Hunt gave a sardonic grin. “Boss, you ain’t thinkin’ right about this predicament.”
Metcalf scowled. “What is that supposed to mean?”
Leroy’s eyes traveled around the room once more. “This here room’s in apple pie order. Bed made and all. She took her time. Must’ve had a plan worked out beforehand. You think a little gal who’s got a plan is gonna stand around in a field somewhere waitin’ to be picked off like a turkey durin’ bow season?”
The diviner backed down. “I see your point.”
“The way I figure it, gal’s only got one chance. Head for the city and get lost in the crowd.”
The old man blanched at those words. “The city! You mean she’s gone all the way to the Fallen Lands? Good God, not that!”
Hunt shrugged. “That’s what I’d do if I wanted to disappear for good. You said your boys searched everywhere hereabouts and no sign of her. She probably legged it as far as the highway, hitched a ride to town, and it’s adios Nephilim, hello Chicago.”
Metcalf sank back down on the bed in shock. Apparently, the thought had never occurred to him that Hannah might have journeyed such a distance. He rubbed his forehead in dismay. “My son born in the Fallen Lands,” he murmured. “It would be an abomination!”
Leroy considered him in amused silence for a few seconds. “So, the little lady was carryin’ a package, huh?” He clapped his employer on the back. “Don’t you go frettin’, boss. You just made my job a trifle easier. There’s only a handful of places gonna take a runaway with a bun in the oven. Maybe I’ll pay ‘em a visit tomorrow. You got a picture of Miss Hannah for me to show around?”
Metcalf reached mechanically into his jacket pocket and handed Hunt a small photo.
The mercenary studied it with narrowed eyes. She was pretty for a youngster her age. The picture was kind of off-putting though. She was gripping a wedding bouquet in both hands with a dazed deer-in-the-headlights look on her face. Hunt folded the picture in half to hide the flowers. He forced himself to give a reassuring smile to the old man. “I’ll get right on this, boss. Don’t you worry.”
“Find her, Mr. Hunt. And may God be with you.”
Leroy tipped his hat and left. When he was out of earshot, he mumbled, “I surely have come down in the world if the best job an ole sharpshooter like me can get is roundin’ up livestock. Yippee ki yi yay! My momma’d be so proud.”
Chapter 12 – Friend or Faux?
Hannah crouched next to the door of Cassie’s apartment. She had been waiting for a few hours now. There were no windows in the hallway, but she guessed it must be around sunset. Perhaps the person she was waiting for would arrive soon.
The girl had never been in a building this high before. When she walked inside, she knew the address was four levels up but wasn’t sure how to get there. Then she noticed a man walking into a metal box when its doors opened. She followed him to find out how to get to the fourth level, but he asked her, “What floor do you want?”
“F... four,” Hannah stuttered, not sure what the question meant.
She watched as the man pressed the number four from a row of buttons on the wall. It lit up and the doors closed. She felt slightly dizzy when the box started to move upward. It must have been lifted by invisible levers. The doors opened again, and the man went out. Hannah noticed the number 3 painted on the side of the door when it opened. She decided she was supposed to get out when the number turned to 4.
The metal box continued upward, and when the doors opened once more, Hannah darted out. She was confronted by a long hallway. It looked much like the compound only the floors were carpeted, and there were numbers on all the doors. She walked along until she came to the one that matched the address that the shopkeeper had given her.
Hannah knocked. “Hello,” she called tentatively, not knowing what was waiting for her on the other side. There was no answer. She listened at the door but could hear nothing. This Cassie person must be away, so she decided to wait and sank down on the carpeted floor.
That was where she continued to sit for at least two hours by her reckoning. Hannah yawned. She hadn’t slept well for several nights now. What with the plan to escape and then the strangeness of the maternity home, she suddenly realized how tired she was and drifted off.
“Hey! Hey, kid.”
She dreamed that someone was shaking her by the shoulder.
The voice grew more insistent. “Wake up!”
Her head jerked up in alarm.
A young woman crouched down beside her. “Are you OK?”
“Y... yes.” Hannah struggled to her feet. “I’m sorry. I was so tired from waiting that I must have fallen asleep.”
The young woman stood up too. Hannah noticed that she wasn’t very tall even though she was the elder of the two of them. Like many women in the Fallen Lands, her hair was cut to chin length. It swung over to conceal part of her face. She flipped it behind her ear impatiently. Hannah thought the woman would be considered pretty as the Fallen judged such things. She had grey eyes that somehow seemed to glow.
“Who are you waiting for?” the young woman asked.
Hannah wasn’t sure how much to reveal and who to trust. “I’m looking for someone named Cassie.”
The young woman frowned in perplexity. “You just found her.”
***
Cassie hesitated for a few moments. She didn’t make it a habit to invite strangers into her apartment, especially given her risky line of work. But the kid looked really scared and didn’t appear to pose much of a threat. She unlocked the door. “C’mon in,” she instructed. “Take a seat over there on the couch. I’ll get us something to drink. Do you like cola?”
“I’m not sure. I’ve never had it.”
Cassie poked her head back out from the kitchen to regard her strange guest. “Huh?”
The girl blushed as if the question embarrassed her. “I’m sorry, but there are so many things that are new to me.”
Cassie went back into the kitchen and retrieved two cans of soda from the refrigerator.
Setting them down on the coffee table, she took a seat next to the girl. “Did you just drop out of the sky?”
The girl blinked in puzzlement. “Not exactly but I come from a long way off.” She stiffly extended her hand in greeting. “My name is Hannah.”
Cassie warily shook her hand, thinking this was the geekiest kid she’d ever met. That was a surprise considering what a looker the girl was—green eyes, blond hair, tall for her age. That type usually got past being socially awkward before they were even out of diapers. She handed a can of soda to her guest who looked at it like it was a bomb about to explode.
The pythia flipped the top on her own soda.
“Oh, I see,” said Hannah. She did the same and jumped a little when the tab made a hissing sound.
Cassie laughed in spite of herself. Thinking the girl might need a lesson in how to consume this strange beverage, she lifted the can to her lips and drank.
Hannah followed suit. “Oh, my!” she grimaced in surprise. “It has bubbles and the taste—”
“I guess it’s acquired.” Noting her guest’s sour expression, she asked, “Would you like some water or tea instead?”
“Oh, yes. Please.” Hannah nodded vehemently and set the can down on the coffee table.
Cassie rummaged around in the kitchen until she found a cold bottle of iced tea at the back of the refrigerator. Just in case the kid had never seen a twist cap bottle before, she loosened the lid before handing it to her.
“Here, try this. You might like it better.”
Hannah took a thirsty gulp. “Yes, that’s much better. Thank you.”
The pythia studied her visitor for a few moments. “So, what brings you to my door?” she asked.
Hannah stared at the rug and fidgeted with the bottle of tea for a while. “I was hoping you might protect me.”
Cassie raised an eyebrow. “Protect yo
u from what?”
“From them,” Hannah said simply.
There was only one “them” that would cause anybody to be as scared as this kid obviously was. Only one “them” who would motivate an absolute stranger to look her up. The pythia’s mind began to make rapid connections. “Are you talking about the Nephilim?”
The girl nodded.
“Jeez, Louise! How did you ever get mixed up with that bunch of crazies?”
“I was born in a compound in Missouri,” she replied.
“Born in— Then that means—” Cassie sprang from the couch and backed away. “You’re one of them!”
“No, no.” The girl shook her head violently. “I’m not. I ran away. They’re probably looking for me right now. I don’t know what they’ll do to me if they figure out where I am.”
“How did you find me? Do they know I’m alive?” Cassie remained standing some distance away. “Because if they do, I should be packing a suitcase right about now!”
The girl shook her head again. “No, none of the Blessed Nephilim know you’re alive. I only just found out myself from Rhonda, the lady at the shop. I went there because I had heard of a woman named Sybil who was murdered by Leroy Hunt. I was hoping to find out if someone might still be after those artifacts that Father Abraham wants so much. I thought perhaps I was safer among the enemies of the Nephilim if any survived.”
“The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” Cassie laughed. “Good strategy, kid.”
Hannah continued. “So, when the shopkeeper gave me your address, I was so glad. I thought maybe you wouldn’t want to send me back to them.”
“You guessed right.” Cassie smiled appreciatively. She sat back down. “But how is it you know so much about the relic hunt, and how the heck did you manage to get out of that place on your own?”
Hannah relaxed a bit now that she sensed Cassie wasn’t going to turn her out. “Daniel helped me.”
“Daniel!” Cassie exclaimed. “You mean the little weasel who stood by and let Hunt try to kill us?”
“Oh, but he isn’t like that at all.” The girl rushed to his defense. “He was very brave when he smuggled me out of the compound in his car.” She paused, thinking back. “The whole time he was teaching me about the Fallen Lands, he kept talking about that terrible night when he saw you sealed up in the cave. He still has nightmares about it because he blames himself for your death.”
“Good!” Cassie countered. “He probably should.” She relented when she saw the stricken look on Hannah’s face. “Still I suppose he couldn’t be all bad if he helped you get out. Kind of like your big brother, huh?”
Hannah looked down at the floor again. “He was my husband once.”
“Your—” Cassie gasped. “This couldn’t get any weirder! How old are you, kid?”
“I’ll be fifteen soon.” The girl actually sounded proud to be so grown up.
“I didn’t get a good look at him, but that Daniel dude had to be at least thirty.”
Hannah nodded. “Yes, I believe he is. He’s been very good to me.”
The pythia sat speechless, staring at her young visitor. She was having trouble wrapping her brain around the whole bizarre situation. “So, why aren’t you married to him anymore?”
Hannah avoided looking her in the eye. She took a quick gulp of tea before answering. “Daniel has three wives, but I don’t believe he ever wanted to be married to anybody. On our wedding night, we didn’t...” she trailed off.
“Oh.” Cassie’s single syllable spoke volumes.
“And then Father Abraham thought that the devil was making me spread lies about Daniel, so he dissolved the marriage and reassigned me to himself.”
“Holy freakin’ cow!” Cassie jumped up and began to pace back and forth across the room. “Let me see if I get this straight. You were married to a guy twice your age, and now you’re married to one who’s old enough to be your great granddad?” She stopped pacing long enough to stare at the girl for confirmation.
Hannah bobbed her head. “Yes.”
Cassie dreaded the next words that were about to come out of her mouth, but she had to ask the question. “And your marriage to this Abraham was... uh... consummated?”
“Often.”
The pythia flopped down beside Hannah and peered intently at the girl. “Do you have any idea just how gross that is?”
“Gross?”
Cassie tried to come up with another adjective. “Sordid, awful. Just plain weird. Not to mention illegal!”
“I was very unhappy with the arrangement,” the girl agreed simply.
“Good for you,” Cassie said with some relief. “So that’s why you ran away?”
“Not only that. I’m going to have a baby.”
“You’re— What? Wait! Don’t answer that. I need an aspirin!” Cassie made for the bathroom but stopped dead in her tracks. She whirled around. “Give me that!” she snatched the bottle of tea out of Hannah’s hands. “Everybody knows you shouldn’t have caffeine when you’re pregnant.”
“Really? What’s caffeine?”
“Oh, my goddess!” Cassie regarded the girl with a mixture of exasperation and dismay. “Just stay put. Don’t move. I’ll be right back.” She marched off to the bathroom and rattled around in the medicine cabinet until she found the pill bottle she was looking for. Her head was spinning. It was almost unthinkable what that poor kid had been through. Cassie splashed some cold water on her face. For a second she glanced at herself in the mirror. “And you think you had it rough?” she asked her reflection.
The suspicious part of her brain warned her that this might be a set-up. Maybe the Nephilim really did know she was alive and Hannah and her sob story were a way to win Cassie’s trust. It would be a perfect opportunity for them to gain access to the secrets of the Arkana. Cassie shook off the idea. If she had learned anything in her brief time as pythia, it was to trust her instincts. She wasn’t picking up any vibe that suggested Hannah was lying. She decided to ignore her paranoia and follow her intuition. She commanded herself to take several deep breaths before returning to the living room.
She sat down next to Hannah and stared at her intently. “What can I do to help?”
“I was hoping to find refuge with you.”
“No problem,” the pythia agreed and then paused as another thought struck her. “Where were you staying before you came here?”
“At the maternity home where Daniel brought me. They don’t know I left today.”
“Then they’ll be looking for you too.”
Hannah’s hand flew to her mouth. “Oh, I hadn’t thought of that.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll figure out some way to deal with that tomorrow. You can sleep here tonight in my old bedroom. I’ve already moved into my sister’s room.”
“Thank you.” Hannah’s eyes filled with tears. “They told us the Fallen were evil people who would do us harm.”
“Guess they lied about that too.” Cassie shrugged. “The main thing is to get you somewhere safe where they won’t be able to find you.”
The girl’s face registered alarm. “You mean it isn’t safe here either?”
Cassie patted her on the shoulder. “It is, for now. They haven’t connected you to me just yet.” She noted how pale and tired the girl looked. “I’ll make us some dinner, and then you’ll get a good night’s sleep because tomorrow will be a big day.”
“What’s going to happen tomorrow?
Cassie grinned. “You start a brand-new life.”
Chapter 13 – Rumors and Board
Faye heard a sharp knock at her front door. Before she could move to answer it, her visitor let herself in. It was Maddie.
“Are they here yet?” the operations director asked cautiously.
The old woman shook her head. “No, but they ought to arrive any minute now.”
“At last!” Maddie exclaimed. “The Arkana catches a break.”
“We
don’t know that,” Faye cautioned. “All Cassie told me was that one of Abraham Metcalf’s wives ran away to seek refuge with her. Apparently, the poor dear thought she was safest with someone who was at odds with the Nephilim.”
“So, this wife might not even know about the Arkana at all?” Maddie asked in surprise.
“Probably not and that’s the way I’d like to keep it for the time being. We are simply co-conspirators with Cassie on the trail of artifacts which the diviner also wants.”
Both women turned their heads simultaneously at the sound of a car door closing outside.
“That must be them.” Faye bustled to open the door as quickly as her aged limbs would allow.
Cassie strode up the front stairs followed by a much taller, much younger girl who looked positively terrified.
The pythia turned to regard her charge. “It’s OK, Hannah. Come on inside. These are friends of mine. They won’t hurt you.” She took the girl by the elbow and propelled her forward gently to make the introductions. “This is Faye.”
The elderly woman shook hands with the girl.
“And behind her is Maddie.”
The operations director stepped forward to greet the girl, apparently registering her extreme youth. “Holy frickin’ goddess!” she exclaimed.
Hannah shrank back.
Cassie stepped in front of the girl and scowled up at Maddie. “Hey,” she warned, “we’re trying to make her feel safe, not make her jump out of her skin, OK? Take it easy.”
Maddie stepped back a pace. “Sorry, kiddo.” Then to Hannah, she gave a broad smile of welcome which appeared almost as unnerving as her earlier greeting.
The girl hesitated to shake hands, seemingly unconvinced that Maddie’s intentions were friendly.
Cassie put an arm around Hannah’s shoulder and guided her inside, darting a glance of reproach behind her.
The two older women exchanged looks—both surprised by the protective stance their pythia had adopted.
“Well, that’s new,” Maddie murmured as she followed the others inside.
The Arkana Mysteries Boxed Set Page 59