Beacon's Fury (Potomac Shadows Book 3)

by Jim Johnson

  Chapter Ten

  PRESET ALARM THREADS TRIGGERED, PULLING THE Spinner out of his quiet meditation and rousing him to full wakefulness. A few moments of focused effort enabled him to determine that there was no immediate threat—the alarm had been triggered by action outside the Holding.

  He focused on the insights his prepared threads had gathered—his careful placement of ‘geists had started to bear some fruit. Many lost souls and ghosts yet to find their way to the Holding were restless.

  He pulled on more threads and siphoned off some energy from his deep reservoir of stored etherics, and studied the data coming in from the ley sensors he had set up all over the DC metro area.

  There had been several soul swarms, for lack of a better word, and the largest had been focused in a neighborhood of Alexandria. He concentrated his efforts in that area. The evidence of a ley shield deflecting the swirling ghosts revealed a likely target—possibly Rachel’s home?

  He studied the data some more, then, satisfied with what he saw, pulled back his etherics and disconnected from his sensor grid, then settled back in his pool of ley energy.

  Very interesting, indeed. He was fairly confident the place was Rachel’s residence, though he’d dispatch a ‘geist soon enough to confirm that. If it turned out to be true, then he’d have two excellent targets to strike just as soon as his new etheric form was at full strength.

  He flexed his etheric muscles within the pool of ley energy. Wouldn’t be much longer now. His new etheric form was easily twice as powerful as the one Rachel and Malcolm had destroyed, and would serve him well.

  But until it was ready, he was content to send more ‘geists out through the Veil to continue wreaking havoc in the world. Keeping Rachel and her allies unbalanced by forcing them to run around putting out little virtual fires, he’d entrench himself in the world with his new etheric form and set up a power base in the city.

  He called up a mental map of the city and focused on the three locations he’d marked as likely candidates. All three were deeply tied into the ley grid below the city, so all would have ample ley energy for him to draw upon.

  The first, the Washington Monument, was a classic location in the center of the city’s activity that regularly attracted a lot of people. If he set up shop there, he’d have no shortage of unwitting souls to draw upon. However, it wasn’t a very large construction, all things considered, and didn’t leave him much room in which to work.

  The second location, the Capitol Building itself, was attractive due to the number of people that either worked there or came and went on a daily basis. It was a large structure with a lot of space, and was also near the center of the city.

  Unfortunately, being the center of government, the builders had wisely built in a number of defensive measures to help prevent someone like him from attacking the place. He was confident that with time and effort he could demolish those defenses and claim the building for his own use, but that would take time and effort he’d rather spend consolidating his power base and expanding his influence in the world.

  No, the more he looked at his options, the more he liked the third one. The National Cathedral was a massive edifice, fully plugged into the ley grid, and packed full of people on a regular basis.

  And it had plenty of space for him to work, and even better, the Veil around the Cathedral was thin, thinner than in most places within the city. He wasn’t entirely sure why the Cathedral had taken more Veil damage than other places, but he wasn’t about to complain.

  He sent out some threads to analyze the Veil around the cathedral, and was frustrated to find that it was somewhat less vulnerable than he had thought. Someone had recently acted to repair some of the Veil rifts on the cathedral grounds.

  Rachel. Had to be her, and her friend Malcolm. Perhaps even their mentor as well, though he had as yet been unable to get a good view of that one. She had to be a powerful Warden for her to be able to shield herself from his view.

  But no matter. It was clear that Rachel and her allies were actively working to repair the damage she had done to the Veil, and they seemed to be focusing their efforts on the cathedral grounds.

  He smiled to himself. Which made the cathedral the best option for him to set up his power base. It would be delicious to unravel all the work Rachel had done there and then to trap her and bend her to his will, or simply destroy her.

  Yes, the cathedral was the place to build his power base. He retracted his sensory threads and then called for several new ‘geists. When they arrived before him, twisted to his needs and eager to serve, he planted compulsions within them to travel through the Veil and then focus on the cathedral, and gather as much information about the building and its surrounding neighborhood as possible. If he was going to use it as a long-term power base, he wanted to know all the hidden details about it and the surrounding environs.

  Once those commands were in place, he sent the ‘geists off with a wave, and then settled back into his etheric pool. He focused on the remaining stages of his etheric form’s existence, eager to complete the task and then strike out against the world.

  His clock was ticking away, and when the alarm went off, he would have his vengeance.

  Chapter Eleven

  I DIDN’T GET MUCH TIME TO say good morning to Abbie. I had managed about three hours of real sleep before my alarm went off, reminding me that Malcolm was picking me up at the ungodly hour of four in the morning. He wanted to get an early start on the hardest part of our scheduled move before the summer sun came out and blasted us into sweating slugs. Summertime in D.C. tended to be hot and muggy, and so far this summer had been brutal.

  I quickly got dressed and then ran to the bathroom. A quick ley thread scan showed me Malcolm was nearing the house. I had just enough time to give Abbie a peck on the cheek and then grab a banana and bottle of water out of the kitchen.

  I bounded down the porch stairs and got into Malcolm’s car, appalled at the moon still in the sky and the thick dew on the front lawn. I’d rarely been a morning person, and neither my calling as a Beacon nor my new job with Malcolm did much to change that.

  Malcolm, on the other hand, seemed to be brighter and more cheerful in the mornings, the chump. I glanced at him as I buckled in, appalled at the bright smile on his face.

  “Morning, sunshine. Sleep well?”

  I rolled my eyes and gestured toward the road in front of us. “Just drive, Malcolm. You know I hate talking before I’ve woken up.”

  He pulled away from my curb, his grin never changing. “In my line of work, our line of work now, I guess, you get used to waking up early. It’s cooler, less people on the road, and a whole day to look forward to.”

  I sighed. “What time do you go to sleep?”

  He shrugged. “Depends on the night, I guess. Some nights around ten, some nights are later.” He shot me another look full of smiling teeth. “That trick you and Miss Chin taught me has helped a lot too. I don’t seem to need as much sleep as I used to.”

  I peeled my banana and downed it in three big bites. “Tell me about it. I use the trick as well and even Abbie’s commented on how amazing it is that I need less than six hours of sleep to still feel rested.”

  “Exactly. My folks are appalled at whatever change I’ve made in my lifestyle. They remember the old Malcolm, the one who dropped out of high school and slept in for twelve to fourteen hours a day.”

  I glanced at him. “Really? You dropped out?”

  He shrugged as he drove, getting us out of Del Rey and toward the city. “Yeah. At the time I just wasn’t feeling school and had other activities to focus on.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Really? I haven’t heard this story yet. What had you so distracted that you decided to play truant?”

  “I didn’t play hooky, I dropped out. There’s a difference.”

  I frowned. “There is?”

  He shot me a severe look, like ‘duh’? “Playing hooky is a limited time sort of thing that you do while you’re st
ill attending school. Like, a junior could complete the full school year having played hooky say six times over the course of the year, right? Dropping out means you’ve, well, dropped out, and aren’t coming back. At all.”

  “Ah. Okay. I get it now.” I cracked open my water bottle and took a slug. “I played hooky a few times but never thought about dropping out. That would have been a blow to my whole family.”

  He glanced at me as we drove over the Fourteenth Street bridge and merged onto 395. “I thought you’d said you dropped out of college.”

  I bit my lip and settled myself into the ley current flowing all around me. I’d been feeling a little off since waking up and used the familiar currents to relax me.

  “Hmm? Oh, yeah. No, you’re right. I dropped out of college because some guys had been serious jerks and I didn’t want to deal with it any more.”

  “Sorry to hear it. Did you enjoy college?”

  I shrugged again and looked out the side window at the city, lit up against the gloaming sky. “I guess so, sometimes. I miss learning new stuff every day. I’d say I missed my friends, but I think I managed to alienate almost everyone I thought of as a friend while there.”

  He snorted. “At least some things don’t change with you.”

  I reached over and slugged him on the arm. “Jerk.”

  “Ow! What was that for?”

  “For setting me up with such a weak joke.” A blur of motion outside the car caught my attention. A pair of ghostly forms were floating alongside the car, swirling in the morning breeze.

  “Jeez, what the hell is going on?” I muttered.

  I sensed Malcolm glance my way. “What’s up?”

  I pointed out the window, having forgotten that he can’t see the ghosts or souls as readily as I could. “Lost souls have been really active lately. Not acting like normal ones.”

  Malcolm snorted again. “Like the dead have a pattern of action?”

  I spared a moment from staring at the ghosts to give him another slug on the arm. “They do if you know what to look for. I wouldn’t expect you to know that, though. You’re a Warden.”

  He nodded. “And a damn good one too. Or, well, I will be, anyway.” He shot me a defensive look. “As soon as Miss Chin takes off my training wheels and shows me some real powerful stuff.”

  I bit my lip in thought. “You’re pretty strong already, Malcolm. Your shielding has improved by leaps and bounds, and you already had some talent with your fire hand things before you started training with Miss Chin. So there’s that.”

  I trailed off, feeling lame as not having something else to add. What I had said was true, though. Malcolm had dedicated himself to training as much as he could lately, and it was showing in his increased confidence in his abilities and in his relationship with me and with Miss Chin. He was more than capable of holding his own in a fight. Shoot, even Charity was saying…

  Oh crap. I stared at my lap and then at Malcolm. “I forgot to bring Charity.”

  Malcolm glanced at me again as he worked through some side streets. “Is that gonna be a problem? I can turn back if we have to, even though I’d rather not.”

  I considered it, then rested a hand on his arm and gave it a squeeze. “No, I think we’ll be okay. I’ll reach out to her now through our connection and tell her I’ll be back later tonight.”

  “Will that be enough? I got the sense she was a little bit more demanding.”

  I smiled but shook my head. “No, nothing like that. You have to remember that she’s been stuck in, you know, book form for a couple centuries. I bet the girl was hungry for some social interaction.” I thought about the night before, and my and Charity’s efforts in the ley grid. “Though, I’m sure it’s hard on her nowadays.”

  “What do you mean?”

  I sighed and took another gulp of water. “I mean…she sorta lives with me and Abbie, right? And we have a relationship, and aren’t necessarily interested in hiding the, you know, adult portions of our relationship from Charity.”

  Malcolm blinked a few times and then shot a sidelong glance at me. “I’d make a comment, but think you’d hit me again.”

  I crossed my arms in front of my chest and gave him a look. “I promise not to hit you. What were you thinking?”

  He shot another glance at me. “Just thinking that maybe Charity’s from an age where two women aren’t supposed to, uh, date. You know?”

  I quirked up an eyebrow. “That may be true, but I haven’t sensed anything from her than support in what I, and we, are trying to accomplish.”

  Malcolm raised a hand, as if in defense. “All right, just curious. Anyway, maybe she doesn’t want to be a third wheel, you know?”

  I nodded. “I’ve talked to her. As long as I remember to keep her book propped open, she can send her consciousness out and about into the world for as long as she desires or has the energy for.”

  Malcolm nodded. “That makes sense. So she excuses herself for whenever you and Abbie, uh, get together?”

  An exasperated sigh crossed my lips. “It’s called sex, Malcolm. Geez. I’m sure even you have had sex a few times. It’s nothing to hide or be ashamed about.”

  “I’m not ashamed.” He shot me another look and then pulled into a parking space along the road near the building that housed the apartment were about to pack up and move.

  We got out of the car and he popped the trunk. “I threw our gloves and coveralls in the back again. Seemed to work last time.”

  I joined him at the back of the car, distracted by the handful of ghosts that had found their way to me. I could sense their presence through the ley threads. If I didn’t know any better, I’d have thought they were scared. I glanced at Malcolm. “Are you sensing this?”

  He stopped rummaging around in his trunk and looked around. “Hmm? No, I don’t have my senses running.”

  I refocused on the ghosts. “You really should, Malcolm. At least set up some passive sensor threads—they might save your ass. Didn’t Miss Chin teach you that?”

  He sighed in exasperation and then handed me my bundled-up dark blue canvas work coveralls and heavy moving gloves. “She did, yeah. I’ll remember.” He stared at me. “Besides…what did you say you were sensing?”

  The clothing forgotten in my hands, I focused my ley threads and homed in on the ghosts all around me. There were about a dozen of them now, of a spread of ages and levels of coherence.

  I reached out a hand and spread my presence out through a fan of thin threads, sending calming and encouraging thoughts along the way. My hope was that I’d catch some of them in the gentle net and calm them down.

  I forgot about Malcolm standing next to me and just let myself fall into the flow of the ley threads, and reached out to touch all dozen souls roaming around me.

  With my etheric voice, I said, “There’s no need to fear, friends. I’m a Beacon and I’ll guide you onward. Just relax. Find peace.”

  Easy enough for me to say. Their actions and stressed nature seemed to suggest something was really bothering them. I had never seen souls act like this before. I doubted Miss Chin would be much help, but I really wished Charity was here for me to ask a few questions.

  But, she wasn’t. So I had to rely on myself again. I reached down deep into the ley grid far below my feet for more energy to bolster my strength. I opened my physical eyes and moved over to a darkened doorway, and flexed my will to open up a gap in the Veil. I took a few moments to anchor it in place so that it didn’t accidentally collapse, and then I refocused my thoughts on the souls around me.

  “Come, my friends. Now is the time to leave this earth and move on to what awaits you next.” I used the ley net I had created to sort of gently guide the souls toward me and the rift I had created.

  Soon enough, most of them took the hint and came over, and, one by one, entered the rift in the Veil. A few reached out to me and touched the surface of my ley shielding, expressing gratitude for my actions.

  A couple of the restless souls eva
ded my best efforts to guide them to the Veil and dispersed. I imagined I’d see them again eventually, but for now, eight more souls had been moved from the mortal world and into the Holding. Not bad for a morning’s work.

  I glanced around with my ley-infused Sight. Malcolm had donned his work coveralls and had tucked his gloves into one of the outside oversized pockets. More importantly, he had called forth several ley threads of his own and had harnessed them into a wide protective shield around me and my Veil rift, and had also charged up his inner core, presumably to use his offensive talents if needed.

  I shut down my rift in the Veil with a wave of my hands and a pulling of the ley threads, and walked over to him, unable to contain the smile on my face.

  “I see what you did there, Malcolm. Thanks for the support.”

  He glanced at me and shrugged. “Least I can do. I’m a Warden, after all. I was talking to you and then you want away, within yourself, like you usually do when you’re working hard, and so I figured you could use a little silent support.”

  I nodded. “There’s hope for you yet, Malcolm. Anticipating a partner’s needs and getting it right is a good thing. Keep that up and you’re going to make someone very happy.”

  He shrugged again. “Anyways.” He handed me my coveralls and gloves again. I guess I had dropped them somewhere along the way and he had retrieved them. He offered me a sidelong grin. “Ready to do some mundane hard work?”

  Chapter Twelve

  I WAS, AND WE SET TO it with a will. Malcolm’s hired day workers were still an hour or more away from arriving with the moving truck, so he and I got dressed in our working coveralls and work gloves, and trudged our way up three flights of stairs to the apartment we were going to help move. Malcolm knocked on the door and coordinated things with the tenant, while I hung back and focused on pulling in as much ley energy as I could store. I’d need it all and then some to get through the move.

  As Malcolm started the paperwork with the tenant, an older lady in a print flannel dress, I worked my way through the two-bedroom apartment and made a mental inventory of the pieces of furniture and boxes and other items we’d be carrying down. The woman’s tastes tended toward dark and heavy wood furniture.