Given Enough Rope (Haunted Series Book 20)

by Alexie Aaron

  Mbengar got up and walked over to the place from which he entered.

  “Safe journey,” Mia said as the demon sunk out of sight and her room returned back to normal.

  Mia heard a tap on the door. “Come in!”

  Angelo opened the door and walked over to the chair beside her and sat down. “I just put Brian down. He was sleeping on his feet.”

  “Thank you. It has been a most illuminating day,” Mia said. “Mbengar could have been a lot of trouble. Thank you for bringing Cato. I think he helped.”

  “I didn’t bring him. He insisted. The sages really got a kick out of Brian.”

  “Is that where you took him?”

  “After a while. I took him on a tour of places I thought were special.”

  “That was so kind of you.”

  “So, Little Bird, I will collect my sage and leave you,” Angelo said, getting up. “Unless you want me to kill an elemental for your leg?” he asked wickedly.

  Mia laughed with the memory of Sariel and Angelo getting half burnt bringing her a cure.

  “How about a birdman rulebook?”

  “There isn’t one.”

  “K,” Mia said, reaching out her hand.

  Angelo grasped it and fought the impulse to take more. “Bye, Mia,” he said gruffly and left her room.

  Mia lay back, closed her eyes, and dreamed.

  Dieter walked quietly into the room, covered Mia up, and turned out the light. He checked on Brian before he walked down the stairs. Cid had come in with a basketful of tomatoes and cucumbers.

  “You missed all the excitement,” Dieter told him. “Brian’s home.”

  “Wonderful!”

  “Mia had a demon in her bedroom.”

  “She does get into a lot of mischief,” Cid said, inspecting a beefsteak tomato before he washed it.

  “Remember that thing guarding Brian?”

  “Oh wow, Mbengar. Did you know that it’s probably the most dangerous demon ever created?”

  “No.”

  “According to Father Santos, it predates the fall. It’s like the Roumain of the underworld.”

  “Yikes. Angelo brought Brian back, and a little old man came with him.”

  “Really? What was he like?”

  “His name was Cato, and he told me a story about…”

  “Cato…”

  “Yes.”

  “C A T O?”

  “That’s what I said.”

  “Do you know who that is?”

  “No, but I get the idea you’re going to tell me,” Dieter said, annoyed.

  “He’s one of the four oldest living sages. He’s from the third order of oracles.”

  “He told me a story about a Nigerian named Shangor.” To Dieter’s surprise, Cid listened until he was finished with his story.

  “The only Shangor I know is the god of thunder. Maybe he was named after him.”

  “Don’t know. Cid, can I ask you something and have it go no further?”

  “You mean a secret?”

  “In a way.”

  “Yes, but perhaps I better see where Ted is first. Hang on.” Cid picked up his phone. “Dude, what’s your schedule? Dieter says Mia and Brian are napping. Okay, I’ll call you.” Cid set the phone down. “He’s in the muse, working in the barn.”

  Dieter looked down. “I saw something, I don’t think I should have seen.”

  “Go on.”

  “It was when we were stuck in the climbing building after the second tornado. Murphy had arrived just ahead of you and Ted.”

  “Go on.”

  Dieter scratched his head. “I saw his soul wavering there just before he materialized. Mia turned and smiled as if she knew he was there. The two talked, and Mia told him our situation. Mia turned back to her work. I think he started to leave, but he stopped and looked back at Mia. His face… it caused my chest to hurt. I think he is in love with Mia.”

  “He has been for a long time, Dieter. I’m not sure if it was part of this supposed Cooper curse or if it’s real love, but both of them love each other. Mia loves him, but she gave her heart to Ted.”

  “Ted knows?”

  “Yes, he knew from the beginning, but he still wanted Mia. He’s been besotted with Mia from the moment he laid eyes on her. Mia didn’t pursue Ted. Ted was determined to win her heart, and he did. I think Ted’s more worried about Angelo and, possibly Mike, than Murphy. But I know Mia. She is fiercely loyal to Ted. He’s her superhero.”

  “Before you came to live with us, Mia and Ted went through a horrible time spurred on, in part, by Roumain, involving an investigator that used to be with PEEPs. Mia was wounded by it, but still, she fought for Ted. I think it was the first time I was jealous of my best friend. I’d give anything to have someone that loves me just as I am, to forgive me anything, and defend me at all costs.”

  “But what about Stephen?” Dieter asked.

  “It’s up to him. But between us, I don’t think that love is going away. I think it will be a love that will outlive all of us.”

  “Thank you for explaining this to me.”

  “No problem. Since you’re going to become a Martin, I think it’s a good thing you know all the skeletons in the closet.”

  Mia hobbled to the mirror after using the toilet. She looked at the condition of her hair. The left side was hacked off. She had wound what hair she had left around her head, but there was no masking that she needed a haircut. Mia washed her face and hop-walked back to bed. She didn’t know until she settled herself that she had a visitor.

  “You came back.”

  Michael turned from the window and nodded. “I was still in the neighborhood.”

  “Would you like to sit down?” she asked him.

  “I felt I needed to explain myself,” he said, still standing.

  “You told me to rest, and I’m resting…”

  “No, about taking your wings.”

  “Haven’t we put that behind us?” Mia asked nervously.

  “Mia, when you look at me, what do you see?”

  “I see a man…”

  “I’m not a man,” he corrected.

  “But… yes, you’re right. I see a guy…”

  “This isn’t going well. Let me explain. You see me as someone not much older than yourself.”

  “Well, yes.”

  “But I am very old, and to me, you’re a child, a child who lacks discipline. You have a smart mouth and a way of using your beauty to…”

  “Hold on. Let me cut you short there. I was genetically engineered. I no more wanted the demonic part of me to try to seduce Angelo, or your angels, than I wanted to cut off my own leg. You think I’m duplicitous. But for most of my life, I had everything stacked against me. I could have turned out to be a cold-hearted assassin, but I fought it. That’s discipline.”

  His navy blue irises seemed to bore into her. “May I finish?”

  “Sorry, go on.”

  “I was mad, hurt, and embarrassed that the one human I claimed as my own could disregard me this way.”

  Mia was stunned. “Please explain to me this claiming. I thought I was enslaved to you.”

  Michael seemed to break character. He moved to the offered chair and sat down. “I saw you in the white mist, pledging your eternity, so that Altair would be forgiven. I don’t think you knew what you were offering. You took your last moments of life to offer everything you had earned, to be given for someone who had fallen. You had the gall to demand divine forgiveness. Wings or no wings, you put another being before yourself.”

  “Yes. Isn’t that what we’re supposed to do? I don’t have any religious training, but from what I’ve gleaned, sacrifices were made for mankind. If I had any power, why couldn’t I return a little of the grace?”

  Michael’s eyes filled with tears. “Not many have. I can’t say it occurred to me to do so in such a very long while.”

  “Aosoth told me that Lucifer had wounded you deep enough, it turned you cold. I don’t believe it.
I think you had to rip out your heart to do what needed to be done. I thought it was senseless, but I’m starting to understand it was evolution.”

  “I don’t know anymore. It was a military action on my part. I was ordered to do this. I obeyed.”

  Mia reached over and took the large hand in her small ones. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry for my part in your sadness. I’m headstrong, and I seemed to have missed the big picture. I have found out all too recently the toll fighting evil takes.”

  “I saw you mourn for Varden and the other birdmen. Mia, you were right to ask Lucifer and me to bow out of the fight. Their deaths are not on your shoulders. Birdmen live for battle. To die an old man if you are a warrior is sad.”

  “To survive is sad, how ironic. By your grace, I survived my fight with Aosoth, and I’m so happy I could hop all the way to Ushuaia and back.”

  The absurdity caused Michael to laugh.

  “You said you claimed me. What does this mean?” Mia asked.

  “You’re kind of my pet human.”

  “I don’t want to be a pet,” Mia pouted.

  “How about friend?” Michael compromised. “When you need me, I’ll be there. When I need you, I will call you. You don’t have to obey…”

  “I will come anyway,” Mia said. “It’s what I do. But before we reinstate this friendship, you need to read me. Something happened that I can’t explain.”

  “There is no need. I haven’t stopped watching over you. Mia, if you are worried about the help you were given in reinstating your friend in the chief’s daughter’s body, that was me, not my brothers, not my father. Roumain was right to be worried. It’s a grace that rarely has been given. Humans get all excited by it. Make the conduits saints. I felt your need to resurrect this body for Refugia and helped you out a bit.”

  “Thank you. Also, I’ve been asked, in eight years, to visit Mbengar with Brian. Is this going to cause a conflict between us?”

  Michael was stunned. “Mbengar? No, why?”

  “You’re a little off on demons…”

  “Fallen,” he corrected. “As long as the demons stay away from the humans, whom we’ve promised our father to protect, then I’ll let them be. Mbengar is almost as old as this planet, Mia.”

  “Huh. Well, I’ll be. Is there anything else before we seal this deal?” Mia asked. “Oh, for the record, I didn’t choose to travel through time to rid myself of your bond.”

  “I realize that now. Would you like your wings back?”

  “No.”

  “Really?”

  “I may regret this, but I’m more comfortable with my two feet on the ground.”

  “What if your children are flying all over the place?”

  Mia paled.

  “Think about it. It’s not a onetime offer.”

  Mia looked up into Michael’s face. “So we’re good?”

  “Not yet, but I’m getting there.”

  “Take your time. This isn’t a onetime offer…” Mia teased.

  Michael shook his head and stood up. “Please listen to me and stay in bed. The poison is gone. The bone is strong, but the tissue is going to take time. Your child is also safe within you.”

  Mia nodded. “Part of me doesn’t want you to go,” she admitted. “I feel safe when you’re near.”

  “You have your life, a husband, children, and a farmer that refuses to comply. You don’t need a general hovering right now. Enjoy your mortal life,” Michael said before he was simply not there anymore.

  Chapter Twelve

  “As soon as I get the go ahead to get out of bed, I think you and I could use a spa day,” Mia said over the phone.

  “Mia, I think we have a bad connection. Did you actually say spa, or was it something else?” Ralph questioned her.

  “I’ll even pay for the day,” Mia offered.

  “How hard did that amazon from hell hit you?” Ralph asked, worried.

  “The thing is…” Mia paused.

  “Yes?” Ralph asked.

  “I cut off half my hair, and I need a Ralph consult pronto,” Mia said. “I look like my Barbie did when I washed her hair with dish soap.”

  “It can’t be that bad,” Ralph said, remembering the doll’s ruined hair.

  “I’m sending you a picture.” Mia held the phone away from her and clicked a selfie. She pressed send and waited for the explosion on the other end of the phone.

  “Oh my God! Why did you do that?”

  “It was necessary,” Mia prefaced before she told him the story.

  “Send me a picture of your leg,” Ralph instructed.

  Mia flipped up the covers and snapped a picture with her iPhone and sent it.

  “Thank the fashion stars, Capris have made a comeback,” Ralph said. “Although it looks like a perfect circle.”

  “It is.”

  “Tell you what, I’m going to suggest something, and don’t say anything until you hear me out.”

  “K,” Mia said, worried.

  “I want you to have a short hairstyle. How about a Pixie cut?”

  “I’ll look horrible. I don’t want mom hair!” Mia wailed.

  “Calm down, and listen. I’ll bring over some books and Dash Renee.”

  “What’s a Dash Renee?”

  “Only the hottest stylist since… ever.”

  “And how do you know this person?”

  “He does the hair for the Chicago Revue.”

  “That’s a transvestite venue isn’t it?”

  “Why yes… But he works miracles. I promise.”

  “He’s going to come all the way out here…”

  “Yes, I was just talking to him about making an appointment to talk to your group.”

  “Mike’s hair is not that bad, just thinning…”

  Ralph giggled. “No, the restaurant Dash just purchased is haunted.”

  “Why did he buy a haunted restaurant?”

  “It wasn’t when he bought it, but when he bought the parking lot next to it and started removing the pavement to expand the place, things started happening. The poor guy is mortgaged up to his eyeballs.”

  “Huh. Maybe we could work out a deal.”

  “He doesn’t mind being on television.”

  “It could be good publicity for both the restaurant and PEEPs,” Mia said. “Let me call Burt… Um, maybe you better call Burt.”

  “Why?”

  “He’s off limits, since I begged him to smuggle in some pain meds.”

  “What is it with the two of you? Is he your dealer?”

  “No, he just hates to see me in pain.”

  “How much pain are you in, Mia?”

  “It lessens every day, but it was pretty bad. The snake poison is gone, but I was fighting above my weight, and then there’s the leg thing.”

  “It will heal, and then we’ll get you a snazzy tattoo.”

  “No thanks, I’ve had it with tattoos. The only one I want to have is the one over my heart. I’ll live with the scar. Besides, it’s definitely a conversation starter. Imagine the preschool moms when I tell them about getting bitten by a sea snake.”

  “You’ll horrify them.”

  Mia smiled. “That crossed my mind.”

  “Bad Mia.”

  Burt put down the phone. Mia’s godfather Ralph Mendlessohn had always been a challenge for Burt. It wasn’t his gender choice; It was his exuberance. Ralph usually got what he wanted. He would push and push and… well, push until the opposition caved. Burt took a page from Mia’s book: “Decide when it’s important to say no, and stick to it. Ralph will respect you for it.” But in this case, Ralph’s proposed case for PEEPs couldn’t have come at a better time. They needed something big to start off the new season with, and a Chicago haunt was just the thing. However, his personnel were low. He walked over to his desk and pulled out his file on possible replacements for Audrey. Mia would still be able to handle the sensitive duties, but she was a no-go in a confrontational situation.

  He picked up Stoner Dave’
s file and set it aside. Dave had proven to be a disappointment. He really didn’t enjoy the investigative process. He was still finding himself. He had worked a semester for Mia’s parents on an archeological dig but didn’t like the structure-orientated profession. Burt remembered Mia and Dave fighting when they were dealing with the haunted middle school. He should have known then that Dave was no Mia.

  “The middle school!” Burt said excitedly. He pulled out the file, and two names stood out: Ira Levisohn and Mason Callen. Ira was the boy who had inadvertently found his bilocation ability and ended up imprisoned in the floor of the school. Mason was one of the crew of delinquents who entered the closed-down building looking to loot it of copper pipes and wire. He too became trapped. Mason was a tough kid. Burt admired the way the kid had taken a beating from the ghost that held them captive and kept on going. He, possibly, would be a hard employee to control, but Mia liked him. And he suspected Mason liked Mia. She would be able to reason with Mason if things got too hairy.

  He picked up the phone and called the Martin household.

  Ted answered, “Hello, and before you say anything, Mia cannot have any pain meds.”

  Burt flushed in anger but kept his voice steady. “I’m calling about an investigation, and I need to run some personnel changes by Mia.”

  “First, I’ve not heard anything about an investigation,” Ted said suspiciously.

  “Ralph brought it to me.”

  “Oh. Hang on.”

  Burt listened as Ted yelled up the stairs to let Mia have the phone. Dieter said something Burt couldn’t decipher.

  “Hey, Burt,” Mia said on the phone and then, “Ted, hang up.”

  They waited until they heard the click of the kitchen phone before continuing.

  “Sorry, Burt. Ted’s just trying to keep me sober. How are you?” she asked happily.

  “I’m doing well. Last time I saw you, you weren’t so good.”

  “Much better now. I should be on my feet in a few days.”

  “Ralph called me.”

  “Ah, the restaurant haunt.”

  “Yes, I think it would be a great investigation. Although, I think we need to add some temporary personnel.”

  “Yup.”

  “I was thinking about calling Ira Levisohn and Mason Callen.”