Relics (31 page)

Thulu reminded her about cameras, lasers and other possible security measures. She, Thulu and Jones worked at positioning, with Thulu letting them know when it was closer. She was finally able to see the panel, and it took only two more positioning tries to get the portal right over the panel.

Aela put her head through the portal, and Jones slipped an arm through. Within a few moments, he was withdrawing his arm. Aela stayed a few seconds longer to see if there was any reaction. It was weird seeing her little headless body at the portal, but after a few seconds she jerked her head back. A look of alarm was on her face. Jones immediately closed the portal.

Aela said, “It was quiet. There was no reaction to our taking the panel, but alarms started going off all over and I saw wings. Wings of the Light Ones.”

We exchanged worried glances and picked up the pace considerably. Jones set aside the panel as Thulu brought up another map and zoomed in. “The last panel is in this house. It looks like a private collection.”

He quickly researched the location, coming up with the address of a villa in Tuscany. Jones knew who the owner was and said this one would be touchier, but since Gabriel had been so close in China, he didn't want to wait any longer.

We all felt the pressure. I wondered how Gabriel had known that location and had gotten there so quickly.

This time the process went much quicker, but with more delicacy. Jones said the owner definitely used lasers. Because the panel was displayed and not just stored, Thulu was able to explain the location easier.

My heart was racing. I wanted to tell them to stop talking and get the panel before Gabriel did, but of course I knew better than to intrude at this point. Aela popped her head in, and they only had to reposition once.

Hurry, hurry, hurry,
I thought. I could feel that something was about to happen and watched with my heart in my throat.  Jones created the portal, and Aela again put her head through to guide his hand. The seconds dragged out, but he pulled his arm back with the panel. Aela withdrew from the portal, shaking her head. Jones shut the portal quickly.

“It set off alarms,” she said, “but I didn't see any Light Ones.”

There was a collective sigh of relief. Two to go.

“Okay, Thulu, now the pitcher and the scroll.”

Thulu looked at me and shook his head. “I don't know where the other two relics are. What I do know is that they are definitely not on Earth.”

We looked around the room at each other, the same thought crossing our minds. It was Reo who voiced it though.

“Gabriel.”

Impasse, I thought. Now what the hell were we going to do?

We all looked at Jones. Still holding the panel, he sat in the chair behind his desk, lost in thought. This would need to be Jones's call. He knew Gabriel and what would and wouldn't work. Obviously, we had to get the pitcher and the scroll from him, but I felt Jones had to take the lead on this.

A thought occurred to me. “Gabriel will be able to copy what's on the scroll and still have the spell or incantation or whatever it is you do, right?” I asked.

Jones nodded. “Yes, but it will not do him any good. I put some rather powerful spells on the scroll. He will not be able to decipher the language. Also, I used a private code of my own, so he would have to break through quite a few layers to get to the actual instructions and incantations. Gabriel is not known for his patience.”

“But won't he just give the job to someone else to solve?  That seems more like his style,” Reo asked.

“True, but he doesn’t have the other relics or panels, so he doesn't have everything to open the portal.”

“And we don't have everything to close it,” Thulu pointed out.

“I want to know how the hell he knew where to go. Is it possible he's breached this room?  Both times, someone was right on top of us.” I shuddered.

Jones leaned back in his chair as his eyes scanned the room. Everyone in the room looked around. Aela and her warriors, Sloane, Reo – I couldn’t imagine any of them betraying our side.

I did my own scan and opened myself up as much as I could. I found a presence I didn't want to find.

“That damned bitch!” I said vehemently. “Lynda-Jean, I'm so going to find someone who can banish your ass, and you will never, ever see your son again. I don’t know how, but I'm going to find a way. Count on it.”

The others looked around, trying to see her.

“She's hiding in the walls like the rat she is,” I said.

Several expressions made their way across Jones's face:  surprise, thoughtfulness, irritation. He closed his eyes for a few moments and did something that caused Lynda-Jean to howl with frustration as her spirit was slammed out of the room and up into the air. I was able to follow the progress for a bit, but lost sight eventually.

“Neat trick,” I said sincerely. “Can you teach it to me?”

Jones smiled and said, “It might be possible.”

“Will she be able to come back?”

“No, I hadn't thought to put up wards against the dead. That will be remedied. Why would she help the creature that killed her?”

“Because Lynda-Jean is a vindictive bitch and blames me and is probably as crazy as Gabriel is. I really do want to find a way to banish her permanently.” I was shaking with anger.

Thulu pulled me close and whispered, “Let it go, Fi. We don't have time for this now. Later, okay?” I nodded, my head against his chest, and took a few deep breaths. I'd definitely make it a point to deal with her later. No doubt about that.

Jones turned to Aela. “I would like to get the others here. We need to plan this carefully, and I would appreciate input from Aurelia and Belus. It might be wise to include a few of the other delegates, as well. Especially any that may have had dealings with Gabriel in the past.”

Aela said she'd inform the others immediately. Her mood was grim, but determined. She popped out, followed by several of her warriors. Jones excused himself, after telling us to make ourselves at home.

I tried to check with Parker to make sure the kids were okay, but Jones's new spell was apparently holding. Thulu and I walked outside and down the drive to the gate. It was hot and muggy, and the air had that quality of something waiting to happen.

Two of the fairies flew with us as we were buzzed through the pedestrian gate.  Jones's wards were strong for a short distance beyond the estate, but soon I connected with Parker for a few moments. He assured me he and Jenna were fine and staying at our house. I told him if there was trouble to go to Nana Fae.

After he left, Nana Fae showed up and said she would keep an eye on them. She wished us luck and told us the dead were standing by in case there was anything they could do to help. I told her we'd pass that on to Jones, and I asked her if there was a way to contain Lynda-Jean. She said she'd ask around and popped back out. I stared after her, a hitch in my chest.

Thulu put an arm around me. Together we returned to the house and settled in the library once more. I appreciated the cool air of the library, after the trek to the road.

I got a chance to look at the two panels, which were much like the others, carved and painted. Jones must have had strong protective spells for them to be in such excellent condition.

One showed the figure, standing this time, pouring liquid from the dragon pitcher into the cup. The last one showed the figure holding one hand over the pitcher, with the dagger positioned as if it had cut the hand. Bright drops of blood traced a path into the pitcher. As in the others, the relics themselves were heavily gold-leafed.

The others started to arrive, and I returned the panels to Jones's desk. Aurelia showed up first, with Romeo and Juliet and more fairies. Aurelia expressed her condolences to me and Thulu before sitting on one of the sofas. We got hugs from Juliet. Ceil and Kareem were next to join us, followed by Sloane, Belus and two other elves – one male, one female.  

There were others, three humans I thought, until I realized one must be Sarah Grant. She had that no-nonsense, corporate executive look about her. Pale skin was set off by her dark hair and eyes. She was quite lovely. The two men with her were probably the rest of the daemon contingent.

Jones had returned, and once everyone was settled in, he quickly explained the situation. “We need to come up with a plan to get Gabriel to meet us and bring the pitcher and scroll.”

A lot of ideas were discussed. Pros and cons examined. Romeo spoke up after about half an hour of discussion.

“I hate to bring this up, but none of these ideas will mean anything once Gabriel gets a whiff of the negative emotions.” He looked apologetically at Thulu, Reo and me. “No offense, but I'm sure he will sense your pain and stay away.”

There was a pause. “That's not a problem,” said Thulu. “We don't need to be there.” This cost him, I knew, because we'd like to see this through, but of course we didn't want to jeopardize anything.

“Unless our pain can be used to draw him in,” I said.

“La Fi, Light Ones don't like negative emotions,” Aurelia said softly.

“Gabriel does, though,” I said. “He was definitely getting something he liked when he was in the yard, and there was nothing there but pain and fear.” There was silence as the others looked at me. I could tell they were skeptical, but being polite.

“She's right, I saw him too, but didn't think about it at the time,” Aela added thoughtfully. She had been right next to me, so she'd had a good view of Gabriel.

“Gabriel was unquestionably feeding on negative emotions,” she said.

Belus looked thoughtful. “That could actually explain a lot. If Gabriel somehow is no longer strengthened by positive, but by negative emotions, that could explain his insanity, as well as his invasion of the daemon world thousands of years ago. Actually it would explain almost everything. His actions have been completely out of character for one of their kind.” He looked around at the rest of us.

Jones was staring at me, and his face broke into a slow smile. “The other Light Ones would not be pleased. They would turn on Gabriel if they knew he fed on negative emotions.”

“If they believed it,” added Aurelia. “It will take some convincing.”

“Fairies don't lie. I will testify to what I saw,” said Aela.

“Our best bet is Michael,” said Belus. Of course, it figured if there was a Gabriel, there probably would be a Michael

He continued, “Michael has never been comfortable with Gabriel's orders. Following his leader is so deeply ingrained that he would never consider disobeying, though. It will take a lot of convincing to get him to believe us, but this might be simpler than most of the other ideas.” He smiled grimly. “There will be less that can go wrong this way.”

More ideas were thrown out as to how to convince Michael, but Thulu, Reo and I were back to being included. I hoped that was a good thing. In the end, they decided to keep it as simple as possible. Aurelia would approach Michael and ask him to meet up at the portal itself. Once there, Aela would tell Michael the truth about Gabriel, counting on fairy honesty.

Most thought Michael would be devastated by all the killing that had been ordered by Gabriel, under false pretenses. Apparently Michael believed in Gabriel's cause of stamping out evil, but had misgivings about Gabriel's methods and had never been comfortable with killing. While Light Ones blindly followed their leader, to discover that Gabriel was literally insane would be a blow. Proving that Gabriel was also using the pain and suffering as his own private feeding ground would hopefully bring Michael over to our side.

Personally I thought it was a bit too simple.

“Um, may I ask why Michael or one of the others wouldn't have figured this out before now?  I mean someone has to have some idea what Gabriel is really up to.” The others looked at me blankly. “Come on, people, do you really think the Light Ones haven't known all along about this?”

Jones broke a long silence. “No, La Fi. The Light Ones do not question their leader. I also think those who might be uneasy have convinced themselves of the righteousness of Gabriel's crusade. I think they are caught up in that and cannot see anything else. Gabriel delivers positive energy to them. He keeps them supplied. Since their needs have grown so much, that alone would keep him in power. If any of them suspected, they would rationalize it away. Even angels can be in denial.”

I looked at him in disappointment. “I guess being thousands of years old is no cure for some things.” I was a bit resentful that any of these magical creatures were not perfect. Of course, that was more than a bit naïve. There is no such thing as perfection, but to find that ancient, powerful beings could be as weak and blind as humans was disillusioning.

I think Jones understood what I was thinking. He actually smiled gently as he said, “My dear La Fi, being magical or supernatural does not make us perfect.”

He turned to the others, and they agreed on a time later that evening. The portal was in an old warehouse owned by Jones and kept locked up. Assuming Michael agreed, we would meet there in a couple of hours. That gave us time to prepare and make sure we were as ready as we could be.

I still thought the whole thing sounded too simplistic to work, but tried to keep my doubts to myself. The other two humans picked up on it though, and Thulu squeezed my hand. Reo smiled reassuringly.

I sighed in resignation. Maybe the simpler plan did have less elements that could go wrong. Unfortunately, that just meant it went wrong quicker.