by Carla Rehse
I hoped.
Clouds continued to gather overhead as several greenish, German Shepard-sized orbs surrounded us. One somehow broke through the salt line and slammed into Chase. He howled as his body violently spasmed. He tripped over Boone and fell hard to the ground.
“NO!” Luna shrieked.
She sliced through the orb with a wild swing, triggering a spray of green sparks. The orb popped with a metallic death-shriek. Another orb rushed toward Luna, but Lawson and Linc simultaneously stabbed it, popping the orb. The salt line was doing nothing to stop the orbs, so maybe they weren’t made from witchlight.
The orbs retreated, joining into one big gelatinous mass, then broke apart into dozens of basketball-sized balls of lights. They flew at us like a flock of homicidal pigeons. I ducked, grabbed a dagger sticking out of a rucksack, then rolled to my feet.
Three quick slashes, and the five orbs nearest me shrieked their death knell. “Are we destroying them or pissing them off?” I cried to Lawson. “We need to even our odds!”
Lawson glanced up as a loud clap of thunder shook the ground. The Archangel wasn’t gonna give us time to sort out this mess. “Square up! Keep the injured in the middle.”
Boone remained motionless on the ground; Chase continued to spasm, appearing stuck halfway into shifting. Lawson quickly explained to Sadie, Janice, and Heather how to cover their side of the square. There wasn’t enough of us to form a true hollow square around our wounded, but it was the best we could do.
I had faith that Sadie, Janice, and Heather could hold their own. They had to.
The orbs dove again. Another loud clap of thunder masked the screams—from the orbs and us.
I gave up trying to count how many orbs mobbed around me as it took all my energy to stop them from getting past my line of defense. Boone and Chase would be powerless to protect themselves. The orbs may not immediately kill, but from the serious burns they caused, death seemed a likely outcome. Our only saving grace was the orbs didn’t seem to have any sort of individual sentience, so they couldn’t divert from their attack pattern. Destroying one of them didn’t change the behavior of the others. It was more like fighting against a spray of large bullets rather than a swarm of angry hornets.
As soon as the flock regrouped, I scanned my friends. Boone and Chase remained out, with Heather now joining them as huge blisters covering her face forced her eyes shut. Sadie and Janice held the west side, Luna and Linc the north, Grady the east, and Lawson and I had the south.
Sadie, Luna, Linc, Grady, and Janice all sported a multitude of red blister marks on their exposed skin. Lawson had a bloody nose. I was the only one untouched, but I’d be lying if I said it was due to anything other than luck.
Lawson swiped his face on his sleeve. “I’m tired of playing defense.”
I jerked my thumb toward Delilah and Company. None of the glowing figures had moved. Like at all. Maybe they were too busy enjoying the show. Or perhaps, controlling the attacking orbs was taking all their attention. Like they were players in a weird VR fantasy video game. “Maybe we should go introduce ourselves to Delilah’s friends?”
Lawson handed me a second dagger. “Hell yeah. Got a plan?”
“Kick their ass?” I responded. “The orbs aren’t behaving like witchlight, so maybe they’re some sort of spectral manifestation. Blessed iron kills ghosts.”
“Spectral manifestation? You’ve been watching too many ghost hunting shows.”
I smiled. “Heard it on an old Scooby-Doo episode.”
The orbs initiated another attack, cutting off Lawson’s snide response. “Linc! Take point.”
Once Linc reached our side of the square, Lawson and I fought our way through a solid wall of orbs, which pretty much answered my question. We hadn’t destroyed any of them, or if we had, the witches were strong enough to make more. How could they be this strong when the rest of the otherworlders were suffering from the lockdown? My wrist twinged, but when I checked it, the disc hadn’t changed. The burn mark under it looked inflamed, like the wound had become infected.
The pink lightning had faded, leaving the sky an angry, roiling charcoal gray. A split appeared above us, as if a giant had torn the sky into two jagged halves, revealing a brilliant white light. Which, uh, I guess a giant did. The Archangel was done with the games—I could feel it in my bones.
“We’ve gotta hurry.” I rolled under the wave of orbs and tried to ignore the pressure squeezing my midsection, which made it difficult to take a full breath. I needed the Gatekeeper power to build while not killing me in the process.
None of the orbs swooped lower to attack but moved forward to the main battle. Lawson completed his own roll and joined me. Delilah seemed not to notice us as she was concentrating on creating an orb, but it kept fizzling out on her palm.
The six glowing figures—ghosts or whatever they were—stayed motionless as Lawson and I made our way over to them. “This ain’t right,” he muttered.
The sky darkened except for the glowing tear. Our time was about gone.
The ghostly figure in the middle raised an arm. “Stop.”
“You stop.” Yeah, debate was not really my thing.
Lawson lifted his dagger. “Who are you talking to?”
The figure rasped, “Gatekeeper, I offer you a solution to both our problems. We offer passage for you and your daughter. You will get her to safety. Isn’t that what you want?”
“Oh, yeah, Helen? And what do you want?” It was time to lay out all the cards. I was so done with all the games.
Delilah gasped. “I didn’t say—” Her voice cut off and she went as still as a statue.
“I want what I’ve wanted for a very long time. The destruction of the Gate. And it will be destroyed. The question is whether your daughter shares that fate.”
I would like to say that I didn’t consider the deal for even a nanosecond, but I’m trying really hard to own my shit. So yeah, I thought about it, then said, “I won’t abandon my friends.”
I flipped my dagger to grab the blade, then threw it. The dagger sailed through Helen and thunked into a tree behind her. A swarm of orbs burst from Helen.
Lawson grabbed my arm. “Run!”
We raced back to the others and the slight advantage of our square formation.
Chuckling boomed overhead. “Gatekeeper. It is time.”
“Not now,” I groaned.
Lawson took out three orbs, then sidestepped to me. “Who do you keep talking to?”
“The Archangel has arrived.” My skin rippled so hard, I expected it to split open like the Incredible Hulk.
Lawson grabbed my shoulders. “The witches offered you a way out, didn’t they? Take it.”
I sliced through an orb aiming for his head. “No.”
“Take it.” He kissed me with a passion that I hadn’t felt for so long. That I hadn’t realized I’d been missing until now.
Luna screamed. Lawson and I turned to see her fall to the ground in a spray of blood.
“GO!” Lawson yelled, then darted to her side, slashing his way through the orbs.
I looked for my daughter. Though she was biting her lip as she always did when concentrating, she was slicing at the orbs around her as if she’d been born to this life. Marked blood clearly ran through her veins. That Celestial gift not only gave us strength but a responsibility. I knew what I had to do.
“Janice!” I called out. “Need your help over here!”
I lowered my daggers. “Celestial Being! Blessed Archangel! Please hear our plea! The Marked are here. In control. Ready for your bidding!” I felt like an idiot yelling at the sky with the battle still raging around me, but politeness never hurt as I waited for the Gatekeeper power to finish preheating. If I could get the Archangel to pause for long enough, we might have a chance to stop the witches.
“Bidding?” Janice hissed.
“Had to say something, didn’t I?” My abdomen heated up, but the disc in my arm cooled down. I tried the flick-th
e-fridge-lightbulb trick on it, but nothing happened.
The orbs again regrouped, giving us a respite.
Lawson turned slowly. “Anyone feel that?”
“Like a really bad storm is gonna hit?” Sadie asked.
Linc rubbed his head. “My ears keep popping.”
Helen and her friends remained motionless. Their orbs spun around us but didn’t initiate an attack.
Janice grimaced. “The pressure is getting worse!”
Within seconds, everyone but me was crouching down, holding their heads. Blood dripped from their noses. Chase’s semi-transmutation had reversed, leaving him in a human state. Blood also ran from his ears.
Whatever pressure they were feeling wasn’t affecting me. A horrible thought hit. Would the Gatekeeper power keep me alive long enough to witness the grisly deaths of my friends? My daughter?
“No!” I yelled.
Heat burned my abdomen, but when I tried to fling it at the sky, nothing happened. The disc in my arm refused to glow, though the flesh around it bubbled up. Perhaps power was trapped inside me due to a malfunctioning disc?
I turned to check on Sadie. She knelt with her forehead to the ground and her hands over her ears. Everyone but Lawson had copied that posture. Lawson remained on his feet, though he staggered against the pressure. Blood now dripped from his eyes and flowed from his nose.
With a quick slice of my dagger, I cut deep into my skin above the disc. Blood poured down my arm and coated the disc. Light sputtered from it, then like a cold engine, it finally caught. Brilliant white light pulsed through the blood. I aimed the light toward the rip in the sky.
“Our Honored Creator, the power of Marked Blood stands! The Gate remains under my control. The Celestial Edict of 891 has not been broken!” A ripple of energy surged from my body. Droplets of blood flew from my arm to merge with the salt line.
Laughter rumbled above me. “You dare invoke an edict? You? An insignificant nothing under attack from witchcraft?”
Sebastian wanted me to plead my case to the Archangel, but I had a really bad feeling he had no intention of questioning his orders. “I am the direct descendant of Ladislaus Popa! A humble servant of all Celestial and the Gatekeeper for this town. As I said, Hell’s Gate remains under my control. The town does not need to be destroyed. Please, Our Lord, I beg you to reconsider.”
“You beg my Father and ignore me? As if an inconsequential speck of dust had the power to draw His attention!”
Anger overrode my commonsense. “Wanna see some power, you arrogant cuss? Kiss my wide Popa ass. Marked Blood will hold!”
I swept my hand into a fist, and the iron disc embedded in my wrist chimed its subsonic song. With no training or plan, I went on instinct. Lifting my arms shoulder high, I pushed out some of my power. My friends—my family—stood up as one. The orbs swarmed us.
“Everly, what are you doing?” Janice slashed at the orbs, trying to cover me.
I gritted my teeth and stepped forward. An orb flew at me, then exploded inches from my head. I pushed out more power. Two orbs within a few feet from me burst with loud wails. Visualizing the area, I tried to push out enough power to protect everyone but couldn’t manage it. “Janice, help Sadie.”
I tried again to shove away more power, but I still couldn’t get it to extend more than a few feet from me. Janice shrieked. From the corner of my eye, I saw her flailing to the ground.
The Archangel’s rumbled laughter filled my ears. “You claim to be in control of the Hell Gate but are not even capable of defending against witch magic. You have no power.”
The sky turned blood red and everyone once again crumbled to the ground.
“Mama!” Sadie cried out as blood poured from her eyes and nose.
I took a steadying breath. “With salt and iron, with blood and pain, I call on the Marked ancestors to lend me their strength! I call the Hellspawn. The Celestially stained. Demons, Shifters, Fairies, Spirits, and Earthdwellers. Heed my call! With love and hate and joy and fear, lend me your power!”
Lawson grabbed my shoulder. “I’m here!”
Janice crawled over and touched my hip. “So am I.”
Our children joined in, touching their parents, and touching me.
Raw energy roared through me—and from me. My skin crackled and my hair stood straight up. Images danced in front of me. Some I saw with my eyes, while others imprinted into my brain. Sera’s laughter tinkled in my ears.
Shadow beings and ghouls writhed around the salt circle. I spotted Zim with a pack of Hellhounds marching next to a cluster of Bwbachs. So not all had been killed. A werewolf howl ripped through the air, and Chase answered his cousin.
I blinked, and Mack appeared in front of me. He pointed at the spirits of the town’s elders who’d joined the fight. Mama gave me two thumbs-up. I pointed and lanced a jagged arc of power at Helen.
With an ear-splitting wail, Helen, her people, and Delilah disappeared in a cloud of green smoke, along with her orbs. One problem down, one massive problem left.
Blood continued to flow from the cut I’d made on my arm, and I started to feel a tad lightheaded. With time running out, I directed all the power to the sky.
Pain and pleasure, love and hate consumed me. I didn’t know if this was effective, and I had no clue how to stop it.
“THE BLOOD WILL HOLD!” I screamed.
Please let us live. Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease …
A horn honked, catching my attention. I opened my eyes as a shiny black limo pulled in front of the cabin. How could a limo get up here? Ramiro Allerd, the General Assemblyman of the Celestial Governing Body, stepped out into the calm sunshine.
“Look, guys,” I said. “The cavalry’s here.”
Then I slumped to the ground.
TWENTY-EIGHT
All that and a bag of chips
You would think after saving your town and every soul in it that the Powers That Be would be grateful. Maybe even throw a parade in your honor, or at the very least, give you a plaque and a five-dollar certificate to Dairy Queen. Yeah, not in my town.
Most of the town’s denizens had returned from their vacation and were now crammed inside the Council Chamber, so some assistant’s assistant had found me a place outside the Celestial Building to wait to get my ass reamed. Conspiring with Hellspawn against an Archangel was a tad frowned on, apparently.
The entire Governing Body had flown here from Rome as soon as Crossing Shadows had initiated the lockdown. I wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing. I also wasn’t sure what to think about them calling this meeting just a few hours after angel-geddon had ended. Hours in which they left me sitting on this cold marble bench to marinate in all my anxieties and fears.
At least they allowed me to shower and change into a clean, white robe, but I was beyond pissed that they separated me from Sadie and the others. How badly were they injured? Did Boone and Luna survive? Lawson?
I crossed my legs, then crossed them again, wishing I could get up and pace away my apprehension. But that would send the wrong message to whoever was watching me. And I was smart—paranoid—enough to believe this was some sorta test. Calm and responsible was the image I needed to project.
Argh! What was taking so damn long?
As my apprehension rose, so did the Gatekeeper power. My skin tingled at random; the disc in my wrist kept switching from ice cold to inferno hot. Now that I had more than a few free minutes to spare, Sebastian’s words about the price I’d have to pay worried me. The Governing Body weren’t known for their leniency. But if they demanded a pound of flesh, so be it.
Except, where would that leave Sadie? And Lawson. I didn’t even get a chance to tell him goodbye.
The front doors opened, and I shot to my feet as all nine members of the Governing Body and a plethora of their assistants walked outside to the parking lot. Orange Hellfire flashed, and Zim and the Crossroads Demon I’d conjured when I first arrived stepped in front of the Governing Body. Zim gave me a s
olemn nod, but the smirk on the Crossroads Demon’s face was beyond irritating. I’d kill for her coral Prada handbag, though.
Wards must’ve been re-applied to the Celestial Building, ensuring Zim couldn’t enter, hence the parking lot meet. Whether by chance or design, I had a ringside view of his interrogation, but frustratingly, they were far enough away I couldn’t hear what was said. This wasn’t the first time in my life that I wished I’d been trained in lip reading.
The Governing Body marched past me. None of the nine members made eye contact, though their various assistants sure did. That couldn’t be great news. Zim nodded to me again, then he and the Crossroads Demon disappeared.
The assistant’s assistant returned. He waved his hand. “Gatekeeper, please follow me.”
I wanted to snark off a reply, but my mouth turned bone dry.
Inside the Chamber, it was silent as a tomb. And damn, my thoughts were running morbid. I knelt as directed in front of the Governing Body. The five Seraphs stood behind the four humans seated behind a long marble desk. I didn’t recognize any of them except for Allerd and couldn’t remember if this was normal. It had been too long since I took Celestial Civics my senior year of high school.
General Assemblyman Allerd pounded his iron gavel onto the table. “Gatekeeper, please present yourself to this Assembly.”
Embarrassingly, my knees trembled a little as I had a flashback of the multitude of times I’d been called to the principal’s office. I made myself stand straight, and with a strong voice, I said, “I’m Everly Ivona Popa.” After all, I’d done nothing wrong this time.
Allerd peered over his rimless glasses. “We understand that you have violated numerous laws and edicts, including failure to submit to a Celestial being and all the way down to actually asking for the healing of a Hellhound. Is this correct?”
I swallowed hard. “Sir, if I could point out, this is a very vague accusation.”
“How so?” Allerd snarled.
The door behind me slammed open.
“Because there should be no accusations against Gatekeeper Popa.”
I spun around. “Sebastian! How are you here?”
