A sigh escapes me, but only because I know she’s right. “So now what?” I ask, feeling defeated.
“Now, we wait,” she answers, although I have no idea what we will do when the time comes. This woman is capable of shriveling even the best-laid plans.
Sixteen
Michaela
As the sun sets, we head deeper into the woods to discuss our plan. Sitting in a circle, we each toss out what we think is the best way to capture Mara.
“We’re safest if she’s unconscious,” I say, offering a jumping-off point. “We all saw what she did to Webber, and there’s nothing to stop her from doing the same to all of us. We can’t risk facing her when she’s awake.”
“Why don’t we knock her over the head with a shovel or something? I think I saw one around back,” Penn suggests, totally deadpan.
I can’t tell if he’s kidding or not. His expression is so serious. Horatia and Galenia don’t laugh, and I just look at him. “Are you being serious?”
He shrugs. “Yeah. Why not? It’ll knock her out.” He’s serious. He wants to use violence against her. Although I know she won’t come quietly, I’m not sure bashing her over the head is the most elegant option. The image of four shovel-wielding heavenly beings almost makes me want to laugh. All we need is a light shining down on us from above—the humans love to depict us that way—to complete the picture. I stifle my snort and shake my head.
“It might kill her if you hit her too hard,” I say, trying to point out why we might want to go for a safer approach.
“So. Let the demons deal with her.”
“I have to say, death by shovel wasn’t what I had in mind for her when I planned her death,” Galenia offers. “She was supposed to die peacefully, albeit alone, but without suffering in her old age. I figured she’d suffered enough losses; she didn’t need to suffer in death.”
“See, she won’t die when I hit her,” Penn says.
“I don’t think that’s quite what Galenia meant,” I say, getting exasperated.
Penn’s tone turns quiet. “She’s strayed a long way from what any of us had planned for her. Yes, we made her a grey thread, and they can go either way, but she wasn’t totally black to start with. She did that on her own.”
I feel out of place as the three Fates consider what their creation has done with the life they gave her. Suddenly, I hear Webber’s voice in my mind.
Seeing the three of them working so flawlessly together… Well, it wasn’t something I could ever be included in.
True, I feel left out, but I don’t feel jealous. I feel sort of privileged to witness such magic.
I sigh, trying to shake Webber from my mind for the moment, and come back to the problem at hand. “Shiloh is very sick. There are a lot of medical supplies in the house.” I turn to Galenia. “Do you think there’s something we could use to knock her out?”
Galenia is well versed in how to kill the humans. It is, after all, her job. I can only hope she knows how to pull it back a little. Of course, neither of the sister Fates has expressed an opinion about what we should do with Mara. They’ve stayed noticeably quiet while Penn and I debate.
“I would have to see what’s in there. But I can probably come up with something. I mean, even some cleaners will do it. Although they’ll do some damage in the process.” She cringes a little as she says it, shrugging apologetically. Nope. She’s not a killer, at least not beyond the scope of her on-the-job duties. I sigh gratefully.
“We’ll make do. So after we subdue her, we get the heck out of the house. Right?” I say, feeling good about the plan.
“And Nathair?” Horatia asks.
I slump. “I almost forgot about him.”
“He’s just a Reaper. He won’t be nearly as much of a challenge as Mara. If we see him, we’ll subdue him. Or chase him off. Either way, it’s Mara we’re after,” Penn says.
“Just a Reaper, huh? Thanks a lot.” The comment stings more than it should. Maybe I’m just overly emotional given everything that’s happened.
“I didn’t mean it like that.” His voice is soft, and he reaches across the circle to pat my knee.
I move back. “Yes, you did. You meant it exactly like that. You think he’ll be easy to overcome because he’s just a Reaper. We’re all nothing compared to you. Is that right?” What’s wrong with me? I’m so angry all of a sudden, but really, I don’t think I’m mad at Penn. He’s a victim here, just like the rest of us are. I’m angry at the situation, at the world, at Mara, but definitely not at Penn. I feel a little like I did when we were wandering through hell. Full of irrational anger and disappointment. Infected by the dark feelings around me.
“No. What is happening right now?” He looks from Galenia to Horatia, but they’re both giving him accusatory looks. Horatia even has one eyebrow raised at him. At least they’re on my side.
“Michaela, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I only meant that he isn’t as powerful as Mara. Dealing with him will be comparatively easy. He’s one of us. We know what to expect from him.” He scoots closer to me, putting both hands on my shoulders. I look away. “You’re the one who’s got us this far, Michaela. We wouldn’t have even known about the prison of souls if not for you, and we certainly wouldn’t have been able to save anyone from hell on our own. We wouldn’t even know where to find Mara if not for you. And we definitely wouldn’t be this close to stopping her.”
He takes hold of my chin and turns my face toward him. “You know we need you,” he continues in a softer voice. “I need you. We came here for you. Don’t forget that.”
I know he’s telling the truth. Webber’s initial motivation was to save himself. Penn came here for me.
“We can’t be at each other’s throats like this. Not if we’re going to save the world. You can bicker with me all you want after that job is done, okay?” He smiles down at me, and I can’t help but smile back.
“No. I don’t like bickering with you. It makes me feel terrible.”
“Okay, so we won’t fight. Whatever you want. Let’s just get the heck out of here first. Then we can plan the rest of our existence.” The way he says it catches me. As if he plans to spend the rest of eternity with me. But of course, he didn’t mean just me. He meant all of us. We’re friends, and friends stick together. Still, the way he’s looking deep into my eyes…well, it feels more personal. And I can’t deny the happiness that thought gives me.
Once darkness has fallen in earnest and all the lights are out, we sneak up to the house, trying not to draw attention to ourselves. We’ve decided to go in through the front. The bedrooms are both smack dab in the middle of the house, separated by the bathroom, but Mara’s bedroom is closer to the back door. We slink up the front steps, and I swear they creek deliberately, as if announcing our intrusion.
The front door isn’t even locked. Really, who would she need to keep out now that she thinks Webber and I are toast? It’s who she’s trying to keep in that matters.
The four of us ease our way into the dark house, and Penn closes the door behind us.
“Now what?” he whispers.
Pointing toward the bathroom, I take Galenia’s hand. Then I gesture to Horatia and Penn to keep a look out—pointing to my eyes, and then the windows. It makes me feel foolish, like I’m part of some intense espionage movie, but they get the idea. Horatia takes a position near the front door, and Penn follows us to the edge of the hallway to stand watch there.
Silently, Galenia and I pad into the bathroom. Speaking in barely a whisper, I tell her, “Shiloh’s room is right next door. We need to be as quiet as possible. We don’t need to worry him anymore. He’s been through enough as it is.”
Nodding gravely, she gets to work. She doesn’t even need to open the medicine cabinet. There are jars and bottles of things everywhere, just like I remember. I watch as Galenia mixes a few liquid chemicals together in an empty bottle she finds under the sink. I have no idea what she’s doing, but her work is quiet and efficient.
/>
When she’s finished, she looks around the bathroom for a moment, and then grabs a hand towel. The ring that’s holding it clangs against the wall, and we both tense. Penn is at the door in an instant, standing with his back to us in a protective stance. I can’t see Horatia, but I’m sure she’s nearby. No one in the house stirs, thank goodness.
It feels like we’re hiding from the demons in hell again. Maybe we are. This woman is like no human I’ve ever encountered. I know what made her this way, but I still can’t understand why she chose this path, let alone why she continues to choose it. She’s been to hell, so how can she ignore the inevitable consequences of her actions? But I suppose that’s the problem. She thinks she’s too powerful for consequences. It will be a dark day when she realizes that no one can avoid the end of the road they’ve chosen to walk.
Once we’re sure it’s safe, Galenia dumps some of the liquid onto the towel. We leave the bathroom, and I lead the way to Mara’s bedroom, Penn and Galenia falling in beside me. Horatia is right behind us. With agonizing steadiness, he eases the door open. It doesn’t make a sound at all.
Her room is darker than the hallway, and a sliver of light pours in with every inch we open the door further. Horatia waits outside to keep watch for Nathair or anything else that might disturb our sleeping quarry.
Galenia moves forward wordlessly, and we all hold our breath as she suspends the cloth just above Mara’s mouth. Penn moves to the other side of her bed, ready to grab her if she fights. But it’s not necessary. Galenia is so soft, slow, and gentle that Mara barely stirs as the cloth is lowered over her face.
Soon, her breathing becomes unnaturally deep, and we know it worked. Galenia did it. All we have to do is grab her and go. But something keeps us there, staring at this human who has caused us so much pain.
“We should kill her right now,” Penn suggests, his voice dark. “She’s helpless. We could end this here and now. Let another Reaper take her to hell,” Penn suggests.
I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t tempting, but I can’t do it.
“You are like a dog with a bone,” I say quietly, not wanting to disturb Shiloh.
Surprisingly, Horatia comes to my rescue. “Michaela is right, Penn. We aren’t killers. Could you really snuff out her life if it came down to it? Right here? Right now?”
He hesitates and looks down at the human. The moonlight is shining through the edge of her curtain in a small sliver that lands right next to her face, casting an eerie glow on her. “Yes,” he finally says. “I believe I could. She’s strayed far enough from her Fate.”
“You are thinking of Andrew. And Kismet. And all the other ways she wronged you,” I say, putting my hand on his shoulder.
“Two wrongs don’t make a right?” he says. “Maybe not. But she’s committed far more than one wrong…”
“Either way, we’re ending it. And I would much prefer for her blood to be on someone else’s hands,” I say, bringing my other hand up to his shoulder, trying to pull him back toward me, toward the light.
He doesn’t budge. My breath catches in my throat when he bends down over Mara. But instead of strangling her or snuffing out her life in some way, he hoists her up and lifts her over his shoulder.
“Good God, she’s a lot heavier than those souls we took out of hell,” he says. I stifle a giggle. Souls weigh almost nothing, and this human’s unfamiliar weight is clearly posing a challenge to Penn.
“Come on,” I say. “You’re a big, strong man. Surely, you can carry one tiny woman.”
He bumps into me accidently on purpose as he walks past me with Mara hanging limply over his back. “Oh. Excuse me,” he says as he walks out of her bedroom.
Galenia keeps a tight hold on the cloth drenched with her concoction as she follows him. Horatia goes next, leaving me alone in the room of the woman who has done the world more harm than any human I’ve ever seen in my centuries as a Reaper.
Have we really just ended it? Is it over? I know we still have to collect the other souls who are caught in the prison, but now that we have Mara, even that should be easier. The hard part is over, right?
But as I stand there alone in the dark, something tells me it’s too good to be true.
Seventeen
Penn
I’m already hustling out the front door when I notice no one is following me. Lugging this dead-weight human over my shoulder isn’t exactly easy, and I know it’s a long walk back to the mists. I’d like to get going. Who knows how long she’ll be out? We can’t afford to dillydally.
I adjust Mara on my shoulder and turn around. The girls are standing in the back of the living room, peering down the hall. Michaela is standing next to the door to the other bedroom—Shiloh’s room.
I sigh. “Michaela,” I whisper. “We don’t have time for this.”
She closes the gap between us so rapidly I take a reflexive step back.
“There is always time to do the right thing.”
“And in this case, the right thing is…” I trail off, hoping she’ll fill in the gap.
“I want to tell Shiloh what’s happened. He deserves to know that he’ll be at peace soon.”
“Nathair could be anywhere. We will send someone back for the boy, but we can’t risk wasting more time. I’m going to vote for exiting as quickly as possible. Anyone else?” I look to Galenia and Horatia for help with this one.
Galenia puts an arm on Michaela’s shoulder. “I think we should go.” She says it quietly, as if the soft words will be easier for Michaela to hear.
“Me too,” Horatia adds. “Nathair is too much of a question mark. We need to go while the getting’s good.”
Michaela’s face falls, and I can see the struggle play out on her face. She knows the truth, but her heart doesn’t want any part of it. She wants to be with the little boy in his time of need. It’s one of the things I love about her, but right now, it’s not working in our favor.
“He’ll be okay, Michaela. Someone will be here to pick him up before he realizes what’s happened,” I say, trying to soothe her with a best-case scenario.
“I don’t know about that. But his suffering is almost at an end, whether he knows it or not. I guess that will have to be enough for now.”
We head out into the night, and I scan the area uneasily.
“He could be anywhere,” Horatia whispers.
“Let’s hope he isn’t anywhere we need to be.”
Michaela is silent as she looks around.
We pad quietly across the lawn, making it to the edge of the woods without incident. I want to stop and rest, but I wouldn’t let Michaela stop to talk to the boy, so I can hardly justify it. We still have a long way to go.
Something triggers an alert in my mind as we walk. A sound that makes the hairs on my arm stand on end.
“Did you guys hear that?” I say, barely above a whisper.
The others stop in their tracks, and we all look around. Mara starts to stir, and Galenia is on her like lightning. But the moan she made was loud in the quiet wood. If someone’s out there, they know we are too.
Once Mara is out again, we stand with our backs together, creating a perimeter, searching all sides of the woods around us for the source of the original sound. But we come up empty.
“He’s out there,” Michaela says.
“Who?” Galenia asks.
“Nathair.”
Galenia’s breath catches. “How do you know?”
“I can feel him, a fellow Reaper. It’s him.”
We stand in silence, waiting for him to make a move. When he doesn’t, none of us really knows what to do. I certainly don’t want to stand here for hours with an unconscious human on my back. But part of me fears we may be walking right into a trap if we continue making our way toward the mists.
“What should we do?” Galenia finally whispers.
“We should keep going. I think he’s just following us for now,” Michaela says. “Be on your guard.”
As if we w
eren’t already.
Finally, after what felt like hours, we arrive at the dome. Michaela is stunned by it, and it is quite a sight. The mists billow up against the invisible wall, creating a foggy ceiling above our heads.
“So this is what it looks like,” she breathes as she stares up at it in wonder.
“Yup,” I say, shifting Mara on my shoulder. “Not to keep you from ogling this curiosity or anything, but we better get going.”
Horatia, Galenia, and I step through the dome, but Michaela doesn’t follow. She’s probably still looking at the mists.
“Now what?” I ask, trying and failing to hide my impatience.
“I’ll just go check on her,” Horatia says as she walks back through the wall.
But she doesn’t reemerge. I start counting my heartbeats, and when I get to one hundred, I take a step toward the dome. Galenia’s face is wrought with worry as I lay Mara down, leaning her against a tree.
“You stay here with her. Keep her out. I’ll be right back,” I assure her. I can only hope it’s true.
I’m not sure what I’ll find on the other side of the wall, but I have a feeling Michaela and Horatia aren’t just enjoying the view anymore.
I’ve never been so disappointed to be right.
A man dressed in the black-and-white garb of a Reaper has Michaela in a chokehold. His free hand covers her mouth. Horatia is standing in front of him, her hands outstretched, as if she’s trying to negotiate with him.
“What’s going on here?” I say, impatient and exhausted. “Seriously, Nathair. What are you thinking right now? Why would you take one of your own as a hostage? Besides, there are still three of us and one of you. You can’t win this.”
“You’d think so, wouldn’t you?” he says, his voice lower and more sinister than I expected. I wonder if it always sounded that way, or if his time on Earth—with Mara—has changed him.
Michaela thrashes a little in his arms, and he leans in and whispers in her ear. She screams beneath his hand, but he holds her fast.
The Children of Wisdom Trilogy Page 40
