by JL Terra
He surfaced first, the golem half a second later. Ben sucked in his first lungful of air in hours and coughed again. His head swam with the rush of it and sank back under the water, disoriented. The golem grabbed his shirt and hauled him back to the surface, treading water with no extraneous movement.
“Thanks.” Ben blew out another breath.
That was when he heard the exchange of gunfire. A woman screamed.
Ben turned in the water to glance back at the golem. “Come on.” He pulled at its shirt and started swimming. Ben didn’t care if he wasn’t the one who told this thing what to do. It had his face. He should have some power over it, if not authority.
He swam to the dock and hauled himself up. Then ran down the wood planks while the golem splashed out of the water. Seconds later, footsteps pounded along behind him. Ben ran for the source of the sound. The car wasn’t one he recognized, just the passengers. Taya had the driver’s door open. Mei lay on the ground beside her.
Ben raced over. Two bullets fired in quick succession. One slammed into his thigh. He missed one step. Recovered. Kept going. When he landed on the asphalt beside Taya, she looked over. Tears ran down her face. “She’s been hit.”
Blood covered Mei’s torso. The wound gaped in the side of her neck, blood a steady trickle. The burn in his legs and the pain in his wrists barely registered as he crouched beside her. Mei’s pulse was low. Thready.
“She needs blood.”
Taya ejected the clip of her Glock, slammed another one home, and racked the slide. “You give it to her.” She glanced at the golem, standing silent over his shoulder. The tears were gone now. “Yours has to have some kind of healing power.”
The rear window exploded.
“I’m going to take care of that.”
“Let me.” He started to get up. His head swam. She slammed her hand on his shoulder and shoved him back down. “You stay with her. She needs you more than me right now. I have business to settle.”
Taya ran around the car. The rapid gunfire exchange caught the golem in the head. Mud spurted out the back of his hair.
Ben pressed the material Taya had been using back against Mei’s wound and said to the golem, “Maybe you should find some cover.”
If he could find a way to disconnect the golem from himself, could he connect it to Mei? That would give her the ability to heal the way he could. The only problem would be if he died. Not because he wanted to stay alive enough he’d risk her, but if he was dead, he would never know if the transfer had been completed.
Mei had to say the words. She couldn’t do that if she was unconscious. He glanced back at it. “Can you connect with her if she doesn’t say the words Charlota said?” The golem said nothing. Ben fisted his free hand.
Taya screamed across the clearing. Bang. A man cried out.
The golem stared at Mei. His gaze flicked to Ben. “The life is in the blood.”
“So Taya was right, I can give her blood.” Theoretically, at least. He didn’t even know what blood type she was. Ben was A+. If he gave her blood that didn’t match…
He blew out a breath. Was that even a problem, when the golem’s essence ran in his veins?
“Ben!” Taya called to him. She needed help.
He shot up, but couldn’t hold onto the material over Mei’s wound and also be in a position to see Taya. He grabbed the golem’s hand and hauled it over. “Hold this. Put pressure on.” Ben didn’t give the creature time to object. He ran down the single lane road to Taya.
She was at least twenty feet from him. A taller man had her in his grip, dragging her away.
“Come on,” the driver yelled from farther down the road.
Thick brows furrowed, the man’s face turned redder as she kicked out her legs. Ben ran full speed, no thought in his mind except reaching her. She struggled to get free. Her assailant gritted his teeth as he hauled her backwards, toward a car, then shoved her in the back seat.
“Get in!” The driver turned and fired at Ben.
He kept running.
The rear door shut. The man who’d captured Taya yelled, “Go!”
She planted her hand on the window. “Ben!”
The engine revved. Tires kicked up gravel that spat at him.
Ben was too far away. He slowed to a stop. He couldn’t help Taya right now. He had to help Mei. Then together they could get Taya.
He knew who had her. He could find the Teacher, get her back.
He would.
Ben sprinted back to the golem, who unbelievably, still held the material—a sweater—over Mei’s wound. More gratitude rolled through him, strengthening what had been numbed by the cold of Lake Drummond. Maybe before that, even. He’d always told himself he was content being alone.
Even Taya had known it. She’d accepted him in spite of their differences. They’d still been in each other’s lives. Mei would always connect them.
Ben wanted more now.
Help Mei. Get Taya back. Figure out how to destroy the golem.
The creature’s head lifted. His gaze locked with Ben’s.
“I am going to destroy you,” Ben said. “I want you out of my life, for good. But first I need your help.”
Ben found the cell phone in Mei’s boot and called Remy.
It rang once. “I’ve been waiting—”
“It’s Ben.”
“Are you okay?” Remy’s voice was breathy. “Is Mei okay?”
“I need the closest pharmacy. Doctor’s office.”
“A vet?”
“Anywhere with medical supplies. Mei needs a transfusion.” Ben lifted her into the back of the car and climbed in the front seat. The golem stood back, unmoving. Ben didn’t care whether he came or not. When the golem didn’t move, Ben drove away. He tucked the phone between his ear and shoulder and started the engine.
“Why does Mei need a transfusion?”
“She was shot.”
Remy directed him to a Walgreens, where he used cash from Mei’s wallet and got the supplies. The clerk gave him a funny look. Not surprising considering he was soaked and his hands had blood on them. Ben drove one street over and parked in a dark spot between two street lamps.
A minute later he watched his blood darken the tube as it flowed in a steady stream toward Mei. “Will this work?”
Remy sighed through the phone on his knee, the call on speaker. “You’re compatible, but there are risks. If there’s any kind of reaction, we won’t know what it will be until she has it, I’m sorry to say.”
“Does Taya have a phone? They took her.”
“I’ll check.” Remy was quiet for a minute.
Ben found the needle and thread of the sewing kit and got started stitching up Mei. Not the worst wound he’d ever treated—in the Army, or more recently.
If Taya was here, she would be praying this was going to work. That he wouldn’t kill Mei while trying to save her. Ben wanted to pray, but the heat that suffused every part of him—the essence of the golem—was still inside him. That corruption was part of him now. Maybe he would always carry it, even if they separated.
Knowing it hadn’t been him, but the golem affecting his actions, didn’t help. That wasn’t an explanation. All the rage. All the vengeance. All the desire to kill his enemies. That was Ben, not the golem. It didn’t have a will of its own.
Praying might make him feel better, but it wouldn’t change anything. Mei would either get better or she would die. Talking wasn’t going to help. If she got better, the wound needed to be closed up. And so he stitched it. When he was done, he covered it with antiseptic cream and gauze. He taped the gauze down and sat back. Her face was pale, her skin clammy. Ben was still soaked. The interior of the car was humid from all the moisture.
He sat back and closed his eyes. Drifted for a while. A highway flashed behind his eyes. Then a white semi-truck. The golem climbed in the cab, shook the driver’s hand. Would he kill the man after he gave the golem a ride to the next town?
“Okay, I
have her cell signal. Must be in her pocket because she’s miles from you on the freeway, headed for Suffolk.”
Ben tried to answer Remy. No sound came from his mouth.
“Ben?”
He managed a low moan.
“Are you still giving her blood?” She paused for half a second then said, “If you are, take it out. Don’t give her so much you put your own health at risk.”
Ben tried to muster up the gumption to care. He moved his hand, pulled out the syringe. The blood trickled down his elbow.
“Put a bandage over it.”
Ben put one over the needle prick on the inside of Mei’s elbow. Leaned over her, so far he realized he was about to land on her. He pushed off the seat by her head. Don’t pass out. He did his own bandage then closed his eyes until the rushing passed.
Country music was playing in the cab of the semi-truck. The golem looked out the front window. Ben saw the sign for Suffolk. Same direction as Taya. Coincidence? It was the closest major city. Didn’t mean the golem had decided to go after her. No one had commanded it. Then again, it likely wouldn’t simply remain in the same spot for days, or years, until it was given a new task.
Did it stay on the move, or have some kind of home base? If he was as connected to Ben as Ben was to it, then it explained how he’d never been spotted. No one had ever found the creature. Or if they had, likely they were dead now. The golem probably roamed the world under the radar. Never stayed in the same place long enough to be remembered. Never took the same route twice, or the same method of transportation.
Like Ben.
Did it feel the burning need in Ben to see Mei safe and get Taya back? Perhaps because Ben was with Mei, the golem was going after Taya. Was it trying to help? Ben didn’t know how he felt about that. The golem was still too much of an unknown.
Aloud, he said, “The Teacher wanted me contained. Unable to interfere. Why take Taya now?”
“Maybe one of his men got a bright idea.”
Ben considered Remy’s statement. “It’s possible, but they all seem like fanatics. Not a lot of initiative required when the Teacher will lay out the plan. It’s easier for him to control them that way.”
“So why does he need her?”
“To control me,” Ben said. “He can’t control the golem, so he’s attempting to control me.”
“Mei can control the golem. Why can’t he?” Remy paused. “Doesn’t he want to control it? He wants it to be his, his birthright.”
“Yes.”
“So why this approach. Why not just grab the medallion and be done?”
“He’s playing a long game. He’s been after this for years, and though he’s close, he’s also not about to jump on it and lose his only chance to get what he wants.” Ben checked Mei’s pulse again. Definitely stronger. “I think it worked.”
“Except he had to resort to kidnapping Taya.”
“No, I mean the transfusion.” He climbed over the center console into the front seat and started the engine.
“I’ll send Taya’s location to the phone so you can catch up.”
“Thanks.” Ben pulled onto the street. “Does the Teacher know about the medallion?”
“If he does, he’d be looking for it. But he isn’t, right?”
“So either he doesn’t know he needs it, which I find doubtful given he’s been one step ahead this whole time. Or he has a way around it.”
“Like a medallion of his own.”
Or some kind of plan they couldn’t yet even comprehend. He tapped the steering wheel with one finger.
“The map is coming your way now. Taya’s phone is the blue dot.”
Chapter 41
Somewhere north of Charleston, WV. Monday, 19:52hrs EDT
Footsteps echoed in the hall. An electronic beep admitted the person to the room where she’d been held all day. Hours on the concrete floor. Every hour she’d gotten up, stretched through a couple of yoga flows, and then done push-ups and high knees until she was sweating.
Taya had no idea where she was, or what this place was. They’d stuck a needle in her the second they were away from Lake Drummond. She’d woken up on the floor in here.
The door swung open. The man who entered was dressed in jeans and a button-down shirt. His hair was military cut, as was his bearing. Plus the M4 held across his body. “Let’s go.” His upper lip dipped to a point in the center, above his front teeth. “That means get up. Move.”
Taya looked away from the dip and pushed to her feet. She rolled her shoulders and winced—not a total lie. If they hadn’t watched her from the camera in the corner all day they might believe she was diminished. Sore. If they’d seen her stretch to keep her muscles loose, they would think otherwise. It was a gamble, playing like she was a nobody instead of a CIA agent. She meant something to Ben Mason, and that was likely why they’d grabbed her. Or their instructions had been to get the Chinese woman. Meaning Mei.
The man shifted the rifle from her to the door. “Now.”
Taya strode past him into a darkened hall, concrete floor. Three doors. “I have to go to the bathroom.”
He said nothing. Taya headed for the stairs at the end of the hall. She figured this was some repurposed government building, considering the décor was largely mid-century bland. The hand rail had been painted but not sanded first. Thirteen steps to the top, and she emerged into a house. Wide hallways. A wood floor with a pristine rug running along the center. How did they get it to stay put? She’d never figured that out.
“Second door on the left,” military guy said.
Taya looked in every open door. She didn’t bother to disguise the action. There was no need to use her covert training when it would only alert them to skills she didn’t want them to know she had. The mission: learn as much as she could about these people. Protect Ben. Find out how to get him free of the golem.
It was a mission she’d been running for years. Since she’d first thought beyond her own pain to see the truth. Ben hadn’t killed her father, something else had. By then it had been too late. She had ruined what was between them back when she accused him of killing her father. Full responsibility for the shreds of their relationship lay on her shoulders. He’d been nice to her when they’d met up, years later, and that niceness had almost destroyed her. Ben had been willing to work on a relationship, while Taya couldn’t get past her own culpability. It was why she’d walked away. Yet the ties that bound them still tethered her to Ben, whether she like it or not. They would always be connected—even in some small way.
It was why she’d searched for years to find the killer with Ben’s face. The golem.
Taya walked into the room. A mousy older man who reminded her of one of the characters on Star Trek Deep Space Nine—being single came with some solitary habits she’d rather not talk about—sat behind a desk that looked like a replica of something you’d find in a Hamptons house. Or a museum.
“Welcome.” He rounded the desk. Smoothed down his tie and buttoned his suit jacket.
What he didn’t do was use her name.
Mousy guy held out his hand. “I am called the Teacher.”
“Taya.” She wasn’t about to give him a surname, real or not. Anything she offered up could be used against her.
“How are you? I know you’ve had a very trying past few days.”
Taya saw the sympathy for what it was. Discarded it. “Perhaps one of your men can tell me if Mei is alive. They shot her and then dragged me away. I’d like to know how she is.”
“I’ll send someone to find out.” He lifted an iPhone from the desktop and typed with one index finger while Taya waited. Finally, when he’d tapped “send,” he said, “You’ll see I’m not a bad man. I simply want what is mine.”
“The golem.”
“Ah, so you know what I seek.” His beady eyes gleamed.
“And you think you have sole rights to it?” Wasn’t possession nine-tenths of the law? Probably that was an urban myth. Still, it could be argued t
hat Ben’s claim on the golem superseded this man’s.
“The golem is my legacy.”
“You’re a descendent of Rabbi Loew.”
He nodded.
“And you would use it for your own gain.”
“It is my birthright to employ the golem to protect my people.”
“Seems like they could have used you many times over. The golem didn’t do much good when Jews were being massacred in the thirties and forties. People die every day, of every race. One golem can’t save them all.”
The corner of his mouth betrayed him. The Teacher had a plan.
“What are you going to do with it?” But she already knew.
“I’m going to make an army of them. I’m going to do what my fathers could not and fight the Lord’s battle with His army.”
“An army you control.” Cold suffused her muscles. There was no way she could let him make the golem into an army. Dispensing justice at his whim. The idea was insane. “That isn’t what God wants.”
“You presume to tell me what God wants.”
She pushed a breath out through pursed lips. “No. But I’ve read His Word. There’s nothing in there about making an army.”
“Hark, a tumult in the mountains, like as of a great people. Hark, the uproar of the kingdoms of the nations gathered together. The LORD of hosts musters the host of the battle. They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the LORD, and the weapons of His indignation, to destroy the whole earth.”
It sounded familiar, but she couldn’t place the words. He really thought God was going to give him an army? “That’s your plan? Wreak destruction with God’s army?” She lifted her arms then dropped them to her sides. “Then what? There will be nothing left.”
“We will rebuild. A new Jerusalem.”
That also was familiar. Though in Christian churches it was taught in a much different way, one a whole lot more peaceful in its delivery. After that whole Armageddon thing. “And when Abraham attempted to bring about God’s will on his own? What then?”
