by Kimbra Swain
“If there was proof of God, then everyone would believe it. We wouldn’t need faith anymore,” I said.
“Sure, we would. We still need have to have faith in our fellow man. God is absolute. Those who believe in Him find it simple, because their faith is what He is to them. Having faith in our fellow man is much different. Man is flawed. We make mistakes. We do bad things, but faith allows us to not only forgive, but to strive for redemption. I had a priest once tell me that God has already forgiven us of our sins. It made no sense to me, but then I realized the faith I needed was not in God, but in my gifts and my fellow man. This world would devolve into chaos without faith. Anyone can obtain redemption if they have faith and seek it out.”
“I see what you mean,” I replied not sure how this all tied to me or whether it was just an old man rambling.
“I don’t think you do. Look within yourself, Son. Are you lost because you lost faith?”
Perhaps he wasn’t a crazy old man. I looked him in the eye, and he smiled. He started to stand, and I raised to help him up. He turned to walk out, and he grabbed my arm very tightly. I looked up at his eyes, “No sir, I have not lost faith. I just forgot about it. Thank you for reminding me, sir. May I ask your name? I’m Tadeas.”
He smiled and patted my hand on his arm, “Tadeas, I am Gabriel, and now you must go back to her. We have faith in both of you.”
I froze in place. I turned my eyes from his face. I could not look at him. He talked with me as a human. I did not sense any supernatural vibe from him. He did not stand before me like he had to Abigail, but nonetheless I was touching an archangel of God.
“Do not be afraid, but you must go. You must go quickly. They are here. They will kill you if they get the chance,” he said and a wind blew all around me. The people who were in the church before reappeared. Then I realized, we had been in the spirit world. He pulled me through to that plane. I looked around the room, and my eyes locked with a man in a cassock. I was stunned. I had not seen him in over 100 years, and there he stood in Paris in the same church with me. It was Father Sergio. His eyes locked with mine.
“Tadeas, is that you Son?” he said. I trembled. He was supposed to be dead. I looked for other exits. I only saw the one I entered in the front of the church. He stood between it and me. “My dear boy, I have longed to find you once I heard you still lived. Please, let us talk.” He started to approach me. I felt two other beings in the room turn their attentions on me. I looked behind me to see a grey-headed man in an expensive suit. He did not approach. I felt the power within him. He was a wielder. Just behind him stood old Milt from the tavern in Boulder. My heart pounded. I looked back at Father Sergio.
“We mean you no harm. Please, come with me and let’s talk. We know you have been in the employ of a very dangerous woman. If you come with me, I can help you get out of her grasp,” he said.
“I do not want to be out of her grasp,” I said.
He continued to walk toward me, speaking quietly and calmly, he held his hand out toward Milt and the wizard motioning for them to stay. I felt the wizard reaching for me with his power. I put my hand over the bracelet that Abby gave me. I concentrated on her and her power. I turned to look at him and said, “Stop that.”
I felt the power pull back from me. Sergio motioned for them to back off. They moved to the front of the church and stood beneath one of the large carved statues on the sides of the building. “Tadeas, my son, I have missed you. Please, at least, sit down and let's talk for a bit.”
“I can’t. I have to go,” I said. “I have plans for the evening.”
“Plans with her?” he said.
“She is not here,” I said. “She sent me here to monitor things.” God help me, I was lying in a church.
“What things?” he asked.
“I work for the Agency now,” I said. “There are supernatural beings descending on Paris. I was sent to investigate.” I tried to make my story so they would not know she was here. It would blow our cover for the auction. It was bad enough they knew I was here.
“Who are you here with?” he asked.
“I’m here with my wife, Anna,” I replied.
“Oh delightful, I did not know you were married. Congratulations.”
“Thank you, Father, but I must go. She is waiting on me,” I replied and got the courage to walk past him toward the door.
As I passed him he said, “Do you think that is wise?”
“What?” I stopped and asked.
“Being married. Don’t you think you will kill this one too?” he said quietly.
I felt the anger rise in me. I grabbed the bracelet again and focused on how Abby’s peace spell made me feel, “I am not that man anymore.”
“But you are, the beast inside you rages. Even past the protections I put on you with my necklace. You have no control. You will kill your wife. It’s only a matter of time. The beast cannot be controlled. I beg you to come with me. I can help you,” he said. I reached up around my neck and jerked the necklace off and let it hit the marble floor of the church.
“I don’t need your protections. I have faith in myself and my abilities. She has faith in me too. I have nothing to more to say to you, Father Sergio,” I said and walked toward the door. I picked up my pace once I hit the doorway. I crossed over the street, and looked behind me. The wizard followed me. I started to run. I headed back up the way I thought I had come before, but I wasn’t sure. I could not stop and ask for directions. I moved faster than he did, but it seemed like he just followed me. Not actually trying to catch me. I cut up a different road. I knew I hadn’t been on it before because there was a bakery that smelled wonderful. I would have remembered it. I ran past it, and ducked around another corner into a smaller alley. I could see the adjacent street. I took off running. I had almost gotten to the end, when I heard him turn the corner behind me. I turned back around and plowed into a woman with long brown hair and violet panicked eyes. She steadied me, and looked over my shoulder to the man running down the alley.
“Hurry,” Abby said and grabbed my hand. We both sprinted down the street. At an opening, she darted across the street into another alley. It had a dead end.
“Abby, dead end, we can’t go this way,” I said.
She turned and looked at me, “Shift planes. Quick.”
I looked behind me, and waited for no one to be passing the end of the alley.
“Now!” she yelled. And I tugged on the edge of the spirit world and pulled that cold blanket over us and the sounds of Paris faded away. Silence enveloped us. The only sounds were our breathing hard and her steady heartbeat.
“How did you know?” I asked.
“I felt you pull on the power of the bracelet,” she said. Her eyes still concerned, and darting around us. “I got up and started running to where I could feel the power being pulled until I felt you. Then I just ran to you.”
“We need to get back to the room. Behind the wards, as soon as we can,” I said.
“Okay, let's go,” she took my hand and we walked through the back wall of the alley, through a restaurant and into the street beyond it. We walked through the next building which was a men’s clothing store and into the next street. It was the street for our hotel. She ducked into another alley and nodded at me. I pulled on reality and shifted us back into the cacophony that is Paris. She wrapped her arm around mine and leaned into me. And we walked casually out of the alley and into the hotel. She smiled and waved at the clerk. We got in the elevator and went to the room. As she pulled the key card for the door, I put my hand at her waist and leaned into her, smelling her hair. I listened to her steady heartbeat. She opened the door for us, and we both went in. I let the door shut behind us and pulled her back to me. She turned and put her arms around my neck. I could feel her tears on my skin.
“I was coming back. I swear I was,” I said.
“I know,” she said still holding on tight. She pulled back. “Who was it?”
“A wizard. And Old M
ilt was at the church I went into down the street. There was a priest too,” I said. Her eyes grew alarmed.
“What priest?” she said.
“It was Father Sergio from when I was younger. Abby, he should be long dead. They told that he was dead,” I said.
Her forehead wrinkled. “I have intel that the GEA has a priest on staff.”
My former mentor worked for the GEA. They were here in Paris. They had come for the auction and the book. “Madre de Dios,” I said and crossed myself. Instinctively I reached for my crucifix.
Abby watched me. “Where is it?” she asked.
“In the floor of the L'église de la Madeleine where I left it,” I said.
“He gave it to you?”
“Yes. He tried to convince me to leave you,” I said.
“What?” I sat on down on the bed and told her everything about the church, Gabriel, Father Sergio, Milt and the wizard.
“Now you are talking to my angel?” she smirked. She always found a way to make fun of a serious thing.
“Hey, he talked to me. Not my fault,” I said.
“It’s amazing isn’t it,” she said.
“I’m still not sure it was real,” I said.
“Trust me, I understand that,” she said. “I had hoped we could go out for dinner, but it looks like we should order in.”
“Yes, we need to stay here in some semblance of safety until it’s time to go to the auction,” I said.
“You can spend the night having quality time with your wife, how nice,” she grinned.
“I’d say that sounds like heaven to me,” I replied. I got up and pulled her to me again. “Abby, I know why I am here. I accept that, but I swear to you, I have faith that I will never have to end your life. We will help each other, and we will do what we have to do to save this world.”
She put her fingers on my face, and traced the line of my jaw. She smiled at me. I leaned into her. I wanted to kiss her again. Her heart skipped a beat, and she shuddered. I pulled myself back a little and kissed her cheek. I wanted to do more, but a small kiss on the cheek would do for now. Perhaps her reasons before with the darkness inside her was just an excuse to hide another reason for us not being together. She did have unresolved issues with Lukas Castille. Or maybe Lukas Castille and Lincoln were the reasons she never wanted to feel that way again. I decided it was probably a little bit of both.
That night we ordered food. She managed to find a delivery place like the one in Boulder. We had takeout from an expensive French restaurant. We ate on the patio and talked about the possibilities of one or all of the men from the church being at the auction. Thankfully, they all would think that Abby was actually my wife, Anna. I was glad I had enough of my wits about me to pull that off. I hoped Gabriel and his boss would forgive me for lying in a church. She knew the auction would bring a lot of bad people to the forefront. Neither of us realized it would be people from my past, and people in Boulder. She made a call to Ashley and gave her all the information. Ashley said that everything for the auction tomorrow was ready. Abby gave her the instructions to step up the evacuation of the compound. She informed her that all recruits and training staff should start exiting, and that Ashley needed to find them various modes of transport out of Boulder. She mentioned another secure facility, and Ashley said they already had a team there. It looked very much like Boulder was going to be a complete loss. At the end of the conversation, Abby told her that she and the team needed to leave as soon as possible too. Ashley protested, but Abby insisted. After the phone call, we got ready for bed. I laid down on the side closest to the patio door. She ducked into the bathroom, and I heard her brushing her teeth and doing those things that women do at the end of the day. I knew that was a mystery that no man would ever understand. I turned on my side, and tried to tune out the sounds of the city. “Hey, Abby,” I called out to her.
“Huh?” her voice came back muffled from the bathroom.
“Can you put up a bubble? It’s too loud outside,” I asked. I heard a pause and running of water. She walked back into the room.
“Bulla,” she said and crawled into the other side of the bed.
“That better?” she asked.
“Much. Thank you. I forgot how loud big cities can be. I’ve got to work on shutting out all the extra noises,” I explained.
“I imagine you hear a lot more than the rest of us,” she said.
I rolled over onto my back and looked at her. She had dropped the glamour. “Oh hello,” I said smiling.
“I figured I could be myself for now,” she said.
“The dark-haired woman, who is my wife, is quite beautiful in her own exotic way, but I prefer the real you,” I said.
“You know, Tadeas Duarte, you say very sweet things sometimes,” she said.
“Just sometimes?” I asked.
“Yes, the rest of the time I want to throat punch you,” she smiled.
“I’m the best of both worlds,” I said and stretched my arms above my head. I put my hands behind my head and closed my eyes.
“You are the best of everything,” she said and moved over next to me. She put her head on my chest and curled up next to me like it was the most natural thing in the world. She quickly went to sleep. For all the talk about her mind and having to quieten it down, she could fall asleep in a moment. It was almost unnatural. It wasn’t long, and I joined her slumber.
When I woke up, I reached over to touch her, and realized I laid in bed alone. I sat up quickly, and she sat at the small desk clicking through emails. She had a chat bubble up on the side, and talked to Ashley. “Good morning,” she said. “There are fruit and biscuits over there on the table. Compliments of the hotel.”
I walked over to the table and picked up a piece of melon, and took a bite. “What are you working on?”
“Just looking at the lists of people who have come into Paris,” she said.
“Anything stand out?”
“Several actually. Fix yourself a plate, pull that chair up over here, and I’ll show you these people. Give you a better idea of what we are up against.”
I did as she instructed and watched her go through pictures. She told me who each person was and if they had any supernatural abilities. A pack of wolves from Philadelphia concerned her. The Agency had never had any issues with this particular pack. Perhaps it was a coincidence, but we both agreed that there was no such thing anymore. The little box with Ashley’s name on it, now in the background of the screen kept blinking. “You going to answer her,” I asked.
“Maybe in a minute,” she said.
“Were you talking to her about me?” I asked.
“Girl talk is none of your business,” she said avoiding me. Her phone started to ring. “Hello, can’t you wait a few minutes? Tadeas is up. I showed him the pictures. Wait, what?”
She went pale.
“What is it?” I asked. I could tell something was wrong.
“I’m putting it on speaker phone,” she said and clicked the button. “Tell him.”
“Tadeas, the authorities found Travis’ body in a seedy hotel off Hwy 119 this morning. The Agency claimed the body. Ichiro is doing some tests. The early tests show that he was a son of Asmodeus. I’ll let Abby tell you about that. But one of the psych's from the Agency came by to take a look at the body, and said that his soul had been eaten.”
“What the hell?” I said.
“Anything else Ashley? Have you found Sam?” Abby’s voice quavered.
“No, but I thought you should know,” she said.
“Thanks Ash,” Abby said and clicked off the phone.
“I know what a son of Asmodeus is. I should have picked up on that from him. He had all those girls down there wanting him, but the soul thing. That’s crazy.”
“Necromancer,” Abby said.
“In Boulder?”
“Seems so. Perhaps the person that destroyed my car and shot at us. A Necromancer couldn’t do much with us considering the power we both carry,
but he or she wouldn’t hesitate to put a bullet in us.”
“Any Necromancers come through here for the auction?” I asked.
“No way to know actually. They travel much like Chito does in shadows,” she replied.
“Can you beat one? Like toe to toe,” I asked.
“Yes, but it’s not easy. There aren’t many left in the world,” she said.
“Best prepare for one tonight,” I said.
We spent the rest of the day looking at pictures of possible people at the auction. Abby pulled the database with known necromancer information. Time went by slowly. Around 5 pm, she decided to get a shower, and start getting ready.
I waited on her to tie my necktie when she stepped out of the bathroom in that dress. She wore the glamour as well, but she was mesmerizing. She fiddled with a bracelet on her right arm, and looked up at me.
“Need help?”
“Yes, if you don’t mind,” I said.
“If you pay attention, I can show you how to do it yourself,” she said.
“If I did that, what would I need you for,” and she jerked the knot so tight I choked. “I deserve that I suppose.”
“Yes, you did. You look very nice though, my husband,” she smiled.
“If you were really my wife, I’d never let anyone see you in that dress,” I said.
“Oh, good grief, this one is practically harmless,” she said as she pulled the split apart and strapped a dagger to the inside of her right thigh.
I coughed, “Harmless. Not the word I would have used.”
“What word would you use?”
“Dangerous. Provocative. Ravishing.”
She looked up with a light in her eye and a little bit of a blush. “Those work too. Ready?” she asked.
“As I’ll ever be, I guess.”