Mathieu (8 page)

Jenn tossed a dirty sock at his head. “Hardly. I like my men human.” She sighed and continued. “Marcus, he’s not human. Hugh was very clear on this. He looks human and he sounds human and he acts human, but he is not human. We don’t know what he is, but we know what he’s not. He’s not one of us. Don’t fall into the trap of making him something he’s not. And who knows? Maybe being around us and actually doing something might bring him around to where he’s willing to work with us on a voluntary basis after all this is done—or we might
find
some way to trick him into a binding. It would be a waste to lose all that power and knowledge. ”

Watching his wife change clothing with as little bare skin exposed to the cold as possible amused Marcus on some deep level, but her words disturbed him there as well. “Maybe.”

“Definitely.” She winced as she pulled socks over her blistered feet. “Oh, God. My head is killing me and walking is going to hurt worse than yesterday, isn’t it?”

“Probably. But you won’t be walking far. Just to the helicopter and then across the tarmac to the car. Then the car to the house, but that’s several hours.”

Jenn groaned. “And to the bushes to pee and to the campfire to eat…”

“All downhill.” Marcus said cheerfully. “With a nice easy slope. Scenic, too.”

“I hate you.” Jenn hid her head under the sleeping bag again.

“I love you too, sweetheart.” Marcus smiled tenderly as he unzipped the tent flap and helped his wife hobble out to face the day.

C
hapter Thirteen

The helicopter arrived soon after. It was a sleek machine, Mathieu thought. Blue and white with no weapons to be seen anywhere, it was used to carry people up and down the mountain, nothing else. It was almost reassuring to see that mankind could use something that could kill so many people in a way that brought them joy and ease.

He watched Jenn hobble over to the side of the machine and Marcus help her up into the passenger compartment. Marcus then turned and held his hand out. “Don’t be afraid. It’s just transportation. Nothing else, I promise. You can trust us.” He’d shouted to be heard over the noise of the blades, but Mathieu understood him well enough.

He approached the loud machine and laid his hands on the door. Visual inspection yielded nothing untoward, just a comfortable sitting area in which Jenn had sprawled, injured feet up already. She held out a hand to him as well.

He narrowed his eyes and looked from one of them to the other. He then did something that he would have never considered in any other situation.

It was a small pulse of power, barely noticeable. Hopefully. If there was a Demonic presence in the area, it might be picked up if something was looking at the right time in that direction. But it was worth the risk in his eyes.

Mathieu examined the machine inside and out with that small pulse. There were no traps, no circles, no containment. Nothing that could harm him, in any case. The doors would open and allow him to escape if needed.

Only
then did he climb into the back and sit in the farthest possible corner from his new companions

Flight was a sickening sensation, unnatural to say the least. The clearing shrunk behind them and the hills below hurtled towards them with frightening speed. Mathieu had traveled in such ways before, but always with Gadreel and always hidden within himself.

It had been so much less terrifying when he’d been trapped in that small, safe place within with only a small window on the world.

They landed at a small airstrip not a moment too soon, at least for Mathieu’s taste. Jenn had enjoyed every moment, looking out the window and pointing out every vista while both Mathieu and Marcus had nodded in surprisingly similar detached acknowledgement.

A large dark vehicle was waiting for them at the airstrip, as well as a familiar face.

“Eddie Chan. I don’t know if you remember him.” Marcus introduced the young man with golden skin and almond eyes when they’d gotten out of the helicopter and away from the swirling blades.

“I remember you.” Mathieu leaned forward in a slight bow. “Well met, Eddie Chan. Please forgive me for hurting you before. It was not my intention.”

Eddie looked as surprised as Marcus looked indignant at the greeting. “I understand,” Eddie said. “Things were all FUBARed that day. We’re lucky we’re all still alive after that mess.”

“FUBARed?” Mathieu rolled the word around and then raised his eyebrows with a question.

“Oh.” Eddie smiled and giggled. “Messed up beyond all recognition. But worse.” He smiled and giggled again. “Guess you wouldn’t know that one, would you?” Eddie’s smile was as bright as his laughter and Mathieu could only smile back.

“No, I wouldn’t.” Mathieu looked towards the vehicle and then longingly back over his shoulder at the mountains. His peak was obscured by clouds. With a sidelong look at Jenn, he then laid his hands on the side of the SUV and once again released a small pulse of power.
Hidden
symbols and words flared to life on the side of the vehicle, reflecting the power back long enough to be read.

“You placed a charm on this vehicle.” He said it calmly even as his heart beat a little faster.

Eddie patted the side of the vehicle with visible pride. “Yeah. I put a concealment on it so that we could travel without being noticed. I worked on it all night.”

Mathieu read the symbols and followed the pattern of the spell back to its inception. There was nothing hidden, nothing that was a threat—at least nothing that he could detect. “I can see that. It is well wrought.” The compliment was genuine, even if it worried him that their spellcraft had improved from the last time he’d encountered it.

With a shake of his head, Marcus opened the back door and motioned to Jenn, who stood patiently on the tarmac but silently radiated pain all the same. “Get off your feet, sweetheart. I know you’re hurting.”

Jenn nodded at the seats in the back. “Mathieu first. I can’t possibly get back there with my feet like this and he’ll need to sit by himself if I’m judging correctly.” Eddie reached around cautiously and pulled a lever that tilted the middle seat forward.

Mathieu studied the seat. It was a small space. There was no easy way out. He could blow out the windows and escape if need be, but that would require him to use power. That power could attract unwanted attention or even worse, control over that power could be lost with disastrous results.

Jenn saw him hesitate. “Mathieu, nothing is going to happen to you. We need you, remember? We’re not going to break our promise to you.”

He thought about that for a moment and then nodded. “Forgive my suspicions. I have become unused to trusting others.”

He
climbed in gracefully and tried not to jump when Eddie moved the middle seat back, effectively trapping him. Instead he focused on exploring his area.

The seats were soft tan leather and individual vents blew cold, conditioned air. He noted he could control the temperature from his seat.

Marcus had helped Jenn up into the middle seats, where she immediately taken off her boots and peeled off her socks with an almost indecent groan of pleasure. Her feet, blisters and all, were currently propped on the armrest next to the window.

Eddie climbed into the driver’s seat and Marcus claimed the passenger side. Referring to a map while he turned the key in the ignition, Eddie called back, “Next stop, Sanctuaire de Notre-Dame la Salette, suspended between earth and sky. God, I love this country.”

“How long?” Marcus leaned over to see the map that Eddie held in his lap.

Eddie tossed the map at him and put the vehicle in gear. “We have to go roundabout because of the mountains. We’re going to circumvent Grenoble, and any other sizable place. So, that’ll be at least four hours of curvy roads. You might as well take a nap now ‘cause you’re my back-up driver.”

“Great.” Marcus’ voice made it clear he thought it was anything but.

“The burdens of leadership are many, my friend. Here’s another one to shoulder.”

“Fuck you.” Marcus laughed as he reclined the front seat to sleep. He absently reached over to pat Jenn’s leg, and found her already asleep.

Mathieu hugged himself tightly and watched them all from the back seat as the road unrolled behind them.

C
hapter Fourteen

Jenn woke and looked out the window at the hills and mountains that filled the horizons. There was the occasional farmhouse but otherwise there was no sign of civilization.

She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and asked, “Where are we?”

“The middle of nowhere,” Eddie answered cheerily.

She stretched and looked into the back seat where Mathieu had curled up, knees to chest. He rested his chin on his folded arms while he looked out the window. His eyes were distant, but the sun lit them to an almost amber tone.

After a moment she spoke, “Does it remind you of your home?”

He started at the sound of her voice but composed himself quickly. “No, but it is beautiful here.”

“Are you from around here, Mathieu?” Eddie glanced back into the rear-view mirror to look at his passengers.

Jenn answered before Mathieu could speak. “No. He’s from further west, around Tours. A sweet little village near the Loire.” She smiled back to Mathieu and shrugged. “I was there, looking for you.”

With a nod, Mathieu spoke again. “I’m sure I wouldn’t recognize it now. Back then it was really nothing but farms and vineyards. The monks at the abbey made a wine that was served at the king’s table.”

“
The wine is still famous, you know. And the Abbey is still there.” Jenn spoke casually. “I mean, the monks aren’t there anymore, but the Abbey is. There are some nuns, too. They give tours.”

Mathieu shook his head. “What a strange thought: tours of God’s house. Not that I would want to see that place again. I have seen enough of that chapel floor to last me for a very long, very unnatural lifetime.” He laughed out loud at that statement.

At that Marcus looked back from the front seat. He met Jenn’s eyes with some surprise.

Jenn finally screwed up her courage to ask. “What’s so funny?”

Eyes dancing with humor in the light, Mathieu leaned forward and spoke quickly, his hands dancing as he spun the tale.

“We lived near enough to the Abbey as befitted our dubious rank. Your rank was better, of course, because you lived with Uncle but you were close too. Our lands all abutted. And you had that pony, the one with the horrible temper. It didn’t matter how fractious or disobedient that damned thing was because you loved it more than anything in the world.

“You’d braid flowers into its mane and give it special treats and sing songs to it. It hated everyone but you.”

“Did it?” Jenn shook her head and smiled weakly. “I don’t remember any of this.”

“Oh, yes. It was a foul-tempered little beast, that one. I lost count of the times it chased Martin around the barn, or the times bit me when I tried to feed it a treat. I still have the scars.” He held up his perfect, unmarred hands and then folded them awkwardly together. “Or I did, before…”

Jenn nodded and urged him back to the story. “Martin was your older brother, right?”

“One of them.” Mathieu answered, warming up again to the story. “That stupid creature got out one day and wandered off somewhere. You were inconsolable so Martin and I–like the good, chivalrous
knights
we dreamed of being—went searching and found that damned thing in the monk’s vineyard.”

“It had run around and eaten the grapes and uprooted the vines where it had broken through the rows. Ah, the damage it caused.”

He laughed again. “We frantically tried to repair the damage, or at least conceal it,” He made gestures of trying to replant and retie the vines and then smooth the earth. “But we were caught there with the stupid ill-tempered creature that despised us and kept trying to bite us and kick us, that kept tearing up more and more of the vines the more it struggled.”

“The monks were not very happy with the damage done and questioned us about the animal. We, of course, told him that it was our pony and our fault that it got there so that they wouldn’t come back to you. We were promptly hauled us back to the Abbey where we were beaten, denied supper and forced to pray for forgiveness prostrate on the chapel floor.” He pantomimed, putting his arms out in a cross and head down.

“I spent so much time face down on that floor praying for forgiveness and grace that I feared my nose would go flat.”

“But the richest part was that stupid pony—the creature that caused all our woes—was taken back to the Abbey and given warm mash and good grain and a clean stall while we shivered on the cold stone floor. I swear it laughed at us all the way back to your stables the next day.”

He leaned back on the seat with a small smile. “What was that animal’s name? I swear, I should remember it because that vile creature surely was a physical incarnation of evil.” He rubbed his chin, scratching his goatee thoughtfully.

“I don’t know.” Jenn shook her head and repeated softly, “I don’t remember any of that.”

Mathieu dropped his hand and paused. “No. Of course you wouldn’t.” He smiled again. “But you loved that pony more than anything else in the world. Know that now.”

Jenn
smiled weakly and brushed her hair back nervously. “Okay. Thank you, I think.”

Mathieu nodded, a small smile still on his lips. While she watched, he grew suddenly very still and the smile slid from his lips to be replaced with a look of tense dread as he peered forward through the windshield.

“What’s wrong?” She bent and looked forward as well. She could see nothing but the hills and a sign giving the distance to a city—probably Grenoble.

“Can’t you feel it?” He drew his knees to his chest again, wrapping his arms tightly around his legs.

“Feel what?” She peered ahead again, exchanging worried looks with Marcus over the sudden change in mood.

“The city. The people. The anger and fear and pain. Can’t you feel it? Gadreel and his kind haunt such places.”

Marcus spoke from the front. “Gadreel is gone. You made sure of that. He can’t hurt you now.”