Minutes to Midnight (16 page)

I looked from one to the other. "How is
going there to look for the Ghoul going to help get Stella
back?"

Mike sighed. "Raven thinks if we discover
the Revenant's identity and follow it back to its lair, we might
find Stella."

I sat in a chair facing the two of them and
clasped my hands together on top of my head. "You're forgetting a
very important question." I waited a beat. The glanced at each
other. "Guys, why would any Revenant come after me?"

Raven spoke. "To be honest—I
don't have a clue. I could always say it's to get the
Grimoire
, but we really
have no use for it, other than to prevent its control by the wrong
crowd. Which is why we need to find who this Revenant is. I
personally want to ask them this question."

Mike didn't say anything, but I could tell
from the expression on his face he was deep in thought.

I lowered my arms and put my
hands on the table. "You think this Revenant is responsible for
Jack's actions? Someone told him how to make a Coyote Flame. It's
an easy spell but it's not widely known in
Cruorem
circles. Or it used to not
be."

"The Lamias killed the victims—that much is
evident. I can't be one hundred precent sure unless I examined the
bodies myself. This is why I suspect a Revenant in the
background…."

I watched her. "Then why are you making that
face?"

"Because killing children to create some
kind of door between this World and the Peripheral isn't something
any normal, sane Revenant would do. It's…"

"Insane," Mike finished.

I had to agree. I'd only met a few Revenants
that I could remember and every one of them seemed like level
headed, rational creatures. In fact, one First Born, or Demon, had
actually prevented her host from drowning in madness. But… "Isn't
it possible that somewhere out there…there is an irrational
Revenant? Is it possible that one of the Demons that bonded with a
human wasn't strong enough? That the human's mind was too twisted,
too insane for it to control?"

Raven gave a slow shrug of her shoulders. "I
supposed anything's possible. But in my experience, such a bonding
wouldn't necessarily result in one personality over riding the
other. If the end Revenant is insane or cruel, it's because their
essence was shaped that way as well as the soul of the human."

"You mean," Mike said. "It'd be like Charles
Manson bonding with Jeffrey Dahmer?"

I shivered when Raven nodded. "Yes. Like
that. But other than the traitor that murdered our father, I'm not
sure I've ever known any of my siblings to be that twisted. That
sort of psychosis is usually reserved for the First Choir and their
megalomaniacal egos."

I grinned at her because I knew exactly what
she meant. Gabriel came to mind, she being a Cherubim of the First
Choir and quite the power hungry bitch.

Raven put her hands on the table. "But, if
this is one of those possibilities, the Revenant will be close to
her Ghoul regardless. She might have instructed him or her to make
the Lamias, but she'll also be responsible for all of them. Once
they've fulfilled their usefulness she'll destroy them to prevent
us from finding her."

"Even her Ghoul?" I tentatively touched the
stitches in the back of my head. My hair easily covered the area
but it was tender. And my headache was back.

"Yes, even her Ghoul."

"We don't really know this Revenant's a
woman, do we?" Mike asked.

"I'm basing that on your friend Darius's
description," Raven added. "The woman that came to see him and from
his point of view, controlled him. I'm pretty sure she tasted him
before he woke and used his blood to influence his actions and
answers." Raven made a face. "But I don't believe the Revenant in
question told Klinsky about the Faerie Blood. Like you said, no one
knew about that but a select few. Those present when it happened."
She looked at me.

I glared back at her. "So you're saying
someone else is muddying the waters here?"

Raven nodded. "The descriptions are
different. The one who told him about making the Coyote Flame is a
straight-up blonde, same as Darius's description of this Beliti
woman. But Klinsky's description of the one who told him to use the
bars was a red head. Or he said reddish hair."

I held out my hands. "So how would this red
head know about the Faerie Blood?"

Mike snapped his fingers. "The cemetery.
Darren, the night we were attacked by the Zombies—Lamias—you said
you thought you were bitten by a vampire."

" 'Sshh…just relax,
Guardian. It's not your time to die. I haven't even started with
you yet.' "
I repeated it verbatim. "That's
what the voice said before I blacked out.

Raven's eyes went dark and her features
shifted enough to warn me Nyx was in the front. When she spoke I
heard the duel voices. "And you felt a bite at your neck?"

"Yes."

"If you weren't weak and hadn't already lost
blood, I would suggest I take a sip myself just to find that
memory."

I put my hand to my neck. Yeah…I was a
little happy I wasn't a healthy snack. Last time she took a sip I
woke up on my back.

Mike rubbed his eyes. "We
have to come at this logically I think. The blonde Revenant
apparently wants this Coyote Flame built to the Peripheral. Why?
Savannah would become ground zero for all kinds of shit coming
through. Neither the Angels or the Demons want this since they
don't even talk about the Peripheral. So why did this other
Revenant—if she is a Revenant—give Jack Klinsky the knowledge to
actually hold Dags and then tell him he can astrally cut the
Grimoire
out?"

Illy spoke up. Her voice caught everyone's
attention because she'd been sitting there quietly the whole time
turning pages in the BBOE. "Two camps. Or it sounds like two camps
to me."

All eyes turned to Illy. I tilted my head
toward my left shoulder and looked at her. "You mean they're
working against one another?"

"In a manner of speaking. You've got one
that wants to free the Peripheral World, and the other wants the
book destroyed. So…think back to where these two camps would come
from."

I stared at the table as I mentally went
back over everything I'd learned from Jason, Nona and Manuel. "It's
not the Abysmal or the Ethereal. I mean Dark or Light. They don't
want the Peripheral free and they don't want the book
destroyed."

"Logically," Illy said. "I'd start looking
at the Peripheral World. I think the thing or Revenant you're
looking for is from there. Why else would they want it free and
open?"

Raven frowned and her eyes
were no longer black, but brown. Her voice was her own again as
well. "But this is a Revenant…which means it's a First Born. As far
as I can remember there weren't any of Samael's children
in
the Peripheral. Not
before it was created, not after and not when it was sealed by the
Council."

I was happy I knew what Council she was
talking about, thanks to the BBOE. "Not a lot of things in the
Peripheral can escape there without overshadowing, because once in
this world they'll turn to ash, like the Faerie, or they'll cease
to exist, right?"

Raven nodded. "That's common knowledge to
anyone that remembers the 'Pheral."

"Then maybe this is a different kind of
Revenant. Same principle your kind use, Nyx. But a very different
kind of bond?" I searched her face. "Maybe this is why this
Revenant seems sort of…crazy?"

Mike pushed his chair back. "I don't like
the way this is starting to sound. You're saying we've got another
kind of vampire out there—only this one's from the 'Pheral."

"It could be." Raven looked at him.
"Anything is possible. And if it did escape by bonding with a human
and there are more of its kind in the 'Pheral, then it could want
such a door to open. Centuries of being locked in a ruined world
could drive anyone mad."

I held up a hand. "So we have a theory on
the Revenant—but what about the woman that told Kinsky about the
Faerie blood?"

No one spoke up. Great.

Mike stood. "I say we head to the cemetery.
Take a look around and see if the Lamias come back. If they do we
know the Ghoul's there. We take the Ghoul and find the Revenant."
He looked at Illy. "Any more mutilated bodies?"

She got out of her chair and pulled her
phone from her bag. A few swipes of her finger. "No…not since the
last one the police didn't release. Your vampire hasn't sent out
its Renfields to kill anyone else yet for the Chatham Square."

I grinned at her. Vampires and Renfields. I
liked that. "And if that doesn't work, we find Thomas and hall ass
back to the Peripheral through the Cairn? We have to get to Stella,
guys. She's been in there over a week." I hoped the time thing
worked in her favor, since time there ran quicker than here. For us
it was a week, but hopefully for her it would be less than a
day.

I stood up and pushed my chair back. "Let's
go."

Mike looked as if his patience was gone.
"Dags, I'd feel better if you stayed here and got some sleep."

"I'm not going to sleep if you don't take
me. Besides, you need me as bait, right?" I yawned. "I'll just take
a quick nap in the car."

Mike rubbed his face. "All right. Illy, you
stay here, man the post in case we come back hot. The rest of you,
let's go."

Before I left the living room, Illy grabbed
my arms and hugged me tight. I returned the hug, harder and full of
need. I forgot how much I craved human contact. I'd felt isolated
for so long.

"Come on. We have work to do." Raven grabbed
her bag and moved to the living room.

"Hey, you got a sandwich in that bag of
holding?"

A NEW BODY

The moment we got in the car, I went out in
the back seat. Nap time!

Hero, yes I am.

So when I woke up, I was a little confused
and disoriented. The car wasn't moving and I didn't sense anyone
around. I was alone. I was stiff and cold and cramped as I unfolded
myself in the back of Raven's Mercedes. Someone had covered me in a
blanket and removed my shoes. Did they hide them? I wasn't about to
let the lack of shoes deter me from following them. And what was up
with that? Leaving me by myself in the back of a car in a cemetery?
Especially after all that talk about crazy Revenants.

Once again silently thanking Raven for
finding my phone and wallet in Klinsky's house, I pulled my phone
out of my back pocket and stared blearily at the face. I freaked.
It was after ten?! Seriously? So…where were they?

That question took on a much more ominous
tone when I remembered that Bonaventure closed at 4:30.

We were way beyond that.

I took a long look at the cemetery around
the car. I'd been asleep when we drove in so I wasn't sure where
the car was. I spotted the large Celtic cross I'd smacked that
night while dodging Lamias so I knew we were close to the
cemetery's official entrance.

My boots were shoved under the front
passenger seat. I pulled them on before I grabbed my phone again
and looked for any messages from Mike. Nothing, though I had a few
missed calls from a number that didn't look familiar. I touched the
screen and pressed the dial symbol for Mike's number as I got out
of the car. I could hear the hiss of traffic along Liberty Avenue
nearby, but other than that, nothing.

I left him a brief message and hung up.
Looking around the inside of the car, I didn't see a flashlight.
And though I could use the flashlight app on my phone, I didn't
want to run the battery down. I'd had enough sleep for a good
recharge, so making a light shouldn't actually tax the juice. And
besides, the noises my stomach was making should frighten anything
away.

Standing in the dark under a
starry sky, I held out my left hand. "
Immaru
."

A firefly appeared inches above my palm and
grew into a small glowing sun the size of a chicken egg. It didn't
give off any heat and it wouldn't burn anything it touched. I blew
on it and tiny wings moved it to a place above my head. It would
stay there and light the path. I could also douse it with a single
word as well if I heard something. It would be better to not have a
light—that way anything bent on doing me harm would see me. But
there were too many clouds over the moon and I couldn't see a damn
thing. And besides…wasn't I supposed to be the bait to lure the
Lamias?

I felt like a walking beacon
of
I'm right here!
as I walked with the light hanging over me. I retraced my path
to the last place I'd fought the Lamias, figuring that's where Mike
would have taken Raven.