Darkness Wanes (41 page)

Lucas was right that even though I had a lot on my plate, I couldn’t ignore my responsibilities to Emily. She’d lost me for three months. I had to make her a priority as much as everything else—even if her school grades seemed like the least of my problems. One glance at the report, though, and a mixture of relief and fear swept through me.

“Did you look at this?” I asked Lucas.

He leaned down and stared at the paper. “I thought I’d let you see it first.”

“She got straight A’s. How is that possible?” I just couldn’t believe it.

Lucas rubbed his chin. “She missed some classes in January and February, but she spent a lot of time studying after that. We could hardly get her to leave her room.”

“You don’t think she talked anyone into compelling her teachers?” In our world, that was always a possibility.

Lucas gave me an amused look. “None of us would have done it, and she did appear to be studying diligently enough. I believe she did this all on her own.”

“You know we’re going to have to buy her a car now, right?” This was every parent’s worst nightmare—the dilemma of their child getting good grades, but not wanting to give them a reward that could put them in jeopardy. At least she hadn’t asked for a trip to Egypt or something.

“I should have encouraged her to go out drinking with her friends more often.” He sighed.

Micah flashed into the room. He must have just finished his shift at the nerou compound. He took one look at our faces and stiffened. “What has happened now?”

“Look.” I handed the report to him. “We’re going to owe her a car for this, and she’s going to want to drive it—on roads and stuff.”

He skimmed the paper, then looked up at his brother. “If you’d let me take her to those rock concerts as I suggested, maybe this wouldn’t have happened.”

Kerbasi appeared in the living room next. He didn’t ask us what we were talking about. The guardian went straight to Micah and jerked the report out of his hands, skimming over it with a deepening frown. I supposed it was obvious the paper was the topic of our discussion.

“You aren’t really going to give her a car, are you?” he asked, handing the report back to me. He’d been there when I made the promise to Emily at the beginning of the school year.

“It’s not like I have a choice. I can’t go back on my word.” Then an idea hit me, and I turned to Lucas. “What if we got something with heavy armor on it?”

He canted his head. “That could work. I’m certain I could find something.”

“What’s going on?” Emily asked, coming from the foyer.

She and Patrick had been outside throwing a Frisbee in the yard. The man was trying to make up for lost time with his daughter in every way possible. She must have sensed us gathering together and decided to check up on us.

“We just got the report on your grades,” I answered, handing her the paper.

Emily barely took a glance at it before giving me a satisfied smirk. “You owe me a car.”

“Wait. What?” Patrick sputtered.

Emily handed him her report. “Mel promised me if I got good grades this year, then I could have a car. Now she’s got to pay up.”

Lucas cleared his throat. “We will take our time searching for the right one, of course.”

“Don’t you dare drag it out,” Emily warned, putting her hands on her hips. “You know damn well I earned it.”

“Language, Emily,” her father cautioned.

She composed her features. “Sorry, Dad.”

I was impressed. Every time I tried correcting her language, she didn’t listen. Maybe we needed to let him play bad cop about the car situation. She might take it better if he broke the news that it was best to wait a little longer.

Patrick studied the report. “She made all A’s?”

“You’ve got a smart daughter when she applies herself,” I replied, proud that at least I hadn’t screwed things up too badly for her.

If she kept studying hard during her senior year, she might get into a decent college. Of course, that would be bad, too. How would we ever be able to let her out of our sight? We’d have to give her a protection detail that rivaled the Secret Service. Why couldn’t Emily go back to being fourteen again? I was turning twenty-nine next month. Wasn’t I too young to be facing problems like this? Invading Hell was beginning to seem a lot less daunting than handling a teenager who’d soon be old enough to strike out on her own.

“If you can give me a couple of weeks, I might be able to pitch in on the car,” Patrick offered.

My hopes that he’d fight us on the car thing came crashing down. “What? How?”

“Well, uh, I have some savings stashed away in Montana.” He appeared a little sheepish. “I’d just have to make a trip to get it and tie up some loose ends while I’m there. I was thinking I should do that anyway now that I’ve got a job here in Fairbanks.”

“Really?” Emily hopped up on her toes. “That would be awesome!”

Lucas and Micah did their telepathic thing for a minute. Those of us who could sense it gave them annoyed looks for leaving us out of the conversation. After a minute, Micah addressed Patrick. “We could fly out late next week. Lucas still has his plane in Fairbanks, so we could be there and back in a day if we leave early.”

Patrick blanched. “That quick? I’m not sure I could get everything done in just a few hours.”

“Perhaps not by yourself,” Lucas said, tone firm. “But I assure you my brother can speed up anything you think might take a while.”

Patrick hesitated, but one look at all our faces had him slumping his shoulders. “Uh, okay.”

“Then it’s settled.” Micah gave the sensor a pat on the back that almost knocked him over.

I grinned at the befuddled man. “You didn’t really think you would go back all by yourself, did you? One of the things about hanging around this family is we take care of each other.” I gazed around me. “Now who’s up for ice cream to celebrate Emily’s grades?”

Kerbasi perked up. “I would certainly enjoy a bowl or two.”

“Yeah, I bet.” We headed for the kitchen.

The guardian helped me pull out the ice cream containers, chocolate sauce, sprinkles, bananas, and whipped cream. Everyone else grabbed a barstool and took a seat. It was good to see everyone gathered together, though I was sorry Bartol wouldn’t join us. I dished up a serving for him first and sent Emily to give it to him.

As I started filling the other bowls, my senses alerted me to new arrivals heading our way. “Yerik and Lorna are coming.”

Lucas stiffened. “He’d mentioned he might visit tonight.”

We hadn’t seen him since the previous night at the compound. I hadn’t wanted to bother him yet, considering he deserved a little time with his family before we threw him into the thick of things. We were on a tight schedule, though, with Lucas and Micah. Remiel would be back soon to attach their ankle bracelets again. If we were going to rescue Ariel, we had to do it quick, or we’d lose our window of opportunity. The angel’s soul darkened with each day that passed, and in a few months it might be too late for her.

I wasn’t sure how I was going to squeeze in an invasion of Hell while also searching for my missing best friend, but I didn’t have much of a choice. We had no idea where Aniya might be, but we did have the exact location on Ariel.

“Well, they’re pulling up the road now,” I informed Lucas.

He got off his barstool. “I will meet them outside.”

“I should come with you,” I said, worried he might try talking Yerik out of my plan.

He came up and put his arms around me. “I’m not going to thwart you, sensor. I’ve given up on that, but I would like to speak to him alone for a moment.”

I swallowed. “Will you tell me about it later?”

He leaned down close and whispered in my ear. “We will discuss battle strategies, nothing more. But should you want a
deeper
explanation, I’ll be happy to provide one later.”

I licked my lips. “Okay.”

Lucas let go of me, gestured at Micah to join him, and flashed away. I had to give it to my husband—he had a way of distracting me from my worries. Emily came in with Lorna a few minutes later. The Scottish woman must have been exempted from the male discussion outside as well, though she didn’t appear any more pleased about it than me.

She and Emily helped me finish dishing out the ice cream bowls. We set them on the counter and started eating while waiting for the men outside to return. Kerbasi and Patrick stayed with us. The guardian didn’t seem annoyed at being left out, but food always took priority for him.

It took about ten minutes before Lucas, Micah, and Yerik joined us in the kitchen. Their expressions told me nothing of what they’d discussed and their moods felt calm enough. I was glad to see the daimoun had acquired a new kilt to wear. The one he’d had on the other day couldn’t have possibly survived another washing.

“Ice cream?” I asked, jumping off my barstool.

“That would be excellent,” Yerik said, heading to the freezer where I’d returned the containers. “But don’t trouble yourself. I can get it.”

“Okay.” I edged back onto my seat.

Lorna was already finishing the last of her ice cream. She leaned over and spoke in a confiding tone. “This will take him a while. You might not want to watch.”

“Why?” Emily asked.

The older sensor gave her a cryptic smile. “You’re better off if you don’t know.”

It didn’t take long to figure out why Yerik preferred to serve himself. He put a scoop of every flavor of ice cream we had into a big mixing bowl he found in the cabinets, then put all the extras on top. Emily gasped as she watched him pour so much chocolate syrup over the concoction that you could hardly see the ice cream. He also mashed an entire banana and some strawberries in there. His final addition was the worst. Without our assistance, he somehow located the hot sauce and dribbled some of that into the bowl before stirring it all around.

“Is he really going to eat that?” Patrick asked.

Lorna’s expression told us she’d found her mate hopeless a long time ago. “Every bite.”

My stomach roiled. At least I’d already finished my ice cream before watching that masterpiece get made. I didn’t know how I was going to be able to sit by while he consumed it, though.

Yerik ate a few spoonfuls before speaking. “I’ve been told you wish to rescue Ariel.”

“If you’ll help us,” I replied, trying very hard to keep my gaze averted.

“May I try some of that?” Kerbasi asked.

Emily shot him an incredulous look. “Are you crazy?”

The guardian ignored her.

Yerik scooped up another bite. “No, but you are welcome to make your own.”

Kerbasi’s face fell. “I’m not certain it is worth the risk.”

“It takes a real man to eat ice cream like this,” Yerik said, clearly proud of himself.

Lucas grunted. Apparently, he and Micah had decided to forgo eating any after watching the daimoun prepare his. “Speak for yourself. Now are you willing to help us get into Hell or not?”

Yerik spent the next minute savoring mouthful after mouthful of ice cream and not answering. I tried to remind myself he’d gone without it as long as I had, and he was probably still building back his strength—though he didn’t seem much weaker than before he’d left. All that living in the wild must not have affected him that badly.

“I’ll need a day or so to find the portal in Alaska—haven’t used it before. After that, I’ll be ready to go anytime,” he eventually replied, not even glancing up from his bowl.

“There’s a portal to Hell in Alaska?” I asked.

Micah’s expression turned thoughtful. “It would explain a lot.”

Yerik paused with his spoon halfway to his mouth. “There’s only three on the continent. One in New York, another in Arkansas, and the one here in Alaska.”

“Is the one here used all that much?” The question came from Patrick.

“No,” Yerik replied as he scraped the bottom of his bowl. “That’s why I have to look for it. Exactly who is going aside from Melena and Lucas?”

“I am,” Micah replied.

Kerbasi straightened in his seat. “I will go as well.”

“What?” Just about everyone said at once.

The guardian shrugged. “I’ll do it for Melena. She will need all the assistance she can get, and it would not be my first time there.”

“Wait,” I said, trying to grasp what he’d just revealed. “You’re sort of like an angel. I thought you guys couldn’t go there.”

Kerbasi met my gaze. “I am not a true angel, rather something in between. The very way I was made is different because of the duties required of me. When we cannot rehabilitate souls in Purgatory, we escort them to Hell. I do not know how to acquire passage through the mortal plane, but it does not harm me to enter.”

I couldn’t believe what he was offering. “Okay, fine, you’re able to get in. But won’t you get in trouble for helping us? I mean, couldn’t it ruin your chances of ever climbing higher up the ranks?”

“To become a true angel, I would need to ascend. The archangels would have to find me worthy. There is a man here...” he gestured in the direction of Bartol, “who is scarred for the rest of his life because of me. I do not deserve to rise higher. Also, the wards there do not affect me, which could prove useful.”