A Rose by Any Other Name (Haunted Series Book 18)

by Alexie Aaron

  Murphy studied the entity before him.

  “I sense you’re trying to see if I know what the greater good is.”

  “Yes.”

  “Peace. Every struggle, every milestone, has all been to bring these mammals towards peace. We get them on their way, and then greed and hatred spring up again. There have been so many sacrifices. I fear that there will be many more until peace is once again restored.”

  “Is this being orchestrated by the demons?” Murphy asked.

  “Actually, a group of very rich, disturbed men called the Cynosura,” Roumain answered and continued, “who are supported by the demon race.”

  “Why?”

  “Some demons want to exist out of the shadows. They’ve been told they can have free reign as long as they leave the chattels of the Cynosura alone.”

  Murphy spoke, “Not long ago, I was stuck in the mindset of my living time. I was woken up and took it upon myself to learn. The more I learned, the more I realized that if I want to protect my farm, I may have to look beyond its borders and help those struggling around me.”

  “It is too bad, Stephen, that you are dead. You have the makings of a statesman,” Roumain said wryly.

  “May I ask something of you?” Murphy addressed Roumain.

  “Yes, you can ask.”

  “Please stop interfering with Mia’s marriage. You hurt more than her and Ted

  when you do this.”

  “Are you talking about Brian?”

  “Brian, myself, Cid, and the rest of PEEPs. When Mia is hurt, we all hurt.”

  “I see I have an apology to make,” Roumain said. He looked over at Komal. His friend nodded.

  Murphy continued, “Mia has forgiven you, but I think you need to speak with her. She sought guidance from you. She gave you her trust, much like she gave that witch her trust.”

  “Are you comparing me with Beth Bouvier?” Roumain asked sourly.

  “Yes. Beth’s defection hurt Mia deeply. Until the end, she tried to save Beth. Just like Mia will never give up on you. She’s mad at you, but she has forgiven you.”

  “You know a lot about Mia for just a friend,” Roumain sniped.

  “It’s because I am just a friend that I can see her hurt and want to do something about it,” Murphy said, defending himself.

  “I find it very hard to believe that when the curse left, you and Mia let your mutual attraction for the other go without a fight,” Roumain scoffed.

  “It’s hard, but it’s what Mia wants,” Murphy answered.

  Komal stood up and floated over to the ghost. “You must continue to fight your urges, Stephen. Others may see your mutual love and find a way to exploit it. We are entering dangerous times. The angels are amassing, birdman patrols have increased, and the demons are moving to lower ground.”

  “I am worried about Quentin Reynolds,” Murphy said.

  Roumain perked up. “The Nephilim? How do you know about him?”

  “He is Mia’s half-uncle.”

  “So the rumors are true,” Roumain said, concern filling his face. “He is unstable, Stephen.”

  “He saved Mia at her restitution.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  Murphy put his surprise aside and told Roumain about Mia’s voluntary appearance before the demon judge. He also told Roumain about her mind vault, the missing five years, and what had happened to her as a result.

  Komal listened and nodded his head. “She did the right thing. The demons will look upon her as honorable. Perhaps Mia could be used as an emissary,” he suggested.

  Roumain sat and thought a moment. “Maybe. I feel though, she is too young and headstrong. Also, she’s Michael’s now. He’s not going to risk his healer.”

  Murphy looked from one entity to the other. “All of this should be talked about with Mia.”

  Komal nodded. “Stephen, you are right. Roumain, you need to make the time to apologize, and maybe she will listen to you. Until then, Stephen, watch over her on earth. Sariel will keep watch of her when she takes flight. Quentin is being watched. I think perhaps that having Mia and Brian in his life is a good move.”

  Roumain inspected his immaculately groomed nails as he spoke, “Michael will not put up with this for long. Right now he is busy. Soon he will be gathering his flock. We have to get to Mia before then. Where is she now?”

  “Her godfather’s apartment, but soon she’ll return to Roustan Rose.”

  Roumain stood up alarmed. “What is she doing there?”

  Stephen quickly explained the situation.

  “This is why you felt you needed more power. You are a very wise man,” Roumain said.

  “How do you know of this building?”

  “I take it you’ve met Miss Renee?” Roumain asked.

  “Yes, she controlled me until Mia dispatched her.”

  “Mia did what?” Roumain asked, alarmed.

  “Mia killed her with her sword,” Murphy repeated.

  Judge Roumain took a moment to listen to something neither Murphy nor Komal could hear. He seemed to shake it off and focused on the company he was with. “Roustan Rose is a very dangerous house. Renee Roustan embraced the horrors within and became a murderous monster. She was so bad that she wasn’t welcomed in hell, gentlemen. But she kept the house in order. The other entities that call that place home were afraid of her, so they did not venture outside of the walls of the home. Stephen, have you been back there?”

  “No, Mia forbade it. She felt strongly that something there enabled Renee to control me. Under her spell, I would have killed everyone if it weren’t for Mia.”

  “What did Mia do?”

  “Sliced her head off and then went back and stabbed Renee in the heart, turning her to ash.”

  “That would do it. Mia carries angel armor. Her sword is small, but it is permanently lethal. You know better than to get near that sword, don’t you, Stephen?” Roumain confirmed.

  “Yes, Sariel and Mia have warned me. Judge, if I may ask, why are you upset that the ghost Renee Roustan is gone?”

  “Yes, Roumain, I too am startled by your reaction,” admitted Komal.

  “Gentlemen, sometimes the horrible beast guarding the gate is tame compared to what is behind it. Roustan Rose is a multi-dimensional house that exists in a multiverse. It is a manufactured vault. Inside, there are too many frequencies. Only the most powerful of all ghosts can cohere in each space. When Chicago burned down in 1871, it took with it a mental hospital for the rich run by a character named Dr. Samuel Rose. He was partners with Richard Thorn, an inventor of some note in the mid-1860s. Together, they purchased a remote mansion and named it Thornrose. There, they operated with impunity just outside of the policing authority of Chicago. Rumor had it that, for a price, you could lock away family members who we would now just consider eccentric. The name rose did not come from the rose-colored bricks as many have thought. Dr. Rose’s power beyond the grave influenced the construction of the Roustans’s home right down to the color of the bricks. I expect Rose had something to do with Renee becoming such a monster. I’m sure she surpassed her master in order to be able to control the property for so long. My worry is, what happens now? Will Rose or one of his experiments take over?”

  “I better leave,” Murphy said. “Thank you for testing and speaking with me. I find my earlier assessment of your character to be inaccurate.”

  Roumain laughed. “Oh, I assure you that your earlier assessment was earned. Stephen, you speak like a law professor, not a poor dirt farmer of Irish extraction.”

  “I find with my newfound power, I seem to be able to remember all that I have learned. Cid Garrett has been supplying me with books and programs to watch to bring me up to date with this time.”

  “Ed and Judy are doing the same,” Komal said proudly.

  “‘Knowledge is power,’ as our Mia is so fond of saying,” Roumain ruminated. “Stephen, allow me to take you back across the lake, and in turn, would you ask Mia if I may speak with h
er?”

  Murphy nodded.

  Komal watched as Roumain opened a portal and bowed to Komal before walking in, followed by Stephen Murphy. When the portal had shut, Komal sat in meditation, directing his questions to the one who ties all beings together.

  Chapter Sixteen

  The doorbell rang. Ralph looked out the peephole. “Hmmm, no one there.”

  “May I, Godfather?” Mia asked, walking up. She looked out and smiled. “It’s Murph. Can I let him in?”

  “But of course. The more the merrier.”

  Mia opened the door and was startled to see who was standing beside Murphy.

  “He asked to speak to you. It’s very important.”

  “Would you gentlemen like to come in?” Mia offered and stepped aside.

  Ralph’s eyes got really big when the dapperly-dressed judge bent under the header of the door to enter the room. He removed his hat and stood there smiling.

  “Ralph, may I present Judge Roumain. Judge, my godfather Ralph Mendelssohn.”

  Ralph grasped the entity’s hand. He liked the softness of the groomed hand. He didn’t, however, like the way he fell into his dark eyes.

  “It is nice to meet the man who is responsible for any manners that hooligan has learned,” Roumain said.

  “I’m the hooligan,” Mia said to Murphy.

  “I gathered.”

  “Mia does the best she can considering her parents. Judge, may I offer you a beverage? We’ve put Brian down for his nap, so we can indulge a bit.”

  “You are most hospitable. Mia, may I please speak with you privately first?” he asked.

  “You can use Bernard’s den, Mia,” Ralph offered.

  Mia led the way to the den. She offered Roumain Bernard’s chair and perched herself on the arm of the loveseat.

  Roumain got up and moved to her side. He did it so quickly, Mia didn’t have time to react. He grasped her hand in his. They were transported to a beach at the edge of a calm sea. There was a breeze blowing.

  “Some people would consider this kidnapping,” Mia said, looking around.

  “I have slowed time. Not even Murphy will notice that you’ve gone. I just can’t prostrate myself on the floor of a den in Chicago,” he said and got to his knees.

  “No,” Mia said, catching him before he lay down. “No,” she repeated strongly, the memory still fresh of her prostration before the demon judge.

  “Mia, I have hurt you. I have had reasons, but in hurting you, I hurt myself.”

  “How is your wife?”

  “Silent. She is so deep in contemplation that she no longer speaks.”

  “Give her time. If you two loved as passionately as I would expect of you, then she will soon come back to you.”

  “Our fight was an epic one.”

  “You have a way about you. It brings on passionate things. Be it love or hate, you’re a man of extremes. Is this why you brought me here, to help you with your wife?”

  “No, you sidetracked me,” he said laughing. “Mia, forgive me. Let me help you. I had to play an extensive game to get you strong enough to rescue my wife.”

  “Wings, sword, and shield. It was a long game, Roumain. I’m not sure I want to forgive you just yet.”

  “Liar, you already have.”

  “Murphy blabbed.”

  “Stephen had a lot to say.”

  “When did the two of you become such pals?”

  “He needed to be tested by a controlling entity.”

  “And there is no one more controlling than you,” Mia said wickedly. She sat down in the sand next to Roumain. “Did he pass?”

  “Yes. Will you let me make love to you?”

  “No, never.”

  “Just testing…”

  “I bet,” Mia said and took off Roumain’s hat. His dreads fell down about his shoulders. “Let your wife see you like this. It will evoke memories, my friend.”

  “She never bound herself to me as you have with Theodore. I think your tattoo is beautiful, Mia.”

  Mia put her hand to her chest. “How can you see it?”

  “Mia, I see everything.”

  “Perv.”

  “Honestly, you should speak to me with more reverence. I’m sure you show more respect to… No, I bet you don’t. Mia, Michael can send you to hell so fast your head will no doubt come off.”

  “You’re the second person to tell me to take care. Is Michael the monster I have been led to believe? I just see someone who has been given an enormous task and responsibility. He had to cast out his own brother. How horrible is that?”

  Roumain studied Mia a moment. “Tell me why you enslaved yourself to Michael?” he said, moving Mia’s hair to the side and studying the tattoo on her neck. “Wait, there is more than Michael here… Sariel, that bastard! I should have known he had a hand in this. And who the devil is A?”

  “I was given the opportunity to save a friend. All it cost me was an eternity of devotion to Michael. My friend was a pal of Lucifer. He fell when Michael cast Lucifer out.”

  “Altair. You’re the one that got his wings restored. Mon dieu, why?”

  “He is a noble man. He risked himself for me without concern for his well-being. He stuck with a friend and paid for it. Friendship shouldn’t be rewarded with damnation.”

  Roumain sighed. “It all becomes clear now. Mia, you weren’t saving Altair because of his friendship with Lucifer. You were saving Stephen because of his friendship with you. It’s what your Cid would call projecting. I saved you from being sold to Angelo, who would have loved you, Mia. Michael will just use you.”

  Mia put Roumain’s hat on her head. She stood up and opened her wings.

  Roumain looked at the magnificent plumage. Mia pointed to the feathers of the archangels tied in with hers. “At any time, I could call them to help me.”

  “But you don’t.”

  “Not if I can take care of things myself. But if my friends or my family were in danger, I wouldn’t hesitate. If I bonded myself to Angelo, he would have never left my bed. The innocent children would have been left to be watched, solely, by distracted humans, and you would never have had such a viable and dangerous ally.”

  “I agree that Angelo would have been preoccupied with you. But, Mia, I sense there is more. I feel no demon gene in you. How is this possible? The Gray Ladies?”

  “My restitution, with the demons whom I had wronged, had injured me beyond natural healing. It was during the cure that Sariel saw the demon part of me separate and start to take over. He alerted his superior, and Michael killed it. It took me a while to get my courage back. Funny thing is that this kind of courage came with a pint of blood, blood that activated my superhuman genes. I also ended up with a brother in the process. He too, I can call. Tell me, Roumain, where did I mess up?” Mia asked.

  “Quentin Reynolds.”

  “My half-uncle got in touch with me. He paid my debt and took half my punishment, keeping the knowledge from me. I found out and healed him.”

  “He’s dangerous.”

  “If he were human, he might be considered Bipolar. If I had been ripped from my mother and told all my life I was an abomination, I’d be a little screwy too.” Mia pointed her finger at Roumain. “Don’t say it. I know I’m not exactly the queen of sanity, but I have learned with each transformation how to keep the core that is Mia the same.”

  “So you know you can’t turn your back on your uncle?”

  “He is fragile, and yes, inside he may possibly be a monster. But he sought me out and acknowledged me as family. I will never forget his kindness and sacrifice.”

  “Mia, you have much to learn. I worry about your impulsiveness.”

  “Yes. Roumain, I don’t pretend to know everything, and I have suffered because of my foolhardy youth. But you can’t go backwards…”

  “You can,” Roumain stated and got on his feet. “But don’t. I agree you are where you should be. We all have benefited from your sacrifices. Because of this, I am going to g
o against the code and warn you about Thornrose.”

  “You mean Roustan Rose.”

  “Oh no, Thornrose. Come here. Please lower those wings, give me back my hat, and I’ll whisper you some information. To the eyes of the spies, it will look like I’m kissing your neck.”

  “Are you sure you don’t just want to kiss my neck?” Mia said with suspicion.

  “That too.”

  Mia handed the judge his hat. He gracefully pulled Mia to him. With the slight touch of his lips he sent hours’ worth of explanations to Mia’s mind in seconds. He then put his hand under her chin, and when he had her full attention, he said, “From the bottom of my heart, I’m sorry. When we have time, while you are idling your days away in purgatory, we’ll exchange stories. Mine, how I lost my love to the evil ones, and yours about how you denied me your bed for an eternity. You must have some self-control.”

  Mia laughed, and they found themselves back in Bernard’s den. Roumain resumed normal time, and the two of them walked quietly to see Brian. “Thank you for my son,” Mia said and squeezed the judge’s hand.

  Ralph met them in the living room, and they had a drink together. Murphy watched the judge and his friend, sensing that Mia was now more at ease with the entity. Murphy also had received the information Mia had sent on to him the moment time started again. They would have to leave soon. The PEEPs were in danger. The longer they stayed in the mansion, the closer they were to discovering the heart of the house and Dr. Rose.

  ~

  It was still snowing, but the intrepid Chicago mass transit system was running along the main thoroughfares. Mia and Murphy walked together from the bus stop a few blocks away from Roustan Rose. Mia plodded along in the deep snow. She waved and shouted encouragement to the neighbors who were in the process of digging themselves out. Mia carried a foil-wrapped bundle in her backpack. She left the aroma of Bernard’s lasagna as she passed. Ever since the blood transfusion, Mia’s body craved the exercise she was presently giving it.

  “The city doesn’t seem so scary in the snow,” Murphy said.