The Protect Her Box Set: Parts 7-9 (3 page)

“What kind of safeguards?”

“I don’t know where the relic is right now,” Benjamin said.

“You lost it?” I was astonished.

“I didn’t lose it,” Benjamin countered. “I cast a spell on my memory that clouds the true location of it. That way, even if I was possessed or made to answer questions about the relic under duress, it can’t be located.”

“How are we supposed to find it again?” I felt like stomping my feet and wailing into the air. It seemed as if every time I took a step forward in this quest, I was taking two steps back.

“I left myself clues,” Benjamin said. “Clues in my memories tied to the happiest points in my life. Now, they are clues that only one person could interpret.”

My mouth fell open as I felt a sinking in my stomach. “And who is this person?”

Benjamin stared into my eyes. “You, Paige. It has always been you.”

CHAPTER THREE –
RILEY

I sat on the steps of the tomb and stared up at the sun in the sky. It was going to be a warm day on Calamata Island. Too bad I wasn’t in the mood to work on my tan. I had been doing my best so far not to give away how anxious I was about the fact Paige was gone. She was with Benjamin, and I knew that he wouldn’t let anything happen to her. He loved her, and that was the only reason that I hadn’t gone hog-wild on his brothers.

Benjamin’s brothers, on the other hand, were doing a lot of teeth gnashing and hand wringing as they moved between small groups of two and three apparently to discuss the situation. As soon as Benjamin and Paige went missing, and the shield between us disappeared, I thought for a minute that I was about to finally find out what it meant to be smited by an archangel.

But then they retreated into their group. By the looks they shot in my direction, I was feeling pretty lucky that, at least, in theory, looks couldn’t kill. Then I had to remind myself I was dealing with archangels, and there was that whole Sodom and Gomorrah story where a look did kill. Since I wasn’t planning to leave the cemetery until Paige returned, I decided to take a seat and wait it out.

It wasn’t that much later that I felt a strange sensation wash through my body that made me lightheaded and dizzy, and I was glad that I was sitting down. I saw the archangels look over at me, and if possible, their expressions turned even darker than before.

Ezekiel cocked his head toward me, and another one of the archangels pulled away from the group and approached me. I sat up a bit straighter, but that was the only indication I gave that I even knew that he was there.

“I am Samuel,” the archangel said with a small bow of his head. “It is nice to meet you, Riley Stone.”

“Just Riley is fine,” I said. I hoped that Samuel didn’t expect me to genuflect or any of that shit. I didn’t care who he was. “You sound like a caveman when you say my whole name like that, and I’m getting a bit tired of the formality of people calling me ‘Mr. Stone’ all of a sudden. It makes me sound like I’m a hundred years old.”

Samuel smiled. “You make it sound like age is a terrible thing. To be a hundred years old in angel years is like being a human infant.”

I hated the fact I was dealing with a being that wasn’t human. I decided to quit beating around the bush. “Is there something that you want, Samuel? I’m assuming you didn’t wander over here for small talk.”

“I’ve never met a necromancer before,” Samuel said, clearly intending to ignore the sarcasm in my words. “It is a rare talent. One that I’ve only heard about a handful of times in my lifetime.”

“Yeah, well, what can I say? I’m one of a kind.” I knew that I was being a prick, but I didn’t care. I wasn’t up for making a bunch of new angel buddies. I just wanted Paige back in my sight.

“You don’t like angels,” Samuel stated. He pointed at the concrete steps next to me. “May I?”

“I have a feeling it doesn’t really matter what I want,” I said as I spun one of my knives around in my hand. “I’m just waiting for them to come back like the rest of you.”

“Yes. My brothers and I would like to know if you know where Benjamin went.” Samuel proceeded to sit down on the step next to me, just as I expected he would.

“How would I know? In case you didn’t notice, he didn’t stop long enough to confer with me,” I said.

“He took your associate along with him.”

At least he hadn’t made the mistake of calling her the ‘vessel’. “Paige,” I growled. “Her name is Paige, and she’s more than my associate.”

“So I gathered,” Samuel said easily. “Yet, you don’t seem concerned about this turn of events.”

“They’ll be back,” I said. “My guess is Benjamin wanted to discuss the matter privately and didn’t want any more comments from the peanut gallery.”

“You are so refreshingly human,” Samuel said with a small laugh. “I miss that when I am assigned to be in Heaven. I was called back when all of this business with the demons began. It feels good to be back in this realm.”

“Great,” I said, rolling my eyes.

“It would appear that Benjamin has some affiliation with you as well,” Samuel commented. “Has he used your services before or is it friendlier than that?”

I wasn’t going to go into the fact that it was a job for Benjamin that brought me to Calamata Island to begin with. It wasn’t anyone else’s business. “Trust me, the only mutual interest Benjamin and I share is Paige,” I said. That much was true. Benjamin had hired me to find out why demons were appearing on his demon-free zone island. The reason had been Paige. “Otherwise, I couldn’t care less what happens to that prick.”

“He is a bit standoffish, but he’s not a bad person,” Samuel said. “None of us are.”

I looked at Samuel with a bit of chagrin. “Save the sales pitch for somebody else. The only people I care about in this whole mess are Paige and my family. I will do whatever it takes to make sure they come out of this whole thing in one piece.”

“Then you understand our position,” Samuel said with a small shrug. “This is family business at its core, no matter what side you think we all sit on. Eva was an archangel. Our father determined that Eva was no longer fit to reside in either of these realms. Her place is in the ether, and we must ensure that she stays there.”

“Well, she’s got a foothold, and she will come back if she can,” I said. “I don’t care about what happens in your little family. Paige stays out of it. Eva can go find herself another vessel and then you can do whatever you want with that one.”

“Is that really how you feel? You’d willingly pass that sentence to another human?” Samuel shifted his stance and put his elbows on his knees.

I opened my mouth to say yes, but something stopped me. I thought about what he said and what it would all mean. That was something that I never stopped to think about before, and it was more than a little unsettling that I was doing it now. The whole idea of suddenly possessing a moral compass was frustrating, to say the least.

“Paige and my family are my priorities,” I said. “If things go the way that we want, we are going to get rid of the threats that affect everyone. All of our interests are aligned at the moment.”

“My brothers don’t want Eva to return, but they similarly have great concern about the idea of a mortal possessing Eva’s power,” Samuel said. “And it seems that possession could fundamentally change your Paige even if that wasn’t the intention.”

He had given voice to a small, yet vocal voice that had been clamoring in the back of my mind ever since Klein’s suggestion that Paige take on Eva. “I trust Paige, and I realize that this is unprecedented in many ways. That makes things scary for you guys, but maybe it’s about time that things changed,” I said changing the subject.

“What do you mean?”

“You don’t think it’s clear to me that things have been going downhill between everyone for the last few centuries?” I doubted that the archangels stopped long enough to think about anything outside of their self-interests. “Everything seems to point toward another showdown between the three species, and mankind is at a pretty severe disadvantage. Nobody believes in angels and demons anymore. That means that all along you’ve been able to plot and plan against each other and humans too without anyone making sure you are staying in line.”

Samuel looked shocked. “You think that we’d start a war?”

“I think that this whole thing is a lot bigger than anyone is letting on. Eva was the one who kept the balance between the species a thousand years ago, and somebody made sure that she was taken out. She was never replaced, and that’s put all of us on a one-way street to some eventual showdown. It’s just a matter of who is the strongest when all of that goes down.”

“It would almost seem as if you are in favor of Eva’s return,” Samuel said slowly. “You seem quite passionate in your views of the situation. Or are you volunteering yourself to take her place?”

“That’s not my job,” I said, shaking my head. “But somebody will need to step up eventually and make all of this right again. I don’t think anyone wants the kind of bloodshed that could happen if all hell literally broke loose.”

“It is interesting that you mention that,” Samuel said. “There is a current situation here on the island that suggests that time might be sooner rather than later.”

For the first time, he had said something that got my attention. “What are you talking about?”

“Surely you know about the myths of Calamata Island? There was a reason that this place has always been of interest to both angels and demons, and why Benjamin chose this place as his territory.”

“They’ve said it holds the gates to heaven and hell.” I rubbed my chin and wondered again when Paige was going to come back. “Are you about to tell me that myth is true?”

“The last time my brothers and I were together on this island was the day we were told the gate to hell was closed and locked; we thought forever. By all indications though of what Benjamin has told us about the activity here over the last week, that is no longer the case. The demons are appearing in droves.”

“Unless they have a way to get off this island, considering demons aren’t big fans of crossing water, it sounds like you have quite a problem,” I said. “Hopefully he evacuated all the residents days ago.”

“He did,” Samuel said. “Although many of them chose to stay. You might be surprised to learn that there are many of them who feel in debt to Benjamin and the safe haven that he created here. It’s their home, and they wanted to fight for it.”

All sorts of warning bells rang in my mind. “So while you are all sitting here yapping with me, who is helping them fight off the demons?”

Samuel looked surprised. “There are several angels who accompanied us here. They have been assisting us with getting the demon situation under control. The demons are quite effective at hiding during the day. Their preferred environment is night, of course.”

“So what’s your plan for closing the gate?” I started to scan the area around us. The cemetery stretched in every direction as far as I could see, but I knew we had to be within a half-mile of a main road somewhere. The island was only so big. No demon would be foolish enough to attempt an attack on a group of archangels during the day. At least, I hoped that was the case. “I also guess that’s the reason every demon official on the western seaboard has high-tailed it in this direction. The gate is putting out an influx of new recruits. New blood is attractive.”

“Right now, we’re focused simply on stemming the effect of those that have already escaped,” Samuel said.

“Which is on hold as well due to your rather inconvenient interruption.” Ezekiel appeared in front of me. I jumped. That was not the impression that I wanted to give the archangel at all. “Samuel, it’s time.”

“Time for what?” I asked as Samuel rose to his feet.

“While Benjamin is off cavorting with Eva’s vessel, someone has to continue the fight here,” Ezekiel said.

“Her name is Paige,” I said. “I’m sure they’ll be back shortly.”

“I received a missive from him. He said that we shouldn’t expect them back soon,” Ezekiel said. “His focus has clearly shifted away from his responsibilities.”

I leaped to my feet. “What do you mean they won’t be back soon?”

“My brother isn’t being terribly forthcoming on that point,” Ezekiel said. “In any case, this is the time to track down the demons who have come from the gate and send them back where they came.”

“So they can turn around and pop right back out of the gate again?” I asked. “Your problem is the fact that the gate is open at all. You should be working on closing it.”

“One thing at a time,” Ezekiel said.

“Your problem is the gate. Unless you don’t know how to close it,” I said. I watched the scowl appear on Ezekiel’s face. Samuel looked in the other direction. “You have to be shitting me. You said you closed the gate the first time.”

“Eva closed the gate,” Samuel admitted. “She never told us how she did it. Benjamin has tried. We’ve all tried.”

I couldn’t believe the words that I was about to say. “That’s where we need to go then. Now.”

“We?” Ezekiel scoffed. “And what exactly do you think you’d be able to do that the entire council of archangels could not?”

I crossed my arms. “Well, one thing for sure. I’m not going to stop trying until the damn thing is closed.” Paige had her objective, and for the moment, so did I.