by G. P. Ching
Ethan zipped the last bag and caught Malini’s eye. “Are you sure this is necessary? I mean, this place has been here literally since the beginning. Adam and Eve and that whole section of the Bible no one reads that lists their descendants.” He slipped his hands into his back pockets. “Seems like a pretty safe place.”
“Sorry, Ethan. I know it seems impossible, but Abigail learned Lucifer’s third curse would target Eden.”
“Maybe it’s a trick. Maybe Lucifer planted that knowledge to get us all to leave the only place we’d be safe.”
“It wasn’t Lucifer who told her,” Malini said. “Listen, we don’t have time for this. You have to trust me.”
He sighed. “You’re the boss. Gonna go finish packing.” Ethan shouldered past her and headed for the west wing.
“Was it just me or did you sense a little attitude coming off him?”
Lillian grabbed the closest two bags and started lining them up along the hall. “You can’t blame him, Malini. This idea seems half-baked. First you and Abigail tell us that the safest place on Earth isn’t safe anymore. Then, you fully admit that you have no idea where we will go next. I’m surprised Grace hasn’t thrown a full-out hissy fit.”
Malini frowned. “It might still be coming. Then again, she’s wanted to go back to Nebraska for months. Maybe she hopes this will be her opportunity.”
“Look, I know you’re the Healer and I trust in that, okay. But even you must realize how crazy this seems.”
“I am the Healer,” Malini said firmly. “And this isn’t easy for me. But it’s the right thing to do. We leave in fifteen.”
Lillian nodded and reached for another two bags.
“Listen, I don’t mean to be rude. This is hard for me too. I …” Malini paused. A knot had formed in the pit of her stomach, and a chill started in her fingertips and coursed to her heart.
A ghost formed in the center of the room. At first she thought it was Jesse, but as the body solidified, she recognized the pink-streaked dark hair and piercings of an old and powerful friend.
“Mara!” Malini said. The immortal, Time, was pale and sweating.
“I can’t … stop … it … Malini. Run. RUN!” Mara dissolved.
BOOM! The ground beneath the dojo shook, an earthquake that knocked her into the wall. Malini stared at the air where Mara had been, stunned. Thankfully, Lillian’s gift kicked into gear.
“Take these,” she said, throwing two insanely heavy duffle bags over her shoulder and pulling Malini toward the foyer. “Jesse!” she yelled. “Archibald!”
Both poofed into existence as another tremor almost knocked Malini on her backside.
“Ghost, bring the rest of the bags. We have to go, now,” Lillian said. “Archie, full alert. Tell everyone we must evacuate now.” She half-dragged Malini by the elbow toward the door.
“Wait!” Malini dug her heels in, but Lillian would have none of the stopping. She hooked an arm around her waist and dragged her on. “Lilly, we need to find Jacob!”
“Jacob can take care of himself, Malini. You need to go now.”
“I’m not leaving without him.”
In a feat of strength that would have been impossible if she wasn’t a Soulkeeper, Lillian hurled Malini and her two bags toward the door. “I will find him, Malini, only if you get to that boat. We need our Healer.”
Ghost arrived then, looking like an ant under a huge pile of bags. “I got this,” he said to Lillian. He kicked the door open for Malini, just as the place shook so hard the jewels encrusting the walls rained around them.
“Come on!” Ghost ushered her down the hill to the boat. He helped her stow the bags up front and guided her into the seat farthest from the dock. “It’s better this way, Malini. The others can load faster.”
The worry in his voice wasn’t lost on her. She was worried, too.
The twins arrived first, Samantha launching herself into Ghost’s arms before she even dropped her bags. Gideon, Grace, Cheveyo, and Abigail came down next, the first two helping Abigail into the boat. Malini thought she looked stronger, but nowhere near ready for this.
The earth shook again, causing Grace, who was still on the dock, to stumble backward. Crack! A piece of the shoulder of one of the cherubim rumbled off and splashed into the water.
“You shouldn’t have waited for us,” Lillian yelled. Jacob, Dane, and Ethan leapt, bags and all, into the boat. Lillian untied the vessel from the dock. “Lee! Come on!”
Looking surprisingly lithe, Lee’s feet slapped the dock. With everything he had, he jumped in, simultaneously pushing the boat off.
Malini breathed a sigh of relief that everyone was on board, but the feeling didn’t last. BOOM! The world shook. The cherubim came apart around them. Huge chunks of gold sailed toward their over-packed ship. Malini covered her head with her arms.
“I’ve got it,” Ethan said.
Malini chanced a glance. Ethan deflected one after another from the boat, pieces splashing into the water around them. By the time they reached the river, his nose was bleeding.
“Almost there,” he said. Malini thought it might have been for his own benefit.
Jacob took that as a hint. “Let’s not prolong the experience.” He held his hand over the water and the boat jerked forward, the water propelling them into the cave. The boat slid to a stop on a heap of white sand as usual. Only the expected serenity of the cave was replaced by madness. The walls were coming apart around them.
“Crap, I got nothing left!” Ethan cried from the center of a storm of rubble.
Malini grabbed as many bags as she could carry and threw herself over the side of the boat. She tripped in the sand. A hand scooped under her arm and pulled her forward. Lee. He kicked a falling stone away from her head then launched her ahead into the passageway.
Bodies crowded the corridor, up the winding staircase. Jacob’s hand found hers. And then light. The trap door was open. Too late. The walls were caving in. The shop was on fire!
Suddenly, Uncle John’s face was in front of hers. “This way! Out the back!”
Suspended in a sea of shoulders and bags, she spilled into the alleyway and was pushed into a white delivery van. Jacob, Dane, and Ethan piled in before the doors slammed shut. The engine roared to life, Lillian behind the wheel. She reversed into the street and floored the accelerator.
Through the windshield, Malini stared at the burning streets of Paris. A woman bolted in front of the van, forcing Lillian to slam on the brakes to keep from running her over. She was gone in a flash. Malini didn’t even recognize who it was, although she knew everyone in Paris. But she did recognize the Watcher the woman was running from. Surrounded by fire and falling rubble, the snake-skinned beast walked toward the van, wings outstretched, with the unmistakably prideful gait that could only belong to one Watcher.
Cord.
Chapter 23
Race for Cover
Through the windshield, Malini watched Cord pause in front of McNaulty’s, the place she’d spent some of the happiest moments of her teenage existence. The restaurant exploded into a pillar of fire. Cord smiled wickedly, delighted with the destruction and still unaware of the delivery van full of Soulkeepers in his path.
“Hey!” Jacob yelled. “Let’s kill that son of a bitch.” He reached for the flask on his ankle.
“No,” Malini said firmly. “That’s what he wants. He’s trying to draw us out. Get us out of here, Lilly, before he sees who we are. We’ve got to find a place to regroup.”
Lillian agreed and slammed on the gas. Tires screeched as she did a U-turn and raced for the country roads. “We’re lucky. Full tank of gas. I’m always complaining that John makes me fill these up every night. Always seemed silly to me. It’s not as if Paris has many emergency flower deliveries and certainly not in a neighboring state. But always, always your uncle wanted to be prepared. He’s a good man, Jacob.”
Jacob rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. “Did he make it out alive?”
> “Are you kidding? He practically threw me into this van. Had his holy water soaked rifle over his shoulder and was ready to use it. The Watchers don’t know what they’re dealing with. Half of Paris has been stockpiling weapons since Obama was elected and the other half had a stash well before that. They have a goddamn NRA club at the high school. The smartest thing you ever did was tell them the truth, Malini. If there’s one thing Paris can do, it’s guns and holy water.”
Dane chuckled. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure my mom carries both of those items in her purse.”
“Who? Our Mary?” Ethan said. “The one who could barely remain standing when you told her?”
“Oh, a fainter for sure. But no one with half a brain would live in the country without a gun. You never know when you’re going to find yourself on the biting end of something angry and furry. And the holy water…well, I guess you could say Mom’s superstitious.”
“Did you take care of my parents?” Malini asked Lillian.
“Before I started packing. Jim and Sarah have their very own arsenal now,” Lillian said. She checked her side mirror. “The others are behind us.”
“Let’s put some distance between us and Paris, then stop wherever seems safe,” Malini said.
“You got it.”
The hum of the road filled the van as they got comfortable between the bags on the floor. Minutes passed in silence.
“What do you think happened to the gnomes?” Ethan asked. Everyone was thinking it, but Dane grimaced to hear it out loud.
Jacob answered, “I’ve been thinking about this. Cord destroyed the portal. He blew up the connection between the flower shop and Eden. That doesn’t mean Eden is gone. My great-great-great-grandfather, Warwick Laudner built that portal. Who’s to say another couldn’t be built someday.”
“If Eden is still standing,” Dane added.
“We have to believe it is,” Malini said softly. “I sense that it is.”
“Me too,” Ethan said. “I think I’d know, I’d feel it in my gut, if Archie was gone.”
The three nodded their heads, and eventually Dane seemed to take comfort in their words.
In silence, the miles rolled by, loss and grief seeping in through the cracks like a bad smell. Malini would have cried if she thought it would help, but tears wouldn’t win this challenge. She’d known this was coming. Abigail warned her they would lose Eden. But it never seemed real. Well, not until now.
“There’s a truck stop ahead,” Lillian said, slowing as they merged into congested traffic. “We’re just over the border. Indiana. Nothing out here for miles. Should we stop?”
“I don’t know about you but I’m starving,” Jacob said.
“How can you think about food at a time like this?” Malini asked.
“How long have you known me?”
Lillian exited the highway, and pulled into the Dixieland Diner parking area. They weren’t alone. The lot was full of vans, RVs, and cars of every shape and size.
“Looks like we’re not the only ones running,” Lillian said. She found an open spot and turned off the van.
The other delivery van finished parking as Malini jumped down to the asphalt. She stretched. As much as she’d teased Jacob, she could use a cup of coffee and maybe a sandwich.
Grace jumped out of the driver’s seat of the other van and walked around to open the back doors. A bloody gash marred the side of her face. Malini would heal that. No problem. The twins hopped down from the cargo area. She couldn’t tell who was who without looking them in the face. Oh wait, Bonnie was wearing the stone. They’d both been crying.
“Something’s wrong,” Ethan said. Malini could feel it too, a generalized sense of dread.
“Abigail?” Jacob said, but Gideon was the next to exit, immediately helping a very pregnant Abigail from the back. She appeared uninjured. Cheveyo climbed down after her.
Grace closed the door.
“Where’s Lee?” Dane asked.
Malini froze. She met Grace’s weeping eyes and saw the truth.
“He didn’t make it out on time,” Grace confirmed. “We’ve lost him.”
* * * * *
“Lee stayed behind to hold open the passageway for us. We’d pushed you all through first. The ceiling collapsed. The building came down around him.” Grace told the story over her coffee, huddled with the other Soulkeepers around a table too small for their group.
“Is there any chance he might still be alive under the rubble. Maybe if we went back and I used my power to dig him out?” Ethan suggested.
Grace shook her head. “I saw his remains. There is no chance he survived.”
Another tear rolled down Malini’s cheek. They’d all cried themselves dry over the last hour. The loss was unbearable. Eden. Lee. And worse, more heartache waited in the wings. The diner was brimming with it. People at every table spoke of fleeing the monsters.
“What’s next?” Ghost asked.
Malini stared at Abigail, conspicuously quiet since their arrival. She seemed intent on her coffee.
“We could try Nebraska,” Grace suggested. Malini had healed the gash on her head but one side of her red hair was still matted with dried blood. “Plenty of rural acreage to get lost in.”
“What about LA?” Ethan offered. “It’s not rural but I have friends there in low places. We could disappear.”
Dane shook his head. “My farm is big enough. We could use the holy water we brought from Eden to enchant a boundary around the property. Plenty of food and well water. We could hole up there for years without having to leave. Not to mention, the Watchers have already blown up Paris. Why would they do it twice?”
Malini blinked at him. “That’s a good idea.”
Dane’s eyebrows shot up. “It is? So we’re going back to Paris?”
“Yes, it is, and no we are not. We need to go where the Watchers have already been. Where they are. It’s what they’ll least expect. But we’re not going to Paris.”
“Then where?” Grace asked.
“Chicago.”
Bonnie gasped. “Are you kidding me? We’ll be delivering ourselves to Lucifer’s front door!”
“And he’ll never expect it. We’ll find a place, far from any family or friends. We’ll slip under his radar.” Malini flattened her hands to the table, suddenly sure this was the right thing to do.
“One tiny snafu,” Dane said. “How are we going to survive with no bank? I mean, unless we have a bag of cash somewhere, we are in a world of hurt.”
Cheveyo agreed. “I don’t even know how I’m going to pay for my lunch.”
“If we rent or buy a place, we’ll need an identity. Lucifer will find us in a heartbeat if I use mine,” Lillian said. “We can’t take out a loan.”
Grace grimaced. “There are twelve of us. A place large enough to house us all in the city is going to cost a mint. Even with the sale of the restaurant, I don’t have that kind of cash.”
“If it’s even possible,” Gideon chimed in. “Watchers are walking the streets. We could find a city of boarded up windows.”
Malini folded her hands. In her head, she began to pray. It was a scattered prayer. Nothing she could say aloud. Just phrases really, full of grief for Lee and a whiny and perseverant supplication for help. It had been a long time since she prayed. Seemed silly she didn’t stop to do it more often, considering she was a Soulkeeper.
“The important thing is we’re safe,” Ghost said, squeezing Samantha’s hand. “I don’t care if we have to live in a cave in the middle of the Andes. I’m thankful we have each other—what’s left of us. We’ve already lost Lee. Let’s not lose anyone else.”
Samantha rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes.
“You’re right, Ghost. We have to be thankful for what we have. All we can do is our best,” Malini said.
“I have money,” Ethan blurted.
Everyone at the table turned to stare at him.
“To be honest, I forgot about it. Maybe I wanted to
forget, I don’t know.”
Abigail smiled. “The money you won in Vegas? When I came for you, you thought I was someone else.”
“Uh, yeah.” He scratched the back of his head. “I, uh, helped the ball land on certain numbers on the roulette wheel. Won a mint but the casino owner wanted to break my legs for awhile.”
“So there’s no confusion,” Grace said, “how much do you mean by ‘a mint’? One thousand? Ten thousand?”
“Two million.” Ethan stared at the table as if ashamed. “I kept it in cash so no one could trace it.”
“Cash?” Dane’s mouth gaped. “Where in the world would you keep that much cash?”
“My apartment. Mattress and box spring are stuffed with it. Closet. Kitchen cabinets. Mostly tens and twenties. They can track large bills. Should still be there. My apartment was paid up for the year.”
Malini unfolded her hands. The faces around the table turned to her. The expressions weren’t exactly happy. More like they’d just seen a unicycle-riding bear pass behind her.
“It’s settled. We’ll use the staffs to go to LA to pick up the money. Then we travel to Chicago and buy a residence under a pseudonym. Any objections?”
Gideon cleared his throat. “Is anyone else concerned that we will be using money gained by sinful means? No offense Ethan but what you did amounts to stealing. We are soldiers for God, after all. It isn’t right, even if we are using it for good.”
“I’ve got no problem with it,” Jacob said. Ten pairs of eyes drilled into him. “Oh, for crying out loud. Are we really going to analyze how this … this … blessing fell into our laps? The world is freaking populated with Watchers!”
Malini snorted. “I have to agree with Jacob. What’s done is done. The world is an evil place. We have to work smarter or we won’t survive. We can’t overanalyze it.”
Around the table, heads nodded. Eventually, Gideon dropped the subject and stared into his coffee.