Wanderers 4: A Tough Act to Follow (The Wanderers)

by Richard Bamberg

  Her fingers moved back to my cheek and she wiped away the tears that had run down my face.

  “Everything will be all right, Tess.” Her breath was warm against my face and as soft as her words.

  I nodded and tried to smile. Cris leaned forward and kissed me again, lightly and briefly.

  “You are so sweet,” she said. “It’s a great pleasure to know you.”

  I almost laughed, not out of humor, but out of embarrassment. I pulled her tight against me and put my head on the shorter woman’s shoulder. She hugged me back and we stood there against the rail until Rafe’s heavier tread sounded behind Cris.

  Opening my eyes, I found him standing a couple of feet from us.

  “Is this a private party or can I get in on the action?” he asked.

  Cris and I both laughed and pulled apart enough for Rafe to step beside us. We embraced in a group hug and Rafe kissed Cris. It was passionate. When they broke, he turned to me, and kissed me equally, sending quivers through me. When he pulled back, Cris’s lips found mine and we shared a kiss as passionate as Rafe’s had been.

  My head was swimming. This visit with Cris was becoming something that I had no experience with, but it was as unavoidable as the sunrise.

  Chapter 26

  raphael

  It was strange to have someone’s devotion spoken aloud in front of both parties. I prefer not to have my feelings open to anyone, unless I speak them myself. The decades of depending only on myself and a very few others did not lend itself to sharing. However, that said, these two women were the closest people in the world to me. Cris had not been lying when she said I shared Tess’s feelings for me. In truth, my feelings for her were much deeper than I cared to admit, but then Cris just opened her mouth and uncovered the only secret I had hoped to keep from Tess. If I were really being honest with myself, I was happy to know how Tess felt about me and for her to know I felt the same. I still worried about Cris sharing that truth. Wanderers were meant to go their separate ways when the student became a master. Granted that was still a couple of decades away, but it would happen.

  After a bit of a mutual display of affection for each other, the three of us pulled back and more than a couple of eyes were wiped to remove excess moisture. These tears were tears of joy, a rarity in my world.

  We sat together at the teak table on Cris’s deck and for a minute, we were quietly contemplating what had just occurred. At least I was. I wasn’t meshed with either of the women so I can’t say for sure.

  I cleared my throat and said, “I hate to spoil the mood, but seeing as how this mutual affection isn’t going to fix me, I need you to explain your idea, Cris.”

  Cris nodded and smiled affectionately at me. It was something she often did and it was another of those things that can warm an old man’s heart.

  “Back when I was Abigail’s apprentice, she introduced me to a priest who was a white magic user. She’d known him for a very long time and I think he was even older than she was. I don’t know that he’s even still living, but according to Abigail, he was an incredibly powerful wielder of white magic. She said that he’d been known to banish evil from our plane with nothing more than the power of his faith. If anyone can get that blackness out of you, it would be him.”

  I nodded and considered before saying, “White magic users can be very powerful against the truly evil, but they are rare. It seems there are very few of them who can really call on the power of God these days.”

  “I thought any priest or preacher could banish demons and their ilk, well, not that I believed in them before I met you,” Tess said.

  “Not many people do. That’s one of the reasons white magic users are rare. People just aren’t as religious these days,” I said.

  “But there are plenty of churches and lots of people go to church. We did the whole time I was growing up,” Tess said.

  “Yes, but unless you went to one of the fundamentalist faiths, you were probably taught more about the goodness of God, rather than the wickedness of those who oppose him. I had pretty much the same experience growing up. It wasn’t until Walt showed me examples of true evil that I realized my education had been slightly skewed away from the evil that Wanderers know is out there.”

  “Rafe is right. Christians these days are confused by science. It tells them that demonic possession doesn’t happen; it’s just a matter of mental illness. Trust me on this, as a therapist, I see plenty of cases of mental illness, but there are times when you can examine a troubled person’s aura and see that there is darkness in them.”

  “Of course it doesn’t hurt to be able to read a person’s soul,” I added.

  “Well, yeah, sure. That helps more than being able to see an aura. There’s a big difference between someone with a little badness in them and someone who is actually possessed. Their auras don’t always show a difference.

  “Of course, the possessed don’t volunteer for treatment or evaluation.”

  “And you’ve encountered possession?” Tess asked.

  “Just once. That was before I became a therapist. It was when I was Abigail’s apprentice. That was when Abigail introduced me to the priest. I’d spotted the possessed person and reported it to Abigail. She called in the priest and together we ambushed the woman and tied her down long enough for the priest to do his magic.”

  I thought about it for a minute and then nodded. “That does sound hopeful. If this priest is still around he might help.”

  “You think there’s a chance he wouldn’t?” Tess asked.

  “I don’t know the man. Wanderers don’t always get along with white magic users. They like to take issue with our willingness to put a stop to night magic users by killing them.”

  “How do they stop the bad guys?” Tess asked.

  I shrugged. “I don’t really know. There aren’t that many of them and with any luck a Wanderer finds the night magic users before a Goody comes across them.”

  “A goody?” Cris asked.

  “That’s what Walt called them. I think it was a contraction for Goody Two-Shoes, a name I never understood,” I said.

  “So, Cris, how do we contact this priest?” Tess asked.

  “I’ll have to call Abigail. If he’s still alive, she’ll know how to reach him.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” I said, sliding my chair back.

  “Where are you going?” Cris asked.

  “I figured I’d get dressed and be ready to leave when you got the priest’s location.”

  “Are you in that much of a hurry?” Cris asked.

  I glanced from Cris to Tess. Both women looked like they didn’t want to hear what I was going to say. “I’m the one who’s powerless here. Don’t you think I need to get back to being a Wanderer before something goes wrong?”

  “What could go wrong? No one knows you’re here,” Cris said.

  “Yeah, Boss, another day isn’t going to change much,” Tess chimed in.

  “Look, I’m sorry, I’d like to spend more time here, too, but Verðandi could send us a summons at any time and we still have to find Rowle and Alex.”

  “But you’re in no condition to confront Rowle. He was tough enough when you were at full strength. Even if you get cleaned up by this priest, there’s still the tats you’ll have to burn to recover,” Tess said.

  “Tess, this is more important than a little happiness, no matter how much we’d prefer it.”

  “It’s not just that, Rafe. I worry about you rushing this. I’ve not been doing tats more than once a month because you want to make sure I know the spell frontwards and backwards before I burn one. If you’re thinking of burning a tat a day–”

  “More than that,” I said.

  “Jesus, Rafe, are you sure your body can handle it?” Tess asked.

  “It’ll have to. Look, if I can’t handle it, I’ll cut back.”

  “And where will you do these tats?” Cris asked.

  “Where? You mean on my body?”

  “No, where on E
arth. I thought you came here as much for a safe place to hold up while you got your powers back as for my help in accomplishing it,” Cris said.

  “We did,” Tess said. “It doesn’t matter where you do them, Rafe. You could burn them here as well as anyplace. No one knows we’re here and that’s what you need until you’re back to full strength.”

  I frowned, but Tess and Cris were right. We should avoid places that Rowle would expect to see us. Colorado Springs was obvious, he might not know about Joe’s cabin, but that didn’t mean that he wouldn’t be able to find us if he looked there. The glamours Beast and Maia used to avoid the mundanes seeing them wouldn’t fool Rowle. If he saw them flying around the Springs, it would be simple to track them back to the cabin.

  “Okay, you’re right. We’ll find the priest, get my mojo back, and then we can stay here until I’ve restored at least my fighting tats. In the meantime, we can see if Verðandi comes up with anything better or perhaps a way to track Rowle and Alex. There has to be some way to find them.”

  Cris stood up. “I’ll get my phone and see if the old gal’s at work.”

  “Good,” I said. “Tess, you’d better get your leathers on.”

  “Yes, you both should,” said a familiar voice.

  The three of us turned to face the newcomer, Verðandi.

  Chapter 27

  raphael

  “Well, well, look who the cat dragged in,” I said.

  Verðandi ignored my disrespectful comment and walked out from under the pines at the edge of the yard.

  “Who is this?” Cris asked.

  “Ah, that’s our boss,” Tess said.

  “Fate?”

  “My name is Verðandi, child. I am one of the Fates, but not the only one,” Verðandi responded as she stopped a few feet from me.

  “My apologies, ma’am, Verðandi.” Cris’s voice was breaking.

  “Relax, Cris,” I said. “She is just a person like the rest of us.”

  Verðandi stared at me for a moment and I had to consciously avoid rolling my eyes. “Okay, she’s a god, but that doesn’t mean she’s any better than the rest of us.”

  “Rafe!” Tess exclaimed.

  Verðandi raised a hand toward Tess without taking her eyes off of me. “So, Raphael, what have I done to deserve this treatment?”

  “I don’t know,” I began. “Maybe it’s just that you could have warned the Wanderers that Rowle was killing them before there was only me left. Maybe you could have told me that Laura would be possessed by a shade if I didn’t get back to her sooner. Or maybe it’s that you let my son be killed just so you could have another Wanderer. Take your pick, any one of those things alone is enough to draw my ire.”

  I felt a hand on each of my arms and realized the women had come beside me.

  “Of course,” I added. “There’s the little matter of you not telling me that I was about to lose all of my tats.”

  The hand holding my right arm tightened noticeably and I felt Tess trying to mesh with me. I ignored her.

  “You knew all of these things the last time we spoke, Raphael,” Verðandi said. “What has soured your attitude since then?”

  “Maybe I’ve just had a little time to think of all the things that you could have changed with even a touch of your knowledge. I could have saved a lot more people. People who were dear to me.”

  Verðandi stared at me for a moment and then she shook her head slowly. “You know so little of the restrictions on me or of the power you insult. I make no apologies for my actions. You may question my decisions, but all of your questions will not make me change what is fated to happen.”

  I gritted my teeth and tried to get control of my emotions. Why was I so angry with her? Nothing had changed since we last saw her and yet just seeing her had me mad as hell. I raised my left hand, curling my fingers into a fist as I did. With just a little bit of energy I could trigger the tat that would bring down the lightning.

  “Rafe!” Tess hissed in my ear. “What are you doing?”

  I tried to trigger the tat that formed in my fist, but nothing happened.

  I could feel Tess still trying to mesh with me, but I continued to ignore her. I tried shrugging off her grip, but she strengthened her muscles and easily held my arm. I thrashed and shook Cris off my left arm. I turned toward Tess, meaning to slap her until she let go of me.

  “Stop,” Verðandi ordered.

  I stopped. Completely. My body was frozen in the middle of my turn. I fumed helplessly as my muscles refused to follow my commands just as my tattoo had refused to trigger.

  Tess released my arm and stepped back. She studied my face as though she didn’t recognize me.

  From somewhere behind me I heard Cris ask, “What’s wrong with him?”

  Verðandi moved into my line of sight. Tess moved back to allow her to get closer to me.

  I tried to force my muscles to move, but nothing happened. I tried activating my lightning tat again, but it still refused my commands.

  I screamed in frustration, but only inside my head. Other than my heart and lungs, I was frozen to the spot.

  Verðandi raised a hand to my face and I tried to bite her, but I didn’t even twitch.

  After a moment, she removed her hand and frowned. “It’s the night magic that erased his tats. It’s affecting his mind. It appears to intensify his hostility.”

  “But he’s been acting normally since he got here,” Cris said.

  “I don’t believe he has any hostility toward either of you so the magic was dormant until I arrived,” Verðandi said.

  “Can you help him?” Tess asked.

  “Perhaps, but he might become normal again the moment I leave.”

  “Are you willing to take that chance? He can’t really hurt us without his powers, but he won’t cooperate with us if he stays like this,” Tess said.

  “Yes, there may be someone who can clean this magic out of him, but if Rafe remains this hostile, how are we going to get him to go with us?” Cris asked.

  Verðandi moved out of my line of sight and Cris stepped beside Tess.

  I stared at the two women and felt my anger slowly seeping out of me. These women had never done anything to hurt me. I couldn’t be mad at them. Then what was I so mad about? For some reason I couldn’t remember what had angered me so. I tried to move to Cris and Tess and apologize for upsetting them, but my body refused to move.

  Lightning coursed through my head and I screamed in pain, although nothing came from my mouth. The pain intensified until darkness swept over me.

  Chapter 28

  therese

  Verðandi moved behind Rafe and raised her hands to either side of his head. Her hands began glowing and a moment later I could feel something was wrong with Rafe. He didn’t flinch or react in any visible way, but for the last six months, we’d been meshing daily, sharing our emotions, auras, and thoughts. While meshed we shared the same pulse, the same breath. We had developed an empathy for each other that went beyond the emotional attachment. I knew how he’d react to nearly any input, any situation.

  Now, as the glow from Verðandi’s hands intensified, I knew Rafe was hurting. I could almost feel his pain.

  I took a step forward, not quite sure what I was going to do, but I had to do something.

  Cris grabbed my wrist and pulled me to a stop. “Don’t interfere.”

  “I have to. She’s hurting him.”

  “That may be, but this is necessary. You have to let her finish,” Cris said.

  I stared at her for a second and then turned back toward Rafe and Verðandi in time to see Rafe’s eyes roll up exposing just the whites.

  Yanking my arm out of Cris’s grasp, I leapt forward just as the glow from Verðandi’s hands died. I clutched at Rafe, expecting him to collapse, but he remained rigid.

  “What did you do to him?” I demanded.

  “Relax, Wanderer, I did him no permanent harm.”

  “What. Did. You. Do?” I was practically shrieking
at her.

  Verðandi eyed me and I knew how stupid it was to demand anything of her. There was nothing I could do to stop her from killing Rafe or me if she decided to. But then that wouldn’t be something she’d consider doing. She might, however, do anything short of that if I pissed her off. After a moment of apparent indecision, she raised her chin and turned away from me. “I separated the portions of his mind responsible for his extreme aggression from his consciousness. I erected a barrier that will keep the night magic from triggering another attack of aggression.”

  “That’s all?” I asked, my voice lowering into a more respectful tone.

  “Yes, child. Now he should give you no trouble until you can get the night magic’s taint out of him.”

  Cris moved up to stand on the opposite side of Rafe. “Excuse me, ma’am, but we were hoping you could help with that.”

  “Yes, you must know someone who can fix him,” I added.

  Verðandi shook her head slowly and with great sadness. “I wish that it were true. There are gods that could complete this task, but none of them owes me a favor and I had nothing to barter with.”

  “A favor? They require you to pay for their help?” I asked.

  “The gods have their standards. They don’t help members of mankind without a good reason. Most times it means that it is in their interest to help or that they want something in return.”

  “Is that all? Then tell them that I’ll provide whatever they want in return for fixing Rafe,” I said.

  Verðandi turned to look at me. I drew myself erect and met her gaze.