02 Awaken-The Soulkeepers (33 page)

“Uh, ’bout a week. Maybe less.”

Dante spun away and began pacing and muttering under his breath. “It might be enough time; if her memories return quickly. Perhaps some coaxing would spur the process along.”

“There’s more,” Santiago said, and Dante stopped in his tracks. “Well, I guess Lord Brutus was on the warpath after he learned you guys got all the way to Haven Hurst. He punished Isatou for tricking him with the tattoos, and then he … released Wolfgang.”

“So?” Dante snapped, stepping closer. Santiago flinched and moved around a chair to keep a barrier between them.

“You guys know how Wolf was tortured and all? Well, Lord Brutus really went psycho on his ass, turned him into a monster. Wexler said he heard Wolfgang is part demon and part beast with fangs and horns and shit. The chains could barely hold him.”

“And now he’s on the loose?” Vaughn asked. He stood and flipped out his blade, slicing it nervously across his thigh.

Santiago shook his head. “Not on the loose. On the prowl. Lord Brutus is sending Wolfgang to … kill Sophia.”

Demonic rage exploded in Dante, and he grabbed the chair, hurling it against the fireplace. Tables and lamps followed, and then he torn down pictures and curtains and doors, ripping away anything his hands touched. The room was in shambles, and then he went after Santiago, clutching him by the throat and crushing him into the wall. The kid’s eyes bulged and his face turned red. Vaughn jumped on Dante, trying to tear him away before he severed Santiago’s head.

“Stop! Dante! We need the kid! And we need a plan! Now back off!”

Dante had wild snake eyes, and his body shook with fury. Slowly, Vaughn’s pleas reached him, and he eased back, releasing the kid. Santiago dropped to his knees, clutching his throat and gasping for air.

“We need a plan,” Vaughn repeated calmly. He held Dante by the shoulders, working to bring him back down with something he could understand, a rational game plan.

“Yes,” Dante murmured, forcing his demon down and regaining himself. He shoved Vaughn away, and then ran a hand through his hair. “We know Wolfgang better than anyone. We know his tactics, his ploys and preferences.”

“But what about Sophia? You have to tell her. She’ll have to be ready if he finds
her without us.”

“He won’t.”

“You willing to risk that?”

Dante contemplated this, his mind frantic for a way to keep Sophia out of Wolfgang’s reach. “I’ll have to stay with her. Never leave her side.”

“You have to
teach
her to defend herself, Dante. If she’s still training to become a spirit walker, she’ll have access to supernatural weapons, right?”

“You want
me
to teach
Sophia
how to kill a
demon
?” Dante’s eyebrows rose at the ridiculousness of it.

“Yeah, well, you’ll just have to make sure she won’t kill you. Unless you’re into that kinda thing.” He laughed at Dante’s scowl.

“She has been training with her own personal Jedis,” Dante grumbled, and Vaughn laughed.

“Look who’s been watching the movie channel.”

Dante gave him a cynical look, and then kicked a path through the debris until he stood before the fireplace. The heat stirred his blood and calmed him down. He closed his eyes, thinking. “Two demon hunters have been teaching Sophia how to defend herself. Perhaps we could teach her how to kill Wolfgang.”

“She’d have to be a spirit walker by then.”

“Not necessarily. She would only need access to the spiritual weapons. I haven’t sensed them in her room so I suspect she’s not in possession of them, yet. But if Sophia can get her holy weapons and decapitate Wolfgang, he’ll be sent below, as usual. By the time we return to Hell, Wolfgang will still be regenerating. Plenty of time to secure Sophia out of his reach and chain Wolfgang in the Death Bunker.”

“And then what?”

“And then … I will kill Wolfgang. Permanently.”

Santiago made a choking noise that had nothing to do with his throbbing throat. “You’re gonna kill a Knight from the Royal Court?” he asked in disbelief.

Dante’s eyes cut to the kid. He’d forgotten he was still in the room and would never have revealed his plans in the presence of an underling. Killing one of the Chosen was nothing short of treason to The Order.

Santiago held up his hands. “Hey, it’s cool with me. I never like the assface. But, seriously, if you want Sophia to kill Wolfgang first, you’d better get her used to killing lesser demons. I mean, the guy was a roman gladiator back in the day, and now he’s the poster child for Animal Planet.”

Dante squinted at the strange reference but Vaughn agreed. “Kid’s got a point.
Start off easy. She should step on some ants before she faces a charging bull.”

“And who did you have in mind?” Dante asked, taking to the plan. He liked the idea of Sophia sharpening her fighting skills. It might make it easier to turn her dark, just as she completes her Awakening. And if he could turn her, he would create a bond between them that even
she
couldn’t break.

Vaughn closed his knife and slid it into his pocket. “Bailey told me about the original graveyard in Haven Hurst, how it was moved out here when they built up the town square. There are some headstones out back. Let me poke around and see who pokes back. We could start Sophia out with a few ghoulish hors d’oeuvres and work her way up the food chain.”

“Very well. I’ll stay as close to her as possible. If I can time things right, she’ll not only awaken to her supernatural tendencies but awaken her memories at the same instant. Then I will turn her, and she’ll be my Lovaria again, as fate should have allowed. In the meantime, I am also going to turn her into a lethal fighter.”

“And what about the spy that Lord Brutus said he placed in Haven Hurst? The one who informed him of her Awakening? It won’t be so easy to lure Sophia away if one of her friends is the old man’s sock puppet. Any idea who’s turning tricks for him?”

“No,” Dante grumbled. He’d been working that angle, too, but so far none of Sophia’s friends showed any signs of demonic possession, which was disturbing. He feared Lord Brutus had developed some new technique to keep them undetected. The spy could be anyone.

“I’ll handle that end,” he said, sounding frustrated. “And, Santi, I want you in communication with Wexler. We need to know exactly where Wolfgang is at all times. Specifically when he passes through the gate. I want to know what form he takes, if he changes his appearance at all. He could disguise himself as any number of beings. Let me know his identity and who he brings with him. We have less than a week to prepare Sophia, kill Wolfgang, and return to Hell.”

It’s late by the time we creep in. Rama is true to his word and waiting in my bedroom. He must have sensed us coming up the stairs because he is staring wide-eyed and frantic when we arrive.

“We got it,” I say, heaving the book at him. He takes it in the gut and sits on the bed to unbuckle the leather straps.

“Any problems?” he asks, and Bailey and I look at each other.

“No,” I answer quickly. I won’t be mentioning the nauseating hedonistic environment, the fight with the marquis and Chax, or that my lucky charm was a troll magnet. “I wanna do this tonight. Now. Just give us a minute to change.”

Rama stands and walks to the corner with his nose buried in the text. He tells us there are some seriously wicked opportunities in the book. We have to be careful with the spell. Bailey and I strip and change into sweats and tees. She mouths,
You’re doing the doubling spell, right?
and I snap a mad wave for her to shut up.

“Uh, Ascended Master here,” Rama says, flipping a page. “Totally heard that. Everything cool?”

“Yeah, we’re cool. You can turn around.”

He moves across the room and then scowls at me over the edge of the book. “We got a smooth ride,
wahine
? Or you throwin’ some wind on it?”

“I … uh, no, no wind. It’s all smooth. We’re good to go.”

He considers me through narrow eyes. “If you’re sure and shibby, we can hit it then. I found the spell.”

“I’m sure and shibby.”
Whatever that means
.

I tell him the details of High Alice’s instructions—about how the book will dissolve after the spell is cast and the parchment that will remain behind. I tell him how the incantation must be read and that I must be very still during the process. He tells me to lie quietly on the bed but make room for the Ka. I scoot over and leave the right side empty. Bailey stands at the end of the bed and Rama next to my head. I breathe deeply and stare at the ceiling. I’m nervous and curl my fingers into the blanket. Rama places a delicate white feather on my chest. He says my heart must be light and without care,
weighed against the feather and found equal. I release my grip and close my eyes, meditating. Before long, I feel myself sink into the mattress. The heaviness of my bones settles deep inside me, and I become lost within myself.

Rama begins the incantation. It’s in a strange language, and I can’t follow most of what he says. He tells me to enter the
Sekhet-Hetepet
—the Fields of Peace—so that I may find my spirit’s double, my Ka. He is monotone and precise, and I have great faith in his ability. I remain calm inside myself, envisioning the Fields of Peace. My version has a beautiful meadow with red poppies and yellow and white broom flowers. There is a low rock wall and a bubbling brook. It seems all very familiar and comforting. Peaceful. I imagine finding my double there, walking beside me. I tell her what we’re doing and that I must be able to trust her completely. I ask her a question that I hope she’ll answer when she wakes beside me. We walk on, but then she dissolves and all I think about is Michael. I want to know how I was able to feel him tugging on my heart at La Croix. And why I haven’t felt anything since then. I wonder if he misses me. I wonder if I’ll still feel the second heartbeat when I am two.

I think I fall asleep because I hear Bailey telling me to wake up. I crack open my eyes, groggy. She’s frowning down at me, and then I remember what we’re up to and look over to my right. The bed is empty and I sigh.
It didn’t work. Rama did something wrong
.

“Crap,” I huff, and Bailey says, “No kidding.” Then I see Rama. He’s looking a little green around the gills. “What happened?” I ask. He shakes his head so I sit up. Bailey gasps so hard it makes her eyes bulge. She’s staring at the bed beneath me, and I turn and look. There I am, still lying down,
topless
, when I’m really sitting up. I yelp and roll off the bed onto the floor.

“Holy Godiva!” Bailey whips the blanket over the naked Ka. I scramble up and we stare down at me, sleeping on the bed with just my head peeking out. Bailey’s eyes swing back and forth between me and … me.

“Is it you?” She pokes my arm and I smack her.

“Don’t be stupid. Of course it’s me.
She’s
the naked one.” Ka hasn’t roused but I notice that the feather has fallen to the floor. I pick it up and hand it to Rama. He hasn’t spoken and looks ill. He won’t take the feather. The spell book is gone, and his cupped hands are holding a pile of gray ashes with a tiny rolled parchment. It’s the spell I’ll need for the Apoctastasis. I tell Rama not to move while I grab an empty Cheetos bag and carefully brush the ashes and parchment inside for safekeeping.

“You okay?” I ask.

He holds his stomach. “That was a windchop for me. Reminds me of the time I hit
a breaker and swallowed a Neptune cocktail. I was selling Buicks the rest of the day and—

“Okay, okay,” I grumble. “I’m sure you weren’t too traumatized by the floor show. No selling Buicks in my room.” We look at me on the bed, not knowing what to do now.

“Well,
wahine
, you wanted to go tandem so … go wake her up.”

I step over and watch Ka sleeping. It’s freaky as hell, seeing a perfect rendition of me. At least from the chin up. “Should we put some clothes on her first?”

“And have her wake to strangers hiking up her panties?” Bailey scoffs.

“Better than waking up naked. Isn’t it?” I look at Bailey like she would know. She grins.

“Depends on who’s doing the waking.”

“Well, if it were me—” I stop and laugh. “I guess it is me. So I’d just want to be woken up as is.” I reach down and gently shake Ka’s shoulder. Her eyes flutter and open. I step back, holding my breath in anticipation. We’re
all
holding our breaths.

Ka stares at the ceiling for a moment and then slowly turns her head and looks at me. Something registers in her eyes and she smiles. “Yes, you are,” she says, and my stomach flips.

Bailey whispers out the side of her mouth, “What’s she talking about?” and I say, “She’s just answering something from our private conversation. I wanted some verification when she woke.”

“Can she read your thoughts?” she asks, and Ka says, “Oh please,” and rolls her eyes. Bailey gapes at her. “Okay, this is freaking me out. She even sounds like you.”

Ka sits up and the covers fall into her lap. Uninhibited, she stretches her arms over her head, arching her back and moaning like she’s been in a deep sleep. We may be carbon copies but it seems that I’ve kept all the shyness.

“Shit, Sophia, I think her play pillows are bigger than yours.” Bailey laughs, and I rush over and cover up my Ka. Rama walks to the corner and drops his head against the wall with a loud
thunk
. I’m embarrassed; I’m sure this is not what he bargained for when he was assigned the job of training me to walk in the spirit world.

“Have some modesty,” I say to Ka.

She blinks at me. “Why? I don’t have anything you haven’t seen before.”

“ ’Cause we’re not alone, you idiot!” I say, but think,
This is the most bizarre conversation I’ve ever had
.

I tell Bailey to get some clothes and then we turn our backs while Ka slips into my pajama pants and a tee. Once she’s dressed, we pile onto the bed to go over the plan.
Rama heads for the closet.

“Gotta shoot and scoot. Gonna leave ya togeddah both.”

“ ‘Togeddah both’?” I ask, and he says, “Cha. You and Ka got things to work out.
Carpe noctem
; seize the night. I’ll cruise back in the morning.”