The Devil's Third (31 page)

When Nathan parked in front of Tree’s ranch style house, we waited while he gathered the things he needed. Thick clouds hung low in the afternoon sky, darkening the gray world around us. The black, skeletal trees in the front yard, evoked an ominous feeling in my gut. Maybe because of the way some of its branches curled downward like arms getting ready to spring forward and snatch me away. For some reason, it reminded me of the dark spirits and how wicked they could be.

I pushed the sleeve of my jacket up and looked at my forearm where the knife had sliced it. The three inch wound had sealed. Skin puckered around the raised pinkish line. It didn’t hurt, and although I already knew immortals healed rather quickly, it still amazed me to see it.

Nathan cradled my arm in his hand and turned it to get a better look. He gently ran his thumb across it. “Looks good,” he said. “The skin will thin out in a few days, and the scar will be gone.” He lowered his mouth and placed a tender kiss on it. The feel of his soft lips on my skin raised goose bumps. He lifted his eyes to mine, the corner of his mouth tilting into a crooked smile. My breath caught in my throat, and the energy between us sparked. His eyes were brightening, and I imagined mine were as well. But then, Brayden coughed and bumped my seat from behind, dispelling the mood.

“Sorry,” he said when I leaned around the seat to see what he was doing. “I was stretching and accidently kicked your seat.”

Nathan took his cell phone out of his pocket and thumbed the key pad.

“Who are you calling?” I asked.

“Shem.” He lifted the phone to his ear. “I want to tell him we’ll be on our way shortly.”

“I already texted him,” Brayden said. “But whatever.”

I peeked around the seat. “What did you tell him?”

“The same thing Nathan is right now,” he answered as Nathan spoke to Shem.

I didn’t reply and turned forward in my seat, listening to Nathan talk to Shem about the details of our flight and getting to Ethiopia, then renting a car to drive to the Sof Omar caves. It all sounded exhausting, and I personally couldn’t wait for it to be over. I wasn’t even sure how I would find the incantations. I knew they were in the cave but where? Doubt began to seep into my thoughts. What if I couldn’t find them? What if I was wrong all along? I glanced out the window and saw Tree exiting his house. He had on a black slouchy beanie hat that covered his bald head. I grimaced at the horrible bruises on his face, but it didn’t seem to bother him, or he was pretending like it didn’t. He walked in long, quick strides across his yard. His eyes locked onto mine. They were hard with determination, silently saying,
let’s end this
.

***

On the way to Portland, we went through the drive-thru at Arby’s and while we ate, we talked about what we were going to do once we arrived in Africa. We agreed to sleep on the flight, so when we landed at Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa, we wouldn’t be tired and could get straight to the task at hand. Shem’s jet would have to stop and refuel in Portugal. Once we arrived in Ethiopia, one of Shem’s friends would drive us to the Sof Omar caves. Nathan advised it would be an eight hour drive.

Lovely.

This whole trip seemed endless. It felt like a dream, as if I were outside myself, watching this whole thing take place.

“Who is Shem?” Tree wanted to know. “You guys never clarified to me or Carrie who he is, except that he’s Anwar’s weird friend.”

Brayden and I snickered. “Eccentric,” I corrected him.

“Bizarre,” Brayden said.

The corner of Nathan’s mouth tilted up. He lifted his eyes to the rearview mirror to address Tree. “Picture the Mad Hatter with loads of money, extremely intelligent with a two hundred plus IQ.”

“Is he immortal?” Tree asked.

“No,” Nathan answered, then went on to tell that Shem’s father Eli was. He accepted immortality when Shem was fourteen. He played the same card Nathan had done when he turned immortal–faked his own death. Eli kept his distance, watching Shem from afar. But the strain of not being with Shem’s mother and seeing her visit his grave every day, grieving over him, became too much for him to bear. He consulted Anwar on the matter, deciding shortly after to make himself known to his beloved wife in secret.

One night, when Shem was staying at a friend’s house, Eli knocked on the backdoor in the cover of the shadows, so the neighbors wouldn’t see him. Shem’s mom, Lucille, answered it, threw her arms around Eli and burst into tears, repeatedly saying, “My heart kept telling me you weren’t dead, but my mind warred against it, saying I was foolish to believe such nonsense.” Eli explained everything to her, and they agreed not to tell Shem about it until he was much older. So for years, Eli and Lucille met in secret. But then she got breast cancer. She fought the disease for as long as she could, even gave up both breasts, but in the end she lost the battle. Eli was devastated. By then, Shem was at MIT. He had skipped several grades and at this time was the head of his class at the prestigious Cambridge school.

“Wow. He is a brainiac,” Tree said, impressed.

Nathan nodded. “He’s created some high tech inventions the government bought. But to make a long story short, Eli finally confronted Shem and told him everything. Afterward, he took his life to be with Lucille, willing all his precious antiques and art to Shem.”

Tree leaned between the console next to Nathan and me. “How did Shem respond to Eli’s confession?”

“He already knew,” I told him and continued when he gaped at me. “Shem had noticed the change in his mom’s mood after Eli came back into her life, like she stopped visiting his grave. So being a technological genius, he rigged their kitchen with a hidden camera. He told me he felt dirty doing it, but like you, he’s very intuitive and knew something was amiss. That’s how he discovered the truth.”

“Why wouldn’t he say anything?” Tree asked. “Wasn’t he pissed?”

Nathan shook his head. “No. He loved his mom too much and didn’t want to ruin her happiness. He never told a soul, which impressed Anwar enough to enfold Shem into his life.”

Tree’s eyebrow furrowed. “How did he become friends with Anwar?”

“Easy,” I said. “Anwar approached him and the rest is history.”

Tree sat back. “Impressive.”

We all kept to our thoughts for a while, the sounds of traffic becoming more prevalent the closer we got to Portland. We were hitting rush hour when we reached the city, people getting off work, anxious to get home. Horns blared around us, tires screeching, and obscenities were being yelled out open windows. It reminded me of how much I disliked the metropolitan areas.

When we drove into the airport parking lot, everything turned into a blur until we were settled in Shem’s jet. Maybe because the atmosphere around me swarmed with hurried steps, the air charged with frenzy energy. A large group of Japanese teenagers exiting their gates walked by us, their faces alit with smiles, their eyes wide with excitement. With his hand in mine, Nathan pulled me closer to his side. I glanced over my shoulder, admiring the outfits the Japanese girls were wearing. They were cross between Goth and retro wear. The next thing I knew, we were stepping outside and climbing the ladder to Shem’s Bombardier. The gray sky above us began to turn a pinkish, red color. Evening time.

“Welcome,” Shem said, greeting us with a warm smile. He clapped a hand on Nathan’s shoulder. “Good to see you.”

Nathan returned his smile. “Likewise.”

Shem’s thin, long arms, wrapped me in a bear hug. “How are ya?” He pulled back and tilted his chin down, his brown eyes searching my face.

My lips twitched into a wary grin. “I’m fine. Thanks for your help. I appreciate it.”

He winked. “My pleasure.” He turned to Brayden and Tree, who were standing a few feet away, silently watching us. “Brayden,” he said, offering his hand. “How goes it?”

Brayden shook it. “It’s going.”

Shem laughed. “Well, you four have quite a task ahead of you.” His gaze shifted to Tree.

I stepped beside Tree and hooked arms with him. “Shem, this is Jack, but we call him Tree. He’s my best friend and family.”

Shem placed a hand on Tree’s shoulder. “Well, then, you’re now family to me, too. Nice to meet you.”

“The feeling is mutual,” Tree answered. “I’ve heard wonderful things about you.”

Shem’s eyebrows raised, reaching the hairline of his brown, disheveled hair. He laughed. “Really? Well, Nathan is quite the story teller. I’m sure he was kind enough to embellish in just the right places.” He winked at Nathan.

Nathan held his hands up in defense. “All true. I didn’t exaggerate one bit.”

“He didn’t,” I confirmed.

“You two do wonders for my ego,” Shem teased. “The next time I experience self doubt, I’ll be sure to ring you up.” He tucked half of his button-up, blue checkered shirt into his khakis, leaving the other half hanging out. I noticed he was wearing sandals. Jerusalem cruisers is what I called them. “Why don’t you make yourself at home while I sit with my pilot Franco who should be contacting ground control any minute now. The fridge and cupboards are stocked with food. There are also blankets and pillows in the compartment above the seats.”

I remembered Franco. He was a good looking middle-aged Italian guy with olive skin and dark wavy hair. Reserved and shy. He kept to himself, a man of few words. So his lack of presence didn’t surprise me at all.

Tree ran his hand over the white leather seat. “Wow. This is nice,” he said after Shem left the room. “Check out the computer screen on the back of the seat in front of it.”

“You can watch movies,” Nathan told him. “The earphones are in the pocket below.” He pointed to the pouch beneath it.

“The seat folds up and forward so you can recline the one behind it and sleep,” I added.

Tree reached to the compartment above the armrest and pulled down a blanket and pillow. “Awesome. I’m taking this seat.”

“Are you guys hungry or thirsty?” Brayden asked toward the front of the plane.

I really wanted some coffee, but I knew I should try and sleep. We had a lot of hours ahead of us, and I was hoping I could sleep through most of them. “I’ll take a bottled water. What does he have for a snack?”

“What do you want?”

“I don’t know. Just pick something out for me.” I knew Brayden’s choice wouldn’t disappointment me, and I was right. As Nathan and Tree went to see what was available, Brayden walked toward me with a grab bag of Chex Mix. “Thank you,” I said when he handed it to me along with a bottled water. “Good choice.”

“I would have made you some coffee, but I figured you’d want to try and sleep most of the flight to Portugal.”

He knew me so well. I wondered if Nathan would have done the same thing. I stopped the thought right there because it wasn’t fair to Nathan. Sure, Brayden knew me in some ways better than Nathan, but on the flip side, there were things Nathan knew about me that Brayden didn’t. But still, I couldn’t stop the tugging at the edge of my heart when memories of Brayden and me flashed through my mind of a time much simpler and pure.

I shifted my feet and gave him a weak smile. “You’re right.”

“You’re in my way, dude,” Tree said behind Brayden, carrying a bag of pork rinds and a bottle of Mountain Dew.

Brayden stepped aside, and I made a face at Tree. “You’re eating pig skin?”

Tree grinned. “Yup, and it’s gooood.”

“Where do you want to sit?” Nathan asked me, causing Brayden to once again move out of the way. He glared at Nathan and moved to a window seat behind Tree.

“Here is fine.” I sat in the aisle seat in the row across from Tree, moving my legs to the side so Nathan could get by. I had to admit the seats were comfortable.

“Okay, kiddies,” Shem said over the loud speaker. “Put your seatbelts on. We got clearance to take off.” He paused. “Excuse me. Tree, put your seatbelt on.”

The plane jerked forward as it eased out onto the runway. The wheels rumbled, and I heard Tree mumbling he hated this part. The rumbling stopped as the nose of the plane lifted. It banked and turned to the east, and then the aircraft climbed. We were now airborne, and Shem announced we were rising to an altitude of thirty thousand feet.

Nathan tore his bag of Cheetos open, and I followed suit with my Chex Mix. I knew I would have to try and sleep soon, but I wasn’t sure if I could. Now that we were on our way, my stomach was in a knot.

This was for real.

I mean, I knew it was, but now that we were heading to Africa, those doubts I had resurfaced. Earlier I had thought of using the incantations instead of destroying them, but now I wasn’t so sure. I probably wouldn’t know how to use them anyway. Unless, since I had the power of the ring inside me, I would automatically know. If that were the case, I wondered how it would work and if Bael could stop me. I was sure he had considered that possibility, so he probably had a backup plan. I shivered. The consequences would be too great, and Bael wouldn’t think twice about ending Tree’s life. I had no choice but to destroy the incantations, if I could find them that is.

“What are you thinking?” Nathan asked, leaning toward me. Tree and Brayden were having a discussion about, superheroes of all things. I was sure Tree was just as nervous as I, and this was his way of getting his mind off it.

I leaned to the side and softly kissed Nathan’s lips, tasting Cheetos. “Mmmm, cheesy,” I said when I pulled back. His hand cupped the back of my head and moved it forward. His lips touched mine again. He parted them, his tongue flicking against mine. A soft moan vibrated my throat. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, wishing I could climb inside him and escape from it all. Nathan broke our kiss and rested his forehead against mine. My attention diverted to Tree. He was happy Shem had the movie
Iron Man
and told Brayden he was going to watch it before dozing off. I refocused my attention on Nathan, his warm breath on my mouth.

“It’ll be okay,” he said in a low, husky voice. “We’ll get through this.”

He knew. He knew I was worried. I bit my lip and nodded, my limbs suddenly feeling heavy from the exhaustion of the day. My mind, though, was alert, spinning with thoughts that bled into each other–mind chatter that would not be quiet. Nathan kissed my forehead, and I told him we should watch a movie. I glanced at Tree. He had the earphones on, already settled in with a blanket draped over him, watching his movie. My gaze shifted on Brayden, moving to the aisle.