Lucifer paced his high-rise penthouse like an animal in a glass cage. They’d taken her. They’d taken his prize. The stench of Soulkeeper still burned in his nostrils.
“I saw her. It was the redheaded twin again,” Cord said. “The one called Bonnie.”
“Again she gets the best of you,” Lucifer snapped.
Cord physically recoiled. Fortunately, at that moment, Auriel burst through the door, red heels click-clacking on the tile foyer.
“Did I miss it? Have you issued the curse?” she asked breathlessly.
“No, dear. It wouldn’t be half as fun without you.”
“Good. It’s a pain in the ass only traveling at night.”
“Yes, the Great Oppressor’s last gift is certainly problematic. But since he chose to bring us into the light, let’s not disappoint him by hiding under a bushel.”
“My lord?” Auriel asked.
“Elysium was successful. We have addicts pounding on our doors for more of the drug. Do you know why it worked, Cord?”
Cord cringed to have Lucifer’s attention back on him. He thought quickly and tried to give an intelligent answer. “Because people didn’t want to be sick anymore. The humans say the virus causes constant pain. They think they will die without the medicine.”
“Exactly, my wretched friend. They fear death. We must make them fear us.”
“Us?” Auriel questioned.
He slammed his fist into the back of the sofa. “We must bring them death and destruction, and when they loathe us and cringe in our presence, then we will save them.”
“Save the humans?” Cord asked.
“Why yes. We must save them to win them. Harrington Enterprises is going into the Watcher eradication business.”
“You want to kill our own,” Auriel said, appalled.
“Of course not,” Lucifer chided. “Don’t be an idiot, Auriel. It will all be for show. Amulets, security systems, repellents. We will invent dozens of products and command our Watchers to respond to them. Harrington will make a mint and Milton Blake’s face will be on every box.”
“Your face.” Cord grinned. “Brilliant. They will love you and turn their hearts to you.”
“Exactly.” Lucifer approached Cord, fire blazing in his pupils. “Do you hate the Soulkeeper that stole your illusion?”
“Beyond hate, my lord. I wish to pull out her teeth one by one before I remove each of her organs by hand,” Cord said through his teeth.
“Good. I choose you as my vessel for the third curse.”
“My pleasure.”
Lucifer strode to the kitchen and procured a pair of scissors from the knife block. “Come here,” he said.
Cord obeyed, approaching the counter quickly, although with the shivering limbs of a dead man walking.
Lucifer pointed at the granite. “Rest your head here.”
Cord swallowed hard, then lowered his cheek to the cold countertop. Lucifer positioned his hand over Cord’s profile, scissors finding the tip of his pinky finger. With a firm grasp, he clipped that piece of flesh, the black stump falling into Cord’s ear canal. While his finger healed itself, Lucifer watched his dismembered digit transform into a black worm that worked its way into Cord’s skull.
“Ahhhhhh!” Cord screeched, banging his head on the counter until his black blood splattered the kitchen. “Get it out! GET IT OUT!”
“It only takes a moment,” Auriel said without empathy.
Soon, Cord’s thrashing slowed, then stopped. Carefully, he pulled himself to a standing position. “What did you do to me?”
“I simply enhanced your explosive personality, my friend.”
Cord smoothed back his black hair and straightened his suit.
“Remember, when you terrorize the humans, you must look like a Watcher.” Lucifer lowered his chin. “Milton Blake cannot be associated with the monsters.”
“I understand, my lord.”
“Now, my gift to you.”
Cord cocked his head to the side inquisitively. Lucifer did not give gifts.
“Auriel, can you inform Cord of your latest news.”
She nodded. “It seems one of our teachers at Paris High School saw redheaded twins visiting a local flower shop the night Abigail was stolen from us. The two went in but never came out. Seems Paris is a hotbed of Soulkeeper activity.”
“Redheaded twins. The one they call Bonnie?”
She laughed. “Oh yes. But be careful. If the shop is the entrance to Eden, your attack must be unexpected and efficient. The Healer is still living there. Remember what she did to you.”
“I remember.”
Lucifer nodded. “Leave Malini for me. The others you are welcome to kill.”
Cord growled and headed for the door. “My pleasure.”
“Do you have the weapons packed?” Malini asked Lillian.
“Ethan and I have been packing all day. We have a duffle bag for each Soulkeeper. Everybody carries their own.” Lillian yanked the elastic from her hair and reformed her ponytail, tighter, smoother. The Horseman showed no emotion over the task. Her eyes weren’t wet with tears, and she didn’t look around the dojo mournfully. But Malini knew she felt it, the aching loss. All of them did.
Ethan zipped the last bag and caught Malini’s eye. “Are you sure this is necessary? I mean, this place has been here literally since the beginning. Adam and Eve and that whole section of the Bible no one reads that lists their descendants.” He slipped his hands into his back pockets. “Seems like a pretty safe place.”
“Sorry, Ethan. I know it seems impossible, but Abigail learned Lucifer’s third curse would target Eden.”
“Maybe it’s a trick. Maybe Lucifer planted that knowledge to get us all to leave the only place we’d be safe.”
“It wasn’t Lucifer who told her,” Malini said. “Listen, we don’t have time for this. You have to trust me.”
He sighed. “You’re the boss. Gonna go finish packing.” Ethan shouldered past her and headed for the west wing.
“Was it just me or did you sense a little attitude coming off him?”
Lillian grabbed the closest two bags and started lining them up along the hall. “You can’t blame him, Malini. This idea seems half-baked. First you and Abigail tell us that the safest place on Earth isn’t safe anymore. Then, you fully admit that you have no idea where we will go next. I’m surprised Grace hasn’t thrown a full-out hissy fit.”
Malini frowned. “It might still be coming. Then again, she’s wanted to go back to Nebraska for months. Maybe she hopes this will be her opportunity.”
“Look, I know you’re the Healer and I trust in that, okay. But even you must realize how crazy this seems.”
“I am the Healer,” Malini said firmly. “And this isn’t easy for me. But it’s the right thing to do. We leave in fifteen.”
Lillian nodded and reached for another two bags.
“Listen, I don’t mean to be rude. This is hard for me too. I…” Malini paused. A knot had formed in the pit of her stomach, and a chill started in her fingertips and coursed to her heart.
A ghost formed in the center of the room. At first she thought it was Jesse, but as the body solidified, she recognized the pink-streaked dark hair and piercings of an old and powerful friend.
“Mara!” Malini said. The immortal, Time, was pale and sweating.
“I can’t … stop … it … Malini. Run. RUN!” Mara dissolved.
BOOM! The ground beneath the dojo shook, an earthquake that knocked her into the wall. Malini stared at the air where Mara had been, stunned. Thankfully, Lillian’s gift kicked into gear.
“Take these,” she said, throwing two insanely heavy duffle bags over her shoulder and pulling Malini toward the foyer. “Jesse!” she yelled. “Archibald!”
Both poofed into existence as another tremor almost knocked Malini on her backside.
“Ghost, bring the rest of the bags. We have to go, now,” Lillian said. “Archie, full alert. Tell everyone we must evacuate now.” She half dragged Malini by the elbow toward the door.
“Wait!” Malini dug her heels in, but Lillian would have none of the stopping. She hooked an arm around her waist and dragged her on. “Lilly, we need to find Jacob!”
“Jacob can take care of himself, Malini. You need to go now.”
“I’m not leaving without him.”
In a feat of strength that would have been impossible if she wasn’t a Soulkeeper, Lillian hurled Malini and her two bags toward the door. “I will find him, Malini, only if you get to that boat. We need our Healer.”
Ghost arrived then, looking like an ant under a huge pile of bags. “I got this,” he said to Lillian. He kicked the door open for Malini, just as the place shook so hard the jewels encrusting the walls rained around them.
“Come on!” Ghost ushered her down the hill to the boat. He helped her stow the bags up front and guided her into the seat farthest from the dock. “It’s better this way, Malini. The others can load faster.”
The worry in his voice wasn’t lost on her. She was worried, too.
The twins arrived first, Samantha launching herself into Ghost’s arms before she even dropped her bags. Gideon, Grace, Cheveyo, and Abigail came down next, the first two helping Abigail into the boat. Malini thought she looked stronger, but nowhere near ready for this.
The earth shook again, causing Grace, who was still on the dock, to stumble backward. Crack! A piece of the shoulder of one of the cherubim crumbled off and splashed into the water.
“You shouldn’t have waited for us,” Lillian yelled. Jacob, Dane, and Ethan leapt, bags and all, into the boat. Lillian untied the vessel from the dock. “Lee! Come on!”
Looking surprisingly lithe, Lee’s feet slapped the dock. With everything he had, he jumped in, simultaneously pushing the boat off.
Malini breathed a sigh of relief that everyone was on board, but the feeling didn’t last. BOOM! The world shook. The cherubim came apart around them. Huge chunks of gold sailed toward their over-packed ship. Malini covered her head with her arms.
“I’ve got it,” Ethan said.
Malini chanced a glance. Ethan deflected one after another from the boat, pieces splashing into the water around them. By the time they reached the river, his nose was bleeding.
“Almost there,” he said. Malini thought it might have been for his own benefit.
Jacob took that as a hint. “Let’s not prolong the experience.” He held his hand over the water and the boat jerked forward, the water propelling them into the cave. The boat slid to a stop on a heap of white sand as usual. Only the expected serenity of the cave was replaced by madness. The walls were coming apart around them.
“Crap, I got nothing left!” Ethan cried from the center of a storm of rubble.
Malini grabbed as many bags as she could carry and threw herself over the side of the boat. She tripped in the sand. A hand scooped under her arm and pulled her forward. Lee. He kicked a falling stone away from her head then launched her ahead into the passageway.
Bodies crowded the corridor, up the winding staircase. Jacob’s hand found hers. And then light. The trap door was open. Too late. The walls were caving in. The shop was on fire!
Suddenly, Uncle John’s face was in front of hers. “This way! Out the back!”
Suspended in a sea of shoulders and bags, she spilled into the alleyway and was pushed into a white delivery van. Jacob, Dane, and Ethan piled in before the doors slammed shut. The engine roared to life, Lillian behind the wheel. She reversed into the street and floored the accelerator.
Through the windshield, Malini stared at the burning streets of Paris. A woman bolted in front of the van, forcing Lillian to slam on the brakes to keep from running her over. She was gone in a flash. Malini didn’t even recognize who it was, although she knew everyone in Paris. But she did recognize the Watcher the woman was running from. Surrounded by fire and falling rubble, the snake-skinned beast walked toward the van, wings outstretched, with the unmistakably prideful gait that could only belong to one Watcher.
Cord.