Geist (9 page)

"Their rules." 

"Well yeah. But to answer that—you discredit them. Make their existence questionable. And, you set them up to take the fall for a crime or two." He pointed to himself. "I was used to discredit the Society of Ishmael. Somehow a story got out that Darren G. McConnell III, nephew of the bishop Ione Andrew, was kidnapped or brainwashed by the Society and he was blackmailed to provide funding for the Society. Well—that's bull." 

"You're the nephew to a bishop?" 

"No, I'm not. That's the point. They made that all up. But me being there and some turncoat - whom we haven't caught yet - smuggling pictures out to the media prompted Bishop Andrew's loud-mouthed advocate to start screaming conspiracy. And what's sad is the assholes out there believed her. She was the one that put a bug in the governor's ears to shut three different organizations down." 

"Who is this person?" 

"Some wacko freak named Moultrie. She was a lawyer and we think she's boinking this Bishop Andrew in order to get publicity. Their church membership has blown through the roof. Donations up fifty-four percent in the last two months. And it's all tax deductible." 

"You sound mad." 

"I'm just like you, Zoë. I was used. Used to further someone else's agenda. And I'll be damned if I'm going to just kick back on the sidelines and let them get away with it. We were lucky the Society had already foreseen this and all the archives were stored off-site. Undisclosed location. Well except the Dioscuri Files. Those were the last and hadn't been moved yet." 

"So...this woman got them to storm the compound?" 

He sighed. "Yeah. One of the board members turned as well—which might be the one that smuggled pictures of me all catatonic out there. They stormed the building the same night they came to get me out." 

"Oh wow. Isn't that a little convenient?" 

"Maybe? But we really were more spontaneous. I think we picked a bad night. Or that same asshole discovered the Society was going to move me to the secure location and out of the spotlight. Joe, Jason, Nick, Rhonda, Zach and Nona—the all got me out. Joe got knifed. From the stories I heard the only reason we got out of there was
because
of Nona. They hadn't counted on S.W.A.T. showing up.  They started tear-gassing the place. Where we are now is a place Jason had set up ahead of time. But the house was taken by the Church of Celestial Enlightenment." 

"Enlightenment is another word for ethereal." 

"Yeah we caught that. Dead giveaway. But since then, these guys have been coming after us hard. Seems they're led by a rather nasty Virtue." 

"Like my dad?" 

"Yeah. Nona pissed this one off by locking him in a bottle."

"Gah...she did? Didn't she get in trouble? I mean, that's evidence she went rogue on them. Aren't you guys afraid this Virtue will tell the others about mom doing that?" 

"Nope," Dags laughed. "If there is one thing Virtues suffer most from? It's hubris. He's not telling anyone that she kicked his ass. But he
is
determined to grab me and expose her. So that's why Nona's not with us. And why I think that getting word to her would be a bad idea."

"Who's the angry Virtue?" 

"A real prick. And he's creepy." Dags shivered. "Like stalker, pedophile creepy." 

"Name?" 

"Raziel." 

-12-

Can You Keep A Secret? 

The next morning at OMG o'clock we moved from the hotel in two vans to what Jason called his "Safe House". I noticed we were in a kidnap van—no windows. But was that for Dags' benefit so no one would see him? Or for Jason as a Revenant? 

I had no idea where were going. Alice and I stayed ready inside the little Mind Theater where we could pop out if needed.

We traveled into an underground parking garage and Jason and TC jumped out first. Nick secured the van and the side door opened. 

Rhonda stood just outside, along with Umayma- Frejya's Revenant-and Tel - Loki's Revenant. Tel looked less like a rock star this go round. He'd removed his piercings and traded in his leather for dark jeans, a white hoodie and a black suit jacket. His fingers still gleamed with an assortment of silver rings. His black hair was slicked back into a neat ponytail. 

Umayma was as beautiful as ever. Dressed in skirts, a soft linen top and thigh-length jacket, she was the epitome of Middle Eastern sophistication. 

Jason led the way to a set of elevator doors where Joe waited. Jason slid a card into a slot once we were all inside. The doors closed and up we went. 

"Any intruders?" Jason asked as he looked back at Tel and Umayma. 

"None we could sense," Tel said. 

I looked over at Alice. "What's with all the cloak and dagger?" 

Alice looked really serious. "He told you about the bishop, right?" 

"Yeah—but that's not really his uncle is it?" 

She avoided my question. "They've tried twice to take him. Took out one of the Revenants, but didn't kill him. Now that they know Dags has his facilities back they're afraid he'll use the
Grimoire
to stop whatever it is they want to do." 

Wow. "So...is he really this guy's nephew?" 

"No...Darren's father died in the line of duty. He was a detective. His mother was killed in a fire. Tragic death. Darren was just a child when he was orphaned. There was never any mention of an uncle." 

I watched her. "That really didn't answer my question." 

"Zoë—" she faced me. "Right now, the answer is no. They are not blood related. But this man is being manipulated by the Virtues. There is a manhunt out for Darren. A reward to find him." 

"A reward?" My jaw dropped. "Just so they can get that book?" 

She nodded and pointed to the screen as the elevator doors opened. 

I gaped as everyone filed out of elevator and into a freak'n penthouse! 

Sah-weeet! 

"I wanna see!" I shouted.

 Dags moved away from the crowd to a wall of windows that looked out onto a patio. With a quick look around he reached out and unlocked one of the panels, which was actually a sliding door. Once through it he moved to the far side of the patio and opened his palm. 

I manifested a transparent version of myself and ran to the edge to look down. 

We were in mid-town—I recognized my old stomping ground. I used to have a killer condo across from the stadium, next to the Landmark Art Center. Wherever we were—it was new. Or new since I'd been down here. I looked behind me to see that most of the penthouse rose three stories above the patio itself. Mirrored glass was all anyone could see from the outside. 

Nick stepped up beside us and put a hand on the windscreen glass that came up to my waist. Dags stood just beside the edge, not quite as adventurous as me. But then he'd never been out flying. 

I had. 

Having mid-flight battles with flaming swords kinda shocks the fear of heights right out of you. 

"Nice huh?" 

"Is this Jason's house?" I asked him as I looked back over the side. I could see the sun shining, and I knew the wind was blowing as it moved Nick's hair about his face. I wanted to feel the warmth of that sun. 

"One of them. Tel and Umayma have been using it since they first arrived." He leaned on the screen's edge with his elbow. None of the other Revenants had come out here. I turned and saw Daniel just inside the door we'd stepped through. 

"Does it hurt them?" I asked Nick and looked at him. "To be in the sun?" 

Nick nodded. "It weakens them. Makes them sleepy. Saps their energy. And if they were to be left out in direct sunlight," he made a face. "That would be bad." 

"Has it ever happened to Jason?" 

"To Jason, no. But one of his hosts was staked out in the sun," Nick winced. "It wasn't pretty. But," and he stepped back. "I know you want a grand tour but Joe's got something he wants to show us first, okay?"

"Nick," Dags stepped forward. "Do Umayma, Manuel and Tel know about Zoë?" 

"Yes. Mephistopheles told them." 

"Why are you making that face?" 

Nick motioned for us to follow him inside. "Well...they're not too happy about it. Especially Manuel." 

As Dags followed Nick back to the door I popped back inside with Alice. "Who's Manuel?" 

"That's Morgan's Revenant." 

"Oh." 

Joe was busy with Rhonda's laptop on the bar. TC sat on the couch, the flipper in his hand, flipping channels on a wide flat screen on the far wall. Jason came over to Dags and leaned in. "Joe's having a bit of trouble with the connection. In case you'd like to freshen up before we start?" 

He spoke to Dags, but I knew he was talking to me. So did Dags. 

Jason stepped aside as Dags moved around the edge of the room to a hallway behind the kitchen. I did notice Umayma and Tel watching him. 

"Do you need to pee?" I asked him. 

I actually got embarrassed and knew I was feeling what he felt. 

"Sorry. I'm gonna head over to the beach for a bit while you...do your thing." 

Dags stepped into a huge bedroom decorated in rich greens and browns and shut the door. "Are you going to go talk to that other Joe?" 

Yikes!

"Dags...don't tell anyone about him please." 

"But who—" 

"Please," and I put as much feeling as I could into that one word. "Just trust me on this one." 

He hesitated and I saw him looking at himself in the mirror of the bathroom. It was a black tiled room, with sparkling white grout. A three nozzle shower, a sunken bathtub, separate room for the toilet, and a two sink vanity. 

Heaven! 

I wondered if he was up for a bath later. 

"Zoë—I love you. But my body's not grand central. I don't like things just coming and going as they please. How in the hell did he get in there to begin with?" 

I don't know why, but I felt a little pissed off that he was questioning me like that. "Don't you trust me?"

"Yeah... but you can kinda get sucked into things." 

Excuse me? I manifested to his right and he turned to look at me. "What is that supposed to mean?" 

"Zoë, don't get mad. But you have a track record for being a bit—" he winced and shrugged his shoulders. "Gullible." 

"I am not!" 

Alice appeared on the other side. "Yes you are." She stepped forward. "I can't see it, but I know it's there. And I think it followed you from the Abysmal. So far it feels harmless." 

I pointed at Alice and looked at Dags. "See? He's harmless." 

Dags didn't answer. 

I sighed. "Look—he calls himself Geist and he was the one that suggested I use that page as a way to get back to you," and I focused my gaze on Dags. "He's helped me keep my sanity, and it seems to me he has no love for the Seraphim." 

"What is he?" Alice said. 

"Like I said, he calls himself Geist." 

Dags leaned against the black tiled counter. "Geist is a noun, not a name." 

"It is?" 

Alice said. "It's German for ghost." 

"So," I held out my hands to Alice. "There you go. He's a ghost. And he's helping me." 

Dags didn't look convinced. "I think we need to tell Rhonda and the others about this..." 

"Rhonda. You always go back to Rhonda. Let's see what
Rhonda
thinks. Let's do what
Rhonda
believes is best." Oops. I said that out loud. 

"What is that supposed to mean?" Dags moved away from the counter and tilted his head to his right shoulder. "Zoë—are you jealous?" 

"Who? Me? Of her? Why should I be? She's the one that gets to be semi-normal in this life. She's the one that gets to be with you physically while I'm fucking stuck inside some god-damn glass egg in a rundown theater in a ugly-ass plane of existence." Okay. I was mad now. And I didn't know why. "She fucking turned you into a book, Darren. She made you into something that everybody in the world wants to either kill or own. And you still always defer to her. And why the hell is she always calling you
baby
?" 

What I didn't expect after that tirade was the smile he gave me. I was panting. Cause...that's what you do when you run off at the mouth because the Green Eyed Monster was in town. 

And...and...

I really couldn't stay mad at that smile. 

He stepped toward me and reached out to take my hands in his. He brought them up to his lips and kissed them before he spoke in a low voice. "I love you. I want you here with me, in this plane, so that I can one day go down on my knee and ask you to be my wife." 

-13-

Grimoire 

Oh my—

Oh my God.

Oh my stars and garters! 

Wha— had I heard that right? 

I jumped up and threw my arms around him. I was crying and I was laughing all at the same time. So was he. He put his arms around me. I sensed the pressure, knew he was there, so I just imagined I could feel the heat of his body. 

But what I
could
feel was the sincerity of his words. I released him and took a step back. His eyes were red-rimmed and I reached out and put a hand to either side of his face. "And I promise you when that day comes, I will accept, Darren McConnell. I
will
accept." 

A few more minutes and we calmed down. I took his hands in mine and made sure he was listening to me. "Dags...please just wait before we tell anyone about Geist. He's been so very nice to me and I don't want to spook him. But I promise if things get too weird, we'll tell Rhonda. Together." 

Dags narrowed his eyes at me. I looked over at Alice who'd been watching us with a grin on her face. 

Finally Alice put up her hands. "All right—but I'm not happy about it. Like I said, I don't sense anything bad from him."

"But the moment you do," Dags said to her. "We tell. I'm just not that happy about strangers in my body." 

"Deal." 

Finally Alice and I left him alone and she came with me to the shore. Once there I went to the water's edge. "Is it always so dim here?" 

"You've already asked me that," Alice said. "Don't like the mood lighting?" 

I nodded "Geist?
"