3 Gates of the Dead (The 3 Gates of the Dead Series) (28 page)

Chapter Thirty-Seven

I stirred at the light, cool touch of skin on my cheek as a soft voice called to me.

“Aidan…”

I opened my eyes and saw her. Blonde hair, blue eyes, and not a flaw in her face. Ageless, youthful, solemn. She looked like a goddess.

“Amanda! What…”

“Shhh, not much time. He calls, and I must go. I have only been allowed to help you until your task was done.”

I couldn’t speak.

Amanda smiled. “So now you hold your tongue? Could have solved so many problems between us.”

I ached for her. “Amanda, I love you.”

“And I love you, Aidan. Now awaken. Jennifer calls to you. Let her take care of you.” She paused, tilting her head as she listened to someone speaking. “He is telling me to say to you, ‘Good job, faithful servant.’”

Her cool hand touched my face again, and she kissed my eyelids.

“Aidan, please wake up!”

I opened my eyes and saw Jennifer crouched over me, eyes filled with unshed tears. The burning pain in my muscles returned, along with throbbing in my chest and a dull ache in my head.

Jennifer bent down to kiss me, and I moaned.

“Did I hurt you?” she asked, cradling my face.

“No, but they did.”

I tried to get up, but needles of pain shot through my body. “That was stupid,” I snorted.

“Don’t move. The police are on their way. You were amazing, you know that?”

“What, with my smart ass mouth? Yeah, real brave.”

“Shut up. You kept them distracted while I went to Father Neal.”

“Yeah, you really helped him. If it wasn’t for that, I’d be dead. How did you do that?”

She looked away.

“Jennifer? Did I say something wrong?”

“It wasn’t me. I mean, I got to him, knelt down and then…”

“Then what?”

“They came.”

“Who?”

She didn’t answer.

“Jennifer, who came?”

“People.”

“Dead ones?”

“Yes, I guess you could say they were dead. At least, they weren’t of this earth.” Her eyes glazed over as though she were remembering a dream.

“I don’t understand.”

“Aidan, to call them dead, I can’t do it.”

“I don’t get it. They were ghosts, right? Peaceful ghosts?”

“Aidan, they looked more solid than me.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I don’t either. All I know is that when they touched me, I could feel their skin, smell them, even feel their fingers on my shoulders.” She shivered, and tears streamed down her face.

“And they didn’t pass right through you?”

“No.”

“Then what happened?”

“They touched Father Neal, who looked like, well, like he’d been killed. He was bleeding from his ears and mouth. He had no pulse. I checked him myself.”

“And when they touched him?”

“He opened his eyes.” She paused. “Then he saw them.”

“What did he say?”

She smiled and wiped her tears. “He said, ‘is it my resurrection day? Where is He? Where are my ladies?’”

“What did they do?”

“They all smiled at him and shook their heads. Then he looked at me.”

“And what did you say?”

She smiled as tears began to flow. “I told him that your soul was in trouble.”

It had been. The ugly truth was that I had actually been tempted by Mike and Daniel’s offer. My cheeks warmed with shame.

“What happened next?”

She laughed as she wiped away her tears. “Father Neal sighed and said, ‘I’d better help the lad.’”

“Well, glad he put himself out,” I said dryly.

“Aidan, don’t be a jackass.” Jennifer laughed as she poked my arm.

Dozens of loud wails sounded in the distance.

“Here comes the cavalry,” I said. “Where are Mike and Daniel?”

“They are bound,” Jennifer said.

“Where did you get the rope?”

“No rope.”

“I don’t get it.”

She shrugged. “Neither do I. Just repeating what Father Neal said. But they are still alive.”

I didn’t really know how I felt about that. Part of me wanted them dead, another part wanted them to suffer, and still another wanted to forgive them. Granted, that was the smallest part, but it was still there. And that was proof enough to me that my faith hadn’t entirely disappeared.

“What did Father Neal have in his hand?” I asked.

Jennifer shook her head. “I couldn’t tell. The light was too bright.”

I coughed and moaned again. My ribs felt as if they had been split in half.

“I think I need to go to the hospital,” I said as everything went black again.

I opened my eyes to see florescent lighting above me, and I realized at that moment that I wasn’t in heaven.

Father Neal peered over me. “Hello, lad, welcome back.”

I tried to speak, but all that came out was a froggy croak.

“Here, let me get you some water,” he said.

He poked a plastic straw at my chapped lips, and I sipped like a hamster that had forgotten the location of its water bottle.

“Thanks,” I groaned. “I feel like shit.”

“I’m sure you do. A broken arm, a broken leg, and a broken collar bone. Not to mention two cracked ribs.” Father Neal sounded worried.

“Did they have to do any surgery?”

“No, thank Our Lord. But you have been under pretty heavy pain medication for the past day or so. This is the first time you have been coherent in the past twenty four hours.” He paused. “How do you feel?”

I canvassed my body. I couldn’t really feel anything. “Light.”

He laughed. “That would be the medication. It won’t always feel like that. They are already starting to wean you off a bit.”

“Great.”

“The doctor said you will make a full recovery. None of your bones splintered. You’ll just be a walking barometer for the rest of your life.”

“Ah, come on, that is an old wives’ tale.”

“Maybe, but it doesn’t make it any less true.” He chuckled.

I laughed and pain shot through my body. “Don’t make me laugh, please.”

His gnarled aged hands rested on his cane as he leaned in close to me. “You did a brave thing on the mound, boy.”

“We Irish are known for our mad flights of bravery, you know.”

“True, very true.” He smiled with satisfaction like I was his own son.

“Father, can I ask you a question?”

He glanced at the door. “The doctors might yell at me, but of course.”

“You used magick, didn’t you?”

He stopped smiling. “No, Aidan. Not in that situation. What do you remember?”

“You reaching into a canvas bag and bright light shining out of it. You walking toward those assholes, and light shooting from your hand, or rather, what you had in your hand.”

He nodded. “You remember well.”

“So, what was it?”

He sighed. “I’m sure you’ll grow tired of this answer from me, but I can’t tell you yet.”

“I don’t understand.”

“There are some secrets you’re not ready for. What I had in my hand helped me fight the Bone Masters without using their own weapons against them. I had a weapon of my own, but it wasn’t mine.”

I couldn’t tell if the medicine clogged my head or I just didn’t get his point. “Okay, but they used magick, right? Is all of it evil?”

He rubbed his chin. “No, I suppose not. Not inherently. But it is dangerous like an atomic bomb.”

“Isn’t that splitting hairs?” I said, struggling through Father Neal’s vague hints.

“Not at all. There is some magick that is strictly prohibited by Scripture. Conjuring the dead. Seeking knowledge of the future. Any sort that treads on the ground of God is forbidden. In other areas of magick, well, there is more of a gray area.”

“Like how much of a gray area?”

“Well, no more or less than how we think of dealing with modern technology. All of it is good but can be used for hideous purposes.”

“So, that is how you drove away the spirits? A magickal object? The object was magickal, but not you?”

“Since you are ignorant of these things, I’ll pray that God will forgive your blasphemy.” The voice of the lion had returned. I didn’t know how he could go from a meek and humble priest to an authoritative prophet so quickly.

“I didn’t mean to blaspheme, but seriously, I still don’t understand.”

“Magick relies on formulas used in the right way, chanted in the right sequence.” He looked at me and took my hand. “What I said was a prayer to the Trinity, and the object I held responded to the evil around it.”

“I still don’t see the difference.”

“Every difference in the world. Magick, like a science experiment, is a manipulation of the natural environment. Prayer, however, is a direct contact with the One who made the world. You’re asking, not manipulating. You couldn’t if you tried, anyway. As for the object I held and how it works, you might say, holy reacts to the unholy.”

I touched my free hand to my head. Nothing made sense, but it had to be the pain medication. I couldn’t concentrate on anything.

“I need to thank you,” I said.

“For saving your life? There’s no need. That was not me, and you know it from Jennifer’s story.”

“I know, but that isn’t what I meant. You did save something of mine, though.”

“Oh?” he asked, his bushy eyebrows furrowed.

“My faith.”

Father Neal sat down and gripped the arms of his chair. “You know, you aren’t the only one who has struggled with doubt.”

“I know.” I figured he would give me the whole speech of how many people had struggled with the same thing.

“No, you don’t know,” he insisted. “I did as well. Still do at times, especially when I’m the loneliest for Judy or my daughters.”

Something about the way he said that made me pause. “Everyone is gone, aren’t they? Not just Judy?”

He nodded and closed his eyes. “They all died in the same car crash five years ago. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you the whole truth.”

We sat in silence for some time. I thought about the people who appeared to him, the ones Jennifer said had touched him.

“Your family came to you on the mound, didn’t they?”

“They did. And I wanted to go with them. I must confess, my dear boy, for a moment, I didn’t care whether you died or not. Please forgive me.”

I nodded. “I saw Amanda.”

“I figured you might.”

“Do we all look like that when we die?”

Father Neal smiled. “Promising, isn’t it? I must say, I was a hunk when I was younger. It will be nice not to have liver spots or these wrinkles. I struggle with the sin of vanity as you can see.”

I laughed again and regretted it as the pain meds began to wear off. “Stop it, priest.” I paused. “Where is Jennifer?”

“She is being debriefed. She just went in about an hour ago.”

“I hope she doesn’t get fired.”

Father Neal roared with laughter. “My dear absurd Irish boy, there’s no way on God’s earth they will fire her. Can you imagine what would happen if the press got a hold of that one? Firing the woman detective who caught the men who committed these horrible crimes?”

“But still, I mean, she was … is, I hope … in a relationship with a former suspect.”

“Well, you never really were a suspect, were you?”

“No, I guess not,” I said as I rubbed my head. “Where are Mike and Daniel?”

The lines on Father Neal’s face tightened, and his brow lowered. “They’re in the county jail. Mike keeps asking to see us both.”

“But couldn’t they, you know, magick themselves out?”

He gave a thin smile but full of humor all the same. “As I told Jennifer, they are bound.”

“By you?”

“Yes, in a way.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Magick, as supernatural as it seems, is also very much a function of the body, a function none of us really uses.”

“Like the fact that we don’t use all of our brain?”

“That is exactly what it is, actually.”

“How do you stop them then?”

“There is a chemical which, if injected into the bloodstream, will alter that part of the brain.”

“I’m sorry, but biology was my major in college. I’ve never heard of that.”

Father Neal laughed. “As if the Brotherhood would let the world know about that.”

“The Brotherhood?”

“Of magicians, Aidan, of magicians. Charles was one, you know, before he got out. Now, it seems as if all of them have taken the Dark Red.”

“But he was a Christian.”

“And so am I.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I’m not a magician anymore, but I know all the tricks.
The shot
, as they call it, is a recent invention.”

“Okay, so can you teach me to be a magician?” I said, half serious.

“Not going to happen.” Father Neal gripped the cup-shaped top of his cane.

“Why not, if some magick is not a sin?”

He frowned. “It’s not ideal. Trust me; you are better off without it.”

“Well, at least let me be your assistant at St. Patrick’s or something. I’m most likely without a job now.”

“Now, now, you Irish are way too emotional and jump to conclusions.” He tapped me on the arm with his cane.

“I’m not. Once they find out about my doubts and all that, they aren’t going to want me around.” I sat up a bit. “Besides, I don’t want to go back. Bunch of self-righteous, heads up their asses, know nothing…”

“Careful, Aidan,” Father Neal scolded. “They are still the men God appointed over His church. Besides, they aren’t much different than us, sinners doing an impossible job.”

“Yeah, well, they don’t need me.”

“They are sheep without a shepherd right now. They need someone. Why not you?”

“I can think of a lot of reasons.” I laid my head back on the pillow.

“Well, I wouldn’t make any decisions while you are still high on pain medication.” He chuckled.

“Yeah, I guess not.”

We didn’t speak for a few minutes. Father Neal frowned as he stared silently at the wall opposite my bed. He seemed to be agonizing over something.

“What’s wrong, Father?”

He looked back at me. “Did they say anything that stuck out to you?”

“Actually, I remember them saying something about the ritual not being about the Grinning Man. Something about drawing us out in the open.”

Father Neal nodded. “Yes, I remember the same.”