Rogue, Renegade And Rebel (In Her Paranormal Majesty’s Secret Service Book 1)

by Michael Anderle

  But the words wouldn’t come.

  Worthington began to laugh. “Ha! Can you believe it? The mighty Rogue can’t defeat her enemy. What is she going to do now when the entire paranormal court is against her? What can poor Jennie do when—”

  With a sudden sharp intake of breath, the girl awoke. Her eyes shone pure white, and her words were loud and clear. “Deus est; Et inimicos eorum dispersus est…”

  Her entire body began to glow brilliant white to match her eyes. Then the light spread, and Worthington cried out in protest when it began to feed off him and the surrounding specters.

  “Et eos, qui oderunt eum, a facie ejus!”

  Jennie was breathless, her own energies still connected to the ghosts around her. She felt the pain the others felt and panicked, realizing that whatever power was flowing from the girl was stopping her from disconnecting from the specters.

  No. I’m not a specter! This magic shouldn’t apply to me.

  The girl continued regardless. “Ut impellere fumum, pulsi sunt; liquescit cera a facie ignis…”

  The light became unbearable, swallowing the entire room until all that was left was white. Jennie gasped and grunted against the pain. The specters screamed, unable to do anything about the incantation of the exorcism rites.

  Jennie narrowed her eyes and hunted deep down for the strength she knew she had. I will not go down like this!

  “Et peccatores coram Deo!” the girl finished in a scream.

  The light flashed a final, brilliant pulse. A moment later, the room was plunged once more into lonely darkness.

  Chapter Fifty-One

  Times Square, New York City

  Things did not look good. The Spectral Plane was slowly being worn down by the relentless loyalists, the NYPD had arrested Tanya and her followers, and now cops in Hazmat suits were preparing to walk into the fog.

  In an alley nearby, Baxter was coming around from his concussion.

  “You gave me a scare,” Carolyn scolded.

  Baxter squinted at Carolyn. “How-how did I get here?”

  Carolyn shook her head, gesturing for him to get up. “Long story, no time. We’ve got to move.”

  Baxter placed a hand on his thumping head. “What are you talking about?”

  “We’ve got to get out of here.” Carolyn tugged his sleeve. Now that he was fully conscious, he was difficult to move. “Come on.”

  “Jennie…” Baxter was still trying to process his thoughts. Somewhere in the city nearby, he could hear the racket of the battle. His eyes grew wide. “We need to find her!”

  “Not like this!” Carolyn’s feet scraped along the pavement as she tried to drag Baxter back and got pulled along for her effort.

  Baxter turned around, trying to shrug her off. “Let go of me.”

  “No,” Carolyn refused, gripping his shirt stubbornly. “Do you think going back through the battle is going to help you get to Jennie?”

  Baxter frowned. “What are you talking about?”

  Carolyn pointed at the nearest roof.

  “Oh,” Baxter replied. “Why didn’t you say so?”

  The climb was quick, and the view was horrific. High above the battlefield, they could make out the hundreds of specters engaged in combat. The armies stretched back down the streets, and the carnage around the remaining Spectral Plane turned Carolyn’s stomach.

  “It’s over,” Baxter moaned. “We’re never going to defeat them all. Even with Jennie on our side, there are just too many—”

  The flickering lights in the square turned black. Lights everywhere across the city stuttered, then died. The specters on the battlefield paused in confusion as the top floor of the Empire State Building lit up like the lighthouse of Alexandria.

  The white light pulsed out in shining rings that haloed the building.

  Then it was done. The light vanished, plunging them into darkness for a few tense seconds. There was a collective sigh of relief when the city’s lights resumed their low-wattage glows.

  The specters on the battlefield hesitated. They had no idea what had just happened, but they knew it couldn’t be good. Many of the specters began to climb, gunning for the rooftops to get a look at whatever happened next.

  They craned and stretched to get a better view of the Empire State Building when a solitary white figure stepped out from the highest point of the building and walked to the ground, leaving a blazing white trail behind it.

  “What the hell is that?” Carolyn breathed.

  Baxter lifted his hands. “I don’t know, but it can’t be good.”

  A reverent silence settled over the battlefield as every specter held their breath. No one knew what was happening, but everyone had their theories.

  The figure touched down at the far edge of the spectral army, a figure glowing such a perfect white that it was difficult to determine any of their features. Specters parted as the radiant entity walked down the center of the street toward the heart of the battle.

  Specters shielded their eyes as the light touched them, and some bowed low. A few began to sob.

  Rico and Camo stared angrily at the figure, wondering what new part they had to play in their efforts to secure territory for the crown. Rico hoped this was Worthington come to claim victory, a final trump up his sleeve to end the battle.

  Little did he know Worthington was now nothing more than memories.

  The figure moved through the crowd, who formed a perfect circle around it. It was then Baxter realized that the mystery entity was carrying something—no, someone in their arms. As the entity dimmed their light, the “someone” came into view—a woman with red hair and a leather corset so tight it looked uncomfortable.

  “Jennie!” Baxter cried. He leapt off the roof without hesitation and darted into the crowd. He pushed his way to the center as the entity placed his friend gently on the ground.

  He knelt beside Jennie and cradled her head in his hand. He looked up at the glowing entity and could now see who it was.

  The girl they had rescued from the museum was awake, and she was as pure and bright-eyed as the morning sun. Her porcelain skin was flawless, and her stare was unbiased and true.

  “What have you done to Jennie?” Baxter asked, not realizing a tear was trailing down his cheek. When the girl didn’t answer, he asked again with more passion, “What have you done?”

  The girl cocked her head and stared blankly at him, as though the words that escaped his mouth were alien to her.

  She gazed at the specters surrounding her as if seeing everyone for the first time. When she spoke, her voice was as soft as satin. “The darkness has been purged. Justice has been done, and now freedom will return.”

  Specters stared in disbelief at the girl, trying to figure out her meaning. Rico couldn’t contain his anger and. “What have you done with Worthington? Where is he?” He didn’t hold back, although he clearly feared the girl.

  She turned her unblinking gaze on Rico, who shrank back. “The one you call Worthington is no more. His black heart was a stain on the peace of the dead, and he is gone.”

  Rico hesitated a moment before crying out and charging at the girl. Rita tried to stop him, but he shook her off and lunged at her with his Tommy gun raised.

  A voice made him freeze mid-step before he had a chance to pull the trigger.

  “You do realize guns are more effective over distances? I know your aim is shit, but you don’t have to run up close and fire.”

  Baxter looked down in disbelief. Jennie’s eyes were open. “You…you’re alive?”

  “Of course, I am,” Jennie told him. “You think I’d risk dying and getting stuck with you lot for eternity?”

  Jennie rose to her feet and went to stand beside the girl. The girl was short, at least a foot shorter than Jennie.

  Jennie raised her voice and called to the crowd, “Friends, brothers, sisters. Specters. You have all been fed a load of lies by the ones you should be able to trust the most. Worthington, the so-called ‘ambassado
r’ for the paranormal court, lied to you and tricked you all into this ridiculous conflict.”

  A few true loyalists to the crown began to stir as Jennie wove a picture of her time in New York.

  “Worthington and I were sent to the city to investigate and to put an end to the Spectral Plane. The crown deemed them an enemy to the order of things, so it was our job to eliminate that enemy. It wasn’t until several days after my arrival here that I learned the truth about what was happening in this city, and even beyond.”

  “Don’t listen to the bitch!” Camo shouted from the middle of the crowd. “She’s a liar! You all know her reputation!”

  A grumbling stir built among the crowd until several voices called, “No! Enough bullshit. Let’s hear her out!”

  “Yeah! Everyone gets a chance to speak!”

  A gun fired. The bullet whistled past Jennie’s head and took out a specter behind her.

  In a flash, the girl turned her head in the direction of the culprit and held out a hand.

  The specter dropped his gun. He began to glow white, rising off the ground and clutching his throat as though unable to breathe.

  “Let her speak,” the girl repeated, gently placing the specter back on the ground.

  The specter beside him punched him in the face and threw the gun into the crowd.

  “Thank you,” Jennie told the girl before returning her attention to the crowd. “I wish I was lying when I say the queen has betrayed us all. Rather than preserve the integrity of the court, she has maintained her throne beyond her years through a mixture of lies and deceit. She has cultivated criminals into benefiting her agenda, she has removed her own kin from the right to rule the throne, and she has worked to destabilize your great nation, a nation built on freedom and peace.”

  “Why should we trust you?” a voice called from the crowd. “You’re an oath-breaker.”

  “I never took the oath,” Jennie revealed to gasps. “And you should trust me because right is universal, and justice should always prevail. The Spectral Plane is not your enemy. They are nothing more than specters choosing a different path, and that’s their right. They do not want your land, and they do not want your culture. They just want to exist in whichever way they want to.”

  “She does make some good points,” a large woman with a booming voice declared. “Why should a queen from across the seas rule our land? Why can’t we live independently, as our mortal counterparts once fought for?”

  There was a chorus of agreement. Jennie believed the tipping point was coming. Some specters continued to stare daggers her way, others began to fall into lively discussions.

  “It comes down to this,” Jennie called, regaining control before it became impossibly loud. “What do you want from your afterlife? To live in peace, or to serve a woman thousands of miles away from you, and for what? The chance at glory? Has the queen ever visited this city?”

  Heads shook, and there was more muttering.

  “The choice is in your hands,” Jennie told them, retreating back into the Spectral Plane crowd. “Whatever you decide, you should be sure it’s the right decision, because you know I can cut down whichever head of your organizations you throw at me. Come on, Plane. Gather your wounded and let’s go.”

  Unsure of how to respond, many of the loyalists stood still and simply watched. A few shuffled and muttered awkwardly among themselves, but there were a select few who now charged through the crowd with gritted teeth, unable to let the enemy go.

  They advanced with murder in their eyes and death in their hearts—Camo, Rita, and Julian, to name a few. They broke through the edge of the crowd, but when they were inches from attacking Jennie and the Spectral Plane, the girl raised her glowing hands and every single one of them vanished into thin air.

  “Oh, yeah,” Jennie turned back to the rest of the crowd. “Anyone caught choosing war over peace gets exorcized. Did I forget to mention that?”

  They walked out of the fog and disappeared down the street as Rico dropped back to his feet and looked around, flummoxed and pained.

  Chapter Fifty-Two

  Central Park, New York City

  Central Park was nearly silent. The shadows were thick, and there wasn’t a soul in sight.

  Jennie stood before the shattered remains of the obsidian rock. The larger chunks and debris had been cleared by the park rangers, but there was still a stub embedded in the soft soil.

  The girl stood beside Jennie and stared at the ground. Behind them were Baxter, Lupe, Carolyn, Feng Mian, and Tanya.

  Tanya…that had been a fun one to fix. Jennie had used one of her other potions to knock out the police officers who had detained Tanya in the back of their car.

  The retrieval had been swift, and even now, the cops would be baffled as to what had happened. It was a mystery for when the potency of the gas wore off.

  “Spectral entrapment,” Jennie muttered. She turned to the girl. “I don’t suppose you can shed some light on what happened to you? What was that back there? Where did you learn all that?”

  The girl opened her mouth to answer, but Baxter interjected before she could.

  “Shouldn’t we start with her name?”

  Jennie gave Baxter a look, then nodded at the girl.

  “Sandra,” she replied, her voice soft and delicate. “My name is Sandra.”

  “What happened to you, Sandra?” Jennie urged. “You were so young when you died.”

  Sandra stared at the floor, her face shadowed. “All I remember is that I was walking with my mother and father through the city one night. I think…I think we were visiting the opera.”

  A girl after my own heart, Jennie thought.

  “Then, nothing—it all goes blank. There are sounds echoing in my head, screams and someone laughing. It’s all black from there. The next thing I know, I’m cocooned and unable to wake.”

  “You exorcised those specters,” Jennie told her. “Bad men who would have done a lot of harm. You did something special tonight, something we thank you for tremendously.”

  The girl blushed. “It was nothing.”

  Jennie smiled. “It was everything. Do you know the amount of power it takes to exorcise a specter? You seem to be able to do it at a whim. That’ll be a handy power to have on our side.”

  Sandra looked up at Jennie with questioning eyes. “Your side?”

  “Didn’t you hear that speech back there, kid?” Baxter asked. “The paranormal court has overplayed its hand. We need someone like you to keep people in line. Do you know how rare your gift is?”

  Sandra stared at Jennie with confusion. “The paranormal court?”

  Jennie returned Sandra’s stare with a look of concern. “You don’t know what the paranormal court is? It’s been around for generations.”

  Sandra shook her head. “I know very little of this world I find myself in.”

  Jennie got down on her knees in front of Sandra and placed her hands on the little girl’s shoulders, smiling warmly at her. “Whatever happened to you doesn’t matter anymore. What matters is that you’re here, and we’re going to keep you safe.”

  She gestured to Tanya and Lupe. “These people can take care of you, and reintroduce you to the world. They will help you to get your bearings. You’ve been through a lot, and what you’ve done for the specters of this city was invaluable. The world will always be a scary place, but as long as you’ve got people around with your best interests at heart, you’ll be fine.”

  Sandra turned slowly toward the others with doubtful eyes. They shimmered in the starlight. When she turned back to Jennie, it was with a childlike innocence she hadn’t witnessed in years.

  “I don’t know if I want to be here,” she admitted. “This world has nothing I recognize. I want my parents.”

  Jennie sighed. “We’re not going to tell you what you should do, but you do have a choice. There’s either this afterlife or the great death beyond. I’m not sure your parents will still be around in this world, so maybe true death
is the way you wish to go. But while you’re uncertain, why not try out this world for a little while and see what you can accomplish?”

  Sandra chewed her lip.

  Jennie smiled. “I meant it when I said you’re special. I’ve never seen anyone with power like yours. I bet you can perform miracles.”

  Sandra smiled and gazed at Jennie with china-plate eyes. “Do you think so?”

  “Maybe,” Jennie told her. “Besides exorcism, what can you do?”

  “I don’t know.” Sandra looked at her hands as if seeing them for the first time. “How can I find out?”

  Jennie stood up. “How about you let me try something?”

  “Very well,” Sandra agreed uncertainly.

  Jennie closed her eyes and searched for Sandra’s power. It didn’t take long; their energies connected almost instantly. The power welled up inside Jennie, and she was overwhelmed by the possibilities on offer—energies of varying frequencies, some familiar, some less so. She felt around for something she had encountered before and found herself beaming when it connected.

  “Tanya,” Jennie called, opening her eyes as the spectral energy flowed around the area. “Come closer.”

  Tanya did.

  Jennie concentrated the energy around her and sent waves of power toward Tanya.

  At first, Tanya had no idea what was going on, and then something amazing happened—a girl materialized before her eyes. She gasped when she saw Baxter, Carolyn, and Feng Mian appear as if emerging from the shadows into crystal clarity. Tears welled in her eyes, and she tried to speak but couldn’t.

  “What? What is it?” Sandra asked, aware of her energy being siphoned into the impossible.

  Jennie laughed. “You’re helping a mortal achieve her greatest dream.” She turned to Tanya. “It’s a whole new world, isn’t it?”

  Tanya was speechless. She fell to her knees and hugged Sandra tightly.

  Chapter Fifty-Three