Beacon's Fury (Potomac Shadows Book 3)

by Jim Johnson

  I said, “You can’t do that. It’s not your fight. You should really go home.” I studied Abbie’s face. “Both of you should go home. This is my and Malcolm’s fight.”

  I paused, then focused on Malcolm. “And for that matter, it’s not really your fight, either. The Spinner’s been coming after me more than anything else, and…”

  I stopped talking when I realized that everyone was staring at me. “What?”

  Malcolm was the first to speak up. “All due respect, Miss High and Mighty Beacon, but the Spinner’s been coming after me too, and killed one of my best workers. He also killed friends of my friend, and is generally just a huge pain in the ass.”

  He crossed his arms. “Besides, you and I have been in this from the start. Since we met right here in Branchwood. I’ma see this one to the end.”

  Abbie squeezed my hand. “And I have no idea what I can do to help, since I don’t have any powers or talent like what you can do. But I love you, and appreciate Malcolm, and I want to do what I can to help.”

  I nodded toward her. “You’re crazy, then, but I love you all the same.”

  She leaned in for a quick kiss. I accepted and then focused on Bonita. “And what’s your story?

  “Like Malcolm, I’ve been with you since you’ve Awakened, and been a friend of yours since before you met Abbie. You know I’m here for you. All the way to the end.”

  I shook my head. “I didn’t want you involved in this. Any of you.”

  Bonita shrugged. “But we’re here. We involved ourselves. And you’re stuck with us.”

  I nodded and then squeezed Abbie’s hand. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m exhausted. We should talk briefly and then…uh…”

  I glanced around the room. “Um, Grandpa? Can we stay here the night or should we, you know…get out and find another place to sleep?”

  He got up and rummaged around in his small closet. “Hang on. I’ve got some extra pillows and blankets. My little futon isn’t much, but it’s comfortable. Same with that big chair over there by the window.”

  I nodded. “I guess we could make a night of it here.”

  Abbie raised a hand. “Hang on. If we al sleep here tonight, how are we going to get out of here without answering a ton of questions? The nurses are going to wonder what’s going on when the four of us file out of the room.”

  I grinned at her. “Easy. We go out the way I came in. Through the Veil and the Holding.”

  Bonita and Abbie gave me a blank look. Grandpa shot me a look and then nodded. “Oh, right. Sorta like that night we fought the Spinner.”

  I nodded. “Something like that.”

  Bonita frowned. “Something like what?”

  “Oh, you know. I use my talents and open the Veil, we walk through, and then we exit out of it somewhere else.”

  I glanced at Malcolm. “Where did you park?”

  “Underground parking garage two blocks away. I suspected we’d use the Veil shortcut to get out of here, though I didn’t think we’d spend the night.”

  “Is that a problem?”

  He shook his head. “Not for me. My family’s dealing with my sister, so here’s a good place for me right now.”

  I frowned and moved over to him. “What happened?”

  He shrugged and looked away, but then refocused and met my eyes. “She’s been seeing Buster Jay again. Says things are better between them, but I’m not so sure.”

  I shook my head. “Christ, I’m sorry, Malcolm. What can we do?”

  He shrugged. “Not much we can do right now. He hasn’t really done anything wrong. Other than being a psycho drug dealer and getting my sister hooked, you know.”

  I shook my head. “And sending his goons after us and nearly getting us shot…”

  “Oh, well, yeah.”

  I rubbed my forehead but couldn’t see a way out. Bonita leaned in, with a couple blankets in her hand. “Spinner first, then deal with this Buster Jay character. If the Spinner kills all of us, I doubt it’ll matter what Buster Jay and your sister do.”

  Malcolm and I traded a look. I shot a weak grin toward Bonita. “Ever the practical one.”

  She grinned. “Someone has to be.”

  We all chipped in to make manageable beds for everyone. Grandpa was pretty chipper, though I could tell he was starting to wear down. It was really late, after all.

  I pulled the group together and we talked strategy for half an hour or so, then once we realized we were getting repetitive and stupid, we called it a night and retreated to our respective sleeping spots.

  Abbie and I had the futon, which was just barely big enough for us to curl up on together. The blanket wasn’t quite big enough for the both of us, but we made the best of it.

  I kissed her slow, and then curled up with her and whispered into her ear. “This isn’t how I imagined this night would go, but I’m glad you’re here.”

  She nodded into me. “Me too. I love you, Rachel. No matter what happens tomorrow.”

  “I love you too.” I snuggled in close to her, and then closed my eyes. The others had settled in as well.

  I let my mind drift, and lost myself in the swirls and eddies of the ley threads. I used a technique Charity had taught me, to sort of meditate amongst the threads and have an active subconscious, all the while letting my body get some much-needed rest.

  After wrestling with my conscience and then coming to some sort of peace with what my friends and I were going to try and do, I let myself go and drifted into a deep and quiet sleep.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  MORNING CAME SOON ENOUGH. THE FIRST round of nurses in the morning was usually around 6:30, which meant that the group of us had to be up and about well before then.

  We let Grandpa sleep and cleaned up as best we could. I left a note and the pillow case of money behind with Grandpa. If something happened to me, I wanted him to do something with it that would benefit someone other than me.

  Once we were all ready, I hugged each of my friends and thanked them for what they were about to do. I then called forth some ley threads and cut a rift into the Veil. Malcolm took Bonita’s hand and led her through.

  I moved over to Grandpa’s bed and leaned over and kissed him on the forehead. I whispered into his ear, “Thanks, Grandpa, for all your help.”

  He reached out a hand and grasped my arm, and cracked open an eye. “Go do what you must, but come back to me and tell me how it went.”

  A lump formed in my throat, and all I could do was lean over and kiss him on the cheek. I didn’t dare say anything because I was afraid it’d make me lose my nerve.

  I thanked him again, and then backed away, and took Abbie’s hand in mine. We moved to stand in front of the glowing rift in the Veil.

  I glanced at her. “Ready?”

  Abbie gave me a sickly look, but nodded all the same. “I hope to God you know what you’re doing.”

  I gave her a grin that I doubted she believed, and then guided her into the Veil with me. The trip through the Veil was mercifully brief, so when we stepped out of it and into the enclosed parking garage, there had barely been enough transit time to get sick. Abbie coughed a couple times and I almost had a dry heave, but we were otherwise fine.

  Malcolm and Bonita were standing off to one side, near Malcolm’s Mustang. Bonita waved at Abbie and I as we cleared the rift. “Hell of a way to travel, Rachel. I could get used to that.” She rested a hand on her stomach. “Except for the nausea at the end, anyway.”

  “That eases, in time, and with practice.”

  She considered that, then nodded. “Good to know. What’s your range with that ability? How far could you travel, I mean?”

  I shrugged. “I haven’t really tried a lot of long-distance trips. Nothing over 30 miles, anyway. Might be worth some experimenting, if we get the opportunity.”

  She nodded. “Gotcha. First things first.” She shot a meaningful look at Malcolm, who was rubbing sleep out of his eyes.

  “What? Oh, r
ight.” He used the keychain clicker to unlock his car doors. “Everyone in. Next stop: the National Cathedral.”

  We started getting into the car. Bonita chirped up, “Hey, wait. If we’re heading to our almost certain deaths, shouldn’t we at least get something to eat?”

  I frowned. “I don’t think the Spinner is going to wait for us to eat and then go find him. But, I think you’re right. We should eat something.”

  Malcolm nodded. “Fine. We’ll go somewhere quick on the way and get it to go.”

  Once we were all settled into the car, Malcolm pulled out of the garage and then we were on our way. We debated it back and forth but decided that fast food was the best option, and there were an assortment of McDonald’s on the way, so we went with that. High-class final meals were clearly not our strong suit.

  Once we finished eating, Malcolm drove toward the National Cathedral. Abbie and I joined hands, and Bonita contorted herself around in the passenger seat to link hands with us as well.

  I closed my eyes and delved into the etherics, plugging into Abbie’s consciousness as well as Bonita’s. Once the connection among the three of us was secure, I looped Malcolm in as well.

  “All right,” I said, “we’re all linked together. Now you can talk without vocalizing it and we’ll all pick it up.”

  Abbie gave it a try first. “This is weird. I didn’t think I’d ever be capable of something like this.”

  I didn’t have the heart to tell her that the ability was external to her, that she largely had nothing to do with it, but now was not the time.

  I said, “We’re going to leave Malcolm out of this for the most part, since he’s driving and therefore the one person among us that can’t afford to get distracted.”

  Bonita’s etheric form nodded. “Fair enough. What do you need us to do?”

  I focused on her. “Simple. Help me dive into the etherics to try and find Charity. We’ll make the best effort we can by the time we reach the cathedral. If we find her, great, we ask her to help.”

  I sighed. “If we can’t find her, then we accept she’s gone, and then we try and defeat the Spinner on our own.”

  Abbie nodded. “I guess there’s not much more we can do. You won’t contact Miss Chin or Detective Bello?”

  I shook my head as I settled into the etherics. “No. I can’t ask anything more of Miss Chin, and I’m not about to ask Bello for help. Let him and his government goons figure things out on their own. He’s been nothing but a pain to me anyway.”

  I nodded to each of them in turn. “But, times wasting, so let’s see what we can do.”

  I closed my eyes and pulled them deeper into the link, and forged tighter bonds on their etheric souls and forms, so that they’d remain intact in case something happened.

  I used a mix of latent energy from them and from the etherics around us to form a focused sensor thread, and then cast it about looking for any trace of Charity.

  After what felt like an eon but was probably only a few minutes, I had a trace of her and then shot down that path within the ley grid. I had to hurry, but did what I could to balance the drain from both Bonita and Abbie, because I didn’t want either of them burned out before we even reached the cathedral.

  I reached out to the thinned presence of Charity that I’d found. “Charity? Are you still with us?”

  As if from very far away, she turned to face me and nodded. “Rachel. It’s good to see you. I’m…I’m here. In the Holding. Waiting, but for what I do not know.”

  I moved in closer to her. “I’m here now. Come back with me, with us.”

  Her etheric form took on a bit more substance. I could tell she was reaching out and pulling ley threads together, though nowhere at the level of capability she had performed with in the past.

  She focused her gaunt face on me, wreathed in white hair that had an electric blue tinge. “I will come with you, Rachel. One last time. I fear I’m far more weaker than I realized.”

  I shook my head and pulled her into my etheric arms. “I’m just grateful you’re here at all. I thought we had lost you.”

  Her sunken eyes looked haunted. “I have to admit I think I wanted to be lost. I was wandering the Holding for a time, then came back here to the ley grid. It’s where I’ve spent much of my life, or after-life, more appropriately.”

  She focused on the etheric forms of Bonita and Abbie. “Glad to see you both here as well.” She glanced at me. “Seems appropriate to have everyone here.”

  Malcolm chimed into the link. “Just about there. If you have anything left to do, now is the time to do it.”

  I opened my eyes and focused on the world around us. The cathedral was just ahead, a massive building wreathed in electric blue energies. A massive shield was in place encasing the whole building.

  “Damn. The Spinner moves fast. That place is locked down tight. I don’t know how we’re going to bust into that.”

  Malcolm finished parking the car outside the cathedral and glanced at me. “We’re not gonna bust in. We don’t have to. He’s gonna open that shield up for us. He wants to hurt us too much to let us sit out here and wait.”

  I shook my head. “I hope you’re right.”

  We all piled out of the car and stood facing the cathedral. I glanced up and down our little line of hope, and my heart swelled at the moment. What better way to end it all than with my friends by me side and my enemy before me?

  There was a foul ripple in the etherics, followed by two more, each stronger than the one before. Then, the shield surrounding the cathedral slipped open in a couple areas, and a veritable swarm of ‘geists screamed out of it toward us, led by a horribly twisted version of Jackie.

  The Spinner’s perversions were complete, now. He had ruined one more good life. I pulled ley threads together, readied my energies, and was determined to stop him from ruining any more.

  “Come on!” I cried out. My friends answered the call, and we all moved forward into battle.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  BONITA GRABBED ABBIE’S HAND AND THEY ran for the bishop’s garden entrance, just around the side of the cathedral proper. Through my Sight, Charity’s etheric form joined them, erecting a strong warding sphere around them. Their job was to find a good hiding spot and to provide as much etheric support as possible to Malcolm and I, in case we needed the boost. We weren’t about to risk the two of them, weakest in the etherics, on the front lines.

  Malcolm and I, though, we were going to face the first wave on our own. It was still pre-dawn in the nation’s capital, and the sun was just barely peeking over the horizon. The cathedral was lit by dozens of spotlights aimed at it, as well as with an endless flow of electric blue etheric streamers laced throughout the structure. And the whole was surrounded by that brilliant warding matrix that looked impregnable. It was hard to imagine how powerful the Spinner had grown.

  Facing down the incoming swarm of twisted ‘geists, I tapped into the etherics and wove a warding shield big enough to cover Malcolm and I. With my crystal pendant blazing bright off my necklace, I spread my hands and manipulated the threads and expanded my shield into a sphere.

  Just in time. Several ‘geists bounced off the ward, the closest two falling almost immediately to strong bursts of bronze fire from Malcolm’s hands. He had tapped into the etherics and had his offensive firepower already at work, a fearsome counterpoint to my defensive skills.

  But it wasn’t enough. We’d discussed it at length last night, and we’d agreed that I’d need to get more creative with my abilities and get more offensive with them.

  Once I was sure the warding sphere was secure around us in our position in front of the cathedral’s main doors, I called up another warding sphere, smaller than the first, and cast it out above us, attempting to use it as something of an etheric ‘geist catcher.

  I missed the first two times I cast it out, but the third time I caught one and quickly reeled it closer to us, pulling the ley threads down hard.

  Malcolm loose
d a burst of bronze fire into the sphere, immolating the ‘geist and reducing it to ash that trickled out of the sphere and dissipated into the air.

  Malcolm spared me a “Hell, yeah!” and then had to focus on attacking the next wave of swooping ‘geists. Blasts of bronze fire sparked off in every which direction. We weren’t worrying about hiding ourselves or our abilities from mundanes—anyone walking their dog in the neighborhood this morning or flying overhead was getting a hell of a light show.

  Jackie, her broken ‘geist form twisted and foul, uttered an unearthly scream and dive-bombed us, crashing into my warding sphere and scraping the surface of it with long claws on all four of her appendages.

  The warding sphere flickered, and I quickly moved to push more threads and more energy into it. “Malcolm! We have to take out Jackie first! She’s too powerful to ignore.”

  I sensed an affirmative from him, even though he was fully engaged blasting ‘geists.

  My shield seemed to be holding for now, so I spared a moment of ‘geist catching to check in on Charity and her charged. They’d found a quiet spot under an arbor in the garden to hide, and Charity’s ward sphere shone out brightly among the darker background. Both Abbie’s and Bonita’s auras shone bright in my Sight, twin reservoirs of energy if Malcolm or I needed to tap into them.

  A flash of dark energies caught my eye, and I sent a burst of warning toward Charity. “Look out! I think the ‘geists figured out we split up.”

  I caught a confirmation from her, but she had no time to respond to me as she was busy adjusting her sphere to deflect the incoming ‘geists and redirect them toward Malcolm and I.

  I used my little trap sphere to help bounce them toward Malcolm, who was getting disturbingly efficient with his bronze fire and cutting the ‘geists down one by one. We had agreed that while we knew the ‘geists were lost souls twisted by the Spinner, we’d spare as many as we could, but not at risk to our own lives. Charity and I desperately wanted to save as many of them as we could and get them to the Holding, but being smart about it had to win out.