by Greg Howard
Betsy rounded on Odessa and cold-cocked her square on the jaw, knocking her back into Rafe’s arms. Cooper threw a hand over his mouth, stifling a gasp.
The veins in Betsy’s neck throbbed. She shoved a finger in Odessa’s face. “How dare you take Cooper down there? He could have been killed!”
Odessa regained her footing and lunged at Betsy like she wanted to rip her throat out. Cooper thought she just might until Joshua stepped between them, and she backed away from Betsy.
Odessa rubbed her jaw and caught sight of Cooper. “Well, maybe that wouldn’t have been altogether bad.” She glared at him. “At least then the Anakim wouldn’t be able to use him against us.”
Heat rose into Cooper’s cheeks. He closed the distance between them and went right up to Odessa. “Is that why you wanted to split up in the tunnels? Were you hoping I wouldn’t make it out alive?” He straightened his spine, emboldened by the sting of her betrayal. “Sorry to disappoint you, but I did.”
Odessa cocked an eyebrow, crossed her arms, and leaned into him. “If I had wanted you dead, you would be.”
Betsy hissed at her.
“Enough!” Joshua’s thunderous voice rumbled through the house.
Cooper seethed through gritted teeth. He finally took a step back.
Rafe put a hand on his shoulder and whispered into his ear. “She didn’t mean it, bro. We would have gotten you out of that hellhole if we could have. I’m glad you made it out.”
Cooper looked at him and nodded. He believed Rafe’s sincerity, but he wasn’t sure Rafe and Odessa were on the same page.
Joshua pointed down the hall. “Elizabeth. Cooper. Kitchen. Now.”
With a final fang-laced snarl at Odessa, Betsy stalked down the hall, the heels of her boots doing some serious damage to the hardwood floor. Cooper fell in behind her and glanced back over his shoulder. Joshua was in Odessa’s face, every muscle in his face strained. A part of him wanted to see Odessa get her ass handed to her, but he had no desire to witness an example of the Manheeg’s wrath, so he quickly looked away.
In the kitchen, two impressively muscular women stood opposite each other with their arms crossed, whispering at the island in the center of the room . Cooper remembered them from the sitting room earlier. Standing a good two to three inches taller than him, with dark brown hair, wild and wiry, they were clad from head to toe in brown leather. Tight pants and an array of straps covered most everything up top. Other than the scar that marked one on the side of the face, they looked almost identical—sisters for certain, likely twins. They greeted Betsy and Cooper’s intrusion with uninterested nods. An empty Jim Beam bottle and two glasses sat on the island between them.
Cooper picked up the whiskey bottle and held it up to them. He didn’t even try to mask the annoyed sarcasm in his voice. “Please, make yourselves at home.”
They both scowled at him and pushed through the swinging door into the sitting room.
Betsy took a glass out of the cabinet, filled it with water from the sink, and offered it to him. “Drink this.”
He sat the whiskey bottle down with a hard clank and accepted the glass. He drank it all down in one gulp, not realizing how much he needed the hydration. Refilling the glass himself, he downed a second one. He knew he would have a better chance saving Randy with Jericho’s assistance, and his best chance at getting that was through Betsy. She obviously had a special relationship with Joshua.
He sat the glass down on the counter and turned to her. “I can’t get Randy out of there by myself. I need your help. I need Jericho’s help.”
Betsy crossed her arms and shook her head. “Cooper, the Manheeg will never allow you to get anywhere close to Alexander.”
Exasperated, Cooper slammed his fist on the counter. “Dammit, Betsy. He will kill Randy if I don’t go to him.” He paused, sighed, and lowered the escalating volume and resonance of this voice. “My power is more reliable now. I can feel it. The mental block is gone. The more I use it, the more I’m able to control it, but it’s not 100 percent yet. I can’t take the chance of facing down Alexander and Stephen on my own and failing. Not with Randy’s life on the line.”
A voice crackled like thunder behind him. “Elizabeth is right.”
Cooper turned as Joshua entered the kitchen with Odessa and Rafe following close behind. “We cannot take the chance of Alexander getting your blood. Rafe and Odessa will complete the mission they were given and will escort you to a safe house far away from here.”
Cooper straightened his spine. “Like hell they will.”
“We need to hide you, Cooper.” Joshua’s piercing black eyes were absolute in their resolve and indicated that this was yet another subject that was not up for discussion.
Cooper crossed his arms over his chest in defiance. “The only place I’m going is to Warfield to get Randy.”
Joshua’s nostrils flared, and his right eye twitched. “Cooper, I don’t think you understand—”
“What I understand is that Alexander has Randy, and I am not leaving him there.”
Anger flashed in the Manheeg’s eyes, as he drew forward and towered over Cooper, standing much too close for comfort. “Cooper, there are forces at work here that you cannot begin to comprehend. You will leave this place. Now. We will handle Montgomery.” Joshua turned his back on him and walked away.
Cooper clenched his fists. “If you could handle him, then why haven’t you already?”
There was a little more volume to his voice than he’d intended. Joshua stopped in his tracks. The room fell silent, no doubt from the shock of blatant challenge to their Manheeg. He didn’t blame them. Joshua slowly turned to face him, mouth tight, eyebrows raised. The guy likely wasn’t used to being defied. Cooper didn’t care, but Lillie Mae always said you catch more flies with honey.
He took a deep breath and lowered his voice a notch, evened it out and continued. “Look, I might not understand everything that’s going on here. Hell, I’m sure I don’t. But you can bet your ass that I will not be carted off to some safe house out in the middle of nowhere and just hope that Randy makes it out of this alive. Somehow, I don’t think his safety is your number one priority. And the Anakim already kicked your ass at least once at the battle of Jericho, or you wouldn’t be one yourself.”
Cooper matched Joshua’s chilly stare, willing the muscles in his face to remain frozen and hoping the Anakim blinked first. He knew he’d stepped over the line. He just hoped it didn’t cost him Randy’s life.
Cooper relaxed his shoulders a little and took a step toward the Manheeg. “I can help you get close enough to Alexander to end him for good.”
Joshua squinted at him. “And how might you be able to accomplish that?”
Cooper leaned against the island and cupped his hands on the corners. “The changelings won’t hurt me. I could walk through an army of them, right up to Alexander and spit in his face.”
Betsy touched her chin and looked up at Joshua. “He’s right. When the changeling attacked here, it came after me—not him.”
Cooper nodded. “And in the tunnels, they charged, screeched, and pawed at me, but when one had the chance to kill me, it knocked me out of the way and went after Randy instead.”
Joshua exchanged glances with Odessa and Rafe. He turned away from them and walked the length of the room and back before he responded. “Of course. You are no good to Montgomery if the changelings deliver you to him in pieces. He needs you alive. He would never allow them to harm you.”
Betsy shook her head. “Joshua. No.”
Joshua ignored her. “It is actually a perfect way to get close to Montgomery and to distract him while we fight through his horde of changelings.”
Betsy walked over and stood beside Cooper. “It’s too risky, Joshua.”
Emboldened by his small victory and annoyed by Betsy’s obvious lack of faith in him, Cooper turned to her. “I can take care of myself.” He shot a glance at Rafe. “Right?”
Rafe nodded. “The gu
y has some killer moves. I saw it firsthand. He held his own with me and O against those things.”
Odessa threw her hands up. “He nearly got us killed, you idiot.”
Joshua stared back at Betsy with a tiny glint of tenderness in his eyes. “We could use him, Elizabeth. We can keep him safe.”
Betsy squared her shoulders and stepped up to him. “Cooper is my family. He is the last of the Phipps line. I will not allow you to put his life in danger.”
Joshua gritted his teeth, and Cooper couldn’t help notice the way Odessa seemed pleased with the rift forming between her Manheeg and Betsy. Her mouth eased into a smile as she watched them staring down one another.
Betsy faced Cooper, resting one hand on his shoulder. He could have sworn he caught the trace of a tear in her eye. “You don’t have to do this, Cooper. It’s not safe. None of this is your fault, and you are not responsible for fixing it. You can leave here tonight and live the rest of your life in peace. And we will do everything in our power to save Randy.”
“It’s his choice, Elizabeth,” Joshua said, his voice commanding and firm.
Cooper peered into Betsy’s eyes. He barely knew her but already felt such deep affection for. He knew she meant what she said. She would do everything in her power to save Randy. That just wasn’t good enough.
“I’m sorry. I have to do this. For Randy. And so I can live the rest of my life in peace. I can’t keep running from them.” He looked up at Joshua. “I’ll do it. Under one condition.”
The Manheeg lowered his eyebrows and clenched his jaw.
Cooper stepped up him and pointed a finger in his chest, which was like poking a concrete slab. “You guarantee Randy’s safety.”
Joshua’s nostrils flared, and then he finally nodded once. “Agreed.”
Cooper stared into Joshua’s eyes a moment longer. He wasn’t sure he trusted the man. Lillie Mae’s words rang in his ears.
Even the immortality has its limits.
He rested his hands on his hips and shifted his weight to one side. “And you have to tell me how to kill Alexander. I want to be the one to do it.”
Odessa huffed and slapped her hand on the counter. “There’s no room for error here. We only get one shot at Montgomery. The only way to kill an Anakim that old and powerful is to remove his heart. Even if you make it past the changelings, what makes you think you will be able to do that?”
Cooper couldn’t argue with her. Slicing open a walking corpse was a little different than cutting the heart of a powerful Anakim like Alexander. He wasn’t a hundred percent sure he could do it either.
“There is a way.”
Heads turned toward the doorway where Miss Ida stood, her slight countenance engulfed by the space as Wayne peered in over her shoulder. She clasped her hands together in front of her dress. Everyone in the room stared at her in silence, waiting for her to speak again.
Her voice was small and thin, but resolute nonetheless. “It’s extremely dangerous. But there is a way.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
“Clear your mind, Cooper.” Miss Ida covered his hands with hers. “Relax and breathe.”
They sat side by side on the edge of the guest room bed. Wayne leaned against the closed door, arms crossed. Cooper knew the rector wasn’t totally on board with the plan, but he wanted to be there in case something went wrong. Cooper wondered how long Wayne had known about his abilities. And for that matter, who else knew? Had his parents known?
“Cooper,” Miss Ida said firmly. “Focus.”
He did as he was told and cleared his mind. He wasn’t altogether sure what was supposed to happen next. Miss Ida hadn’t explained anything in front of the group in the kitchen. She’d just led him into the room and sat him down on the bed.
“When you are back at Warfield and you are in danger, Blue will appear as he always has.”
Cooper nodded. She had that right. He’d always thought Blue’s presence was something else—something more sinister. All along the spirit was only trying to warn him or protect him. He could have saved a shit-load in therapy bills if he’d figured that one out a little sooner.
Miss Ida squeezed his hands. “He’s your guardian, and you are the last of his Houngan line. But he can only do so much from the half-light of eternity. He will need your body as a vessel. At the moment when you need Blue the most, open your soul to him. Allow him to embody you, just as your grandmother once did.”
Cooper lost his concentration. “Wait. Lillie Mae let Blue possess her? Why would she ever do something like that?”
A shade of sadness passed over Miss Ida’s eyes. “She had her reasons. Just as you have yours. Now focus.”
Cooper let it go. “How do I let him in or embody my vessel or whatever?”
“I don’t know how to tell you to do that. I have never experienced possession firsthand. You will have to find your own way. But once he does, you will no longer have control of yourself. You will see what he sees. Feel what he feels. He alone will determine your physical actions, and you may be shocked by what he makes you do.”
Cooper swallowed hard. “Well, I don’t think I like the sound of that.”
Miss Ida looked down at her dress. “It was hard on your grandmother, the things Blue made her do. Even though the outcome was as she wished.”
Cooper would have pressed her on that any other time, but not now. Saving Randy was his primary concern.
“Just remember. The origin of all magic, even in its bastardized and watered-down incarnations, is divine power. Never forget you are descended from the Seraphim, the holiest of the angelic hierarchy.” She touched the palm of her hand to his heart. “You are good, Cooper. No matter what Blue makes you do. You are good.”
Cooper shifted his weight on the mattress and nodded, a lump forming in his throat. He looked over at Wayne. The rector rested his chin on the tips of his index fingers. With eyes closed, his lips formed words of silent prayer that Cooper couldn’t hear, but comforted him nonetheless.
Miss Ida sat up straight. “Now. Close your eyes and concentrate.”
Cooper drew in a deep breath and closed his eyes. Clearing his head of the clutter and stress of the last couple of days wasn’t easy. Memories and images came to the forefront of his mind, and he extinguished them, one by one, until nothing was left but an empty void.
“They are always around us,” Miss Ida said. “You just have to open yourself up to their presence.”
He waited for what seemed like minutes, and nothing happened. As his patience waned, so did the tenuous hold on his concentration. Then Miss Ida’s voice sounded farther away than it should have, even though he knew she hadn’t moved an inch. The change in his senses refined his focus. Two vertical streams of light formed in his mind’s eye. They wavered and floated toward him, growing brighter the closer they got to him. Somehow he knew them. He wasn’t sure how because they had no human form. They were nothing more than raw energy, souls—the souls of Eunice and Eudora Phipps. Eudora was the stronger of the two because her resistance to him was formidable. Eunice’s soul was more easily manipulated. Though she fought him, she complied when he willed her to come closer.
“Invite her in, Cooper. Don’t try to force her.” Miss Ida squeezed his hands. Their physical connection was obviously some kind of window into his soul, and he knew that she saw what he saw.
Cooper focused on the stream of Eunice’s soul and implored her to help him, to show him. After a few more seconds of struggle, the spirit relinquished a bit of control. It was only a brief wave of awareness and foreign imagery. She refused to fully embody him, but finally a small part of her passed through him, seizing up in his throat. He tried to raise a hand to his mouth to steady a wave of nausea, but trapped inside his own body, he was unable to control his limbs.
His eyes opened, though he never gave his body such a command. Wayne stood by the door with his head down, praying. He looked to his right, and Miss Ida stared back at him, her smile fading. He didn’t feel
his arm move at all, so he could hardly believe his eyes when he raised it and slapped her hard across the face.
Miss Ida’s hand flew up to her cheek, her eyes wide and mouth agape. Cooper’s throat closed up, and his chest tightened into one giant knot. Eunice’s soul left him instantly of her own accord, in another wave of nausea and expelled oxygen. He no longer felt her presence in the room. Eudora was gone as well.
Wayne was by Miss Ida’s side. “Cooper! What the hell?”
Horrified by what he had done, Cooper grabbed the old woman’s hands. Fucking Eunice.
“Miss Ida,” he stammered. “I don’t know what to say. I am so incredibly sorry. I don’t know what happened. I didn’t even know that was coming, or I would’ve stopped it.”
Miss Ida shook her head, and the lines in her face softened. She offered him a weak smile he knew was meant to make him feel better for the red handprint scarring her face. She was a tough old broad. She and Lillie Mae were perfect for each other.
“You don’t have to be sorry, Cooper. You couldn’t have stopped her if you tried.” She ran a hand over her the top of her head and tucked stray silver strands behind her ears. “That was Eunice, not you. When I looked into your eyes, I saw her staring back at me.”
“But she made me hit you!”
Miss Ida patted his hand. “I think Eunice was trying to help in her own special way.” She chuckled and coughed into her fist. “She wanted you to fully understand how out of control of yourself you will be when Blue possesses you. But don’t fight him.” She leaned in closer to him, and flashed him a conspiratorial smile. “I also don’t think she liked that I encouraged you to do that to her in the first place.”
Wayne kneeled down in front of him and balanced himself with one hand on the side the bed. “Cooper, what did it feel like? What did you see?”
Cooper lowered his head and tried to reassemble the experience into some kind of relatable example. “It was like being a living puppet. I saw Eunice’s memories. I felt her pain and her anger. I had no idea she was going to hit Miss Ida. I just saw it happen and couldn’t stop it.”