Shadow Train (43 page)

She was staring out the window with a rising sense of dread when she saw a nightmare vision that she'd hoped never to see again. It was Oberon, in his natural form. As she watched, he winged his way upward, toward the top of the church, and disappeared from view. Aimee thought for a second that he'd simply flown over the church. Then, a deep boom vibrated the whole building.

“Um, Lily Rose . . .” Aimee said.

The old woman looked up from her patient. “I know,” she said wearily. “That shadow train's a steamin' into town again, bringing a whole freight load of destiny with it. You go out and fight, if you need to. Hold 'em off for as long as you can. I'll be here, bringing this baby into the world. Go on—I'll bolt the door behind you.”

“What do you mean, fight?” Emily protested. “Okay—you were pretty impressive in old-time Middleburg, but I'm not going to let you—”

Aimee grasped her hand, interrupting her. “I'm different than when you left, Mom. I'm stronger. I'll be fine,” she said.

That left her mother momentarily speechless. Then Emily nodded. “Okay, honey. Okay. Just be careful,” she said.

Aimee hurried away. In her excitement, though, she was too impatient to wait for her feet to carry her into the sanctuary. She slipped there instead and appeared in the middle of the crowd, startling everyone. Most of the people she knew in town were already assembled there, including the Toppers and Flatliners and their families. Maggie's cheerleader pals were also there, gathered in one corner and talking in voices that were shrill and hysterical.

Her dad was there, too, pacing up by the pulpit in his customary gray suit and yelling into his cell phone. “I don't give a damn what your protocol is! You put me on the phone with the governor! You tell him if he doesn't have the entire Kansas National Guard up here within the hour, he can kiss his reelection goodbye!”

Aimee shook her head. At least some things never changed.

She was crossing the room, heading for the place where Zhai, Nass, and the rest of the Flatliners and the Toppers were gathered, talking to Master Chin, when she felt a sudden vibration shoot through her body. Instinctively, she stared up at the ceiling. Several people around her did, too. There was a strange sound coming from above, a massive vibratory hum that seemed to rattle every cell inside her, every molecule of the air, and every stone of the church.

Great,
she thought, what
now
?

* * *

Raphael had cut through the woods and was charging ahead, dodging the ancient headstones that filled the churchyard, when he caught sight of Oberon again. He had flown up to the bell tower of the church and disappeared into its arched opening, even as dozens of terrified people crowded into the broad entrance of the church below. Raphael gritted his teeth and ran faster.
What could Oberon be planning?
he wondered. Was he going to use the ring to bring the whole structure crashing down on everyone in the town? Or something even worse?

Raph had taken only a few more steps when he saw an explosion of blue-green light rip from the bell tower, in three concentric circles. The shockwave of energy seemed to blow a fuse in Raphael's brain for a second, and the blast knocked him off his feet. When he sat up again, he saw that a great beam of white light was shining out of the arch in the bell tower, blasting like an impossibly bright spotlight toward the south. There was another fainter, vaguely spiral-shaped shaft of light that shone straight upward, as far as he could see, until it vanished in the clouds. As Raphael watched, two figures—Oberon and Rick—stepped out into the beam of light, and it carried them south at incredible speed before disappearing above the treetops.

Raphael groaned, exhausted by the prospect of chasing Oberon back the way they'd come. After a second, however, another round of machine-gun fire roused him, and he stood.

He had to track Oberon down, he decided. But first he knew he should go and investigate the two lights now shining out of the bell tower. They must have something to do with whatever Oberon was up to, he thought. If he could shut them off somehow, maybe he could avert the disaster the Magician had foretold. With a sense of renewed determination, he charged once again toward the church.

* * *

Inside one of the black helicopters, Feng Xu sat, grinning.

“Excellent,” he said into the cell phone pressed to his ear and ended the call.

Chin might have managed to kill the Black Snake God, but the Chinese government would not be so easily vanquished. Earlier, Feng Xu had called for reinforcements. Now, the members of dozens of secret spy cells were converging on the town with enough firepower to level Middleburg. Of course his opponent—the foolish, overcautious Agent Hackett—would have called for reinforcements, too. Most of them had already arrived. But they, like Hackett, would be cautious, fearful of needless destruction or the taking of innocent lives, and that is why Feng Xu would be victorious. That is why, within hours, the ring would be his. They had already located it: it was in the tower of the church, and it was emanating an unmistakable beacon of light, like the beam of a lighthouse. Now, all that remained was to gather his forces, go into the church, and take it.

* * *

“Damn it! You're sure?” Hackett snarled over the deafening rotors of the helicopter.

Agent Jones nodded.

So the ring was definitely inside the church—which was also where hundreds of civilians were now gathering.
That's just great,
Hackett thought. It was a nightmare scenario. Either they go in and snag the ring, which would likely result in a firefight with perhaps dozens of civilian casualties, or they sit back and let the Order grab it and try to catch them with it afterward—and risk letting them escape. He knew that the latter choice was not an option. If Feng Xu's people got their hands on the ring and weaponized it, that could result in
millions
of casualties. He had to go with the lesser of two evils. They had to get the ring now.

“Lieutenant Sanders—what do you think about dropping some snipers on the roof of the church?” Hackett shouted up to the pilot. Sanders looked down at Middleburg United, then shook his head.

“It's a no-go, sir,” Sanders said. “The pitch is too steep. The roof is slate—it's slippery—and it's too windy.

With a mumbled curse Hackett sat back in his seat, frustrated. How had this operation gone sideways on him so fast? Only yesterday he'd been confident that this mission was going to be the key to a big promotion, a fat salary, and a cushy desk job in D.C. Now, there was collateral damage and probably civilian casualties as well, and if he didn't secure the ring now, he'd be lucky to avoid a demotion—or worse, World War III.

“All right, bring us down,” he said finally. “We'll have to do this the old-fashioned way. Have all units rendezvous in the field north of Spinnacle Restaurant. We'll proceed south on Golden Avenue by Humvee and on foot. We'll surround the church and secure the ring while you provide air support.”

Jones looked at him, wide-eyed. “There are hundreds of civilians down there, sir. If we get into a fire fight in front of that church—”

“No one asked for your opinion, Jones,” Hackett snapped. “I don't care if Black Ops has to come in and bulldoze this whole miserable town. I'm getting that ring, and I'm getting it now.”

* * *

The sounds of gunfire and explosions outside had risen to a terrifying cacophony. Aimee's hands were trembling, and it was all she could do to keep from slipping out of Middleburg altogether and going someplace calm—like the Bahamas. She pushed the thought out of her mind and tried to focus on the conversation that was happening as she, Zhai, Nass, Maggie, and Chin discussed what to do next, but her eyes kept drifting to the faces in the crowd around her: the frightened children, the concerned mothers, the blustering fathers. Anne Pembrook and Mr. Brighton were walking among them, trying to keep everyone calm.

At that moment, the huge wooden door to the church swung open and a young man came in.

The Flatliners and Toppers stood in a restless group at the back of the church talking among themselves. When the intruder came in, they all hurried to his side. He was the boy who had appeared from thin air when they'd assembled the ring on the mountaintop, Aimee realized. When he'd appeared, she thought he seemed familiar. Now, suddenly, she recognized him. He was the mysterious gunslinger who'd saved her life in 1877 Middleburg. She also knew his name—Raphael—and she remembered Dalton and Maggie talking about him. Still, she couldn't quite figure out how she knew him.

And then, over their heads, he was looking right at her. He passed through the crowded church and walked right up to her.

“Aimee,” he said, and the sound of her name on his lips sent a shockwave through her soul.

“What?” she began. “You—you're that guy—how did you get here?”

“Aimee, it's me—Raphael.”

A sudden emotion she couldn't understand came over her.

“You know me,” he went on gently. He took her hand. She was surprised at how natural—how right—it felt.

“Okay,” she said. “Dalton, my friends, they all told me that I went to the homecoming dance with you, but honestly, I don't remember that.”

He moved closer and put his arms around her, and she looked up at him, into his awesome blue-green eyes. “Do you remember this?” he whispered, and he kissed her softly, slowly.

And it all came flooding back to her like a tidal wave, every memory of every moment they had spent together. With the memory, her love came flooding back, too—filling her with the splendor she'd known with their very first kiss.

“Raphael,” she said, tears welling in her eyes. Eagerly she kissed him back and then hugged him close as he held her tightly, his sweet breath caressing her neck and ruffling her hair. She felt like she was waking up from a very long sleep. “How could I forget you?” she said.

“It wasn't you.” Maggie came forward then. “It was Orias.” She looked at Raphael. “He put some kind of spell on her. I'm not sure how he did it, but she kind of lost touch with all of us for a while.”

“Oh, God—Orias,” she said. “Raphael, how will I ever make that up to you?” She wanted to say more, to try to find answers, to explain—to herself, most of all—but at that moment Chin approached.

“Master Chin, Oberon is here,” Raphael said. “He took the ring up to the bell tower—and now there's this crazy light coming out of it.”

A shadow of worry crossed Chin's face. “Let's go,” he said.

* * *

Maggie fought to hold back her tears as she watched Aimee and Raphael. She had imagined many times what Aimee and Raphael's reunion would be like, and she'd always imagined herself crying tears of bitterness and rage, but that's not what she felt now. She actually felt happy for them. All the jealousy she'd felt for Aimee over the last few months had somehow melted away, like snow on the first warm day of spring. She couldn't believe how mean and selfish she'd been. Aimee loved Raphael, and he loved her. They were both her friends, and if their happiness meant she would have to forget about her feelings for Raphael, then that's what she would do. Anyway, there were more pressing things to worry about than her miserable love life.

After some discussion, the group settled on a plan: Nass, Benji, Josh, and Beet would remain downstairs with Michael, Dax, D'von, and Cle'von so they could bar the door and make sure everyone stayed safe, while Chin took Raph, Zhai, Aimee, and Maggie up the stone steps leading to the bell tower. As they passed through the narrow weathered door that led to the area where the bells hung, Maggie braced herself for the sight of Oberon's face, which Aimee had described as scarred and black but also eerily beautiful—but instead she found only a wooden platform with three huge bells hanging above it, all silhouetted by a blinding light. Chin led them to the other side of the bells, and there they found the source of the glow.

It was the ring.

Middleburg's treasure was set into an ancient ornately carved stone altar that looked as if it had been made specifically for the ring to sit in. The illumination that filled the space shone out of the south-facing arch of the bell tower in a powerful beam.

After taking in the sight of the ring, Maggie looked in the direction the beam was pointing. She felt a sense of vertigo, as if she were staring into a telescopic lens that was zooming in at hyper speed—and suddenly she could see all the way across town, to the mouth of the north train tunnel, perhaps two miles away. Its black entrance was now ringed in a bright, sizzling purplish light, and from it poured thousands of creatures: hideously deformed men, snarling demons, beautiful shadow angels with skin the color of ash and wings as black as midnight. They bore heavy shields, glinting swords, wicked machine guns, chain saws, spears, pitchforks, scythes, and hand grenades. She watched, appalled, as they formed columns and began marching toward her—toward the church. That's when she heard Aimee calling her name. The vision disappeared, and she fell to her knees.

“Maggie—are you all right?” Aimee was asking, concerned.

Maggie blinked as everything around her came into focus again. “The gate to the Dark Territory is open,” she said hoarsely. “A horrible army is coming this way.”

Chin nodded gravely. “Aimee,” he said. “Can you take me to my house, fast? I have weapons there that will help us.”

“Yes,” Aimee said. She looked at Raphael and kissed him again. “This is going to seem very strange,” she said. “I'll tell you all about it when we have more time.” And then she took Chin's hand and slipped.

For a moment Raphael stared at the spot Aimee had vacated, and then he shook his head. Nothing that happened in Middleburg should surprise him anymore, Maggie thought.