Risen (Haunted Series Book 22)

by Alexie Aaron

  Mia, who heard the discourse, lifted her sunglasses and winked at Patrick. She then drank down her coffee before she lurched out of her seat and into the bathroom.

  “We’re headed out of here as soon as I pick up something I left on the island,” Patrick said.

  “At first we assumed that you two were a couple but…”

  “Some things just don’t work out,” Patrick said, feigning sadness.

  Ted walked in and saluted Patrick and then the female tender.

  Daphne giggled and walked over to wait on him.

  “It looks like you’ve lost your touch, brother dear,” Mason hissed. “First the fair Sabine won’t let you in her room, and then she spent last night with…”

  “Ted,” Patrick finished. “I know. I couldn’t help hearing them all night.”

  “The crew is talking. I hope they don’t get a good look at Mia in the sunlight.”

  “She’s got half her face covered with those sunglasses and that hat I bought Sabine in St. Kitts.”

  “You know, if you wanted some time alone with Sabine, you should have had me stay home. It’s my animal magnetism. It drives all the women wild,” Mason teased before leaving him to go and flirt with Daphne.

  Patrick walked out and went to search for Burt. He found him up on the observation deck.

  “The captain said weather is moving in. We better start for the island soon.”

  “I was hoping the Feds would have moved off first,” Patrick said, eying the large Coast Guard cutter.

  “They won’t be able to get that ship past the shoals. They won’t even have a direct line of sight of the cove or the falls. They will have to anchor in deeper water. We can give you a half-hour head start by dropping you closer to the island. I’m sure they will launch their Zodiacs as soon as they are within range.”

  “I’ll make sure my team is ready,” he promised.

  ~

  Sabine woke up and looked around her. The room wasn’t familiar. She got up and looked out the window. “I’m at Mia’s farmhouse. How did I get here?” she asked herself. The aroma of cooking and coffee wafted up to her. She walked into the bathroom and found a note on top of some PEEPs sweats.

  Hope these fit. If not, Mia may have something that will. Feel free to raid her closet. Cid

  She lifted up the garments, and she smiled as Cid had gotten her size right. Unfortunately, there was no underwear. Sabine turned on the shower and stepped out to see if Mia had anything that would fit her.

  Cid looked up at the ceiling when he heard the shower. “Our guest is awake,” he said to Maggie.

  The mixed-breed, ghost-seeing dog looked up with interest.

  “She’s been here before. Sabine is Mia’s cousin. She’s very kind. You’ll like her.”

  “Who will like who?” Dieter asked, walking to the refrigerator and grabbing the orange juice.

  “Maggie will like Sabine.”

  “Everyone does. I take it Sleeping Beauty is awake?” Dieter confirmed.

  “I hear the shower running,” Cid said. “I’m making pancakes. The sausages are on the warmer.” Cid pointed.

  “Where’s my parents? I noticed they didn’t return with Nicholai.”

  “According to Jake, who has been communicating with your dad through encrypted emails, the team has determined that there is a threat to human life. They have met with the Feds and suggested a warning beacon be put out warning boaters from landing there.”

  “It won’t work,” Dieter said. “People just get more curious when challenged by things that say ‘no trespassing’ or ‘entry is forbidden.’ It’s just human nature to not believe a warning sign or a beeping buoy.”

  “I see your point. In that case, maybe they need to address the situation. I’m not sure Mia wants to take it on though. She’s been reticent about why not.”

  “Mom’s afraid of becoming a demon assassin. More and more, she seems to be called upon to use her sword instead of her intellect. She thinks there has got to be a way of communicating with them, directing them to leave the humans alone.”

  “Unfortunately, I think it’s in their nature to torment and use us,” Cid said.

  “We are pretty easy to manipulate,” Dieter said as he started setting a place at the kitchen island for the three of them. “Teenagers especially.”

  Cid looked over at the tall youth with the haunted brown eyes. Dieter had been through so much in his young life. From growing up in a war-torn country, seeing his parents killed during one of the several regime changes, to the death of the man who rescued him by bringing him to the United States, Dieter had experienced more hurt than happiness in his young life.

  “You’re very wise for one so young,” Cid said.

  Dieter looked down, embarrassed. “I’m not really.”

  “I think you are. You’re a good mentor for Brian.”

  “He doesn’t listen to me,” Dieter argued. “Lately, all he does is get me into a lot of trouble.”

  “I think that as he matures, he will settle down. I’ve seen his admiration when he talks about you. You even got him interested in poetry.”

  “Don’t mention that fiasco,” Dieter said. “I’d like to put that behind me, thank you very much.”

  “Mike and I felt your poem should have earned you an A.”

  “I was very happy with the B. I wasn’t happy with what happened after I picked up the poetry book A Raven Writes.”

  “Why?”

  “I think I was manipulated by the gargoyle into bringing the book home. It opened the door for Hero to enter our lives.”

  “Mia said that was fate. She felt, when she stepped over the threshold of the bookstore, that she should be there.”

  “I didn’t know that.”

  “It’s true. Sometimes, it’s not the demons that are using us. We can be maneuvered by entities of good too,” Cid said.

  “Cid, that’s not making me feel better,” Dieter said, slumping down into his chair.

  “I think that’s why Mia fought not to go down to the Caribbean. It’s not that she didn’t want to help Sabine. She clearly loves and respects her cousin. It’s the interference of Angelo and Whitney Martin that’s got her back up.”

  Sabine breezed in and hugged Dieter first and then gracefully moved around the kitchen island to give Cid a generous hug too. “It’s so good to see you, gentlemen.”

  “How are you feeling?”

  “So much better than I did on that boat. It wasn’t the yacht though. I’m a good sailor. It was the island,” she said quickly. “It’s an evil place. I take it my cousin hasn’t arrived back yet?”

  “Looks like they have a problem or two. Kevin and Fergus are still on the island, and the Feds are circling. Ted’s worried that the numbskulls will land on the beach.”

  “We were warned not to.”

  “Who warned you?”

  “Actually, they warned Patrick. You’ll have to talk to Patrick about that.”

  “Jake reported that the group thinks that there is someone benefitting by directing people to the island. And then something on the island eats them.”

  “Great, that just put me off my pancakes,” Dieter said, pushing his plate away.

  “Eat. You need your energy. I hear you’re an emerging football star,” Sabine said sweetly. “I can’t wait to see you play this fall.”

  “You’re going to come to one of my games?” Dieter asked, surprised.

  “I’m sorry I haven’t been to one yet. My excuse is my girls. Until recently, I didn’t want to leave them with a babysitter, and Tauni needs her evenings off too. My sister-in-law Holly has expressed that she would like to have them once a week. She is a very brave woman.”

  “I imagine they are a handful,” Cid said. “Brian is running us ragged.”

  “Where is he now?” Sabine asked.

  “He and Varden are in Wyoming with his grandparents and godparents,” Dieter said. “They actually begged to have the boys to themselves.”

&
nbsp; “Brian and Varden can’t be that bad.”

  Cid and Dieter stared at her and nodded their heads.

  “Varden isn’t the problem,” Cid clarified.

  “Is it the magic? I know someone who can stifle the magic with a charm,” Sabine offered. “I had to use one with two of the girls. They were way out of control.”

  “No, it’s that his intellect is developing faster than his physicality and common sense. He’s impatient and talkative…”

  “He’s like Ted then,” Sabine said.

  “Well, I guess so.”

  “Ted grew out of it,” she reasoned.

  “Well…” Cid fought for words, “not really.”

  This made Dieter laugh. “My dad’s rather unique.”

  “As are you,” Sabine reminded him. “I think that this excursion to Wyoming will be a learning experience for all concerned.”

  “Look at you, always finding the silver lining,” Cid said, refilling her mug of coffee and pushing the milk pitcher and the sugar bowl closer to Sabine.

  “I’ve always been this way. Except when I was on that boat. I became mean and ill.”

  “Sounds like you and Uncle Mike share a problem. He gets sick around evil. Mia taught him how to protect himself once he becomes aware of the situation, but it does send him running to the bathroom,” Dieter told her.

  “Poor guy,” Sabine sympathized. “How about one of you telling me what’s going on, and why am I here and not on that boat?”

  “What’s the last thing you remember?”

  “I remember hearing Komal calling for me in my sleep. That’s it.”

  “Evidently, he took control of you to keep the demon from entering your mind house,” Cid said.

  “He must be very powerful to do that from Lake Michigan,” Dieter said. “I met him when Mia exiled us to his island. He’s so gentle and kind. His soul is bright orange.”

  “He has learned how to draw from the power under his island and send his thoughts through the ley lines and, sometimes, through dimensional portals. I suspect Judge Roumain helps him to do that.”

  “Mia says they are good friends,” Cid said. “Like Ted and I.”

  Sabine nodded. “It’s good Komal has a friend. It can be a lonely existence to be a soul without a body to rest in.”

  “Roumain is a very complex entity,” Dieter pointed out. “I’ve been on both sides of his wrath. We’ve all been used by him. Okay, maybe not you, Sabine.”

  “I’ve never met him.”

  “Don’t, if you can help it. He’s not…”

  “I think Dieter is trying to say that Mia doesn’t trust him. He has hurt her and Ted with his interference. He’s the self-proclaimed king of Purgatory and should be respected for that. I wouldn’t seek out any other kind of relationship with him.”

  “Honestly, I’m touched. I don’t think you’re telling me this because you think that I’m weak and frail.”

  “Oh no. Mia’s told us how powerful and strong you are,” Dieter said.

  “Most people, Gerald and, I suspect, Patrick included, think I’m vulnerable because I’m so drifty. You see, it’s very hard for me to stay in this realm. Something keeps pulling me away. I have to concentrate on each moment to stay here.”

  Cid studied Sabine’s face. She wasn’t teasing. He sensed that she had just told Dieter and him something she probably had never told anyone before.

  “My husband Brian understood this. He once said that there are two Sabines: the one being pulled away in front of him and the one who rested more comfortably in his heart. He’s right. There really isn’t a category for what I am. Maybe a dual-vessel sensitive comes close. I’m an independent soul who needs this body to exist. I know that sounds confusing. You see, I’m not one with my body. I don’t own my cells; I just control them. It was very difficult to carry my babies within me. At any time, their souls could have taken over me, pushing me out, and possibly leaving me out in the cold. But one of the three, Maisha Violet, understood this and kept the others inside their little bodies. She held all of us together.”

  “So how have you existed all this time not joined with your body?” Cid asked.

  “Concentration. Babies born of magical beings rarely live long because their souls wander too far away from their vessels. Sometimes they are taken over by strong spirits of the departed, who some people call soul jumpers.”

  “I know your mother is a sensitive. So, your father is what?” Dieter asked.

  “Was. He died of a wasting disease.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  Sabine waved off the sympathy. “I never knew him. My father, Guillaume Bouché, was a very powerful magician, a wizard if you will. I guess if he had been born centuries ago, he would have rivaled Merlin. Fortunately, he was a laidback man with too many passions to enjoy. Otherwise, his power could have affected the balance. My mother, Beverly, you know. She is a powerful sensitive. Her parentage is unknown. Anyway, when I was born, I frightened and angered her. She abandoned me. Gerald Shem found me and held me together until he could find the right woman to raise me.”

  “You’re so nice to her now,” Cid said.

  “Life is too short to hold the weak accountable for their actions. It’s better to find a way to like each person you meet, love those who need love, and direct those who need help to the right people,” Sabine said.

  “I think you had a religious upbringing,” Dieter suspected.

  “The woman who held me in her arms was raised in a multicultural house, and she gave me an isolated childhood. But in retrospect, it was much kinder than your mother’s, but still, it wasn’t ideal. I’ll tell you about it one day when I can come to grips with it myself. In the meanwhile, you have a breakfast to finish, and I have to contact Angelo…”

  “Is that wise?” Cid asked.

  “I don’t know. All I know is he should have been the one to rescue me, but he didn’t. He has some explaining to do.”

  ~

  Mia prepared herself to disembark the small craft. She, Patrick, Mason, and Murphy held on as the boat bounced over the waves. Bob had them in the Zodiac seconds after it hit the water. The Azure then headed back out to sea and anchored just off the reef. As soon as the yacht crossed the reef, Mia could no longer hear Ted’s updates on the location of the Coast Guard cutter. Mia had to assume that they set sail the moment the Azure did. Standard operating procedures would have them keeping a discrete distance from the yacht to avoid being accused of harassment. Because of the differences in the ships, the Ross Bell needed take to deeper seas for the trip, but they would still be just minutes away from the yacht.

  Bob took in the clouding sky and the condition of the waves before he cautioned Patrick, “Thirty minutes, no more.”

  Patrick was going to argue that it didn’t give them enough time, but he knew the speed at which Stephen Murphy could travel. He was sure that they could recover Kevin and Fergus in time.

  Bob handed Mia out of the skiff. He was surprised by the strength of the woman as she firmly clutched his hand. If he had been a betting man, he would have sworn this was a different person than the frail thing that boarded the yacht in Martinique.

  Mia adjusted her pant leg when it caught the top of her boot. She had worn the hastily made rubber-soled slipper socks over the boots to protect the yacht from the retracted claws of the battle boots. As soon as she was safely on the rocks, she drew the covers off and stuck them into the large pack she brought with her. The boots made climbing the cliffside less of a harrowing affair.

  The pack Mia carried was heavy, but every item was essential to their survival if her intel from Guillaume was still true. She worried that the size of the pack would alert the crew that something was up. She doubted the fair Sabine would be toting around thirty-five pounds of equipment on her back. But the alternative was being on this evil island unprepared.

  Mia had felt the evil reach out and tap on her mind-house door, but she was ready for it. She had planted a false pocket
full of thoughts she had taken from the yacht steward before they had left. Mia couldn’t control what the Callen men were revealing, but she could protect herself.

  “It’s trying to read my thoughts,” she announced as the Zodiac pulled away to keep a safe distance from the rocks.

  “We better hurry. I did as you instructed,” Mason said. “I kept thinking about something else. I selected treasure and your nice round…”

  “Mason!” Patrick scolded. “Come on, this way.”

  Mia looked at Murphy and said, “Find them quickly. If they’re gone, return to me. We will regroup and deal with the situation as soon as the military leave the area.”

  Murphy tipped his hat and disappeared.

  Mia followed the men up the side of the cliff, heading for the cave. From this height, Mia could see the anchored yacht. She didn’t see the cutter. Had the Azure lost them or had the cutter decided to dock on the other side of the island?

  Ted split his screen to keep a constant watch on the storm and the activities of the Coast Guard, more importantly the federal team aboard.

  Burt came in and sat beside him. “What can I do to help?”

  “Keep an eye on the satellite screen. The pictures are refreshed every two minutes, but a lot can happen in two minutes. I’m working on getting the satellite to show us infrared when the cloud cover becomes too dense.”

  “I take it, you no longer can hear the shore team?”

  “Lost them as soon as we crossed the outer reef.”

  “Are you worried?” Burt asked.

  “Not as long as my girl can spread those wings. But in close quarters she no longer has the edge.”

  “Murphy’s with her. He’ll have her back.”

  “There’s that. Adding Stephen Murphy into any equation does amplify the odds of a successful mission. Except when he energizes a demon with a energon cube.”

  “That was a mistake which I doubt he’ll repeat,” Burt said.

  “We got lucky. If it weren’t for the quick thinking of Ethan Aldridge, I worry what the outcome would have been,” Ted said honestly.