Cosmic Forces: Book Three in The Jake Helman Files Series

by Gregory Lamberson

  Staring into those pulsing points of light that served as Cain’s eyes, Jake thought his heart would explode. He felt tremendous heat radiating from Cain’s body and, remembering how the demon had burned the faces of two security officers at the Tower, worried that his neck would sizzle. But his flesh did not burn.

  Cain jerked his arm back, allowing Jake to land gasping for breath on his ass. Cain took three giant steps away, giving Jake space. Jake examined his throat: no damage done, despite the demon’s supernatural strength.

  “THERE IS A NATURAL ORDER TO THE UNIVERSE THAT WAS DICTATED BY THE CREATOR. LIGHT AND DARK COEXIST, LOCKED IN THE ETERNAL STRUGGLE, EACH SEEKING TO CONQUER THE OTHER. THE DESTROYER IS NOT PART OF THIS NATURAL ORDER. IT IS UNDERMINING EVERYTHING. IT MUST BE STOPPED.”

  Jake cleared his throat. “How?”

  “I DON’T KNOW.” Cain turned and paced.

  Jake rose. “What is it you expect me to do?”

  “YOU CAN GO WHERE I CANNOT, WHERE MY MINIONS CANNOT, WHERE THE LIGHT CANNOT. YOU MUST FIND ABEL, OR, IF HE HAS BEEN CONSUMED, IDENTIFY WHERE HE FELL.”

  “And then?”

  “SUMMON ME AS YOU DID BEFORE.”

  Jake pondered the scenario. “Suppose I trace Abel to one of the ‘invisible fields’ of yours. If you can’t see it, how do you expect to materialize within it?”

  Cain touched the center of his chest. His hand penetrated the glassy skin, through muscles and bone, and touched his glowing heart. He pulled a piece of the lavalike organ out and closed his fingers around it, his hand shaking with effort, smoke rising between his fingers. “TAKE THIS.”

  When Cain uncurled his fingers, Jake saw the demon had transformed his tissue into something entirely new: a glass eye with a blue iris. Jake blinked at the replacement sphere. “You want me to stick that inside my head?”

  “IT WILL ALLOW ME TO SEE WHAT YOU SEE, AND THAT WILL ENABLE ME TO MATERIALIZE WHERE NECESSARY.”

  Jake reached for the eye with his forefinger and thumb. Though warm, it did not burn. He took it from Cain’s palm. “I think all you’re going to see for the time being is the inside of my pocket.”

  Cain did not respond.

  “Let’s get something straight. I generally don’t work for free. I do make exceptions but not when the stakes are this high.”

  “WHAT DO YOU WANT?”

  “You know the bokor Katrina?”

  “I HAVE DEVOURED HER MANY TIMES. DELICIOUS.”

  Jake paused before speaking, allowing the image of Cain eating Katrina alive to sink in. “Then you know she transformed my friend Edgar into a raven. I want him back as he was.”

  “IMPOSSIBLE. I CANNOT INTERFERE WITH THIS WORLD IN THE MANNER YOU SUGGEST.”

  Jake gestured at Taggert’s corpse. “I’d say you interfered with him pretty directly.”

  Cain spread his hands apart in a gesture of innocence. “I NEVER TOUCHED HIM WHILE HE WAS ALIVE.”

  “Why did you wait until now to interrogate him?”

  “I CAME HERE TO SEE YOU, NOT HIM.”

  “But you still questioned him. Why now?”

  Cain’s skin rippled and grew red. “HE WAS INVISIBLE TO ME UNTIL NOW.”

  Jake glanced at his ring. “The rings generate the blind spots, making the activities of this Order of Avademe impossible for you to observe.”

  Cain stood silent, his body giving off so much heat that Jake felt sweat pouring over his skin.

  “But you see me now.”

  “THE RING ON YOUR FINGER HAS NOT BEEN TUNED TO YOUR PHYSICAL BEING. ANY POWER IT GENERATES MEANS NOTHING TO ME.”

  But it meant plenty to Taggert.

  “WHAT ELSE DO YOU DESIRE FROM ME IN EXCHANGE FOR YOUR HELP?”

  Jake frowned, then rubbed his chin. “How about a clean slate between the two of us? If I find Abel, or discover what happened to him, you forget I set those souls in the Tower free. I want a total pass on that one. There’s to be no retribution, even if I wind up in the Dark Realm for some future act of insanity.”

  Cain extended a grisly hand. “DEAL.”

  Jake stared at the hand. He had caused Old Nick’s death rather than allow the man to shake that hand and seal his deal with Cain. Now it was his turn to shake hands with the devil, which he did.

  A rip appeared in the air behind Cain, and the demon vanished through it, allowing hundreds of tormented screams to escape in the process. The rip closed over itself, leaving behind the acrid stench of sulfur.

  Jake allowed himself a deep sigh, then pocketed the eye. He had finally gleaned some useful information from one of his supernatural contacts.

  CHAPTER

  14

  Jake stood Taggert’s body up in the chair at the edge of a wide hole in the barn’s floor, then gave the corpse a sharp kick and watched darkness swallow it. Outside, he saw no signs that Gary and Frank had ever materialized. He got into the SUV, started its engine, and called Carrie from the road. She had nothing new to report and assured him she had deleted the Afterlife excerpt from her computer and had destroyed the CD.

  He drove straight to Reichard’s estate. Although he saw no signs of police activity on the road as the sun set, he knew he had gotten all the use out of the service road possible. When he stopped at the front gates, the security officers gave him curious looks but opened the gate and allowed him to present them with his driver’s license.

  “Tell Reichard that Jake Helman wants a word with him.”

  “I’m sorry, sir,” the guard closest to Jake said. “Mr. Reichard sees no one without an appointment.”

  “He’ll see me. Call up to the house.”

  Frowning, the guard turned to the telephone in the booth. A minute later, he handed Jake’s license back with a surprised look. “You’re cleared.”

  “Thanks.” Jake felt odd driving up the hill after watching so many other vehicles do it. He followed the winding brick driveway to the mansion’s entrance.

  The butler he had seen over the last three days answered the door. “May I take your jacket, sir?”

  “No, thanks.” At least the jacket hid how dirty his shirt had become.

  “I need to pat you down.”

  Jake upturned his right hand so the butler saw his ring. “Really?”

  The butler showed no sign of recognizing the ring. “Really.”

  Just a lackey. Jake raised his arms, allowing the serious-faced man to frisk him. He had left the Beretta under the front seat of the SUV.

  “Follow me to the den.”

  Jake followed the manservant down a corridor and through a room filled with antiques and musical instruments. The ceilings were fifteen feet high. Jake felt as if he were passing through a museum more than a home, and he wondered if Marla was one of the chief exhibits. The butler slid two dark wood doors apart, revealing Reichard in his study. The billionaire sat behind a desk as wide as a small car, with intricate carving in the wood. Leather-bound books filled glass bookcases. Jake entered the sanctuary and the butler closed the doors, leaving the men in private.

  Reichard peered at Jake over his reading glasses. “I hope you don’t mind that I’m both surprised and disappointed to see you here.”

  “I’m pleased to disappoint you.”

  “Taggert’s man bungled the job.”

  “Twice.”

  The old man removed his glasses. “And you kidnapped Taggert right out from under our noses?” His voice revealed a hint of admiration.

  “Desperate situations require desperate actions.”

  Reichard rose. “Where’s Taggert now?”

  “Let’s just say he won’t be attending any more dinner parties or weekend soirees here.”

  Reichard shook his head with a resigned smile. “Where’s the body?”

  “What’s it worth to you?”

  Reichard shrugged. “I’d gladly pay one million dollars to verify his death.”

  Raising his hand, Jake showed Reichard the ring on his finger. “Just a million?”

  Reichard’s ey
es expanded, the ring reflected in his pupils. “Only a ghoul would rob a dead man of his jewelry.” He gestured to an upholstered sofa. “Have a seat.”

  Jake sat down and Reichard settled beside him.

  “You’ve got balls marching in here like this after what you pulled today,” the billionaire said. “What’s your angle?”

  Jake nodded at the ring on Reichard’s finger. “I want to join the Order of Avademe.”

  Reichard constructed an innocent expression. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Taggert said otherwise.”

  Reichard raised his white eyebrows. “I never believed that Taggert, of all of us, could be made to talk.”

  “I can be very persuasive when I need to be.”

  “Yes, I gather.”

  “Which seems to have paid off. I understand I’m now a very wealthy man.”

  “Wealthier than you can possibly imagine. If we accept you into our organization, that is.”

  Jake sprang to his feet so fast Reichard pulled himself into a defensive posture. “Uh-uh. Don’t even try it. I have the ring. This makes me part of your group whether you want my company or not, and there’s nothing you can do about it. I know this protects me. You can’t kill me, you can’t order someone else to kill me, and you can’t sic the authorities on me. I’ve just become a very important man in your life.”

  Reichard offered a tight-lipped smile. “I wonder what Taggert didn’t tell you.”

  Sitting again, Jake crossed his legs and folded his hands over his lap. “Taggert isn’t my only source of information.”

  “You have my full attention.”

  “I assume that when the eight of you decided to have me killed you did a background check on me.”

  “Yes. It wasn’t very impressive, as I recall.”

  “Maybe you missed this small detail: for one week, I was Nicholas Tower’s director of security at the Tower.”

  Despite Reichard’s efforts at maintaining a poker face, Jake saw a glimmer of reaction at the mention of Tower’s name.

  “We didn’t miss that. Your tenure just seemed inconsequential, except that Nicholas died on your watch.”

  Nicholas. “He kept extensive notes on all of his activities. They’re mine now, just like this ring.” He saw no reason to mention Afterlife.

  Reichard’s eyes narrowed. “You’re bluffing.”

  “I have a list of your names, businesses, and affiliations before Tower’s death—a complete dossier on your activities and misdeeds. Old Nick practically wrote a whole book on you guys. You probably don’t know it, but he had a lot of free time on his hands, holed up in that fortress.”

  “What else do these notes say?”

  “I haven’t finished them yet, but they back up what Taggert told me and then some.”

  Reichard seemed to weigh Jake’s words. “If you really wish to join our order, you have to follow certain protocol. You can’t just take a ring off” a dead man’s finger and become one of the world’s grand masters.”

  “I think I can.”

  “We may not be able to eliminate you, but we do require certain assurances before we can admit you into our circle. Like it or not, you have to earn our trust.”

  “Trust takes time. I have the ring. I want to be included now.”

  “It isn’t that simple. We’re talking about a great deal of power and responsibility.”

  Jake stood again. “I’m talking about a great deal of money, and I want my cut of it right now.”

  “How mercenary of you. If money is all you’re interested in, we’ll pay you seven million dollars for that ring.”

  “One million from each surviving member? That’s a nice sum but not nearly as much as I’ll make as a full partner. And Taggert made it clear that without this ring, he was not only expendable but undesirable. He was more afraid of you partners than he was of me. So I think I’ll keep the gold and the green.”

  Reichard got to his feet. “You’re playing a very dangerous game.”

  “This kind of payday is worth the risk.”

  “There are two very large elephants in this room.” Jake glanced around the study.

  “You witnessed Myron sacrifice that young lady two nights ago, and you tangled with our watchers. You killed four of them.”

  Watchers, Jake thought. He gave Reichard his most threatening stare. “Madigan killed that girl as an entry fee into your club. I’m sure you videotaped it, just like I did, as an insurance policy in case he changed his mind about staying in the group. As for those watchers, as you call them—I don’t know what the hell they are, but they sure aren’t human. But then, you should see the things Tower created.”

  “‘Tower makes monsters,’” Reichard said.

  “Exactly.”

  “You leaked those files to the media.”

  “Indirectly.”

  “You think you know what you’re getting into, but you don’t have a clue.”

  “I’m a big fan of on-the-job training.”

  Reichard showed Jake his own ring. “You don’t say a word about this to anyone. If you do, that’s the one exception in which we do have the right to kill you. In fact, it becomes our obligation. Breathe one word about this to a single soul, and we’ll make you wish you were in hell.”

  Sensing this was no time for flippancy, Jake said nothing.

  “Come back here tomorrow night for dinner. I believe you know what time we eat. I’ll summon the others for an emergency meeting. We’ll decide then what to do about you.”

  Jake offered a subtle bow. “I look forward to it.”

  Then he exited the lion’s den.

  Free to use his credit card again, Jake returned the SUV to a branch of the car rental agency located in Lower Manhattan, then took a taxi to Twenty-third Street, where he knocked on the door to Laurel’s parlor. Night had fallen and the city lights glowed.

  When Laurel opened the door, a look of relief spread across her features. Jake stepped inside, provoking a caw from Edgar, who lighted on the round table. He hadn’t realized Laurel allowed Edgar out of his cage, but he supposed this was a good thing since the cage was so small. Laurel made a move to embrace Jake, but he raised one hand, gesturing for her to stop.

  “I don’t think you want to touch me,” he said.

  Her face turned grim. “I know Abby’s dead.”

  “Knowing it isn’t the same thing as experiencing it.”

  Her eyes watered. “Was it terrible?”

  “Murder usually is. But it was fast, almost instantaneous. She died saving me.”

  “I sent you to her. That makes me responsible for her death.” She extended one hand straight out. “Let me see.”

  Jake closed his fingers around hers. Laurel immediately recoiled. Jake began to release his grip on her, but she seized his wrist with her other hand. With their faces inches apart, Jake felt her breath on his face and inhaled her perfume. If not for the crazed look in her eyes, he might have been turned on.

  Laurel searched his face. “Sheryl . . . Cain . . . What are you doing?”

  Jake turned red, as if she had caught him with his drawers down.

  She lifted his hand and stared at the ring on his finger. She brushed the gold tentacle with her thumb. “What are you doing?”

  “Whatever it takes to bring them to their knees.”

  Releasing him, Laurel raised both hands to her temples, then brushed her long hair out of her eyes. She appeared ready to faint, as Abby had done. “I don’t think you can stop them.”

  Jake helped her over to the table, where she half collapsed into her padded chair.

  “They’re just men.”

  She gazed at him with concern in her eyes. “Not seven men: an army. And you’re one man.”

  “That’s why I’m going to attack them from the inside, instead of going at them from the outside. I can’t just wipe them out like I did Katrina’s zonbies. I have to find their heart and destroy it.”

  “This i
sn’t an undercover police assignment. You’ve uncovered something bigger than you realize. And Cain seems to think this Avademe is a living entity.”

  Jake sat opposite her. “I don’t believe in sea monsters.”

  Laurel closed her hands into fists. “I’m only picking up secondhand vibrations through you, but that’s enough. Don’t underestimate these people. Combined, they have greater resources than Tower did.”

  He studied her eyes, searching for a glimmer of untruth. “What do you know about Avademe?”

  “I swear to you, I’ve never heard it before.”

  He considered her words. Maybe. “I know you’re in hiding. Is it from Reichard and his group?”

  She stared at him for a moment without answering, and he noticed her bosom rising and falling. “No,” she said.

  Jake glanced at Edgar. “Sheryl and Cain both described areas on earth hidden from heaven and hell. Sheryl called them blind spots. Cain called them invisible fields. When Abel appeared to me seventeen months ago, he was able to read my thoughts. Sheryl knew that Edgar had been transmogrified into a raven, but she didn’t know that I had moved him here, and she seemed unaware that you even exist. Abby went on and on about how New York is a focal point for psychics and spiritualists because it has a long history of supernatural activity. I think that activity is directly linked to these blind spots, and Sheryl and Cain don’t know you exist because this parlor”—he looked around the room—”is a blind spot to them. You’ve created some sort of seal around yourself that renders this space invisible to these higher beings. You’re afraid of something, and you’ve made yourself a prisoner here to hide from it. What I don’t understand is why neither of them saw you in my mind.”

  Laurel tapped her fingernails on the table, through its cloth, and Edgar returned to her. “I can’t answer the questions you’re asking me. Not without endangering both of us.”

  Jake jumped to his feet, knocking the chair back. His sudden movement caused Laurel to flinch and Edgar raised his wings in protest.

  “Oh, not you, too! I’m sick of everyone around me keeping important information from me. If you won’t tell me, I’ll tell you. You used your powers to heal me when Katrina put that hex on me, and you healed me again after Reichard’s fish men burned my skin. But you didn’t just heal me, did you? You worked more than one kind of magic on me. Whatever you do to make this place invisible to certain forces, you also did to my thoughts and memories of you, so none of these higher powers can see you.”