, but it sure is fun sometimes.”
She shot me a reluctant grin. “Perhaps. Excuse me while I freshen up.”
Lawson and his junior Hunters began debating with Alana and Delilah on the safest way to move DeMarcus. I sidled over to Luna. “Do you have any weapons here?”
She pointed to a duffle bag by the door. “A broadsword, three rapiers, two daggers, and a set of blessed hair picks. Plus, some iron throwing stars and exploding salt sachets. Uh, a canister of holy oil, blessed matches, and seven flasks of holy water. Oh, a chain mail throwing net and extra iron arm
braces. And a half pack of sugar cookies the Bakers gave me earlier. The boys already dug into them.”
I shook my head. “Wow, that’s just … has anyone ever told you how awesome you are?”
Luna blinked away tears, so I nudged her with my elbow. “This might not be the best time to mention it, but a demon stole the dagger you lent me. But, since you’re packing such serious heat, maybe I oughta take my rapier back?”
She handed it to me as Alana and Boone headed to the door with an empty cot. Lawson and Grady followed, carrying DeMarcus in a blanket sling. Going up the narrow flight of stairs wouldn’t be easy.
With everyone involved in getting DeMarcus to Boone’s truck, I stayed behind to practice with the rapier. Delilah really had been right. If demons were watching us, and of course they were, it was probably best for me to stay out of sight for as long as I could.
The thought of sneaking away by myself occurred to me, but I wasn’t a complete idiot. Not only would it put me in greater danger, but Lawson and Luna as well, since they’d follow my stupid ass.
Instead, I practiced swinging the sword. It was a very, very long shot that I had any muscle memory left after nearly three decades, but it did feel more natural in my hand than earlier today.
Getting to Mack’s cabin would be a hard hike. It would also be very bittersweet for me. Mack, a Hunter his entire life, had been cranky, suspicious, and far more likely to cuss a person than give a compliment. He was also the most honorable and bravest person I’d ever known. I loved him like a father.
Mack took Lawson and me under his wing and helped develop us into Hunters. He had this grand plan to turn us into the Hunter Leaders of tomorrow, convinced the Council couldn’t tell their ass from a hole in the ground. It ended up costing him his life.
He would be so proud of Lawson. And so ashamed of me.
“Gatekeeper?” Luna ducked into the room. “You ready?”
I nodded. “Always.”
At the front door, I raised my eyebrow at the battered Jeep backed up to the glass. The top had been removed, which offered little protection. Chase was behind the wheel. “A Jeep?”
Lawson shrugged. “Better than hiking the entire way. It’ll get us through some of the woods.”
Janice tugged a ball cap over her short hair. “What about the elders? It seems very wrong to just leave them like that.”
It was my turn to shrug, though it hurt my soul to do it. “Nothing we can do for them now.” I left out that if we survived, we’d take care of the burial, and if not, it wouldn’t matter. I figured that would be understood.
Lawson glanced at the door leading to the sanctuary, then quickly spun around. “Luna, you take shotgun. Everly, you’ll be in between Janice and me.”
Chase honked the horn. “Boss!”
The four of us were out the door before he finished yelling. The sky remained colored in bright reds and oranges. Hellfire lit up the parking lot in rapidly rising green flames, and the stench of sulfur stained the air. Green flames usually meant a severely injured demon. Maybe Boone or Grady had been forced to defend themselves?
A dead demon would push the others over the edge.
Lawson, Janice, and I jumped into the back of the Jeep—okay, so maybe Lawson and Janice jumped, while I scrambled like a turtle trying to right itself. My bad knee chose a rotten time to act up. Luna, holding her duffle bag like a squirming toddler, stuffed herself into the front passenger seat.
“Hang on!” Chase gunned the Jeep.
He took a hard left down the sidewalk, with two wheels on the street and two in the grass. Stuck in the middle, I tried really hard not to lean into Janice—or stab anyone with my sword.
Lawson tapped Chase’s shoulder. “Go due north and stop for nothing!”
Chase, driving like he was playing one of Sadie’s video games, made his own road through parking lots, sidewalks, and front yards. Granted, it was much quicker than following the curving street, but the mother in me kept clucking her tongue at the fifty million traffic violations he was racking up. Make that fifty million and one as he blew through another stop sign.
Of course, there wasn’t any other traffic around, so we were safe while driving as if extras in a Vin Diesel car movie. I strained my ears, listening for motorcycle engines, but heard nothing. Which was actually worrisome. Where were the demons? Did they follow Alana and the boys to the Apothecary? Maybe setting up a trap for us?
After about four miles of urban off-roading and no sign of the demons, my nerves were fried. Something had created Hellfire in the parking lot. But what? I hated surprises and had no patience for mysteries.
“Rude,” I muttered.
“What?” Janice asked, then winced as we jumped another curb.
At least we were within eyesight of the woods. We wouldn’t have to worry about any curbs in there, just boulders, trees, crevices … Fun times.
“It’s rude for the demons to play these games,” I groused. “Attack us or leave us alone.”
The Jeep made a shrieking sound, then clunked to a stop. Smoke rose from the engine. I made a wry face as Lawson and Janice stared at me.
“Guess we’re walking.” Chase stepped out of the vehicle. He rose, floating several feet in the air, then sailed like a discarded toy to smash into a tree. He landed, unmoving, with a loud thump.
Lawson, Luna, and I huddled together with our swords ready, while Janice poked the air with her knitting needle dagger.
“What the—” Lawson broke off as he too rose in the air. His sword fell to the ground hard as if thrown. He clawed at his neck and kicked his feet.
“Lawson!” I grabbed his belt with my free hand. Icy cold sprang from the disc embedded in my wrist and raced to my fingers. A spark of electricity flicked from my fingernails and Lawson dropped into the Jeep, coughing and gasping.
Luna screamed. She cartwheeled out of the Jeep, about fifteen feet or so above the ground. The strap on her bag broke, and it tumbled to the ground. Chase, alive and now in wolf form with red and gray fur, howled. He sprung after her, snapping and snarling. A shadow, little more than a smudge in the twilight sky, appeared between Chase and Luna. Chase fell in a spray of blood. He landed with a thud and didn’t move.
Lawson leaped from the back seat, retrieved his sword, then charged after them, with Janice and me on his heels.
“It’s something invisible!” Lawson called out. “I felt its hands around my neck.”
Invisible? What could be that powerful and invisible? The stench of sulfur hit me in the face.
Fragments of a memory pieced together in my mind. The green Hellfire. The spilled angel blood from earlier. The dead Hunters from DeMarcus’s quad. It all pointed to an abhorrent spell of the blackest magic. The conjuring of the worst possible monster. A demon who’d previously been banished from Earth and punished endlessly, horrifically for its failure. A twisted, tormented soul filled with demented rage. And powerful beyond imagining.
“Lawson! It’s a Bleakness Wraith!” I screamed.
Lawson turned. “It can’t—”
He spiraled into the air, his sword torn out of his hand. It landed by my foot, with the tip buried into the dirt and the handle twanging back and forth.
Luna and Lawson hung upside down, motionless and bleeding from their open, unseeing eyes.
Janice staggered in a circle, holding her needle dagger with both hands. “What do we—” She flew into the air like a ragdoll. Her dagger pitched to the ground toward my head. I flung myself out of the way, but it slammed into my shoulder.
Pressure built around my stomach as the invisible hand grabbed me. It tore the rapier from my grip. Heat from the Gatekeeper power encompassed me like the worst hot flash ever, but I stayed stuck to the ground. The pressure squeezed my middle, and the heat increased.
Gritting my teeth, I yanked out the dagger, then stabbed at the air, praying I hit the Wraith. The pressure disappeared.
Smearing my blood on my hand, I touched the ground, then screa
med. “Sebastian! Heed the call of Marked Blood!”
The pressure returned. But this time around my throat.
FIFTEEN
Just a friendly hike through monster-infested woods
The pressure around my neck increased, as did the force in my abdomen holding me to the ground. I had no way to escape. Black spots spun in front of my eyes as my lungs begged for oxygen. With what little strength I had left, I jabbed the invisible hand at my neck with Janice’s needle dagger. It fell from my now-numbed fingers. The compression against my throat lessened enough for me to painfully gulp a much-needed lungful of air.
Chase crawled to me, bleeding profusely from a cut on his forehead. Both front legs appeared malformed with compound fractures. He tried to stand, snapping at the invisible hand, but collapsed, whining in agony.
The compression tightened around my throat, choking off my air supply.
White light flashed all around me, drowning out the black spots.
Sebastian, in a cream-colored shirt with tight sleeves and a long ruffle at each wrist complete with peacock blue knee-length breeches, strode out of the light. Nevaeh, in dark-brown, well-worn Hunter leathers, marched behind him. Both carried flaming swords made of iridescent light.
“Be gone, you foul cur of rotting pustules!” Sebastian slashed the air above my head with his flaming sword.
Squealing, more heard in my mind than by my ears, made me wince. The pressure around my neck completely retreated. Coughing, I waved a hand in thanks.
Nevaeh leaped, her translucent wings twinkling in the sunset sky. She used her sword to hack at the invisible force above Lawson, Luna, and Janice. The three floated to the ground next to Chase but remained motionless. I tried to beg the Seraphs to heal my friends, but the only sound I could make was a hoarse whistle.
Sebastian extinguished his sword. “This is absolutely unacceptable.”
Nevaeh, circling us with her sword at the ready, said, “The Wraith has retreated, but I cannot sense its location.”
