Chapter 11
Lucas awoke from a dead sleep to the deafening sound of the surf. He wiped the grit from his eyes and blinked at the slivers of light beginning to blanket his hut. He listened to the monotonous static of the waves while they rushed in, then paused before the water slid back to the ocean where it belonged.
Here, he would never have the slow, peaceful wake-up people imagine when they think of the ocean. He was either awake or asleep with no purgatory, no in-between. For a split second, he had to concentrate to remember the day. Then a crystal clear image formed in his brain.
Cali. Peaceful and asleep in his hammock. He had two days to teach her how to stay alive. He’d be damned if he didn’t teach her everything he knew. “What the hell am I thinking? I can’t teach her in two days what it took me a lifetime to learn and still not master,” he said to Stogey, who was curled up by his side.
To him, being a seer was a debilitating curse, but Cali seemed to think it a gift. She probably imagined demons were a few bad seeds selling drugs and committing robberies. The girl had no idea. You can’t be afraid of something horrific until you experience it firsthand. Lucas had been so revved up after the years of training that culminated in his first hunt. Then, in the bloody horror of the fight, his mother had paused for one shitty-ass second to check on her son.
And she’d been slaughtered.
He absently fingered the necklaces hanging around his neck, painful reminders of his parents, but things he couldn’t live without.
He rolled out of bed, stretching his sore muscles. He needed a long ride on Gotzone today. God, what he wouldn’t give to watch Cali gallop down the beach with the wind whipping her hair and her head thrown back in laughter. Why couldn’t life be simple?
Four steps took him across the meager hut from his cot-like bed. He flipped on the light, but nothing happened thanks to his temperamental electricity. With a sigh, he crossed the room to pump the handle on his sink for water. He splashed his face, tossed back a swallow of last night’s leftover tequila, yanked on his shorts and headed for the door. He descended his stairs to the beach and headed for the outhouse next to a perpetually cold outdoor shower he decided to skip. He inhaled the salty air and headed for the beach in his backyard, his demon-free personal paradise. Glancing both ways as he crunched through the cool sand, Lucas realized that other than his resident mooch stray, Stogey, he was alone on this stretch of beach. He stripped off his shorts and shuddered in the brisk morning breeze. He waded into the ocean to wake up. The surf was warmer than his shower would have been.
After a plunge into the salty water and a quick rinse in his shower, he climbed the wooden stairs of his shanty. Stilts rose out of the sand to support the structure. He found a towel, wrapped it around himself, then brushed his teeth and attempted a quick shave. He dumped the used water out the window, got dressed, and went back outside.
His hammock hung outside under the shade of the blue corrugated roof, tied between the palm trees that surrounded the small, wind-blown structure. Maybe Calise would need another nap today. He could watch over her. He could keep her safe.
Lucas lay down in his saggy hammock to wait for sunrise when he would head to the Howler Monkey Resort. The dog plopped down beside him. Ears back, Stogey leaned his thin, fifty pound, brown body against his master and wagged his tail. The dog nudged his hand with his wet nose for attention. Lucas tried to fall back to sleep, but all he could see was Marla’s mother drowning in the ocean.
His life seemed to be filled with failure—until he pulled Calise from the ocean. Before that, drowning would have given him welcome relief. Inhaling the first damning breath of water would have ended his agony after his mother’s murder. But with his father’s catatonic state and Becca’s pregnancy, Lucas had to be stronger. No, he was stronger.
He drifted into sleep, only to wake in a cold sweat, drenched not from his swim, but from the wet, thick coat of fear and regrets he couldn’t wash away. “No!” He woke up and leapt to his feet in alarm.
Calise was sitting on the ground scratching Stogey. “What’s the matter?” she asked. She got up. He checked the perimeter of his bungalow. She came over and took his hands in hers. “It’ll be okay.” He tried to slow down his rapid breathing. She squeezed his hands which did nothing to stop them from shaking. But then he looked at her. Really looked at her. Her sun-bleached hair was tied in a knot with a few loose wavy strands blowing around in the light breeze. Her words brought something to the surface for him, feelings he’d built several layers of a sturdy wall to protect. Emotions he’d pushed down for years bubbled up and to overflowing with the mere thought of her. And with her actual presence, he was lost to her. Her eyes seemed to hold wise understanding and forgiveness of all his past transgressions. Lucas, who barely talked to anyone, let alone let anyone inside his head, wanted nothing more than to sit down and tell Calise his every thought. They had formed a connection he didn’t believe existed. And was terrified of losing. But he’d already lost her before he’d even had her. She needed to return to the States and live a life without him. In fact, for how much he already cared about her, he’d be willing to let her go if only for her to escape his wretched life.
He did everything in his power to push this emotional connection he felt for her back down in his gut and start reconstructing his walls. That would be the only way to love her—to let her go and find happiness with someone worthy of her.
He let out a huff of air. “You’re wrong. It’ll never be okay. Is this what you want? Horrible dreams, a restless life, not knowing if you’ll live until tomorrow?”
Her face was serene. “I’ve slept like crap for years. At least now, the fog in my dreams will have a tangible face. We could all die today, but honestly, I’m relieved. I’m not afraid, Lucas, and right now, I feel like I’ve never belonged anywhere more than I belong here right now, with you.”
She melted his wall in an instant. How could anyone have this much insight to who he really was? If every choice he’d made in this life had led him to having her in his life for a few days, then he’d do it all again. He wanted to tell her he felt the same way, but to what end? Train her to fight, train her to control her emotions. Then she’ll be walking out of my world. And he would be alone. Again.
He allowed himself one moment to stare at her and get lost in her eyes. She edged closer.
He forced himself to snap out it. “I’ll get weapons. So we can train.” He went inside his hut and armed himself—Tanto blades in his boots and throwing knives in his forearm straps. He handed her a throwing knife to start.
She shook her head. “No knives. I hate knives.”
“I need to teach you how to defend yourself.”
“I’m a black belt in karate and have practiced kali-escrima and take krav maga classes with my brother. I can defend myself, trust me. No knives.”
He let the words float through his mind, “Please let me find something not to like about this woman.” Out loud, he tried to harden his voice. “Fine, show me what you got.”
They made their way to the still abandoned beach, and Lucas pulled out a knife and bent his knees in a fighter’s stance. Calise picked up two sticks of equal size. When he came forward, she landed a swat to his wrist, sent the knife skittering in the sand while simultaneously tripping him. She laid the stick on his neck. “Give?”
Lucas couldn’t help but laugh.
“Why are you always laughing at me?”
“Because you continue to surprise me.”
He approached her with different scenarios as the morning sun rose in the sky. Sweat poured down Lucas's back as he continued to be pleased by her skills. She was toned, muscular, and fast. Every time she put him on the ground, he laughed harder. His holds on her became tighter, his breathing ragged and her sitting on top of him, warm and panting, left him wanting to drag her into his hut and taste her, everywhere.
“Seriously, Lucas. I don’t plan on attacking anyone,” she said, winded. “Can we please go for a swim and rest? I’m a bit tired by your demon hunter boot camp.”
He nodded helplessly. He wanted her to need him. He wanted her to beg for his protection from the evils of the world. But she was fearless and it scared him. She was…something else.
She emerged from his hut in an ivory string bikini. Her face still flushed from the workout, the sly smile playing on her face made him shake his head. She had him—mind, body, and spirit. “I promise after food and a swim, I’ll let you train me the rest of the day. But can we get a quick bite at Carmen’s first?”
“Anything you want.”
She fished a mesh cover up and flip-flops out of her beach bag. She kissed him on the cheek. “Anything?”
“Let’s go, sassy.” He held her hand across the road and they grabbed a shaded table at Carmen’s. After lunch, they spent the afternoon swimming, laying out on the sand, and walking with Stogey, chatting.
“I admit it appears that physically, you can take care of yourself. It’s the psychological part I’m worried about,” Lucas said.
“Remember I can’t see the demons anyway. I just get a sick dark feeling. Like an invisible pulse of hatred surrounds them. I’ll avoid them, I promise.” She threw another stick into the surf for Stogey to fetch. “Can I ask you something?”
“Yeah.”
“How did you end up here?”
Lucas couldn’t tell her about his girlfriend, her insanity, their child, the suicide. That pain was buried deep. “My mom was killed by a demon, and my dad lost it. He’s catatonic and in an institution in Kansas. I hated the life. I wanted to run. I came here to hide.”
He told her about the night he came to Mal Pais…
****
Lucas’s father was a Tico, a native of Costa Rica. Lucas enjoyed precious few peaceful childhood memories, but one decent memory was their family trip to the Nicoya Peninsula when he was in grade school. The night his girlfriend committed suicide, he left Salina and boarded the first plane to San Jose to find his aunt and seek work at her restaurant. Between sunglasses and headphones, he tuned out surrounding angels, demons, and humans alike.
When he’d landed, he took a bus to Puntarenas then caught the ferry to Paquera. There, he’d got on a bus which passed through Tambor and Cobano before he got off in Mal Pais and walked. The sun had long since set. He followed a distant memory and kept along the road by the ocean. The restaurant named Carmen’s was closed. He broke into the kitchen, ate some left over pico de gallo, and fell asleep out of sheer exhaustion.
He woke to an angry woman berating him in Spanish. At least she was human. He inadvertently smiled. I travel to the ends of the earth to escape demons but the wrath of women lives on. Even here, on the edge of the world.
“Señora, lo siento,” he murmured in his best Spanish. “Soy una alma perdida. Por favor ayudame. Necessito trabajo. Me llamo Lucas, soy su sobrino.” I am a lost soul. Please help me. I need a job. My name is Lucas, your nephew.
Lucas’s Aunt Carmen, who owned the restaurant, placed her hands on her hips and shook her head. She took off her apron and threw it at him. Then she threw back her head, laughing and crying, gathered him up, and hugged him until he couldn’t breathe.
“I haven’t seen you in ten years, since you were eight years old! I’ll give you one night to prove to me you can cook like a Tico and for a Tico, or you are gone, ¿entiendes?” Understand?
“I understand, Tía. But right now, I’m hungry." He mustered up his best smile.
Carmen shook her head and rummaged around the kitchen to feed him. They exchanged pleasantries until he finished consuming the three plates of food in front of him at their candle-lit table. The roar of the night ocean came at them from across the street. She mixed two mojitos and set one down in front of Lucas.
Carmen took a long drink and set the glass down hard before she asked, “So, how is my brother? Your mother is dead, right?”
Lucas kept his eyes on his food. “Papa is not good, Tía. He’s never coming back to his right mind.”
Their eyes met. She understood and nodded. “You’ll stay here now.”
****
“I’ve been here ever since,” Lucas told Calise. “I started working for Ron to keep an eye on Anna and cook for Carmen. Even though Mal Pais means 'bad country' in Spanish, it’s been the most restful place I’ve ever lived.”
“Most people probably think you’re a local, don’t they?” Calise asked.
Lucas nodded. At almost six feet tall with long, dark, naturally wavy hair and his skin browned from the sun, Lucas found that between his fluent Spanish and skill with the horses, few tourists had any idea he relocated here from the States. “Everyone knows everyone here. No one has ever questioned my roots.” Mal Pais locals looked out for each other, even those who had relocated to the town after vacationing there with a surfboard. Diehards never left, and spent the rest of their lives waiting for that perfect wave. The carefree, slow pace way of life was contagious.
They stopped outside his hut. The sun began to dip in the afternoon sky.
“Cali, my father’s last words to me were, ‘They’ll find you.’” The words hung in the air between them as the ocean roared and the palms rustled. The words were truth he couldn’t leave behind no matter how far he ran. “Enough for today. Can you do me a favor?”
“Anything.”
“Let’s pretend the world is normal and let me take you out riding before the sun sets.”
“Mmm, sounds perfect.”
****
Lucas worked in the barn while Calise showered and ate in her bungalow. The place was almost peaceful with Anna gone. Lucas had told Ron how he found the window broken. A frantic Ron had filed a missing person’s report and searched for answers, but found none regarding the disappearance of his wife.
The horses grazed up the road so Lucas spent the late afternoon humming and cleaning the stalls. After he gathered the animals from pasture, he groomed, fed, and watered them. He brushed and saddled Gotzone and Rocket. He gave each horse an apple then sank down to crunch on one himself.
The cumulus clouds overhead lent more humidity than normal and foreshadowed thunderstorms yet again. Despite the heat, his body prickled with goose bumps from the moody, brooding air.
Calise leaned against the door of the barn. Her wet hair glistened from a shower. She wore long, tight black pants and a sequined black tank top. “This was my dancing outfit for the clubs in San Jose. Do you think the horses approve?”
“You dance?”
“Not a lick.”
“You look amazing, Cali.”
“It’s Calise.”
Cali. That name suited her and Lucas was pleased to see a slow flush work its way up her cheeks. “Ready?”
Lucas had perfected a two-hour route through the jungle for his clients. After they mounted Gotzone and Rocket, they headed from the resort into the quiet land on the dirt roads best handled by quads or horses trotting past farms and local homes. She asked the names of the symphony of birds that serenaded them. He identified the mot-mot, Hoffman’s woodpecker and even the elusive and infamous quetzal. He pointed out the variegated squirrels, all brown with a black stripe down their backs, and they caught a glimpse of a white-nosed coati sleeping in a tree.
At the end, Lucas took her down to the beach. The sunsets in Mal Pais were magical because no resorts or buildings cluttered up the beach. Only jungle butted up to the sand. Stray dogs roamed looking for playmates, and Stogey engaged a few, frolicking in the evening surf. People, as always, were sparse. They dismounted and led the horses along the one-eighth mile stretch of sand between the jungle overhang and the ocean itself.
She slipped off her shoes to let the silky feel of the rich, tan-colored sand slide between her toes. They navigated the horses around small rock outcroppings. Like their own personal discovery, the beach looked hazy and endless in both directions. He felt as though they alone happened upon this discovery, almost as if they were the first living people to view its majesty. Larger rock outcroppings held small lagoons where crabs and small fish resided. The setting sun mixed hues of cobalt and gold while the clouds turned slate-colored, looking like mountains on the horizon.
They talked and laughed comfortably. She told him about her job in the pharmacy, her overprotective mother, and some memories from her years in college.
“This is like a dream, Lucas. I can see why you love it here.”
He brushed the hair off her face. “Here’s the most level spot. If you want, I’ll help you back up, and you can ask Rocket to canter.”
Without his help, she got back on the horse, kicked her heels against Rocket’s flanks and off she went. He jumped on Gotzone and chased her up and down the beach until the animals snorted and huffed from exertion. Lucas felt his resolve to let her leave him slipping. At the fringes of his mind he wondered what she’d say if he asked her to stay.
With the sun setting over the ocean, they moseyed back to the lodge, breathing in the sweet scent of orchids and lilies native to the area. Enormous rainforest trees, some hugged by strangler figs, formed a shady canopy overhead, where howler monkeys gathered at dusk. Their unmistakable screech sounded like the deep, guttural roar of jungle monsters.
“Damn,” she whispered. “Their voices…”
The howler monkeys lounged in the trees above them, watching them pass through their jungle. He remembered telling Marla and her mother they had nothing to worry about and the memory made his chest tighten. “Howler monkeys.”
“Lucas, what did happen to Anna?” Calise asked when they got back to the resort. “You never told me.”
The words reminded him of Alejandro. They hadn’t really heard from him since that night. “You know, I do need to go check on something yet tonight. I’ll see you tomorrow. Sleep well, Cali.”
She dismounted Rocket outside the barn, handed him the reigns, and walked straight into his arms. He wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her hair.
Strawberries.
“Thanks for today,” she said. “You sleep well, too.”
****
After making sure Cali closed and locked her bungalow door, Lucas headed to Cabo Blanco on Gotzone. Were the demons dead and his family’s artifacts safe? He let his mind wander back to Cali and his heart sank thinking of her scheduled to fly back to the states in two days. He’d fallen for her and never wanted to let her out of his sight again. His mind wandered to other possibilities…until he got to Cabo Blanco.
He found a mess beyond the “park closed until further notice” sign that hung haphazardly at the main gate. It looked as though someone had taken a backhoe to the trails. Trees appeared pulled up by the roots and tossed as weapons. With all the signs of a nasty fight, but no sign of Alejandro anywhere, Lucas worried who had won. Dismounting the horse, he started the long hike down to the beach in the dark. Distant flashes of lightning from far out at sea punctuated the sky.
Where is he?
Lucas heard voices and a soft squeaking from a hammock on the beach tied in-between two bending palm trees. A woman lounged and rocked with a peaceful smile playing on her face. Candles flickered in a semi-circle around her. She looked a little bloodied and bruised, but certainly could have been worse. Alejandro knelt next to her, whispering and stroking her hair. She looked right at Lucas and smiled. A slow, icy chill ran the length of his spine.
What in the absolute hell—Anna?
“Hello, Lucas.” Her voice evaporated into the wind.
One of them should have been dead! Anna shouldn’t even be able to function on this consecrated ground. Was Alejandro under her seduction spell? Lucas stayed far away from her lest she suck him back into her web.
“I need to talk to you, angel. Get your ass over here away from her.”
Alejandro never turned his head or acknowledged Lucas. “Anything you have to say, you can say in front of my Anna.”
She had defeated Alejandro not on his physical playing field, but on hers, lust.
Isn’t the angel stronger than this slut demon?
“Really? I can say anything? In front of the demon that lured you away from Cabo so those demons could enter? The demon that I saw you throw through a window…is now in our circle of trust? That’s great.”
Alejandro looked sharply at him.
“Where are the others?” Lucas asked.
“I beat the shit out of them. They left with their tails between their legs.”
“Left? Alive?” He processed the information slowly. “Why aren’t they dead?” Maybe if he reminded Alejandro exactly what Anna was, that would help? Or maybe, the angel was already too far gone. Time to see what Anna’s game was.
Lucas took one tentative step toward Anna, clearing his mind. “Anna, Ron probably wants to know where you are. What should I tell him?” It was as if he stood at the top of a sheer drop. Losing Alejandro to this she-devil meant the artifacts were unprotected and he and Carmen were dead.
Alejandro’s centuries of protection will be for naught because Anna’s so damn sexy? Un-shittin-acceptable.
He couldn’t protect the artifacts without the angel.
Anna traced Alejandro’s face with her fingers. “Tell Ron I’m dead. I never want to see him again. I’m with Alejandro again.”
With?…Again? I. Am. Screwed.
She knew about the necklaces; she knew he and Carmen were seers. And now she was kicking it with the angel who knew the location of all of his family’s most valuable belongings? She had to be stopped—one way or another.
Lucas discreetly pulled out his long, serrated knife and advanced on the happy couple. Anna needed to be eliminated to snap Alejandro out of this funk. Lucas edged closer careful to stay out of her reach. “Alejandro, I have something to show you. Come here,” Lucas pleaded.
She nodded as if her permission was the final word and he rose to his full height to face Lucas. Even out of her grasp, something was very wrong. Was Anna controlling him or was this his own free will?
“Alejandro, what are you doing? You should have killed all of them. They’ll come back with an army,” he whispered, keeping the knife hidden from view.
“I told them I’d kill them if they came back. It’ll be fine. And now I found my Anna again—my love. I know she isn’t perfect—but she is my paired essence.” Lucas saw Anna’s smug grin as she stretched her arms over her head, then rolled on her side, watching the exchange.
“Isn’t perfect? What? You loved her the first second when you tossed her through a window? Help me understand. You’re my friend. Anna’s a demon. Remember, a demon? I thought you were sworn to fight and kill demons. How is she even here at Cabo? I thought this place was consecrated, or something.”
“I had it lifted to accommodate her. Besides, the artifacts aren’t here anymore.” Alejandro looked at his hand and scratched it as if they were discussing the weather.
“Shh! How can you speak like that in front of her? Have you lost your mind?” he said. “So what are Carmen and I supposed to do now? Those demons could still be here. I should tell Ron that Anna is dead and let you two enjoy this ridiculous love nest? And pretend last night never happened?”
“I don’t care what you do, but leave the two of us alone.” Alejandro turned his back to Lucas who grabbed his arm. The angel jerked away. “I’ve done enough for your family. I’m with Anna now. Accept it, or don’t come back here.”
This was utter bullshit. Lucas made a swift move toward Anna with his knife but Alejandro turned the knife to dust before his arm had even lifted high enough to generate any inertia.
“Don’t you dare touch her.”
Lucas reached for another knife but the angel bent his wrist. Before his wrist got snapped in two, he released the weapon. Alejandro and Anna suddenly appeared twenty-five yards away. The angel carried her in his arms and nuzzled her neck. The moonlight outlined their silhouettes. They cast one look backwards—eyes shining like a matched set of diamonds and rubies—then made their way into the surf, and were gone.
“Wait! She’ll expose us!” Lucas’s heart caught in his chest as he ran a few steps toward them. Alejandro, his friend, abandoned them to shack up with a demon after two millennia? He couldn’t believe this had happened. Alejandro was stronger than Anna; he should have no problem resisting her temptations.
Never trust a demon.
Lucas stood alone on the beach in the middle of the night. The clouds parted to show a patch of innumerable stars overhead. Each pinpoint of light showcased all his failures. His family was going to be defeated because of him—he’d let Anna seduce him and summoned Alejandro. He let everyone down: first his mother, then Becca and his father, Marla and her mother, and now his friend, and guardian angel. Not to mention Calise and Carmen.
All the way back to his hut, he thought about good and evil. How easily the best could be broken and how rarely he saw evil rise to heights of decency. It seemed to him that once you fell, there was no turning back.