The Soulkeepers (34 page)

In that moment, he believed.

There was no water left. The bottle lay
empty at his feet. He had no idea what the strings were connected
to but as the fireball moved from Mordechai's hand, and the sound
of Malini praying behind him reached his ears, he prepared to
release.

He circled his arms and let go. The push
that came was not from his own strength but from somewhere else. It
was a push from a place of deep realization that he was a warrior,
a Horseman, for everything good. The ground shook, the walls shook,
and as the fireball exploded above his ducked head, water poured in
from all directions. It was as if every pipe in the church had
burst simultaneously, only there was no water in Nod. This water
came from somewhere else.

"It will kill me Jacob!" he heard Dr. Silva
scream and he willed the deluge to flow around her. It washed
forward, sweeping Mordechai through the door. He dissolved in it,
his melting form thrashing wildly against the water until he
disappeared into a puddle of black ooze. Auriel had taken to the
air. She flew out the window, screaming for help, the drops of
water burning her like acid. The pieces of Turel dissolved with the
blue bindings and washed away.

When they were gone Jacob willed the water
back. It went out the way it came in, flowing around Dr. Silva as
if she were in a bubble.

"There will be more," she yelled, grabbing
her backpack and the candle from the circle.

Gideon headed out the door first, the light
from his body all they needed to run full speed down the twisting
path toward the garden. It was also enough to catch the attention
of a host of Watchers who had emerged from the city of Nod.
Unearthly howls and beating wings bit at their heels.

They reached the tree just in time. Gideon
grabbed Lilly's hand and disappeared through the bark. Dr. Silva
grabbed Malini with one hand and Jacob with the other and followed.
The transport was slower this time, because of the weight of the
three of them being pulled up through the ground by her magic. But
in minutes they were in the sand in front of Oswald, panting. Jacob
had never been so grateful for the nausea that wrenched his
stomach. The nausea meant they were free. They had escaped Nod.

Homecoming

When he'd finally recovered from his journey
through the tree, he sat up in the sand and looked around him.
Malini was still on her side, holding her head. Jacob realized it
was only her second time through Oswald. He scooted over to her and
scooped her up into his arms.

"Thank you, Malini, for coming for me."

Malini hugged him tight and kissed him
softly on the lips. She buried her face in his chest.

Gideon was standing in front of the tree in
his angel form, chanting something Jacob couldn't understand.

"What's he doing?" he asked Dr. Silva who
had pulled her knees into her chest and looked both sad and
tired.

"He's blessing Oswald so that his soul will
leave the tree and go to heaven."

"Well, that's terrific isn't it?"

"It means the tree won't be a portal
anymore. Oswald's blood was what made it work. He's closing it off
so that the Watchers can't use it to get to us."

"Do we need the portal? For the work that
I'm supposed to do?"

"No, not really. There are other ways.
Better ways actually. I'm just going to miss Oswald."

Then he realized what was at stake. "The
garden—it was Oswald's magic that kept this place alive, wasn't
it?"

"Yes."

"And, all of this will die when he
goes?"

"Yes."

"I'm so sorry Dr. Silva. This is my
fault."

"No Jacob. There were problems before you
ever came along. Why do you think I had a gate?"

And then another hand was on his shoulder, a
hand he never thought he would see again.

"Mom!" he yelled and hugged her as hard as
he could.

"Jacob, I missed you so much." Lilly's
almond eyes were full of love and tears.

"But how long have you known? That you were
a Horseman, I mean?" he asked. As much as he was glad to see her he
was a little put off that she'd never told him.

"Since your dad died. That was my
trigger."

"But why didn't you tell me?"

"After Charles died, I noticed changes. I
would be chopping vegetables at the kitchen counter and the knife
would become like an extension of my arm. Someone would startle me
after work and my body would move instinctively. I was faster,
stronger than ever. Any weapon I touched, I knew how to use like an
expert. But I didn't know what was happening to me. I didn't have a
Helper yet."

"So what happened?"

"Don't you remember? The bruises, the
arrests… I got into fights just to try out my skills, to learn what
I could do. I purposely put myself into dangerous situations. I
wanted to be attacked—for the exercise."

Jacob remembered her strange behavior, how
it had gotten worse those last weeks. They'd fought that last day.
He'd thought she was on drugs or something. She wouldn't tell him
what was going on or where she was going. That's why he'd followed
her.

"One night, I wandered into a martial arts
academy called the Red Door. I saw weapons in the window, ones I'd
never tried before. Sure, I could wield a knife and shoot a gun;
these were intuitive. I wanted to know if I could fight with
something I'd never touched before, a mace or a staff. Master Lee
met me at the door. He said that he was my Helper and I was called
to fight evil. Of course, at first I didn't believe, but after a
few meetings he had me convinced. He taught me the basics about
fighting Watchers. The box and the throwing knives were my
graduation gift.

When those women went missing in Manoa
Falls, Master Lee told me he thought it was the work of Watchers.
He was calling in a team of Horsemen to investigate. My first
mission would be to help hunt the thing down and kill it before it
murdered anyone else. I was too anxious. I didn't think I needed
the help of the other Horsemen, so I went to Manoa Falls myself. I
found the Watcher on instinct, but I was taken."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Would you ever believe it, if you weren't
one of us? If you hadn't seen, what you've seen?"

"Maybe. You could've tried me."

He stared at her for a long time. The
picture of his past had been fractured and his brain was snapping
the pieces together in a different pattern, a whole different past,
as he reinterpreted the events that he'd defined himself by for so
long. Lilly hadn't been a messed up and irresponsible widow, she
was a Horseman struggling to understand her power, just like him.
The accident that had changed his life forever was no accident at
all. His memory rang true.

"When you are taken to Nod, Jacob, the
despair of that place overwhelms you. All you can think about is
the worst thing you've ever done. You try to resist but eventually
you convince yourself that you belong there. You convict yourself
and, believe me, a person is their most unmerciful judge. When I
was in that cage Jacob, I was a prisoner to one thought, one
terrifying offense. I had abandoned you. I left for Manoa Falls
knowing that I might never return. I left you with nothing, no
means to survive."

"You thought you'd be successful. You didn't
mean to."

"It doesn't matter, Jacob. I'm so
sorry."

"I think you've suffered enough. I forgive
you. Just don't let it happen again." He smiled knowing a weight
had been lifted with his words.

"But how will we explain this? What story
will we tell for how she got here?" Malini asked. "Nobody is ever
going to believe what really happened."

"I don't know." Lilly looked at Dr. Silva.
"But we'll think of something."

"It's more than Lilly we have to explain,"
Dr. Silva said. "You two have been gone for three days."

"Three days!" Malini and Jacob yelled
together.

"Yes, unfortunately time in Nod is different
than time here. You've been gone three Earth days. Lilly, you've
been gone almost a year," Dr. Silva said.

Lilly covered her face with her hands.

"But what will I tell John?" Jacob
asked.

"Or my parents?" Malini added.

"Oh, we will think of something. The most
important thing, Jacob, is that now you are a true Horseman. I'll
connect you with others like you so that you can work together. You
will apprentice with a team and participate in your first mission.
Your mother being here is a blessing. She can help," Dr. Silva
said.

"But I don't understand. I never finished my
training."

"That, Jacob," she said, pointing to the
tree, "was the advanced course."

Jacob wasn't sure he was comfortable with
that answer but he turned toward his mother, another question
pressing against his lips. "Are we going back home?" He'd assumed
she would want to go back to Oahu, to pick up where they'd left
off.

"It's not safe Jacob," she said. "Right now,
this is the safest place on earth. There just isn't that much here
to entice the Watchers to attack. Now that the portal is closed, it
will be more difficult for them to get to you."

"Plus, you need Malini," Gideon said. He'd
finished at the tree and now faced them, his green eyes twinkling
in the late afternoon sun. "You two have been brought together,
spirit to spirit, for a reason." He stopped when Dr. Silva shot him
a sharp glance.

"Jacob, you need to know, difficult or not,
they will come for you. You killed two of their top leaders.
Mordechai and Turel were very powerful, what you might call vice
presidents in your world. We can slow them down, but I'm afraid
there are more Watchers in your future. Both of you."

He glanced toward Malini. He hated that he'd
dragged her into this. Picking up a handful of sand, he watched it
run through his fingers, thinking about the day, about everything
he'd learned.

Jacob turned toward Dr. Silva. "Why didn't
you just tell me what you were?"

"Would you have trusted me if you knew I was
a Watcher?"

Gideon shook his head, his green eyes
resolute. "You're not. You are not the same as them, Abigail. I
wouldn't be here if you were." He was beside her in an instant. He
didn't actually touch her but sat less than an inch away, his wing
sheltering her in its protective arc. Even in the daylight, his
glow was undeniable.

Malini nudged Jacob's shoulder and shot him
a look. He hadn't meant to hurt Dr. Silva's feelings.

"I guess it doesn't matter what you are, Dr.
Silva, but who you are," she said. "You're our friend. You saved us
today."

Malini always knew just what to say.

"I think that honor goes to Jacob," Dr.
Silva replied. "Why don't we all go back to the house and have some
tea? Then we can talk about what to do next."

"I think I've had quite enough of your tea,
thank you," Malini said.

"Whatever you'd like, then," she answered
with a laugh.

Malini and Jacob led the way out of the
cactus maze, through the field and up the twisting forest path.
Lilly followed closely, but Dr. Silva and Gideon lagged behind. As
they entered the forest, stepping stone to stone through the blood
dragons, something started to nag at Jacob, a thought, a piece of
the puzzle that didn't quite fit. He told Malini to take his mom to
the gate and quietly backtracked to the edge of the glade.

Gideon and Dr. Silva had stopped in the
meadow, the setting sun a red halo behind them. His hand hovered
within an inch of her cheek, his body as close to hers without
touching as possible. Under the shadow of his wings, it looked as
if he would kiss her at any moment. His lips were so close to hers
Jacob could feel the tension between them. It was a level of
intimacy that made Jacob blush. He knew he shouldn't be watching
their private moment but for some reason, he couldn't turn away.
Even a bystander could feel the love there, as intoxicating as
fairy dust.

After what seemed like an eternity, their
lips finally touched—only they didn't. At the moment of contact,
Gideon transformed, folding in on himself until only the red cat
remained. Jacob could see it then, the sadness between them,
hanging like a lead weight around their necks.

Dr. Silva turned for the path and he didn't
bother to hide. He was too affected by what he'd seen. He swallowed
the lump in his throat and waited for them to join him on the
trail.

"So, it seems like you are doomed to
experience one more form of hell today," she said softly. Then she
held a hand out toward Gideon. "Witness, the curse of the Angel who
fell in love with the Watcher."

The big red cat ran ahead, making a sound
like a cry.

Gideon's
Challenge

They huddled in the parlor of Dr. Silva's
home and helped each other recover. Being in the presence of evil,
true evil, sticks with you. It hangs off a person like the stench
of sewage and takes more than its share of your thoughts. The
original elation of being free from Nod settled into quiet
contemplation. Dr. Silva insisted that everyone have cookies with
tea or milk and only discuss their happiest memories for at least
an hour. She said it wasn't safe to go out otherwise. A person
shouldn't take those feelings of grief and hopelessness into the
world with them.

"Jacob, you and your mom can't go home
dressed like that. Go cut some chrysanthemums from the back of the
house and I'll build you an illusion," Dr. Silva said.

He nodded. He was still wearing the
grotesque rag from Nod. He walked through the sunroom, out the back
door, and was about to cut a handful of burgundy flowers, when
Gideon joined him in the flowerbed.

Jacob glanced up from the flowers in time to
see the cat transform. The process was gruesome, the cat turning
inside out on itself as if it were skinned alive. But in the end,
Gideon looked no worse for it. He ran his hands through his auburn
hair and stretched his wings to their full span before folding them
neatly behind his back. He wore jeans and a black t-shirt Jacob
assumed was an illusion since the cat hadn't had any clothes.
Still, he was thankful for that much as it was more comfortable
than staring at a naked man with wings.