by D L Greeley
“Him, the guy in the silk suit, what did he do, Shelly?” She shook her head and shrugged. “He told me what word to use and how to activate the amulet.”
“Then, what?”
“It was quite something to behold, Mack,” said Kolann. “The body armor started to do CPR on you.”
“Come again?”
“It started doing chest compressions and it squeezed your lungs to pump them.”
“That would explain why every move I make hurts like I’ve had the crap kicked out of me.” I winced as I twisted at the waist to stretch. Shelly held out a hand to steady me. “That’s because you HAVE had the crap kicked out of you.”
“Yeah, by you, little girl…” I mumbled irritably as I stumped over to Azrael. “Bout time you showed up, Az.”
“That’s Azrael or Mr. Death if you please Mr. MacFade.”
“Mack? Who are you talking to?” Kolann squinted at the space that Azrael occupied.
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” My voice was horse and weary. Kolann let out an exhausted but heart felt laugh and Archie looked entertained as well. I scowled at Kolann. “What?”
“You… ha ha ha… You actually have the balls to say something like that to me in spite of the events of the last few days? Inconceivable!” I smiled and started to enjoy the irony myself. “I reckon you have a point there. Fair enough, Kol, the person I am speaking to is Azrael the Angel of Death. Apparently he’s here to… what ARE you doing here?”
“I am doing my job, Mr. MacFade.”
“You what?”
“You looked confused.”
“Damn straight, I’m confused! Who are you here for? From what I was told, you blew your chance at me by giving Shelly the insight to activate the armor’s restoration functions.”
“I am here for all of these lost souls, of course.” Azrael looked pleased with himself. I looked at the souls in question. The hateful looks, racist slogan attire and messed up tattoos were gone but I could still recognize the base essence of the men that had just 30 minutes ago, been tearing each other apart. “But these are the Sons of Purity!” I protested. “They have perpetrated some of the most heinous and vile atrocities you can imagine. Your competition should be harvesting them, not you.” I was more than a little agitated. Azrael chuckled softly and spoke in a patient voice, which made it worse.
“It doesn’t work that way Mr. MacFade.” I broadcast his voice and appearance to Kolann and Archie as he spoke. “Salvation is a gift. It’s not taken away for bad behavior. That is what we call grace. These people, at one point in their lives accepted The Son as their savior. In fact, some of these people thought they were serving the Almighty.”
“So, that’s it? At one point in time they said ‘I believe’ and they get a free pass to do whatever they want with no consequences? That’s bullshi—” Azrael raised an eyebrow at me. “…that’s not cool at all, Az.” Azrael shrugged, he had given up on getting me to call him by his given name. “It’s not my place or yours to judge. That is His place. I didn’t say there were no consequences, Mack. You can see how they lived and the effects their crimes and hatred had on them. They’ll also have to stand before the throne of judgment. Even though they’ll still be welcomed into the kingdom, I assure you, having to answer for such actions and knowing you have disappointed The Father, is not pleasant, in the least. My former sister over their can tell you all about that.” He gestured to Bastet.
“Hah! Got you! A contradiction, The Fallen were cast out for bad behavior,” I said triumphantly. Looking around, I noticed neither Kolann, nor Archie were comfortable with the concept of my challenging the Almighty’s decision making. Azrael looked almost disappointed. “Yes, but that was before the new covenant and angels are held to a much higher standard, we being servants directly to the Father and all.” He spoke with a smile that painted his ethereally handsome face with a pure and brilliant light.
“Got an answer for everything, don’t you, Azrael?” I replied sourly.
“Generally yes, if there is nothing else. I do have a lot of work to do.”
“One more thing, Az. Why show up here and revive me?”
“The Father was asked to intercede on your behalf and it touched his heart.”
“Asked to intercede? By who?”
“Claire and her family, several others and most importantly, the desperate plea of a child.” He indicated Shelly.
“How’s that now?”
“Come now, Mack, surely you know the answer.” The same patient smile lit up his features. I looked to Kolann and Archie. “You know what’s he talking about?”
“Prayer Mack, duh...” replied Archie.
“Very good, young one. I see that you’re being assisted in seeing and hearing me.” He returned his attention to me. “The Father has great things in store for you and it seems that you’re well prepared. The answer to your question is ‘For where two or more are gathered together in my name—”
“…there am I in the midst of them.” I finished for him.
“You know the scriptures?”
“I have the whole book memorized, don’t look so bloody shocked,” I replied flatly.
“And yet you still have doubt in your heart? Fascinating…” Azrael smiled up at me, exuding his annoying calm and comfort. It was really starting to piss me off. “Where I come from we have a saying Azrael, talk is cheap.”
“And yet you stand here speaking with an ANGEL that was instructed to save your life? Really, Mack?” asked Kolann. I gave him a betrayed look. “Where was HE when Arianna LeBlanc was being tortured to death?” I asked bitterly. “I happen to know for a fact that hundreds were praying for her.”
Azrael shook his head as if the answer was so obvious he couldn’t believe I had actually asked the question. “Thousands actually, and He was whispering in Andre LeBlanc’s ear, instructing him to seek you out. He was dispatching a guardian angel to protect you, as you flew through the streets of the city at break neck speeds. He gave Mr. Fuller the extra energy to grasp the cable that swung you away from the crucible. He was telling Arianna that she was loved, she had not been forsaken, and a powerful warrior child of God was rushing to her aid. Do I really need to go on? Tell me Mack, where WASN’T he?”
“It was too little too late, if you ask me.” Powerful warrior child of God, who does this guy think he’s fooling?
“I attempt to fool no one, but it does appear trying to convince you of anything tonight is a fool’s errand.” Oh yeah right, angels read minds too.
“Nice blocking, Mai. Asleep at the wheel?” I received a telepathic middle finger for an answer. Mai was in a mood too. “Amen to that,” mumbled Archie. I scowled at him. “Et tu Brute?” Azrael straightened the sleeves of his jacket, “No matter how you may feel about The Father, Mr. MacFade, he’s well pleased with you. Your sense of humor and value of human life is a gift, He takes endless delight in. Did you know?”
“Whatever you say, flyboy, take your sacks of garbage and be on your way. The sight of you all disgusts me.” I stalked away to observe the rest of the preparations to depart. I could See and Hear him shake his head and bid farewell. “We’ll meet again, Mack. Maybe by then, your heart will have changed.”
“Don’t put any money down on that, pal.”
After Azrael departed, Kolann approached me with heavy thoughts on his brow. “That was quite the experience. Do you do that often?”
“Talk to Angels? Way too bleeding much, lately.” I grumbled.
“Do you think he’s right?”
“About my heart changing, not bloody likely. About salvation being a permanent gift? Who knows? Wondering about your afterlife, Kolann?”
“Perhaps a bit.”
“I thought you were already in it.”
I smirked and started to lose my balance, sitting down heavily on a crate next to Shelly. “Anyway, this shitty night needs to end. It’s a few hours until dawn and we need to get going.” Shelly stood her ground, so to speak, a
nd Kolann looked expectantly at me as well. Archie walked up to stand next to Shelly. “Nice try, Mack, but I believe there is a question still hanging in the air, before that little distraction?” he asked. I had just noticed that he had a shallow slash across one cheek and a shiner. Shelly looked up, giving him a shy smile. He returned it as she dabbed at his face with my bandana.
I groaned, “OK guys, enough of that. I have a Hell of a sweet tooth but that’s a little too saccharine, even for my taste.” Both teenager and dhampir looking chagrined, mission accomplished. “Let’s get everyone out of here before story time begins. Shelly get on my cell,” I handed it to her. “and let your folks know you’re OK. Claire called them so they wouldn’t worry too much when they came home. I need to get back to her. She’s probably worried sick.”
As I stood, my knees started to go out from under me. “Whoa! Mack!” Archie ducked under my left arm to keep me upright and sat me back down on the sturdy looking crate. “You need to get to a hospital.”
“No, no hospitals, Arch. I can’t conceal my true nature under cameras and x-rays. I just need to get home. I have everything I need there.” Shelly took a defiant stance. “I, for one, am not going anywhere with you, until I know who you really are!” Kolann looked to me with a pained smile. “Do you want me to carry her to the truck?”
“You wouldn’t dare, old man!” She hissed at him. I fixed her with a fierce paternal glare. “OI! What have I told you about addressing your elders?” She looked down at her shoes. “Sorry, Kolann, I really just want to know the truth.” Kolann placed a hand on her back but she didn’t pull away. “As would I, little one.” He gave me the same expectant look again, as did Archie beside him. “Saying you owe us the truth, would be putting it mildly, Mack. A lot of people put their asses on the line for you tonight and for Shelly, of course.” He smiled shyly at Shelly again. I put my face in my hands and groaned.
“Guys, you’ve got to understand, keeping this secret has kept me alive for decades. It’s just not that simple.” Shelly was quite clearly going to give me no quarter. “You say that as if it makes a difference, Mack, if that is in fact your REAL name.” She was starting to get impatient and that makes her a little snot.
I wasn’t sure I had the energy for all this myself tonight but, I let out a deep mournful breath, the death of my secret identity. I’m no Clark Kent or Peter Parker but it was a little comforting having that barrier in place. “Have a little mercy guys, not here.” I tossed my keys to Archie. “You drive. Have Reggie follow behind us. I’ll fill you all in on the way. Tell Reggie if you like, but not Svetlana.” Kolann gave me a withering look. “I’m sorry, Kolann, I know she put herself at risk and helped out big time at the end there but it was her actions that brought us here to begin with.”
“Fair enough, but I’ll expect that to change in the future, and soon,” he grumbled and took my other arm as they lifted me to my feet. “And what are we doing with this?” Dent indicated Bastet. She hissed at him and stared daggers at me. “Yes, mortal what is to become of me?” She asked with a snarl. “Oh, Bastet! I completely forgot about you. That’s alright, I reckon, you being used to that kind of thing and all,” I said with a snigger.
“You’ll pay for that, Alexander MacFade Yoshida!” she spat with a smug look on her face. Everyone looked at me. “You bitch! You just had to let the cat out of the bag, didn’t you? No pun intended.”
“Yeah, keep telling yourself that, Mack,” said Archie dryly. I promptly ignored him.
“You know, Bastet, I think there IS one last thing you can do for me and then I am done with you.”
“And that would be?”
“Burn in Hell!”
With a roar of flames and a scream of anguish, she was gone. “Tell your boss down there, I said to kiss my arse!” I called over my shoulder to the burn mark on the floor. Archie spoke from under my arm as we walked out to the Hummer. “Dude! You have a real mean streak, you know that?” Shelly looked shocked by what she had just seen. I shrugged slightly. “It’s reserved for only the special-est of people, Arch. Hopefully, you’ll never see it again.”
I got into the front passenger seat, well it was more like I was shoved into the front passenger seat and held in place as Kolann fastened my seat belt. Shelly climbed in the back directly behind me. Archie hopping up into the driver’s seat, looked like a kid in a candy store.
“Ooohh, buttons!” His eyes went, wide and bright. “FREEZE!” Shelly and I said at the same time. “Don’t touch anything!” blurted Shelly. “You could eject one of us or launch a rocket into the next building.” He pulled his hands back to his chest and giving me a disconcerted look. “Seriously?” I smiled wearily. “A slight exaggeration, but it would be a REALLY good idea if you didn’t touch anything that doesn’t look familiar.”
“Ooookaaaaay, anything else I should know?”
“No, that’s it, what’s the hold up?” I mumbled, bone tired and not looking forward to laying my life bare to all these people. “Father is arranging for the cleaners. Nobody has had to use them for quite a while so they’re having trouble tracking them all down.” Shelly stretched to see out the window. “Cleaners?” I chuckled softly to myself. “Trust me, Shelly, you don’t want any details. You’ve had enough nightmares tonight.”
Drifting off to sleep, I woke about thirty minutes later, according to my watch. We were pulling out of the parking lot. The building was an inferno, the neighboring buildings having been sprayed down with some sort of foam. A fire retardant I would reckon. “Won’t the fire department notice something like that?”
“No.” replied Kolann, from the back seat. “It’s our own special formula, dries with the heat of the fire; by the time they get here, it’ll be a thin coating resembling ash.”
“Beauty.” I smiled weakly. “Almost seems like this is a regular thing.” Archie shrugged, “It used to be.”
“Somehow I already knew that.”
“OK, no more stalling, Mack. Who are you, really?” Shelly demanded. “I wish I knew sometimes, Shelly Bean. Does everyone understand that your opinion of me may change with this information?” Everyone in the car nodded their heads except Shelly. I maintained eye contact with her, in the conversation mirror, until she responded. “Spill it, Mack! You can’t scare me.” I stared out the window for a moment. “Don’t be so sure, Shelly.”
Chapter 34
I told them everything. They had to keep waking me up, but I got through all the basics by the time we arrived home. I included my Nim mother and human father. Shelly asked me the usual female question of how they met. I told her that she would have to ask Mai about that sometime. Yes, I told them about Mai. I told them about my father and I being shot down in a private plane in the outback and the search and retrieval by Oroku, my childhood in Japan, my corresponding flight from Japan and having to leave my family behind completely. I also filled them in about my wandering around the U.S. and my final settlement in St. Louis where I met Casey and Claire. By the time we arrived, Shelly was in tears again and I could hear Archie sniffling a little. I looked over at him as he pulled up to the curb. “Are you actually crying?” I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Shelly’s grip on my shoulder tensed. She hadn’t let go of me since we got in. “Leave him alone, Mack.” Archie wiped at his eyes. “Dude what do you expect? That was some pretty heart-wrenching shit.”
A clearly touched Kolann came to my defense. “Easy, Archibald, Mack lived it, it doesn’t affect him the same way, hearing it told, because all of it was everyday life. Though I have to admit, it would kill me all over again to have to walk away from my family like that.” I barely heard him finish, mentally as well as physically exhausted I drifted off to sleep again. I woke to the door of the Hummer closing and the intoxicating scent of Claire. She was starting the engine when I noticed the dashboard clock had advanced over an hour. Archie and Kolann’s scents were already faded. They must not have wanted to wake me, just to say goodbye. I perked up a little. “Hey babe, w
here we going?”
“Cathy and Randy aren’t home yet. We needed to take Shelly to the ER, to get her hands and head looked at.” I turned to see Shelly re-dressed and cleaned up, probably to help with the story at the hospital. The way she looked before—the police would have been called for certain.
Claire pulled out into the street and waited a whole 12 seconds before starting her interrogation. It was a new record, her self-restraint was improving. “Two Egyptian Gods?” The question was implied. “Yeah” I said between mouthfuls of a sandwich I didn’t remember being placed in my hands. “This is fantastic! What is it?” I had already polished it off and began licking mayonnaise off the paper. Claire handed it back to Shelly. “Oi! I wasn’t done with that!”
“Yes you were. Now talk!”
“Ma’am yes ma’am.” I mumbled. “What was that?” Claire’s tone was authoritative. I knew that tone, my suffering would be the stuff of legend if I didn’t tell her exactly what she wanted to know. “Fine, what EXACTLY is your question?”
“Eh hem, two Egyptian GODS?” She repeated her original query.
“More like two demonic posers with God-like powers. Technically three if you think about it.”
“What do you mean technically THREE?” Claire’s eyes narrowed at me in the rear view mirror.
“Nothing Babe, I cancelled Ra’s ticket. So Seth was really the only one. I neutralized Bastet days ago.” I shrugged non-commitally.
“I swear to God Mack if you start trying to HANDLE me by minimizing this…”
“What can I say? They met their match and won’t be bothering anyone for a long time.”
“You left out the part where you and the Rayners took on a mixture of eighty or ninety bikers and wild vampires. AND, that the ANGEL OF DEATH, showed up?” She was clearly irritated with my lack of disclosure. “Oh! And that you died, that appears to have slipped your mind, also!” She was starting to get steamed. I needed to cough up some details, fast. “OK, first of all, we had help with the hundred or so thugs. Second, I’ve dealt with Azrael before, he’s harmless, more of a self-righteous, proselytizing pain in the ass, really. Thirdly, I was only TECHNICALLY dead for a few minutes.” Claire slammed on the breaks, skidding the Hummer to a stop. Thrown against my seat belt, a whole new world of pain said hello. “Oi! What did you do that for?” I groaned, as I pulled the belt away from my aching chest. She glared at me through a mixed expression of outrage and incredulity. Here it comes… “Did you know that’s what you were walking into?”