Airel - Aaron Patterson [78]
He was not going to let the Seer or the council control him. He knew that the Seer wanted him and his baby girl for some dark purpose beyond his imagination, and the only way to be rid of the Seer and the threat against his daughter was to kill him. Cut the head off the snake, and the rest of the body will die.
Yamanu sat back in a long low chair, feet up, jovially puffing on his pipe. He looked up at the two brothers as if they were two figures in a play discussing nothing more important than whether one lump or two was proper. “I am ready to fight, ladies, but I will require a dinner of lamb and greens with bread smothered in butter, if it please you.”
Kreios let out a pinched laugh and swept Yamanu’s upraised feet off the table. “Nothing gets to you, Yamanu, does it?” Yamanu shrugged and looked innocently at him.
Kreios’s smile faded slowly as the jest died away under the gravity of their situation. His eyes turned to Zedkiel. “I think you should stay here with Maria. She needs you to help her with the childbirth, and I will feel better if you are here to protect what is left of my family.”
Zedkiel protested lightly as a matter of course. “I will pray for you my brother. Every moment.”
Kreios did not answer him.
Yamanu regained his reclined posture, regarding the brothers.
“They will stay here, instead of taking a chance to surprise the Seer and wipe the horde from the face of the earth. ‘Fortify and defend,’ they say, but in the end the war will be long and hard. Every day that goes by, the horde will grow stronger and we will grow weaker—they simply need to be led to the foot of the walls and besiege us with their encampment! Not even having to raise a sword! It is madness. Why would they risk so much in refusing to risk so little?”
Yamanu took the pipe from his lips, standing at last. “Kreios, we do not have the time to uncover this mystery. We should ready ourselves; grasp what is already in our hands.” He poured out the bowl of his pipe into the fire, where it sparked and sizzled. “If you don’t mind, I require a good night’s sleep and a hot meal. After that, friend Kreios, you and I will go to see how many demons we can kill.”
Kreios managed a weak smile, nodding. “We go at sunrise. We will eat and sleep—then we will hunt.”
Chapter XIV
Somewhere in the mountains of Idaho, present day
Cool mornings in the mountains, with rain on some nights, made the earth smell so good that it invaded the mind. I sat up and drank it in, feeling better than I ever had up to this point. For the first time in a long time I felt like I had a good night’s sleep.
I took stock of my situation: I knew Michael was alive and well. He was off his game, but at least he was breathing. My host was disturbingly generous and wealthy. Either that, or he was working for someone who owned an entire country.
I let my feet fall to the floor and shuffled into the bathroom. I wasn’t going to think about my parents and how they were doing. Let’s at least wake up and clear the cobwebs before we burst into tears.
A pink sticky note looked at me from the mirror. The handwriting had to be Michael’s. I imagined the killer’s hand would be cursive. I pulled it free and read what it said.
Went for a walk. Don’t worry about me—I was assured I was being watched, so I won’t go far. See you at breakfast—8 a.m. sharp!
- Michael Alexander
I looked outside, down the lush green valley, but did not see Michael. The enormous grandfather clock against the wall was reading…little hand on the seven, big hand on the nine…quarter ‘til. I was experiencing culture shock, full on. Literally nothing digital in the entire place, unless it was numbers themselves. “Man!” What could I say? I decided to get ready and head downstairs.
I found a hair band, pulled half my hair back, and tied it tight. Smoothing out the rest with my hand, I looked in the mirror. On second thought, I pulled the band out of my hair and let it run wild, hiding part of my face, providing