Though part of me wanted to protest—we’d never gotten to travel as I had promised—I didn’t say a word. Shan’s brow was creased with sadness; it was different knowing your friend was living on borrowed time. Yet shouldn’t Booke get to dictate when he died, as he’d had no say whatsoever in how he’d lived? Butch approved of this decision with an affirmative yap, then he trotted over to Booke to rub against his shins.
The Englishman picked the little dog up and cradled him in the crook of his arm. “Think that was a wise choice, do you? I tend to agree. Age apparently does bring wisdom.”
“If you’re all prepared, I’ll do as Corine has asked now.” Kel strode toward the front door.
I wasn’t ready but five more minutes wouldn’t help. So I said nothing. Instead, I followed Kel, curious as to how he would unravel the spell. His tatts glowed with arcane light, and silvery rays shone from his fingertips, gradually expanding toward the barrier that was strongest at the front door. The light brightened until it was unbearable, rippling outward over the cottage walls, then dropping away in falling sparks, as the enchantment blew apart. I narrowed my eyes, trying to track the expenditure of energy, but a low boom shook the house from the roof down.
Then I felt the heat zing through me, blinding me a second time, and when my vision cleared, everything had changed. It was twilight with a ruddy light shining through the window. All the work Booke had done on his pocket space had carried over into the real world, superimposed over the abandoned cottage. Now things were no longer dusty and abandoned. I wondered briefly what had happened to the rats and spiders displaced in the phase shift, but I was too thrilled by the view through the window to linger on the thought long; it showed wind blowing through the tall grass and whipping through the tree branches.
You did it. Thanks, Kel.
My eyes smarted a bit, tears slipping from the corners. I dashed the moisture away impatiently as I hurried toward Kel. He swayed, one hand braced on the doorjamb. His face was pale, his tattoos still glowing with a residual light, giving him an ethereal air. I touched him without thinking; my hands went to his shoulders to offer support. To my surprise, he spun away from the wall to accept my help.
He leaned into me, head bowed toward mine. “An incredible amount of rage and malice went into that working.”
“How did you break the curse?”
“I drew it in and then expelled it along with enough force to shatter the curse.”
No wonder he looked ill. That sounded an awful lot like how I felt after handling a particularly evil object. Because I always craved a gentle touch after a bad reading, I put my arms around him. Kel tensed, probably because people didn’t comfort God’s Hand.
“Easy,” I whispered. “I’m not making a move, just grounding you.”
I wasn’t sure he knew what I meant, but after a shudder wracked him, he put his arms around me and held on tight. He probably felt sick as hell; there were limits to what a Nephilim could tolerate. I rubbed his back, trying not to remember how we had been together. Savoring that memory felt like a betrayal of Chance.
“I wish—” He broke off, leaving me to wonder.
“Better?” I asked, focusing on his welfare rather than words left unspoken.
“I need to sleep to regain my full strength. But I’m well enough, all things considered.” His tone sounded strange as he stepped away from me.
“What things—” I started to ask, but Shannon and Booke joined us by the front door before I could complete the question.
“We’ll talk later,” Kel said, flinging the front door wide. He looked ready to collapse, but he had done what I asked.
As always.
A cool, inviting wind blew through the house, so long untouched by natural forces. Tears glinted in Booke’s eyes as he turned his face toward the breeze, then he set Butch gently onto the floor. He moved with the care of a much older man; his steps were tentative, shaky, even. I took his elbow, knowing the weight of those years was already coming to bear on him. It might not show instantly like a fast-forwarded video of a decaying rose, but the pain must be phenomenal.
Worth it, I thought, for a taste of freedom.
“I had forgotten what the world smells like,” he breathed.
Booke crooked his elbow, as if he were my escort, and not the other way around. In stately procession, we made our way to the front step of the cottage. Kel and Shannon followed. The yard was completely overgrown, the sky awash in purple, and I could tell by his expression that he had never seen anything so lovely. For me, it was a melancholy beauty; certainly there was pastoral charm, but it came knowing Booke’s time to appreciate it was limited.
“I have an idea,” I said then. “We’ll take a trip. Our passports should be good enough to manage rail travel. Would you like to see Paris? We’ll go. Italy? There too, if we can.” The unspoken subtext was that I didn’t know how long Booke had, but I would be damned if I didn’t keep my pledge to him.
“I have no documents,” Booke pointed out wryly.
That was a problem, but I’d figure out a way around it. Dreaming didn’t make sense in our current situation; nor would I leave him alone. Yet I’d promised him the world, and he would have it, however much could be experienced in the short while he had left. It went without saying that he would die somewhere along the way. I didn’t let myself think of that. No more good-byes. I can’t take much more. But the universe had never listened to my pleas. If there was an intelligence running the show, as Kel’s archangel claimed, then it was singularly uninterested in Corine Solomon.
“There has to be a solution,” Shannon said. “We’ll think of something.”
Booke tilted his head, entranced by the dying rays of the sunset. “Think fast. I’m a very old man, you know.”
Sands of Time
While Shannon arranged for a car to pick us up and Kel lay exhausted on the sofa, I helped Booke gather his things. He did have a birth certificate, but without a current passport he wouldn’t be able to leave the country. Unfortunately, he didn’t have time to apply and wait for proper channels. We had to figure this out now.
Then it hit me.
“Eva,” I muttered, already dialing.
“You’ve thought of something?” Booke asked.
I waved him to silence, and he went back to packing, his movements slow and measured. Fortunately, the time difference worked in our favor, as it was earlier in Texas. Eva answered on the third ring.
“It’s me,” I said. “How are you?”
“Good. Tired. Cami keeps me hopping.” Cami was Chuch and Eva’s daughter. I was fuzzy on how old she was, given the time slippage in Sheol, but this didn’t seem like the time to ask.
“Chuch and the baby?”
“They’re both fine. Are you all right? Is Shannon with you?”
Dammit. I had explanations to make, so I summarized as fast as I could, leaving out the ineffable account of Chance’s death. When I finished, she said, “I get the feeling this isn’t a social call.”
“I’m with Booke. If you have contacts in the U.K., I could use them.”
“My contacts,” she repeated. “Not Chuch?” Obliquely, she was asking if I needed papers, not weapons.
“Yeah, do you know anyone?”
“I used to. Let me make a few calls and get back to you.”
So strange, but my friends Chuch and Eva had a colorful past. Chuch had been an arms dealer before he met the love of his life, Eva, who was a talented forger. They’d left their lives of crime to settle into connubial bliss in Laredo. Now Eva was a stay-at-home mom, and Chuch restored classic cars. But they both had helpful underworld contacts at moments like this.
“Can she help?” Booke asked.
I turned to him; in the few moments I had been otherwise occupied, he’d already aged. His features reflected another five years in fine lines. His hair was a little thinner, his shoulders more stooped. At the rate the real world was catching up to him, he might not have more than a day or two. Part of me desperately wanted to find a Luren, no matter what Booke thought . . . but it would be wrong to make such an enormous choice for him. I had to respect his wishes.
Fifteen minutes later, we stood waiting outside the cottage with luggage in tow. A different driver arrived in a Range Rover, as Shannon had told him there were four of us. I suspected Kel was hanging around to have the conversation about my destiny, but I preferred to delay it as long as possible. That said, I owed him to hear him out, especially after he’d half killed himself for Booke at my behest.
I helped Booke into the back, Kel climbed in after me, and Shannon got in front with the driver, who was peering at the ghost cottage with a puzzled expression. “It looks different,” he said. “Less ominous. Like any regular house.”
“It’s just old,” Shan told him.
The guy shrugged, clearly uninterested in further debate as he maneuvered the vehicle around. “Where am I dropping you?”
It was an excellent question. I hadn’t thought much past getting Booke out of the cottage where he had been trapped for so long. But before I could reply, the phone rang. Eva’s number showed in the ID box, and I answered.
“Got something for me?”
She didn’t protest my terse response, knowing the situation with Booke. “Yeah. The guy I know is working in London. I’m texting you his address.”
That was the answer to the driver’s question. I thanked her, disconnected, then said, “Take us to the train station, please.”
“Very well.” The driver turned to Shannon, who responded to his overture with a tired yawn.
Booke reached for Butch, who went without protest. I watched as he petted my dog with fingers that held a slight tremor. It must be overwhelming to be moving after so long. I mean, he’d been in cars before, but it had been half a century. I couldn’t even imagine the isolation. He was watching the scenery with a fierce focus, even when it got too dark to see.