Sweet Reckoning (31 page)

I tried to think of everything that had happened, but there were many blank spots in my memory. Had I done or said anything that could incriminate us? I remembered dancing. When exactly had the other Neph shown up? I flashed to a memory of Kaidan kissing me on the couch, and I was horrified to recall how I’d baited him. I looked up at Marna and Ginger. They had saved us from ourselves. I could have ruined everything.

Marna sat me down at the vanity and took a brush from her bag, working it through my wet hair. Ginger filled a glass with water and set it in front of me. I emptied it all and gave her a small smile, which she did not return. I grabbed her hand and she stilled.

I’m sorry
, I signed to her.

She surprised me by grinning.
You can be mean
, she signed.
It was nice to see
.

My face flushed and I shook my head. Ginger patted my shoulder with her free hand, then pulled the other hand from my grip to pick up the blow-dryer.

The hot air felt good on my head. My body shook every few seconds with tiny tremors. I was so tired.

“Order us some food, Kaidan,” Ginger shouted at the door. “I think we’ve all worked up an appetite.” My stomach growled at the mention of food, and I realized that I was completely famished.

I took Marna’s wrist and looked at her watch. It was eleven o’clock. We had somewhere between one and four hours to prepare for hell on earth.

What was I going to do? I felt completely unprepared. How could I ready myself for a spiritual battle under these circumstances? What would Patti do?

Wait. That was it. I knew exactly what she would do.

I jumped from the chair and ran into the suite, leaving the twins with hairbrush and blow-dryer midair. I could feel all of their eyes on me in my oversized robe as I flung open each dresser drawer. All empty.
Oh no.
I turned and saw the night-stand. I ran to it, passing a confused Blake, and opened the tiny drawer.

There it was. The Holy Bible.

I took it out like a precious gem. It probably hadn’t been opened once in all its years in this room. It was a funny thing, wasn’t it?—the notion of keeping Bibles in hotel rooms. I wondered how the tradition had started and why it had been kept going. Maybe superstition. Maybe for me and this very moment.

I looked up at everyone staring at me. The room was wrapped in nervous tension.

Watch for spirits
, I signed.

The others nodded their agreement. I climbed up to the middle of the big bed and placed the book on the terrycloth robe over my lap. Very slowly, very quietly, I opened to the back and found the Dictionary/Concordance. It was hard to concentrate with everyone on edge and the television blaring, but I forced myself to focus. Kopano walked away from the group, going to sit at the table in the living room area with his eyes closed in mediation.

Marna climbed up and sat next to me. Blake and Ginger watched television, or at least pretended to, and Kai paced silently. I first looked up “demons.” I knew there were a ton of passages about them—this wasn’t my first time looking—but in the past none of it had stood out to me as very informative. I guess the verses that stand out are the ones most relevant to you at the moment you’re reading them. Like poetry. I pointed to the lines I was reading so Marna could follow.

For forty-five minutes I read the many accounts of demon possessions. There were weird passages about suicidal, demon-possessed pigs. I didn’t have time to pick those ones apart. The use of parables and lack of explanations had me dissecting for meaning, something that I wasn’t good at.

I nearly came out of my skin at the sound of a knock at the door. Kaidan went to it, and I was flinging the puffy down comforter over the Bible. Marna patted my arm to reassure me. I tried to catch my breath and slow my heart when I saw it was only our room service. Kai had ordered a ton of food, and my mouth watered as the scent hit me.

Nobody else ate quite as enthusiastically as me. I barely took time to breathe as I downed an entire huge hamburger, then drank a soda. My stomach wobbled a little with nausea again, so I sat back on the bed. My full belly made me feel even sleepier. I patted my cheeks and pinched my cheekbones.
Get it together, Anna
.

I turned again to the Concordance and looked up “sword” this time, but it was all mostly symbolism for war, or proverbial lines like “reckless words pierce like a sword.”

I read about angels and their jobs as messengers and guardians of souls. Kaidan paced the room again with his arms crossed over his chest, listening for danger, his face slightly pinched from absorbing so much sensory input at once. I chewed my fingernails while I read until Marna pulled my hand down.

My palms were starting to sweat. I wiped them on the robe absentmindedly.

Can you turn the air up in here, please?
I signed to Blake.

He nodded, fiddling with the temperature gauge.

I couldn’t stop peeking at the clock. It was after midnight. I wasn’t even dressed yet! I knew Kaidan would warn me when it was time to get ready, but panic was fraying me around the edges. The Sword of Righteousness was still in my bag, and we needed to figure out who would carry it—obviously not me since I’d be patted down to the max if they had one of the Neph checking people as they came in like at the last summit. I grasped my head. I had too much to figure out still!

I flipped pages. There had to be something I could use. Kopano caught my gaze from across the room. I pleaded with my eyes. Did he know something that could help? He came over and sat next to me. I felt a rush of safety and hope from his nearness.

He signed,
What are you searching for, in particular?

Anything to battle them and defeat them,
I signed.

I held the book out to him, and he took it, flipping pages with quick assurance. He’d get to a passage, stop, shake his head, and flip again. After three times his face softened.
How about this?
He set the book in my lap and pointed to Ephesians 6:11–18. My heart stirred. I read it twice and my pulse quickened. I read it a third time and I knew this was it. Marna and I shared an elated glance. I gave Kope a grateful look before he stood. Kai pushed off the wall, his eyes wide, wondering what we’d found. I beamed at him. Kope took over keeping watch for whisperers while Kaidan came to my side. Together, we read.

The Whole Armor of God

Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers . . . .

I smiled as I read it. Kaidan watched me with that boyish look he sometimes gave me when he was in awe, as if I was capable of amazing feats.

The Armor was all metaphorical imagery. With the exception of the sword, all of my primary available weapons and protection would have to come from
inside me.
I had been fully equipped all along.

Truth. Righteousness. Peace. Faith. Salvation. And prayer. That was it.

Overwhelmed with gratitude, I slid from the bed and fell to my knees, but still I felt too high. I pressed my forehead to the carpet, and silently spoke the most important, fervent plea of my life. I lay there with my eyes closed, buzzing with the sureness of my arsenal.

“Daughter of Belial,” I heard Kaidan say. He stood at Kopano’s side.

I quickly pushed to standing and faced him.

He nodded, his eyes hard. “It’s time.”

A
t once Kaidan and Kopano became still, their eyes far away as they listened.

Oh, no. What were they hearing?

Kaidan’s eyes darted around the floor, landing on his duffel bag by the closet. He ran to it, unzipping it and pulling out my book bag.

“Here’s your bag. Get ready,” he said roughly. But with his hands he signed,
Hide the hilt! The son of Shax is coming
.

Marek! Not good. He was a possible ally, but I couldn’t take any chances.

I thought fast. As quietly as possible I removed the bag of candy from my backpack and put it in the trash. Then I took some napkins from the room service cart and threw them on top. Yuck.

When the knock came, my stomach dropped. Kaidan pointed for me to sit on the bed. I sat with the book bag in my lap as he opened the door. To my horror Marek came in, flanked by a whisperer. Marek was shorter than Kai, about Blake’s height. I’d wondered if he was friendly before—he’d seemed like it compared to Caterina—but his face showed none of that friendliness now. His eyes were like ice as he pushed up the sleeves of his black dress shirt.

He stopped in front of me, and I wished I were dressed instead of wearing that stupid robe. My Neph friends stood in a tense semicircle around us.

“We meet again,” Marek said. Without asking, he took my bag from me and began to riffle through it, tossing my underwear and shirts out.

“Hey!” I said, trying to seem indignant. “What are you doing?”

When the bag was emptied and he’d felt all the pockets, he glanced around the room.

“What did you take from the bag before I arrived?”

“What? Nothing—”

“I heard a sound! Like . . . crinkling. What was it?”

No, no, no.

“Oh,” I said. “Just some candy I didn’t want anymore.”

He turned and scanned the floor until his eyes stopped on the trash can. No! Without hesitation he reached in.

“Ew, man,” Blake said, but Marek was undeterred.

Panic flared like a rushing meteor inside me. Everyone stepped closer, faces hardened as if ready to fight.

Marek shook the food off the candy bag and proceeded to do what nobody from any of the airport security checks had done before. He ripped the bag open and dumped its contents onto the desk. I leaped from the bed and dove toward the exposed hilt, but I was too late. The whisperer hissed above us as Marek shoved me back, plucking off pieces of candy that I’d taped to it. Kaidan stepped forward, but Kope steadied him with a hand to the shoulder. I hoped Marek and the whisperer thought Kai was angry about what I’d hidden from him, and not the fact that the son of Shax was taking possession of it.

Marek didn’t seem to notice any of this. He didn’t act surprised or satisfied or . . . anything. He matter-of-factly opened the leather flap to reveal the shimmery heavenly metal underneath.

“Dude,” Blake said. “What is that? What are you gonna do with it?”

The whisperer had plastered itself to the ceiling as far from the hilt as possible.

Marek closed the leather flap over the hilt and slid it into his pocket before answering Blake. “Don’t worry about it.”

I watched the wheels turning in Kaidan’s mind. He looked prepared to attack. I gave him a tiny shake of my head, and Kope stepped slightly in front of him, as if signaling him not to make a move. As much as I wanted to jump on Marek and take the hilt back, I knew this was a pivotal moment. We could not yet let on that we were all allies. I needed to be the only threatening one until we had all the Dukes gathered. Then the Neph boys could take the hilt by force. If we tried to take it now, the whisperer would fly off and rat us out. Then we were trapped at a disadvantage.

We could still get it back. We had to.

Marek looked at Kaidan and nodded his head toward me. “She had it all along. Don’t you know never to trust a pretty face? Don’t let her out of your sight.”

“I won’t,” Kaidan said, his eyes hitting mine. “Especially now.”

Marek turned and headed to the door, seeming to speak to the air as he said, “I’ve got it.” And he left the room with the whisperer trailing behind him.

We all stood there, stunned. This changed everything. For one, my guilt was now proven. I’d lost my biggest advantage. What was I going to do without the hilt? All at once I felt small, fragile, and useless. My breathing hitched, a panic attack approaching.

I grasped for something positive, trying to slow my heart rate. We still had the surprise of our Neph alliance, as small as it might be. And maybe other Neph would join us when they saw we were willing to fight. I couldn’t pretend that a huge fraction of my confidence hadn’t disappeared with the hilt, along with the hope that Marek might end up as an ally, but I didn’t want the others to feel as desolate as I did.