Guardian's Joy #3 (39 page)

Canaan held out his hand for the papers Nardo
held. “Let me look these over and get an assessment of how many we
should consider hostile.” His eyes slid over the group. “There’s
nothing we can do right now. Get some sleep. We’ll talk about it at
breakfast.”

*****

JJ eased out from beneath Nardo’s arm and
slid over the edge of the bed. She slipped his sweatshirt over her
head and hopped on one foot as she pulled the sweatpants up on her
way to the door. It was early, only 4:30. With any luck, she could
make it down to the pantry where she’d hung the garment bag and
left her packages and be back to Nardo’s room before anyone else
was up. She tiptoed through the kitchen door and sighed. She wasn’t
early enough. The garment bag was laid carefully across the island
and the bags were in an orderly row.

“We were going to take you shopping. Looks
like you beat us to it.” Grace leaned over to check out the insides
of the shopping bag. “Do I get first peek?”

“Okay, Betty Crocker, but if you laugh I
swear you’ll never wear an oven mitt again. You child will grow up
surviving on store bought cookies and white bread, just like the
rest of us.” She pulled out the packages from the children’s and
men’s stores and set them behind her on the counter. “Those are
Christmas presents.”

Grace was already unzipping the garment bag.
“Oh my God, JJ, I had visions of something in black leather or
denim, but this is beautiful. Try it on! Try it on!” She ran to the
pantry door and called, “Hope! Hope! Get in here. You’ve got to see
this.”

The toilet flushed, the water ran, and a
bleary eyed Hope shuffled into the kitchen. She wore a man’s robe;
one of those long satiny jobs that JJ had only seen in black and
white movies from the 1930s, and peeking out at the neck was a
white flannel nightgown like the one they’d dressed JJ in. Hope
glanced down at the rubber boots on her feet and grinned
sheepishly.

“She said to hurry. I thought something was
wrong.”

Grace had the shoes and handbag unpacked and
was digging into the tiny lingerie bag which held a wisp of golden
thong and a pair of stockings so sheer they felt like woven
air.

“I hate you,” was Hope’s smiling response to
the gold dress from the store window. “I’d give my eye teeth to be
able to wear a slinky dress like this, but I’d look ridiculous.
There’s not enough fabric for my girls to call home.” She looked
down at her generous breasts.

“There are more than few men out there who
would give their eye teeth to see you wear it just in case your
girls decided to run away from home.” Grace laughed and said in a
loud aside to JJ, “She’s wearing a strapless number that ought to
be labeled Mount Vesuvius Erupts. She had Manon take it in so much
she can’t breathe.”

“At least I won’t fall out! What did you
finally decide on?”

“The deep red with the scoop neck. It shows
off my preggy boobs and falls loose to cover my bump.” Grace moved
to the sink to fill the coffee pot.

“You don’t have a bump,” JJ told her and
joined Hope’s bark of laughter. Grace was eager to show off her
pregnancy, but as yet there was no visible sign. “Be careful what
you wish for. Six months from now we’ll be listening to you
complain about maternity clothes.” She turned to Hope. “The
earplugs are my treat.”

“Does this mean you’ll be staying past
Christmas?” Hope winked at Grace.

“I’ll stay as long as Nardo wants me to.” JJ
tried to keep up the cheerful bantering tone of the conversation,
but it sounded false and flat.

“You don’t need Nardo to stay here, you
know.” Grace reached out to touch JJ’s hand. “If things had worked
out differently, I would have lived alone in the house next door to
Manon and Otto. I’d finally found a family. Not even Canaan could
make me give that up. You’ve found a family, too. Don’t be so quick
to give us up.”

It was the same advice JJ’d given Evie, but
she didn’t think she’d have the strength to follow it when the time
came. She’d already decided to keep John’s house and rent it out.
That way, when she needed it, she’d have a place to hole up and
lick her wounds. Good things never lasted.

Her maudlin thoughts were interrupted by the
twins coming through the door.

“I’m just saying… There could be a whole
basement full of demons over there and someone ought to mention it
to the boss man.” Col ignored the women and headed for the pantry
where the snacks were kept.

Dov, right behind his twin, stopped when he
saw the fluffy pile of nylon and silk on the island. “O-oo-oo, what
have we here and which one of you will be wearing it?”

JJ snatched the items from the counter and
stuffed them back into the bag.

“Yours? Gee, I had you pegged more for a
leather bustier and…” He changed his tactics when he saw Hope’s
scowl. “Uh, Col thinks they’re keeping the demons in the lab
basement. You know, like they did at the spaghetti place.”

“How else are they letting them out with such
perfect timing? It’s not random. JJ proved that.” Col popped a
pretzel into his mouth.

“I don’t think you could have that many
Paenitentia in the same building with demons and keep it a secret.
Humans don’t believe they exist, but Paenitentia? They’d know right
off, wouldn’t they?” Grace took the bag from Col. “No junk before
breakfast.”

Dov took the bag of pretzels from under Col’s
arm and handed it to Grace, but not before grabbing a handful from
the open bag. He had to wait until he swallowed the mouthful before
he spoke. “Demons smell bad. Don’t know if they’d recognize it,
though. But we’re raised on stories about demons and believe me;
none of them end good, so I’m with you. With that many people, word
would get out, one way or another.”

Col came back from the pantry refrigerator
with a half-gallon of orange juice. He placed it in front of Grace.
“No caffeine for you,” he said as he reached for the glasses and
then said to them all. “Then explain how they’re doing it.”

“They have someone on the other side,” Hope
said quietly.

Col gave her a look. “Right. Ding-dong,
Paenitentia here. Could you send me a young one at 3:15 Wednesday
morning? Oh, and I’ll need him on the corner of Main and Vine.” He
shook his head and took a swallow of juice. “I don’t think the
gates work that way.”

JJ sat staring at the glass of juice in front
of her. “You don’t need a gate. With enough power, all you need is
a mirror and someone on the other side who’ll answer your
call.”

“So, like what? You can shave and call your
pet demon at the same time?”

“Shut up, Dov, and let her explain,” Col
hissed.

“I don’t know if I can, Col. It takes a
special kind of mirror. I remember they were so excited when they
got it. It just looked like some old mirror to me. They were trying
to call a demon into a warded circle, but the power of the coven
wasn’t strong enough.”

Marion was convinced JJ had the power they
needed. After she was mated to the High Lord, he insisted she
participate in the coven’s ritual. She did, but she forced her
power so deep inside herself no one could touch it. She could
barely light a candle, never mind open a doorway to hell. It wasn’t
until she heard about Samuel…”

“The mirror, JJ, what did it look like?”
Grace was shaking her arm.

JJ gulped down half the glass to give her
thoughts a chance to clear. “It was a long time ago, Grace. I was a
kid, a teenager. It was just old with some fancy frame, an antique.
I know it was rare. Marion kept saying it was perfect, rare and
perfect. They all wanted to touch the glass.”

“Was it big or small?” Grace began to
pace.

“Big, really big. Maybe four wide, five tall.
Why?”

“It’s power, not the coven. Manon was
wrong.”

“What?”

“She said she didn’t know how to bridge to
the otherworld, but it could be done. It would take a full coven to
do it and only a coven that had turned to the dark. She was wrong.
It’s power and usually it takes a coven to pool that much of it.
That coven you’re talking about thought the same as Manon. They
wanted you to join them didn’t they?”

“Yes.” The word was whispered, but it seemed
to echo in the quiet of the kitchen.

“They wanted your power. Did they get
it?”

“No.” JJ snarled the word.

“I knew you’d say that. Get your coats
ladies. We’re going for a ride.”

“I’m not going anywhere looking like this.
Give me fifteen minutes.” Hope headed for the door.

The twins exchanged worried glances. “Ah,
Gracie? It’s daylight.”

“No flies on you, Dov, but daylight’s your
problem, not ours. Oh and by the way, if you two ever want to see a
German Chocolate Cake again, you won’t tell Canaan we’ve gone until
the car is out of the alley. We’re taking Possie.”

Chapter 39

No one told JJ Possie was an affectionate
term derived from POS, which was how the twins referred to their
former vehicle. Grace claimed most of the dings, dents and scrapes
came from the twins’ abuse and JJ detected no lie, but then again,
truth was sometimes a matter of perception. Neither Hope nor Manon,
who Grace invited along, seemed bothered by Grace’s lack of skill,
so JJ sat back and hoped for the best.

“Where are we going?” she asked, proud she
didn’t wince as Grace took the icy corner at the end of the alley
on two wheels.

“The last place I saw one of those mirrors.”
Grace told her about the troubles they’d suffered when she first
came to the House. “When it was over, it was just a mirror. We
didn’t realize it was special.”

“I should have,” Manon added. “A ritual like
this would need more than words.”

“That was quite a while ago. Are you sure
it’s still there? Surely someone reported the woman missing.” JJ
cringed. “Jeeze, Grace! That was a red light!”

“Oops, sorry Officer. Yes, the house is still
there and in her name and no, no one reported her missing. Nardo
keeps tabs. I figure we’ve got four scenarios.”

Grace took her hand off the wheel to count
with her fingers. Very calmly, Hope, riding shotgun, directed the
hand back to the two o’clock position on the wheel and held up her
own finger. “One,” she said.

Grace went on as if nothing happened. “We
find the place abandoned and the mirror gone or two,” she glanced
at Hope’s fingers, “We find the mirror and no one’s using it.”

“In which case we destroy it.” Manon was
adamant.

“Or bring it back to the House.” Grace eyed
the French woman’s frown in the mirror. “Oh come on, Manon. If it
can be used for evil, it probably can be used for good. We can
store it safely away until we learn more.”

“What if it’s being used,” Hope asked
suspiciously.

“Then we’re on to scenarios three and four.
Stop sign!” All three passengers braced as Grace slammed on the
brakes. “We’ll either find one powerful witch, in which case JJ can
zap her ass, or we find a full coven of thirteen and we run like
hell. Manon, maybe you should stay in the car.”

“I will not.”

“Whoa! Stop! Wait a minute!” JJ was thrown
forward as Grace hit the brakes. “Not the car, the conversation!”
They started moving again. “What if my ass zapper doesn’t work? It
hasn’t been too reliable lately.”

“You’ll do fine. You can zap humans any day
and I’ve been thinking about the Paenitentia. That guard you
couldn’t zap had a tear. He was a potential Guardian. What if it’s
only Guardians you can’t zap?”

“And how do you propose we test that theory?”
JJ laughed.

“At this engagement party I’m being forced to
attend. You can test it on the bitch of honor.”

“Now Grace,” Manon warned.

“Jeeze, Manon, you used to be fun. Just a
little zap during the toast,” Grace laughed and then shrugged. “Oh,
all right, have it your way. We’ll find someone else.” She parallel
parked between two cars with only inches to spare.

“Someone lives here,” JJ told the others as
they mounted the stairs. “The walk is shoveled. The porch is swept.
The windows are clean.” She stepped to the window and hooded her
eyes with her fingers to reduce the glare. “No lights. One plate,
one cup and saucer, one pair of women’s boots and uh-oh,” she
lowered her voice, “I’m pretty sure that’s a coat thrown over the
chair.”

“Do you see the mirror?”

“No, the drapes are in the way.” JJ moved
back to the door and checked the frame. “If she’s working with the
Nonveniae, then she’s where we should be, in bed.”

“What do we do now?” Hope asked.

“When I open the door, I go up the stairs.
You go with Grace and Manon. Find the mirror.”

“No.” Hope whispered nervously. “I’ll go with
you. Faith said I shouldn’t leave you.” Her fingers were already
working their designs in the air. It was what she needed to call
her power of telekinesis.

“Far be it for me to argue with Faith.” JJ
rolled her eyes at the power the little sister held over them both.
She stepped back from the door, raised her foot and kicked, aiming
the flat of her foot right below the latch. The porch shuddered
with the force of her blow. The doorframe cracked. She kicked it
again, this time with less force. The door swung open on creaky
hinges.

JJ didn’t wait to see if she was followed.
“Check the kitchen first!” she yelled as she pounded up the stairs.
At the top of the stairs, two doors were open, one closed. She hit
the closed one with a kick much like the one she used downstairs.
The effect was much more dramatic as the door flew open and crashed
against the wall.

The woman sitting straight up in bed, eyes
round with fright, was already whirling her hand about her head. A
gust of swirling air slammed into JJ and she had to spread her
hands and grasp the doorframe for support as the whirlwind struck
her.