by Ching, G. P.
Jacob sighed.
"The answer is 'Yes, Mom'," Lillian said.
"Yes, Mom." Jacob turned his back on his mother and widened his eyes at Malini. The corner of his mouth pulled downward into a lopsided grimace.
Malini pressed her lips together and cut another foil square to keep herself from laughing. The telephone rang. Lillian retreated to her place behind the counter to answer it.
"Saved by the bell," Malini murmured in Jacob's direction. "There's always someone watching."
"It will get better. One way or another."
"What is that supposed to mean—"
Lillian was back in the doorway. "That was Abigail. There's been a killing... a homeless man in Chicago. She thinks it's Watcher activity. They're forming a team to investigate and bringing in another Horseman from the area. She wants us there tonight so she can fill us in on the details. I told her we'd come directly at the end of our shift."
"But I can't," Malini said. "I'm still grounded. I've got to go straight home."
"I'll talk to your father, Malini," Lillian said. "I'll explain you need to stay late."
"You mean you'll lie for me, again. What if we get caught? One more slip up and my father could lock me up and throw away the key."
Lillian glanced at Jacob who folded his arms across his chest, jaw clenched. "That's a chance we'll all have to take. It's the price of being a Soulkeeper," she said.
Malini slammed her knife down on the workbench and shot them both a dirty look.
"Excuse me," she said. "I need to use the restroom." She walked quickly, afraid the sting in her eye would turn into something more. The door closed behind her.
"Malini," she heard Jacob call. She pretended she couldn't hear him.
"Was it something I said," Lillian asked.
"Mom, could you be a little more sensitive. She's not…"
Jacob didn't have to finish. Everyone knew exactly what he meant. She wasn't a Soulkeeper. After months of meeting with Dr. Silva, of mysterious herbal concoctions, physical tests, and more talking than she'd cared to do, nobody knew what she was. The worst part was, no one would admit what she suspected all along: she was nothing. She wasn't a Soulkeeper. No matter how often they included her, or how many tests they did, it wouldn't change the truth. She was nothing more than an ordinary human girl with an overdeveloped sense of smell that just so happened to allow her to detect fallen angels.
* * * * *
Malini, Lillian, and Jacob arrived at Dr. Silva's gothic Victorian in Jacob's dilapidated blue pick-up truck. Once they were far enough into the thick of the maple orchard, the budding trees provided enough cover to camouflage the vehicle. Each of them had told a story about where they were supposed to be that afternoon. Each of them lied.
"Just in time." Dr. Silva held the sunroom door open for them. Her pale eyes were as disturbing as ever but the jeans and pink Henley she wore were a far cry from the head-to-toe black she insisted on wearing before she met Jacob. "Gideon and I are going to open the portal. We need to do it in the tower where there's more space and less chance of prying eyes. Come." She tossed her platinum hair over her shoulder and led the way through the kitchen.
Malini followed, down the hall, and up the stairs to the library. A tapestry of the four horsemen of the apocalypse hung on the wall. She balked when she saw Dr. Silva charge through it.
Jacob took her hand. "Close your eyes and jump. Trust me," he whispered into her ear. "The wall's an illusion."
Reluctantly, she followed his instructions, opening her eyes in a small room on the other side. The floor was wood. A spiral staircase made of wrought iron twisted up the center.
"Where are we?" she asked.
"In the tower," Jacob replied, tugging on Malini's hand to usher her up the spiral after Lillian.
"In all the time I've been visiting Dr. Silva, she's never taken me here," Malini said.
"I'm sure she has her reasons."
"Just like you're sure she has her reasons for blowing off our training sessions or wasting my time chatting for hours about nothing."
Jacob shrugged.
At the top of the stairs was a large room with a sanded wood floor and windows that stretched to the ceiling like a lighthouse. A desk and bookcase lined the inner wall where the tower was connected to the house and a telescope stood next to the windows. Gideon waited in the center of the cleared space in his angel form, his wings folded against his body. His glow cast the room in a bluish-white aura.
"Hello Jacob, Lillian, Malini," he said, nodding his head of wild auburn hair in their direction. His green eyes lingered on Malini who was embarrassed to be caught staring. It was hard to look away from Gideon when he wasn't in his usual form of Dr. Silva's red cat.
"Nice to see you again, Gideon," she said, breaking the awkward silence.
"Shall we get started?" Dr. Silva grabbed two wooden staffs that leaned up against the wall by the desk. She handed one to Gideon. "If everyone would stand back, we'll bring in our other team member."
Malini took a step toward the windows. Dr. Silva and Gideon faced each other, tapped the staffs together and then pulled them apart. Their muscles strained with the effort. Between the two staffs, thin blue fibers stretched like electric taffy. A girl formed within the blue web. She stepped out, looking around the room as if she'd landed on another planet. Gideon and Dr. Silva closed the portal behind her.
To Malini, the new horseman was the one who looked alien. She guessed the girl was not much older than herself. She wore a hooded leather jacket over a clingy, gray sleeveless t-shirt and skinny jeans. Her lips were too red, the lower one pierced with a metal stud. A hot pink streak of hair fell from her widow's peak to her chin. As the girl turned to face Gideon, Malini noticed a tattoo on her neck under her jet-black ponytail, but from where she stood she couldn't make out the details. Everything about her was hard, tough, unarguably a Horseman.
But she also had a figure. She reminded Malini of one of those girls in a video game, all muscles and boobs. If that wasn't enough to make Malini feel inadequate, the girl's roving peeps landed on Jacob. Her eyes worked their way from his head to his feet, then back up again. When she reached his face, she stood up straighter.
Malini tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and hugged her stomach. Maybe, after this, she could start working out.
"This is our new Horseman, Mara Kane. She comes from Chicago. She witnessed the kill."
Mara did not attempt to shake anyone's hand. Instead she reached inside her jacket and pulled out a sucker, the cheap kind they gave away free at the bank. She yanked the wrapper off the red candy top and popped it in her mouth. She rolled it across her tongue as she turned toward Dr. Silva. "When do we start?"
"It's nice to meet you, Mara," Lillian said with exaggerated zeal. She extended her hand to the girl who shook it without enthusiasm.
The prompt spurred a rash of similar greetings from the others. Malini smiled and nodded to be polite.
"Perhaps each of you Horseman can demonstrate your gifts," Dr. Silva said. "Jacob, you first."
Jacob removed the flask he kept strapped to his ankle and stepped to the center of the room. Into his hand he poured a pillar of water that rotated in his palm before freezing and reshaping into a double-edged sword. He maneuvered the weapon around his body so quickly Malini saw only flashes of white. When he'd completed a turn around the room, he tossed the blade into the air. It rotated to the ceiling where it exploded into a billion bits of white.
Snow floated down overhead, fluffy white flakes that settled on everything. Mara caught one in her palm but before she could close her fingers, Jacob whistled. The flake jumped from her hand and flew across the room to Jacob's waiting flask. The remaining flakes followed, until every drop returned to its origin. He screwed the lid back on.
Malini clapped excitedly until she realized she was the only one applauding.
"Nicely done, Jacob," Dr. Silva said. "Lillian?"
In a flash, Lillian do
ve forward, executing a series of handsprings between the other Horsemen before landing with a short knife in each hand. Malini noticed the sheaths at her thighs, but hadn't seen her draw the weapons. Slicing at the air in a whirlwind of acrobatics, she kicked up a random piece of paper from the desk against the wall. Her knives worked swiftly as it floated to the floor. When she was done, she sheathed the knives and lifted the paper up to the light. In perfectly carved letters it said, Hello, Mara. Welcome to Paris.
Malini applauded again. She couldn't help herself. Lillian smiled and nodded in her direction.
"That's cool," Mara said around her sucker. She sounded bored.
"Mara, your turn," Dr. Silva said.
Mara pulled the candy from her mouth and folded it into the saved wrapper. She stuffed it back into her pocket.
Then she disappeared.
"What the hell?" Jacob rushed forward, toward the spot where she'd been.
Malini felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around. Mara stood behind her, close enough that turning had caused her to brush the edge of her open jacket. There was something in her hand, something metal with a wooden handle. Malini tried to see what it was but in the blink of an eye Mara was gone again.
Jacob's laugh brought Malini's attention back to the center of the room. Mara's arm was around his neck, the metal object enclosed in a fist in the center of his back.
"Is it super-speed?" Lillian asked.
"Invisibility?" Jacob guessed.
In a flash, Mara was gone again, reappearing a moment later standing on Dr. Silva's desk. With her hands on her hips, she flashed a smug grin. "Guess again."
The answer popped into Malini's head without any effort on her part. "She's stopping time."
Everyone turned toward Malini.
"How did you figure it out?" Gideon asked in a deep bass that reverberated in the circular room.
Malini rubbed her hands together, uncomfortable with the attention, and tried to answer honestly. "It just popped into my head. But, now that I think about it, I noticed that the papers on the desk didn't move. Invisible or not, if she'd moved fast enough to get across the room that quickly, she would have upset the stack on the corner. She must have got up there carefully which would have taken time, time she must have made for herself."
Mara retrieved the sucker from her pocket, unwrapped it noisily, and slid it into the side of her mouth. "She's smarter than she looks."
Malini folded her arms against the backhanded compliment.
"How does it work?" Jacob asked, oblivious to the tension between the two girls.
Mara rolled her eyes as if Jacob's question marked him as a complete oaf. She held out her hand. The metal object that Malini glimpsed was cradled in her fingers.
"An enchanted bell?" Jacob asked.
"The bell isn't enchanted, I am," she scoffed. She lowered her chin in Jacob's direction. "Well, if you count being a Horseman enchanted. I can use any bell. It's the act of my ringing it that stops and restarts time."
Malini watched a blush crawl across Jacob's cheeks. Mara had embarrassed him on purpose. Jacob hadn't met any other Horsemen. He didn't know how it worked. It wasn't his fault he thought it was the bell. She suspected Mara enjoyed correcting Jacob. It probably made her feel good about herself.
Worse, she was afraid the blush on Jacob's face was from more than just embarrassment. Malini didn't usually make snap judgments about people, but she didn't like this new Soulkeeper. In fact, at the moment, if Mara had burst into flames, someone else would've had to put her out.
"Something wrong, Malini?" Gideon asked. He'd filed in next to her, following the other Soulkeepers toward the spiral staircase.
Up ahead, Mara walked side by side with Jacob. She was laughing too loudly. Jacob wasn't that funny.
"Look how she touches him every two seconds. What's that all about?" Malini complained.
"It appears Mara is physically attracted to Jacob," Gideon said.
"Thank you, Mr. Obvious. Would you like a spoon to gouge my heart out with?"
"I'm sensing sarcasm in your voice, Malini. Were you expecting me to lie to you? I'm not familiar with all of your human conventions yet. Abigail is much better at untruths than I am."
Malini sighed and stopped Gideon at the top of the stairs. "I don't want you to lie, but some reassurance would be nice."
"He loves you, Malini." Gideon's eyes grew wide with the statement. "Clearly, he does. He does not return her affections."
"Hmph. How do you know for sure? LOOK at her! And she's a Horseman, just like him."
"Beauty is subjective and you are a Soulkeeper of some kind." Gideon laid a hand on her shoulder and her entire body was infused with warmth.
"I'm not. If I were, Dr. Silva would have figured it out by now. Gideon, she doesn't even meet with me any more. She makes excuse after excuse and is obviously uncomfortable around me. She knows. I'm nothing."
"Sometimes these things happen in their own time. You must not give up. You must trust that you were put here for a reason."
"Really?"
"Yes."
Malini started down the steps. "What you angels fail to admit is sometimes the reason is to take a bullet for someone else."
He nodded in agreement.
"I hate it when you agree with me."
They reached the base of the staircase. Malini was about to jump through the wall when Gideon nudged her arm.
"Malini, remember that I am an angel in love with someone I have never been able to touch, someone I thought was worth...everything. When I came for Abigail, I knew I might be throwing away eternity for the chance at a life I might never earn. How much more must Jacob love you? You, who have proven yourself to be his purpose and his destiny. You, who he can touch and hold. Nothing stands in your way but a few years and your parent's fleeting punishment. Why should you worry?"
Tears welled in Malini's eyes as she thought about the centuries Gideon had waited for Dr. Silva and the day in Nod when Jacob had said he was her destiny, her protector. She thought of the parchment given to her by a Buddhist monk when she was six. On it was the Sanskrit word apas, meaning water. The monk told her it was her destiny. She knew now that it meant Jacob.
"You're right," she said. She had no reason to be jealous. She had no reason to be anything but thankful. "Jacob and I were meant for each other. No one can come between us."
Gideon smiled. "Not unless you let them."
He led the way to the other side of the wall.
Chapter 3
The Mission
The group of Soulkeepers moved to the parlor where Dr. Silva said they would be more comfortable. Certainly the plush seats were better than standing in the tower. She'd brought out some tea and lemonade, along with a tray of cookies that smelled strongly of dark spices. Malini remembered the tea Dr. Silva had made her drink in Nod, how whatever was in it made her heart race like it wanted out of her chest. She decided to stick to the lemonade. Dr. Silva was a whiz at creating herbal concoctions with medicinal properties. Usually she used them for the greater good. Usually.
When they were settled, Dr. Silva spread a newspaper on the coffee table. The headline read: SERIAL KILLER BAFFLES CHICAGO PD.
"There's a killer in Chicago," Dr. Silva began. "There've been four deaths so far. The police believe a psychopath is murdering homeless people. We believe there is a Watcher living in the city, feeding in order to stay above ground. Our mission is to find and kill the Watcher before it strikes again."
"How do you know it was a Watcher and not a human murderer?" Jacob asked.
Mara chewed what remained of her sucker and tossed the stick on Dr. Silva's silver tray. "That would be because of me. I live in the area and I felt…drawn to the last kill. I didn't see the killing but when I arrived, the wounds were fresh. The police hadn't been there yet to mess up the scene for me. Every instinct I had told me it was a Watcher. I stopped time and searched for the monster until my power was exhausted but I couldn't find it."
>
"I thought most Horsemen couldn't sense Watchers?" Malini said.
"They can't," Dr. Silva explained, "But they can sense evil. They are drawn to it like a moth to a flame."
"But what makes you so sure?" Lillian asked Mara. "Instinct can be wrong. If you didn't see it—"
"The flesh had been stripped away," Mara rattled off, "and the throat cut. The police think the throat was cut first and it was rats that ate away the flesh after the death. I was there. The cuts were clean. The rats came after. Watchers always eat their victims alive. I think the injury on the neck was to cover the marks from crushing his wind pipe so no one could hear him scream."
Malini shuddered in disgust and Jacob placed his hand over hers on her thigh.
"I'm sorry I upset your delicate sensibilities," Mara said through a cynical grin. "Hey, what's your gift anyway, besides emanating super-sweet feminine energy?"
"Mara, I don't know how things are where you come from but here that was incredibly rude. Malini is in training. She doesn't know what she is yet and she isn't jaded like you are." Lillian scooted to the edge of the couch, leaning toward Mara and meeting her eyes.
Mara didn't apologize. Instead, she locked eyes with Lillian in an unblinking challenge.
"We should have properly introduced Malini upstairs," Dr. Silva said. "Lillian, Mara has been the only Soulkeeper in Chicago for some time. You have to agree that the stress of this find might cause any of us to react in ways we normally wouldn't."
"Of course," Lillian said. She blinked and looked away, effectively ending the stare-off.
Mara fixated on the zipper of her jacket, flipping the silver pull forward and back between her fingers. "I'm sorry," she said toward the floor.
Malini sighed. "It's okay."
Jacob's attention bounced between them like a doubles tennis match. He finally exchanged frustrated looks with Gideon. "So, what can we do? How do we find and stop it?"
