He began to scratch absently at the label with his thumbnail, glancing back up at Olivia as she tilted her head and laughed at something Veronica had said. Her smile caught him every time, and he wasn’t even aware of the small smile gracing his own lips as he watched her.
‘Don’t you ever get tired of watching her?’ a familiar voice broke into his musings.
He turned towards Tommy, who now leaned against the wall next to him. He was almost a mirror image of Theo with his tie loosened, his top button undone and a beer in one hand, the other hand tucked in his pocket.
‘No,’ Theo’s mouth curved in amusement.
‘Do you know you get this really dopey look on your face when you’re looking at her.’
‘Do I?
‘Yeah it’s practically nauseating.’
Theo laughed lightly. ‘How are things between you and Louisa?’
Tommy took a pull of his beer then sighed as his head dropped back against the wall.
‘Good days and bad days, I guess we’ve had problems for a long time but we’ve just papered over the cracks.’
Just as Theo had done, Tommy stared down at his bottle and absently began to peel the label off. ‘I still love her and I know she loves me, I guess now that I’m back for good we need to find a way to live with each other.’
‘Nothing’s ever simple is it?’
‘You got that right,’ Tommy took another sip of his beer before changing the subject. He glanced back at Theo with a wry smile. ‘So you’re what, three hundred and forty something year’s old then?’
Theo snorted lightly. ‘No, I’m 31. I just happen to have been born in a different place and time.’
‘You do know that’s crazy, right?’
‘I take it you still don’t believe me then?’
‘Hell no,’ Tommy laughed, ‘there’s no such thing as time travel or three-thousand-year-old Greek guys who ferry souls across a lake in the middle of a small town in Massachusetts. I think you’re all crazy or having some sort of mass hallucination. However, that being said I can’t deny that there is some sort of weird shit going on in Mercy. So for the moment I’m prepared to agree to disagree.’
Theo shrugged. There really was no way he could convince Tommy he was telling the truth so there was nothing else to do but let it go. Tommy would either come around to the truth in his own time, or he wouldn’t. Either way Theo was just glad to have his friend back.
‘You know Ms Gershon well?’ Tommy asked after a moment.
‘No, I hardly knew her at all, but Olivia was a friend of hers.’
‘You want to get out of here? I doubt they’d notice.’
‘And do what?’
‘We could go shoot some pool?’
‘Shoot some pool?’ Theo frowned. ‘Do I need my gun?’
Tommy let out a sincere laugh. ‘Come on’ he said, still chuckling in amusement, ‘we’ll text Lou and Olivia once we’re out of here. That way they can’t stop us.’
‘Do you think they’ll mind?’
‘Theo, there’s one thing you’ll need to learn about being in a long term relationship or a marriage’ Tommy slapped Theo gregariously on the shoulder as he steered him towards the exit.
‘What’s that?’
‘That it’s easier to apologise after the fact than to get them to agree in the first place.’
‘Isn’t that somehow dishonest?’
‘Ask Olivia how much money she spent on her last pair of shoes and then we’ll talk about honesty in a relationship’ Tommy laughed. ‘It’s all about meeting somewhere in the middle.’
‘I really have no idea what you are talking about,’ Theo frowned and Tommy let loose another laugh.
Veronica had moved off to circulate amongst the guests as Olivia, once again on her own, sipped her wine. She was absently scanning the room, lost in thought, when Louisa appeared next to her.
‘Hey,’ Olivia smiled, ‘I thought you were working?’
‘I am technically,’ Louisa stifled a yawn. ‘We managed to borrow some staff from Salem so I’ve got someone covering me for a couple of hours. I wanted to come, I was very fond of Ms Gershon. She always seemed like such a permanent fixture in Mercy and I can’t believe she’s gone.’
They were quiet for a moment, a comfortable silence that friends enjoy, until Olivia spoke out.
‘Hey, has Jake said anything to you about Veronica?’
‘No,’ Louisa frowned, ‘why? Is something going on between them?’
‘No,’ Olivia replied quickly, ‘well not exactly, but I get the impression something’s brewing.’
‘Really?’ Louisa replied slowly her mouth curving into a wicked smile. ‘I might have to spend some time getting to know Veronica a little better.’
‘Well you’re about to get the chance,’ Olivia finished up her wine. ‘Meeting, my place tomorrow; Jake and Mac are coming over. It’s up to you whether you bring Tommy or not.’
She nodded as she sipped her coke.
‘I wonder where he’s disappeared to?’
‘Tommy?’
‘Yes, he said he was going to get a beer and I haven’t seen him since.’
‘Theo seems to have disappeared too.’
Just then Olivia’s phone chirped with a message alert. Scrolling through the screens she was about to read the message when Louisa’s phone went off.
‘Theo says he’s gone to shoot some pool and have a beer,’ Olivia frowned.
‘Same as Tommy,’ Louisa laughed. ‘I guess they’ve kissed and made up.’
‘He could’ve told me first.’
‘Oh honey,’ Louisa smiled, ‘in the grand scheme of things it’s not the worst thing he could have done and it’s certainly not the worst thing Tommy could’ve dragged him into. Be grateful it’s just beer and pool.’
‘I guess,’ Olivia replied sulkily.
Louisa’s message alert went off again. Sighing as she read the message she dropped her phone back into her pocket and handed her drink to Olivia.
‘Sorry I’ve got to go; I’m needed back at the hospital. I’ll see you at your place tomorrow.’
Olivia nodded as she watched her friend disappear through the throng of people. As she turned back, out of the corner of her eye she caught a glimpse of someone familiar. Dropping her empty wine glass with Louisa’s half full one onto a nearby table, she pushed her way gently through the crowd of people. She lost her target for a moment but then spotted the familiar flash disappearing down one of the museum corridors. Throwing one last glance around the room to make sure no one was watching, she slipped down the deserted corridor.
The further away from the gathering she got, the more the noise of chatter faded into the background. Here the lighting was dimmer casting long shadows across the exhibits as she passed by. Her heels clicked quietly against the floor as she rounded a corner and ahead saw a door left slightly ajar allowing soft light to spill out into the hallway.
Checking to make sure she wasn’t being followed she slipped through the door and shut it behind her with a soft click. Turning to face the person waiting in the room she scowled.
‘Are you mad?’ she hissed quietly, ‘you’re a wanted criminal. Why the hell would you walk into such a large gathering; half the town council are out there?’
‘Hello Olivia,’ Charles replied calmly from his seat. ‘It’s nice to see you too.’
‘I want an answer,’ she glared at him.
‘Well it’s not always about what you want Olivia,’ he replied bluntly. ‘I let you have things the way you wanted, and look what’s happened. Mercy is being overrun with creatures escaping through the doorway.’
‘Are you saying that mess is my fault?’
‘No, that’s not what I’m saying,’ her father replied with infinite patience, ‘but by refusing to listen to what I had to say about your mother, you have certainly contributed towards it.’
‘How dare you?’ she whisp
ered.
His patience finally snapped and he came abruptly to his feet. ‘No Olivia, how dare you. Stop being as stubborn as your mother.’
‘Don’t you compare me to her, I am nothing like her,’ Olivia muttered.
‘You don’t want to be but you are’ he sighed, ‘stubborn, wilful, and full of pride. That was Isabel’s undoing Olivia, don’t let it be yours.’
She stared at him, unable to find the right words to say.
‘This should have been dealt with months ago. If you’d just listened to me, to what I had to say, maybe we could have figured this out together sooner. But instead I’ve spent the last several weeks running around with Davis and Danae, trying to clean up this mess.’
‘What do you mean?’ Olivia frowned.
‘You’ve just started noticing the creatures coming through? The Raksasha, the Janns, the Jikininki?’
‘The Jikin…what?’
‘In the graveyard?’
‘Oh,’ she shook her head, ‘we didn’t know what it was. I figured it was probably a Ghoul.’
‘Close,’ they’re more or less the same thing.’
He sat back down, his voice taking on the teacher’s tone she remembered from her childhood and for a brief second she almost smiled. ‘A Jikininki is from Japan. It’s a priest who lived a selfish and opulent life, and in death is sentenced to live as a pathetic creature who must feed on corpses.’
‘Nice,’ she swallowed dryly.
‘That’s beside the point’ Charles shook his head, ‘the fact is these creatures and a lot more besides, have been coming through the doorway for weeks. Davis, Danae and I have been dealing with them, killing them if we can or sending them back, although that’s only a temporary fix as they’ll just end up coming back through the doorway now they know it’s open. The problem is they’re coming through thick and fast now, there’s no way to track and deal with all of them with just the three of us. I’m supposed to be finding your mother but this is far more pressing.’
‘I had no idea,’ Olivia perched on the edge of a nearby table.
‘No but you would have, if you’d just picked up the damn phone. I understand that you’re mad at me Olivia and you have every right to be, but until we’ve found your mother we don’t have the luxury of ignoring each other.’
‘I guess not,’ she murmured thoughtfully, ‘a temporary truce then? Until we find mom and deal with her.’
‘That would be nice’ Charles smiled. It was the first genuine smile she’d seen grace his features since the first moment she’d seen him, months ago in the cabin in the woods, when she’d been held captive by the former chief Walcott.
‘How’s your friend Veronica after her run-in the other night outside the museum?’
‘She’s fine, shook her up some and she banged up her knee…’ Olivia broke off as her gaze narrowed in comprehension. ‘That was you wasn’t it? You were the one who saved her from the Janns?’
He smiled quietly.
‘But she doesn’t remember what happened?’
‘A simple memory charm,’ he shrugged. ‘Danae has quite a gift with them. Your friend was very shaken up, in fact nearly hysterical at the time so it was the best way to calm her down. I wanted to make sure the Janns didn’t have time to circle back around and follow her home to her apartment before we could get to it and deal with it, so I ‘suggested’ to her that she go to your house. She was unaware of the suggestion but I knew she’d be safe with you.’
‘Why did you save her?’
‘Olivia,’ he sighed tiredly, ‘I know I’ve made a lot of mistakes but I’m not a monster. I saved your friend because I don’t want anyone else to get hurt. I should have known the truth about your mother. I ignored the signs because I didn’t want to believe the woman I loved was capable of murder, but every life she takes directly or indirectly are all on me. I should have stopped her when I had the chance. Now everything she does is on me.’
‘You really think mom is behind the Ferryman’s disappearance?’
‘Why don’t I start at the beginning and let you figure that out for yourself.’
‘Fine,’ she slid off the table and settled herself comfortably into a chair next to him. ‘Where do we begin.’
‘With what it is she’s after, what she has been searching for all these years…Infernum.’
‘Infernum?’ Olivia frowned, ‘Theo’s mentioned that name a couple of times before. He said the Nathaniel from his time killed Hester West’s mother and kidnapped her and her sister Bridget back in Salem, because he believed she knew where it was. But we don’t know what Infernum actually is?’
‘It’s a book.’
‘A book?’ Olivia replied dryly, ‘are you fucking kidding me. All of this is over a book?’
‘Not just any book’ Charles shook his head, ‘no one knows it’s exact origins. It’s always been a myth, a kind of supernatural holy grail for demons. The book is called Infernum; do you know why?’
‘Infernum is the Latin word for Hell.’
‘Exactly, it’s actually called Infernum Liber, and it literally translates to The Hell Book. It is the most powerful object in history. It contains within its pages all the power and magic of all the Hell dimensions. It means ultimate power to anyone who possesses it. The demons all want it, so do the humans and every supernatural creature in between. Whoever gains possession of the book will become the most powerful being in existence.’
‘And this is what mom wants? To find the book?’
‘She believes it’s her birthright.’
‘But I don’t understand why? Why would she think that?’
‘I asked myself that same question, right up until a year and a half ago’ he told her. ‘I was incarcerated at Morley Ridge when I had a visitor.’
‘Who was it?’ Olivia asked suspiciously.
‘Your Aunt Evie,’ he sighed sadly. ‘She knew she was dying and she needed to pass on some information to you, a secret that has been passed down your family for generation after generation, for more than five thousand years.’
‘What the hell are you talking about?’ she frowned in confusion.
‘I don’t know all the details; it was a secret that was never supposed to leave the West family but with Isabel’s betrayal everything changed. As I said no one actually knows the origins of the book. All I do know is that at some point the book was passed to a little girl and she was to become its first keeper, to prevent it from falling into the hands of a demon. From that point on her descendants were a single unbroken line of females, each generation becoming the new keeper of the book and each sworn to secrecy. They made a pledge never to use its power; they understood they were its keepers only and their role was to protect it. Did you never wonder why the magic in your family is so strong? It’s because their destiny and the Hell Book are so deeply entwined, one feeds the other. With each generation that the book and the secret were passed down, the stronger the West women became. So the book continued to pass from mother to daughter to granddaughter, down the line until it reached Hester West.’
‘Hester?’ Olivia breathed, ‘so she did know about Infernum. She told Theo she didn’t know what it was.’
‘As I said she was sworn to secrecy; she would never have told anyone about it other than her own child.’
‘So where is the book now?’
‘We don’t know,’ he shook his head and neither does your mother. The last person known to have had possession of it was Hester and after her death all knowledge of it simply disappeared. It was not passed on to her daughter as it should have been.’
‘I wonder why?’ Olivia frowned.
‘We can only guess’ he shrugged helplessly, ‘but from what I understand Hester became an extremely powerful seer. It’s possible she foresaw all of this. She would have known after Nathaniel killed her mother and kidnapped her and her sister, that he had made the connection between the Book and the Wests. She would have known it
was no longer safe to pass it on down the line of her family. If she was able to see far enough into the future to witness Isabel’s betrayal, she would have made sure it was not passed on to her. One thing you should know about Isabel is that, although make no mistake she is incredibly dangerous, the simple fact is for some reason she is nowhere nearly as powerful as the other women in your family. She has always carried a chip on her shoulder about that; her pride made her hate anyone she perceived as more powerful than she was. That is why she is so obsessed with the book, and she doesn’t wish to simply be its caretaker.’
‘She wants to use its power?’
‘Yes she does, that’s what drives her.’
‘Nathaniel knows that the West Women are tied to the fate of the book?’
‘Yes.’
‘What if he allowed himself to be trapped by mom?’ her brow folded into a thoughtful frown as an idea began to form in her mind. ‘Clever little demon,’ she murmured, ‘he’s rolled over and he’s playing dead.’
‘Explain?’
‘How old would you say Nathaniel is?’
‘I don’t know’ Charles frowned, ‘but I would guess thousands of years old.’
‘Exactly,’ she replied. ‘When we were trying to figure out the serpent seal on the murder victims we did some research on the demon Nathaniel and his brother Seth. This was before we made the connection between the demon Nathaniel and Nathaniel Boothe from 17th century Salem; before we knew they were one and the same.’
‘Where are you going with this?’
‘Hear me out,’ she continued. ‘Legend has it that his brother Seth is still trapped in the underworld, but Nathaniel was free to wander the earth. He was never summoned, he walked the earth in his true form for centuries until he ended up in Salem Massachusetts. Yet there is no mention of him in history nor the part he played in the witch hunts. Theo once told me that Nathanial always remained in the background manipulating others.’
‘So?’
‘Most of the colonists were afraid of their own shadows back then, he whipped them up into a dangerous cocktail of fear and righteousness and set them loose. He caused the witch hunts.’
The Ferryman (The Guardians Series 1 Book 2) Page 28
