Beyond The Door (6 page)

None of the Wall Street conglomerates had been
touched so far—just those entities legally and illegally created in
the southern states.

Daniel had warned her the Seraphim was starting
a war—and its first target were the groups. Within twenty-four
hours he'd been proven right. The Society's members were in an
uproar, some of them having listened to her in the last meeting
when she insisted this was the work of the Ethereals and they were
after the
Grimoire
. It'd taken a debate that lasted twelve
hours before they decided unanimously to move the
Grimoire
to a safer location.

Rhonda voted for it—but only as a distraction
for them to get Dags out of the building and safely spirited away.
She'd agreed to try the ritual Maureen had preformed and put what
pages they had back and in the right order. But she needed a safe
place, far away from the Society's and the Ethereals'
meddling.

Once the word was handed down when and where to
move the
Grimoire
, she'd contacted Daniel and
Joe.

And now the two of them, plus Azrael, would be
at the back door waiting on her to let them in.

She locked the door, pretty sure this guy would
think he'd come back and locked it, and then settled on a folding
chair she'd slid into the room the night before when she'd
monitored the man's habits. Once secure she wouldn't be disturbed,
Rhonda reached up into the Veil and pulled out her iPad. With a
grin she launched an app she'd written the other night and
connected with the system.

Within three minutes, she had total
control.

It was good to be the boss.

Now it was time to signal Daniel. She cleared
her mind and thought of him, thought of the First Born in side of
him. Ever since she'd heard Jason's First Born, Mephistopheles,
Rhonda had discovered she could hear Inanna as well. And Inanna
didn't seem to mind sharing her thoughts. They were different than
Mephistopheles—much darker. Less forgiving. Rhonda could tell she
was devoted to Daniel in her heart and soul—if First Borns had
those in any sense of their meaning—but she gave little care to
anyone or anything else.

I hear you.

She was there, if not a bit far
away.

Are you in position
, she sent back and
touched the screen to call up the door they were set to step
through. By way of Joe's magic and Azrael's ability to get in
undetected, she'd been pretty sure they'd get through to this point
without a hitch.

Yes. We are outside the door. But I
can sense humans…close by.

Rhonda checked the infra-reds. There were two
guards coming close to their position. She'd have to do this
fast.

Standby.

After a deep breath meant to calm her pounding
heart, Rhonda opened up each of the cameras along that wall, as
well as the monitor attached to that door. She replaced the video
feed with a loop of an empty area and then deactivated the sensor
on the door without setting off the alarm.

After checking the hallways from that door to
where she would meet them, Rhonda said,
Go ahead
.

She stood and set the iPad on the highest
server stack where it would be out of sight of any prying eye if
they happened to come in the room. She set the chair to the side
and then snuck back out of the server room as she made her way back
down the corridor to the stairs.

Their meeting place was in the lobby area near
where Dags slept. The lights were off with only a light on in the
monitoring station, which was empty. Rhonda had made sure all the
schedules gave the girls that worked there the night
off.

She felt them arrive, Azrael and Daniel the
strongest because of their First Borns. Azrael was an un-hosted
First Born, and therefore more powerful.

Joe appeared first, then the other two. Daniel
moved with a grace Rhonda had never seen before on him. He was so
different now—and yet the same. She motioned for them to join her
at the monitoring station. Joe and Daniel stepped into the room and
Azrael stayed outside.

"I'm glad you guys got in here so quick," she
said as she typed in a few commands and pulled up the monitor for
Dags' room.

"We're glad too," Joe said in a low voice. He
had his gun in his hand and was watching her. "Though I'm not sure
how."

"Magic right?" she transferred command of the
camera feed to her iPad in the server room. There was a slight jump
and then the loop of a sleeping Dags.

"No," Joe said. "I never got the chance to cast
anything."

That made her stand up. "What?" she said
softly.

Daniel put up a hand. "Why don't we just get
him out of here and talk about dumb luck later?"

Rhonda nodded, but the revelation nagged at
her. If they hadn't used magic to cross the yard and not set off
the alarms—then how had they?

The whole thing gave her a sinking feeling.
Were they being watched? Had someone discovered what they were up
to?

"He's in room 3B. He's not sedated or anything,
but he'll be slow to move. You guys ready?"

"I can carry him," Daniel said. "I'm ready.
Just get us there."

Rhonda gave him a smile before she moved them
back and stepped out in the hallway. Azrael, dressed in a gray tank
top and gray and black fatigues and black combat boots, turned to
face her. The outfit showed off his mighty physique. He still wore
his shades—and she was grateful. His white milky eyes freaked her
out.

"Are we ready?"

Rhonda nodded and felt them follow her down the
hall.

"Where's Nona?" Joe said as they neared the
door.

"She's not here tonight," Rhonda said. "I made
the schedule look like they were moving him tonight instead of
tomorrow. She wasn't allowed to be with him—but would come after he
was secured."

Azrael snorted. "Secured. The guy's a freak'n
vegetable."

"With a six-zillion ton bomb fused to his
soul," Daniel said. "We exercise caution with him."

They stopped outside the room and Rhonda opened
the door with her key. She stepped back as they filed in and again
Azrael stayed in the hallway.

Dags was dressed in a pair of black and white
plaid loungers and nothing else. He lay curled on his side, his
back to them as they approached. The  monitors were all under
her app's control so she put a finger to her lips and shook him
softly. "Darren…we need to go. I need you to get up and stand for
me."

He moved and turned over. His eyes opened, gray
and dull, but he seemed to hear her. Like this, he only did what he
was told. No independent thought. Only sporadic movements. He
continued to look at her as he stood. His hair was askew, and stuck
up at odd angles a lot like Joe's did—only Joe's always looked like
that. He was losing weight and looked a little too thin to
her.

But he was still beautiful.

"Darren, Daniel is going to carry you out,
okay? So I want you do let him do that."

Dags gave her a slow nod and waited.

"He's like a zombie," Joe said. He seemed
fascinated.

"He is in a way. Can only take commands, but
can't think for himself. If we didn't feed him, he'd never eat. Or
go to the bathroom. Or sleep. He'd just sit there and waste
away."

"That sucks ass." Joe arched his eyebrows
you.

Rhonda nodded. "Duh? Now you know why we needed
this kind of care for him round the clock."

Daniel neared Dags and had just started to lean
in to pull Dags into a fireman's carry—

The ground shook, dust fell from the ceiling
and the building alarm went off.

"Damnit," Joe said as he checked the clip in
his gun. One in the barrel. "What the hell did TC do
now."

"I didn't do a damn thing," he said as he came
into the room. "But I heard a lot of stomping and yelling before
that explosion. Something's happening top-side—and I don't think
it's got anything to do with them finding us."

"Actually I think it's got a lot do with it,"
Daniel said. "I think the Ethereals discovered the truth in moving
Dags and the Virtues are attacking."

"You mean like in a bombing?" Joe
said.

"No, more like sending in lackeys. Someone else
is up there. Which is going to hinder our progress. It's a
distraction, but not the kind we need."

"So what do we do?" Rhonda said and felt her
mind running fast ahead of her. They hadn't really made a
contingency plan—except fighting their way out of the situation as
usual.

Someone knocked at the door.

All of them but Dags turned their head as a
tall man in a Fulton county police officer's uniform stepped
through the door. He wore a hat and glasses and pointed at Dags.
"He ready?"

Rhonda blinked. She knew that voice. And she
felt another presence—Mephistopheles! "Jason?"

He grinned beneath the shades and nodded. "Good
to see you too, Rhonda."

"Where…how…" she looked at him and then the
door.

"I work for the Society, remember? That little
altercation back before Halloween with the—" he held up his hand
and shook his head. "Love to catch up—but we need to go. There's a
S.W.A.T. Team upstairs ready to come down here and start shooting.
Taking names optional."

"What's going on?" Daniel said as he neared
Jason. Their First Borns were close siblings.

"Apparently it's all over the news. Society of
Ishmael captured a millionaire's son and are holding him in this
compound. You guys are running a cult here and brainwashed this
kid. An insider says the boy's been drugged and is
catatonic."

"Oh you are
kidding
me," Rhonda put a
hand to her forehead.

"No I'm not," he said and looked around. "But
if you don't get of here now? We're not going anywhere."

Nona

SHE
had just stepped out of Elizabeth,
her Volvo, when the first explosion shook her under her tennis
shoes. Nona made a small noise and reached out to steady herself on
the car's warm hood.
What the hell was that? Oh no...had Darren
woke for some reason and called up a spell?
That scenario was
one she'd worried about—that somehow the pages in his soul would
shuffle and the wrong thing would surface.

Men filed out of one of the nearby buildings in
the compound. They were dressed in black, with vests and helmets
and carrying guns. That's when she noticed the other cars lined up
outside the front gate—she'd taken the side gate—the one so few
people knew about. Her car was behind the house, close to the
kitchen and the garden.

Why are all these people
here?

After slipping her key into the fanny pack at
her hip, Nona picked her way up to the door and stepped inside.
Curry was the first thing she smelled—and garlic. And something a
bit more sweet. Basil? Lots of onions. She had no idea what the
staff had for dinner that night—but it made her stomach
growl.

As to why she was back after being dismissed
until Darren was moved—it had a lot to do with guilt. Being unsure.
Not seeing clearly anymore when it came to her daughter, the world,
and her former husband. Usually she was always so sure. So focused
on what was in front of her. What needed to be done. But when she'd
reached her shop this evening—after being told she wouldn't be
needed at Darren's side tonight—she found Jemmy waiting on
her.

And Jemmy—if anything—was damn
honest
.

"I just came to find out
why
, Nona. Why
you would turn that helpless boy over to people who want nothing
more than to pick him apart and use him for all kinds of
nefarious
purposes." Her dark eyes had flashed with anger,
and Nona had realized this was something her old friend had been
holding back but wanted to say. And now seemed to be the best time.
"Now at first I thought I understood. I thought you were only
thinking of his welfare—of getting him all unscrambled so you
could get Zoë back. But that was over three months ago, child," and
Jemmy had put her hands on her hips. "

Nona had started to explain. Protest her
innocence and reassure Jemmy she
was
thinking of Darren's
welfare, as well as Zoë's. She was worried about the world. But the
words had died on her lips. Turned to sour grapes in her
mouth.

"Yeah...I see it. You got confused, Nona.
Mislead. I know you gonna figure it out sooner or later, which is
the right path and which the wrong. And you always know'd that the
right path isn't always the easiest. Darren and your daughter are
meant to be together. They're cut from the same cloth now, Nona.
There are things in Heaven what fear them both, but do you really
think if they were a danger—something to fear so much—that the good
Lord would have afforded them love?"

That
had struck Nona through the heart.
For months after Zoë disappeared, after they found Dags in such a
condition, Nona had believed their union was doomed. That the
universe had forbidden it. That all of their misfortune had come
the day her daughter had been touched by darkness.