Speed of Light (35 page)

“Have you tried this?” Tens demanded.

“No, I have never had the opportunity.” Fara shrugged. “My baba did, many times.”

“I’d prefer a gun.” Tens grunted.

“Guns do not matter for the baddies, only human helpers,” Fara said.

“I’ve noticed.”

Fara struggled to translate her thoughts into English. “Baba taught me. You think of the people who you love.
Only that feeling of warmth, of safety, of security. That is a powerful weapon.”

“Love?” I asked, astonished.
Love? We think about people we love and then what? Cupid’s arrows morph into poisoned darts?

“It is enough.”

“She’s right.” Rumi nodded thoughtfully. “To focus solely on love without fear is swinking, hard labor.”

“Auntie thinks you know the words, Rumi.”

“I’ll think on it.” He frowned.

So all we had to do was get near Ms. Asura and think about rainbows and unicorns.
Easy-peasy. No prob. This is a suicide mission
.

We picked apart every scenario we could think of. None of them gave me a gooshy, Hallmark moment feeling of victory.

“I can go in alone,” Juliet repeated.

I shook my head at her. “Even if it was possible for you to convince Ms. Asura to give up Nelli, you know she’d realize we were somewhere waiting to help. We might as well march in together.”
If you go alone, it’ll be just like February. Asura hasn’t lived this long because she’s rash
.

“Fara told us to bring reminders of love.” Tony pulled out his rosary beads and a Bible. “I have Juliet there next to me, so will these do?”

Rumi held out a photograph of his family for inspection.

“Sure,” Timothy said. “Anything that will help you concentrate.”

Fara seemed to think she could teach us how to defeat the Nocti. According to Baba, words and intent were our allies or our enemies.

Fara knelt in the corner, praying. She finished and stood. “I must teach you to chant.” She rattled off a string of Farsi.

“Uh, sorry, what was the first syllable?” I asked.

“Does it matter what language we speak in?” Tens asked.

She considered thoughtfully. “No, I don’t think so. It is the intent in the words. Energy gives words power. Makes them weapons for good or bad.”

“Okay, so give us the English translation,” Tony requested.

Fara nodded, jotting down scribbles, then squinting at them. “Good words, good thoughts, good deeds.”

Rumi gasped. “That’s in my nain’s papers. But it’s Welsh. It’s very similar to the Spirit Stone chant.”

“Can you say it in Welsh? Maybe that’s what Auntie meant?” I asked.

“Of course.” He nodded.

If his family knew of this chant, maybe that’s why the papers were stolen. To keep us from figuring it out
.

“What else?” I asked.

Fara answered, “Good Light, bring us your beautiful colors and take back the Dark.”

Rumi translated the Welsh to other Woodsmen while Fara taught a few Farsi. They weren’t taking chances that
the language didn’t matter. I was sticking with English.
Way easier to remember during stress
.

We practiced. “Good words, good thoughts, good deeds. Good Light, bring us your beautiful colors and take back the Dark.”

Tony activated his church’s prayer line to pray for God’s Light to be with us.
I’ll take all hands, all prayers, all good thoughts
.

Other than a few, the Woodsmen would stay here. If we failed, they still needed to stop the Nocti’s plans for the race.

“You know what to do?” I asked Timothy, who monitored the screens. We dressed quickly in utility jumpsuits and hard hats. We hoped it would allow us to get close enough to get inside without anyone else in the neighborhood thinking much about it. After all, construction workers visited remodeling sites all the time.
Okay, not at night. Hopefully everyone’s sleeping
.

Our Woodsmen silently blended into the trees and gardens around the museum. They formed a perimeter we didn’t need to see to believe.

“Let’s go,” Tens ordered.

I watched as Juliet continued to pick at her hands, her anxiety growing exponentially. I dragged her aside. “You have to believe we can do this. No doubts. Stop feeling sorry for yourself. It would be so easy to hate her, but if you do, she wins—again. Focus on Fara; Bodie and Sema; and your father, who is still alive. How much do they love
you? Do you love them? You mother gave up everything for you. Let go of your anger, for her.”

Juliet nodded and took my hand. “We’ll never know what happened to them, will we.”

“It’s a risk.”
Probably not. If we’re successful, the knowledge about your parents’ whereabouts may be lost forever
.

“We have to defeat her, don’t we?” Juliet’s expression was torn between fear and resolve.

“I think Roshana will understand. Auntie knows I can’t go back to Revelation yet to bury her bones.”

“But at least you know where she is.” Tears gathered in Juliet’s eyes.

My heart breaking, I said, “There’s nothing I can say to make this better for you. But Nelli’s in there and she might still be alive. Your mom’s not.” I knew it was harsh to point out, but I needed Juliet focused.

“I know. Let’s go.” Juliet took my hand. We walked sandwiched between Tens at the front and Fara at the rear. The only light came from a few dim streetlights and a single flashlight.

I had no idea what anyone else was thinking. But the people I loved most in this world flashed through my mind like a slideshow. My little brother was in the forefront of my mind. Sammy. I’d given up hope of seeing him again, of him knowing me at all, to keep him safe. My father who might never understand what my destiny was. Tens with his dry humor and carver’s hands, who accepted me at my worst and took my best in stride. Rumi’s extreme vocabulary that covered a generosity so
big any words became inadequate. Joi who took us in, no questions asked. Bodie and Sema with their innocent smiles and ever-ready ability to think anything was possible. Custos with her drool, antics, and hard-won trust. Mini with her attitude and resilience. Tony’s scholarship and faith. Faye’s fight to live for her happy ending. Gus’s devotion to Faye. I even loved Fara’s confidence and sass. Juliet’s drive to keep us all from harm no matter what the personal cost.

I saw Auntie’s reflection as I walked by a closed, dark window. Auntie, who taught me at my most reluctant, who loved me from the first, even from afar.

My fingers tingled and warmed.

Juliet crossed the grass and headed for the front door. We weren’t sneaking in. She tried the handle. The knob turned. “It’s open.”

We crowded into the foyer. There was a layer of sawdust and cobwebs that made me think the remodeling was on hold indefinitely.

“Tea, anyone?” Ms. Asura said from the right.

“No, thank you,” Juliet answered as we turned almost as one.

“Pity to die on an empty stomach, isn’t it?” She lit a candelabra; the candle flames danced and licked as she held some papers up to the fire, then tossed them into the old fireplace.

I got my first solid look at her face and wondered how we’d managed to inflict so much damage without killing her. “Nice scars,” I said.
What is she burning?
Maps
and drawings were hanging off the walls as if someone grabbed them down in a hurry. Rumi’s timeline too.

“Not very ladylike to point that out, but then you’re not a lady, are you.” She smiled at me and winked.

“Tell me where my mother is, please,” Juliet demanded.

“Or what? You’ll get mad? Oh, please do! That’ll make this all the more fun.”

I wanted Ms. Asura’s attention back on me. “Tell us where to find all the remains and we’ll let you live.”

“Gee, let me think about that. Not going to happen. I don’t need to confess my sins. I’ve done everything I’ve been asked, or do you doubt the Creators speak to me as well?”

I tried again. “I’ve seen the souls you’ve tortured.”

“Are you as dumb as Juliet? I’ve done nothing. Their souls are wounded in their own right. That’s not me. As much as I’d like to take credit for it, the fear, the pain, the loneliness, these all eat at the flesh. All we’ve done is connect them to this plane so they can’t move on.”

“No one would do that to themselves,” I scoffed.

“People do that and worse every day. Why do you think our job is so much easier than yours?” She lit a map of the city, full of red lines and circles, on fire, making me wonder if she was burning their strategies.

Tens’s voice sharpened as he asked, “What are you planning?”

She sighed petulantly. “You can’t all have marched in here thinking I’d want to confess. ‘Oh, Father, please save
my soul. I’ll do anything.’ ” She bit off the sarcasm and pretended to faint on a sheet-covered couch. Dust rose like confetti in the candlelight. “Please. You can’t possibly think I was planning an attack by myself? Aren’t you adorably dullard. Even if you knew how to kill me, which you don’t, I am only one of many. The engines have started. The accelerator is to the floor. With or without me, we’ve won. We live for this; you live for silly ridiculous relationships and
love
.” She sneered the word, then continued. “When you have nothing to lose, there is only everything to gain. The checkered flag is ours.”

“Didn’t your mother ever teach you arrogance will get you in trouble?” I poked.

“Oh, I’m arrogant?” She whistled.

Footsteps pounded up the stairs to our right.

“Yeah, you are,” Fara answered as a group of Nocti and humans strode in to flank Ms. Asura. The other Nocti’s eyes were also uncovered and black pits of nothingness.
Doesn’t get more creepy than that
.

She chuckled as if genuinely delighted by the banter. “Didn’t your mother ever teach you not to underestimate the people in power who want to stay there? Oh, that’s right—your mothers didn’t want either of you, and yours is dead. Pity.” She pointed at me, Tens, and Juliet, then poured herself tea with two cubes of sugar.

“Where is Nelli?” Bales questioned.

“Oh, love, she makes your heart race and your life worth living, doesn’t she?”

“Where is she?” The desperation in Bales’s voice
weakened as if he were using up what strength he had.
Is he hurt worse than he let us know?

Fara started to murmur under her breath. It was clear we could trade insults all night, but Ms. Asura would tell us nothing useful. The other Nocti glanced at each other as if they didn’t know what to make of us and were waiting for orders.

Please let this work
.

Rumi added booming Welsh to the Farsi.

Tens, Auntie, Sammy
.

It would take all of us.

Tony began the Lord’s Prayer, his faith—his truest love, hallowed be thy name.

Fara’s voice gained strength.

The back of my neck felt as if the sun had come out from behind a cloud.

Bales and I began chanting at the same time, and for a moment, I was sure we’d added a choir of angels, an army, to our number, so loud were our words, so convicted were our hearts.

Ms. Asura paused mid-sip and I saw her eyes widen slightly. The candles sputtered and flickered before going out. “Hit the switch! We must see them!” she demanded before one of her men flicked on a single lightbulb hanging from the ceiling.

Tens’s gravelly baritone flowed over me as he stood at my back. He twined his free hand in mine. Smoke from the smoldering papers drifted over the floor around our feet.

“What, are you meditating now? Isn’t that cute. Juliet, why don’t you come with me downstairs? I’ll show you where your mother screamed for mercy. Let you say goodbye to Nelli before you all die?”

Juliet stepped forward and my voice faltered for a breath, but she reached behind her, grabbed my hand tight, and began her verses. I recognized lines Roshana wrote in the book of sonnets.
Pieces of Juliet’s past made present
.

In the distance, maybe below us, I heard shots fired as several of the Nocti disappeared out a door. We shifted so Rumi leaned against the door and no one could come back through. Ms. Asura seemed nervous but not scared enough.

I kept my eyes on her as she tried to take a sip of tea, the cup rattling against the saucer. We all saw it.

Sweat dribbled down the sides of my face and along my forearms, like we’d walked into a sauna. The bulb brightened; all the candles sprang to life.

“You’ll stop acting ridiculous right this minute. If you could see yourselves, so serious.” She set her tea cup down with shaking hands and scanned the room. There were no other doorways to this room. And the only window was boarded up.

She began her own speech, but even yelling couldn’t outpower our volume. We drowned her out.

The single dangling lightbulb shattered in a hail of glass and sparks, but instead of going dark, the light in the room brightened.
The Light is coming. We’ve called Light
.

My palms grew so warm they felt like they were burning, but around us I felt the light come. Grow. Creeping like a flooded river outside its banks. Moving at a steady pace, over and under, to encompass the whole room.

Ms. Asura swallowed. “This is your last chance.”

She means this is her last chance
.

We kept repeating ourselves until the words, our sounds, flowed like breaths, like we were one voice, one symphony of light.

The remaining Nocti tried to charge us, but they couldn’t come closer. As if they were trying to swim against an ocean current, a wall of light, a shield and a weapon.

Ms. Asura’s face reddened, her scars standing out in shrill white. It was as if the tissue had a will of its own.

The light began to bubble against her skin. Nothing in the room was untouched. Light poured from the lightbulb socket, from the electrical outlets, from behind the boarded window, from our fingers and ears and mouths.

Brighter
.

Whiter
.

Hotter
.

My eyes squinted and teared against the intensity of the sensation. It was like eyeing the sun while standing on it. The light began to coalesce, contract, and wrap around the frozen Nocti bodies. It seeped into Ms. Asura’s mouth and down into her ears.