Cards of Death Box Set

by Tamara Geraeds

  My grin gets even wider. “Good luck beating that.”

  It bends over me. The trunk is just inches from my face. I feel its gaze boring into my eyes and look back unafraid. It shudders, but not from delight this time.

  The mud bubbles uncontrollably. I watch it intently. “Here we go.”

  That was all the incitement the tree needed. The spikes turn back into claws that start digging in the ground. It’s frantically trying to find the shield, just like I knew it would.

  I start laughing, egging it on. “You’ll never find it.”

  It digs deeper and with a triumphant roar it pulls out the shield. I try to look defeated, but I can’t stop grinning, because dangling to the straps… is Maël. She uses the momentum to launch herself over the dark soil and lands next to D’Maeo.

  He grabs her hand. “Are you okay?”

  She nods. “I am, thanks to that message you sent me.”

  “That was Dante’s work,” D’Maeo answers, beaming.

  “What did it say?” Vicky asks.

  I laugh. “That’s right, your powers don’t work here. It’s hard not knowing what’s going on, isn’t it?”

  She holds up her hand. “Never mind. I’ll find out later.”

  “It’s not such a big secret,” I reply. “I wrote ‘your will is strong, just hold on’.”

  Maël shrugs. “So I did.”

  The loss of its prisoner combined with our lack of interest in it, is the final straw for the tree. It has truly lost its power. With a tearing noise, it splits in half. The claws turn into regular branches and the trunk shudders one last time before sinking into the mud. A minute later there’s nothing left of it. The dark soil turns into solid ground and silence descends on us.

  Taylar looks from the bare ground to me and crosses his arms. “That was my favorite shield.”

  I frown. Is he serious?

  A grin breaks through on his face. “I’m glad I took it with me. It was the only one with straps.”

  Maël bows. “I am grateful for your help, to all of you. Although…” She turns to me, but I raise my hand to silence her. “Don’t say it. We have some new rules now, Maël. We are a team, we look out for each other, not just for me.”

  “All for one and one for all,” Taylar yells.

  Our relieved laughter chases away the fog around us.

  CHAPTER 21

  Now that the fog has lifted, it’s much easier to find our way. We trace our steps back to the portal without further trouble. The fact that I keep telling the others lame jokes probably helps.

  I press my blood-stained hand on the ground and the portal opens in front of us. While D’Maeo keeps watch, we step through one by one. It feels a little like waking up, and I have to stretch my arms and legs and wiggle my fingers to get the blood running again.

  Taylar is stretching, too. The floor shines through his legs. “Oh, it feels great to have my body back.”

  I frown at him. “Technically you don’t have a body here, either.”

  He smacks me in the face. “Are you sure?”

  “Ow,” I rub my nose and turn to Vicky. “Next time remind me not to save him.”

  She winks at me. “Will do.”

  I pick up the athame and look around, still a little on edge. A lot has happened in the last twenty-four hours and I’m not completely sure about the protection spell yet. I’ve never done anything like it before, so who’s to know it will work?

  I wait until D’Maeo gets back and the portal closes behind him with a whoosh. “Is everyone okay?”

  They all give their thumbs-up.

  “Well done, all of you,” the voice interrupts.

  The whole Shield looks up with curiosity.

  I gasp. “You can hear it now, too?”

  “Yes, yes, everyone can hear me now.”

  “Why?” I ask.

  “Because you have passed the test.”

  I turn in all directions. It’s hard to figure out where the voice is coming from. I’m still hoping to catch a glimpse of it. To find out who or what it is. “Test? What test?”

  “The universe has been testing the bond between you and your Shield.”

  One of my eyebrows shoots up. “The universe? Really?”

  “Yes, Dante. Your task is crucial for the survival of the world.”

  “Yes, you said that. I have to save the whole of humankind. Great. When do I start?”

  “Not just humankind, Dante, but the whole world. This is why we had to test you. You have all proved your worth. You refused to abandon a part of your Shield. You did not let pressure push you into a wrong decision. You kept your head clear and you all fought well together. You and your Shield are now officially tasked with the survival of Earth and everything around it.”

  “So getting Maël out of there was the right thing to do? You just tried to steer us in the wrong direction?” Vicky taps her lips with her finger. It makes my insides burn with desire, so I turn my head.

  “Yes, that was part of the test,” the voice answers.

  The feeling of desire inside me is replaced by pride, because I did the right thing, but I’m still a little annoyed, too. This voice keeps playing with us and I hate being the ball. “So what happens now?”

  “Now you follow the Cards of Death.”

  I sigh. “Back to that, huh? Save him?”

  Silence is the only answer I get.

  “I think he left,” Taylar says.

  “Great, then I’m going for a check first.” I wave my hand around, indicating the whole house. “Just want to make sure the salt lines are still intact. After that, we can start our ‘quest’.” I make quotation marks in the air, while rolling my eyes.

  “Good thinking,” D’Maeo says.

  Jeep is picking up the candles and rubbing the muddy soup circle away. “We’ll clean this up.”

  “Thanks.”

  I check all the windows and doorways in the house. Everything is still in place and there are no signs of disturbances. When I check Taylar’s room, I remember the pictures under his bed. I should ask him what that’s all about.

  When I get downstairs, the ghosts are gathered around Maël. I join them. “Everything okay here?”

  She holds up her hand. “It’s fine. I just need some time to recover.”

  “Good.” I tap Taylar lightly on the shoulder and signal with my head for him to follow me.

  Once we’re in the annex I get straight to the point. “When I finished the protection spell earlier, I found something under your bed.”

  He gives me an appalled look.

  “Pictures,” I add, when he doesn’t answer. “So I was wondering if there’s anything I can help you with.”

  Agony and distrust flash across his face. His skin turns almost as white as his hair. “I’d rather not talk about it.”

  He turns to leave the room, and almost walks straight through Jeep, standing in the doorway with his arms crossed.

  His jaw is set, and I wonder what I did wrong. Maybe there’s a rule about withholding secrets within the Shield that I don’t know about?

  Before I can ask, Jeep stabs his finger into Taylar’s chest. “So that’s what your copies in the Shadow World were talking about. You’ve got unfinished business? And you didn’t think it might be important to tell us?” His eyes are red with anger.

  The others join us, all looking anything but pleased.

  D’Maeo is rocking his fatherly look again. “Taylar? Do you have an explanation?”

  “For what?” he says defiantly. “I didn’t do anything.”

  He sounds just like the teenage boy he is. The minute I think that, shame heats my cheeks. I am not much older than he is. A bit more responsible, because of what my life has become, but still basically a teenage boy, as well.

  I step between Taylar and the others, a sudden urge to protect him hitting me. “What’s wrong? We’re all entitled to a bit of privacy, right?�
�

  D’Maeo shakes his head. “Not if it concerns unfinished business. That could endanger the whole Shield.”

  “I don’t have unfinished business!” Taylar shouts. “I just have a few pictures, okay? Is that so wrong?”

  “And a letter,” I add.

  Jeep is leaning against the doorframe, studying his see-through nails. “Sounds like unfinished business to me.”

  Taylar looks as if he’s about to explode, but before he can jump the tattooed ghost, D’Maeo intervenes. “Let’s see these pictures then.”

  Taylar’s mouth falls open. “They’re private.”

  I clear my throat. “Maybe we should deal with this later? We have a world to save, remember? Answers to find.”

  Taylar gestures vigorously at me. “Exactly.”

  Maël steps forward, leaning on her staff. “Dante is right. We have wasted enough time already. We should find the man from the card and save him. After that, we can solve Taylar’s business, unfinished or not.” She smiles at the young boy, but it’s a weak smile. She also isn’t standing as tall as before. But that could just be my imagination.

  She turns to me. “Where do we find this man?”

  “Mr. Timson? Probably at his office in Boise.”

  “Then that’s where we’re going.”

  “Now?”

  “Yes, now.”

  “Don’t we need a plan or something? We don’t even know who we’re saving him from.”

  “But we’ll have to be near to intervene.”

  That makes sense. I go back to the kitchen, make a quick phone call to tell Mom I’m eating out and grab my keys from the table. “Does anyone know the way to Boise?”

  CHAPTER 22

  The drive to Boise takes hours. I’m glad our trip to the Shadow World took only minutes on Earth, or we would have arrived after midnight. Now, when we get to South Capitol Boulevard it’s almost five pm. The roads are starting to fill up with tired looking people. I drive across the bridge and turn left. The first building is where Timson and Sons should be housed. I park the car as close to the entrance of the large business tower as I can.

  I squint at the lines of windows. “Now what?”

  D’Maeo leans forward in his seat. “Now we wait until we see Mr. Timson. Or something suspicious.”

  “Shouldn’t I go inside?”

  Jeep gives me a skeptical look from under his hat. “And say what? Hi, I’m here to keep Mr. Timson from getting stabbed in the gut?”

  I snort. “Probably not.”

  Vicky draws a smiley on the window. “Hopefully he’ll come out soon, so we can follow him home and watch him there.”

  “Great, a stake-out,” I sigh.

  I’m glad we arrived here at this time. Now at least I’ll have something to watch.

  Taylar taps my seat. “What does Mr. Timson look like again?”

  I take out my phone, google the man and show his picture to everyone.

  A couple of minutes past five, people start spilling out of the building. I need all of my concentration to scan the many faces. A lot of them look like Mr. Timson, but they’re not.

  Taylar is mumbling from the back seat. “Nope, nope, nope, nope. Not him. Nope.”

  Jeep tries to hit him, but his hand goes right through Taylar’s body and smacks Vicky on the back of her head. The boy grins at him.

  Jeep throws him an angry look. “Be quiet.”

  Taylar salutes. “Yes sir.”

  “Sorry Vicky,” Jeep says.

  She just waves her hand and continues to stare at the crowd outside.

  One by one the cars roll onto the road, where traffic is moving slowly already.

  For a moment no one comes out of the building, so I scan the people in the cars, just in case I missed Mr. Timson. He’s not there, but I do catch a glimpse of something strange. “Is that…?”

  The ghosts follow my gaze to a slender boy with long frizzy hair.

  “That’s not him, is it?” Taylar asks.

  “No, that’s someone who shouldn’t be here.”

  “What do you mean?” D’Maeo’s attention has already gone back to the entrance of the tower.

  I slump a little so the boy doesn’t see me. “That’s Charlie, my best friend. He’s supposed to be on vacation in Italy.”

  Charlie is watching a car turning into the parking lot. The car passes us and I slump even farther back. “And that’s my friend Paul.”

  “Let me guess,” Jeep comments. “He is supposed to be on vacation, too?”

  I nod, speechless.

  D’Maeo turns to me. “Well, Dante, something strange is going on here. It looks like your friend is also on a stake-out.”

  My eyes move back to Charlie, who is hunched behind a bush, clearly hiding from Paul. Is he following him? But why? And why did they both lie to me about their vacations?

  “There he is,” Vicky shouts out.

  “Shhh,” I say, before I realize no one can hear her but us.

  A short middle-aged man with graying hair is hurrying towards his silver Honda, pushing his glasses up at least ten times before reaching his car.

  Vicky points towards the spot where Paul has just parked. “Do you think your friend got the same job you did?”

  I open my mouth to answer her, but then Mr. Timson drives past us, followed closely by Paul. He has a look on his face that I’ve never seen before. A malicious grin and obsessive dark eyes.

  For a moment I can’t move. I even forget I’m supposed to follow Mr. Timson, too.

  Then Charlie drives by in a rented car. He is following Paul. But why? What is our friend up to? Could he really also be trying to save this man? Does he have a Shield, too?

  I shake my head to clear it and start the car. “I can’t follow too close, they’ll recognize my car.”

  “Yeah,” Jeep agrees. “Maybe you should get yourself one that doesn’t stand out so much.”

  “Forget it, I’m not selling Phoenix. She’s a classic beauty.”

  D’Maeo intervenes. “Guys, focus on the task. See if anyone else is following Mr. Timson. Is there any sign of someone trying to hurt him?”

  While I keep an eye on Mr. Timson’s car, and on Paul and Charlie, the Shield checks out everyone around us.

  “Nothing suspicious,” Jeep reports.

  Taylar sticks his head out of the closed window. “No knives.”

  Mr. Timson takes a right turn and three cars follow him. I fall behind a bit. We drive past Julia David Park, take a left and then another right and drive into a residential area. Mr. Timson’s car stops and the other two cars park, too.

  “I think we’ve reached his house.”

  Paul getting out of his car confirms this. Soon Charlie follows.

  “I guess that’s our cue.” I don’t wait for an answer and step out of my car.

  Vicky appears in front of me. “Maybe we should go without you. We can’t be seen.”

  I shake my head. “No way, this is a team job. We’re doing this together.”

  “Well, activate your stealth mode then.”

  I push my nose. “Bleep.”

  “Very funny.”

  “I know.”

  She pushes me behind a tree. “Watch out!”

  For a moment, I’m distracted. For once she isn’t standing so close to me for the purpose of seduction. It makes her even more desirable. Cold radiates from her body and tingles my skin. Her transparent lips are slightly open.

  I almost move my head towards hers, when she pulls me back onto the pavement. “I think they’ve both gone into the house.”

  Jeep winks at me and I grin.

  I duck behind the hedge of Mr. Timson’s neighbor and sneak up to the side of his house. Charlie is sitting eight feet away from me, peering through the window. My whole body is screaming at me to step up to him and ask him what he’s doing here. Why he’s not in Italy. But since it has something to do with the potenti
al end of the world, I keep still and wait.

  A moment later the doorbell rings and Mr. Timson walks towards the front door.

  I can hear Paul’s voice, but the words are inaudible. Lucky for us, they sit down at the kitchen table, in front of the window we’re at.

  Paul is gesticulating, while Mr. Timson makes coffee. I bend towards Vicky sitting beside me. “They seem to know each other.”

  She nods and points silently towards Charlie. His fists are clenched, his face contorted with anger. What am I missing here?

  “Hey! What are you doing there?” a voice shouts out from our left.

  The postman is standing on the driveway, his eyes fixed on Charlie.

  My best friend stands up and walks quickly over to the postman. “Hey, good morning,” he says in the cheery voice I know so well. “I was just trying to find out if my friend was home. You see, I want to surprise him, so if he sees me, there’s no surprise.”

  I sneak closer to them.

  The postman stares at him for a few seconds, then shrugs and drops the mail in the mailbox. “Good luck with the surprise. Have a good day.”

  Charlie taps his imaginary hat. “You, too.”

  For a moment he stands there, in full sight, debating whether to leave or go back to the window. The postman keeps glancing over his shoulder. He senses something is not right here.

  Eventually he walks back to his car, forcing me to jump through the hedge to avoid being seen.

  I decide to take Charlie’s place at the window. Paul is still talking. Mr. Timson sits across from him, his cup of coffee in his hands and a dazed expression on his face. What is Paul telling him?

  “I wish one of us had super hearing,” I whisper at the Shield standing around me.

  The palms of my hands turn sweaty at the sight of them standing there. I know they’ve made themselves invisible to everyone else, but to me it feels like we’ll be discovered any second.

  Finally Paul stands up, shakes Mr. Timson’s hand and walks to the front door.

  Mr. Timson just sits there, looking straight ahead like a robot. After a few seconds I realize he hasn’t blinked once.

  The front door slams shut and I sprint to the back of the house. The Shield follows at its own pace.