by Ivy Sinclair
“I spent quite a bit of time in this neighborhood,” Riley said. “I know exactly where I am.” He didn’t offer anything else. I wondered what else was going through his mind.
The man was infuriating. I had to quicken my pace to keep up with him. It shouldn’t have impressed me how quickly he moved even carrying Benjamin’s weight, but it did. Riley Stone was full of surprises. He offered so little of who he was and where he came from. I did know that the woman we were going to see had been Riley’s mentor and had taught him everything that he knew about necromancy. The fact that the woman was a nun still struck me as strange, but there was little about this new life and place where I found myself that wasn’t.
“Lucky for me then,” I said. I couldn’t help the sullen tone that crept into my voice. “Anything that I should know before I meet this mysterious nun, Sister Alice?”
Riley slowed, but he didn’t stop. There was a long pause, and the only things that I could hear were the sounds of our feet on the cement sidewalk. There was a part of me that wanted to press him, but I sensed that Riley was wrestling with some other emotions that had nothing to do with me. He had been reluctant to share much about his past so far, and so it shouldn’t be a surprise that the topic of the woman who trained him was equally elusive. Riley wasn’t fond of the idea of oversharing in the slightest.
As we walked, I thought about what had just happened in the cave. It seemed impossible that not more than ten minutes ago, I was thousands of miles away from where I was now. But then, my whole world had been upended when a demon attacked me during a late night run. Riley had saved me then. He saved me again hours later when the demons refused to give up in their relentless pursuit of me. I didn’t understand why. That’s the whole reason that I was willing to go on this wild goose chase.
I was tired of not knowing who I was. I was tired of living in fear of my memories returning while constantly wishing for them to come back at the same time. No matter what, my past was my past, and it was beyond time for me to claim it. The question was how far was I willing to go to find those answers? So far, the answer to that question made me feel queasier every time I thought about it.
“The convent is a block up on the right,” Riley said, breaking the silence between us. “Consecrated ground is one of the few places where we will be safe. At least for the time being.”
I added this to the ever-growing list of things that would probably be useful to know now that demons existed in my world. “I feel like there should be an instruction manual somewhere. Maybe even a cliff notes version? I need a crash course in demonology.” I meant the statement to lighten the mood, but I thought that I saw Riley’s shoulders slump ever so slightly.
“I’ve known the truth for the last ten years, and I still find out things all the time that I didn’t know,” he replied. I watched as he raised Benjamin up ever so slightly. “For example, the most powerful and feared archangel in existence can apparently be bested by a demon official. That’s new.”
I still was having a hard time reconciling the fact that the man I knew as my best friend and confidante for the last three years was the person that Riley said he was. It just didn’t fit. Benjamin was patient and easy-going and always in a good mood. The only time I could remember that ever not being the case was the night that I told him that I didn’t feel the same way about him that he felt about me. Even then, the next day at work he acted as if the whole thing had never happened. It wasn’t discussed again. At least, it hadn’t been until earlier today.
There was a strange and unsettling dynamic going on, and I’d be naïve if I didn’t acknowledge it. “Regardless of what he’s done or what he’s hidden from me, I don’t think that he intends me any harm, Riley. I don’t want anything to happen to him.”
“Which is why I’m carrying his unconscious ass through the streets of Kansas City when I should be dumping it in the middle of some interstate,” Riley replied.
I stopped and crossed my arms. “He saved us. He brought both of us here and out of harm’s way. You’d think that you could manage a shred of gratitude.”
Riley didn’t stop walking. He didn’t say anything. I felt the rise of anger in my chest. I didn’t like being ignored, but I couldn’t afford to be on my own either. I wasn’t an idiot. So when I saw Riley take a sharp right through a black wrought iron gate, I sprinted ahead to follow.
As my head passed underneath the ornate archway, I felt a sense of peace flow over my limbs. All of the anxiety and anger melted away. I looked up at the narrow brownstone building. I realized that if my eyes followed it off to my left, it connected to the backside of a large building that, based on the tall spire at the front, was undoubtedly a church.
Riley was already up the small flight of stairs and pounding on the door.
“Are you trying to wake up the entire neighborhood?” I asked as I arrived behind him.
“I’m trying to get out of sight as quickly as possible. You should be thinking the same thing,” Riley said quietly.
“I haven’t forgotten,” I said.
“There is a time and a place for further discussion. That’s not right now, especially when we’ve got an unconscious archangel on our hands and demons on our tail,” Riley said.
I realized with a start that he was right. If everything that he said about Benjamin was true, I wasn’t the only one that the demons would be after. “I’m sorry,” I said.
Riley didn’t answer me. I was about to say something smart when the door opened, revealing a small grey-haired woman. If I hadn’t seen her hair, I would have had no idea how old she was as her face was unlined. Shining bright blue eyes took all of us in.
Without saying anything, she swung the door wide open with a heavy sigh. “Come in. I’ve been expecting you.”
CHAPTER SEVEN- RILEY
My muscles relaxed the instant I stepped onto the land owned by the Sisters of St. Joseph. There was no way I’d admit it to anyone, but I had a deep-seated feeling that I was returning home. I hated that. In my opinion, ever since my introduction to Sister Alice Asher and her teachings about how to live with my abilities, my life had basically gone to hell. Five years ago, I should have been the one to go to that burning pit of stink and rot, but instead I got left behind. My mother and sister paid the price for my willfulness and stupidity. There was no one to stand in judgment except for the woman who stood before me now. I spent five years running away from my guilt, only to find it all here still waiting for me.
I stepped past Alice and paused in the hallway. “The room at the top of the stairs?”
“Yes,” she said.
I proceeded down the narrow hallway to the flight of stairs leading up to the second floor. I didn’t give anything more than a passing glance at the sitting room off to my left. There were two nuns sitting there with blank expressions on their faces. I was nothing more than another one of Sister Alice’s strange visitors. It was a continual rotation, one that the Mother Superior tolerated over the years and chose to turn a blind eye to. I always found it mildly fascinating that an institution built on the very premise of good and evil would have such a hard time believing in the physical embodiments of just such ideals. Yet the nuns of the Sisters of St. Joseph went about their days like every other human in the world. Oblivious. Lucky.
I felt Alice’s presence behind me, and I assumed that meant that Paige was bringing up the rear. I should have told her something about Alice before we arrived, but I had no idea where to begin. Alice was a person firmly rooted in my past, and until today, I had every intention of keeping her there.
Since the day I met the nun, she had insisted that I simply call her Alice versus “Sister”. She didn’t think that the formality was necessary. My mother had wanted me to do so anyway, but after she had left me in Alice’s care, I had quickly acquiesced.
I had lived in a small apartment owned by the church a few blocks away. I don’t know how my mother paid the rent. My life then had seemed so intense and scary, but I h
ad to laugh at that idea now. Even though the barn doors had been blown open then, it was nothing compared to the life I had lived for the last five years. I often wondered if that boy, knowing what I knew now, wouldn’t have just thrown in the towel and given up. It certainly would have made things a whole lot simpler.
When I found the room at the top of the stairs, for a moment it felt as if I had never left. It was part office, part guestroom, part laboratory for Alice. In this room, she got to be who she fully was with no one to judge or distract her. It was one of the few places on Earth where I felt completely safe. I crossed the room to a small, narrow bed underneath the window and laid Benjamin down on it. I had barely moved away before Alice leaned over him scanning him up and down. I noticed that she didn’t touch him though.
“He’s been out for the past ten minutes,” I said. Although I had spent almost a year with her, I still wasn’t sure how she went about doing her intricate diagnosis when it came to supernatural creatures that crossed into her domain. She rarely let me observe those sessions.
At my words, Benjamin began to thrash, and Paige knelt down at the head of the bed and put her hands on his shoulders. She murmured something that I couldn’t hear, but the angel instantly quieted.
“Interesting,” Alice said. A small notebook appeared in her hands and she began to write in it. I didn’t bother looking over her shoulder. She masked her words in an ancient language that was used by angels when they first appeared on the human side of the veil. It was convenient for her and aggravating for me.
Alice’s hand shot out in the air above the bed, and she moved it slowly back and forth down Benjamin’s body. I didn’t need to see the magic to feel it. Alice’s talents were multiple, but she never felt it was necessary to claim the title of witch. She said that it wasn’t magic but the subtle use of different forms of energy. She could call it whatever she wanted to, but I knew it for what it was. It was magic.
“Will he be all right?” Paige looked up at Alice, and I saw once again the depth of her feelings for the unconscious man. It irked me more than I cared for, and I made a note that when we were alone again I needed to talk to her about it. She needed to know the truth about Benjamin’s symbol on her body.
“It has been a long time since an angel graced my presence,” Alice said. “Even then, none of those I’ve known have been as powerful as Benjamin. Everything I’ve heard says that he is essentially indestructible. This is a most unusual development.”
“So you don’t know,” Paige said.
“Time will tell. There is nothing physically wrong with him that I can discern. His vessel is intact, so I can only assume that this has something to do with his soul.”
Paige’s mouth dropped open. “His vessel?”
“All angels arrive here in corporeal form,” I said, rushing to explain. Alice was not going to be pleased when she found out how much I hadn’t shared with Paige so far. “They utilize humans as their vessels until they return to their realm.”
Paige frowned. “So angels possess people just like demons do.”
Alice clucked her tongue and shook her head. “Angels ask permission. Demons do not. There is a difference.” She held out her hands to Paige, who took them uncertainly. Alice pulled Paige to her feet. “It is not for us to question those who act on God’s behalf, dear.”
I barely managed to choke back my snort. I caught Alice’s sharp glance in my direction nonetheless. “Benjamin needs quiet and rest.”
She guided Paige out of the room, and I followed behind. I turned and looked over my shoulder as I hit the threshold of the room. Benjamin appeared to be in a deep slumber. I closed the door behind me and trudged down the stairs. The sitting room was empty now except for the three of us. Not surprisingly, the rest of the nuns had scattered once they realized that Alice had ‘special’ visitors.
Alice settled Paige into one of the lumpy, old wingback chairs. “I’m going to go get us some tea,” she said as she turned to me.
I nodded, unsure of what to say. Alice surprised me when she put her arms around me and squeezed tightly. Tears sprang to my eyes, and for a moment, I hugged her back. Then she released me and patted my arm. “We have a lot to catch up on.”
It was the understatement of the year. Then Alice was gone like a ghost leaving Paige and me alone. I dropped onto the sofa across from her. She sat primly on the edge of the chair, and stared at her hands. If I couldn’t see the way that she was twisting her fingers, I would think that she was perfectly calm.
“Alice will know what to do.” My words sounded thin and wrong in the small room.
“So you keep telling me,” Paige said. Her tone was sharp, and it rankled me.
“I’m sorry. My experience with ditching a mob of demons and having an archangel drop unconscious on me is a bit on the scarce side.”
“Maybe you should start by telling me why you trust her, and then we can go from there.” Paige crossed her arms and leaned back in the chair.
I frowned. “I told you. Alice taught me how to do what I do. She’s human, but knows more about the supernatural realm that exists next to the human one than anyone I’ve ever met. She’s solid.”
“Yes, I know that’s what you’ve told me already,” Paige said with a sigh. She rubbed her face. “I know that you aren’t used to letting people in, Riley. I know that you think that people will judge you for what you do. That all makes sense. But I’d hope that by now, we’d have a better understanding between us. I am freaking out. My entire life has been turned upside down. I feel like I’m floundering around and that I’m going to step into a trap and be dead. So while I believe that you believe this woman can give me some answers, I still don’t understand why. You’re going to have to tell me some of the stuff that you are obviously skirting around. Like why you reacted the way you did when Benjamin said Bruno Proctor’s name on the island. It didn’t escape my notice that this is the same demon official that kicked his ass by the way.”
I opened my mouth to respond, but her hand flew up to stop me.
“You could also tell me why when Sister Alice opened the door, she looked as if she saw a ghost, and she wasn’t looking at Benjamin. I can feel the tension between the two of you. You just met me two days ago, and yet you are putting yourself on the line for me every time I turn around. I’m grateful, but I can’t help but feel like this doesn’t make any more sense to you than it does to me. That tells me that you could decide it isn’t worth it any moment and then you’d be out of here, and I’d be alone again.”
Her voice pitched higher with each sentence, and I was out of my seat and kneeling in front of her. I took her hands in mine. They were cold.
“Paige, that’s enough,” I said. I reached up and gently pushed a strand of hair off of her forehead. Her haunted eyes watched me with caution. “I know you are scared. But right now, you are safe. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
Alice’s voice boomed throughout the room. “That might not be for you to decide, Riley. Don’t make promises to this girl that you can’t keep.”
CHAPTER EIGHT – PAIGE
For thirty seconds I had felt as if everything was okay in the world, and then Sister Alice’s ominous words hit me like a punch in the stomach. It was a reminder that my world would likely not be okay ever again.
Riley stood, and it didn’t escape my notice that he partially blocked me from Sister Alice’s view. “We’ve come here for help, Alice, not vague predictions based on rumor and legend. I haven’t even told you why we’re here.”
Alice stepped into the room. Her eyes locked on me. “I’m surprised at you, Riley. You were never one to invest your time in lost causes before.”
“What are you talking about?” I felt the sour taste of bile rising in the back of my throat. “ You don’t even know my name. You don’t know anything about me.”
“And neither do you, dear. Do you?”
Riley’s hand settled on my shoulder. “Enough with the riddles, Alice.
We’ve had enough of that with the angel. You know what it took for me to come here. I’m asking you to help us.”
“So you’ve brought hell on Earth to my doorstep, and you expect me to dance a jig?” Sister Alice’s voice turned hard. “You learned nothing from the time you spent here. You turned your back on the principles that I live my life by. I tried to save you. I tried to help you once. But death follows you now.”
“Fine,” Riley’s voice was strained. “You don’t have to help me. But I’ve never seen you turn your back on someone who searched you out for answers. I’m asking you to help her. She’s in trouble.”
Sister Ann sighed heavily. She leaned against the doorframe and closed her eyes. “Of course, she is.”
There was a long pause while I waited for her to say more. I felt something inside of me that I couldn’t put my finger on. Then I realized what it was. Hope. Fear. Excitement. I didn’t know what I was about to hear, but I couldn’t deny that, after three years, I almost didn’t care if it was good or bad. It was answers. It was knowledge about the life that had, thus far, remained hidden from me.
“Sister? Your tea.” One of the other nuns who I had seen earlier appeared at Sister Alice’s elbow with a tray. On it sat a teapot and three cups. It reminded me of something, but the memory was gone before I could grasp onto it and study it. Already, I could tell that I was on the cusp of having my life changed. Again.
“Thank you, Sister.” Sister Alice took the tray and the other nun seemed to scamper away as fast as her feet would take her. I didn’t really blame her. Sister Alice so far hadn’t done much to illicit a warm and fuzzy feeling in me either.
She walked into the room and put the tray down on the coffee table. “Sit down, Riley. You’re making me nervous. You don’t have anything to fear from me when it comes to this girl.”
She started to pour the tea, and I sensed Riley’s hesitation. I didn’t know what it was about me that had brought out his protective side, but it was endearing. As frustrated as I was with him, I needed him. He dragged the footrest next to my chair and sat down. Sister Alice rolled her eyes even as she handed me a cup.