The Devil's Third (42 page)

“There is only one way to get to the lower world without being propelled there, and Paige doesn’t have access to it,” he said.

“Well, I’ll find a way,” Ameerah spat. “You’re unbelievable. You people should know the hell I went through when I was human, yet you want me to relive it?”

Paige turned to her. “He doesn’t. If you’ll give him a chance to explain how it works, I’m sure you’ll see it’ll be nothing like what you went through.” She took Ameerah’s hand and sandwiched it between hers. “Please, he’s trying to help. Please, let go of your anger and listen to him. He’s not attacking you. He’s on your side.”

 I watched as the anger in Ameerah’s face melted, releasing its grip, her features turning fragile and on the verge of breaking. Next entered despair, and her bottom lip shook; a lone tear escaped the corner of her eye. “I can’t do it,” she whispered to Paige.

Paige turned to the light walker in desperation. “Can I go with her, if she agrees that is?”

I shot Paige another look, shocked at her question. But her eyes were fixed ahead of her. If she knew I was watching her, she didn’t acknowledge it.

“Unfortunately, you cannot,” he said. “She needs to do this on her own.”

Ameerah pulled Paige into a quick hug. “I gotta go. I’ll keep in touch.” A sob escaped her lips. “I love you.” She released Paige and looked at me. “Thank you, Nathan. You’re a good friend as well. I’ll see ya around.” She crossed the room in quick strides, swiped the keys to the Jeep off the table next to the front door and left.

Chapter Forty-Two

Paige

After Ameerah left, an awkward silence fell between us. I was sorry for her and Nadia, but I also felt bad for the light walker. He extended a helping hand, yet she wouldn’t take his offer. It was heart crushing, really.

I stared after Ameerah, wanting to go chase her down, but I knew my effort would be fruitless. She chose to deal with her issues on her own . . . if she could. Silently, I prayed her desperate need to help Nadia would motivate her enough to overcome her demons instead of turning back into one.

“Eventually she’ll come around,” the light walker said, meeting my eyes. “She harbors a lot of hurt, bitterness, and fear. I had hoped she would’ve accepted my help.” He sighed. “This is one of the most difficult parts of my job . . . when a soul becomes unreachable or refuses us.”

Nathan ran a hand through his hair. “I imagine so.”

“My best friend Tree is striving to be a light walker,” I said as I thought about telling Tree this bit of information so he’d know what he’d have to deal with someday.“What’s your name by the way?” I added out of curiosity.

“John,” he answered with an inviting smile. “And I’m well aware of Jack.”

“Really?” The tone of my voice rose in surprise. “You know about Tree?” I was shocked he knew Tree’s name and about him. I wondered what else he knew.

 “Yes,” he said. “All light walkers know about each other. We’re informed when a soul chooses this path, and we counsel the individual before a decision is reached. When Jack made his, we thought nothing of it except the usual welcoming a brother into our fold, until his case became a unique one.”

“How so?” Nathan asked even though I was almost positive he knew the answer to his own question like I did. But I was glad he asked because I wanted to hear it spoken out loud.

“Thanks to Michael, Jack is now aware of the path he’d chosen,” John replied. “I don’t begrudge Michael for enlightening Jack on his universal purpose. He had his reasons. But no soul striving to become one of us has ever been made aware of it while in the flesh. Jack also has a girlfriend who was once a powerful witch, his best friends are immortal, one of them has extraordinary abilities still untapped, and he knows about the dark spirits.” John paused and rubbed his jaw, collecting his thoughts I suppose. “What Jack does and how he handles things could be catastrophic or a blessing in disguise.”

He didn’t need to fill in the blanks. I knew if Tree were to decide to be Team Bael, he could help prevent the light walkers—who went against the universal laws—from intervening. However, if Tree used his newfound knowledge for good, then this world would be in a better place. A silly thought occurred to me then: Tree would be like a superhero. His quirky childhood dream could actually become a reality. I giggled when the image of Tree wearing tights and a cape entered my mind. “Sorry,” I said, when Nathan and John looked at me with curious expressions. “I was imagining Tree being a comic book hero.” I cleared my throat and shifted my full attention on John. “Tree won’t disappoint you,” I assured him.

“We’re counting on it,” he said. “I must take my leave now. It’s been a pleasure.” He nodded to Nathan and me.

The corner of Nathan’s mouth curled into a crooked smile, causing my heart to skip. “Likewise.”

“I enjoyed meeting you,” I said. “Thanks for trying to help Ameerah.”

“Perhaps I’ll have better luck next time,” he said as he turned to leave.

“Hey, John,” I said, stopping him mid-step. “Why do you look like a folk singer?”

He flashed me a grin over his shoulder. “This is how I appeared in the late 1960s and early 1970s before I passed from this earth. I feel this image represents my persona, even though some people used to mistake me for Bob Dylan.”

I grinned as well. “Funny you said that, because we were talking earlier how similar you look to him. You’re a cutie.”
Omigod. I can’t believe I told him he was cute.

He winked before stepping into the meadow. “So are you.”

The edges of the scene pulled together to where it became one vertical glowing line suspended in the air, and then it disappeared.

Nathan pulled me into his arms. “I can’t believe you were flirting with a light walker.” He laughed softly next to my ear.

His strong arms felt wonderful around me. I relaxed in them and breathed him in, loving the woodsy smell. “I didn’t mean to,” I answered, feeling the heat in my cheeks. “I just think he’s cute, but you’re cuter,” I quickly added.

 “Good to know,” he said. I could hear the smile in his voice. He kissed my cheek, his warm lips pressing against my skin. “What do you say we scrounge in the kitchen for something to eat? I might have a frozen pizza we can pop in the oven.”

At the mention of food, my stomach growled. Without saying another word, we headed to the refrigerator in hope there would be something good to eat.

***

Early the next morning, Tree called to tell us he was at the hospital with Carrie, and she was doing great. He sounded elated, his voice more alive and chirpy since before Carrie’s accident. I couldn’t wait to see her and jumped into action. I threw on my clothes, brushed my teeth and hair and out the door I went with Nathan hot on my heels. Thankfully, while I was rushing to get ready, Nathan had the presence of mind to brew some coffee and poured some in travel mugs for him and me. I was eternally gratefully for this thoughtful gesture and told him so when I slid onto the front seat of his truck as he handed me the yummy java. I noticed he had sleepy eyes. They weren’t quite focused and were heavy lidded. I imagined his thought patterns were as cloudy as mine. We had stayed up most of the night chatting, so it stood to reason our brains were all foggy, and we seemed to be moving in slow motion. I took a sip of my coffee, welcoming the caffeine into my bloodstream and thanking the gods for it.

When we arrived at the hospital, Tree’s mom Tori just got off her nightshift. I waved at her as I passed the nurses’ station where she was gathering her stuff to leave. She beamed and returned the waved. “Carrie is recovering fabulously.”

“Tree told us. Thanks,” I said, rushing to Carrie’s door, wishing I could use my immortal speed instead of moving at a much slower pace. I did an internal sigh. But my frustration evaporated when I opened the door.

“Paige!” Carrie squealed, throwing her arms up.

I tried not to pay attention to the clear white tubes hanging from her arms, the constant beeping of the machines, or the white patch on the right side of her head. Not to mention the antiseptic, alcohol smell hanging in the air. For some reason when Tree told me Carrie was doing great, I thought all those mechanical devices and tubes would be gone. I could feel my face falling, but quickly recovered by fixing my gaze on Carrie instead and bending over her silver bed rail to hug her. “I’m so glad you’re okay,” I said, pulling back to get a good look at her. She had some color in her face, and her brown eyes were bright and alert, which gave me comfort.

“Thanks to you,” Carrie said. She waved Nathan to her and opened her arms. They hugged, and it touched me Carrie cared enough about Nathan to embrace him. “Thank you, Nathan, for being such a wonderful friend and so good to my Paige.”

“It’s my pleasure,” he said, moving to Tree on the other side of the bed where he sat in a wood and vinyl chair. Nathan took the empty one beside him.

“I told her everything,” Tree informed us.

I raised my eyebrows and turned away from Carrie, my hair draping the side of my face, shielding my profile from her. I caught Tree’s eyes and said in a low voice, “You told her about you working on being--”

“A light walker,” he finished in a even tone. “Yup.”

Carrie looked at me wide-eyed. “Omigod, Paige. I can’t believe it . . . I mean I can, but it seems so surreal.”

“So you know about Michael then?” I asked, knowing he was Carrie’s favorite archangel.

She gasped. “Yes. I wish I could have met him.”

“We met another one last night,” I said, bracing myself for their reaction, knowing they would be intrigued. I was right. Carrie gaped at me and Tree leaned forward on his knees with an intense look on his face.

“Paige was trying to help Ameerah connect with her girlfriend Nadia,” Nathan added.

“What happened?” Tree asked.

I frowned. “Nadia is stuck in the lower world, the part where shell-shocked spirits go.”

Concern entered Carrie’s face. I bit the inside of my cheek. Maybe I shouldn’t have shared this information. I didn’t want to upset her fragile state. She then asked me to explain it to her, so I did, thinking maybe she was up to it. I told her and Tree what happened with Ameerah and our meeting with John. After I finished, the worry in Carrie’s eyes was no longer there. Tree was a little taken aback that John knew about him, but when I explained to him what John told me that all light walkers knew about each other, understanding sparked in his eyes. Of course, Tree wouldn’t know now about the others, because he wasn’t one of them yet. I wondered how it would all play out for him. Would he and Carrie be allowed to be together? I didn’t see why not and imagined it would be much like Nathan and me. Nathan would be tracking dark spirits while Tree would be off helping other souls. But then I remembered Nirvana.

Crap.

Carrie wouldn’t be able to go there. So then what? There had to be some sort of solution to a situation such as theirs. There had to be, because I knew without a doubt Tree wouldn’t give up Carrie for . . .

“What are you thinking, Paige?” Tree asked, scrutinizing me. “You look like something is bothering you.”

I could feel Carrie’s eyes boring into me. I didn’t want to upset her, so I lied a little. “It bothers me Carrie has all these tubes in her.” I pointed to them and made a face.

Carrie playfully shoved my arm. “I’m fine. I get to leave in a few days. The doctors are amazed at how fast I’m recovering.”

I eyed the small white patch on her head. “How do you feel about this?”

She touched it and groaned. “Don’t even get me started. I have a bald spot on my head, and now I’m going to have to wear a hat until my hair grows back.”

Tree pointed to the black beanie on his head. “I have several of these if you want to borrow one.”

Anger flashed across Carrie’s face. “I can’t believe those assholes shaved your Mohawk.”

“They got theirs in the end,” Nathan said.

“Thank God,” Carrie breathed, then flicked her hand toward Tree. “Look what they did to his poor face.”

Tree touched the yellowish bruise below his eye and on his cheek bone. “It’s not so bad now.”

“Aosoth and Roeick are no longer here,” I said, grinning. I still couldn’t believe my good fortune and refused to believe what Ameerah had told Nathan–there was a possibility she could come back.

“Yes, I know,” Carrie said, sharing in my delight. “I was so happy when Tree told me.”

“Do you remember?” I started to say, but stopped when she nodded, the look on her face telling me she knew exactly what I was getting at.

“I remember
everything
,” she said. She paused and tears filled her eyes. “I can’t thank you enough for saving me.”

I squeezed her cold hand. “You already have. You told Nathan what was going on, and because of you, he found me. Besides, you’re my best friend. I would go to the ends of the earth to save you.”

Carrie squeezed my hand back. “Me, too.”

“Do you remember Jade, Carrie?” Nathan asked.

“Yes, I do,” she told him. “I really like her. I have to admit, though, my mind is still reeling about the part of me being a powerful witch in a previous life.”

“Don’t you think it’s cool?” I asked.

“Hell, yeah, I think it’s cool,” she said, smiling. “I was given instructions by this beautiful woman on how to get reacquainted with that side of myself. I can’t wait until I fully recover so I can start working on it.”

“We can practice together,” I said. “I’m basically in the same boat as you anyway.”

“Ooooh, it’s going to be so much fun.” Carrie clapped her hands. “We can train together and test one another.” She bit her lip and fell silent, the excitement draining from her face. “I’m sorry about Anwar. I know you two were angry with him, and I don’t blame you.” She looked at Nathan. “But you had a history with him. He was a part of your family.”

Nathan blinked, surprised at her sudden shift of topics and that she was expressing her condolences to him. He ran a hand through his hair, resting it on the back of his head and squinted at her. “Thanks, Carrie. He did the right thing, though.”