Naomi flew down the road, careening around curves, sliding on gravel, clinging to the handlebars of the ATV with sweat-slick palms. While she drove, she swore. When she had run through her limited and mostly G-rated repertoire, she started all over again. She was simultaneously terrified and filled with the kind of joy that kept making her breath catch and hold.
Piper was here.
Naomi had known – she had felt for days how close her daughter was. When she, Martin and Grace had arrived in Woodland Park, she’d been frantic to get to the cabin, sure she’d find Piper there. Disappointment had been a dull ache in her chest through the long, restless night. Finally, she’d dragged a blanket into Macy’s room to sleep near at least one of her daughters, something she hadn’t done in months. The dogs had curled up just outside the open door, unsettled and anxious, and beyond them, Ares had stalked back and forth, yowling his disapproval.
God, the animals. She had just left them when the call had come in on the radio, had just slung her rifle across her shoulder, bolted out the door and jumped on the ATV. She took a moment to connect with all three of them, sent a pulse of love and reassurance along that connection and nearly skidded into the ditch. She yelped and corrected, then renewed her concentration and zoomed on.
A crowd had gathered in front of the church when she pulled up. She shut down the ATV and scrambled off, craning to see over people’s heads. She was about to start shoving her way through when the stillness of the group registered. She paused, looked around, and felt the first chill of foreboding slip icy fingers down her spine.
Guided by an instinct she couldn’t explain and didn’t need to, she hurried to the far edge of the crowd and started slipping along it. There was something dangerous happening here, something that involved her daughter. She slid a hand along the rifle strap crossing her chest, and kept creeping along, though something, some unknown dread, dragged at every step she took. She could hear voices now, a low murmur. Then, she saw Piper, and every muscle in her body locked into stillness.
Oh, her beautiful hair! All cut off, shaved so close, Naomi could see the tender scalp underneath. A bruise on her temple, another darkening her jaw. Naomi’s eyes ran over and over her daughter, and the ice that had touched her spine spread now to her arms and legs. A deep shaking started in her gut and spread as well.
Her awareness expanded to take in the rest of the newcomers, four of them that she could see. The strangers were bristling with weaponry and armored with protective gear, all of them displaying at least two visible firearms. Warriors, Naomi realized, as their collective menace rolled over her body and sizzled a warning along her nerve endings. The hair on her scalp and nape prickled and rose. The shock of that realization was followed by another, like a punch to the center of her chest.
Piper was one of them.
It was all there to see, in the way she held her weapon, the ease with which she carried the well-worn gear, the way her eyes scanned ceaselessly, the ready stance on the balls of her booted feet. Her daughter had become something new. Something Naomi didn’t recognize.
She couldn’t move. What was happening? What should she do? Was Piper in danger? Why were these people here, and what did they want? Jack was speaking to one of them, a big man with the coldest eyes Naomi had ever seen. Even from this distance, Naomi could feel the tension of the exchange. Andrea and Paul, who were always on sentry duty together, stood among the strangers, faces locked and grim.
Her eyes flew back to Piper. How did she fit in with all of this? Around her, she could feel the stir and shift of the crowd, the touch of more and more eyes. People’s gazes were starting to flicker back and forth between her and Piper – the resemblance was unmistakable. Any second now, Piper would see her. What should she do? Naomi had imagined their reunion so many times and in so many ways, but never this. This was a nightmare.
A second before his hands locked under her elbows, she felt Martin’s presence. She clutched at his supporting arms, and looked up at him. “I don’t know what’s happening,” she whispered. “What do I do? I don’t know what to do.”
Martin’s hard eyes flicked over the group, analyzing. “Andrea and Paul as hostages and shields,” he said, his low voice as grim as their faces. “Jack, too, if they decide to go there. They’re outnumbered, but it doesn’t matter. Not enough of us are armed, and they’ve got automatic weapons. Training, too, by the looks of it.” Then, his hands tightened almost painfully on her elbows. “She sees you, Naomi. Piper is looking right at you.”
Naomi’s eyes snapped back to collide with her daughter’s. The whole world rolled and wobbled, and in spite of it all, in spite of the danger and uncertainty of the situation, something in her chest burst with incandescent joy. She pulled in a deep breath, but she couldn’t engage her voice.
“Piper.” The word was a silent movement of her lips.
“Mama.” Piper’s lips moved just as soundlessly. Her face was joy, fear, shock and love, all at the same time. For the space of three heartbeats, she just gazed at her mother. Then her eyes shifted to Martin, and her brow furrowed in confusion. Her gaze darted around the crowd, and Naomi could see her breath coming faster and faster. Through the bond, she could feel Piper’s increasing desperation, her denial. When her eyes returned to her mother’s, asking the unimaginable question, Naomi shook her head. She fisted a hand over her heart, and shook her head again. No, my baby. Daddy and Macy aren’t here. I’m so sorry.
Piper dropped to her knees, and everything happened at once.
The big man snapped a command, and the strangers’ weapons snapped up, ready to fire. He started to move towards Piper, but Naomi ripped free of Martin’s restraining hands, stumbling, falling, crawling the last few feet to her daughter. Piper reached for her at the same moment, their arms locked around each other, and the last year of Piper’s existence blasted through Naomi like a gale-force wind: hate, grief, violation, betrayal, loneliness, fear, pain, pain, pain.
Naomi’s breath came in gasping sobs. Her eyes lifted to the big man staring down at her as she held her broken daughter, his eyes as ice-blue and cold as glaciers, and she knew. She knew everything. She disengaged Piper’s arms gently and took her baby’s beautiful, battered face in her hands, kissing her forehead, her eyes, her cheeks. “It’s okay my honey, my sweetheart, my love. Everything is going to be all right.”
She rose to her feet, un-slinging her rifle in the same motion, and sighted point-blank on the big man’s face. She did not hear Piper’s cry of warning, did not see all the weapons snap to point straight at her heart. The big man’s face relaxed, and his eyes closed momentarily, as if in relief. When they opened again, they were filled with calm acceptance. He dropped his hands to his sides, palms facing her, and closed his eyes again. His expression was peaceful. Naomi snapped the safety off and slid her finger to the trigger.
“You’re here! At last!”
Golden curls and a pair of sparkling blue eyes appeared right in front of Naomi’s rifle. Verity’s eyes crossed as she looked at the end of the barrel. “Thanks, Naomi, but I’ve got this from here.”
Martin’s arm clamped around her waist, his hand around the barrel of her rifle, which he wrenched upwards. He dragged Naomi backwards with him. At the same moment, Jack stepped to Piper’s side, lifting her to her feet. He, too, backed towards the crowd, half-dragging, half-carrying Piper. His eyes snapped to the men still pointing their weapons at them, and he barked a command that resonated with power.
“Lower your weapons!”
As one, the men’s weapons wobbled and dropped. Under other circumstances, the shocked expressions on their faces might have been comical. Naomi let go of her rifle, twisting and fighting to free herself of Martin’s grip. Other people stepped forward to help him, and she fought as she’d never fought in her life, writhing, panting, kicking, intent only on getting to the big man. She would kill him. She would feel his blood hot on her hands for what he’d put her daughter through. When Martin’s arms banded around her, locking her arms into immobility, a scream of rage exploded from her, burning her throat.
The big man didn’t even look up. His eyes were riveted on Verity, his expression bewildered. “I don’t understand,” he said, his low voice barely audible. He looked up, looked around, then frowned back down at her. “It’s not supposed to happen this way. This isn’t what I saw.” His eyes swung to Naomi, to Piper, back to Naomi. “This is not what I saw,” he repeated, his voice edged with what sounded like fear.
“Surprise!” Verity’s voice rang out joyously. She clapped her hands like a child, her laughter rising like chimes. “You were planning to commit suicide by Naomi, right? Ha! Gotcha! I can’t take all the credit, though. It was Uriel’s idea.” She glanced at Naomi and leaned to speak confidentially. “Just so’s you know, we don’t encourage her to shoot living things. It messes her up, and we love her. So, sorry. You do have a Plan B, don’t you?”
The big man was starting to regain his composure, though his eyes were still darting around. “What I see always happens,” he said to Verity, “Always.” His head dropped, and he growled the words at her. “I wanted it to happen!”
“Well, too bad, so sad. This isn’t where you die.” She stepped forward, and folded her delicate little fingers around his big, hard hands. His head snapped up, and he stared all around, his expression a mixture of fear and awe. People in the crowd stirred and shifted – many of them knew exactly what he was seeing – and Verity’s voice lifted, clear and bell-like. “This is where you start to live.”
~~~
Piper clawed up out of the grief that wanted to close over her head. Day after day of increasing anxiety, of wondering what would happen when they reached Woodland Park, of agonizing over the fact that she was escorting this danger right to them, and now this.
Daddy. The sky was suddenly so big, and there was nothing sheltering her from it. The safety she’d thought to find here, she would never find again. And, oh, sweet Macy. Sweet baby sister, never to feel those soft arms or see that sly smile again.
Blackness fluttered along the edges of her vision, and her heart was beating so hard she felt it falter in her chest. She tipped her chin up, gasping for air, and forced herself to rise up and out of the abyss where there was no father, no sister. She couldn’t do this now, could not give in to the luxury of grief. She had to get between her mother and Brody, had to, right now.
She pushed away the pastor’s supporting hands. Naomi was still fighting to free herself from the tall man who held her, her eyes glued to Brody, an expression in them Piper could never have dreamed she’d see: killing rage. Piper didn’t try to break the man’s grip, just wrapped her arms around both of them and held on.
“Mom, stop.” She pressed her forehead to her mother’s, willing her eyes to focus on her instead. “Mom, you need to stop. It won’t help. It won’t change anything.” Still, nothing. “Mama, please, I need you. Please.”
That did it. Naomi’s eyes met hers. Her struggles eased, then stopped. Piper took her mother’s face in her hands and kept their foreheads pressed together until the mother she knew was back in those eyes. The man dropped his arms and took a step back, giving them room. Naomi’s hands came up to clutch at Piper’s wrists. She braided their hands together between them, squeezing Piper’s fingers so hard it hurt, and gazed at her with joy and sorrow brimming in her eyes.
“I’m so sorry, baby. Daddy tried to warn me. He saw. He told me what would happen. God, I wanted him to be wrong.” She reached up to touch Piper’s face, then to cup her cheek, a gesture from so long ago. Piper closed her eyes and leaned into the caress. With her eyes closed, she could sink into the familiar comfort, the warm essence of her mother. With her eyes open, she was overwhelmed.
She had looked right past her twice, had even craned to see around her. The bond-line had been strong and true, but Piper couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Everything soft had melted from Naomi’s bones, leaving behind someone Piper didn’t know. She dropped her head to her mother’s shoulder, lifted her arms and locked them around Naomi’s lean back, grieving for the plump softness.
Naomi squeezed back for a moment, then took Piper’s shoulders and eased away. Her eyes darted to Brody, and Piper saw the killing rage flicker again. “We need to finish this. Then we can go home, to the cabin.” Her mother looked up at the tall man who’d been holding her. When she spoke, her voice was level, cold, practical. “He needs to be put down. I’ll do it, if no one else can.”
“Jesus, Naomi.” The man scrubbed his hands up over his head. “Jesus, you can’t mean that. You don’t know what you’re saying.”
“We don’t do that. No matter what they’ve done, we’re not going to become that.” The pastor spoke – youth pastor, had he said? Jack? Piper had hardly glanced at him, she’d been so anxious to spot her mom. He stood between Brody’s men and the crowd, as if he would protect them from this threat single-handedly, and though his next words lacked the imperative punch from before, the command that vibrated underneath was unmistakable. “But it’s time for you to leave.”
Piper watched as Tyler, Adam and Ethan exchanged glances, uncertainty in their expressions. Brody was still focused on the tiny blonde woman who appeared to be not altogether sane. She nodded at the pastor’s words, shrugging apologetically. “He’s right, I’m afraid. No room at the inn.”
“Wait.” Piper spoke on instinct. “Elise and the kids.” She nodded at Ethan. “They’re traveling with him. I want them to stay.”
Ethan met her gaze. “If they stay, I stay.”
Piper stared him down. “You didn’t help me when you could have. You knew, and you didn’t help.”
Ethan’s face tightened, but he didn’t drop his gaze. “I knew.” He confirmed. “And I didn’t help. I’m not proud of it.”
If he had scrambled with excuses or asked for pardon, she’d have condemned him with the rest. As it was, she turned away. “It’s not up to me. These people will have to decide.”
The pastor spoke over his shoulder without looking away from the men. “Martin, I’d sure like your input here.”
The tall man stepped forward and met Ethan’s gaze. “What do you want?”
Ethan blinked, caught off guard by the question. He looked at Piper, looked around at the crowd, then laid a hand in the center of his chest. The bond-lines connecting him to Elise, Sam and Becca flared. The three of them were waiting on the outskirts of town, but for a moment, they seemed to shimmer in front of Piper’s eyes, conjured by the depth of Ethan’s love. Ethan looked at Martin and spoke simply.
“I want safety. To be with Elise and keep the kids from harm. To be a part of a safe community, and do my part. That’s all.”
Martin gestured at his weapon and gear. “Our community isn’t much like yours, I’m thinking. Are you willing to abide by what we’re trying to build here?”
“Yes.”
Martin glanced at Jack. “He believes what he’s saying.”
Jack was silent for several long moments. Then he nodded. “For now, you and your family can stay,” he said to Ethan. His voice hardened as he turned to Brody. “The rest of you have to go. Now.”
Verity looped an arm through Brody’s and began to stroll with him away from the church, chatting away about someone named Gabriel and the symmetry of little souls or some such. Piper had never seen him look like this, like a dazed sleepwalker. Adam and Tyler followed behind, both of them looking equally shell-shocked. It took her a moment to register the import of what was happening.
He was walking away. Just like that, without a fight.
And he was leaving her here.
Her eyes narrowed. What was the catch? He had to be maneuvering for tactical advantage; Brody would never capitulate like this, not unless it played in the long game. Oh, God, just the thought made cold fear curdle in her stomach.
He stopped, then, and turned back to face her. His eyes. Would she ever be able to forget them? The corner of his lips twitched humorlessly, and he spoke to her as if they were alone. “You were supposed to be the death of me. I saw it.”
Piper closed her eyes. To be so used, in his machinations and agendas. She had no idea what beat in his heart that he could have walked this path out, thinking it would be his end. When she opened her eyes again, he was gazing down at Verity.
He gently disengaged himself, and said something to her. She answered back, and whatever she said made the bond-line linking him to Piper flare into full brilliance. He shut his eyes for a moment, then spoke a low command to Adam and Tyler, turning away without looking at Piper again. She watched him go, the familiar, smooth grace of his movements carrying him away, and waited for the bond-line to dissipate. It didn’t.
Martin spoke to Andrea and Paul. “You guys okay?” They nodded. “Do you feel up to following them, just to be sure they head out of Dodge?”
Andrea spoke for them, as she usually did. “It would be our pleasure,” she spat, baring her teeth. “Bastards, sneaking up on us like that. Sorry, Jack.”
The pastor brushed her apology aside, and spoke to the assembled crowd. “Okay, let’s get back to life as usual, but stay sharp. Like Andrea said, they snuck up on us, and we can’t let that happen again. Check in with your neighbors, just make sure everyone is accounted for and informed about what happened here. We’ll let you know what changes we’ll need to make in response.” He lifted his hand in benediction and blessing. “Stay safe.”
As the crowd dispersed, he turned to Martin. “Can we go inside and start talking this out? Where’s your daughter?”
“She’s at home, sleeping. I have some time, but not much. I want to be there when she wakes.” He turned to look at Naomi and Piper, still standing with their arms banded around each other. “Well, you two might be mistaken for sisters if we got your mom to agree to a buzz cut. I’m Martin.”
“I gathered.” Piper nodded at Verity, who was a half dozen yards away. Was she actually dancing? She was. “Who the hell is that?”
“Her name is Verity.” Martin scrubbed a hand over his head. “She’s a little hard to explain. And I’d say that you get used to her in time, but that’s not actually true. She’s, ah, what you might call a ‘free spirit.’”
Behind her, she heard the pastor snort and mutter, “If by ‘free spirit’ you mean ‘complete nut-job,’ then sure.” He coughed, then lifted his voice. “Piper, I’m Jack, in case you didn’t gather that, as well.”
Piper turned, and for the first time, their eyes met. An arc of pure white light sizzled and snapped at the contact; her ears buzzed and crackled as if a naked electrical wire had just gone live. Her jaw dropped, and she goggled at him for an eternity of seconds.
Jack took a step towards her, then a step back, and though it was obvious he wasn’t seeing what she was seeing, it was clear the connection had staggered him, too. He squinted at her, and shook his head in denial.
Piper wasn’t so polite. “Oh, hell no.”
~~~
Jack shook his head a second time and retreated another step. He knew that face, knew those eyes, from dreams he had done his best not to remember. She was part of it, part of the awful darkness that pressed on him from the future, and yet…and yet…
“She’s part of the light, too. Nifty, huh?”
Verity’s voice, right in his ear. Herculean effort kept him from leaping away in an undignified scramble, though he couldn’t suppress a whole-body twitch. He stepped away from her and spoke as calmly as he could manage. “Verity, I’d rather not have your input right now, if you don’t mind. We’ve got things to discuss, and Martin needs to get back to his daughter.”
“What did you say to him? To Brody?” Piper snapped the question at Verity, and Jack winced. Nothing good ever came of demanding information from Verity.
To his surprise, though, Verity sighed and went to stand by Piper and Naomi, close, but not touching them. She gazed at the younger woman for long, long moments, her eyes liquid with compassion. Then she lifted her hand, and as slowly and gently as if she were stroking a wild animal, ran her palm over Piper’s shorn head. Piper’s eyes widened, then filled with tears.
“Who are they?” she whispered, looking around her. “So beautiful.”
“They’re always with you. They always have been, always, though you weren’t always able to feel the comfort of their presence. Your path, beloved Piper, has been such a difficult one. It’s time to rest, to grieve, and to prepare for the next part of the journey.”
Naomi stirred, tightening her arms around her daughter and glaring at Verity. “She’s done with her journey. She’s home.”
Verity lifted her other hand and laid it on Naomi’s cheek. All three of them seemed to glow for a moment, and mother and daughter both closed their eyes, their heads tilting together. When Piper’s eyes opened again, Verity smiled at her.
“I told him even sleeping souls can be awakened by the Divine, that no heart is ever dead. He serves the Light, just like I do.” A final stroke of Piper’s head, and Verity stepped back. “It’s something you needed to hear, too, and now I’ve told you. Rest and heal, sweet Piper. When you’re ready, we’ll speak again.”
She turned and caught Jack’s eye, waggling her eyebrows. “Told you she was no Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. Hubba hubba.”
He felt Piper’s eyes on him, felt her confusion, her embarrassment, and her feelings became his, as if his shields didn’t even exist. Heat lifted from his neck to his cheeks, and he closed his eyes, undone. To blush, now of all times. “I’m praying, Verity, that when I open my eyes you’ll have gone on your way, wreaking havoc and inciting mayhem somewhere else. Anywhere else.”
He counted to ten, and to his astonishment
and gratitude, she was nothing but a pirouetting shape in the
distance when his eyes opened. “Dear God. That actually
worked.”
“What was that?” Piper’s voice was hoarse, urgent. “When she
touched me, I saw…”
“Archangels.” He said it so she wouldn’t dither around, trying not to. “Can’t explain it. Wouldn’t even try.”
He left the rest of what Verity had said alone. There was no sense in trying to explain that, either. Martin was standing off to the side, watching all three of them with speculation in his eyes. When their eyes met, he tightened his mouth, trying not to grin.
“Interesting,” he commented. “Look, I know you want to debrief, but I’ve been gone too long. Andrea and Paul will see them on their way, and we can meet later. I’m sure Piper and Naomi would like to go home and settle in, too.”
“Of course.” Jack looked at Naomi. She was gazing at her daughter, eyes running over and over her face like caressing hands. Every once in a while she leaned to kiss her forehead or her cheek. Piper was leaning into her mother’s embrace, eyes closed, her bruised face so young. “Why don’t you radio me when you’re ready.”
Naomi nodded without looking at him. She retrieved her rifle, and she and Piper returned to the ATV, walking with their arms locked around each other’s waists. They zoomed off, Martin took his leave, and Jack was left to stand there alone.
Not knowing what else to do, he headed back inside. He spoke to Judy briefly, returned to his office and stared at the schedule he’d been working on without seeing it. Then, he laid his head down on his desk and prayed, throwing his heart open.
“Take this cup from me,” he whispered. “Beloved Father, I’m begging. I don’t want her. I don’t want the path she’ll walk. I want…”
Layla. He couldn’t say it out loud. God, he missed her so much. He missed her laughter, her intelligence, her ridiculous spells and the torment of being around her, knowing she had given herself to another. He missed even that. The agony he’d slept and woke with, the misery of knowing she was pregnant, seemed so irrelevant now. Funny, how simple his relationship with her seemed, now that he’d looked into Piper’s eyes.