Chapter 3
Billy stopped on Mount Elijah’s steep incline and wrapped his cloak tighter around his body. The frigid wind tore through the woolen material, chilling his skin. Elam had warned him that the higher elevations were much colder than the valleys, but with the potential for battle looming, he had declined to wear more layers. A swift march up the slope would have to be enough to keep him warm.
Looking back at Walter, he raised a battle shield to block the wind and pressed a finger against his lips. “Let’s keep it down.”
Puffing white streams over his own shield, Walter joined him, whispering. “How much farther?”
Billy pointed. “You can see the top. The path will switch back twice more before we get there.”
Walter angled his head to see the pinnacle. “Is that a fire?”
“Looks like they’re trying to stay warm.” Billy reached under his cloak and withdrew Excalibur from a belt scabbard. “Get ready.”
Walter opened his cloak, revealing the hilt of a sword. “I’ve got your back.”
“But who has our front?” Billy scanned the cloudy twilight skies. From the stories Valiant told, Second Eden had never experienced such overcast conditions, but ever since Angel’s lie a month ago, rain and snow had come to the land in regular cycles. With no need for the watering mists and with the next eclipse due, would the fountains erupt and flood the Valley of Shadows as before? If so, what effect would the rising water have on Abraham’s wall of fire, the protective shield that kept Flint, Goliath, and their armies from attacking the villages?
Billy grabbed Walter’s sleeve and pulled him close. “When we get to the north face again, we’ll hold there until Pegasus rises. It looks like the sky’s clearing in that direction, so maybe we’ll see the eclipse, and we can listen for the fountains. But whether we hear them or not, when it gets totally dark, that’s when we run the rest of the way to the top and attack. Excalibur’s light should scare them half to death. And if it doesn’t, the dragons will.”
“If they show up on time.” Walter looked up at the darkening sky. “No sign of them yet.”
“Dad will wait until the last minute. No use letting themselves be seen too soon. He and Hartanna know what they’re doing.”
“Yeah, but Valiant’s description of these goons makes me wonder if your father has ever faced anything like them before. And what if they really have candlestones?”
Billy nodded. Walter was right. Valiant had called them “Vacants,” empty of soul, emotions, or capacity for pain, humanoid creatures Abraham had once mentioned as if from a fairy tale. The villagers had spoken of altered tribes, but most of them had seen only the shadow people. Now, as if resurrected from ancient history, this tribe had returned to Second Eden. Why? No one knew. But since they stalked about the woods and mountains north of Founders Village but hadn’t attacked the village itself, they seemed content to keep Abraham’s people close to home, forcing Elam, Valiant, Sir Barlow, and others to maintain as many guards as possible.
Still, they had accosted the village’s patrol, making the path to Mount Elijah dangerous, so the band of Vacants guarding the top of the volcano would have to go, and with only a narrow access trail available, it seemed best to Elam to send two warriors for a surprise attack. With Acacia now fully rested, she could try again to open the portal in the volcano’s throat, if it still existed at all. Clefspeare had tried to clear the Vacants out once before but grew weak as he approached. Could that mean these creeps had a candlestone? Who could have given it to them? And how could they know that it weakened dragons?
Pointing with Excalibur, Billy whispered, “Let’s move. Remember, we’ll stop at the next switchback. That’ll be the north face.”
Soft-stepping on the gravelly path, they eased around the mountain and out of its shadow. Pegasus came into view, barely visible over the horizon. Although partially veiled by thin clouds, it shone a swath of yellowish moonlight across an array of peaks and valleys, creating a stunning portrait of a river-fed landscape, the western side of each mountain shrouded in shadows.
As a sliver of darkness passed over the edge of the huge moon, wind pummeled their bodies and flapped their cloaks. Billy pulled up his hood and pressed his back against the mountain. The rocky wall didn’t shield him from the wind, but at least it held his cloak in place.
Walter joined him at his side and pointed toward a valley. “The fountains are supposed to be somewhere over there.”
“I see bubbles in the river,” Billy said. “I’ll bet that’s where they spring up.”
“Yep. They’re about to blow, all right.”
“Perfect. The noise should help.”
Leaning his head against the mountain, Walter looked at Billy. “You ever think back to how all this started? I mean, how we teamed up?”
Billy nodded. “When did you first know I was different?”
“When you breathed on your Pop-tart on the bus, and it toasted on the spot.”
“That soon? I didn’t know you noticed.”
“I didn’t know your breath would turn into fire, but I noticed.” Walter pulled out his sword. “And I’m glad I did. Life’s been awesome ever since.”
The shadow crossed the moon’s halfway point, further darkening their surroundings. “Are you ready for another battle?” Billy asked.
“Fire up that sword, and I’ll follow the glow.”
“Just a couple more minutes, I think.” Listening for a rush of water, Billy kept his gaze locked on the skies. Just a hint that his father lurked nearby would be a big help. These Vacants sounded as bad as the Nephilim, maybe worse. And with Excalibur acting in an unpredictable manner, who could tell how effective it would be? Still, it had always provided at least a bit of light, and the blade was as sharp as ever. If necessary, he could also use his fire breathing, but that would have to wait until they engaged the Vacants in close conflict. He didn’t want to accidently scorch Walter.
When the last slice of Pegasus drained away, Billy summoned a bare glow from Excalibur, just enough to see the path in front of him, a path wide enough for the two of them to march side by side. He stepped away from the mountain and whispered, “Ready?”
Walter sidled up close. “Let’s do it.”
Craning his neck, Billy listened for the fountains. Although the wind whistled past his ears, a sudden rush burst through. Water raged somewhere in the distance.
Billy threw off his cloak and charged ahead, Excalibur leading the way. With Walter in the darkness behind him, he concentrated on the path, resisting the urge to summon a brighter light. The closer they could get without alerting the Vacants, the better.
As he rounded the final switchback, a shout reached his ears, then another. Excalibur’s glow covered the mountaintop, revealing several scurrying shadows on its flat surface. Two shadows charged down the path, both with blades reflecting the glow, but before they could reach Billy, a blast of fire ripped across the sky and doused the pair with flames, fanned by beating wings that rushed by in the darkness above.
Billy and Walter hopped over the writhing, burning bodies and ran on. Another stream of orange splashed onto the very top of the mountain, energizing the Vacants’ campfire. With flames now illuminating the scene, Billy made a quick count. About five of the goons remained. Not a problem.
All five charged, swords bared and spears raised. Billy waded into them, slashing with all his might, shooting fire from his mouth, and blocking their blows with his shield. After dismembering one and setting another ablaze, he burst through to the other side and swung around. Walter battled two Vacants, swiveling back and forth to meet their swords with his, while a third approached from his rear.
As Billy set his feet to attack again, dizziness flooded his mind. Nausea boiled in his stomach. Was a candlestone around? No matter. He had to fight.
“Walter! Behind you!” Walter spun, but too late. The Vacant stabbed him in the side with a spear. As Walter slumped to his knees, Billy charged, again slashing with Excalibur, but this time only smoke spewed from his mouth.
After crashing into one of the Vacants and knocking him down the slope, Billy lopped the head off the one who stabbed Walter and kicked its body off the side of the mountain. In the distance, a shadow fled away, probably an escaping Vacant.
His shoulders now sagging, Billy faced the final opponent, a tall brute of a man. With a spear uplifted and ready to throw, the Vacant held something in his other hand, something that emitted a dim beam of light.
Billy gulped. His arms wilted, unable to lift his sword and shield. He couldn’t fight. He couldn’t even run. His legs refused to budge.
Just as the Vacant slung his spear, a voice bellowed from above.
“Son! Drop to your belly!”
Billy threw himself to the ground. The spear swished over his head. A thud sounded, then a ripping noise. Soon, only the rush of water and the whistling wind reached his ears. With strength returning to his muscles, he pushed up to his hands and knees and turned toward Walter. “You all right, buddy?”
Now on his stomach, Walter clawed the path, groaning. “Nope. Guess again.”
“I’m coming.” As Billy crawled toward him, a sudden wind beat his hair into a frenzy. A dragon landed on the volcano’s flat top, its wings outstretched.
“Son!” Clefspeare called. “Are you wounded?”
“I’m okay, but Walter’s pretty bad.”
Clefspeare raised his head and trumpeted. When his call died away, he shuffled his body toward Billy. “I signaled Hartanna. She carried the candlestone bearer to his doom, but she is now weak. I will take Walter to our healers, and she will carry you back to the village as soon as she is able.”
“I’ll check out the hole,” Billy said. “That’s what we came for.”
“It is dark. Be careful. We will return with Acacia in the daylight.” With a beat of his wings, Clefspeare rose into the air, passed over Billy, and picked up Walter in his claws. Rising and falling in the whipping wind, the great dragon disappeared in the darkness.
Billy climbed to his feet and, clutching Excalibur, staggered toward the portal hole on the mountain’s flat top. He summoned the brightest glow the sword would give and passed the light across the volcano’s throat. A pile of boulders plugged the hole. The Vacants must have torn down the remnants of the wall that once arched over this circular floor and rolled them in.
He leaned against the pile. There was way too much debris to dig through by himself, and Acacia would be needed to open the portal. No use wearing himself out before she arrived.
As he searched the dark skies, a sliver of Pegasus appeared from behind its eclipsing shadow. Light seeped out and spread across the starry canopy, turning it purple and magenta. The rush of water eased, a sure sign that the eclipse had reached its waning minutes.
He looked at the river’s source. Fountains still pushed water well above the surface, breaking off chunks of ice as the flow surged past the edges of a glacier. With light continuing to clarify every detail, he walked to one of the dead Vacants and used the flat of his blade to turn the creature’s head face up. Although his facial features somewhat resembled that of humans—two eyes, one nose, one mouth—their sizes and positions differed. The mouth sat lower, near the chin, much smaller than normal, more like a guppy’s mouth. Its eyes, still open, were also lower, one on each side of a central nose, if you could call it a nose. It looked more like a doorknob with breathing holes. And the eyeballs? As big as ping pong balls yet as dark as coal, they reflected the moon, seemingly without a defined iris or pupil.
As the glow from Pegasus continued to brighten, he moved the sword to the Vacant’s arm, the site of his fatal wound. Covered with a metal-reinforced sleeve, an elbow-length stub oozed dark blood. Was the blood black, or just dark red?
Billy looked away. Just two years ago this sight would have made him gag, but now it brought a sense of heaviness—so much fighting, so much bloodshed, so much evil in every realm. And now he was a warrior, called to battle on every front. Sure, he had become strong, and he had courage. And, yes, he could handle a sword with the best of them. But what good was all of that when his primary reason for wielding his sword was far away in another world? Would he ever see Bonnie again?
As he walked back to the volcano’s throat, he looked again at the massive moon, as bright as two Earth moons now that its time of darkness had slipped away. This place was so different—shadow people, Vacants, odd swamp folks, and a peaceful group of humans training for battle while a protective wall of fire slowly ebbed.
Yes, it was different … and dangerous, even to the point of death, especially now for Walter. Would he even survive his wound?
Billy picked up one of the stones plugging the hole and heaved it down the slope. At least he could move some of this stuff out of the way while he waited. It would take his mind off Bonnie and Walter.
After a minute or so of hauling rocks, he sat down on one of the larger ones. He was wrong. Images of his friends stayed locked in his mind. He looked up at the sky. Hartanna couldn’t show up soon enough.
After stopping at their hovel to put on their backpacks, Bonnie and Shiloh ran side by side through the main corridor, Bonnie carrying a flickering lantern. Because of the delay, they had to hurry to catch up with the others.
Bonnie stopped at the mouth of the escape tunnel to her right, a narrower passage that ascended at a sharp angle. “Lights out?”
“Probably a good idea,” Shiloh said. “Sapphira can always relight it with her patented, ‘Ignite.’”
Lifting the glass, Bonnie blew out the flame. Now in darkness, she whispered, “A little slower now.”
The two scurried up the incline, feeling the walls on each side as they climbed. Soon, shouts and a clamor of metal on rocks echoed through the passage.
“The girl’s on fire! What is she, a demon?”
Craning her neck to listen, Bonnie slowed her pace further. That was a male voice, strained and unfamiliar.
“Sapphira!” someone else called. “Get back! He’s got a gun!”
Bonnie grabbed Shiloh’s arm. “That was Gabriel!”
As they dashed ahead, a bright glow came into view and guided their way. When they neared the source, they crept close to the wall, staying in the shadows. Sapphira stood at the center of the tunnel, completely ablaze in white flames that spread from one wall to the other. Behind her, Gabriel shielded the former dragons with his wings.
Three men stood on Sapphira’s far side, one with a rifle poised at his shoulder. A pile of rubble blocked the way beyond them, dust swirling from an apparent collapse. The rushing air proved that a vent somewhere still allowed passage to the outside.
“Vlad,” the tallest man shouted. “Shoot her! Just shoot her!”
“I can’t!” Vlad’s rifle trembled. “She’s just a girl, Nolan! I can’t shoot a girl.”
Her white hair streaming in the flames, Sapphira formed a fireball in her hands. “Do you want to see me throw like a girl?”
A short, bearded man climbed up the pile of rubble. “She’s a demon, I tell you. I’m outta here.” He disappeared through a hole in the rocks.
Sapphira threw the ball against the pile. White-hot flames splashed all around. “That was a warning,” she said as she fashioned a new ball. “The next one will roast your flesh.”
Nolan snatched the rifle. “If you won’t do it, I will!”
Gabriel burst through the wall of flames and leaped for the gunman. The moment he reached for the barrel, the rifle went off with a loud pop.
Sapphira’s body snapped back and dropped to the ground. Her flames dwindled as the gunshot’s echo reverberated in the tunnel.
“Sapphira!” Bonnie scrambled toward her.
Nolan kicked Gabriel in the groin, then smacked the side of his head with the barrel, sending him crashing against the wall. Gabriel slumped and slid to the floor, out cold, or worse.
Now with only lantern flames lighting the tunnel, Nolan turned the rifle toward Bonnie, Shiloh, and the others as they huddled around Sapphira. “Vlad, find the one they call Bonnie and get her out of here.”
Bonnie angled her face toward the shadows. She had to protect her secret and get to Second Eden. If she couldn’t hide or escape from these intruders, all would be lost.
“I’m Bonnie,” Rebekah said, rising to her full height. “Take me, and leave the others alone.”
Nolan jerked a photo from his shirt pocket. Holding it close to his eyes, he glanced between it and Rebekah. “Liar!” He handed the photo to Vlad. “Use this to find her. I’ll cover you.”
Bonnie kept her head low, listening to Sapphira’s rapid breaths. Blood spilled from a shoulder wound, and her eyelids fluttered. “I’m okay,” Sapphira whispered. “Let him get close, and I’ll—”
“I’m Bonnie.” Shiloh stood and stepped into the lanterns’ glow, faking an American accent. “Now put down that gun, and I’ll go without a fight.”
Vlad set the photo close to Shiloh’s face. “She’s the one, all right.”
“Get her in the chopper and tie her up,” Nolan said, waving the rifle toward the exit hole.
Vlad pulled a dagger from his belt and pressed the tip against Shiloh’s chin. “Get moving.”
As Shiloh climbed the rubble, Nolan lowered the barrel. “Now that we have what we came for, the rest of you stay here for ten minutes. Then you’re free to go.”
After looking back at Gabriel, Shiloh disappeared through the hole, followed seconds later by Vlad.
“Where are you taking her?” Rebekah demanded.
Nolan smirked. “To someone who pays very well, but I’m sure he would be rather angry with me if I revealed his identity or his whereabouts.” He backed toward the rubble, a hint of unsteadiness in his step. “Now, if you’ll excuse me.”
Sapphira reached for Bonnie’s hand. “Help me up,” she whispered. “I hear pain in his voice. It’s happening.”
“What’s happening?” Still angling her face away from the gunman, Bonnie locked wrists with Sapphira and hoisted her to her feet. “What are you talking about?”
“You’ll see.” Sapphira faced Nolan as he climbed the pile, the rifle still pointed her way. “Feeling bad, Nolan?” she asked.
He paused at the edge of the hole and squinted at her. His head lolled like that of a drunken man. “I … I feel fine.”
Sapphira reached to her shoulder, smeared blood onto her palm, and showed it to Nolan. “He who spills the blood of an Oracle of Fire will surely die.”
Heaving shallow, choking breaths, Nolan clutched his shirt as he gasped his words. “You are a demon … or some … some kind of witch.”
Sapphira’s hand ignited from the heel to the tips of her fingers. The blood sizzled and burned away. “Tell us where your partner is taking Bonnie.”
With sweat streaming down his three-day beard, Nolan gagged, barely able to speak. “Will you … let me … live?”
“Tell us!” Sapphira shouted. “You are in God’s hands now.”
Nolan stared at his hands with wide eyes. The fingers touching his rifle smoldered, as if on fire. Then, sparks erupted from the tips, like holiday sparklers—white and orange. He threw down the gun and shook his hand, but the flames ate away his fingers, faster and faster.
The fingers on his other hand ignited, then his feet and lower legs. He collapsed, rolled down the pile of rubble, and writhed on the ground, every extremity ablaze, including his scalp. His arms now just flailing nubs, he screamed. “Curse you! Curse you all, dragons and demons alike!”
Bonnie turned her head. It was awful, just too awful. Flickers of light from his engulfed body painted the wall, and his fading screams and the odor of burning flesh assaulted her senses. Soon, all was quiet.
Turning back, Bonnie looked for him but found only a heap of bones, charred and smoldering.
Rebekah picked up the rifle and pointed it at the escape hole. “I’ll need three to come with me. The rest of you stay here to help our wounded. Alithia, check on Gabriel.”
One of the former dragons, a short, stocky lady, ran to Gabriel’s side and pressed her fingers against his throat. “He’s alive.”
After Rebekah climbed through the hole, Dallas and two others followed. Then, when all three had disappeared, Rebekah poked her head back through. “Hide the bones. I’ll send someone back with a report as soon as I can.”
Bonnie stooped beside Gabriel and touched his caretaker’s arm. “Does he need a doctor?”
“I am a doctor … Kaylee Saunders, M.D.” She pulled Gabriel’s eyelids up and peered in. “He’s unconscious. Let’s get some water.”
Rotating her wounded shoulder, Sapphira looked at Bonnie. “Can you lead them to the spring?”
“Of course.” Bonnie peeked at Sapphira’s back but saw no blood, no obvious exit wound. “And you’ll need to soak, too. Maybe Dr. Saunders can get that bullet out.”
“I’d like to wait for word on Shiloh,” Sapphira said, “and the Foleys and Yereq.”
Bonnie picked up a lantern and held it close to Sapphira’s shoulder. Blood dampened a splotch the size of two hands. “No way. We have to clean that wound and stop the bleeding. Besides, those guys might come back for their partner.”
“So we have to make sure they can’t.” Wincing, Sapphira glared at the hole in the rubble. “I’m still well enough to stop them.”
Dr. Saunders looked up at one of the other former dragons. “Dorian, hide the bones and stand guard. If someone comes through besides one of our own, come and warn us.”
“How will I find you?” Dorian asked. “I know not the path to the spring.”
Bonnie pointed into the darkness. “Go to the end of this tunnel. Turn left, then right again when you hear the sound of water.”
“Very well.” Dorian bowed her head. “If they pursue me, I will lead them away from your refuge and then return and warn you.”
While the other former dragons carried Gabriel, Sapphira and Bonnie led the way, Sapphira with a weak ball of fire in her hand and Bonnie with a lantern in hers. Whenever they jostled him, Gabriel mumbled a few indecipherable words.
Bonnie kept a close eye on Sapphira. At times, her gait wobbled as she negotiated the descent, but she always managed to straighten again. With her white eyebrows bent low and her red lips pursed, she seemed to be battling intense pain. That bullet had likely damaged more tissue than she had let on.
When they reached the passage to the spring, the sound of falling water and a rush of wet air filled the tunnel. After traversing a short path, they entered an enormous chamber. Their lights flashed into the upper reaches, revealing a cathedral-like ceiling.
Steamy springs cascaded from three holes near the top of a flowstone wall, dropping down a stair-step array of flat rocks before joining into one stream. At each level, water collected in pools behind and around the rocks, some neck-deep and some barely deep enough to scoop up a handful. Overhead, stalactites dripped cool limestone water, making the chamber feel like a storm had just passed as the sodden branches of imaginary trees trickled their excess on passersby.
Bonnie set her lantern by one of the deeper pools, her favorite place to sit and soak. The rocks within the stream formed a bench, perfect for relaxing. When she sat in this pool, the surface reached up to her neck, and a waterfall poured a hot shower just beyond her feet, sending a warm current her way.
The former dragons laid Gabriel gently on the stone floor. Tamara sat next to him and propped his head on her thigh. “His breathing is good,” she said. “He’s still mumbling, but his eyes are closed.”
“Then Sapphira is our priority.” Dr. Saunders eyed her shoulder. “If I cut the bullet out, am I subject to the Oracle’s curse? You will certainly bleed more.”
“No worries,” Sapphira said. “Paili once removed a splinter from my foot. I bled, but she was fine. Apparently, if the blood-letting is for healing rather than for harm, you’re safe.”
“That’s good enough for me.” Dr. Saunders reached for Sapphira’s shirt. “Let’s get this off and have a look.”
Sapphira glanced at Gabriel. “Okay, but—”
The doctor followed her line of sight. “Don’t worry. He’s unconscious. I think he’ll see only stars for quite a while.”
As she pulled up the bottom hem, Gabriel called out, “Wait!”
Dr. Saunders lowered Sapphira’s shirt. “Ah! You’re awake!”
Gabriel sat up, holding a hand against his forehead. “I might be seeing stars, but I don’t want to risk seeing any other heavenly bodies.”
“Ladies,” Bonnie said with a smile, “we have a true gentleman among us.”
Sapphira pointed at a plastic basin near a lower pool. “There’s a sponge in that basin. Someone can take that and help Gabriel back to the tunnel.”
Bonnie stepped down the stony staircase, filled the basin with cooler water from an estuary pool, and she and Tamara supported Gabriel as they walked to the outer passage. After helping him sit with his wings spread comfortably behind him, Bonnie mopped the back of his head with the sponge. “There’s some blood here.”
“Yeah, I felt it. I don’t think it’s too bad.” Opening his eyes fully, he looked at Bonnie. “So … what happened to Shiloh?”
As she wrung out the sponge, Bonnie tightened her jaw. “They took her,” was all she could manage.
Gabriel’s wings fell limp. “I see.”
Bonnie swallowed down a painful lump. For some reason, Shiloh’s sacrifice brought feelings of shame. Why didn’t the real Bonnie stand and say, “I’m Bonnie”? But what choice did she have? Enoch had told her to stay hidden, to keep her wings secret. And now this very event might have been the one Enoch had planned for, to use Shiloh as a decoy to keep the real Bonnie safe.
But that didn’t help much. Poor Shiloh now sat in the clutches of a stranger who promised to take her to some unnamed person who obviously didn’t have her best interests in mind. What would he do if he discovered she wasn’t the real Bonnie? How long could Shiloh keep up the charade?
Again dabbing his head wound, Bonnie told Gabriel what happened during the moments he lay unconscious. Although the events themselves seemed to transpire in slow motion, unfolding in the span of several minutes when they occurred, retelling them took far less time.
“So,” she said, wringing out the sponge again, “we’re waiting on word from Rebekah, and those guys might come back to find out what happened to Nolan.”
“I don’t think they’re worried about retrieving a hack like him, but if they figure out Shiloh’s not who she says she is …”
“That’s what I was thinking.”
“Then we need to set a trap,” Gabriel said, “something that’ll keep them from ever returning.”
“Like what?”
“We’ll ask Sapphira.” Gabriel leaned on one hand and reached for Bonnie with the other. “In the meantime, help me up. I want to go outside and see if I can help Rebekah.”
Bonnie shook her head. “No way. You might have a concussion. I’m sure Rebekah can handle it. She seems like a ball of fire.”
“Did someone mention my name?”
Bonnie turned toward the voice. As lantern light grew closer, the silhouettes of two females took shape, and their faces clarified. “Keep going, Bonnie,” Rebekah said, smiling. “I was enjoying your conversation.”
“It’s nothing I wouldn’t say to your face. You’re a real go-getter.” Bonnie raised her eyebrows. “So what did you find out?”
Rebekah gestured toward the escape tunnel. “I saw two helicopters taking off. One looked empty except for the pilot, and Vlad sat in the front passenger seat of the other one. I thought I saw Shiloh in the back, but I wasn’t sure. There were two dead guys on the ground, pretty much mangled, like a wild beast had torn into them. I guess Yereq did that before he left. I saw a lot of blood, but no sign of anyone else.”
“So Yereq must have taken the Foleys somewhere to get help,” Bonnie said. “And he tried to block the tunnel before he left.”
“And we finished the job.” Dallas pointed at herself with her thumb. “Dorian and Elise are still back there sweeping up bones.”
“So we’re trapped?” Bonnie asked.
Gabriel managed a pain-streaked smile. “If Rebekah is as smart as I think she is, she made sure we have a way out.”
Rebekah grinned at Dallas. “What did I tell you?”
Dallas rolled her eyes. “You were right, as usual.”
“So you did?” Bonnie said. “How?”
“Oh, you’ll see soon enough.” Rebekah stooped next to Bonnie. “So how’s the hero?”
Gabriel ran a hand through his hair. “Singed a few follicles and put a new dent in my head, but with all these brilliant ladies taking care of me, I’ll be as good as new in no time.”
“And Sapphira?” Dallas asked.
“I think the doctor wanted to do surgery, but I’m not sure how she can. We have a razor blade, and I’m sure Sapphira can sterilize it, but without anesthesia …”
A shrill cry sounded from the springs, followed by a muffled moan. A pain-filled lament filled the tunnel, its echo repeating several times before it faded away.
Tears flooded Bonnie’s eyes. With Shiloh in trouble, Gabriel hurt, Yereq missing, and Sapphira suffering through surgery, everything seemed to be going wrong all at once.
She looked around at her three companions, each face darkened by worry and the dimness of the tunnel. In many ways, this place felt like the candlestone, a dark prison that forced its captives to wait for outside help while trusting in friends in higher places.
She took Gabriel’s hand, barely able to speak. “Will you sing a prayer with me?”
“You bet.” Gabriel slid back against a wall and rested his head. “What song?”
“The one you taught me when I was six years old, remember?”
“How could I forget?” Gabriel let out a long sigh. “I’ve sung it a hundred times since then, especially while you were in the candlestone.”
“I was just thinking about that place. How did you know I was in there?”
Gabriel caressed her hand. “I saw you. I was with you.”
“You were? If you were light energy, why didn’t I see you? I could see everyone else in there.”
“You didn’t see me? I surrounded you when you first got there, when Devin tried to grab you.”
“You were the cage of light?”
He nodded. “Apparently, God allowed me to become visible when you needed me most.”
“Like in the bedroom when I was six.” Bonnie again imagined that day long ago when Gabriel first appeared to her. She had been devastated by her father’s cruel remarks about her wings, and Gabriel comforted her with a song.
“Right,” Gabriel said. “And when Palin was ready to cut you open on your thirteenth birthday. My energy field somehow lit up a poster of a guardian angel, and the glow let Palin see you. I think when he figured out that you were a girl, he couldn’t kill you. So he just left. I guess he never told Devin.”
“That’s amazing! I didn’t even know that happened!”
Gabriel smiled. “I wish I could tell you all the ways God protected you. Maybe now that we’ll be together for a while, I can. But I think when you were six, that was the most special time.”
“Me, too. The prayer has stayed in my mind ever since.” Now on her knees, Bonnie gave him a hug and kissed his cheek. “I don’t think I could’ve made it without you, but …”
“But what?”
“I feel so ashamed. When you never became visible again, I kind of forgot about you. I started wondering if you were just in my imagination, you know, the hopeful dream of a six-year-old. Then, when I turned thirteen, I saw Sapphira. She told me you were there, so that’s when I started hoping again, hoping I really had a guardian angel, but I never told anyone, not even Billy. I wasn’t sure anyone would believe me.”
A tear dripped down Gabriel’s cheek. He looked at her for a moment, his chin trembling. “I think—”
Another shriek sounded from the springs chamber, long and sharp, then a series of halting wails.
Bonnie covered her mouth and breathed her words through her fingers. “Poor Sapphira!”
Gabriel straightened. “We’d better start singing.” He looked up at Rebekah and Dallas. “Care to join us?”
Both ladies sat on the floor, cross-legged. “If we don’t know the words,” Rebekah said, “we’ll hum along.”
Bonnie settled beside Gabriel and clutched his hand tightly. Everything seemed so dark, so hopeless. When she was in the candlestone, her song always made her own body brighter and created a shield that protected her from Devin. Now it felt like she needed a shield more than ever, and a cascading waterfall of light to chase away the shadows.
Taking a deep breath, she began singing, and Gabriel joined in on the second word.
Whither shall I go from thy spirit?
Or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there:
If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
If I take the wings of the morning,
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
Even there shall thy hand lead me,
and thy right hand shall hold me.
If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me;
even the night shall be light about me.
Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee;
but the night shineth as the day:
The darkness and the light are both alike to thee.
Exhaling heavily, Bonnie looked at each of her fellow singers in turn. All eyes glistened. In each face, sadness blended with hope. Despair had fled away.
Still holding Gabriel’s hand, Bonnie loosened her grip. They had done all they could do here. It was time to add action to their prayers.
She stood and helped Gabriel to his feet. “Let’s set that trap we talked about,” she said. “I’m ready to catch a few kidnappers.”