Finding Valor (45 page)

“I know what you’re thinking, but I feel safe here.”

“Your mother died here.” Josh ran his hands up and down Channie’s arms. “You almost died here.”

“Momma died a long time ago, when the Book of the Dead seduced her. But she came back, for just a moment. Don’t you see what a miracle that is? She conquered her madness and willingly gave up her life to atone for her sins.”

“I think you might be in shock.”

“I’m not.” Channie shook her head then tilted it to the side. “When that light washed over us, it didn’t just cleanse the blood off my body. It washed away my fear and anger and grief. I’m still sad that Momma, Daddy, Abby and Diego are dead, but I’m not drowning in grief. They feel like old losses. Like it happened years ago.”
 

She pressed one of Josh’s hands against the middle of her chest. “Do you feel that?”

He nodded.
 

“That’s Enchantment’s power.” She guided his other hand to her stomach. “And this is Chastity’s.”

“You have two power-names? Isn’t that like a conflict of interest or something?”

“Enchantment’s energy is purely positive, but it’s weak. Chastity’s energy is extremely powerful and even dangerous, but Enchantment will temper it, once I learn to use them together.”

Josh still thought that Channie had to be in denial or suffering from post traumatic stress disorder or something. She needed counseling. He silently vowed to search every corner of the world until he found a psychologist that also happened to be a mage.
 

A soft pulsing light caught his attention. The Book of the Dead was glowing again. “Ah…crap.”

~***~

Channie jerked her head around and followed Josh’s gaze. She pointed at the glowing book. “What’s that?”

“It sort of appeared after the light that cleaned everything up disappeared.”

She took a step towards the book, but Josh grabbed her arm above the elbow, and pulled her back. “Don’t touch it.”

“Is it another Book of the Dead?”

“I’m not sure what it is. But I don’t trust it.”

“It has your name on it. You have to open it.”

“I don’t have to do any such thing. Maybe it’ll stop glowing if I ignore it.”

“Josh!” Channie frowned at him. “That’s like ignoring a phone call from god or something.”

“It’s a book.”

“Listen to your magic.” She pressed one hand over his heart and the other over his navel. “What’s your intuition telling you to do?”

He sighed and rolled his eyes. “To open the damn book.”

Channie folded her arms. “Then what are you waiting for?”

“For your promise to stay back.”

“Fine. As long as you tell me what it says.”

Josh slid his hands under the book and lifted it off the floor. The binding cracked when he opened it and thumbed through the crisp, white pages. “Huh. It’s blank.”

When he got to the middle of the book, the pages fused together. Sparks skittered across the left hand page and burned a message into its surface.
 

Josh’s blood turned to ice water. “Oh hell, no.”

“What’s it say?”

Josh tried to slam the book closed but it refused.

“Show me.” Channie edged closer and craned her neck to get a peek.

“No.” Josh lifted the book over his head.

Channie’s eyes filled with tears. “Please. You’re scaring me. Are you in danger?”

The book burst into flames. Josh dropped it without meaning to. It hit the tile floor with a resounding
thwack
that extinguished the fire
.

He leaned over to pick it up, but a blast of magic caught him off guard and slammed him into the opposite wall.

“Sorry. Reflexive magic.” Channie had the grace to at least look remorseful before squatting next to the book and reading its message out loud…
You’ve been blessed with a powerful mate,
Willing to share your trials and fate.
Do not deny her deepest desire
Or keep her from the refiner’s fire.
Cling to the hand of your warrior bride
And fight every battle with her by your side.

“You are not going to war with me.”

“I have my magic back.”

“You can’t control it.”

“Neither could you, at first, but look at you now. I’ll get better with practice.”

“Magic isn’t the only weapon being used.”

“I can handle a gun, better than most.”

“Now you sound like Hunter.”
 

~***~

“Who sounds like me?”

Josh and Channie both yelped as they jumped away from the open window.

Hunter pressed his nose against the screen and laughed. “Unlock the door and let us in.”

Hunter and Vince carried in six bags of junk food from McDonalds. They all had to eat with their shields up since Channie didn’t trust Vince and didn’t have control of her magic.
 

Hunter chuckled every time a curse ricocheted off Vince's shield. After three such outbursts, Channie’s magic found a new target. Hunter didn’t think it was quite as funny when her curses lit up his shield.

Vince ate in silence but when everyone finished, he cleared his throat and angled his shoulders towards Channie. “I hope in time you’ll forgive me for kidnapping you. Until then, I think it’s best I stay out of your way.”

As if to prove his point, a bolt of red energy shot out of Channie’s stomach and bounced off Vince's shield. Her shoulders slumped. “I’m sorry. I’m trying.”

“It’s okay, my dear. I understand. I need a sample of your blood to reconfigure the protection spells so that you may come and go.”

“Of course.” Channie looked at Josh. “Will you do it? I can’t stand to cut myself.”

Hunter’s chair made a screeching sound as he pushed back from the table. He stood up and whipped a switchblade out of a leather holster attached to his belt. “Better let me handle it. You remember how green around the gills he got every time he tried to skin a rabbit.”

Channie spread her fingers as she pressed her palms against the table. “Give the knife to Josh. He’s done much braver things than skin a stupid rabbit.”

“Oh, yeah. I forgot.” Hunter dropped his chin as his face turned crimson. “Sorry.”

Truth be told, Josh would have much rather let Hunter collect Channie’s blood, but he wasn’t backing down after she stood up for him.

Channie turned her head while Josh used the very tip of Hunter’s blade to prick her finger. He couldn’t help but think of how ironic both of their reactions were. Channie’s mother had practically filleted her and Josh had done worse to Prudence, but they were acting squeamish over a finger prick?
 

Vince took the knife and nodded at Hunter. “Come on. We have work to do.”

They worked until the early morning hours, ‘cleaning up.’ They didn’t volunteer any information about what they’d done with Prudence’s car or the two dead guards. And Josh didn’t ask. Somethings were better left unknown.

Dad called early the next morning and invited everyone to meet him, Liz and the trips at the Sundance Cafe in Nederland.

The bittersweet reunion filled everyone’s eyes with tears, even Vince's.
 

The trips mobbed Channie and refused to let go of her until she accidentally knocked them out with a be-calm spell.
 

Dad and Liz apologized to Channie as they carried the unconscious boys to their new minivan and strapped them in. They promised to bring the trips back as soon as she got control of her magic.

Channie assured them that she understood and agreed with their decision, but locked herself in the ladies’ bathroom and cried for fifteen minutes after they left.

Josh knocked on the door. “Hey, babe. The food’s here. Why don’t you come out and try to eat a bite?”

Channie opened the door and smiled through her tears. ”Can we just go home?”

“Of course.” Josh thought she’d enjoy getting away from the cabin for a while after being cooped up for months. But her emotions were understandably unstable. Hunter and Vince said they wanted to stay and finish breakfast. Josh suspected that they just wanted to give Channie a chance to compose herself.
 

When they got back to the cabin, Channie took Josh by the hand and led him into their bedroom. “I wanna make a baby.”

“Can’t we just practice?” After thinking that Channie was pregnant, Josh knew he’d love having a kid, but they were still too young and they still had a war to fight—and thanks to the damn Book of the Dead—Channie was determined to fight beside him.
 

But if she were pregnant, she couldn’t fight. Josh laid down beside her and traced circles over her flat stomach with his fingertips. “Do you really want a baby?”

Channie placed her hand over his, stopping his caress and sighed. “Yeah, but I think we better wait.”

“Why?”
 

“Because of the war. It wouldn’t be right for me to go into battle if I were pregnant.”

“It’s not right for you to go into battle, period.” Josh considered sabotaging the box of condoms in the nightstand drawer next to the bed. A thumbtack should do the job. But what kind of an ass tricks his wife into getting pregnant?

“The Book of the Dead says—”

“I know what the damn book says.” Josh flopped onto his back and slung his arm over his face, hiding his eyes under the crook of his elbow. “That doesn’t mean I agree with it.”

The bed shifted as Channie sat up. “If you won’t let me fight, I’ll join someone else’s rebel band that will.”

“Damn it, Channie.” Josh bolted upright and grabbed her arm. “That’s blackmail.”

“No.” She patted the back of his hand then lifted it off her arm. “That’s a woman determined to do everything in her power to keep her husband alive.”

~***~

Josh and Channie continued to argue about whether or not she’d be allowed to fight on a daily basis. He knew it was a losing battle when Vince and Hunter agreed with Channie. He’d expected Vince to take her side, but not Hunter.

“The Book of the Dead says to keep her by your side. You have to do what it says.”

“Are you crazy?” Josh wanted to pop Hunter in the nose, but knew that wouldn’t solve anything. “She’s too young. No one under seventeen is allowed to fight, remember?”

“I’m right here.” Channie waved her hand in Josh’s face. “Stop talking about me as if I’m not. I’ll be seventeen on July sixth. I need to start training so I’ll be ready for the next mission.”

Josh lowered his head until he was eye to eye with Channie. “If you can pass all the other requirements, you can fight.”

“What other requirements?” Hunter frowned and scratched the back of his head.

“The ones I’m going to discuss with Tim as soon as we get to Freedom Ridge.” Josh had no intention of letting Channie qualify for combat.
 

“The bar for new recruits is going to be a lot higher. In fact, it might be a good idea to rescreen everyone. Not just the new recruits.” Josh glared at Hunter. “Minimum height for all soldiers is five feet eleven inches.”

Hunter’s face turned beet red. He was barely five ten in his boots. “You can’t do that!”

“According to the Book of the Dead, I’m the king. I can do whatever I want.”

Channie crossed her arms over her chest. “Are there any minimum requirements to train?”

“You can join the CDC.”

“What’s that?”

“The Camp Defense Corp.” Zen had organized it to appease the mages too young to fight. It was similar to the junior ROTC program. But Channie didn’t need to know all the details. “They get the same training as the regular army but their focus is on defending the camp against an attack.”

“It’s a start.” Channie gave him a quick nod then sauntered into the bedroom and resumed packing.

Josh knew she’d throw a fit when she found out the CDC was nothing but a bunch of kids. But at least it got her off his back until they got to Freedom Ridge.

~***~

Josh’d thought he’d be relieved to leave the cabin on the mountainside, but a sense of nostalgia weighed heavy on his heart as he pocketed the key to the front door.
 

He and Channie had decided to spend their last night in Colorado at Dad’s place in Breckenridge, so they could say good-bye. Josh didn’t want to get emo about it, but he wouldn’t be back until after the big battle on December twenty-first. If he didn’t win, this good-bye would be his last.

Channie put a hand on Josh’s shoulder. “Are you okay?”

“You’re right about this place. A lot of really good things had happened behind those doors.” Josh slid an arm around her waist and kissed the top of her head. “How many guys get to lose their virginity twice?”
 

It took a little under two hours to make the drive from Nederland to Breckenridge. When they arrived, Dad, Liz and the trips were all waiting for them on the front porch.

The trips bolted off the porch and made a mad dash towards the car. Josh slammed on the brakes and swore as the Rav4 skidded to a stop.
 

Dad vaulted over the handrail and hit the ground running, but Channie got to the boys first. She grabbed CoCo and Zeal behind their necks and glared at Savvy. “What the heck is wrong with y’all? Are you trying to get run over?”
 

Savvy’s lip trembled. “We had our shields up.”
 

“That won’t protect you from cars!”

Dad squatted down so he was eye-level with the trips. “What did Liz tell you to do?”

“Brush our teeth?”

“She told you to stay on the porch.”

“Sorry.” They all spoke in unison, but none of them sounded the least bit apologetic. “We forgot.”

“Maybe five minutes of timeout will help you remember.”

Josh waited for Liz to usher the boys inside then asked Dad, “What’s up with that? Why do they have to stay on the porch?”

“Do you remember the yellow lab that liked to dig in everyone’s flowerbeds?”

Josh nodded.

“A mountain lion snatched it out of the Peterson’s front yard last week.”

“A mountain lion? Are you sure?” Mountain lions usually preferred the foothills.

“Mrs. Peterson saw it happen.”

“Holy—”

“Exactly. A wildlife game warden went through the neighborhood and warned everyone to keep their pets and kids inside.”