by Mac Flynn
I sat in an endless room of white. In all directions there was only a white floor and a white horizon. There wasn't even a shadow beneath me, nor a sun overhead. I was alone.
Almost.
My eyes caught on movement, and I turned to see a small girl standing five yards from me. She wore a hoop-skirt and bright ribbons in her hair. Her eyes were a brilliant blue, and her smile was as bright as the room.
"You're awake. I'm glad," she whispered. Her voice was like wind chimes on a summer day.
I furrowed my brow. "You're. . .you're that little girl." I didn't need to guess. Her clothes and something inside me told me it was true.
She nodded. "Yes, and I'm ever so grateful for your help. Without you I would have been lost forever."
I sat up on my haunches and looked around. "But where are we?" I asked her.
"This is called the Gateway," she told me.
I blinked at her. "The gateway to what?"
She giggled. "To Heaven, silly."
I felt the color drain from my face. "Then I'm. . .I'm dead?" I choked out.
The little girl shook her head and her curls bounced to and fro across her shoulders. "No, silly. I wanted to thank you before I went away, but you have to wake up now. Your friends are calling you."
"Enid!" a voice echoed around us. It was Ian.
"Wake up, slacker!" Cecilia's voice called.
"Come on! Get up!" Quinn shouted.
"Don't die."
I didn't recognize the last voice, but the words tugged at something deep inside me. A rush of exhaustion and pain traveled over my body. I clasped my hands against my chest and shivered.
"That's your body calling you back," the little girl told me. Her outline grew fuzzy and the world of light began to fade.
I struggled to my feet as shadows stretched towards me. "What's happening?" I called to her. "Where are you?"
The last I heard was her voice echoing in the darkness. "Thank you, and goodbye."
CHAPTER 11
I felt like hell. My body was so battered and bruised it felt like I'd been thrown into a blender and pulled out mid-cycle.
"Enid, wake up!" Ian shouted at me.
My eyes fluttered open. The area was the darkened fourth floor of the building. Around me hovered the worried faces of Quinn, Ian, and Cecilia. Cronus stood in the background with his arms crossed and his glaring eyes on me.
"W-what happened?" I choked out. My throat was full of dust and my parched lips were cracked.
"You fell down the stairs to the fourth floor. Cronus caught you mid topple, or it would've been worse for you," Ian explained.
I tried to sit up, but the dozen bruises on my body told me that was a bad idea. Fortunately, I could still speak and satiate my curiosity.
"The girl. What happened to her?" I asked them.
"Somehow she's been purified," Cecilia answered.
I managed a smile and my voice came out as a whisper. "Then it wasn't a dream. . ."
"Come on. Let's get you downstairs," Ian suggested.
He picked me up in his strong werewolf arms and carried me downstairs. The others followed behind me, and in the light of the ground floor I could see we were all covered in a thick layer of dust. Well, everybody except Cronus. Ian set me in a chair and wrapped his coat over my shoulders before he knelt in front of me.
"You sure you're okay?" he whispered.
I managed a smile and nodded my head. "I'm fine, just a little sore."
Cecilia took a seat in a nearby chair and Quinn leaned against the back of it.
"I'd really like to know what happened back there," Quinn spoke up. "That thing lunges at her and they both go over, and suddenly I see this bright light and then nothing."
"The spirit was purified perfectly," Cecilia told him.
"But what does that mean?" he asked her.
"It means the spirit found the Gateway to Heaven without our doing and went to the light herself," she explained. Her empty eyes fell on me. "What I want to know is how you knew the gateway was there."
I shrugged and winced at the pain. "I saw a light in the stairwell and noticed the ghost wouldn't go near it. I figured that must be something good, so that's why I yelled at you guys to bring her over there."
"You're luck your neck wasn't broken in that fall," Ian scolded me.
I shot a glare at him. "I didn't plan on falling over. It just sort of happened."
"So wait a minute," Quinn interrupted. "The stairs where she died was her way out? If that's true then how did she manage to get around the rest of the building? I followed her footsteps up the stairs myself."
"A trained, or stupidly lucky, mystic can open a portal if they know where to look," Cecilia commented.
I snorted. "If I was stupidly lucky than I wouldn't be here."
"If you're not trained then you're stupidly lucky," she argued.
Ian stood and held up his hands. "All right, we'll go with stupidly lucky-"
"Hey!" I growled.
"But this at least proves my point about her. She's got a gift, and you-" he nodded at Cecilia, "-can't refuse to take her now."
"I know, I know," Cecilia replied.
Quinn walked over to me and held out his hand to shake. He smiled down at me while his dead eye studied me. "I have to say it was a pleasure working with you, and I hope we get another chance very soon."
I shrank beneath the steady gaze of that terrible eye and quickly shook his hand. "Likewise."
Quinn pulled the eye patch over his eye and turned to Ian. "So what's the pay on this job, anyway?"
Ian sheepishly grinned and slid behind my chair. "There is no pay."
Quinn frowned. "No pay? My services don't come for free, bub."
"Just think of it as community service," Ian suggested as he put his hands on my shoulders. "Besides, it was my assistant who got rid of the ghost."
"She wouldn't have if I hadn't found it!" Quinn argued.
"Then let's just say I owe you one," Ian offered.
Quinn shook his fist at Ian. "You owe me a lot of ones, and that just made ten!"
"Boys? Boys!" Cecilia shouted. The two men turned to her, and she hopped off her chair. "I'm a little tired and Enid could use a rest, too, so how about you take us home?"
Ian smiled and his cigarette pointed at the ground. "She's right."
"As always," Cecilia retorted. She tapped her cane against the back of Quinn's leg. "Now let's go."
Quinn bowed. "As you wish, my lady."
Cecilia rolled her empty eyes and grasped Quinn's arm. They strolled out the door, and I was left with Ian and Cronus. The silent partner in the deal hadn't said a thing. He just stood in the background glaring at me. Ian turned to him.
"So what do you think happened?" Ian asked him.
"It was exactly as you said," Cronus answered.
Ian raised an eyebrow. "You're sure you don't have anything to add?"
Cronus' eyes narrowed. "Why would I?"
Ian leaned against the side of my chair and shrugged. "I don't know. You just seemed really quiet when we found you at the bottom of the stairs holding her." He leaned forward and a grin slid onto his lips. "You almost looked like you were worried about her."
Cronus' lips turned down in a deep frown. "Do not be foolish."
Ian sighed and raised his hands. "All right, but don't pretend you didn't worry about her."
"Boys?" I spoke up. I rose unsteadily from the chair and wrapped the overcoat tighter around me. The bruises on my arms and the cuts in the coat were a testament to my exhaustion. "Could we please go home?"
Ian smiled and whisked me into his arms. "Certainly, my lady. Anything for my special little mystic."
"Then how about letting me down!" I growled.
"Anything but that. You need to stay off your feet for a few days," he advised me as he walked out the door.
Cronus followed close behind us. I peered over Ian's shoulder at our quiet companion. His face was turned away and his eyes were
still little more than slits, but I detected a hint of concern at the edges of his lips. Maybe he really did care about me, at least enough to not want me dead.
While I made my observations, Ian prattled on about me.
"You know, it really was impressive how you were able to see the Gateway," he commented as he set me into the rear seat of the car. He leaned on the side of the car and studied me with a smile. "Mind telling me where you learned that trick?"
I shrugged. "Like I told you, there was just this light there and I thought maybe it meant something for the ghost."
Ian glanced at Cronus as the man took his usual passenger seat. "You tell her anything?"
I could only see the back of Cronus' head, but he tensed. "I gave her no advice."
Ian sighed and pushed off from the car to walk to the driver's seat. "Just thought I'd ask," he commented as he slid behind the wheel. "Anyway, let's get a couple of days rest before our next trouble. We've all earned it."
I shifted in the seat and winced as my bruised bottom complained. Some of us earned it more than others.
For all books by Mac Flynn visit her author's page or visit Mac Flynn's website.
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