Demonic Designs (To Absolve the Fallen) (8 page)

***

This motel room in which they were told to stay the night, in a suburb north of Houston, was not somewhere that Elizabeth felt altogether safe.
 
They had been on the run now for over a week, and she was wondering when they’d be headed home.
 
Matt had been gone for more than six hours, which was nerve-racking but not unexpected.
 
Doubts and fears were ever-present in her mind.
 
Where was Jeremiah?
 
What was the news on this boy-wonder, Alex?
 

She didn’t like running.
 
Even after years, it was difficult to consider the mansion home, but right now, that was where she desperately wanted to be.
 
She had a really bad feeling that something was tracking them and that the jig might be up very soon.

Elizabeth was just drying her hair when she heard the car door slam.
 
He was right on time.
 
And why shouldn’t he be?
 
After all, she was the one who designed his schedule and determined by what mode he would be traveling.
 
She couldn’t stop thinking about him after she heard that he’d had a run-in with a powerful demon.
 
Elizabeth knew that Matt could take care of himself under most circumstances, but this was one that had undoubtedly tested his abilities.
 
He opened the door, and she ran to greet him with a hug.

“No more playing with the devil,” she ordered as she embraced him.

He laughed.
 
“I hadn’t intended to.
 
But he ran, so it’s all good.”

“No,” she insisted, backing away from him.
 
She had a very serious look about her.
 
“This isn’t funny.
 
He caught you there, and he would have killed you if you hadn’t had that knife.”

“He didn’t kill me—that’s the point.”

“We can’t take risks like that, again,” she retorted.
 
“We can’t afford to lose anything—or anyone.”

He dropped his bags and collapsed into a recliner.
 
“I’ve fought demons before.
 
And I like how you say ‘we’ when I was the one in danger.
 
Don’t take this the wrong way—because I know what you’re thinking, and I’m not saying that you could have done anything to prevent the situation.
 
I’m not blaming you in any way.
 
I’m just trying to explain to you that this is my area of expertise.
 
It may be a little scary sometimes, but it’s what I do.
 
You should trust me more.
 
What’s done is done, and
we
will just have to be a little more prepared in the future.”

Her eyes began to tear up.
 
She turned away from him.
 
“I’m not trying to tell you what to do.
 
I’m just scared.”

Matt recognized his insensitivity at once.
 
Of course she was scared too.
 
“I’m sorry.
 
I didn’t mean it to sound like that.”

“I know,” she said as she tried to smile.
 
She wiped her eyes.
 
“I don’t want to fight.
 
Listen, you’ll be happy to hear that I’m almost done with Alex’s new life.
 
He grew up around Las Vegas, in a suburb.
 
Almost everything about him has changed.
 
I kept his middle name for fun, and I guess it might make things a little easier for him.
 
His family’s rich, which is going to explain how he has all the toys I’m going to need to give him.”
 

“Like what?” Matt asked, intrigued.

“Well, he’ll need the necessities: a cell phone, laptop, nice car, apartment, and stylish clothes.
 
He’ll have to have contacts.
 
I’ve enrolled him at UNLV, and if all goes well, everyone around him should believe his cover story.
 

“Then, he’ll have things that no one knows about.
 
There will be tracking devices, voice-activated alarms, cameras, and a security party of twelve—under your command, of course.”

Matt grinned.
 
She loved the way he smiled.
 
On the few occasions she got to see a smile, Elizabeth noted how innocent and happy he could look.
 
It looked as though Christmas came early.
 
She smiled back, unable to help herself.
 
He was so beautiful to her sometimes that it hurt.

She continued, “I’ve even got the perfect father for Alex, though I doubt that we’ll ever need any kind of parental unit for him; the goal is that he’ll be almost completely independent.
 
We’re even going to have to keep our distance.”

Matt’s smile left.
 
“I thought it might be better if I acted like I was his brother or something, for safety reasons.
 
He might find himself in a position where he needs someone there at that moment, and I don’t know if I trust hired hands.”

She shook her head.
 
“Safety?
 
I’m never going to change you, am I?”

He looked down; something had become very interesting on the floor.
 
He looked back up at her, shrugged, and smiled again in that heart-breaking way.
 
“Doesn’t look like it,” he confessed.
 
“Anyway, we need to get going.
 
We’ll be expected in Amarillo before long.”

She nodded tiredly and began packing up her things.
 
More than anything, she just wanted to go home.

***

Alex awoke in a car he didn’t recognize.
 
The sun was shining in on him.
 
It was hot and blinding, creating a feeling of disorientation.
  
There was something that weighed heavily on him, but he couldn’t put his finger on it, something that his mind didn’t want to think about.
 
Then, his attention focused on the person driving.
 

Alex snapped quickly out of his stupor.
 
The severity of his current situation had drifted from his consciousness for the night only to return at the sight of Jeremiah driving him...somewhere.

The demon still looked as he did when Alex had gone to sleep.
 
The look seemed to be the one Jeremiah preferred—that of a man in his late twenties or early thirties, with an average height and build, dark—maybe Arabic complexion, jet black hair, and pale gray eyes.
 
Alex wondered if that was the demon’s actual form.

The boy’s voice cracked and trembled a little when he finally found the strength to ask, “Where are we going?”

Jeremiah looked over at him with surprised delight.
 
“Ah, you’re awake!
 
How did you sleep?
 
I didn’t move you long ago.
 
You spent most of the night in a bed.”

“Where are we going?” Alex repeated, this time with more conviction.
 
“I can’t leave.
 
My parents are going to worry.
 
You have to take me back.”

Jeremiah shook his head in mounting frustration.
 
“Didn’t we go over this already?
 
If you go back to your old life, your enemies will tear it apart piece by piece.
 
Even if Heaven doesn’t let them touch you, they will destroy everything you love.
 
Or we can try to make them believe you’re dead and buy ourselves some more time.”

Alex’s emotions overtook him once more, but he defiantly wiped the tears from his eyes, determined not to show weakness here.
 
Weakness, however, was all he felt at the moment.

“I just...” he stammered, “I just don’t think I’m the right person for the job, that’s all.
 
You talk about all these demons and prophets—people who are powerful, who know what they’re doing.
 
That’s not me.
 
I don’t have any special powers or anything.
 
I’m just a normal kid.”

“You’re the
only
person for the job,” Jeremiah countered.
 
“Right now, you’re nervous.
 
That’s to be expected.
 
I’m probably giving you too much too quickly.
 
We can slow down, but stopping isn’t an option that either of us really wants.
 
If you think about it, you’ll agree.
 
I don’t plan to hold you indefinitely, just long enough to make my point.
 
After that, you’re free to go wherever you want.
 
In fact, I’ll take you there myself.”

“Will you at least give me some idea of where we’re going?”

 
“We are going to Nevada—after a quick stop in Texas.”

“Nevada,” Alex repeated dazedly.
 
“Texas.
 
What’s there?”

“We are going to Nevada because you need to be trained, you need to meet the people with whom you’ll be working, and because that may be the only place I can keep you safe without having to watch over you all the time.”

“Watch over me?
 
What for?”

“I told you, Alex; there are others who would use you to their own ends.”

“But you would rather use me to yours,” Alex finished for him.

“Correct,” the demon admitted.
 
“My way, unlike theirs, hinges on you living.
 
That should be some small conciliation.”

“You said something about the people I would be working with.”

“Yes, they’re about your age.
 
They’re both a little older than you are, but not by much.
 
I guess Heaven thinks it’s funny that I should have to oppose demons with children.”

Alex laughed.
 
“There’s me and
two
others, and they are about my age.
 
What are you going to train us to do, wash your car?”

“You shouldn’t underestimate what the three of you can do.
 
It’s even more unwise to underestimate me.
 
You keep judging what you see and what I say from your limited human vantage point and by your limited human experience.
 
The line you’ve drawn between what is and is not possible may blur before I’m done with you.
 
Besides, they have already been trained; I spent a long time preparing them for what is to come.
 
You are the last hurdle I have in this little mission of mine.
 
With you, I am given much less time to do so much more.

“And, now that you mention it, my car does need to be washed.
 
That sounds like a great job for you when we get to the next town.”

“Hmm,” Alex mused, ignoring Jeremiah’s suggestion.
 
“Do I get names, descriptions, anything?”

“Well, there’s Matt.
 
He’s the one I was talking to on the phone earlier.
 
He has a knack for guns, martial arts, and other forms of hand-to-hand combat.
 
He’ll run security, and he will act as your personal bodyguard at times.
 
He’s twenty-one and delighted that he no longer has to use a fake ID to get into bars.
 

“Then, we have Elizabeth, though she prefers Liz.
 
She’s wonderful with her hands and most things technical or mechanical.
 
She’ll keep you up to date on new forms of technology and make sure you get wherever you’re going with the best possible tools.
 
She’ll also be running the technology that’ll help us make sure you’re safe and doing what you are supposed to be doing.”

“What am I supposed to be doing?”

Jeremiah lit a cigarette and rolled the window down a crack.
 
“Staying alive, for now.”

“Very reassuring.
 
How are you going to make sure I stay alive?”