by K. B. Draper
“Can I see it?” Ashlyn asked, holding out her hand.
I handed her the small metal weapon, laying it flat in her outreached hand.
Ashlyn took it by one of the blades, holding it up to examine it, and turning it to see both sides. “You use these and the knives instead of guns? Can you not kill demons with guns?”
“No. Guns have their purpose and they can do a good amount of damage, but there are times when you run into local law enforcement and carrying an arsenal of guns becomes challenging. I twirled a knife between my fingertips, “Also, these are quieter. You have a shootout with a demon and in comes the human cavalry. Guns draw too much attention. Plus, these are better for close-in fighting.”
“Makes sense,” Ashlyn said, staring at the weapon she held in her hand. She flicked her wrist a couple of times, throwing the blade out in front of her.
“Careful. They aren’t Frisbees. Here.” I took the weapon from her, brought it next to my ear and then down quickly. The star flew through the fire and buried itself in the end of a log on the other side of camp.
Ashlyn leaned to look around the fire. “You have to teach me that!”
I smiled. “Best teacher in the world is right there.” I nodded at Grand.
Grand stood, walked over to dislodge the star from the log, and inspected it. “Not nearly as effective as the tomahawk, but less suspicious to carry around.”
“You taught her everything?” Ashlyn asked him.
He looked at me. “The mouth she came with.” He winked at me. “No, she came to me with many talents, gifts of her own. She was meant to be a warrior long before she came into this world.”
“He’s being generous,” I added.
“No, he’s really not.” Danny said as he brought me my two long swords. I stood. He held out one sword. “Mulder.” I sleeved it at my back. “And Scully.” Danny smiled. “AJ is an amazing and fierce fighter.”
“A fierce fighter who names her toys.” Ashlyn laughed.
“Brings a little extra fun to the fight,” I explained.
“Want Nancy too?” Danny asked.
“Nancy?” Ashlyn asked.
“Sawed-off shotgun,” Danny explained.
Ashlyn chuckled. “Of course it is.”
Though I appreciate Nancy’s kickass, blow-a-hole-through-you attitude, I was thinking unencumbered mobility was going to be my best weapon tonight. “No. You or Grand take her.” I looked at Ashlyn. “You have anything at your house?”
“Two rifles, a shotgun, and a back-up Glock,” she answered.
“Great.” I looked at my watch. “We have two hours to find these guys. I’m going to call for Michael and we’ll start scouting the area. Why don’t the three of you go to Ashlyn’s, get her stash, and I’ll call with updates.” I got two nods of agreement from Grand and Danny and one “ain’t happening” from the other member of the team. “Ashlyn?”
“I’m sticking here-”
I sighed. I knew that fighting with my … girlfriend? Was Ashlyn my girlfriend? I mean, we hadn’t passed a note checking the yes box. I hadn’t come right out and asked her, but the thought had me tingly in places that shouldn’t really be tingly when getting ready to hunt down a demon, queen of the demons, no less. “Ashlyn, I know it’s scary for me to go off without you, but if we’re going to do this …” I pointed back and forth between us. “There are times we’re going to need to be apart. I need you to work with me on this. I’ll be safe. I promise.” I stepped closer to her, tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, and cupped her chin. “And I promise that we’ll see you at the-” She tried to hold back a smile.
“AJ, sweetheart, that’s super cute, but I was just talking about sticking here to meet Michael. I mean, hello, he’s a freaking angel. Kind of want to be here for that.”
I heard Danny snicker and Grand hide his laugh behind a cough.
Ashlyn gave me a quick kiss. “But seriously, the whole I’ll be safe and come home to you … adorable. Seriously, adorable.” She patted my cheek.
“I, you … ughhhh.” I turned, still shaking my head.
Ashlyn swatted my ass. “I, you, whatever. Now get to calling down that angel, sweet cheeks.”
I glared at her.
She gave me a “get on with it” roll of her hand.
“Just for that I’m not naming your weapons for you.” I turned back and whistled.
“Seriously? You just called down an angel with a wolf whistle?” Ashlyn asked.
“Yep.”
As before, the forest seemed to go silent. Ashlyn stepped beside me, holding my hand as we watched for movement in the sky. He came from the east this time, making a large arcing loop in our direction with a single beat of his wings. He passed in front of the moon and Ashlyn’s grip on my hand tightened.
“He’s magnificent,” she said in pure admiration.
“He knocked up a she-demon,” I reminded her.
He landed before us with the grace of a dancer. “Lucky she-demon,” Ashlyn whispered.
I elbowed her. “I’m right here.”
She laughed, leaning into my shoulder. “Don’t worry. Hoyo Abis are more my thing, but damn.” She gave my hand another squeeze.
“Hey, Magic Mike, ready to find your baby mamma?” I asked when he got close.
“You have information?”
“Some. Supposedly, Reverend-Mayor Cline is talking about a miracle that’s going down tonight. Think there’s going to be some elaborate ceremony where she hands over your son as a gift from heaven or some such crap.”
“Do you know where this is going to take place?”
“Have an idea. Thought you and I would go via the forest route. Grand, Danny, and …” I turned to Ashlyn. “This is Ashlyn, by the way. She’s a recent addition to our merry band of soldiers.”
Ashlyn stepped forward, reaching out a hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“Michael. It is nice to meet you as well.” He bowed to place a kiss on the back of her hand. “I appreciate your assistance in saving my son.”
“It’s my pleasure.”
“They’re going by road. We’ll call when we’ve located something and they’ll do the same for us.”
He lowered his head in Danny and Grand’s direction. “Thank you, Chief Whitefang. Danny.”
“Okay then.” I moved to Ashlyn’s side and ran a hand up her arm. “This clingy, neurotic, flipping out every time you see something freaky stuff has got to stop. It’s getting a little embarrassing.”
Ashlyn sniggered. “Oh, okay. I’ll try to contain myself.”
Serious now, I took her chin. “Please be careful. Listen to Danny. Listen to Grand. I know you can take care of yourself but this …” I sighed. This is different. And no matter what; what happens to me, to anyone, I need you to get out of this okay. You understand? I need you to be okay.”
“I need the same of you, AJ. I need you to walk away from this.”
I swallowed hard, nodding, knowing that ultimately I would do whatever it took to make sure everyone was safe, even if that meant sacrificing my own well-being. “See ya on the flip side?”
“See ya on the flip side.” She leaned closer. “Do you think it’s cool to kiss you in front of an angel?”
I smiled. “Fuck it. If it’s not, I mean, what are we fighting for then, right?”
“Right,” she agreed with a breathtaking smile and kissed me.
“You seem quite taken by Ashlyn,” Michael said as we walked toward the lake.
“Yeah. You got a problem with it?” I asked a tad too harshly.
“On the contrary. I think love is a precious gift and if you find it, in anyone, with anyone, then you are extremely fortunate.”
I flicked a glance at Michael. “The big guy does he think that way too?” When I got a confused look in return, I stopped. “You know, the big guy?”
He shook his head in bewilderment.
“Big lady?” I tried.
“Ahhh, God?” he smiled.
/> “Yeah, him? Her?”
He shrugged. “I do not know.”
I started walking again. “What do you mean you don’t know? You’ve never like, I don’t know, had an all hands on deck meeting, a company picnic, a “Ten Commandments: Are They Still Relevant?” seminar, or simply saw which bathroom he or she used?”
Michael laughed. “We hold no such things. And why does it matter to assign such labels? Do you yourself enjoy them?”
“Okay, point taken. But I will say this, I do enjoy being called badass every once in a while.” I wiggled my eyebrows.
He laughed. “I don’t think God would be opposed to that title either.”
“Cool. So do you think you can keep up with me with those chicken wings you got strapped to your back?”
He rolled his shoulders and his wings appeared. “I don’t think it will be a problem.” He spread them to their full and magnificent expanse.
“Freakin’ showoff.”
He quirked a grin. “After you, Hoyo Abi.”
“Stay low; we don’t need to be playing our hand before their little circus freak show starts.” He nodded once in agreement. And then I ran.
Michael kept to the tops of the trees, dipping lower when the space allowed him to do so. He effortlessly soared over my head as I leapt and ducked, veered and weaved through the woods.
I thought as I ran. Thought about the sheriff, Michael, and Ashlyn—people that were now taking up residence in my world. A world that until a few days ago had been a small, intimate population.
The sheriff, of course, knew only that her brother was a douchebag and her father was doing something on the far side of stupid. I believed she had seen the Reyna that night twelve years ago, likely had even seen the Reyna kill her mother. But I didn’t think she knew the depth of the dark water she’d unknowingly been dropped into. I also doubted that the sheriff and I would ever sit down and gab about it over a couple of dirty martinis, but some things didn’t merit discussion down to the most intimate details. Sometimes more could be known by a simple glance. An entire life story could be read by looking, really looking, into their eyes. I saw sadness in the sheriff. I saw a life that was stolen and a woman merely dealing with the hand she’d been dealt. But at the hardware store, I saw a new chapter being added to her tale: a grim resolve to start taking back her life. Ultimately, if only for a flash of time, she was determined to be the scarred hero of her own story.
On that thought, my mind drifted to the winged angel flying above me. Twelve years ago, Central Standard Earth Years anyway, he’d forsaken all that he knew for a woman he’d thought he loved and thought had loved him back only to discover she was not who she claimed, that she wasn’t even a human. Michael was a kind man. You didn’t need the angel title to know that little fact. I couldn’t imagine the gravity of sadness and loss, not only for the love, but for all that he’d forsaken for that love. Then in a big added fuck you, she’d gotten pregnant for the sole purpose of using their child to take over hell, Earth—and I was sure heaven was thrown into the mix. He’d not only abandoned the core of who he was, but he’d put everything he valued, honored, and protected for an eternity in harm’s way. And the tool of that demise is of his own flesh and blood. Yeah, super fucked-up version of a Maury Povich show. And to add insult to already ass suck, the man, the angel who was now soaring above the trees in an effort to right his wrongs and to save a child that he’d never even met, would ultimately be lost to the curse of the Nolia Flaua. I didn’t want to think about when he would be called to hell, let alone be called to hell as the guy who knocked up Mac’s wife. I didn’t like the possibilities but we’d have to shelve that issue until we dealt with the current dish of crap on a platter that the queen was serving us for dinner.
And then there was Ashlyn. Ashlyn. I couldn’t even think her name without my heart standing up and calling attention to itself. I’d started isolating myself from people the moment I’d learned the meaning of falling into Grand and Danny’s ceremony. At first it was a self-punishment for being such an irresponsible idiot, not wanting to take anything more from anyone else. Then it grew more out of necessity. As I trained and began to fight, I needed to maintain an arm’s distance from people to keep them from asking too many questions and to keep them safe. Then, I’d had a moment of weakness, a moment of need for something real, someone to latch onto. I had allowed a woman into my life for more than a night of sheet hockey. I let a relationship develop. Let my feelings develop. I had cared for her, maybe even loved her. But I think it was more that I loved the idea of her, of a relationship, of a “normal” life. So for a while I lived in two worlds, not fully committing to either. Like that old fable of the dog with a bone that sees his reflection in the river. I eventually let go of one to have the other and ultimately lost both. I lost the woman, almost literally, and had lost the semblance of life that I’d made at the SPD. I resigned myself to the fact I could only live in one reality, the reality where I fought demons and protected everyone from them, from me.
And then, in walks Ashlyn. Ashlyn has seen my world, lived through my world, and from all early indications sees me for all that I am. She sees the two parts of the collective AJ whole, woman and demon hunter, and she is willing to accept me as that whole. If I was honest with myself, part of me was still struggling to accept that Ashlyn fully understood what dating me really meant. Heck, I wasn’t even sure I fully comprehended the concept myself. But, like my attitude toward fighting demons, I decided we’d go with the old tried-and-true plan of “let’s jump in, fuck some things up, and come out breathing on the other side.” In Ashlyn’s case, I was hoping for “naked and breathing.”
My thoughts slowed as did my footfalls and I gave a “park it around here” gesture to Michael. If I was right on the location, we still had another half mile to go, but I wanted to stay in the background and out of sight as much as possible. I had thought about just busting in and grabbing the Reverend-Mayor by his cranberries and beating the details out of him. However, I didn’t want to one, get holier than thou cooties and two, I didn’t want to run the risk of the Reyna catching wind of something going on and running off with Baby Apocalypse with us standing around going, “So yeah, I guess that was a bad idea.”
Michael made another effortless landing. “You could sure teach some Delta pilots a thing or two.”
“Delta pilots?”
I waved his question off. “Never mind. Not important. So we have a bit of time. I don’t know which way the Reyna will come in so we need to stay back and out of sight.” I brought out my phone, texted Danny and waited for his reply. “They’re off the road and think the Reverend-Mayor and his delusional posse will head into the forest.”
We waited, mostly in silence, only broken up by my random questions about heaven. You know like: Do all dogs go there? Does heaven have indoor or incloud plumbing? I asked if he’d ever passed the golden sidewalks of various gone-too-early rock stars? Whether you still had to go to church in heaven? I thought there were just so many times a clergy could stand up in front of a crowd, point around, and say, “Yeah, so there’s this and stuff.” He cut off my questions after I asked if he knew how many kitties and nuns I’d have to save to compensate for my entire junior year of college. And then how many for my senior year.
I looked down at the phone vibrating in my hand. “Vehicles headed in.”
Michael turned. “I feel her.”
“How’s that?”
“When she is corporeal and taking the form of a human, I can feel her. I feel everyone.”
“That’s not at all creepy,” I stated. “Like feel, feel?” I pinched my arm.
“I do feel people’s pain but not necessarily the physical.”
“Oh, so ...” I tapped my temple.
“More …” He tapped his heart.
“So let me get this straight. You’re able to tap into a person’s vibe and tell what?”
“Angels are used for judgment. We can see into people’s so
uls, see what kind of lives they lived, which can determine if they are brought to the King-”
“Yeah, yeah, Kingdom of Heaven, got it. So tell me this, Sherlock, how did you miss Mrs. Fangtastic then when you were knocking boots? She had to be throwing off some seriously bad mojo out there?”
“I don’t think you understand exactly how powerful the Reyna is. She does not hold the throne on ceremony; she is as strong as Lucifer, just in different ways. She can mask not only her appearance but her soul as well. AJ, this fight will not be an easy one.”
His words stabbed at the thin veil of hope that I was going to kill the Reyna without any danger coming to Grand, Danny, and Ashlyn. And possibly the sheriff too if she got here in time. I’d told Ashlyn to contact her closer to “go time” so she would be told as promised, but hopefully delay her arrival enough so she wouldn’t have to deal with seeing two members of her family taken down in one night.
I held out a hand to Michael. “I’ll do everything in my power to protect your son and your family; you do everything in yours to protect mine.”
He nodded consent and took my hand. “On my honor, Hoyo Abi.”
“Okay then. Shall we go throw down with your baby momma?”
“We shall.”
Michael kept both feet on the ground this time. We needed stealth, not speed. It was almost midnight and we’d agreed it would be better to show up fashionably late to ensure the Reyna’s arrival. Maybe they would already be engaged and too distracted by their Creepfest to notice our approach. Grand, Danny, and Ashlyn’s main focus was to manage the human elements of this game, while Michael and I took on the Reyna.
I heard the Reverend-Mayor’s voice before I could see him. He was already in full-preacher mode as his holier-than-thou cadence, reserved for reverends and deep south grandmas with a point to make, reverberated through the trees.
