by ID Johnson
“Seriously?” Ru asked, staring at him in disbelief and then turning back to look at Cutter. He looked as serious as she’d ever seen him before. Glancing at the faces of the ladies next to him, she realized they also knew that to be the case. Lyric still looked angry while Ru saw a bit of fear behind Ivy’s eyes. “Guys, I can’t ask you to do anything that could get you… hurt.”
“Hopefully,” Lyric spoke up, “I can talk her out of taking your mom, and everything will be fine.”
“And if you can’t?”
“Then, we’ll figure it out.” Lyric said the words, but both men nodded. Ivy toed a rock on the ground, and once again Ru was distracted, not knowing how that was possible.
“I don’t want anyone to get hurt,” Ru said, hoping they didn’t detect the waver in her voice.
“What if she wants to hurt you mom?” Cutter asked. “You know we can’t let her do that.”
Ru breathed in deeply through her nose. “You assured me from the beginning that no one wanted to hurt my mom, no Keepers anyway.”
“I was told they didn’t. I don’t think they do, but Ru, if that’s what’s about to happen here, then, you have to know we can’t let you fight them by yourself.”
“We’re in this together, kid,” Rider said, and Ru felt his hand on her shoulder—somehow.
It was almost impossible for Ru to imagine anyone at all having her back in this sort of situation, especially not four people she’d only met a few months ago. If it had been her family back home, they would’ve tucked their tails and run at the first sign of danger. Now, she was standing strong with four others, and she felt confident none of them would abandon her. “Thank you, guys,” she said, meeting each of their eyes again. Inside, she was praying that Sky could be reasoned with, but she didn’t know the woman and had no idea what she might have in store.
Resolute in her decision, Ru took another deep breath. “Okay. Any idea how many of them there are?”
“See for yourself,” Lyric replied, nodding out toward the inky black sea in front of them.
At first, Ru was confused. But then, as she stared off into the distance, human forms began to take shape. Ru had seen many startling things recently but none took her breath away quite like watching potential enemies draw closer, walking across the pristine surface of the water. There didn’t seem to be a ripple or splash as their feet touched the top of the sea, each step in unison. The moonlight cast them in an eerie glow, and Ru felt her abdomen tighten. She counted eight, eight Keepers slowly, confidently making their way across the causeway, each step bringing them closer and closer to potential conflict. Ru couldn’t pull her eyes away from the tall, dark-haired woman in front who looked like Lyric, though Ru could now see that her hair was actually a midnight blue. The look on her face told Ru that Sky Gabriels was not one to be trifled with, but once again, Ru felt a familiar burning in her gut and remembered she had her father’s black power within her veins as well. She prayed she wouldn’t need it, but Ru was prepared to do whatever necessary to save her mother.
Chapter 3
Sky Gabriels had a look of determination coupled with amusement as her black boots made contact with the wet sand on the near side of the causeway, and Ru wasn’t sure what to make of it. Did she find it funny, somehow, that they were standing there waiting for her? Or was that a look of triumph?
“Well, looky who is here,” Sky said, her voice not quite as melodic as Lyric’s but similar. The closer she got, the more Ru could see the resemblance, though she appeared to be a bit older than her sister. “I wondered if you guys would show up. Last I heard, you had no knowledge of this place.” Her gaze flickered from her sister’s face to fall on Cutter’s.
“Sky,” he began, his voice calm and even, though Ru got the impression it was faux. “We just got back to New York this afternoon. I was going to let you know what we found, but we planned a mission for tonight. I thought it would be better to tell you all at once—after we closed the portal.”
“But how could you do that if Sera doesn’t know where they are?” she asked, crossing her arms as if she’d managed to catch him in a lie.
“She doesn’t,” Ru said, not believing it was her own voice she was hearing at first since she’d not planned to speak at all. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t find the one in Reaper’s Hollow. I can.” Then, as Sky’s eyes shifted to stare into her own, Ru added, “I will.”
Sky’s inspection intensified for a moment before a smile cracked one corner of her mouth. “You must be Ru,” she said. “It’s… interesting to finally meet you.” She reached out her hand, as if to shake, despite her less than complimentary remarks.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know how to touch things yet in this state,” Ru lied. For some reason, the idea of reaching out and shaking hands with this woman who was threatening the safety of her mother was not appealing.
“That’s good to know,” Sky replied, refolding her arms. “All right, well, I’ve been asked to come and get Sera, so if you guys know where she’s at, that will save me a lot of time. Honestly, I’m more than a little pissed that neither of you bothered to tell me you’d found her, but we’ll take that up at a later date.” Again, she was addressing her sister and Cutter.
“We can’t tell you where she’s at,” Cutter began, his voice still sounding friendly and natural, like he was trying to smooth things over.
As he was speaking, Ru surveyed the other seven Keepers in front of her. Up until this point, she’d only met Keepers with blonde hair, blue eyes, and pale skin. She’d just assumed that was always the case, but this group was more eclectic. One of them even had dark skin, though her hair was almost white. Three males, all strong and at least as tall as Cutter and Rider, the rest able-bodied females, stood silent sentinels beside Sky. Ru wondered what would happen if they had to face off against this band. Clearly, they were all highly trained and probably had more experience than her team. After all, they worked on the other side, directing Keepers on Earth. They must know what they were doing. But Ru had one thing on her side; she would protect her mother at all costs.
“I’m sorry, Cutter. What was that?” Sky asked, scoffing. She took a step closer so that she was only about six inches away from him. “I have orders. From Raphael. And you have orders from me.”
“No, Sky, we can’t do that,” Lyric said, stepping forward so that she was right next to her sister. “Sera wants to stay here, to pay her penance, the one that Raphael said she needed to, for Larkin. And we respect her wishes. We promised her she didn’t have to leave.”
Sky swiveled so that she was facing her sister, her nose just above the slightly shorter Lyric. “Sometimes. Plans. Change.”
“But why?” Ivy asked, not moving from her spot. “Why does Raphael want her?”
“I don’t know,” Sky admitted, shrugging. “I don’t generally question my superiors.” Her eyes cut through Lyric and Cutter before she returned to Ivy. “If an Arch tells me to do something, I’m gonna do it. So, where is she?”
“Do you think he means to harm her?” Ru asked. “Did he seem angry?”
Sky turned back so she was facing Ru now. “It doesn’t work that way, Rune. He doesn’t exactly pop in for coffee and chat. I got a message. ‘Go to Holy Island, bring back Seraphina.’ So here I am.”
“How did he know she was here?” Rider asked.
“Not from you,” Sky said, her eyes sizing him up as well. “I told him she was here.”
“But who told you?” Ru didn’t expect an answer, but exasperation was setting in.
“Look, Ru, it doesn’t matter,” Sky said, the intensity in her voice dropping a few levels. “We are here to take her back. No harm will befall her—I’m certain of that. If he wanted to hurt her, he’d come here and do it himself.”
“Then why?” Ru continued, still trying to make sense of it all. “Why does he care?”
“My best guess is to protect her. If we know where she’s at, then they do, too. I know you’ve been
speaking with Nat.” Her stare seemed even more powerful somehow, and Ru flinched.
“I only spoke to him to tell him to stop as I was chasing him. And I certainly didn’t tell him where my mom was. He doesn’t know.”
Another grin spread across her face, this one full of pity. “We both know none of what you just said is true, sweetie.”
Ru was shocked. “Why would I tell him?”
“Okay, maybe that part. The rest, not so much. You weren’t alone on that beach. You know that.”
“What the hell…?” Rider’s eyes were boring into her now, almost as painfully as Sky’s, Ru could feel them. She didn’t turn to look at him.
“I don’t know what your informant told you, but he or she is wrong! I didn’t tell Thanatos anything, and I’m not going to tell you, either. My mom asked to be left alone. She deserves it after everything that’s been done to our family. You have my dad. Isn’t that enough?”
Halfway through Ru’s response, Sky opened her mouth to speak, but when Ru mentioned Larkin, a confused expression crossed Sky’s face and she closed her mouth. “Wait. What? We don’t… Larkin escaped. Days ago.”
Ru was formulating her next argument and almost didn’t catch what Sky said before she jumped off into another rant. It took her a moment to understand. “Larkin escaped?” she repeated. “When?”
Sky looked at Cutter, an amused expression on her face again. Ru swiveled her head to see a guilty expression on his face. “I just found out, Ru. This morning. Sky, tell her you just told me.”
Instead, Sky chuckled, and Ru didn’t know who she should punch, so she took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. It took a long moment, and she felt the waves of pain welling up inside of herself again. Eventually, she got control of her emotions, pushing off the betrayed feelings long enough to turn back to Sky. “When you say escaped, do you mean to Earth, or is he just running around in Hell?”
Sky was no longer amused. “I honestly don’t know, Ru. I just know that there’s no sense in your mom continuing to do penance for him when he’s not even a prisoner anymore.”
“How did he get away?” Lyric asked. “I thought you guys were professionals.” Her top lip curled up in a snarl, and Ru considered reaching past Cutter, who was now on her list, and high-fiving the girl.
Once again, Sky was more than a little annoyed with her sister. “I don’t work in Hell, Lyric. You should know that.”
“Still, other realms, that’s your area of expertise, right? Who was on watch?”
“Lyric….”
“It was Whisper, wasn’t it? That girl really sucks at her job. Sure, she’s Uriah’s daughter and all, but come on.” She shook her head. “It’s such a shame he’ll never demote her….”
“Lyric!” Sky was clearly not amused, although Ru thought it was quite entertaining watching Lyric crawl around under Sky’s alabaster skin. “I don’t know if this is an attempt to stall or not, but we need to know where Sera is.”
“What if he just wants her to try to find Larkin?” Ru asked, a bit of panic rising up. “If he’s going to threaten to harm her so that Larkin returns, my mom could end up getting hurt.”
“He’s not going to harm her,” Sky reiterated. “But if the five of you don’t get out of my way, you’re going to leave us no choice but to harm you.” Her words seemed to invigorate the other seven who had not broken their perfect formation the entire duration of the conversation. At her words, somehow they shifted so that they were even more-so at attention. Shoulders were back and chins were up. “Let’s face it. There’s no way that you four—and a half—can hold us back.” She eyed Ru as if she was the one that didn’t count. “You’re basically outnumbered two to one. And, we can call in legions of Keepers and angels. No one else in any of the realms would dare come to your defense. Come on, Cutter, do the right thing. Step aside.”
“That’s not true,” Ru began. “Clearly, you’re not familiar with the extent of my power. I can take you all out by myself if I want to.”
“Hmmm,” Sky said, tilting her head. “You are Larkin’s daughter.”
“Okay, that’s enough,” Cutter said, the friendly tone gone. “Sky, come on. Let’s be rational. Can you just go consult with Raphael before anyone does anything rash? See if he understands why Sera wants to stay?”
“Maggie,” Ru cut in. “Her name is Maggie now. Call her Maggie.”
“Fine. See if he will consider letting Maggie stay,” Cutter corrected
“And would you like me to also mention to him that you are disobeying direct orders?”
Cutter hesitated, and once again, Ru wondered whose side he was on. “Sky, let’s see if we can find some middle ground. We are all on the same side here, aren’t we?”
“I thought so,” she replied, her hands on her hips now, “until I wasn’t informed that you’d found Sera.”
“Look, Sky, I don’t want anyone else on my team to take the blame for any of this. It was my call, and it’s my call now. I’ve told them not to tell you. So, yeah, tell Raphael that I won’t cooperate; that’s fine. But tell him that Maggie doesn’t want to be found. Just… give it a shot.”
Sky opened her mouth again, like she was about to say something snide in response, but then a smile crossed over her face. “Not necessary. Come on, team. She’s at the church. In the basement. Cowering in a cabinet.” With a victorious smirk on her face, Sky began to walk, and her small army of Keepers followed suit, stepping right through their adversaries. Ru braced herself as Sky passed directly through her. She felt nothing except the sting of defeat and admiration for her friend; Cutter had been willing to take the fall for her—for all of them. She stared at him for a moment, not sure what to say. And then it occurred to her; the only people who knew where her mother was were standing on the beach alongside her. One of them must have just told Sky exactly where her mom was hiding.
“Who told?” Ru exclaimed, spinning around, looking at all of them. “What the hell? You guys! You’re supposed to be my friends!”
Looking at their faces, there was a mixture of shock and sadness, and Ru didn’t know who the guilty party was at first glance, and then Cutter’s voice interrupted her scrutiny. “Ru, you’ve got to get to your mom. Warn her.”
“Right,” she said, trying to gather her thoughts. “I’ll figure it out later. And kick your ass then!” She made sure they were all on warning and then concentrated on getting to her mother before Sky did. It would take the Keepers in their human forms longer to get there since Ru could just materialize. She closed her eyes and, in an instant, found herself standing in the dark basement.
“Mom!” she said in a hushed whisper as she began to move the junk out from in front of the door. “You’ve got to go! Sky knows where you are. Hurry!” She flung the door open expecting to see a panicked expression on her mother’s face. Instead, she looked nothing but cool and calm. She slid the top portion of her body out of the cupboard, and Ru stooped to help her as she unfolded her long legs. With Ru’s assistance she stood, stretching, with several pops and cracks.
“It’s all right, Ru,” Maggie said, her voice serene. “I’ll go with her.”
“What?” Ru asked, not believing her ears. “No, Mom, you can’t. What if they plan to punish you? She said Larkin’s gone—he’s escaped. They don’t know where he is. It could be a trap to get him back.”
“Larkin’s gone?” she repeated, a shocked expression on her pretty face. “He is? From Hell? Since when?”
“I don’t know,” Ru replied. “Cutter didn’t tell me. Sky just said…. Anyway, it doesn’t matter. Seriously, you need to run.”
“Ru, honey,” Maggie began, stepping closer and resting her hands on her daughter’s shoulders, “I’ve been running and hiding over half of my life. I’m done with all of that. What you and your friends did for me tonight was amazing. I’ve never had anyone stand up for me like you did just then, except for maybe Ribbon. Sweetheart, you were willing to sacrifice everything for me. And I love
you even more for that. But it’s time for me to go now.”
The feeling of defeat Ru had felt on the beach came back tenfold and tears began to fill her eyes. “But Mom, we promised you we wouldn’t let anything happen to you.”
“And I promised I wouldn’t let anything happen to you, Ru. I could hear most of your conversation. I know how hard you tried. If I had known that was what you were intending to do, I never would’ve let you face her. She could’ve banished all of you. Ru, honey, there’s no use making enemies now, especially not when you’re just starting out. I love you too much to let that happen. Come on, let’s go. I don’t want Sky dragging me out of here like a coward.”
There were no words to say in protest, so Ru let her mom loop her arm through her own translucent one and walked with her toward the stairs in silence. Once they reached the door at the top, her mom pushed it open. All four of Ru’s friends stood there, somber expressions on their faces.
“It’s okay,” Maggie said, smiling at each of them. “You all did your best. And whoever gave up my location, you did the right thing.” She looked at each of their faces and then at Ru, holding her gaze, as if she was telling her daughter not to hold it against whichever friend had taken matters into his or her own hands. “Come on, Ru.”
They met Sky outside of the church. Standing in the moonlight, her expression confident but not haughty, she nodded. “Sera.”
“You must be Sky,” she said. “You look formidable, just like the Keeper who had your job when I was young, though Windy wasn’t quite as… nontraditional as you.” Maggie reached up and touched a lock of Sky’s blue hair.
Sky didn’t jerk back, standing resolute as Maggie dropped her hand. “Are you planning to come with us peacefully or are you going to be uncooperative—like your daughter.”
Ru took a step forward, still not ready to back down from the fight. Cutter put his hand on her shoulder. The pain inside of her began to fester again.