Tyrone straightened up. She could sense something different about him. It was like he had some sort of power within him. “Well, all that’s gonna change, starting now,” he said to her as he held out the gris-gris that he wore around his neck. “I went on a vision quest. Saw so many things y’all just wouldn’t believe. The Master of Breath chose me as his shaman.”
Laila’s eyes narrowed. She was wary but still intrigued. “Shaman? What’s that?”
Tyrone smiled faintly. “It’s a special kind of man, someone who talks to spirits and has traveled across many worlds. If the Klan comes back, they be in for a big surprise.”
Brooklyn
Valerie Mendoza’s funeral was held in Cypress Hills Cemetery. A small police honor guard led by Lieutenant Joe Pascorelli wrapped the American flag and gave it to her mother, Josefina, while two bagpipers played Amazing Grace and Lochaber No More. Dr. Paul Dane stood alongside her mother as he held the hands of Kim and Troy Desmond, his newly adopted children. The President of the United States was present, along with Commissioner Donovan of the NYPD. Secretary of State Mary Arctor and her staff were able to attend as well. Patrick Gyle had been officially listed as missing in action, as in accordance to his own wishes.
As the funeral rites finally ended and everyone started heading to their cars, Paul looked out into the peaceful meadows and the surrounding tombstones. The day seemed sunnier than usual. Kim and Troy had already gone ahead back to the apartment as they were escorted by a few cops. He didn’t want them to linger here. It was better for them to move on with life as quickly as possible, he figured. There already was too much death in the world for them to have to worry about another one.
Paul sighed. He had heard from the trickster that the new shaman had been able to help neutralize the faction of Xipe Totec in his own temple, just as they were doing battle against the avatar of Huitzilopochtli. With the apparent demise of the two avatars, the Aztec Empire was thrown into turmoil. America had won a reprieve, at the very least. There was still a lot of work to do. There were renegade Aztec war bands still crossing the porous border to take captives. But without their leaders, there would be no major invasion. The country now had some precious time to look for a more permanent solution.
A wrinkled brown hand took him by the elbow. It was Josefina. “Don’t grieve too long, your country needs you.”
Paul smiled slightly as he stared into her deep brown eyes. In many ways, Valerie’s mother reminded him of her. “I miss her. She renewed my life when I thought it was lost. I thought we were destined to be together forever. If only things could have turned out differently.”
Josefina nodded. “Do not worry, she is in a better place. Valerie wanted to be a cop more than anything else in her life. She died fighting for what she believed in.”
He held his hand over hers. “Thank you, Mama Josefina. I would like you to live with us. The two kids are very fond of you and I owe you so much because you took care of them while Val and I were somewhere else.”
“Muchas gracias,” Josefina said. “We are one family now. Let us head back to the apartment so that I can start cooking for the kids.”
Paul nodded. “Okay, go ahead. I’ll join you in a bit. I just wanted to hang around for a little while longer.”
As she walked away, Paul turned around and stared out past the row of white headstones. Her mother was right, Valerie just wouldn’t have gone out any other way. As he recalled the brief but happy times they had together, he felt something in his pocket. As Paul pulled it out and stared at it, he quickly realized it was Valerie’s Aztec necklace. Then it hit him. She had secretly placed it in his clothes as a token of good luck. Did she know she wasn’t going to make it? Or did the necklace actually afford some sort type of protection and she had willfully placed it in his possession as a way to save him?
Tears began to stream down his face. He had kept his composure throughout the funeral but now he just couldn’t take it anymore. Paul fell on his knees and started to weep.
Otherworld
The wind blew her long, reddish brown hair around in all sorts of different directions, but she didn’t bother to put it back in place. The rolling, grassy hills that surrounded Valhalla seemed peaceful, almost heavenly. The overcast day seemed constant and night would never come. There was a magical calmness to the place as Tara Weiss stared out into the vast distance. She figured it would be a great spot to hang around in, but with all she experienced, it would become boring in no time.
“Hi,” a voice beside her said.
She turned. Standing near her was Steve Symonds, the 13 year old from England. Tara stared at him for a bit before looking back out and enjoying the pale skies above them. He was sort of handsome, but he was also two years younger than she was.
Steve laughed a little. She was ignoring him. That was a good sign. “I’m Steve by the way,” he said.
Tara kept looking away. She wasn’t in the mood but she didn’t want to tell him that. At least, not yet. “I know who you are. Everybody’s been talking about you.”
Steve grinned sheepishly. So it looked like his reputation preceded him. “I know who you are as well, you’re Tara. You did a lot for people too.”
Tara made a slight shrug. “Okay, I guess we have that in common.”
Steve looked down at the grass on his feet. “I was wondering, what are your plans? Will you be going back to earth anytime soon?”
“I will be … sooner or later,” Tara said wistfully. “I need to look up a friend first. I promised him I would help him find his mother.”
“What’s his name?”
“Ilya,” Tara said. “He’s in the faerie realms. He got hurt saving me and I’m going to see if he’s well enough to travel now.”
Steve nodded. He knew the faeries all too well. “I would be careful around those Fey, they have a habit of deceit, if you know what I mean.”
“I know,” Tara said softly.
Steve turned around. She didn’t seem to be in a good mood, maybe he would chat with her later. Just as he started to walk away, he turned his head one more time. “What will you do after you help him then?”
Tara closed her eyes for a bit before she answered him. “I’m going to go look for my brother. Even though his physical body is gone, I know he’s out here somewhere. The worlds that we can travel throughout here are like, infinite. I know I can find him. I can feel it in my heart.”
Coming Soon:
Mortuorum Luctum
Wrath of the Old Gods Book 4
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Table of Contents
Author’s note:
1. Dastardly Doings
2. Reflections in the Flames
3. The Ritual of Skins
4. Rivers of Voodoo
5. Minutes of the Meeting
6. Below the Mud
7. Hearts of Darkness
8. Thunder Run
9. Journey to Mictlan
10. The Stranger Cometh
11. Lord of the Lies
12. Repel Boarders
13. The Dream of the Smoking Mirror
14. Escape from Purgatory
15. The Guilty Ones
16. The Secret Prisoner
17. A Child to the Mother
18. A Model Family
19. A Parliament of Owls
20. The Omega Fellowship
21. The Rain God
22. The Forests of Eden
23. The Serpent of Vision
24. The Betrayer
25. The Exorcists
26. Intrusion of the Profane
27. Ouroboros
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A World Darkly (Wrath of the Old Gods Book 3) Page 39