Crossroads

by Alexie Aaron [Aaron, Alexie]

  Mike didn’t stop to introduce them. His mind was somewhere else.

  Ed sniffed the air. “Feathers,” he hissed under his breath.

  Soren walked in with Angelo, Nicholai, Victor, Seth, and Enos following. The birdmen were dressed expensively. Guests not familiar with them marveled at the tall wide-shouldered bachelors who dominated the room.

  Noah and Brian wove in and out of the crowd. Noah’s mother called to him a few times to ask him to slow down. Paula was on Burt Hicks’s arm. Burt waved at Mike who smiled when he saw the other partner of PEEPs.

  Nanny Berta and Idra walked in. Idra pulled along Father Simon. Father Santos stopped and talked to just about everyone he knew as he worked his way to his table. The Reg Martins were enjoying a conversation with Dr. Cooper at one of the front tables. They were talking about some place in Wisconsin they had visited. Ed caught Dr. Cooper looking at him. He must be remembering when Ed dragged him up there to view his cave painting.

  Soon everyone had settled. The waitstaff started to fill glasses. There was a commotion at the entrance to the ballroom, and Beverly walked in.

  Ted rose and walked down the aisle to intercept her.

  “Out of my way,” Beverly said. “I’ve come to give my blessings to the little angels.”

  “Mother!” Sabine called, leaving her table, advancing towards Beverly. “Leave them be.”

  “What a strange time to show you have a little backbone.”

  “Guillaume would not want you to do this,” Sabine said.

  “Do what?”

  “I can read your mind, remember?” Sabine snapped. “You’re going to curse the girls, Sleeping Beauty style.”

  “Dear simple Sabine, if that’s all you read, then you’re way out of practice.”

  Nanny Berta moved to corral the other children. Baxter started to conjure a force field.

  No one saw the shadow moving out from under Beverly’s feet until the elemental had broken away and a full dragon stood, crushing the Reg Martin table and those who sat there.

  Mia shouted instructions, and Murphy appeared and ushered as many people out of the ballroom as he could.

  Varden stood in front of the bassinets with his arms crossed. Victor moved to intercept, but the dragon batted the child away. Varden crashed through the window. Idra flew out after the child. The elemental had the babies in one hand and was breathing hot air into its bellows. Mia severed the hand that held her children. Ted caught the girls as they fell and ran them over to the protection of Nicholai.

  Altair moved to help. Ed put a hand on his shoulder. “It’s time to leave.”

  “We can’t leave them, they’ll be slaughtered. Where’s Sariel? Where’s Michael?”

  “This is the future. We can stop this,” Ed said and muscled the archangel out of the ballroom. They stood momentarily on the lawn as Ed prepared himself to navigate the portal back to their time. The last thing Altair saw was Idra desperately breathing life into the broken little boy whose only crime was he was that he was protecting the nest. Altair fell to his knees and prayed. Ed picked him up and threw him into the portal.

  Murphy was surprised when Altair rolled out. He lay there crying. The ghost knelt. “I take it, it was bad.”

  “More horrible than Lucifer at his best could come up with,” Altair acknowledged.

  “Shall we go and hunt Beverly down and kill her?” Murphy asked.

  “There is a better way,” Ed said, hauling Altair up by the back of his neck. “Pull yourself together. If we frighten Mia, she is going to become something no one wants.”

  “You’re right. How can you be so bloody calm?” Altair asked.

  “Because someone has to be,” Ed said. “Time is fleeting. We need help. Altair, push for a Magic Council. Tell them what we saw. Tell them to be prepared to convene on Sunday. I will bring Beverly Cooper there myself.”

  “Mia too,” Murphy said. “Mia needs to be there.”

  “You’re right,” Ed said. “We need to keep this quiet. If Beverly can conjure an elemental, then she is powerful and smart enough to have spies.”

  “We will meet in the cavern under the carriage house if we need to discuss anything. It is warded,” Altair said.

  “How?” Ed asked.

  “Baxter. He waited for Ted to embrace his destiny, and when he didn’t, Baxter stepped up,” Altair said.

  “Mia is coming,” Murphy warned.

  Mia walked into the place Ed had taken her to show her how to conjure a portal. She looked at the three, and when Altair would not look her in the eyes, she pulled Ed’s face down to hers and begged, “Tell me.”

  He allowed her to put her forehead to his, and after a while, she pulled back so sharply that she stumbled. Murphy caught her and held her until she sorted herself.

  “Ed’s right. We can’t hunt her. It’s a waste of our time. I’ll go to Baxter. We will talk in his safe space. Fear not, this future will never happen. We are meant to go to trial because, in doing so, I’ll fulfill what Mbengar hinted at. The christening will happen, but we are going to protect everyone involved. Murphy, you need to return to the house. Ted is going to put up the force field, but I still need you to watch over the children. Ed, thank you. We are forewarned. Altair, come on, I think both of us could use a drink.” Mia summoned her wings, and the two shot up into the heavens.

  “It doesn’t bother you when she bosses you around?” Murphy asked Ed.

  “No. If she was wrong, I would say something. Isn’t that why she respects you so much?”

  “You think Mia respects me?” Murphy asked.

  “I know she does. Ted may be the first eyes she seeks when she she’s feeling insecure, but yours are the eyes she seeks when she needs counsel.”

  “How do you notice all these things?”

  “Gods see more than ordinary people,” Ed said and walked away.

  Murphy moved to the office. Inside, Cid and Burt were having an argument.

  Ted looked like he had a migraine brewing. Jake as Marvin was wearing comic-sized ear plugs.

  “I’m telling you that Hiram is a prophet,” Burt said.

  “No, he’s good at seeing patterns,” Cid argued. “He’s a crackpot giving instructions to the inbred of his family.”

  “How can you say that?”

  “Too many cousins marrying.”

  Murphy pushed his hat back. “What’s going on?”

  “Cid and Burt have been reading the diaries of Hiram Monroe, Ted said. “The Monroes are the people who have owned the property north of the river since the big trees were first put into place.”

  “Okay, go on,” Murphy said.

  “Each patriarch, and then matriarch, has maintained that the trees should be left standing until it becomes apparent the world is heading into a negative spiral, and the family will release the demons to finish things off,” Ted summarized.

  “Really?” Murphy asked. “Who gave them the land in the first place?”

  “They acquired it by homesteading,” Burt said, checking his notes. “They homesteaded pretty much everything from Eagle’s Nest to Downtown Chicago.”

  “All they would have needed to show the government was that the land was prospering to own it,” Murphy said. “I don’t remember any Monroes actually farming land around these parts.”

  “I think they put people into place to do this for them. They were investors,” Cid said. “They made a lot of money. To appease the IRS, when they were being investigated for tax fraud in the sixties, they leased the Eagle’s Nest land to the federal government for a dollar a year until the trees fell in the old homestead.”

  “The trees falling would symbolize the world being too corrupt and the demons should be released,” Burt said.

  “How are the Monroes’ finances?” Murphy asked.

  “Why would this matter?” Burt asked.

  “Something Mia said after visiting with Mbengar. She said that she got the i
dea that Mbengar thought the Monroes are too lazy to work and may be working with the ghosts to get at the demons’ gold.”

  “But the demons would slaughter them,” Burt said.

  “They are also digging holes on our side of the river. Perhaps leading the demons to believe that their thieves are coming from our area,” Murphy said.

  “Damn,” Ted said. “I better look to putting up a bigger force field.”

  “They will also be coming down the road. There are holes dug in the direction of Big Bear Lake. The town is in danger,” Murphy said. “If I were thinking about robbing demons, I would stage a diversion so I could steal their gold and then blame someone else while I got away with it.”

  “Hiram wasn’t just being prophetic but reminding his heirs that there was a ton of gold on their property to be had,” Burt realized.

  “As long as they were willing to sacrifice innocents,” Cid added.

  “Okay,” Ted started. “If Murphy is right, and I’m leaning to his side of the fence right now, then you have all these demons in Big Bear Lake, killing everyone.”

  “The birdmen or angels would arrive and try to defeat them, except that these are primal demons and they don’t die. Fortunately, they don’t reproduce either,” Burt said.

  “How do you know this?” Ted asked.

  “Mia told me when she asked if I had finished reading the diaries yet.”

  “My wife does get around,” Ted said. “I take it this was one of her errands before picking up Brian.”

  “She was watching her time,” Murphy defended. “She’s also very distracted right now on another matter.”

  “Where is she now?” Ted asked.

  “She took Altair out for a drink.”

  Ted angled his head. “Maybe that’s code for something else. Altair only drinks very expensive booze, and there’s plenty in the aerie.” He smiled. “There’s also expensive booze in Quentin’s library. And if Quentin is there, so is Baxter. But Baxter can’t help us with the primal demons,” Ted said.

  “It has to be the other problem,” Murphy said.

  “Excuse me, gentlemen,” Jake said. “Before you get further off topic, let me tell you what I think. Granted, I’m not a genius, but I am greedy. Let’s look at who controls the Monroe estate. Let’s pin down who in that family knows how to control spirits. I have posted the most likely culprits on the screen.”

  One name stood out.

  “It can’t be,” Ted groaned.

  “Gloria Monroe of the New Orleans Monroes. Also known as Edward Jones’s associate in the Big Bear Lake, Gifford kidnapping. She would know how to control ghosts,” Burt said.

  “Why isn’t she locked up?” Ted asked.

  “I’ll look into it,” Jake said. He was back in seconds. “She’s got an expensive lawyer who claimed that Jones was using hypnosis to control her. Jones is not around to defend himself,” Jake said. “The judge bought it and dismissed the case, or was paid off. The Monroes, evidently, used to have a lot of influence.”

  “They did own most of northern Illinois. But what about now? Run Gloria’s finances, please,” Ted instructed.

  The trio waited while Jake analyzed the medium’s bank accounts. They were looking pretty scant.

  “Let’s see if we can find any mention of Gloria in our area recently.”

  Ted’s phone buzzed. He looked at it and excused himself and walked outside. “What’s up, pumpkin?”

  “I’m sorry for abandoning you. Altair and Ed had some concerns about security for the christening. There’s more, but I don’t feel confident speaking about it on the phone.”

  “Do you think we’re being bugged?”

  “No, but there are other ways to listen in.”

  “Gotcha. Are you coming home tonight?”

  “Yes. I’ll be home for the late feeding.”

  “Call and I’ll open the force field so you can fly in.”

  “Will do,” Mia said.

  Ted walked back in. “Cid, you wouldn’t have a copy of our guestlist for Sunday, would you?”

  “Yes. Hold on, I’ll print one for you. It’s quite a list. Why?”

  “I just want to make sure we’re not unintentionally leaving someone out,” Ted lied.

  He looked at the list of invites and acceptances. He noticed one person, no one would intentionally invite, whose name was left off. Beverly Cooper. Was Mia worried about her? She wouldn’t dare show her face at Quentin’s mansion, would she?”

  Chapter Thirty-five

  Mia walked into the library after calling Ted. She looked at Quentin regaling Altair with some of his European exploits and smiled. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned and contemplated what she was going to say to Baxter.

  “Chose your words very carefully,” he suggested, totally tuned into her mind.

  “I didn’t feel you there.”

  “I hadn’t been in your mind long,” he said. “I left a back door open for easy access.”

  “If it was anyone but you saying that, I’d have to scold you,” Mia warned.

  “Come, let them talk and drink. Altair is very distraught. Quentin has a way of brightening anyone’s bad mood.”

  Mia followed him into his office. “Can I enter your safe space?”

  Baxter took off his glasses and set them on the desk. He pulled over two chairs. Mia and he sat down facing each other. Mia walked into his eyes.

  Once again, she found herself at the pool before the entrance to the maze. She sat down to look at her reflection. She was pleased that she recognized the woman before her. Mia found a small change. She had delicate green scales behind her ears. She turned and wondered if she looked moldy.

  “They shimmer,” the Minotaur said. “Was this your choice?”

  “I have felt incomplete for some time. When it was offered, I thought about why I was accepting the gift. I determined that I wanted it, and I was not doing it just so I could communicate with the primal demons.”

  “You can’t have children anymore.”

  “I didn’t want any more.”

  “I think the birdmen will be upset.”

  “My body, my choice.”

  “Good.”

  “Altair and Ed walked into the future at my request.”

  “Give me those thoughts.”

  Mia did so. She tried to suppress the tears that fell when she relived Varden’s death. “He’s just a little boy.”

  “As you told them, this is a possible future. Now that I know, I can work on keeping the elemental out, but I agree that we should let Beverly in and send her to trial.”

  “Thank you. I’m sorry I have assumed you would help me. I intended to ask you tonight.”

  “Mia, I would be lying if I didn’t tell you that you have brought me many trials. But then I would have to admit that you have brought me adventure and joy. I feel like I did when I was running the fields, before I found out what an aberration I was.”

  “We have this in common.”

  “Yes, as does Quentin. You may have taken the beast away, but he still is a Nephilim. Are you going to retrieve your blue-star power from Roumain?”

  “No. It will only last so long inside of him. I hope he is putting it to good use. I have already taken on a small amount of light on the flight over. I seem to be able to control it. I’m not sure what all I can do now, but I know that I can survive it.”

  “Good.”

  “Mbengar said only you would know I am changed.”

  “No, I believe there are others, but they’d have to get very close to you to tell. I can tell quickly because I also have primal demon genes. I can smell you.”

  “I hope it isn’t offensive.”

  “Come here and smell me.”

  “Are you flirting with me?” Mia teased.

  Baxter roared with laughter. “You continue to push the barriers I have painstakingly put up. Be careful. Here, there is only the memory of what we
may do. Too much temptation, Mia.”

  “Yes, sire.”

  “Sir. Not sire.”

  “I’m sorry, it came naturally out of my mouth,” Mia said, embarrassed. She walked over and put her hand on his thick bull neck and leaned in and drew in his scent. “Just a faint touch of cloves and sea breezes,” Mia said. “Whoa, I better step back, I feel dizzy.”

  Baxter looked at Mia. “Intoxicating isn’t it?”

  “Yes.”

  “Tell me about the waters,” he urged.

  “There was no color, but there was no sky. I walked in, and it was cool on my body. My wings soaked up the water, and at first, this made it difficult for me to move. But I sensed that it was important to let the water have all of me. I let it fill my lungs, and I drowned. Soon it was natural to breathe the water, and my mind became clear. I opened my eyes and saw others swimming around me. Beautiful creatures from the second day.”

  “I envy you.”

  “Come into my eyes and swim with me,” Mia invited.

  Baxter walked into Mia’s eyes, and they were both humanoid again. She led him into the Second-day Sea and held him while he drowned. She swam beside him, watching him enjoy the feeling of total acceptance with every cell in accord with the other. When they had tired, they sat upon a slate ledge and dangled their feet. Baxter told her some of his happiest memories, and Mia could see them in her mind’s eye.

  He turned to her. His eyes were fierce. “I’m a killer.”

  “I’m one too.”

  “You’re a warrior. That’s not the same.”

  “Isn’t it?”

  “No. Mia, I have such a dark past that I fear I will wake one day to feel the tendrils of it pulling me down.”

  “When this happens, you must call me.”

  “Will you come even if Michael says no?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why?”

  “It is my choice what I do. I will live and die by my choices.”