“We can get lucky with the first few that come in,” said Miles. “But when the others catch on, they’ll avoid that general area.”
They each poured themselves another cup of coffee, and we settled into waiting silence again. After a while, Ruby pulled out the grimoire and looked through it while Miles, Noah, Cee Cee and I discussed strategies. About every fifteen minutes, Noah got up and checked all the windows in the house. This went on for around forty-five minutes.
I saw Lyla stir from the couch. She rubbed her eyes and yawned and then looked around. She got up and went to the laundry room, the bathroom and then upstairs.
Ruby sat up in her chair, a smile on her lips. “This could work,” she whispered.
“What do you have?” said Miles.
She turned the book toward Miles and pointed to an illustration of hooded figures in a field, fighting a battle against men in armor. Their hands were raised, and the figure in the lead held a small object in his or her hand. The opposing side had bodies strewn about the field, their souls above their bodies. But instead of the souls floating away, it looked like the souls were being pulled back into their bodies. Other soldiers stood beside the hooded figures, and instead of fighting them, they turned on their fellow soldiers.
“Read the notes in the margin,” said Ruby.
Miles read: “The Heart of Charlemagne may only be used by a pure descendant. Whosoever uses the Heart to return a soul back to the body will become master of that soul.” He looked up from the book. “My God. We need that Heart.”
“Get it back, Miles, and she can do this,” said Ruby, pointing at me.
“Me?”
Miles had a faraway look in his eyes.
“Miles?” said Ruby.
“That’s what Ben saw,” he murmured. He glanced at Noah and quickly looked back at the book. “Father Ben had told me once that he saw you, Leigh, in a great battle against angels. Of course he was talking about the Nephilim.
“I don’t like the sound of that,” said Cee Cee, crossing herself.
“Charmagne used the Heart. Is she a pure descendant?” I said.
“No,” said Miles. “But she absorbed enough of your ability, enough of your essence, that she can use it.”
“Have her do it. It’ll work. I know it will!” said Ruby. “I’ll perform the spell for her while she holds the Heart. It’ll be charged, and as we take ‘em down, she can bring ‘em back and make ‘em fight for us.”
“Wait,” I said. “If I return all those souls, won’t that turn me to the Dark Side?”
“No,” said Noah. “These are already Dark Ones. We can do whatever it takes to destroy them. Their souls weren’t going to God anyway.”
“Okay,” I said with resolve. “I’ll do whatever it takes.”
***
“I don’t think they’re coming tonight, Miles. They would have been here hours ago,” said Ruby, stifling a yawn.
Miles shook his head. “Charmagne wants this over with. They’ll come.”
It was nearing 4:00. We had already gone through two pots of coffee as we plotted our defense. I went upstairs to check on Lyla, but when I opened the door to her room, she wasn’t in bed. I checked the bathroom, my room, and the other bedroom at the end of the hall. I made the panic sit in its place before I jumped to any conclusions. I hurried down the stairs and checked the bathroom near the laundry room. She wasn’t there. Clothilde’s door was closed, and I hated to open it, but if Lyla was anywhere in the house, she would be in there.
It was so dark in the room. It felt like Clothilde was asleep and I was just sneaking in. I turned on the light, but did not see Lyla. Clothilde’s body, her empty vessel, lay on the bed with the sheet covering it. The room felt so very empty. I gently shut the door and returned to the kitchen.
“Have you guys seen Lyla?” I noticed the panic had crept up to my throat, but I didn’t care.
“Where did you last see her?” said Cee Cee.
“I saw her go upstairs, but she’s not there. She’s not down here that I can see either.”
“Where’s Smittens?” Hearing Lyla’s voice, I turned around to see her coming from the laundry room.
“Where were you?!” That came out sounding harsher than I had intended, but anger was quickly replacing panic.
“I was just looking for Smittens! I thought she might’ve gone outside.”
“You were outside?”
“Just on the back steps! I can’t find her!”
“When we went outside to the pond earlier, the cat followed us,” said Noah. “Sorry. I didn’t think it would be a problem.”
Lyla stormed off toward the front door. I ran ahead of her, blocking her exit. “No!” I said.
“I have to get her! What if they get her first?!”
“They not after her, my baby,” said Cee Cee. “She gonna be alright. Come sit down with us.”
Lyla ignored her and pushed me as hard as she could. I grabbed her wrists and kept her off of me. “That’s enough, Lyla! You’re not going out there!”
“I need to get her!”
“I can go get her,” said Noah, getting up from the table.
Lyla kicked me. I yelled and fell against my grandfather’s chair, holding my shin. Lyla tore open the door and ran out.
I followed, trying my best to keep up with her. I saw the cat sitting on the edge of the pond. And I noticed something in the distance.
“Leigh!” It was Noah yelling behind me.
My eyes caught something on the horizon. I stopped in horror. A dozen nephils ripped through the sky, headed toward the house.
“LYLA! STOP!” I chased after her. Noah was about to pass me up.
The nephil in the lead swooped low, aiming for Lyla. And then something extraordinary happened. Smittens jumped into the air and transformed into a cougar, grabbing the nephil with its claws and bringing it down, tearing it to pieces.
Noah passed me up, pulling off his shirt as he ran, and then leaped off the ground. Glorious amethyst-colored wings unfurled from his shoulders. In mid-air, he tackled a nephil that was about to snatch up Lyla. I grabbed her and ushered her back toward the house as Ruby came forth with her staff to stop another nephil. I had just enough time to see it crash to the ground without Ruby ever laying a hand on it. Cee Cee helped me get Lyla into the house while Miles ran to help the others. The cougar became a house cat again, and it followed us inside.
As soon as Cee Cee closed the door, she poured some more brick dust in front of it. A loud thud hit the other side of the door. We were headed for the stairs when a nephil crashed one of the glass windows in the living room. Smittens growled. I passed Lyla off to Cee Cee, and I raised my hands toward the nephil. It crumpled in a heap to the ground outside.
The three of us ran upstairs to Lyla’s room and hid her in the closet. She curled into a ball, clutching Smittens to her chest.
“I have to help them,” I told Cee Cee.
“Go, my baby! I’ll stay with her!”
Outside, the battle seemed bleak. Noah had taken two nephils at once. Miles looked drained. A half dozen Nephilim lay scattered in the yard and the pond.
I used my ability to pull one of them off of Noah. I heard noise on the roof and turned to see two of them ripping the shingles off. I killed one, and the other came for me. Ruby killed that one by throwing dust on it. The angel screamed and burst into flames, quickly dissolving to ash.
Miles finished one off, and I looked with dread in the distance as I saw more coming. But something seemed off. The one in the lead was being attacked by the others. He was holding something in his hand. A moment later I realized it was Ridge. He came down at a steep angle as the others trailed him. I drained the life from the one closest to him. It gave Ridge just enough of an edge to escape, but his wings soon gave out, and he fell about thirteen stories and landed in the driveway, near the pond.
Three nephils descended upon him. Noah ran to the mob and tackled one, breaking its neck, while Miles and Ruby
took care of the other two.
Ridge lay on his back, his violet wings torn, his face bloodied, claw marks on his body. I put my energy into him enough to bring him around, but I stopped when Miles removed my hands and nodded toward the trees near the pond. The Guardians moved toward us.
Ridge’s breathing was labored. His eyes found mine. His voice bubbled with fluid. “The Heart.” He coughed. A little blood spattered across his lips. His fingers reached for a small package on the ground near him. I recognized the ancient brown linen when he placed it in my hand.
His breath hitched. “They’re coming soon.” He coughed up more blood.
Ruby laid her hands upon him and whispered a spell to keep him from being in too much pain. He closed his eyes and slipped away. The Guardians took his soul with them.
Noah looked saddened.
Miles said, “Ruby. The grimoire.”
She ran inside the house to retrieve the book and met us at the pond where there were at least sixteen bodies, and Noah tossed more into the water. He stopped after the last body and stared up into the sky over the sugar cane field. “Incoming!”
With the aid of the moon, I could make out small shadows on the horizon, like a distant flock of birds coming our way.
Miles looked at me, his eyes pleading.
“I think … I think I can do it,” I said.
“You can,” insisted Ruby.
Miles held the book open for Ruby while she and I held our hands around the Heart. She recited the spell, and I felt a burst of energy surge through me.
I faced the pond, holding the Heart of Charlemagne before me, and began to pull every bit of energy from my core. Raising the dead did not provide the same sense of cold despair that taking a life does. It felt like I was healing, but magnified by a thousand. The heat expanded from my core, a wild flame spreading throughout my body, forged by the Heart of my ancestor. I was an untamed phoenix, catching the wind, soaring above the madness. I could lay claim to the land and seas and catch the world on fire, if I set off one little spark of my power at that moment.
The water in the pond bubbled. Steam rose from the surface. The bodies of the Nephilim ascended, limp and dripping wet. Before my eyes, they began to move in their suspended state. Their eyes opened. Their wings extended. They lifted their heads and looked at me—a small army of maybe twenty awaiting my command.
“What now?” I whispered to Ruby.
“Order them to attack!”
I looked out upon the waiting Nephilim. “Attack our enemies!”
They took off as fast as their wings would carry them, fully charging at the incoming nephils over the sugar cane field.
“That is really cool,” I murmured.
We ran to join them and watched as the Nephilim fought their brothers and sisters. It was a chaotic battle in the night sky as they ripped each other apart. We aided them, taking down a half dozen.
With the aid of our winged warriors, our side won, leaving over twenty Nephilim dead on the charred field. About a dozen or so retreated. There were just nine left of the Nephilim I had risen. They took their places at my side.
“Where are they going?” I asked one of them.
“To New Orleans. To wait for Gadriel and Charmagne,” she hissed.
“How many more Nephilim are there?”
“Many, many more.” A smile crossed her pale lips. They may have been following my orders, but there was no doubt they still hated us. “She wanted to make sure to destroy you all,” she continued, smiling again with a hungry look in her golden eyes. “There will be no end to your suffering. Our legion will rule this world. Your kind will die. You will—”
“Go stand over there and shut up,” I told her.
“We won’t have much time,” said Ruby.
“Everyone inside for now,” said Miles. “Except for our friends here.”
***
While everyone regrouped, I checked in on Lyla. She was in her bedroom closet with Smittens curled up in her lap, purring. The cat had blood on her fur, and her amber eyes studied mine. I was sure the cougar was the same one I saw out in the bayou, the one I healed.
“That’s some cat you have there,” I said. “Did you know she could do that?”
Lyla looked numb. “No. Is it over?”
I shook my head. “Not yet.”
She cast her eyes downward on Smittens and stroked her fur. She purred happily, not a care in the world.
“Are you hungry or anything?”
She shook her head.
“We don’t have much time, Lyla, but I want to talk to you about what happened with Maw Maw Clo.” I should have been with the others, coming up with battle plans, but I was afraid I’d never be able to talk to her again.
She pulled her closet door shut. I pulled it back. “Please listen to me. I—”
“Why didn’t you let me save her?!” Her sudden outburst startled Smittens off of her lap, and she jumped onto the bed.
“Because she was beyond the point of saving. She knew that. She told me not to let you help her.”
“But she’d still be here!” Tears formed in her eyes.
I knelt beside her. She tried to close the door again, but I held it open. “Yes. She’d still be here, but you’d be different. You’d be like what I am now.”
She tried to keep from crying, but tears trickled anyway.
Then I realized something. “You are like me. Aren’t you?”
She said nothing.
“When Maw Maw Clo was leaving us, you said ‘Don’t let them take her.’ You saw them, didn’t you? Tall people who looked like they were made of light?”
She shrugged.
I looked up at the ceiling, not angry, but speechless for a minute. “Who was it, Lyla? Who did you save?”
Her voice was so small when she said, “Jonathan.” I heard the lump in her throat.
“What happened?”
A couple more tears streaked down her face. It was a long time before she answered me. “There’s a boy at school. He’s one of us. We were all playing by the bayou. He showed us how he can make lightning with his hands, and Jon got electrocuted. He couldn’t breathe. I kept trying to heal him, but I couldn’t. I yelled at him to wake up, but he didn’t. I tried healing him again, as hard as I could. Then he opened his eyes, and I passed out after that. When I woke up, he was crying because he thought I was dead.”
I put my arm around her shoulder.
“I’m sorry. Maw Maw Clo warned me about bringing back someone who died, but I didn’t want him to be dead! He’s my best friend!”
“It’s okay, baby,” I murmured. “I would have done the same thing.”
“I know I wasn’t supposed to try to help Maw Maw, but I didn’t want her to die. I’m going to be alone now.” She began to sob.
I hugged her to my side. “Is that what you think? Honey, I’m still here, and so are Uncle Lucas, and Jonathan and Carrie. We’re a family, baby. Nothing will change that.” As I said those words, I remembered being about her age when Clothilde said the same thing to me after my mom died. How do you convince an eleven-year-old that everything will be okay when their world is falling apart around them? Jesus, how do you convince anyone of that?
“Leigh!”
It was Miles, calling me from downstairs.
I took a moment to hug Lyla and kiss her head. “Hey,” I softly said to her. She picked up her head and looked at me with her red eyes and wet cheeks. “I will come back for you. Okay?”
She sniffled and nodded. Before I left her room, I looked at Smittens, hesitated, and then took her off the bed and put her back with Lyla in the closet and closed the door.
Miles was waiting for me at the foot of the stairs. “We have to hurry,” he said, motioning for me to follow him to the kitchen table where someone had used Clothilde’s good white linen table cloth to draw a rough map of her property and the surrounding area. My first thought was that it was a good thing she was dead. Noah, Cee Cee and Ruby were studying
the map. Noah had a black marker in his hand, so I suspected he was the one who just broke Clothilde’s stopped heart.
I heard voices outside and then laughter as Felix came in through the front door, followed by Aimee, Casper, Alex, Oscar, Olivia, Sonja and Saul. Relief washed over me, and I think I smiled for the first time in days. Even Ruby jumped up and grinned. Cee Cee crossed herself and said, “Thank you, Jesus!” Miles and Noah looked more solemn, but I could see in their eyes that their hearts were lightened.
Casper smiled politely, looking around the living room. “What a quaint little home,” he said to me. It’s the kind of compliment you give when you want to be just polite enough. I smiled back, not caring in the least if we left a bitter spot on his Eurocentric tongue. I was just grateful he was here to help, though I’m sure he needed much coaxing from Felix and the others. Most likely a favor or two had to be called in.
“Nice bunch of Nephilim you have there,” said Alex, grinning. “Love that wet dog smell!”
“They look about as loyal as a pack of rabid Rottweilers,” said Oscar.
“Don’t worry,” I said, “I have ‘em under control. It’s good to see you guys.”
Alex clapped me on the back. “No way we’d miss this!”
“All of you, gather around the table,” called Miles. “Felix, have you heard from any of your contacts?”
“Last I heard, they had left Normandy with the last couple of nephils they could find and they were flying toward the states. That was several hours ago.”
“How many do they have?” said Noah.
Felix paused, a hesitant look in his eyes. “A couple hundred or so.”
None of the others said anything, but I saw the dread on their faces.
“How long does it take for them to fly across the Atlantic?” I said.
“Faster than an airplane,” said Saul. “Once they get to the states, it would take them maybe an hour to get here.”
“They’re probably somewhere over the Southeast right now,” said Sonja.
Cee Cee slapped her hand down on the table. “Well let’s get to it!
Noah gestured toward the map. “I did a fly over of the area. This is what we have to work with. I’ve included the tree lines and any body of water. That pond won’t be enough to hold all of them, but if we can get them back here, on the other side of this field, there’s a sort of swampy area. We’d stand a better chance there.”
Nancy K. Duplechain - Dark Trilogy 03 - Dark Legacy Page 25
