Taking a few steps back she watched the kids and pretended to think about it. I knew her pretty well, and she was also judging us. “Looks to me like Bits is winning!”
“You picked her because she’s a girl!” Ben yelled.
“I picked her because she’s winning!”
Bastian fist pumped at exactly the wrong time and got nailed in the forehead with Bits’ swing seat. He groaned and put a hand to his head, but managed to recover on the next swing.
“That’s gonna leave a mark.” Lincoln laughed.
While Ben swung forward, I leaned over and poked him hard just under his ribs, and he twisted away in time to miss Tim’s back swing.
“Now Ben’s winning!”
“Because Fisch cheated!” Lincoln yelled, pushing hard to get back his first place.
I was laughing too hard to see his attack, which was the same as mine, and I lost a full swing. “Damn it!”
“Bits wins the height part of the competition! She gets one free cleaning from me. Now, I want dismounts!” Ellie called. “One at a time! Tim, you first! This is good for their own box of ice cream bars.”
“Hey!” I called. “I want my own!”
“You have millions of dollars in the bank, Dad, buy your own!” Ellie tossed the words at me without any malice. “When you’re ready, Timo!”
The name was on purpose. He hated it, and Ellie did it to fuel his jump. “Don’t call me that!” He launched out of swing and arched perfectly through the air, bending his back to get his torso over his legs at the sudden stop the ground provided.
Ellie wouldn’t have let him fall anyway.
He tossed his hands in the air and Lincoln started applauding. “He sticks the landing! Nine point nine five!”
“Bits! You’re next.” Ellie moved to stand in front of her and waited.
Tabitha arched high and instead of landing like her brother, she twisted midair, curling forward to get the same leverage, and hit the ground facing Bastian.
“Bravo!” Bastian yelled. “Nine point nine six!”
She stuck her tongue out at her brother and walked out of the way.
“Ben, you’re up!” Ellie pointed to her brother with a huge grin.
Ever since we got him home a week and a half ago, he’d absolutely blossomed. He listened, he did his chores, he did his homework, he was always ready and dressed for school on time. Once or twice I’d caught him just sitting in his doorway, smiling and reading a book. He’d already scored a 90 on a spelling test he only had one day to study for. Wren was thrilled, personally and professionally, and was writing an observation paper on him.
His Cars-themed gotcha party had been yesterday, and we were just burning off the extra energy the kids had at the park today. They’d been bouncy all day, so we just grabbed everyone and found a playset.
“Ready, man?” Ellie was in place to catch him whatever happened.
Lincoln and Bastian snuck up on me and poked my sides. I screamed and missed the push, but Ben was ready anyway. He twisted and leapt off at the top of the swing and sailed into the air. I could see he was going for the full 360 to land facing his sister.
The rip that sounded through the air tossed us all to the ground—with the exception of Ben who was snatched out of midair by a massive red hand with deadly claws on the tips.
I forced myself up off the ground even though I felt like I’d just been hit by a speed steamroller. Ben was screaming, and there was a quivering black line in the air above us, desperately trying to seal itself.
Glancing around, I followed the sound of Ben’s screams to a massive black and red creature that looked like some sort of…well. It looked like the rancor from Return of the Jedi. It lopped around on three legs, holding Ben tightly in its fist.
“What the fuck is that?” Bastian gasped, holding his arms over his stomach.
“I have no Goddamn idea.” I glanced back at Ellie and she was crawling to her feet. “But it’s not good, and it’s got Ben.” I moved myself as quickly as possible over to where she and the twins were trying to get themselves together.
“Get up, come on,” I said, wrapping my arm around her waist. “Come on, get the twins over to Wren.”
“Where’s Ben?”
“Get the twins to Wren!” I snapped.
The rancor-ish thing roared and Ellie whipped around, her eyes going wide as she did. There was a dark, strange flash around us, and when the light came back, Ellie was holding her flameblade and her wings were folded back against her.
Wren was suddenly there, her anjir blade in hand, wrapping her free arm around the twins and pulling them back. “Go, Ellie, go!”
Bastian and Lincoln were there next. Lincoln with his anjir blade and Bastian with his rifle.
“Where the hell did that come from?” I snapped.
“Same place as the swords.” He shrugged. “I’m better with the gun.”
“Will a gun kill a demon?” Lincoln asked.
“Dunno.”
“Ellie’s going to need help,” I said.
Wren looked at the three of us. “I’m going. Stay here. Protect those two.”
“Temperance!” I barked the name, but she was already halfway to where Ellie was standing, sword raised and blazing in the growing sunset.
“Hell,” Lincoln swore.
Wren side-stepped to the right of Ellie, her sword low. The demon growled at her, and then at Ellie and then snapped it’s jaws at Ben. From what I could see, Ben was frozen in fear, and he wasn’t going to be able to take part in his own rescue.
The creature grabbed for Ellie and she jumped back, but brought the sword up to swipe at it. As it was focused on her, I saw Wren stab it in the hind quarters.
It turned around and snapped at her, just as Ben seemed to come out of his stupor and scream at the top of his lungs.
Ellie took the opportunity to slash down the flank and stab it in the foot—but it turned back in time to snap at her, and grab the blade. She was stuck for a second, then got yanked up off the ground with the sword.
“Turn it,” Wren called. “Push it in!”
Wings snapping out to stabilize herself, Ellie adjusted on the sword and pushed forward, turning. The blade slipped between the creature’s teeth and found contact on the roof of its mouth.
Screaming, it dropped its jaw and lunged for Ellie again, but this time, Ellie wasn’t there. She was above the thing, her wings hovering her there, while it whipped around at Wren and started to lunge again.
“Call Miriam,” Bastian said. “Call Laxmi. Call someone!”
Lincoln had his phone out, and I groaned. They needed help, and they needed help now. I didn’t even know if the texts and phone calls were going to be enough, because as I watched, the thing swept down at Wren and took her feet out from under her.
I reached back and with the intent that Lily had told us we needed, I pulled my own anjir blade out from behind me.
“What are you doing?” Bastian gasped.
“Someone has to help.” I stood and got ready to run over to them.
Before I could take a step, and to all of our complete horror, Tim shot forward out of Lincoln’s grip and grabbed the sword. He ran as fast as he could away from us, toward the creature, holding the weapon like it weighed nothing.
“Oh my God,” Lincoln yelled. “Timothy, come back here!”
He started to stand and give chase when there was another rip followed by a deafening bang, and both Miriam and Laxmi stood there in full versilange regalia.
Miriam put a hand on Lincoln’s shoulder to keep him from running, while Laxmi ran into the fight that was getting slightly out of hand.
“Let him go,” Miriam said. “We won’t let anything happen to him.”
“He’s seven!” Linc snapped.
“He’s versilange,” she replied. “Even if he hasn’t been called yet.”
“Miriam!” I barked. “Stop being mystical! He’s a child! Versilange or not!”
“Watch.”
I hadn’t stopped watching. Lincoln was riveted and Bastian clutched Tabitha to him as they watched as well.
Wren had pulled Timothy close to her, and they were…glowing? A pale white blue color, faint, that shimmered and danced around them like a hologram.
“They looked like force-ghosts,” Bits whispered, and glanced back at Bastian. “Like Obi-Wan.”
He nodded. “They do…”
And glancing over at Laxmi, who was next to Ellie, there was a faint red glow around them, dancing just like the blue around Wren and Tim.
“What the hell…” Bastian whispered.
“What is that thing?” I asked.
Miriam had her flameblade at the ready, but she was clearly there to protect us from the fall out. “It’s a reekail, a pit demon. Set it on something, and it will do whatever it takes to capture it and return back to the pit.”
“Not with my son,” Lincoln growled, and started to stand.
“Hold on, Linc.” Miriam pushed him back down. “Always such a damn hot head.”
Ellie and Laxmi were constantly poking at the thing…reekail. Whatever. Poking and slashing and trying to get it to do something that would give Ellie, and possibly Tim, the chance to get Ben free of its hand. But it seemed the damn thing was a master of being able to split its attention two ways, and had a hide as thick as the foundation of Philadelphia’s City Hall.
“Ellie!” Laxmi screamed up at her counterpart in the fight. “Take Tim! Grab Tim!”
Ellie glanced down and saw Wren holding him by the arm, both of them swinging at the reekail. Ducking him down when it was needed, but letting him swing my sword fiercely at the damn thing.
Little warrior, already.
Ellie dropped next to Wren, and grabbed Tim’s other arm, with the sword. Wren let go, and Laxmi ran around the creature to grab Wren’s arm.
The blue and red glow crashed as they switched partners. Instead a purple, though, there was a blinding white flash that consumed everyone’s vision, as we desperately ducked away and tried to screw our eyes shut.
As fast as it appeared, it was gone, and our eyes didn’t suffer at all.
The reekail, however was howling in pain, holding Ben over his head, threatening to drop him—or smash him. Miriam bolted.
All four of them, Ellie, Laxmi, Wren, and Tim shoved their swords into the side of the reekail at the same time, and a shock of black tore through its hide. Since it was already screaming, it started to thrash as well, coming dangerously close to crushing one or all of them.
“Neck!” I screamed. “Stab the neck!”
The four of them clearly heard me, because as the creature turned away from them in its thrashing, they all slashed at the side of the neck: Wren and Laxmi bottom up, Ellie and Tim top down.
Another black flash ripped through the creature and dissipated into the air, washing over us as it faded.
The claw released, and Miriam had Ben in her arms.
Ellie drove the flameblade straight down into the top of the creature’s head, the crunch of bone clear as a bell through the evening air.
The reekail started to shrivel, and suck into itself, while making horrible dying noises, which was bizarre because I’d thought it was dead.
“Stay there!” Miriam yelled, seeing the four of us straightening up and getting ready to move toward her. She rushed back holding Ben to her, but it wasn’t fast enough.
The reekail’s overall existence seemed to fail, and there was a sharp pop and snap through reality. We were all blown backward, hard. Miriam managed to turn and keep Ben off the ground, while Bastian did the same with Tabitha. But we all hit hard as the last of the scream ripped the air and disappeared.
The silence that followed was deafening.
It took each of us a few moments of just lying there before we could even move.
Our breathing was loud, and finally roused me out of the dirt that I’d been slammed into.
And in the next moment, I was on my feet running to where the reekail had been. “Wren!” I looked around. “Ellie! Tim! Where are you?”
In some bushes, dozens of feet from where they had been, I saw someone sit up. Aiming for the shrubbery, I ran as fast as I could to where they appeared to be.
Ellie was rubbing her forehead, her wings and sword gone, regular clothes back in place. She had her arm around Tim and helped him sit up, dusty and ragged and tear stained. He was still holding my sword.
Taking the sword from him, carefully, I shoved it back in it’s nothing place and pulled him and Ellie into me.
“You okay?” I asked both of them at once.
Tim nodded, but Ellie was looking around. “Where’s Mom?”
“Here,” Wren managed around a cough. “I’m here. I’m okay. Where’s Laxmi?”
There was another cough and rustle to the right, in the bushes, and we all turned and looked.
Laxmi slowly pushed herself off the ground and scrubbed a hand over her face. “Fuck, that hurt.”
She whipped around and stared at us, her black eyes wide and—brilliant. Her hair whipped around her in a non-existent wind, and her skin glowed in way that was nothing like anything we’d seen before. A dizzy spell hit me—
…dark and terrible and glorious.
“I am Laxmi.”
“I don’t need another guardian!”
“You do not have a say in this. I am here by command of El. I am formed by his words.”
Wren stood. “I don’t need you. You followed me around as a little black cloud, go back to that.”
A gentle hand landed on her shoulder. “She is not for you, Temperance.” Miriam walked around, her smile benevolent and kind. “She is my counter. A dark guardian for my light.”
Wren looked put out. “You don’t need help.”
“I need balance. You need balance. We are here only to keep the balance in check around you. Your brother worries.”
“He worries about everything.”
Laxmi nodded. “And with me here, he will have to worry a little less about you.”
Miriam offered a hand to the other guardian. “Come, Laxmi. Let us learn how our balance will work.”…
“Holy shit…” Bastian breathed walking up behind us.
Miriam stood directly in front of Laxmi, who was now on her feet. They just stared at each other for a long, long moment, and finally, handing Ben off to me, Miriam held her hand out.
Laxmi touched her fingers to her palm.
There was a crack and a bang and they were gone.
Wren let out a breath we all didn’t realize we were also holding.
“She remembered.”
Wren
Ellie curled around her brother, and the sight was a relief.
What was even better was the other two kids in the room with them. Tim and Bits were on the floor, on an air mattress, already asleep.
“This is better than we hoped,” Fischer whispered.
I nodded, backing the men out of the room. I motioned them down the stairs. “This is much better than I’d hoped. I’m so glad the twins wanted in on this.”
“Me too,” Lincoln said, his lips curving into a smile.
“Laxmi really remembered?” Bastian asked.
Fischer shrugged. “Apparently. The blast from the reekail did it, jarring her memories loose. I suspect we won’t see them soon, if the look on their faces was anything to go by.”
“Yeah, inclined to agree.” I smirked and nodded. “We also learned something else tonight.”
“We did.” Fischer’s head bobbed, agreeing with me. Bastian gestured for him to elaborate. “Timothy is Ben’s other versilange. He won’t be called for a long time yet, but the way he and Ellie worked together made it clear. We haven’t been sure if it was him or Bits, but now...”
“Tabitha is also versilange, though…” Lincoln said. “Who does she belong to?”
I snapped around to him, because the answer charged into my head. “Paige’s baby.”
All three heads turned to me.
“I’m not saying that on a whim, guys. I’m serious. It was just,” I tapped my head, “in there. And I’m starting to trust that more and more. Tabitha is a versilange for Paige’s baby.”
“She’s scheduled the procedure for next week,” Fischer said.
“Fuck,” Lincoln hissed.
“We can’t interfere,” Bastian and I said at once.
“I know that,” Lincoln bit out. “But that doesn’t change the sentiment.”
“What the hell do we do?” Fischer asked.
“Nothing,” I whispered. “There is nothing we can do. Free will.”
All of them looked at me, and I put a hand to my head. “Shit. That was…just there as well. What the hell?”
“I think that blast affected you just as much as it affected Laxmi,” Fischer said.
“I still don’t remember anything.”
Fischer nodded. “Remember, Miriam said we were all far more deeply affected than she and Laxmi. So, while that might have been enough to jar Laxmi, it was only enough to crack you, and maybe us, open a bit.”
“Us?” Bastian asked.
“Admit it, as soon as Linc asked the question about Tabitha, it was in your head too.”
Lincoln raised his hand. “It was in mine before I even got the words out.”
*Ding*
I looked around and all three of them had their phones out, looking at the text messages. I pulled mine out as well to see if I had also received the group text.
There was a new group on my phone, Sins-N-More, and I could see the guys’ numbers in there with mine. But the current text was from a number I’d never seen.
Unknown: Totally cracked your heads. Pay attention to it.
“What the hell is this?”
“Your brother,” Bastian said. “He likes to text us tidbits.”
“My brother? He…he was serious about texting?”
“We’re still trying to figure out how he has reception.” Lincoln shrugged and put the phone back in his pocket. “He likes to let us know that the Scooby Gang here is on the right path.”
“Scooby Gang?”
*Ding*
I looked down, and the group name changed from Sins-N-More to Scooby Gang.
Fall Page 13
