by Ching, G. P.
“We know where that will be. Wherever Lucifer is,” Bonnie said, voice shaking.
Malini nodded, feeling like she might be sick.
“Your team will enter here.” She pressed a finger to the blueprint. “It’s the closest to the most likely staging area. Lucifer will have to be on some sort of platform, probably broadcasting across the arena to his followers. Use that to your advantage. Cord and Ghost will protect you and Hope and, of course, your sister, Samantha. Cord and Ghost, your job is to get Bonnie where she needs to be at the proper moment. Are you guys up to the task?”
Cord glanced toward Bonnie, who was holding hands with Sam, an anxious-looking Ghost behind her. “I’ll protect her. As long as I’m still moving, she will make it to that platform.”
Ghost agreed. “I’m in.”
Samantha tossed up her hands. “You know I am.”
“Where will we be?” Jacob asked Malini.
“You, Grace, and I will enter here.” She pointed to a service entrance to the back of the building. “We’ll find a water source, a sink or a fountain. You will force holy water up the pipe and contaminate the rest of the building. Then, you’ll make it rain.”
Jacob nodded. “Looking forward to it.”
“Lillian, Ethan, Dane, and Cheveyo will enter here.” She pointed at the most likely hub for food preparation in the stadium. “You will attempt to find the way Lucifer intends to dole out the physical element for the spell. Perhaps he will place his blood in something they will eat or drink. Stop whatever it is from reaching the Watchers.”
“Piece of cake,” Cheveyo said, laughing. Everyone stopped and looked at him. “Get it? Cake, because his blood might be in the cake.” He grinned.
Lillian groaned. “We get it, Chevy. It’s just not funny.”
Cheveyo made a face as if he were injured.
Solemnly, Lillian continued to arm herself from the stack of newly soaked weapons on the table. She handed a deadly looking dagger to Dane, who glanced at Ethan. No words were needed to know they were the first offensive and likely the first to see combat. The job was dangerous enough, but Dane added a level of complexity. He was inhumanly fast but didn’t have any powers of his own. That meant the other three would have the added responsibility of protecting him.
Malini was surprised when Lillian didn’t question it. But then, maybe she realized that this mission was equally deadly for all of them, and no one’s role could be underestimated. Besides, there was no way Dane would be convinced to stay behind.
“Cord, has the sun gone down?” Malini asked, arming herself with as many weapons as she could carry.
The angel’s eyes flicked toward the ceiling. “Almost. The sun is low in the sky. It is twilight.”
“Lillian’s team will go first. Then mine. Then Cord’s.” Malini looked around the room, meeting the eyes of each of the Soulkeepers one by one. Lillian moved toward the door. “Wait.” Malini held out her hand.
One by one the Soulkeepers joined hands in a giant circle and bowed their heads. “Lord, we come to you just as we are, imperfect, vulnerable, and scared. We ask for your protection and guidance tonight as we go into the darkness to do your work. If it is your will, safeguard us from harm, and if not, take us home.”
Cheveyo cleared his throat. “Oh great spirit, we pray for your help to return our Mother Earth to a purified, healthy, and peaceful planet. We sing for strength and wisdom for the good of all people. Our hope is not yet lost. Help us to restore the health of our Mother Earth for lasting peace and happiness.”
“Amen,” Malini said.
“We say Techqua Ikachi—for Land and Life,” Cheveyo said.
Jacob raised a fist in the air. “Amen and Techqua Ikachi.”
The others joined in, repeating the phrase until it was obvious they could delay their quest no longer. Malini raised one hand, suddenly feeling ancient, seventy rather than seventeen. “Be careful out there.”
The group broke out in a chain reaction of cautious hugging, each aware that the other was concealing a small arsenal. Then Lillian made a whistling sound and led Dane, Ethan, and Cheveyo to the door.
“Godspeed,” Malini whispered behind them.
* * * * *
Full black, the sky showed no moon, no stars. Nature was not responsible for the total darkness. A flock of Watchers, thousands of them, blotted out the sky wing to wing like an oil slick might coat the ocean. From his hiding place in the cold underbelly of a patch of evergreens, Dane stared, open-mouthed, at their arrival. Even in Nod he hadn’t seen this many, or been so intimidated by their militarism.
“Damn, there’s a lot of them,” Ethan whispered in his ear.
“Yeah.”
“I think I wet my pants,” Cheveyo said into his other. “No … no … I didn’t. But only because my bladder is officially frozen.”
Crouched in the branches behind them, Lillian laughed under her breath. “The good news is, I don’t see any in the streets. They are all flying in and fast. Lucifer must have rattled their chains.”
“What’s the plan?” Dane asked. “Do we wait for the sky to clear or chance it?”
A stretch of silence indicated Lillian was weighing the options. “I think we chance it, with caution. No more than five hundred feet at a time. We stick together, and we stay hidden.”
Dane contorted his body on the cold ground to see her better, although in the darkness, he could barely make out her silhouette. “Following you,” he said. One of his weapons poked into his side, and he repositioned himself.
“One, two … three.” Lillian bolted from the underbrush. Dane followed, Ethan and Cheveyo behind him. On quick, light feet, they crossed a street and ducked into an alley. As they were trained to do, all four quieted, listening.
“Clear,” Dane whispered.
“Clear,” said Cheveyo.
Lillian held up one hand. “One, two … three.”
* * * * *
After what seemed like forever, Dane arrived at the door to the United Center, the one Malini had suggested they use. The sky was conspicuously empty. While they were traveling, the flock had arrived, and although Dane could hear them inside, he could see none in the area.
Lillian placed her hand on the door pull, digging in her pocket for the skeleton key she used to navigate locked doors. “Everyone ready?” she whispered.
Dane nodded. Ethan’s pinky finger bumped his and Dane gave him a small smile.
“It’s already unlocked,” Lillian whispered. Cheveyo shuffled to the door, cutting in front of Dane, a measure meant to protect but which came with a side order of humiliation.
“Brace yourself.” Lillian pulled open the door. Inside was a concrete corridor typical of a stadium, dark except for the square of moonlight that filtered in around their bodies. Cheveyo entered first. When he gave an okay sign, the all clear, Dane and Ethan followed. The door swung closed behind Lillian.
The click of the door closing corresponded with a light clicking on overhead, a streetlight. The four shuffled like roaches, flattening their bodies against the nearest wall, which turned from concrete to wood under their touch.
“What’s going on?” Cheveyo whispered.
Dane’s eyes darted around the scene that had formed. It looked as though they were on a cobblestone street in front of a shop with three windows. Each window was empty, aside from a wooden chair. The façade was of a European village.
“Retreat,” Lillian whispered. But when they turned back toward the door, it was gone. A smooth concrete wall had replaced it.
Dane trailed his hand over the place the door had been. “It’s a trap.” He turned around, toward the group. “I think.” He glanced up and down the street.
“It’s a labyrinth,” Ethan said.
“What?” Lillian turned a circle, dagger in hand.
“This is why the door wasn’t locked. Watchers would know how to navigate this sorcery. We’re in a maze. If we make it through, we find ourselves at the party, if not…�
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“We’ll be dead,” Dane finished.
Cheveyo turned his head left and right. “Hate to break it to you guys, but the street ends in either direction. We are currently locked in a room with no doors and no windows.”
Lillian inhaled sharply and began patting and stroking the wall. “Check for a hidden exit. Any seam or ripple could be a clue.”
The four split up. Dane followed the cobblestone to the fake storefront. His fingers tested every crevice. His toes overturned each and every stone. It was as if they were trapped inside a movie set, characters in some impromptu play. Eventually, each of them ran out of wall and ended up standing in front of the three windows.
“Are we supposed to break one?” Dane asked.
Lillian shrugged.
“Which one?” Cheveyo took a step forward and reached out to touch the glass. On contact, a red light came on over the chair, and a door at the back of the shop window opened.
A dark-haired woman stepped into the doorframe, her shapely leg breaking the slit of the long pencil skirt she was wearing. She stared at Cheveyo and licked her ruby red lips. Toying with the tie of her white wraparound blouse with one hand, she ran her other along the edge of her plunging neckline.
“Come to me,” her husky voice said from behind the glass. She extended one gloved hand, beckoning.
Cheveyo’s eyebrows shot up, and his mouth dropped open. He moved to break the glass. Dane’s hand clamped down on his wrist. “Not a good idea.”
The woman started to dance, using her teeth to tug off one glove and then the other. One high-heeled boot landed on the seat of the chair. She leaned forward, tugging at the neck of her blouse and making direct eye contact with Cheveyo.
“She looks a little like Raine,” he said absently. He stepped closer until his breath fogged the glass. “What if she’s trapped in there?” He pressed both hands against the glass as the woman sashayed her hips and let her skirt fall to the floor. Underneath was an indecent pair of shorts.
“Cheveyo, that girl is nothing like Raine. Whatever this is, it’s deadly. Look at yourself. It’s pulling you in,” Dane said.
Lillian placed a hand on Cheveyo’s shoulder. “You know it’s probably an illusion, right? This is sorcery.”
Ethan furrowed his brow as Cheveyo pressed in even closer to the glass. “Yeah, buddy. Maybe take a step back until we know what we are dealing with.”
Cheveyo pulled back a fraction of an inch, but did not look away from the woman, who had removed the pins from her hair and was rolling her neck, flinging her raven locks.
“Leave me alone.” Cheveyo shrugged off the hands on his shoulders. “What do you guys know? This is a person. She’s trapped behind glass. She’s probably being forced to strip her clothes off. We’re Soulkeepers. It’s our job to help her!”
Fists clenched at his side, Cheveyo’s pupils dilated and his face flushed.
“Come on, Cheveyo. Look at me. You’re not acting like yourself, man,” Dane said, pressing one hand into his chest.
“I said, leave me alone.” Cheveyo stepped back, and then his brown fist shot out, aimed at Dane’s temple. Dane dodged out of the way. Big mistake.
Cheveyo’s knuckles collided with the window. CRASH.
Chapter 23
Plan B
“This is the door,” Malini said, approaching their planned entrance to the United Center. Her stomach flip-flopped with unease. Thousands of Watchers had filled the night sky a moment ago, flying in formation, wing to wing, but in the blink of an eye, they’d disappeared, evaporating like so much smoke. Jacob pressed into her side, a shiver running the length of his body. He’d seen it too. They all had.
“Where do you think they went?” Grace asked.
“They’re here. Inside,” Malini said. “I think I can hear them.”
“I’ve never seen them so organized,” Grace whispered.
“Lucifer has them by the short hairs,” Jacob said.
“We’re wasting time. Pop the lock,” Malini said.
Channeling water from his flask, he did as she asked, but halted when the freezing water met no resistance. “It’s unlocked.”
Malini’s eyes widened, and Grace’s head whipped around.
“A trap?” Grace eyeballed the door skeptically.
Pausing, Malini tapped into the ancient part of her wisdom for guidance. “This is the only road.”
Grace tipped her head to the side. “Then we must travel it.”
With a curt nod, Malini gave her blessing. Jacob braced himself and pulled the door open. Inside, a concrete corridor was lit only by a dim safety light on the far wall. Jacob entered first. When there was no immediate danger, Malini and Grace followed. The door clicked closed behind them, plunging the area into total darkness.
“What happened to the light?” Grace whispered.
As if in answer to her question, a torch blazed to life in the corner.
“What is this?” Jacob asked.
The walls were made of gold bricks and covered in hieroglyphs. Gems of every type, jewelry, gold coins, goblets, and diamond tiaras were heaped in every corner of the room. Three painted sarcophagi overlooked the treasure.
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Malini said. She turned back toward the door. “It’s gone.” She’d only taken a single step inside, but the place where they’d entered was now a solid wall. She ran her hand along it.
“No exit,” Jacob said. “In what direction did your power say the road would take us?”
“There must be a way out. It’s a test. We have to battle our way through to get inside.”
Jacob scanned the hieroglyphs on the walls. “Woe to those who enter here. Greed is your demise and death the only doorway.”
“It kills me that you can read that and I can’t,” Malini said. “Maybe it’s not a warning but a riddle. There has to be a way inside.”
Grace toyed with the cross around her neck. “I wonder if all of the Watchers had to pass through a similar test?”
“If that’s the case, then the riddle won’t test our worth but our evil intent. We’ll have to think like a Watcher to get through.” Malini walked the periphery of the room, eyes passing over the treasures inside. Her gaze locked on the three sarcophagi propped against the walls. She pivoted, noting their position.
“The sarcophagi form a triangle.” She pointed at the floor at the center of the room. “There’s a triangle on the floor.”
“It’s in the opposite direction,” Grace said.
Jacob shrugged. “Maybe if we moved them to match the pattern?”
“Like a key. Death is the only doorway. The sarcophagi represent death,” Malini said.
“It’s worth a try,” Grace said.
Malini chose one at random, the Egyptian face on the front reminding her of Tutankhamen’s. “Help me move this one over there.” She motioned toward the point of the triangle.
Jacob and Grace waded into the mound of jewels. Silently, they positioned themselves, Jacob and Malini on either side, Grace near the feet. There were no handles. They would have to carry it from the bottom.
“Tip it toward me,” Jacob said. “Then you guys can get under it.” He reached out and grabbed the ornate gold coffin.
Malini stopped short before making contact. The box rattled violently. A quick check with Grace found her hands in the air. “What’s going on?”
“Uh-oh,” Jacob said. He stepped back, tripping in the pile of gold coins and goblets behind him. He landed hands and knees in the treasure. “There’s something happening. It’s grabbing me.” He struggled to his feet. Shiny silver chains snaked around his wrists and legs, the treasure bulging and swarming around his body. “Mal?”
“Hold still, Jacob,” Malini ordered. “Maybe your movement provokes it.”
He froze, but the treasure continued to rise around him.
Grace leapt to the cleared area of the floor, drawing a chain from Eden from her hip. With a flick of her wrist, she cast i
t over Jacob’s shoulder, hard enough for the end to wrap around his torso. With a firm tug, she yanked him toward her.
“Ow! Ah, this stuff is biting into me,” Jacob yelled.
Waist deep now, Jacob’s arms turned purple as Grace continued her tug of war against the treasure. “Malini, I need your help. I can’t budge him.”
Beside her, the sarcophagus rocked ominously, a cantankerous banging against the lid. Malini bent her knees and leapt. She landed on the edge of the treasure and jogged to Grace’s side. “It didn’t grab me,” she said. “I think it’s because he touched the sarcophagus. Hold on, Jake. We’ll get you out of this.” She grabbed the chain and pulled with Grace. It was no use.
The treasure climbed to Jacob’s neck. “Help! Ahh. Ahhh!”
“No. No, Jake, no. God, no, Jake.” Malini tugged with everything she had until her fingers ached. Grace’s hands bled from the effort, but it was like pulling stone. The living treasure mounded around Jacob until a final surge swallowed his screaming head.
“Jacob!” Malini dropped the chain. Throwing caution to the wind, she scrambled through the treasure toward him, digging in the stuff for her beloved.
A sharp, screeching sound turned her face toward the sarcophagus. The lid swung partially open, and the sharp tang of resin permeated the room. A bandage wrapped hand gripped the corner of the lid.
“Is that?” Grace paled and drew a blade from the sheath on her leg.
Malini reached for the sword on her back and glanced toward Grace. “Mummy!”
* * * * *
Bonnie toyed with the stone around her neck and glanced at her sister. They’d found their assigned entrance unlocked without even one Watcher anywhere in the vicinity.
“I don’t like this,” Cord said from the open door, Hope buried in his shoulder.
Ghost broke apart and re-formed under the emergency light at the end of the corridor. “It looks the same in both directions,” he said. “Do you want me to go farther inside?”
“No, Jesse,” Samantha said. “We should stay together.”
“Well, come on, then,” Ghost said, fidgeting as he stared down the corridor. I have a weird feeling we need to hurry.”
