The Lie Spinners (The Deception Dance) (55 page)

Nicholas
told me that May had to have kept all those greater demons
unconscious the entire time their enhanced human bodies incinerated,
because otherwise some of them would have been able to heal
themselves and survive.

If
any of the greater demons ever come looking for revenge, they’d
come looking for Mængmum; May wore ‘The Spider’ as
a very flamboyant mask the entire time.

Unfortunately,
everyone is pretty positive she survived. If she hadn’t, Andras
would no longer be bound to the deal to find Madeline; and from the
six earthquakes along with numerous other anomalies that have
happened in different places in Thailand in the last seven days, it’s
a safe guess that Madeline battles it out with someone. Madeline had
been a target for the Leijonskjöld since she kidnapped me; now,
she’s their target ‘number one.’

Besides
keeping the cave from Jones, I’ve told him every detail except
one; I left out one major one. When I got to the part where Kasem was
poisoned and we were taken to the web, I told Jones that it was
Kasem’s poisoning that weakened the web and made all the demons
wake up. I don’t know what the Leijonskjöld would do if
they knew the truth, knew what I could do, that I can open a portal
to Hell within me. I doubt it would matter to them that May and
Andras told me that Satan didn’t give me this
power-ability-whatever it is; they’d still label me with a big
fat ‘E’ for evil.

I
found two specific references to the ‘key of the bottomless’
pit in the book of Revelation, both mentioned angels, the second
mentioned a star falling from Heaven to Earth; neither gave me the
faintest clue about why I can do what I can do. Stephen told me
something last summer about Satan giving Andras the ‘metaphysical
equivalent to the keys to the gates of Hell.’ From what May and
Andras said they were never Satan’s to give; either Stephen was
wrong or he knows something.

…
knew
something.

Pom,
too, more than likely burned. I had insisted on going back to the
club one more time…I’m not even sure what I was
searching for, I just felt this need to go back. Jones refused to
leave my side, and as Cassidy was in the best shape, she escorted me
as well; we went the day after the web burned while Linnie and
Nicholas waited for Albert and the rest of the Leijonskjöld who
were expected any moment.

The
club was closed. When I entered, the only person I found was a bald,
gray-faced, tired-looking young man sitting in the back room. Illness
had eaten all the fat from his body, though he was probably not much
older than I, he looked small and frail.

He
had introduced himself to me in perfect English as Daw, Pom’s
boyfriend. He had said, “It is nice to meet you Raven, or
should I call you ‘Stephen’s friend’? Pom has told
me about you.” Daw gave me a small smile. “Have you by
chance seen him? He has not been himself and last night he did not
come home. I am very worried.”

I
had swallowed, unable to say anything. Yes, I knew why Pom hadn’t
been himself. Yes, I’m pretty sure that I knew what happened to
Pom. Yes, even if he survived, the man Daw obviously loves, the man
who (I now realize) had been ‘in desperate need of money’
because of Daw’s illness, will never come home to him. And yes,
it’s my fault.

I
knew the right thing to do was to tell Daw, to explain to him that
Pom didn’t leave him willingly, that Pom was collateral damage.
Looking into Daw’s tired, worried face I knew that I should
give him some indication that he too had just become collateral
damage; Pom and Daw, just two more people who became casualties of
Andras’ ruthless pursuit of me. I knew…but what I
mumbled was, “I haven’t seen Pom in a couple days.
I’m…I’m sorry.” Then I grabbed Jones and
Cassidy and ran out of there.

I
wish I hadn’t. I wish I got his phone number or last name
or…something. When I had begged Nicholas, he sent Leijonskjöld
doctors, but the club had been deserted.

The
sight of Albert walking into the airplane cabin from where he must
have been avoiding being in the same open area as me, wakes me from
my thoughts. The highlight of the last seven days is that Albert is
too mad to talk to me. Technically, I never broke the deal I made
with Andras; Andras had already possessed Stephen’s body by the
time I fell in love with Stephen. But in Albert’s eyes I still
get a big, fat
Fail
.

I
don’t blame him; I hate me, too. The only reason Stephen is
gone now is because he’s unlucky enough to be the one that I
love.

…
loved.

I
take a deep breath, forcing my thoughts away from
Stephen
.

To
be fair, I don’t think Albert wants to share air with Richard
Jones, either. To say that Jones got a demotion would be like saying
that humpty-dumpty got a boo-boo. From number one to, let’s
say: ‘desk job’ would be putting it nicely. I know that
it’s at least close to entirely my fault. The guilt will come,
I can’t manage it yet.

The
only reason Albert allowed Jones to do this debriefing is because he
has the best frame of reference (and I think Albert secretly believes
Jones is the best at debriefing or something).

“
Alright,”
Jones says, putting his finger down on one of his pages of notes,
“Can we go over Stephen’s reaction to the demon blood,
again?”

I
just glare.

As
if I’m confused or something, he clarifies, “You said
that he grabbed the back of his head, screaming, and then collapsed;
you said that his head was hot when you touched it… you were a
little sparing on the details here, is there anything else you
remember?”

I
look at Linnie, trying to convey the message:
you
like this guy?
with
my eyes. Because it’s obvious she still does; why else would
she insist on being at all my debriefings after she’s already
been extensively debriefed?

“
You’re
tired?” Linnie says, “She’s tired. Maybe can she be
done for the day?”

“
No,”
I say, as much as I want this to be over, the idea of having another
day of it makes me want to see if the plane has any parachutes. “No
more details, I was pretty panicked.”

“
But
you say that when you checked for Stephen’s
demon
detector
…”
he uses my term for it, “…on the back of Andras’
head when he was impersonating Stephen, both the
demon
detector
and
the Seal of God was gone?”

“
The
Seal of God?” I ask. “You mean like those
one-hundred-forty-four thousand virgins in the Book of Revelation,
‘Seal of God’?”

Now
it’s Jones turn to just glare at me.

“
Wait,”
I say, “I marked the page.” I did mark the page in one of
my more cynical moments-actually in the last seven days, probably one
of my averagely cynical moments. I pull out my Bible from where I was
clutching it under the table and flip through the dog-eared passages
of Revelation. “Here it is,
Revelation
fourteen:
‘And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and
with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name
written in their foreheads
…’
and then further down… ‘
These
are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins
.’”
I close the Bible. “
I
thought the Seal of God was supposed to be on your forehead?
”

After
a long pause, Jones puts down his pen. “I think I have enough
here, I’ll find you if I need any more clarifications.”

“
Great,”
I say while hopping up from my seat.

“
Do
you want me to go with you?” Linnie asks. “Do you want to
call dad from the airplane phone?”

My
last and only conversation with my father this week:

Me:
“Hi.”

Him:
“You’re alive?”

Me:
“Yes.”

Him:
sobbing.

“
No,” I
say. I glance over at where Jones focuses a little too intently on
his work, then at the way that Linnie leans ever so slightly toward
him. I add, “Stay here. I’m probably just going to go
take a nap.”

Truth
is: I know I’m in a near constant foul mood and the fact that
Linnie isn’t, that she can almost be happy, gets to me. Then I
feel guilt for begrudging her happiness. Then I feel annoyed at her
for making me feel guilty. It’s a vicious cycle and I’m
the vicious part.

Leaving
my sister and Jones, I walk down the aisle hoping like heck that the
seat I spotted earlier isn’t taken, but it is. Glancing over at
all the other taken seats in the plane I see only one unoccupied: the
one I just left. Exhaling I head to the occupied seat that I wanted.

On
my way I pass a couple that I can’t begrudge anything, Nicholas
and Cassidy. Actually I feel like an all-out fraud in their presence.
Who am I to feel as though my insides are being slowly shredded, when
compared to Stephen’s younger brother and lifelong best friend?

They
look up as I pass and Cassidy, whose hair is still burnt off in
places, reaches up and gives my arm a squeeze, making me feel even
worse, and a little better. I give them a closed lipped smile.
Knowing that they’re planning some type of funeral for Stephen;
and the thought that I might overhear any details about it makes me
want to get as far away from them as quickly as possible.

The
guy in the seat I want is trying to do paperwork in his lap. I
spotted this seat, a single privacy seat facing the back wall of the
cabin; the moment I boarded but Jones practically shoved me into the
seat across from him.

Jones’
mania with doing well on this debriefing borders on creepy…but
I get it, he needs to redeem himself. I
should
feel guilty.

“
Excuse
me,” I say to the guy in my ideal seat, “Will you trade
me seats? For… that one?” I point.

The
Leijonskjöld soldier turns around as if startled, and then his
gaze focuses on me. I brace myself for the usual look of superior
contempt; but it’s worse, the guy looks at me with sympathy
bordering on pity.

“
I
understand,” I say, stepping back.

“
No,”
he says with a thick Swedish accent, “Take my seat, take my
seat.”

“
Thanks,”
I say, thanking whoever’s looking out for the millionth time
that I can’t cry. When the soldier has gathered his belongings
and headed up to my vacated seat, I slump down into his seat.

Pulling
Kasem’s story out of my pocket, I tuck it into my Bible and
clutch both to my chest. Curling up my legs, I lay my head on my
knees close my eyes and dive into the vast, lonely darkness within
me.

Sometime
later, I know I’m dreaming. I’m in a familiar room
hanging with pots and pans, sitting at the little table in Dina’s
kitchen in the guest house at
Leijonskjöld
Slot
.
At first I think it’s a memory from last summer, but there are
little changes, a vase full of flowers on the table that had never
been there in my memory, a shiny new set of frying pans.

Someone
whistles in the hallway that connects the guest house to the kitchen
and I’m expecting to see Dina, but it’s Stephen who comes
hurrying in, whistling.

My
dream-self laughs.

And
my laugh makes Stephen stop whistling and turn his half-smile on me.
His hair sticks out, messy, and his face is fuller than it was in
Thailand (than it was in life). His blue grey-eyes shine with
mischief.

“
Scoot
over,” he says as he stops right beside my seat, still smiling.

“
What
are you planning?” I tease, but I scoot over.

He
sits down beside me, then scoots closer, then scoots even closer
until I’m wedged between him and the wall.

“
Hey,”
I protest, still laughing.

He
smiles, and it’s his smile, Stephen’s smile, pure and
honest and him. And when he leans down to kiss me, it’s his
kiss, earnest and full of love.

“
I
love you so much,” I whisper.