Lost Eden (The Soulkeepers) (22 page)

“The new council will be headed by Senator Bakewell,” the President said.

“Bakewell?” Malini said, alarmed. Bakewell was the one politician they knew for sure was under long-term Watcher influence.

“Harrington Enterprises, the leading supplier of demon eradicating products, will work closely with government experts and comprise an important part of the team,” the President said. “CEO Milton Blake has agreed to donate unlimited company resources to the problem and will be working closely with Mr. Bakewell.”

“Ugh!” Samantha groaned. “He’s everywhere.”

“Turn it off. I can’t listen to this. Has he already won? How can we possibly recover from this?” Bonnie said. The panic in her voice rattled through the room.

Malini shook her head and spread her hands. “It’s not over. There are three more curses and four more gifts to go. He hasn’t won yet.”

“But what can we do? He’s got the ear of the President. People think he’s going to
save
them.” Gideon pointed a hand toward the screen. Abigail shook her head and whispered something in his ear.

Malini glared at the image of the President. The room seemed to tilt and sway as she tried to process the implications. The President finished his speech and began taking questions from reporters, but Malini couldn’t hear anything. Her ears were ringing.

Gideon had asked what they should do. Malini had no idea. She’d just been to the In Between. She should have seen this coming, but she hadn’t. Everything was out of control.

Eventually, Lillian crossed the room and turned off the television. She gave Malini a long, hard look before addressing the others. “I’ll tell you what we’re going to do. We are going to get some sleep. Tomorrow, Malini, Grace, Abigail, Gideon, and I will convene as we would in Eden. We’ll discuss what we’ve learned and form a plan.”

Malini nodded and mouthed
thank you
to Lillian. The older woman gave her an almost imperceptible nod. Malini plopped back down on the bed Jacob had thoughtfully made up while she was panicking.

Father Raymond said goodnight. He’d decided to stay in his room in the rectory despite the obvious risks. Lillian turned off the lights. After a period of squeaking hinges, rustling covers, and whispered “good nights,” the room quieted. Malini wasn’t sure how much time passed before a deep snore came from Dane’s direction.

“You look tired,” Jacob whispered from the pillow next to her. He was still wearing his muddy sneakers but Malini didn’t have the energy to tell him to kick them off.

She glanced at her watch. “It’s four in the morning, and we haven’t slept yet. Of course I’m tired.”

He rubbed a knuckle under his nose. “I don’t mean that kind of tired. You look tired to your bones, to your soul.”

She stared up at the ceiling, her thoughts swirling with the gold Celtic design. She’d wanted to bury this, but like always, she couldn’t keep her real feelings from Jacob. Nor could she deny that those feelings compromised her ability to lead. She turned on her side.

“We’re not going to graduate,” she said.

“No.” Jacob tucked his hands between his head and the pillow. “But nobody else will either. Are they even holding classes anymore?”

“I don’t know.”

“Anyone who can see the Watchers will pull their kids out of class faster than you can say ‘homeschool.’ Those who can’t might attend classes, but if the Watchers are teaching them, they won’t be learning anything. They’ll have to repeat the year when God wins the challenge.” Jacob shrugged his shoulder.

“
If
God wins,” Malini murmured.

“Malini Gupta, as Healer you of all people cannot lose faith.”

“Optimism is my job, eh?” She frowned, sighing deeply through her nose.

Jacob stared at her for a few minutes, eyebrows pinched over his nose. He examined her face as if he was seeing her for the first time. “I know you’re disappointed, Malini. You’ve done everything right academically and sleeping in the basement of a church is not what you planned for yourself. You climbed on a bus to California and ended up in New York. But you know what? New York needs you more.”

She smiled. “I thought I was in Chicago?”

He swallowed and licked his lips. “I’m speaking figuratively. Life didn’t turn out the way you planned. You’ve told me like a million times that you want to be a journalist. A citizen of the world you called it. You wanted to help people by providing honest reporting around the globe.”

Malini nodded.

“Your life is here, Mal. You don’t need a degree to help people. You’re already here, in your future, helping people. You are going to heal the world.”

“But—”

“No buts. Maybe you need a good cry. Maybe you need to grieve the future you lost. That’s okay. I’ll support you. I’ll even wipe your tears. But what good is a degree in a world ruled and ravaged by Watchers. Whatever you expected for your life, this is the most important thing you will ever do. Look around this room. Every life here is in your hands. You are seventeen years old and the leader of the best chance this world has of surviving the apocalypse.”

Malini pressed a finger over his lips. “Enough. I get it. I’ll straighten up and focus.”

“Not because you have to, Mal, because you believe it.”

She pursed her lips.

“Seriously. Your job is to tell the future by what has happened in the past. Can’t you see that God always wins? Good always triumphs over evil.”

“You don’t know that for sure.”

“Yes, I do. Because Lucifer’s promises aren’t real. Everything on that commercial tonight was a lie. The amulets don’t work and whatever security system Harrington is selling is a complete scam. They won’t be able to keep up that illusion forever. Eventually truth bleeds out into the open.”

Malini grabbed his head and kissed him, hard, only releasing him when his body softened on the bed next to her.

“What was that for?” Jacob asked, grinning.

“For shutting you up.”

Jacob scowled.

“Thank you, Jake, for reminding me why I’m here.” She placed a palm on his cheek.

He covered her hand with his. “Good night, Malini.”

“Good night, Jacob.”

She closed her eyes and drifted off to racing images of Watchers, hellhounds, exploding churches, and finally Master Lee. Even in her dreams, she cried.

The Third Gift

G
abriel checked out his reflection in the giant bean sculpture, turning his face this way and that, watching the old man’s head in the shiny metal narrow and stretch with his movement. Millennium Park was empty aside from the rare jogger with a Harrington medallion keen on overcoming the early morning chill. Next to him, crowded on the small bench in the dark, an aged and corpulent black woman tossed birdseed to a group of wiry pigeons—God.

“It’s freezing out here, Lord,” Gabriel complained. “Couldn’t we talk inside somewhere?”

“The only places still open are those who’ve sworn allegiance to Lucifer.” God gave a tired sigh. “Everyone else has boarded up their windows and is in hiding from the Watchers.”

Gabriel hugged himself and rubbed his shoulders. “No one is brave enough to fight? Where are the Soulkeepers?”

“They’re here, in the city. They just need some time to get up to speed.” Another handful of seed scattered across the pavement.

“Time they don’t have,” Gabriel said.

God grunted, bobbing her frosted-gray curls.

“May I suggest, Lord, that you provide courage as the third gift? People need to stand up and be brave, or the evil will walk all over them.” Gabriel leaned back on the bench, looking smug.

“Can’t blame people for being afraid. Human brains are hardwired to fear the Watchers.”

“Soulless fallen angels who eat human flesh—what’s not to fear?” Gabriel rubbed his hands together briskly.

The Lord crumpled up the empty seed bag and tossed it east. The brown paper soared through the air, cut through the oncoming wind, and landed in a garbage can across the park. “They fear the Watchers because some part of them knows the fallen angels represent a future without God. They see the darkness within the beasts and think how easy it would be to become like them, but at the same time fear the separation from me. Why do you think more people haven’t signed up for Harrington’s offer? They must be terrified. But some part of every human heart is stamped with my name. Man will not come easily to Lucifer’s table.”

“Then courage. Courage to fight,” Gabriel repeated.

“Courage is useless in the absence of anything to be courageous about. What we need to do is give them hope. We need to show them that there is a reason to fight. If evil is the only choice, the best a person can do is not to choose. But if we give them hope, hope that there is something on the other side of the struggle, then they will see the value of the fight.”

Gabriel smiled. “Hope is a powerful gift. One that forever changes the one who lets it into their heart.”

“You are correct, dear angel.”

A jogger crossed between them and the giant metal bean sculpture. A Harrington talisman bounced on her chest to the same rhythm as her brown ponytail.

“Already so pervasive. How did he reach so many so fast?”

“Social media.” God stood. “Walk with me.”

Gabriel fell into step beside her. “What vessel will bring hope into the world? Can I deliver it?”

“No need. I’ve already arranged for its arrival.”

Gabriel frowned. “You mean, it is already here, on Earth?”

“Yes. It has been for some time.”

Looking right then left, Gabriel noticed a group of Watchers walking up the middle of the street. “What are we waiting for?” he asked. “Why not unleash it now?”

“The vessel isn’t quite ready. There is a time for everything and a season for every purpose under the heavens.”

“A time to be born and a time to die?” Gabriel said, smiling.

“You know this one?”

“I’ve heard it somewhere before.”

The two walked toward the lake, noting the Watchers they’d seen earlier duck inside as a silvery glow began over the water, the first hints of sunrise. “They hate sunlight. Always have.”

“Lord, if the vessel is already here, why did you want to meet with me? What can I do to help if you do not need a messenger?”

“This time, Gabriel, it is not what I need you to do, but what I need you not to do.”

“I don’t understand.”

“What will happen today, I allow to happen. It
must
happen or hope will not come on time.”

“And this is something I will want to stop but must not?”

“Correct.”

“So, do nothing? That doesn’t sound difficult.”

God stopped and faced him. “It will be.” A chill wind rushed Gabriel’s neck. “Now, one more thing before we go home.” The Lord leaned in and whispered in Gabriel’s ear. He had a job to do after all, and this day
would
be difficult, perhaps the most difficult of all of his days.

* * * * *

A
bigail tried to roll over without waking Gideon, but it was almost impossible with a stomach the size of Texas. She wasn’t sleeping well anymore. The baby kicked her in the ribs every time she lay down, and no position was comfortable for sleeping. On her back, there was too much weight on her spine. It was physically impossible to sleep on her stomach. And there was only so long she could rest on her side before her hip started to hurt.

As quietly as possible, she lifted herself from the mattress and crept toward the kitchen for a glass of water and maybe a snack, if there was anything left to eat from the RV. The kitchen was the industrial sort with stainless steal counters and a massive refrigerator, sadly empty. All the way in the back, crisscrossed steel bars jailed a walk-in pantry. Abigail looked at the massive lock on the door and wondered why the high security was needed in a church.

“High theft area, and the church is often open to the public,” Gideon said. “I asked Father Raymond last night.”

Abigail turned on her heel to face her beloved. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

He shrugged. “It’s a twin bed. Besides, I think I was ready to be up. Soon enough we’ll be taking turns with early morning feedings.” A smile crept across his stubbled face. “Might as well get used to it.”

“More of a reason for you to have your sleep now,” she said. She turned the lock and rummaged through the pantry. Plates, napkins, plastic silverware, cups. Nothing edible.
Damn
.

Gideon cleared his throat and played with a stray twist tie he found on one of the shelves. “Abigail, how long do you think we have before the baby comes?”

She stopped and placed her hands on her belly. “I’ve never been to a doctor. Never had an ultrasound. Malini says the baby is healthy, but we have no idea the effect Lucifer’s prison had on her development.”

“You must have a feeling. You said you knew you were pregnant before you left Eden.”

“Yes.”

“How pregnant?”

“My clothes were tight.”

“So it could be …”

“It could be soon. Very soon. We might have a month. Six weeks, maybe?”

Gideon’s face paled.

“It will all work out, Gideon. We will make do.”

He opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again and blew out a giant breath. Moving in closer, he placed his hands on the sides of her belly. The baby kicked him in his right palm. “Oh!”

“She knows your voice already.”

“She? You keep calling the baby a girl. Do you know something I don’t?”

Abigail hesitated. “Just a gut feeling.” She sputtered a laugh at the unintended pun, and Gideon joined in. He ended by kissing her on the forehead. Wanting more, she tilted her face to partake in a proper kiss. He obliged, then held her in his arms until she was sure everything was going to be okay.

“I’m starving,” she said finally. “Let’s go check if there’s food left in the RV.” Abigail threaded her fingers with his and led him from the kitchen. She climbed the stairs and passed through the tunnel to the rectory. The sun hadn’t broke the horizon yet but the sky glowed a soft winter’s gray behind the dormant trees in the courtyard. Gideon stopped her at the door, looking both ways to make sure the courtyard was safe before taking Abigail’s hand and leading her toward the RV.