See How She Falls (12 page)

I
walked out of the room, pausing to kiss Kennan on his cheek as I went, careful
not to let any of the runes touch him, and careful to keep my pukey breath away
from him. I was getting downright talented with these acrobatic kisses. I could
probably become a contortionist in the circus if this whole Seer thing didn’t
work out. Because, let’s be honest, if it did work out, that meant I had a one
way ticket to my demise. I sighed pulling away from Kennan, trying to shake the
self-pity off. If it meant keeping that creepy thing from having dominion over
the world, I would lay my life down.

“Okie
dokie, then. I’ll be back down in just a few minutes. Y’all will get everything
ready?”

“We
will be ready to go when you get back," Kennan assured me. Knowing him, he
was calling in the use of a jet of some sort to take us down to Georgia
quickly. I wasn’t looking forward to that flight.

Chapter
Fourteen

I
wasted no time gathering my belongings; there wasn’t enough time as it was to
stop what was coming. Checking the bags once more, I looked over to Aberto and
gave a nod. It was time to go, hopefully the Order would have more answers. I
walked down the hall from my room, towards the front of the house with Aberto
and Conall in tow. I still wasn’t sure why both of them needed to accompany me,
but arguing would have just taken too much time and quite frankly, more energy
than I had to expend.

“Izzy.”
Molly’s hesitant voice pulled me to a stop.

“What
is it?” Molly had started to have visions again, and if she looked this
concerned, I knew it had to be about that.

“May
I speak with you alone for a moment?” She eyed my Guardians warily.

“We
don’t have much time, but I can make it happen.” I shooed Conall and Aberto
away. “Just give us a second, would you?”

“We
will remain within eyesight, Milady.” Conall bowed deeply, moving several steps
away.

“Looks
like that is as good as it’s gonna get. What’s up?” I turned my attention back
to Molly.

“I
don’t think you should go, Izzy. I saw something, and I’m not sure what it is,
but it isn’t good. I don’t have a good feeling about any of this. Ian won’t be
there to watch you and neither will I.” Molly’s eyes filled with tears as she
pulled me against her in a rare show of affection.

“Molly,
slow down. What did you see? Why are you so worried?” Fear radiated from her
body as I held her close.

“I
saw the thing come, and I saw, well I’m not sure what they were, but they were
fighting the thing, the demon guy. Then I saw you, and you just walked up to it
and disappeared.” Molly had apparently witnessed what I’d been dreaming for
months.

“It’s
what must be done," I whispered in her ear. “Everything will be alright. Just
promise me, that if anything happens to me, you will look out for Kennan. Make
sure he is okay.” I pulled back to look her in the eyes. I wanted to be sure
she understood what I was asking her.

“You
better not die, Izzy! I already bought that God awful dress for your wedding.”
Molly pinned me with her eyes.

“Molly,
I will do what must be done. There really is no other option at this point. I’m
sorry, but we have to go. Just promise me, okay?” I pleaded, hoping she knew
how much I needed this.

“Fine,
I promise.” Exasperated, she held me with her gaze. “But you better promise me
that you won’t be ridiculously reckless. You take care of yourself!”

“I
promise," I snickered, releasing my hold on her before turning to head
down the hall. I couldn’t dwell on Molly and Ian staying behind. If what Molly
had seen was true, then things were coming much faster than I’d anticipated. I
didn’t feel ready.

“Are
we all set to go?” Kennan’s voice pulled me from my thoughts and drew me back
to the present. It was time to face the music, or in this case, whatever
transportation Kennan had arranged for us.

We
walked out into the front of the house, where I expected to see a car waiting.
Much to my dismay, out in the open field to the right of the house, a
helicopter was landing. So much worse than a plane. How was I supposed to save
the world if the very thought of climbing into that thing sent me into
conniptions?

“Are
you well?” Aberto asked from my elbow.

“Yeah,
just peachy," I squeaked as I made my way towards the flying bug. The
rickety thing didn’t look equipped to carry all of us. Good thing I’d packed
light.

Steeling
my nerves, I climbed up into the helicopter whispering a prayer for safety as I
lowered myself into the seat. No way was I going out in a helicopter crash, it
just wouldn’t be right.

“Is
everyone here?” the unmistakably Guardian pilot asked.

“We’re
ready," Kennan replied as he climbed in behind me and secured my harness.

I
turned my concentration away from my nerves and instead focused on the pilot.
I’d seen him somewhere before. I had that stupid tickling sensation in the back
of my mind. As his features sank in, I realized he’d been at the warehouse.
Obviously, he was a member of the Division.

 “It’s
nice to see you again, Milady," he said.

“You
as well….” I was hoping the pause would be enough to get him to supply his
name, but no such luck. Secretive Guardian types, they never divulged more
information than they thought was needed. Whatever, as long as he could fly the
helicopter, I was a happy girl. Well, not a paralyzed with fear girl.

“We
should reach the coordinates the Old One provided in about two hours or so,
depending on the weather.” With that, the pilot started up the helicopter and
we were on our way.

“When
was the last time you ate?” Kennan, in all of his brilliance, pulled my
attention away from the disappearing ground.

“Um,
would it be bad if I said I don’t remember?” 

“It
would be normal for you, unfortunately. Which is why I always come prepared.”
Kennan pulled a bag of sandwiches from below his seat and handed them out to
everyone but Aberto. I looked at him but he just shook his head as if it
weren’t an issue.

“Why
didn’t you bring him one?” I asked around a bite of brilliant turkey and
cheese. It was a good thing my Guardian was such a boy scout.

“He
doesn’t eat, Izzy. At least he doesn’t need to eat to survive," Kennan
said in a hushed tone.

“It
is no secret, Guardian. I am not ashamed of what I am. I am no longer mortal,
Izzy. It has been a very long time since I required sustenance to survive. My
mortal form, or shell if you will, perished long ago. I exist in spirit form
alone.” 

“Wait,
are you a ghost?” I asked with wide eyes. “Abe the friendly ghost.” Okay, the
altitude was probably going to my head. Yep, going to blame my diarrhea of the
mouth on the thin air.

“I
am not a ghost, Izzy." Aberto sighed his deep “I’m irritated with you, you
petulant brat” sigh.

“But,
you just said you don’t have a mortal form. That sort of makes you a ghost.” I
tried to be all nonchalant, knowing good and well I was driving him insane.

“Do
you remember the Seers that were trapped between planes?” Aberto stared out the
window of the helicopter off into the distance.

“I
don’t think I will be forgetting them anytime soon, Aberto," I said as low
as I could. The thrumming of the rotors was so loud, I practically had to shout
most everything.

“I
am similar to them. Only, I am trapped between this realm and that of the
dreaming and visions. I am prevented from moving on to what lies beyond the
veil.” Aberto turned toward me, a look of longing briefly danced in his eyes
before disappearing altogether.

“So,
not a ghost then?” I sighed, turning my sole attention to more important
matters, my sandwich. I reveled in my minor victory, having finally gotten a
rise out of Aberto. Lately he’d been so nice to me, I was beginning to worry.
Other than his outburst calling me a self-pitying brat, he’d been super
supportive. It was freaking me out.

“You
shouldn’t try to get a rise out of him, Izzy," Kennan admonished, with a
crooked smile that ruined any lesson I might’ve learned.

“He
deserves it," I shrugged. It was nice to temporarily take my mind off of
things.

I
inhaled the rest of my sandwich and settled back into the uncomfortable seat of
what must’ve been a decommissioned military helicopter. Slumping over so that I
could use Kennan as a pillow, sleep pulled me in.

Oh
great, it was this one again. Talking to Molly must have triggered it. I looked
around me as the battle raged in the sky. Darkness and light collided, sending
sparks shimmering in all directions. It was the never ending war of the gods,
or God, I was getting tired of trying to keep up. Maybe there was a delegation?
A panel of gods with a leader sort of situation. I sucked up my apprehension
and moved through the clouds. I knew that my demise awaited me, there was no
sense in lingering in the clouds longer than need be.

I
dropped down to the ground where Sonneillon stood, blackening the earth beneath
his feet. This wasn’t what I’d seen before. This was different, something was
wrong. Surrounding the demon were a vast army of monsters. Nothing made sense
as the battle raged. Surely, this was a mistake.

 I
stared in amazement as the monsters battled. A giant with rage filled eyes
relentlessly attacked Sonneillon, repeatedly receiving blows that shook the
earth but never once wavering in its resolve. Wolves circled the demon, except
they were unlike any wolves I’d ever seen. These looked like they’d been jacked
up on steroids and energy drinks. They moved fluidly, ripping into Sonneillon’s
flesh violently. There were creatures that seemed to sift through the air,
disappearing and reappearing in another space within seconds as if they were
made of the wind itself. There were so many that my mind could not seem to
focus enough to categorize them all.

Surely,
this wasn’t a vision. Maybe the turkey in my sandwich had been bad. That was
it, I’d eaten bad turkey. Which, ultimately, had caused me to have a trippy
dream. The vision shifted, revealing the giant to be Kennan and the wolf to be
Conall. Definitely bad turkey. I shook my head at the absurdity of it all and
trudged on.  

The
vision wouldn’t be complete without the me dying bit. Moving past the crowd of
monsters,  I looked the demon in the eyes. Approaching it slowly, I tried
to remember what needed to be done. I reached my arms out to embrace the demon
as I had so many times before. Only, this time as my arms encircled the
gargantuan beast, nothing happened. No flash of calm, no disappearing demon,
nothing.

“I
shall rise,"  The demon’s hot breath promised against my hair. “The
Seer shall fall.”

The
helicopter bounced, pulling me from my bizarre dream. Nothing in it had made
sense. I looked over to find Aberto staring at me, concern etching deep lines
in his brow. Something in my stomach flipped and I wondered if my turkey had
been fine after all. Stupid, inexplicably improbable, visions.

Chapter
Fifteen

Luckily
the flight only lasted a little over an hour. As we passed above the murky
waters of Okeefenokee swamp, I wondered where the pilot planned to set us down.
From the looks of things, we may have to rappel out of the stupid thing, which
I was so not down for.

“Hold
on tight. This might get a bit dicey," The pilot muttered. It was the
equivalent of a tattoo artist yelling “Oops” as he worked, not cool at all. I
gripped the seat so tightly my knuckles threatened to break through the skin.

The
helicopter dropped and rose in minute increments sending my stomach into
conniptions. Finally, the earth rose up to meet us and the helicopter stilled
upon what I surmised to be the only available hard patch of ground in the
entire swamp.

Everything
shut off quickly as the pilot instructed us to get our stuff and get out. Much
to his chagrin, I was still clinging to the chair like some sort of deranged
spider monkey, afraid that if I let go, the helicopter might just fall over.

“Izzy,
we’ve landed. You can get off now," Kennan snickered, trying to pry me
loose.

“What?”
I looked around trying to gain my bearings. “Oh, right, we aren’t dead.
Awesome.” I still hadn’t been able to shake that stupid vision, and the bumpy
landing had done nothing to calm my nerves. Now, I had to face my aunt and that
completely mental sidekick of hers, Sena.

“It
took you long enough to get here. Do you know how long the Grand Seer has been
waiting?”  I wondered if just thinking of Sena had summoned her from the
swamp’s murky waters.

“Well,
you did say in person. We were in Illinois. Travel takes time," I grumbled,
slinging my backpack over my shoulders.

“Fine,
excuses later. Let’s get a move on.” She barely paused to see if we were
following before making her way down a narrow boardwalk through the swamp. I
looked out at the still waters with trepidation. The probability of getting
eaten by gators and being unable to fulfill the prophecy was uncomfortably
high.