All Who Wander Are Lost (An Icarus Fell Novel) (20 page)

“
What
do you mean?”

“
You
will do the harvester’s job until he returns on his own accord
or you convince him to come back. And you will take him with you.”

Michael stepped
aside and gestured toward a figure lying on the bed watching TV. The
motel’s neon sign shone through the open curtains, turning the
person into silhouette. Poe took a few uncertain steps down the hall
and saw the man’s unkempt hair and youthful features as she
drew closer. When she stepped into the room, he faced her and she
saw him in the glow of the television.

“
Hi,
Poe.”

The world wavered
before her eyes.

“
Trevor.”

Bruce
Blake-All Who Wander Are Lost

They stood on the
sidewalk looking up at the window, mimicking the worshipers and
miracle-seekers pressed close around them.

“
Are
you sure this is where we need to be? I was here before.”
Trevor looked at the faces in the crowd. “A lot more people
now.”

Poe looked from the
window to Trevor’s narrow face, into his washed-out brown
eyes.

He looks a lot
like Icarus.

“
I’m
sure. What do you think drew you here?”

“
I
don’t know. Because this is where shit went down, maybe.”

“
Maybe.
Or maybe because this is where your father went through.”

Trevor looked at
her and she averted her eyes back to the stained glass Madonna.

“‘
Went
through’? Went through what? Where?”

She
raised a finger toward the window. It
was
amazing it survived the blast; she understood why all these people
were gathered on the sidewalk to beseech their creator.

“
Went
through there,” she said, then lowered her voice. “To
Hell.”

Trevor grabbed
Poe’s arm, but let go immediately, surprised by the shock the
touch gave him. He gestured for her to follow and stepped out of the
crowd.

“
What
do you mean Hell? The big guy said he’s out of town. We’re
supposed to harvest a soul while he’s away.”

“
Trevor.”
Poe took him by the shoulders, saw the look in his eyes as her
energy flowed into him. She tried to limit it. “Your father is
in Hell.”

The teenager’s
eyes stared blankly for a moment then, slowly, he looked back toward
the window.

“
Hell,”
he repeated.

“
Yes.
I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to him. I
have to get him back.”

“
But
what about Michael? He’ll be pissed.”

Poe sighed heavily,
her shoulders slouched. She didn’t want to anger the archangel
further but the weight of her responsibilities pressed on her. If
she’d done her job, been a better guardian for Icarus, he
wouldn’t be in this situation, probably wouldn’t have
met the woman, Piper.

Piper.

Her name stirred
the memory of the kiss she saw them share and her gut clenched like
someone ringing out a dishcloth. Something about the woman made her
angry and afraid, but she didn’t know what or why. Was it
something wrong? Was it jealousy?

No.

Trevor’s
elbow prodded her side, pulling her from her thoughts, and she
realized he’d spoken.

“
What?”

He answered by
pointing up the block to a white van; black, two-foot-high lettering
identified it as belonging to TV19 news. A pudgy, balding man was
pulling a camera out of the van while a pretty woman wearing a gray
blazer smoothed creases out of her black skirt. Poe looked back to
the crowd, which had grown since their arrival, and saw two
policemen near the back, their police hats bobbing above the heads
of the worshipers.

“
We
can’t do this now, can we?” Trevor asked.

We?
Poe
didn’t bother telling him he wouldn’t be going, not yet.

“
No.
Too many people.”

“
What
do we do?”

Poe knew many paths
to Heaven, but the ways to Hell changed constantly—they
wouldn’t be easily discovered. Many years had passed since she
last trod them and the ones she’d known would be long gone.
She scratched her elbow, pondering the possibilities, and an idea
occurred to her.

“
We’ll
do as Michael asked.”

“
Harvest
a soul? But what about my Dad?”

Poe started down
the sidewalk, excusing herself as she passed the cameraman and news
lady. Trevor followed a step or two behind.

“
Don’t
worry about your father.”

†‡†

It didn’t
take long for the swallows to find them and, as always, Gabriel
appeared soon after. As she approached, Poe fought the urge to hide
behind Trevor. It wasn’t fear which made her want to take
cover every time she saw Gabriel, but awe, like she was in the
presence of a movie star. Awe and jealousy—she wished mortals
reacted to her the way they did to the archangel.

“
Hello,
Poe,” Gabriel sing-songed.

Poe raised a hand
and fluttered her fingers in response.

“
And
who do we have here?” The archangel nodded toward Trevor.

Poe looked at the
teen and saw his mouth agape and eyes wide, the same sort of
reaction most males experienced upon meeting Gabriel.

“
Trevor.
He’s Icarus’ son.”

“
Of
course. I see the resemblance.”

Poe shifted her
weight from one foot to the other, uncomfortable with Gabriel’s
gaze on her. She wiped sweaty palms on her thighs.

“
Icarus
isn’t here,” she said.

“
I
know.”

“
Michael
sent me to do the job.”

“
I
know.”

Poe tried to look
the archangel in the eyes but her gaze kept skittering away
regardless of what she wanted. Enthralled by the angel, Trevor
neither moved nor spoke. Poe wondered if she should check and make
sure he remembered to draw breath.

“
Do...do
you have a scroll for me?”

Gabriel produced a
roll of parchment from behind her back, smiled, and held it out to
Poe. Unconsciously, the guardian angel took a step back and half a
step to the side, partially hiding behind Trevor.

“
You
know what to do?”

Poe didn’t
sense condescension in her voice, but after the things Michael had
said, she didn’t know if Gabriel spoke out of concern or
something else. She suppressed the urge to snatch the scroll away,
instead allowing the angel to place it on her outstretched palm.

“
Yes.
I’ve seen it a few times.”

A swallow flitted
between them, a streak of blue-green barreling through the air.
Trevor finally showed some reaction by following its path with his
eyes.

“
You
don’t have much time.”

“
Okay.”

Gabriel nodded once
and lifted her arms skyward like she intended to embrace the entire
firmament. A cloud of swallows Poe hadn’t noticed rose from
branches of trees and roofs of buildings, swirling into a tornado of
blue and white. They darted about performing aerobatics, following
Gabriel as she walked away and disappeared between two buildings. As
soon as she was gone, Trevor became aware of the world again, like
he’d woken from a deep sleep.

“
Who
was she?”

Poe stepped out
from behind him and looked at the roll of parchment. She’d
seen Icarus with scrolls before but never held one herself; energy
radiated from it making her palm itch. It built as she stared at it
imagining her flesh reddening beneath, bumps and welts forming,
blisters bursting.

“
Poe?”

“
Take
it,” she said breathlessly. “Please take it.”

Trevor took the
parchment and she rubbed her palm vigorously on her leg before
regarding it. No marks left behind, no open sores; the itch
disappeared as soon as the paper no longer contacted her flesh.

“
Are
you okay?”

“
I
think so.”

She rubbed her hand
on the thigh of her pants again, just in case.

“
What
did you ask me?”

“
I
asked you who she was.”

They walked, though
they hadn’t unrolled the scroll yet and didn’t know
where they should go. Poe didn’t want to stay there and chance
seeing Gabriel again.

“
The
archangel Gabriel.”