by Alexie Aaron
She had to bury her thoughts. The gifts and talents of the people waiting for her were going to prove difficult for her. She didn’t want their two cents or disdain at the moment. She ordered her thoughts and filed Murphy behind Grandma Hofmann and the twins. If her aunt picked up on her distraction, if any, it would be explained by the current PEEPs case.
She had to concentrate on the here and now. This mission was important and dangerous. She didn’t have to ask to know why her participation was so important. The closer she got to her destination, the stronger Komal’s communications were. He no longer used Sabine as a conduit. He communicated directly with Mia, and she suspected Gerald and Angelo.
The helicopter touched down in front of the airport’s corporate fixed-based operation building. Mia moved out of the confines of the transport when the captain said she could do so. On the tarmac Bev greeted her with a hot cup of coffee and a bag of local donuts. “Did you get any sleep?” she asked, noticing the dark circles Mia was sporting. “I completely forgot you were up all night with Burt’s team.”
“No sleep, but I’ll live.” Mia gave her a weak smile. “Thanks for the grub,” she said as she reached into the bag.
“Thought you could use the sugar. Come on, they’re waiting in the lounge area of the FBO.”
Bev led the way, and Mia sighed as she saw Angelo and Father Santos. The emotions of seeing her friends conflicted with the knowledge that one of them could read her like a book. The other would want to counsel her because he felt that was his religious duty. She waded through the courtesies and found a place on one of the sofas to sit down. Mia took a long drink of the strong coffee and waited for the caffeine to take hold.
Gerald walked into the small terminal, followed by several official looking men and women. He gathered with them in the far corner, and Mia watched as he worked his magic. She felt a weight beside her and felt a large hand on the back of her neck. Angelo had arrived and was massaging life into Mia’s stiff, cramped body.
“Thank you,” she said as the stress of the last few days fell away. “It’s been too long, Angelo. How did your Montreal experience go?”
The large, beautiful Italian man’s hands left Mia’s shoulders. “As one would expect, good versus evil, evil having a strong hold on a building where much sorrow and sin had been residing. Good won.”
“Good doesn’t always win, does it?” she asked, looking at the creature before her. Mia has suspected that Angelo was more angel than man but had no proof. No one in the professional group would talk about it, but Mia did wonder.
“Evil takes many victims, but we need to keep chipping away at the marble of this world and bring out the beauty, as a sculptor would. It’s there beneath the surface of the mundane. Good grows slower but stronger.”
Angelo looked into her eyes with his beautiful brown ones. Mia fell into them and felt relief and a deep understanding.
“You are confused, but you will make the choice right for you. All is not simple in the lives of the few of us that can see both worlds.” His words were intended to comfort and not chide her.
“I knew it would be impossible for me to hide from you,” Mia said softly. “I just don’t want Gerald and my aunt in my business.”
“I can teach you a trick to stop their meddling in your mind. I use it myself.” Angelo’s dark eyes contained mirth, but he refrained from laughing. “When Beverly Cooper is pushing at your defenses think, ‘I wonder if my aunt is putting on weight?’ This will pull her out of your mind and back into hers as she checks the snugness of her clothing. Gerald is easier, think of Beverly. He will start thinking about her, and you will be able to escape his probing. He will be too busy checking on his lady love.”
Mia smiled and reached for his hand. He covered hers with his immaculately groomed ones. “Thank you.”
“You are welcome. Tell me about what is going on with your investigation. I sense Gerald has some facilitating to do before he can address us.”
Mia gave Angelo a concise explanation of the activities at the Hofmann home. She also gave him a play by play of last evening’s gun hunt and her life being saved by Murphy.
“So Stephen Murphy is mobile now,” Angelo said quietly.
“Sort of. I have to move the axe head to the new location and he, er, catches up?”
“He won’t ascend now, you realize.”
“He wouldn’t before,” Mia argued. “I let him choose.”
Angelo rubbed his freshly shaven face with his hand. “Mia, let’s not mention Murphy to Father Santos just yet. He has enough on his plate at the moment.”
Mia looked over at the Spanish priest who was on the landline phone. As if he felt her gaze, he turned and smiled. Mia noticed a few more gray strands in the man’s dark, shiny hair. The corners of his eyes were lined and there was a pallor that wasn’t there before.
“Don’t worry, Mia,” Angelo said reading her thoughts. “He will be fine. He forgets he is a mortal man and needs to rest more. I will make sure he returns home for a while and visits with his people. But first we have innocents to save, a monster to destroy, and your Hofmanns need some of the Father’s special words, yes?”
“Yes,” Mia repeated. “I think we have another stubborn narcissist on our hands. Perhaps the father can encourage him to leave his host.”
“Perhaps he can,” Angelo agreed.
Gerald finished with the feds, homeland security and the local police force. He called in a lot of favors, and for the most part he was satisfied that these governmental automatons would do as he wished. They would stay on the Coast Guard cutters and land on the island once Bakersfield was contained or otherwise dealt with, and go about the liberation and rehabilitation of the thirty-some people who had been tortured and enslaved by this man. All but a few of the man’s bolt holes had been found. Most of his money was frozen and the other accounts watched for activity. Best case scenario: they arrested him and put him away where his expensive lawyers feared to tread. It wouldn’t stop his bi-locating activities, but it would restrict his abilities at the prison Gerald had in mind. Bev assured him it was far from any ley line.
It was time to bring his group together and go over the plan that he and Komal had devised between them. He was happy to see Mia in the assemblage. He doubted that Bev cold pull off the kind of distraction they would need to pull Sire out of Harold and into their hands. If they failed and the corporal man disappeared, Sabine’s life would have to change. She would have to be protected, and without her freedom she would diminish.
He nodded to the ear-pieced men at the door, and they stepped outside leaving the lounge to Gerald’s small group. Bev and Father Santos walked over to where Mia and Angelo were sitting. Gerald looked at his army of five and smiled wryly. “We are small but mighty,” he began. “We know the selfish reasons we are here. Sabine and her freedom. We know the altruistic reasons too. The liberation of these people. And a few of us want some retribution for crimes committed against our friend and the others. This man has tapped into a very powerful old magic. It wraps this planet and some think may feed the universe around us. I don’t know. It is not in my area of expertise.” Gerald waved his hand to center his thoughts. “What matters here is we have found another evil. An evil contained at the moment, but he grows at an alarming rate. He has resource and power to spread his cancer if he so chooses. He has remained hidden from our eyes because he isn’t presently interested in more that the acquiring of things, beautiful rare things. But what happens when his collection isn’t enough? Sabine and others would fall prey to this monster. He killed without thought the man who taught him to bi-locate. Destroying a teacher, a mentor and a friend, Komal.” Gerald let these words sink in before he continued, “Father Santos, we need your calming influence mostly. I think you would best be served dealing with the slaves.”
“Do we have promises of where they will be sent yet?”
“No promises, but they will be treated with regard and sensitivity,” Gerald answered.
“What do I tell them?”
“Tell them it is time for them to live again. Take charge of their destiny.”
“Very well, I will try to administer to their needs.”
“Thank you, old friend,” Gerald said. “Mia, I need you to draw the monster from his lair. First as a man then in his bi-located state. Bev and I thought that the only thing that would make him err and leave his defensible position is…”
“Sabine,” Bev said as she pulled a long blonde fall of hair out of the duffle by her side.
“You have to be joking. He’ll never believe I’m her.”
Bev reached into the bag and pulled out a diaphanous garment similar to the gossamer that Sabine’s persona wore. “The wig, some ivory make-up and this little number, you will be Sabine. I don’t think you realize how similar the two of you are.”
“Remember he hasn’t really gotten a good look at Sabine in her corporal form,” Gerald pointed out.
Mia remembered what Sabine had done for her friend Whit’s wife’s spirit and knew this was payback time. “Okay, but I’m wearing underwear,” she insisted blushing.
“Fine, but the chipped nails go,” Bev countered.
Mia looked at the state of Ralph’s manicure and had to agree with her aunt. The last evening’s events had done a number on her hands even through the gloves. “Okay. Can I have a coat, blanket or something? I don’t want to distract the boys on the boat, if you get my drift.”
“Sure. Trust me, I want their attention on the task at hand and not getting their hands on your tasks,” Bev said saucily.
Chapter Thirty-two
Komal lay prone on the cavern floor, his body at the center of the intersecting lines. Each of his limbs placed in line with the radiating ones. He took in the energy that was left over after the creation of this planet. He knew he had to let go of all his training in order to open himself to the residue left by an entity far more powerful than humans could imagine. This entity deemed male by so many fools. Komal’s instinct told him that this being had no gender, no patriarchal or matriarchal feelings whatsoever. In his years of study, he was led by those that came before him, so he did not rue his earlier misconceptions. But today he would let all that was be lost, in order to save those who would never know of his sacrifice.
~
Mia ran her skiff up onto the shore of the island. She placed an unshod foot on the wet sand, wincing at the cold water that bathed the shore with every wave. Her toe nails sparkled in the summer sun. They, along with her fingernails, were painted with Sabine’s pale shade of opal. Mia tugged the boat further up onto the shore before leaving it to climb the steep incline presented to her from this side of the island. Komal told her that Sire had a surveillance camera here.
The blond hair so carefully added to Mia’s short mane moved silkily, caressing her body as she continued her climb. Much to her annoyance, she had to give in and wear nothing under the sheer dress as her undergarments were cotton and ruined the Sabine effect. Mia swore if she had a mosquito bite on her nether regions she would make Gerald and Bev pay dearly. Oh and to make matters worse, they counseled her on her language as Sabine would never curse. It took all of Mia’s strength to drop the blanket and climb into the launch bare-ass naked in front of the pimple-faced sailors who rushed to help her, without cussing.
Mia stood atop the small dune of sand and let her garment fly in the breeze. Her pale lipstick sparkled as the moisture exerted from the climb deposited on her upper lip. “Think goddess, think Sabine.” Mia forced into her mind as the breeze lifted her outfit and most of her body was exposed to the lens of the security camera before her in the clump of birch trees.
~
The perimeter alarm went off. Sire moved quickly to his console and scanned the monitor before him. Ten cameras scanned the shoreline, the maze and the halls of his home. It only took him seconds to locate the intruder, and what he saw took his breath way. There was his angel, his living porcelain doll, standing atop the dune at the west side of the island. He took in her nakedness fruitlessly covered by the material of her gown. Her breasts topped with pert nipples aroused by the breeze or perhaps the anticipation of seeing him? Yes, that was it. She could not stay away. He swelled hard as desire filled him. He quickly sounded the recall bell so his servants would return to their cages. He wanted Pramada to himself.
~
The laborers fell into line as they trudged their way down the cold corridors towards their prison. Their footfalls making scraping sounds as worn, ill-fitting shoes moved against the stone floors. One man stopped and let the others move past them. No one noticed, no one cared. They all were on automatic, and as soon as they passed him, he ceased to exist.
Komal had possessed the man and pushed the existing, beaten soul to a far corner of the human’s mind. It only took a moment for the traveler to take control of the muscles, and once more Komal walked as a man. He moved quickly towards the recently vacated control room and disabled the alarms. He sat and watched as he saw boats beach on the eastern shore and soldiers start their way towards Sire’s castle. He saw Mia standing where he instructed her to stand, luring the man away from his stronghold. As soon as Komal was satisfied that Sire was well on his way to Mia, he disengaged the locks of the cells.
~
Mia heard him, before she saw the man who wanted to be Sabine’s king. He walked quickly out of the line of trees towards her. She took in his slender frame and immaculately groomed dark hair. His prominent Roman nose’s nostrils flared as he became an animal seeking out her scent. His expensive clothing draped his body, showing her that her outfit had brought on the desired effect. If she didn’t know this man’s nature, she too may have been aroused by the look of pure amour that shown upon his face.
“Pramada,” he said nearing her. “You have come to me.”
“That isn’t my name,” Mia said, doing her best to mimic Sabine’s airy voice.
“Not your earthly name, but surely you must see how Pramada suits your spiritual persona.”
Mia frowned and pretended to think before smiling and nodding. “Perhaps you are right.”
“Of course I am right. You must learn that I am right in all things,” he said sternly. “You have come to me. You must have seen that you belong to me. Why did you leave me, Pramada?”
“I left my body behind. I was frightened, Sire,” Mia said, letting her voice shake.
“I should punish you. Maybe later. But now, let’s walk and enjoy my island.”
Sire put his arm out, and Mia moved to him and let herself be guided. As long as she kept him on the west end of the island then the plan would continue to work. She was repulse by the feel of his skin and knew that this aroused male would soon want to mate with her. She must dance a careful dance. She needed to lead without him knowing he was being led.
~
Bev walked to a shady grove of trees and lay down. She bi-located into the form of a sparrow. She would fly high and guide the rescue team through the maze by her mental link with Gerald. Angelo would guard her defenseless body. He stood sentinel, ready to fight any corporal or spiritual army that dared try to harm his friend.
The team moved through the maze and once they reached the stronghold, fanned out in search of the enslaved people reported to be housed in the cellars. Gerald was assured that the locks were disengaged, and they had only to guide the laborers out of the darkness and into the light.
He didn’t notice the man who stood in the shadows or sense him slip away in the direction of the west exit. Gerald’s focus was on getting the innocents to safety before Bakersfield became aware that he had been fooled by Mia.
~
“Pramada, I sense your nervousness. It must be hard to be with your god,” Sire said, stopping and turning to face her.
“It is only my corporal inexperience that makes my knees shake, Sire,” Mia lied.
The narcissist nodded his head in understanding. “We could make love in the flesh or in our sp
iritual bodies. Which would be better for our joining Pramada?”
“My persona seeks out her king, my lord,” Mia said, her mind screaming, fraud, fraud, effing fraud!
“Let’s go to my bedroom and lie our bodies down…”
“And waste this moment? Let’s find a shady place here on this beautiful shore and leave our bodies and make love,” Mia suggested, buying time for the others.
The quickness in which his temperament changed frightened Mia. “You are too demanding and do not know your place,” Sire spat as he grabbed her and smacked her face hard.
The tears brought from the pain of the slap worked to her advantage. “What have I done, my liege?” Mia fell to her knees and cowered. Inside, she held in check the rage that was building. She drew power from the island, and as Sire grabbed her arm and dragged her to her feet, she warned Komal that things were falling apart.
He dragged her under a willow tree and pushed her to the ground. His eyes rolled up into his head and his body fell to the ground. Mia saw the cloaked persona rise quickly and move over her body. He reached a hand into her corporal form and pulled her into bi-location. It felt like every hair had been ripped from her body at once. Mia screamed as she rose. She quickly calmed herself so she could concentrate. She needed her persona to become the visage of Sabine.
Mia could not shake the cloaked persona. His hands shook her and slapped her again. The slap pushed her from Sire. She used this momentary break of contact to move away from him. She knew she would lose her power the closer she got to the water, and to move inland would put the mission in jeopardy. So she moved upward. He followed, his hands reaching for her. She morphed into the dragon persona that served her well before.
Sire was surprised for a moment and then enraged. This was not Pramada! This was the small female that had tricked him before. Sire morphed into a larger male dragon and grasped her with his tendons turning her to her most vulnerable side.