Even so, I just can’t bear to let this happen. “We can’t bring her in there,” I blurt out.
The Fates all stop in their tracks.
“Well, what do you want to do? I’m all for knocking on the black gate,” Penn says, still hanging on to the hope that we can dump her on the demons and be done with it.
“Can you three wait out here with her? I’ll go get some help.” I’m adding yet another complication to our plan—and I know it—but I can’t stomach the idea of bringing her in with us.
I look at the three Fates in front of me, waiting for them to respond. Penn sighs and sets her down in front of him. There’s nothing for him to lean her against, so she just lies among the clouds. They’re thick enough that they almost swallow her, making her look a little otherworldly. I frown down at her. I don’t want to think of her as being at peace when the souls she trapped in hell are still stuck there.
“All right,” I say. “I’ll be right back.”
Taking a deep breath, I push the golden gate open and go home.
No one is milling around on the other side, so I walk to Ryker’s office unobstructed. It’s morning here, so I know most of the Reapers are already out on assignment and won’t stop me as I make my way through my home. I pick up the pace, saying a silent prayer that Ryker is actually in his office.
Hesitantly, I knock on the door. When no one answers, I knock a little louder. Just as I’m about to give up, the door swings open and Ryker takes me into his big arms, lifts me up, and spins me around. Just as quickly as he’s done it, I’m back on the ground, facing him. He’s standing straight as a board and looking down at me, as if the display of emotion never happened at all.
“Where have you been?” he demands.
I take a seat opposite his desk and tell him about Mara—her powers, what she did with them, and her apparent lack of remorse. Frowning, he turns to face a holographic image to his left.
I didn’t see him touch anything, but suddenly, the image of one of hell’s Guardians appears before me. I’m taken aback that he can communicate with them this way.
“I have a special assignment for you. There is an actual human outside your gate. Not a soul. I need you to…care for her until her appointed trial. No harm should come to her, but know that she is very powerful. Learned in our ways, and in the ways of witchcraft. She has eliminated two Archangels and a Spinner. Be forewarned.”
The Guardian gives a big, toothy grin. Even though he’s not really in the room with me, I want to shrink away. The smell of hell surrounds me—a memory so real, my pulse quickens. I shake myself and take a deep breath.
“It would be my pleasure,” the Guardian growls out. “When is the trial?”
“Undetermined. When I know, you’ll know.”
The Guardian nods and his image disappears.
“Do you trust him?” I ask.
“No. You can never trust a demon. But I trust her less than I trust the demon. She needs to be restrained. I know the Guardian will be able to handle her.” He leans back in his chair and smiles at me. “It’s good to have you back. Now, tell me everything.”
And I do. I start with Shiloh, Mara’s motivation for what she did. When I get to the part about Nathair joining forces with her, I remember that he’s still trapped in the basement.
Ryker pauses my soliloquy to dispatch a team to retrieve the wayward Reaper, and then asks me to continue.
When I get to the part about Webber, I’m suddenly furious with him. “Ryker, why did you leave him?”
“Do you want the long or the short answer?” he asks seriously.
“Both.”
“Fine. I had obligations here. I couldn’t stay with him.”
The comment stings. “Obligations more important than me?”
His face softens. “I couldn’t take your other friends to Earth, but I needed to make sure Miette was in the right place at the right time to help them find you.”
It stops me dead.
“So what’s the long answer?”
“Webber was distraught. He felt it was something he needed to do on his own to earn his redemption. I wouldn’t deny him that.”
“That I can believe,” I say, hoping my friend would be happy to know his sacrifice had not been wasted.
I keep talking until I’ve told Ryker the entire story. Eventually, I get to the part about the three souls still trapped in the prison of souls—Andrew, Kismet, and Lily—and their need to be rescued.
“I knew something extreme happened to put you in the healing ward with all those burns, but I had no idea it was something of this magnitude.” Ryker slouches in his chair a little, seemingly weighed down by what I’ve said.
“But now that we have her, we can release them, right?” I say, hopeful it will be a non-issue.
“Of course. I will send Reapers to collect them immediately.” He reaches for the holograph to summon someone, but I stop him.
“I’d like to get them, please. I started this. I’d like to finish it.” I think about God’s plan for me, for all of us. “I believe I’m meant to do it.”
“I have another task for you, Michaela.”
His words take the wind out of my sails. Another task? What could be more important than getting Andrew, Kismet, and Lily out of that terrible prison?
“I will send emissaries to hell to prepare the way for you. They’ll make sure you don’t face any…” He hesitates. “Obstacles. You can retrieve the souls when you’re done with your mission.”
I like the sound of that. An easy trip into hell? Yes, please. Penn and I barely made it out the last time.
“What’s the mission?” A wave of wariness washes over me as I wait for his response.
“Another surprise has popped up.” My heart sinks, but something about his expression tells me I’ve got it wrong. There’s a sparkle in his eye. Still, my panic fights for attention. Another surprise? How can that be? We have Mara.
“Do you think Nathair escaped and is continuing her work?”
“No. I do not,” he says simply.
“Well, then who?” I demand, dying to know the reason for his sly smile.
“It’s a surprise, yes, but this person’s name didn’t show up on our list early. He should’ve been reaped years ago.”
The name falls from my lips of its own accord. “Shiloh.”
Nineteen
Penn
The wait outside the gates is torturous. We are all silent. Galenia and Horatia sit near Mara, and I pace around near the edge of the mists. I’m not sure what to do with myself. I don’t want to leave this human out in the middle of the three gates, where she might do even more damage, but I also don’t want to be anywhere near her. She’s destroyed everything that was important to me. Kismet and Andrew are lost to me forever. And then there are all those other threads she cut short. Frederico. Jeff. Pearl. Chesney. Nysa. Lily. That’s not even to mention the thousands of ghosts created by her negligence. The lives ruined…
I take a deep breath to calm myself and keep pacing, hoping someone will come soon. Every few paces, I glance at the gold door, hoping someone will come through. But, to my dismay, the black gate comes into view. A demon steps out of it.
I’ve actually never seen a Guardian before, but I assume this is one of them. He certainly doesn’t look human like the Warden we saw in hell, but he’s bigger and more intimidating than the lesser demons we encountered there. The flames of hell show through the cracks in his charred skin. His fingers have long, black claws on them, and his arms are so long, he drags them through the clouds as he walks. His face is angular, almost like it was chiseled out of black stone. I make an effort not to shrink back from him. He’s here for Mara, I’m sure.
Then another Guardian follows him out of the black gate. I look from them to my sisters, not exactly sure of what to do.
Galenia surprises me by standing up and approaching them. “Hello.” Her voice is soft and soothing, but I’m not sure if it’s meant to soothe t
hem or us. Probably us, since they don’t seem frightened at all.
“Fates,” they acknowledge. Their whispery voices send a chill down my spine. “We hear you have something special for us.”
“I’m not sure I’m comfortable leaving her with you. How do I know you’ll bring her to the trial when she’s needed?” Galenia asks, stepping between Mara and the Guardians.
“Our orders come from the head Reaper. We know this one comes with strings attached.”
She turns to me. “Ryker.”
I nod, and she steps aside.
A grotesque smile spreads across the larger Guardian’s face as he looks down at her. “Tell us about this human,” he says. “She doesn’t seem so special to me.”
“She took out two Archangels. Don’t underestimate her,” Horatia warns.
“Impressive.” The larger Guardian continues to smile down at Mara, who’s starting to stir.
Galenia goes to her, searching for the cloth, but the Guardian holds up his hand. “Maybe we should let her see what she’s in for.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I say, backing away from Mara. I sincerely don’t want to be around when she wakes up. She’s going to be madder than a hornet when she figures out what we did, but the prospect of her rage seems to excite them. As if they feed on it. They probably do, now that I think about it.
Galenia backs away too, but Horatia goes toward the Guardians of all things. As soon as we realize what she’s doing, we rush to join her.
“Hiding behind the demons, eh, Fates?” the smaller Guardian says with a chuckle.
“I’m not ashamed to acknowledge that you’re better equipped to deal with this situation,” Galenia says.
The smaller one looks back at her for a moment, as if he isn’t quite sure what to make of her, and then returns his gaze to his quarry.
“It’s nice to meet you, Mara,” the larger Guardian says.
She’s sitting up slowly, moaning. “What the hell did you do to me?” Her voice is hoarse, and she’s coughing. Leaning forward, she puts her head between her knees and vomits into the clouds.
“She really is human,” the smaller Guardian notes.
“That she is,” I confirm.
“This will be interesting,” he says.
Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, she staggers to standing. “Who are you?” she demands. It’s obvious she’s not even a little afraid of these creatures from hell.
The moment her eyes lock on to us, she scoffs and says, “More Fates. How many of you do I have to kill to get you to leave me alone? You’re nothing but a nuisance!” She raises her hands, and we shrink down behind the Guardians.
The demons laugh. They actually laugh, and the sound is horrible. It’s like cold wind hissing through the slats in a dark, drafty barn. It surrounds us, and I feel like we’ll never be warm and happy again.
Mara starts to mutter something, calling upon her powers, but the Guardians are laughing so hard it whips up a wind. Or maybe Mara is the one who’s creating the wind. The girls’ hair whips wildly around their faces as the demons’ terrifying laughter rises in volume.
Mara stays focused on us, but the Guardians’ amusement finally dies when sparks appear on her fingertips.
“Enough,” the larger Guardian says, and her hands go jerkily to her sides. The sparks disappear, but her eyes glow with anger.
“Hey,” I whisper, sensing she’s not nearly done. They ignore me.
“Dispergeretur.” I can actually see the word leave her mouth and curl through the air, floating toward the smaller Guardian, the one Galenia is hiding behind. The larger Guardian doesn’t seem to see it, but the smaller one watches with amused fascination as the word curls around him. It reaches his leg before working its way up his body, around his arm, over his head, around his other arm, and back down his other leg. His smirk finally fades by the time he’s covered in silvery light.
Mara is smiling as she watches it happen, her arms still stiff at her sides. The Guardian must be holding her.
All of a sudden, the light suddenly caves in on itself, leaving nothing behind. The Guardian standing in front of Galenia vanishes in thin air, leaving Galenia exposed.
Before the human can do any more damage, the lone Guardian roars with anger. I feel the vibration of it in my chest. Galenia runs over to us, and we three Fates wrap our arms around each other and shamelessly cower behind the demon.
The Guardian closes the distance between himself and Mara faster than I’ve ever seen any being move. He clogs her over the head with a closed fist, and she goes down with a thump.
“There are some benefits to working with humans instead of souls,” he says, looking down at her body.
He picks her up like she weighs no more than a feather, and her head lolls a little. I cringe when I see it.
“What’s the matter, Fate? Not comfortable with a little violence?” He jostles her around a little more, and her head rolls around limply. It’s odd. I’m worried she might be dead. Why does that bother me? I wanted the demons to take her. To kill her. But I’m starting to realize Michaela was right—we aren’t made for killing. I want Mara to get that trial Michaela thinks she deserves.
The Guardian laughs at me, as if reading my thoughts. “I didn’t kill her. But she’ll be out for a bit, the damned fool.” He says nothing of his fallen comrade. I don’t even know if demons form relationships with one another. It wouldn’t really be hell if good things existed there.
“Well, it’s been fun, Fates,” he says as he carries her back toward the black gate. “I’m sure I’ll be seeing you soon.”
“Wait,” Galenia calls after him. She runs over to a low-lying cloud and grabs the bottle of chemicals and the cloth. “Perhaps a gentler approach might prevent future mishaps?”
“Thanks for the tip, but her life will be anything but gentle from here on out,” he says. “I think we can handle her.”
Galenia frowns up at the huge demon. Despite his rejection, she sets the bottle and cloth on Mara’s stomach. “In case you change your mind,” she says.
I think I see him shrug, but I could be mistaken. Without another word, he turns and carries his quarry back behind the black gate, and just like that, we are free of her.
Twenty
Michaela
I hope to see the Fates out at the edge of the mists, but they aren’t here. They must’ve left while I was talking to Ryker. A comforting hug would have been nice, but I don’t really need it. This mission should be genuinely easy. There will be no witches waiting to jump out at me. No rogue Reapers who hope to kidnap me, or at least none who are unrestrained. On our last visit, there weren’t even any ghosts wandering around, which leads me to believe Mara has some shield against them as well. Perhaps the dome serves more than one purpose.
As I walk through the mists, trying to stay focused on Shiloh, I see bits and pieces of his life, all happy moments with his mom and his friends. It seems like he had a good amount of friends, at least at one point in his life. There are a lot of happy memories even after he got sick. I see him at the hospital playing Go Fish with Nysa, and there’s another memory of an elaborate prank he pulled on a poor, unsuspecting night nurse. It involved dumping glitter from a bedpan propped on his slightly open door. And so many happy moments with his mom. It’s a strange dichotomy of the woman I know now, and the woman she was. Why didn’t she cling to that? Anyone can see how happy she was. I sigh as I watch her pushing him on the swing and chasing him around the playground, the sound of his laughter filling the air around us. Maybe she was clinging to it. So tightly, in fact, she strangled all her happiness away.
I can’t focus on her though. Instead, I turn my attention to him. His memories make me smile, preparing me well for a very satisfying reaping.
As the mists start to clear, I prepare myself for the long walk through the woods. But to my surprise, the dome is gone. The mists part in Mara’s living room, bringing me as close to Shiloh as possible. I wo
nder if Nathair is still here. I’m tempted to go look for him, but I decide to leave him to the other Reapers. Shiloh is the one who needs me now.
A smile makes its way across my face as I realize I’m finally getting to do something I want to do. This child’s life has been a misery ever since his thread reached its natural end, and I can finally bring him home.
I know this is right, and it makes me stand up a little straighter as I cross the short distance to the boy’s room.
But while I’m excited to help Shiloh finally gain the peace that’s eluded him for years, it’s immediately clear he isn’t happy to see me.
“You.” His voice is quiet, and I barely hear him over the sound of the heart monitor. Once again, his soul is sitting in the chair next to the bed where his body lay struggling. “They sent you for me?”
“Yes. I felt it was a job I needed to finish.”
“Are we nothing but jobs to you? My mom is a person. She’s my mom. She doesn’t deserve what is going to happen to her. What is going to happen to her?” Tears pool in his eyes.
I sit down in front of him, and for the first time, I touch him. As I scoop his hands into mine, the makeshift string connecting him to his body falls away and disappears. His heart monitor starts blaring alarms, but I ignore it. He is free.
He looks over at his body and knows it.
“Look at me, Shiloh.” His eyes are wide when they meet mine. “I honestly don’t know what is going to happen to your mother. I’m not sure what scenarios your mind has conjured, and I don’t know if the truth is better or worse. I won’t speculate. The problem is, she isn’t sorry for what she did, for the lives she took. And you can’t do things like that without facing consequences.”
The Children of Wisdom Trilogy Page 42