“What?”
“Hey, I got Gerald to pay for a grand investigation. We’ll have enough film for a four-part series when we’re through.”
“It does make a lot of sense. Rosa de Familiare probably spent the loot.”
“If she kept any, it would have been out of fear of George Wall retaliating,” Burt said.
“No wonder she kept a military man in her bed at all times,” Mia said.
“And a ghost hunter in yours,” Burt teased.
“Yes, I’m the Rosa de Familiare of the paranormal world,” Mia said. “What’s next?”
“You and Mike are going to interview the group over at Haunted Horseback Tours. I took the liberty of getting you and Mike some matching outfits…”
Mia groaned.
“Trust me, you’re going to look great.”
~
Murphy moved amongst his trees. He was pleased to see that someone had taken the time to clear the waterway so that the willows would have constant water to draw from. The Martins were good custodians of his farm. He walked into the land Cid had purchased and approved of what he had built so far. Murphy ran his hand down the foundation edge and smiled.
“Not exactly how you would have built it,” Altair said behind him.
Murphy turned around quickly and stared at the fallen for whom Mia had paid the ultimate price to bring his wings back and get him forgiven. When he originally had met Altair, Altair was a demon possessing an old man’s body. Now the true form of the archangel radiated, filling the woods with light. “Cid has the materials to do it right. It will last like my farmhouse.”
“Welcome back,” Altair said. “I notice you found your axe.”
“It was left for me by the woodpile.”
“A beacon to bring you home.”
“I never thought of it that way.”
“I’m surprised you’re not already on your way to Mackinac.”
“Why?”
“Aren’t you a PEEP?” Altair asked.
“I really didn’t think about it that way. I just assumed I was welcome because of Mia.”
“It’s not the vibe I got out of Burt Hicks. You’re their security officer. Mia has her hands full up there. That island is full of ghosts and demons.”
“She can handle it,” he said, studying the edge of his axe blade.
“Sure, but you sent the Devil’s Pride up there.”
“Captain Waite is a good man. He won’t hurt the living.”
“Captain Wall noticed the Pride’s change in course and followed them in the Peacock.
Murphy looked up. “It is his treasure they are going after. The two captains will sort it out.”
“And who’s stuck in between?”
“PEEPs.”
“And who’s going to pay the price for your big mouth?”
Murphy didn’t answer.
“Did you do it deliberately?” Altair questioned. “Did you send the most powerful ship of the GSD after Mia?”
“Someone killed Captain Crocker…”
“And you think it was Mia? I should end your existence now,” Altair said, drawing his sword. “But you’ve been too useful in the past and have earned another chance. Mark my words, you betray Mia Cooper Martin again, and I’ll make every molecule of energy that makes you up, hurt. You will die and be brought back again and again until you end yourself. Then you’ll be Roumain’s problem.”
Murphy stared in shock at the violence in Altair’s eyes.
“I believe you were sent to deliver a message and that dagger. Do it,” Altair ordered. He withdrew his sword and shot upwards past the trees into the summer sky.
Chapter Thirty-four
Mia gripped the satellite phone in both hands debating whether to make the call. If it was anything else but the ATzxes she would not be considering talking to Angelo. He had failed her. His insistence on her attending to Sabine had almost ruined the carefully planned assault that began the moment Victor plucked a heart feather out. All that training, planning, and secrecy had been worth it. The only fly in the ointment was Mia’s nearness to the target. Suspicion would fall on her shoulders, all because Angelo had neglected to act on Sabine’s behalf.
“Angelo Michaels, please,” Mia said when his driver picked up the phone. “Tell him Mia Cooper Martin is calling, thank you.” Mia had recognized the driver’s voice but refrained from any pleasantries. She wasn’t feeling very pleasant at the moment.
“Mia!” Angelo answered with a bit too much enthusiasm. “I understand you’ve been under the weather.”
“I’m fine, Angelo.”
“That’s not what I heard.”
“You heard wrong. I have to report something we’ve found. I figure you’re the best one to advise us.”
“Please continue.”
“We found a single ATzxe in a cave on the north side of Mackinac Island, Michigan, where we are running some paranormal investigations.”
“Please describe the incident.”
Mia did so.
“You saw only one?”
“Yes, I decided for safety’s sake to stop the search of the cave until I talked to you,” she told him. “It still appears to be a single primal ATzxe very similar in shape to the Darker than Darks we encountered with Gwen Kowalski. But it could have been a sentry, and there may be more, deeper in the cave. Honestly, I don’t trust my feelings. This island has overloaded my senses.”
“So, you’re not fine. Why do you hide these things from me?”
“I’m not your concern,” Mia snapped.
“Mia, that’s not true. I’ve been there for you. I represented you just recently in front of the Brotherhood.”
“But you didn’t believe I was innocent. I could tell that.”
“You are a very complex creature. What was I to think?” Angelo defended himself. “Even if I thought you were guilty, Little Bird, I was still there for you. Defending you, protecting you, keeping you from being destroyed by the others.”
“Whoa,” Mia said.
“But that’s not what we’re talking about. It’s that you found an ATzxe and asked my counsel.”
“Yes.”
“Would I be unwanted if I flew up there?”
