Rook put the lighter up to the white feather. Sheli screamed and dropped into the chair. “You will refuse nothing,” Rook said as he snapped the lighter off.
Sheli glowered, but did not fight, as Tomahawk and Beauty laced the woven rope around her wrists. Could she really be an angel? Angela wondered. The woman did not glow, nor were there harp strings rustling the air. Granted, two days ago she would have scoffed at the idea of heavenly beings. Angela was pretty darn sure this wasn’t one.
“Rook,” she said taking a step closer to Sheli. “This isn’t an angel.”
“Oh, yeah?” Rook challenged, and then grabbed a switchblade from Sheli’s belt. Flipping it open, he sliced up her back. The woman screamed as glossy white wings sprang from her skin’s constraint.
“Just because the flesh is borrowed, doesn’t mean that didn’t hurt!” Sheli hissed through clenched teeth.
Fanny stroked the feathers as Rook got in Sheli’s face. “Borrowed? Do you really think the girl you took that skin from is going to able to use it any time soon?”
Angela stumbled back a step. Having her family murdered around her had been bad enough. But this? This was all too much. None of it made sense.
“But the other angel glowed …”
* * *
Rook spoke to Angela, but studied the angel’s face. “Sheli, here, has spent the better part of the millennium begging, borrowing, or stealing the best cloaking that mankind can offer,” Rook turned his full attention to the angel. “Haven’t you, dear?”
“What else was I supposed to do?” Sheli spat at him.
Rook stood up and wiped the spittle from his cheek. “I’m sure Lucifer and Jehovia could have thought of a few things. I hear Luci blames you for how the whole thing went down …”
Sheli wouldn’t meet his eye. So he was right. The devil did know how to hold a grudge.
“But you know what, Sheli?” Rook said. “That’s not why we’re here. We’re here to find out why, after the longest Mexican standoff in history, heaven and hell now have their fingers on the fast-forward button.”
Sheli turned her head away. Her perfectly curved jawline was tense and unyielding. Rook reached over and plucked another feather from her oversized wing. The angel flinched.
“I’ve got this room all night, and I’ve heard that angel-feathered pillows fetch a mighty high price …”
Sheli’s face flashed with anger. “And why would I tell you anything?”
“Because it behooves you to keep them in a stalemate. You can go back to your doomed quest to join Courtney Love’s band.”
“Never,” Sheli hissed.
What was up with the attitude? Why couldn’t Sheli see that the only way out was to share what she knew?
He looked up at Beauty and Tomahawk, who seemed equally perplexed. Then Fanny moved from the angel’s wings to her hair, stroking it gently.
“You see, Sheli, there are some bad men and … Well, I really don’t understand it all, but we have to stop them or the whole world goes ka-plooey, and that would be a real bummer.” More chipper Fanny continued, “Now someone who clearly understands hair product should be very worried. I mean, will there be hair straighteners in hell?”
“There’d better be,” Beauty mumbled behind Rook.
Fanny put her face next to Sheli’s. “Can I braid your hair?”
While Sheli didn’t say “yes,” she also didn’t say “no,” which to Fanny seemed to be complete and total permission.
Rook brought the lighter up again, but Sheli just sighed. She spoke, but it didn’t seem out of fear, but weariness.
“All I know is that something has shifted. What it is exactly, I honestly don’t know.”
“Um, a few more details?” Rook pressed.
“The dimensional barriers have buckled… warped somehow.”
Rook did not want to lose a moment while Sheli was in a chatty mood. “Which side caused it?”
“Neither—” Sheli said, and then she winced. “Ouch!”
Fanny smoothed the angel’s hair. “Sorry. Just trying to get the part straight.”
“Sheli, which side?”
“As I said, as far as I could tell, neither. It was a fluke. A natural phenomenon.”
“Such as?” Rook asked.
“I told you, I don’t know!” Sheli shouted, causing Fanny to drop the braid.
Fanny shook her head. “Darn it! Now I have to start all over.”
Rook wished that he had such patience. “Sheli, you better start figuring it out, because I am just itchin’ to start pluckin’.” He rubbed his fingers together.
But Sheli didn’t back down. She stared defiantly at Rook. “Go ahead.”
Rook plucked another feather as Sheli stifled a scream. He pulled another, and another. The angel breathed sharply through her nose and her cheeks flushed red, but she said nothing more.
Beauty put a hand on Rook’s arm before he plucked another. “Maybe she doesn’t know.”
“Yeah, right,” Rook snorted. “She’s survived centuries of ruthless pursuit by being naïve.”
He knew that she knew something else. She had to know something else. But he had a handful of feathers in his hand to say he wasn’t going to get the answers he needed this way.
He indicated Tomahawk. “Bring Chad over here.”
* * *
Tomahawk hauled Chad to his feet and brought him to Rook. He felt sorry for the kid, but this was, in fact, the end of the world they were talking about.
“I need you to do your stuff,” Rook said to the student.
“No!” Chad screamed trying to pull away. “Not this. Please, no.”
But the more Chad struggled, the more the symbols on his chest glowed an ominous red. Rook pointed out the seal to Sheli.
“Do you recognize this?”
The angel shrank back in horror. “He can’t be.”
“I like to think of him as our very own ‘Porti-Hell.’”
“Get him away from me,” Sheli cried as the symbols coalesced and merged with the flesh. Acrid smoke rose from the seal as Tomahawk’s eyes watered.
Rook pointed to the trail of red smoke. “It is about to open, Sheli, and I’m sure Luci is just drooling to see his old flame again.”
Sheli leaned back as far as she could in the seat. “I honestly don’t know what caused the imbalance.”
“Stick to your story and get a one-way ticket to hell. No refunds. No exchanges.”
As a moan not of this world filled the room, Sheli blurted out, “There are all kinds of theories. Solar flares, ion fluxing, and gravitational wells. You’d have to talk to the techno-geeks. All I know is that both sides are pushing to see if they can’t break through the weakened portal first. They thought your Virgin could be the key.”
Rook nodded toward Beauty, who stuck a needle into Chad’s arm, injecting him with sedatives. The student relaxed in Tomahawk’s grip, but not that much, since he still struggled to get away.
“You’re a bright girl, Sheli,” Rook said as he leaned over to be face to face with the angel. “Why didn’t you just tell me that in the first place? It was no great secret. Given a few years, I could have come up with the same theories.”
Sheli squirmed under Rook’s intense gaze, but didn’t everyone? Tomahawk struggled to get Chad back down on the bench, but his skin was blotchy and the symbols still pulsed an angry red.
“Beauty? Do you have any more Valium?” Tomahawk asked.
Their Arranger dug around in her bag, but came up empty-handed. Guess she didn’t expect to be in a situation where you needed three whole syringes of Valium. How wrong she was.
* * *
Rook knelt next to Sheli. “Could your reluctance have to do with the fact that you made some arrangement with the big guy? Did you figure out a way to get immunity from your old homies?” He tickled her wing. “That if you scratched their feathered backs, they’d do the same for you?”
Sheli glared back at him. “It is going to happen. Not
hing I do, nothing you do, will stop it. The Apocalypse is upon us. You’d best pick a side and pray that they win.”
Rook was about to retort when he heard the familiar sound of ribs breaking. Chad’s Hellgate was about to pop open.
“Will you calm him down?” Rook asked Tomahawk.
“What exactly does it look like I’m trying to do here?”
Balling up his fist, Rook prepared to punch Chad, but then noticed his scraped knuckles. “Sorry, Tommi. Your turn.”
Tomahawk frowned, but finally hauled back and punched Chad. The student slumped, unconscious, as the symbols faded back to their quiet, golden hue. Rook turned back to Sheli.
“So, what’s their next step?”
The angel straightened in her chair, acting defiant again. How brave one got when the Hellgate wasn’t in your face.
“Don’t think I won’t wake up Drano-boy. I’d like nothing better.”
Sheli searched his face clearly, trying to assess whether or not he was serious. Oh, he was serious. Besides, Fanny was right. The vortex was kind of pretty.
Finally the angel hung her head. “There’s a weakness at a node just north of the city.”
Rook watched out of the corner of his eye as Tomahawk pulled his laptop out and began typing. Sheli continued, “They hope to punch a hole in the dimensional barrier there.”
“Are you talking about the major energy nexus in the Los Angeles Mountains?” Tomahawk asked.
Sheli nodded.
“Why there?” Rook asked.
“Long ago, the area was a touching ground.”
Rook’s mind spun trying to put all of the tangle pieces of the puzzle together. “You mean that area was used as an angelic runway?”
Sheli frowned. “Crudely put, yes. Centuries ago the area was destroyed by an earthquake.”
“More than likely because of overuse?”
The angel shrugged. “LA wasn’t named for its scenic beauty.”
Rook turned to Tomahawk, whose frown only deepened. “If she’s correct… The spot she is talking about is right on the San Andreas Fault. If they mess with the energy nexus there …” Tomahawk raised his eyes to Rook as he finished, “It’ll make the Northridge earthquake look like … Well, let’s just say that Arizona is going to get some new beachfront property.”
“When?” Rook demanded of Sheli.
She looked away as she answered, “Sunrise.”
“Damn it!” Rook turned to Beauty. “Get out there and find us some wheels.” He motioned to Tomahawk. “And get Chad loaded up while I finish up here.”
Rook leaned toward Sheli. “It is over, Sheli.”
“Don’t I know it,” she responded.
“No, actually I don’t think that you do.” Rook whispered an incantation, and then kissed Sheli’s forehead.
“No!” Sheli screamed as her flesh melted away. Once the bloody remnants burned away, a radiant angel sat before him.
“You can’t!” she begged. “I’m like a beacon now.”
Rook allowed a satisfied grin to come over his face. “I know.”
Fanny clapped gleefully. “Yah! She’s pretty!”
That Sheli was, but he hurried Fanny out of the room. Only then did he realize that Angela hadn’t left, either. She just stood there dumbstruck, staring at the brilliant sight.
“Come on,” Rook urged.
“You can’t leave me tied up like this!” Sheli screamed.
“Oh, watch me,” Rook said as he closed the door behind them.
He got the girls moving down the hall, and as they passed the bouncer Rook gave him his last hundred. “Some rather rough-looking gentlemen may come by. If they ask for Sheli, let them in.”
The man answered as he counted the cash. “You’re the boss.”
“And if the room’s a shakin’ …”
“Don’t bother knockin’,” the man finished, nodding. “I am the epitome of discretion.”
Rook seriously doubted that, but had no time to argue. They were up the steps and into the club when Fanny frowned as three rather large “men” entered.
“They are demons,” Fanny whispered.
“Thanks for the tip,” Rook said, but he did not need her third sight to tell him that those poorly disguised figures were demons. One of them even had his tail hanging down from his overcoat. Guess they were in a bit of a hurry. Spreading Sheli’s wings must have alerted them to her presence, but now that she was fully uncovered, they were making a beeline for the basement.
Before they could get down there, Rook hurried Fanny and Angela out of the front door as Beauty pulled up in a run-down van. Paint flecks flew off as the brakes screeched. Opening the sliding door, Rook was greeted with white, slightly sweet smoke pouring out, as though it were a glass bong crunched underfoot.
As he helped Fanny in, he turned to Beauty. “This the best you could do?”
“In this neighborhood?” Beauty questioned. “What did you expect me to find? A Jag convertible? Now get in.”
Rook obliged as people burst from the club’s doors, screaming. Guess those “men” found Sheli.
* * *
Angela crouched next to Chad as the van burned rubber down the street. Tomahawk was already working on his laptop, while Beauty and Rook argued in the front regarding which freeway would get them to the Angeles National Forest the fastest.
The casualness of their fight grated on Angela’s nerves. How could everyone be so calm after so much had happened? Rook had dumped so much information on her, but neglected to explain any of it. Then, back in the room … with Sheli.
“Would you like some tea?” Fanny asked, offering Angela an empty doll cup.
“That,” Angela said, gulping before she spoke again, “That … was an angel.”
“I know!” Fanny exclaimed. “Wasn’t that cool?”
“But… but Rook tortured her,” Angela said, still trying to understand the events of the last few hours. Had she been right to go with them? Or was being strapped to a table for nine months the better option? “Rook left her there, vulnerable and exposed.”
“You win some,” Fanny said, then took a sip of her nonexistent tea. “And you lose some.”
Angela recoiled from the girl. How could she be so nonchalant? How could any of them act this way? All the pain, grief, and terror came to a head.
“You’re insane,” Angela hissed, but Fanny just nodded happily. Raising her voice so that the entire van could hear, Angela stated, “You’re all insane.”
Fanny patted her arm like Angela was a child, though. “Oh, no, honey. I am crazy, but the rest are perfectly, legally sane. They’ve been tested.”
This was not helping. Angela’s body felt foreign to her. She wanted to get out of the van and out of her skin as well. Breathing became difficult as the van’s various vapors amplified her agitation.
Yet, Fanny smiled again. “But how would you know that, or any of us?” Fanny held out her hand. “So rude of me that we haven’t been properly introduced.”
Angela didn’t take the offered hand. Knowing everyone’s full name was not going to help get rid of this feeling of spinning down a rabbit hole with no end in sight.
“I’m Fanny Hops, and I’m the group’s Seeker,” the girl rushed on. “But don’t worry, I’m safe.”
What was that supposed to mean? Angela’s head hurt just trying to figure out what the girl meant. Tomahawk must have sensed her bewilderment, for he stopped typing and explained, “Most Seekers only last until their teens. They see things no human was meant to … and, well … they tend to go homicidally insane after a few years in the field.”
And that was meant to reassure her?
Fanny jumped in. “But I’m okay. I’ve been like this since birth. Rook says I worked out all of my problems in the womb.”
Dear God! The girl really believed what she was saying. Angela had a verifiable mentally ill girl trying to explain the impossible events that had assailed her. Angela did not want to believe what Rook had s
aid. She didn’t want to believe that her world, everything she knew, was just the DMZ between heaven and hell. She didn’t want to believe that the final clash between good and evil was happening when the sun rose. Nor did she want to believe that she was instrumental in deciding who won.
Angela turned to Tomahawk, who typed furiously. “And you? Are you a Seeker as well?”
“Just an old-fashioned Sniffer. I can’t see things like Fanny, but I can make some pretty good guesses based on patterns of behavior and statistical analysis.”
“Don’t believe him!” Fanny exclaimed. “Sniffing is an art, and he is a master!”
The man blushed and went back to his keyboard. Honestly, Angela expected Tomahawk to give her some New Age explanation—not to reveal he was their tech support. With his tanned skin and rippling muscles, Angela had never quite seen a computer geek like him.
Angela nodded toward Beauty. “And her? Him?”
Fanny slapped Angela’s arm and whispered harshly. “That is Beauty, and you’ll hurt her feelings if you talk like that.”
Angela hadn’t meant any disrespect. When someone wearing a leopard-print bustier and has such a large Adam’s apple, you had to ask.
Fanny added, much louder, “Beauty is the most gorgeous and extraordinary transgender Arranger there is!”
“That is, after I get a fill!” Beauty responded, waving her ratty nails. “But after that, absolutely, sugar.”
Angela hugged her knees as she glanced over at Rook, who was still in a heated debate about the shortest route to the Apocalypse. “And him?” she asked Fanny.
“Rook? Oh, he’s the very best Caster in the whole wide world!”
Rook looked over his shoulder. “Just this world?”
“Nope,” Fanny said, giggling. “Every dimension plus one!”
Rook grinned and caught Angela’s eye as he turned to face forward. The amusement fell away and the hard, unyielding Rook made an appearance before he turned his attention to the road.
“A Caster?” Angela asked.
“Yeah. He casts stuff. You know. Magic, spells, and potions. A Caster.”
“You mean, like a wizard?”
Fanny snorted. “Like the ones with the glasses? Please. I mean, any Caster who needs a stupid wand to do spells would be laughed out of the Cabal.” She scoffed again. “Wizard. Yeah, right.”
Rook: Let's Avoid the Apocalypse, People Page 10