by Adams, Lori
I withdraw my hands and curl them into fists. “I won’t give it to them,” I say, but they don’t look convinced.
“They won’t be asking politely, Sophia,” Raph says. “They’ll take it. The first chance they get.”
“Take it how?”
“They’ll fight for it,” Milvi states matter-of-fact. “If they can’t bargain it away from you, or lure you into a trap, they’re likely to chop off your hand to get it.”
Okay, nobody told me that little tidbit.
“That’s where we come in,” Raph says. He rubs his hands together, ready to spill the beans. “We have an idea but you have to keep it secret. No telling the ’rents. Anyway, we have some good friends who just happen to be demon hunters.” He glances down the hall to ensure no one is coming. “Now, if we put out the call and explain the situation, I’m sure they’ll agree to come hang with us for a while.”
“And by ‘hang with us’ you mean teach me some fighting skills?”
“Kick-ass fighting skills,” Raph says, and my face lights up.
Now we’re talkin’!
“Okay, when?”
They confer, toss around a few names, and nix a few others. Eventually, they settle on something, and then Milvi hurries into the living room and returns with a picture frame. It looks like a vacation photo, the entire Patronus family plus several others I don’t know. Maybe somewhere in Europe during the winter?
Estonia, Milvi tells me, and three of their friends in the photo are demon hunters.
I peer closer. They look awfully young but what do I know.
“How old are they?” I ask, and Milvi says, “Mid-twenties, but don’t let that worry you. They’re legit.”
I tell them I won’t worry. After all, they can’t be worse than Rama Kuan. Raph says not to misunderstand my Ascended Master; he is qualified to train me. He just likes to focus more on the spiritual side of things. Besides, it never hurts to train with professionals.
“We’ll only need two hunters,” Raph continues. “So I’ll contact Kanati, and Milvi will contact Chang`e. I’ll let you know when we hear from them. We’ll probably have to train at the barn.” He looks at the others for confirmation and they nod.
“But why don’t you want your parents to know? How could this be breaking any rules?”
“It’s not our place to interfere,” Gabe says. “It’s a bit unusual for guardians to be so closely involved with an individual human. Other than maintaining our daily lives here, of course. But your unique connection to Michael, that peculiar second heartbeat, has intertwined you into our family. Incidentally, I’ve been doing some research on the subject of your second heartbeat.”
Oh, I don’t think I like this.
“Really? What’d you find out?” I say without a care in the world. I want them to think I hardly notice it anymore, that it doesn’t give me the slightest bit of comfort or make me feel whole when it’s beating softly beneath my breast.
I avert my eyes so he can’t read me, and Gabe says, “Well, nothing really. So far.”
Yippee!
“Oh, bummer. So, about these demon hunters … we have to keep my training a secret? Well, I don’t know. I wouldn’t feel right about keeping things from your parents.” Ahem, and now I’ll be performing Act II, “The Innocent Expression of a Well-Mannered Preacher’s Kid.”
“You let us worry about that,” Raph says. “It’s more important that you get the training you need.” He smiles and I nod. I like the way he thinks.
They tell me Rama Kuan probably won’t care if I’m trained by demon hunters, as long as it doesn’t interfere with his sessions. I agree to fill him in.
I thank them for their help and say good night, but Raph walks me onto the porch anyway. I have a feeling he wants to say something but is hesitant.
“Well, thanks again for helping,” I say, hedging toward the steps. He wraps his arms around me, hugging me tighter than necessary. I stand there stiffly and eventually pat him on the back. He smells nice, a mix of cologne and rainwater. It’s chilly out and I shiver.
He strokes my back and whispers, “I just don’t … you’ve become very special to the family, and we just don’t want anything to happen to you.” I nod, feeling very much like an awkward burrito. Raph eventually unwraps himself and looks down at me. I avert my eyes in habit but he guides my chin up to look him in the eyes. I steel myself as he assesses me. Think of something funny, stupid. Quickly.
I think of Dad dancing in the kitchen. Raph’s eyes narrow in their inspection. Then I break out laughing and punch him playfully in the arm. Just two buddies horsing around.
“I’m holding you to those kick-ass fighting skills. Maybe I’ll even learn to kick your ass.”
Raph laughs. “Game on, spirit walker.”
I take my out and rush down the steps to the jeep. Raph’s odd behavior takes a backseat because all the way home I beg the higher-ups to have Michael waiting in my room. He must be there; why else would he walk out and not return so we could talk about this?
* * *
Michael isn’t waiting in my room, and I don’t see him at school the next day. I’m sick with worry. I wonder at what point Michael and I stepped aboard the relationship roller coaster; for weeks now we’ve had great highs and nauseating lows. It’s wrecking havoc on my stomach, not to mention my concentration skills.
Rama Kuan is having a fit trying to harness my attention and help me reach a new level of awareness. We’ve been training for two solid hours and I’ve gotten nowhere.
I finally give up and flop back onto the floor, unraveling from the lotus position. “Well, this gives a new meaning to diddly-squat. I got nothing. Nada. Bubkes.” I stretch my aching knees, and then look over and see Rama scowling through his dreadlocks.
“You come in like a hodad, a wannabe. All goofy foot and off balance. Can’t take the ride like that.”
I sigh and stare at the ceiling. He’s right. I didn’t put my best foot forward because my mind has been split, worrying about Michael and calculating the time required to finish reading the biography of Dostoyevsky. Plus, I have to PowerPoint my fake stock account and illustrate the inflammatory tissues of a dead body. Ah, the joys of youth.
“Dude, you gotta show up. Attend your own party. You’re so busy doin’, you forgot to show up.”
“Right here.”
“Naw, dude, in the righteous sense. You gotta find your oneness. You went straight to it the first time. I’ve never seen such powerful insight in a grimmie before. But now? Dude, I don’t know. Where’d you go this time?”
To Michael. I went straight to Michael and filled myself like a bucket of extra crispy anxiety.
“It’s just … I don’t know. I think—”
“Aw, no, dude, don’t think. Leave that space. You gotta unwrap your thoughts. Go into your body and search for yourself. Expand the heart, open yourself up, welcome the power of being. Allow it in. You gotta let it come. It’s gonna erupt and flow like lava; I know. And it’s righteous and pure.”
Don’t think. Unwrap your thoughts. Expand the heart. It sounds wonderful and exactly how I feel when I’m with Michael. Everything makes sense when we’re together, and my heart expands with love. But I can’t tell Rama that the source of me begins in another. He wouldn’t understand a love like ours. He wouldn’t understand that Michael’s heart beats inside my chest, too, and when we’re at odds nothing feels … righteous or pure.
My cell phone rings, jerking me out of my head. I roll over and search for it, spotting it under my desk where I flung it. I crawl to it and tap the screen. It’s a text from Raph, and I spring up.
“Ow!” I hit my head on the desk and scoot out. I stare at the screen while Rama tells me to return to position. I can’t. I’m too excited. I tap the screen and the message appears.
“Meet me at the barn.”
“Holy crap!” I look at Rama, my eyes bugging out. “They’re here. I mean, I think the demon hunters have arrived.” I show him
the text. He reads and then gives me his disapproval frown.
“Gotta lot to do here,” he says, shaking his head.
“Please! I should at least go and meet them! It’d be rude if I don’t. Please!” He is still shaking his head. He is stubborn. He is unmoving. “You can come, too.”
“Cool.” He spins around on his butt and then climbs to his feet. “Heard a lot about the Sanctus Horreum. Totally stoked to take a tour.”
And just like that, we’re on our way. Of course, I pack on the winter paraphernalia then sneak downstairs while Rama steps into the closet and reappears in the passenger seat of my jeep. He is a big shaggy dog ready for the park well ahead of time.
The only way I know to get to the barn is through Michael’s property. I take extra precautions to avoid being spotted by his parents, and park on a side road in the woods. I bundle up and off we go, plodding along and making tracks in the deep snow. Before long, I see the red barn in the dim light. I was here with Michael on our sleigh ride but didn’t bother much with the barn. Now I see that it’s really old, with no windows and one door. Light is glowing from around the door frame, and I wonder who is waiting inside. I’m a little disappointed to be trained in a crappy old wood heap like this; I was hoping for something a bit more modern and, well, sturdy. Please let it be warm inside.
“Hey there.” Raph steps from the shadows and I startle. After a quick introduction to Rama—Raph: “Hey, heard a lot about you”; Rama: “Off the Richter to be here”—we go to the door. Raph pauses and gives me a grave look. “Tell me what you see the moment you step inside. Okay?” I wring my hands and nod. I’m so cold and excited I can’t unclench my jaw to speak.
He pulls open the door and we walk inside. I’m immediately hit with a combination of warmth, soothing scents, and brilliant colors. It smells of rich earth and honeysuckle, and all around is a sprawling, serene meadow with trees, a waterfall, and a meandering stream. I feel like I’ve walked into a dream. It’s awe-inspiring.
“Well, Toto, we’re not in Kansas anymore.” I smile at Raph, who is closely watching me and practically beaming. He seems as excited as I am. I spot Milvi at the same time I hear her squeal with delight. She rushes across a tiny bridge and envelopes me as though we were separated at birth. We almost fall over laughing.
“I’m so glad you’re here!” she cries. “You don’t know what it’s like to have someone else here. I mean, someone outside the family. And you can see it? Can’t you?” We turn and gaze out across the vast, picturesque countryside.
“Of course I can. It’s beautiful.”
Raph and Milvi seemed relieved but not altogether surprised. We take a moment to watch Rama meander and mumble and pick flowers.
“He’s not going to try to smoke those, is he?” Milvi asks, and we laugh.
After a quick tour of the glorious meadow—Milvi points out the stone balcony and the rooms beyond it, and the hidden chambers behind draping vines—I see that we’re not alone. Gabe and the demon hunters emerge from another hidden room behind the waterfall. Raph tells me it’s the weapons chamber, and we walk across the bridge to meet them in a grassy area beneath a sprawling tree.
The guy called Kanati seems to fit right in with the raw countryside; he is tall and tan, with high cheekbones that could have been cut with glass. He has long black hair tied with a piece of leather from which dangles an eagle feather. His eyes are brown, hawkish, alert. He wears soft leather pants and a matching ribbon shirt with the image of a deer branded over his heart. A flat, clublike weapon hangs across his back and a single knife at his hip. Kanati is barefoot and moves with the lithe, airless quality of an Indian warrior as though he’s not touching the ground.
Chang`e is a stunning contrast, an Asian beauty in a long cape with a high collar over red shorts and a white shirt. The cape is bedecked with brilliant blue, pink, purple, and gold colors suitable for a festival or a palace. Her face is porcelain and her black hair is swept into a spiral bun and impaled with two dangerous-looking chopsticks. I can just make out the emblem across her shirt above the heart—a long, narrow rabbit stretched as though it’s running. As far as I can see, her weapons include a long dagger on one curvaceous hip and a silk ribbon coiled like a whip on the other. She is tall and graceful and moves like a breeze.
Gabe makes the introductions while I smile nervously.
Kanati says, “O si yo,” and I say, “Uh …,” because I’m lost in translation. He laughs. His voice is warm and smooth like the suede he wears. “Means hello,” he explains, and I blush.
“Oh. Hello.”
Chang`e gives a slight bow and says, “Nǐ hǎo.”
“Oh, I know that one.” I perk up; there is hope for me yet. I return the gesture and say, “Nǐ hǎo. Hello. That’s right, isn’t it?”
She smiles and nods. “Tā hěn kù. It’s cool.” She shrugs casually and I instantly like her. I repeat, “Tā hěn kù,” and file that one away for Bailey.
Kanati and Chang`e start talking about exercise and strategies but all I can think of is their titles: demon hunters. They are skilled at tracking down and killing demons. If Dante was here, they would be compelled to kill him. Somehow, the idea is unsettling. I have watched Michael and his brothers destroy Dante, Vaughn, and Wolfgang, but I’ve come to understand the difference. Guardians are not made to hunt demons, so when they fight them, it’s in defense of a soul, otherwise guardians cannot attack. They don’t have first strike. But if they do kill a demon, it’s a temporary death. Demons can regenerate in time. On the other hand, demon hunters are made for it and their kills last longer; they can and will attack without provocation. They are the real deal.
“Thanks for coming, for helping me,” I say as we stroll around the meadow, chatting and getting to know each other.
Kanati smiles and says, “Anything for the Patronus brothers.” Chang`e matches my slow, meandering stride. She smells of something light and airy, of moonlight and powder. It’s comforting. She asks me personal questions in a voice made of silk. She sounds too sweet and young to be lethal, to be a killer.
“Yes, I lost my mother several years ago. It’s just Dad and me.”
I wait for the customary condolences but she just nods. Perhaps she lives too close to death to feel the loss. Kanati asks what training I’ve had so far, and we stop and look over at Rama. I’m not sure, but I think he’s engrossed in a deep conversation with a tree.
“Nothing in the self-defense area,” I admit with a heavy sigh. Kanati tells me not to worry; we will start from the beginning.
And so we do.
We take a moment to shed the fifty extra pounds I’m wearing until I’m down to my sweats, hoodie, and bare feet. Kanati removes his shirt and Chang`e her lovely capelike thingy. We move into the grassy area beneath the tree while Raph, Milvi and Gabe step away to watch at a distance. Milvi sees that I’m nervous and taps an iPod on a recessed stone shelf. As my instructions begin, soothing music rises from hidden speakers, or maybe it’s coming straight from Heaven. I relax and maintain a clear focus.
For two hours, I watch their examples and follow as best as I can. The demon hunters are true masters of their art, their bodies quick, efficient, responsive. I struggle with my own, wishing I’d spent more time on kickboxing and less on homework. We are working without weapons, but after a while I’m given a long cane pole to whirl over my head. It’s heavy and slick from my sweaty palms. Two minutes of spinning it in one direction and then two minutes in the opposite. My arms are aching and trembling something awful. When I grow tired, the cane dips, knocking me in the head. I howl and drop it and rub the spot.
Chang`e corrects my stance and helps me maintain my balance. It’s hard; these are not muscles I’m used to using. My muscle group is of the sit, stand, and lay down variety. At Kanati’s command, I whip the cane pole down and jab hard at imaginary evil. I forget to extend my right foot, stumble, and pitch forward, almost falling.
I’m as bad as I feared, and all I can do is apo
logize.
“Sorry, but as you can see, I suck at this kind of stuff.” I hope they aren’t too disappointed. I hope they don’t find me a lost cause and go back to wherever they came from.
Kanati hasn’t broken a sweat in the three hours of working out. He is methodical and patient. “Never apologize for what you do not know. It’s called an Awakening for a reason. The spirit, as well as the body that houses it, will be brought to life. You are as a newborn who must learn everything for the first time.”
This makes sense because that is exactly how I feel, new and ungainly.
Chang`e provides new instructions. They are relentless; but this is what I wanted, right?
She demonstrates climbing a tree in swift, nimble motions, up and over and dancing along thin branches to the top where she plucks a red ribbon. Then she sails down, grazing along the boughs, barely moving the leaves.
My turn.
Hoisting the cane pole over my head again, I continue, spinning it and gaining speed. It teeters lopsided, and I labor to hold it up. Then Chang`e yells a command, and I’m off and running. I drop the cane and climb the tree. I would like to think I scamper along like a sure-footed monkey but I don’t. I’m awkward, grunting my way in and around. I’m exhausted and lumber up the tree without direction. My stupid foot breaks through a thin branch, and I flop forward, roll, and fall, hanging upside down by the stupid foot.
A burst of frigid air hits me in the face, and I see that the barn door is open and Michael is standing in the doorway. Of course, he’s upside down in my vision, but I know it’s him.
“Michael!” I wave, and then slip and fall from the branch, landing on my head. I roll over, groaning, and eventually sit up. The blood rushing to my head takes an immediate U-turn, and I’m light-headed.
Michael stares dumfounded. Apparently, this is the last place he expected to find me. Raph, Gabe, and Milvi come over and explain things. Michael frowns and sweeps the area. Kanati and Chang`e are standing by, and Rama is playing Ferdinand in a flower bed.