Chapter 24
Abaddon’s orphanage in Russia
Shane zipped and unzipped the down feather jacket he wore. He stood in the hallway of the medical wing of the orphanage. The cold seeped under every flimsy door and thin window in the building. The hallway was perfunctory at best. No pictures hung on the walls. The sterile white walls, gray cement ceiling, and broken tile floors conveyed no more emotion than the drab confinement that ruled this orphanage.
Liza slouched against the wall near him with her arms folded and foot tapping the floor. She had thrown on a wool skirt and black sweater while the doctor examined Nara. With their ordeal in the dungeon still raw, she limited her eye contact to the floor.
They both startled when the doctor finally emerged from the room where Nara rested. Demon doctors were hard to find as it was a bit more of a selfless profession than say a cocaine dealer, but this one was on Abaddon’s payroll. His eyes burned like fire and his black aura was lustrous. His impeccably tailored black suit actually smelled like money, which made Shane smirk. The demon doctor cracked his knuckles. “You must be the wonderful ‘Shane’ she kept asking for. I gave her a sedative and informed her that if she wants a successful pregnancy and a health baby, she needs to stay on permanent bed rest until the child is born because of preterm labor. She appears quite obstinate, so, I guess, good luck with that.”
He handed Shane a business card with a personal number for emergencies, shook hands, and left.
Liza bit her lip. “Now what? She can’t stay here. What are you going to do with her?” She flicked him a tentative glance.
He felt as though the weight of a hundred demons had been lifted off of his shoulders with those words. “Me? Nothing. I feel like shit, but I’m leaving. She’s your problem now. Good luck with everything, Liza. I have this one chance to escape her, and I’m taking it.” He turned to walk toward the entrance he’d been dragged through recently.
His thoughts were hell bent on getting Liza to nurse Nara so he could hightail it to Calise.
She ran to catch up with him, clutching his arm like a person drowning latches onto a tow rope. “The hell you’re leaving. I’m not staying here with her. I can’t. I’ll leave, too.” She turned toward her room.
His heart sank. All he craved was a moment’s peace and freedom from Nara, but he needed Liza to attend to her and calm her—for his child’s sake. It was his turn to chase Liza. “Wait a sec.” He held her fast by her upper arms and she cringed at his touch. “Look at me.”
She raised her chin to meet his gaze. The angel in Shane was buried but not dead. Could Liza want redemption? Her eyes were cycling between crimson and pink. Her aura was black with tiny puffs of gray intermixed. Shane knew her aura usually smelled like stale meat and vomit he detected something else…modeling clay? “I believe there is good in you. I can see it. If you take care of Nara and my baby for me, I—I’ll come back with help. For you, my baby, and the rest of these kids. Tell her anything about me you have to say to stall her. Can you do that for me?”
“Don’t, Shane. This won’t work and you know it. She and her family are way too powerful. What could you possibly bring?” Hopelessness blanketed her every word.
If he wanted to get his child away from Nara, he needed Liza to do this for him. Everything depended on it. “Not what, but who. Let’s say I know a guy with a real charming halo who might be willing to help us.” He winked and gave her a hug before Liza could offer another word of protest.
****
Calise sorted her mail and found a letter from Lucas. The airmail paper was thin, fragile and see-through, but she could make out his hand-written words:
My Cali,
I find a piece of myself is gone without you here and yet I fear for us. Were you just a dream? A beautiful figment of my imagination? I can’t imagine that I could have had the same effect on you as you did on me. I am changed by having met you. I want you in my life, but as I warned you, I am not the person you think I am. I am haunted by more demons than the ones I see. I don’t want to expose you to that part of my life, but there may be no choice. I am coming to you. I will explain when I see you. Please have faith in my feelings for you. They are real and you have already sung to me in dark, quiet places where there was nothing to carry me through except my love for you.
I am yours,
Lucas
Life could be worse. Lucas was on his way.
Her mother and best friend were angels.
The necklace he gave her protected her from demons.
Oh yeah, and the plus symbol was red and strong.
Skipping birth control pills plus antibiotic drug interaction times broken condom equals…
She was definitely pregnant.
****
It had been a few weeks since the old Latino man came into Calise’s pharmacy and warned her, “They are everywhere.” Damn him for being right.
Days passed without word from Lucas. Her mother called hourly at the pharmacy to check on her and warn her about all of the insurmountable obstacles now in her life. She preached how Calise should watch her back, never let on when she recognized an angel or demon, and resist any and all urges to use the necklace for fear of discovery.
Ellen nagged as well with incessant phone calls asking whereabouts, who she was with, and how she felt. Already on edge and feeling like a caged animal, her heavenly helpers made her more and more jumpy at every turn.
Where is Lucas? Maybe something went terribly wrong.
Calise closed the pharmacy, entered her security code, and locked the safe and the door behind her. I’m sick of my heart racing in fear that at every corner, a demon is going to jump out and kill me, she thought, while driving her regular route home. A wild wind kicked up tonight, reminiscent of Costa Rica. But in Costa Rica, the hurricane wind rattled her bungalow like a scorned lover trying to gain admission back to the bedroom. Here, safe in her sports car and blocks from a second floor apartment with a sturdy cement basement, she lacked fear of hurricane damage. And Wisconsin’s tornado season ended months ago.
She couldn’t stop thinking about Lucas. The winter remnant maple and oak leaves skittered over the sidewalk on the short walk to her building. They reminded her of the leaf strewn path to the Howler Monkey Lodge that she and Lucas rode on horseback.
She entered the apartment building with a quick glance behind her and climbed the stairs hastily. Every step up to her apartment creaked louder than she remembered and the overhead and exit lights in the corridor appeared dim in the stairwell. When she got to her apartment door, Calise knew something was off because she’d developed a fondness for her internal instincts which she compulsively obeyed now.
A knot of panic rose in her chest.
Calm down, ding dong. Everyone has got you on edge. Everything is kosher.
She let out of puff of relief seeing the door to her apartment locked and secure.
She fished the key out of her purse and unlocked the door. The apartment was pitch black. Guided by the strands of hallway light behind her, she groped for the lamp on the side table next to the couch. The air became damp and dank like a mold-ridden basement. As her fingers touched the knob to turn on the light, someone was on her from behind, pinning her up against the wall so deftly that it knocked the wind out of her. A forearm pressed against her neck, collapsing her larynx. Everything started going black in her field of vision, from the outside in.
She started to gag and the hold was released slightly.
“Are we alone?” Her attacker spoke in a guttural yet neutral tone.
She coughed first, trying to regain sight and breath. “Yes.”
“Where’s the seer?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Who are you? What do you want?” His sweat smelled reminiscent of something.
He let go. Calise stumbled forward again to turn on the light.
His hand jerked her back before she could click it on. “No light. I’m only here to warn you about that man named Lucas. You need to stay away from him. If he has given you anything, a necklace or something, get rid of it immediately. You are hunted, Calise.”
She took a step back and found the arm of her sofa and practically fell down because her legs were shaking so hard that she didn’t think they would hold her another second.
Then she saw them…
It’s eyes…
They weren’t like angel’s or demon’s. They were hollow circles, like an eclipsed sun.
With her pulse racing, she wondered what monster held her here. “How do you know my name?”
“I told you. I just came to warn you—”
“Stop. I know your voice. Stop it right now.” She reached for the lamp a third time with her left hand instead of her right. He grabbed her again. Calise punched him as hard as she could with a right hook to his jaw. When he staggered back in surprise, she finally succeeded at her mission and turned the light on.
Holding his jaw, he turned to face her. “Calise, it’s me. Shane.”