“I’m not even sure the Brotherhood of the Wing know.”
“Who?”
“Victor and Nicholai.”
“And…”
“Me.”
“And…”
“Altair was there at the end, but he wasn’t part… was he?” Mia asked herself, unsure.
“He’s already been here, Mia.”
“Then take his word for it.”
“He said he saw you plummeting to your death and saved you with a blue whale.”
“Yes! That’s what happened. Phew…” Mia said. “That’s a relief.”
“Mia, whose sword did you use to kill Ruax?”
Mia closed an eye and thought back. “Altair’s. He was there, but I’m not sure why, except to once again save my butt. I’m not a good influence on the boy.”
“Altair’s several thousand years older than you,” Michael said.
“K.”
“Now what to do with you?”
“Whatever it is, can you do it fast? Like ripping off a bandage fast, instead of painfully slow.”
“Mia, I don’t want to punish you.”
“You don’t?” Mia asked, feeling faint. She sat down on the floor.
“What’s wrong?”
“I was holding my breath.”
Michael started laughing. “Oh, Mia, you are a gigantic pain in the feathers, but you are a delight.”
“Why are you being nice to me?” Mia asked.
Michael looked down at her. “You’ve done nothing wrong - well maybe. You let the late Captain Crocker think he got lucky, but your heart was in the right place.”
“I find it interesting that me killing is fine, but feeding someone a fantasy, not good,” Mia commented.
“I see your point.”
“You said late Captain Crocker. Who killed him?” Mia asked.
“It was a robbery. That’s all I know. He’s not my problem anymore. You are.”
“I’m sorry that I didn’t let you know what was going on. I could list a myriad of excuses about things moving too fast, spies, and other claptrap, but I’m genuinely sorry. Will you forgive me?”
“Yes, of course I forgive you,” Michael said. “Now will you get off the floor? You’re leaving a black spot.
Mia launched herself up, looking under her. There was nothing there.
Michael roared with laughter.
“You knew…”
“Of course. Something else is bothering you, besides your rubbing elbows with the fallen?”
“Two things.”
“Go on.”
Mia steeled herself not for the asking, but what the answers may be. “After I killed Ruax, I helped to send an FBI agent’s soul into the light. It didn’t want me. There was no pull from the light. There was always a pull. Is this because I’m so tainted?”
Michael thought about it a moment. “Mia, I can’t know what the light is thinking or if it thinks at all, but if it did, maybe for the first time, it thinks you’re more valuable here.”
“But what happens when I die? Will it reject me?” Mia asked.
“I can’t answer that. This is why I want you to take care of yourself. You are so valuable to me and mine but also to the people and entities that are fighting for humans.”
Mia was quiet. “Thank you, that means so much,” she said finally.
“What is the other thing?”
“I’ve lied to the others. I’ve blocked all the symptoms and cast an illusion over me. I did feel excruciating pain after Murphy called me a whore. Did he break my heart?”
Michael moved forward and placed his hand on her chest a moment before he lifted her up and carried her to the table.
“In the past, how many times did Stephen squeeze your heart to restart it?”
“I don’t know exactly. I was dead.”
“It’s not a broken heart, which is a blessing in the cases of two old people wanting to have the adventure of heaven together. The GSD is a strange place. Ghosts live again. Stephen lived again. Maybe his rejection of you started your heart rejecting him. The magic of his bringing you to life fell away.”
“But I’m still alive.”
“Something has been keeping your heart beating, Mia. I’m not sure I understand it. I don’t understand gargoyle magic because it’s part machine. The gem inside the locket that is fused to your spine, thanks to my incompetence, is pulsing, like a pacemaker. I’m going to heal your heart, but you’re going to have to help me. Take me back to the first time you died.”
“I was tossed into a deep well by a serial killer. I hit the water hard, and my nervous system started to shut down. A tormented spirit named Jonas pulled me out of the water to a ledge. I was worried about Murphy. The killer had tossed a pack down that had his axe head inside. In the early days, Murphy thought he was tied to the axe and so he was. Jonas retrieved the bag. By that time, everything hurt, and I knew I was going to die. I tried to comfort Jonas by telling him that Murphy would keep him company. I said, ‘He’s my best friend.’ And then I died.”
“What happened after you died?” Michael asked as he laid out his instruments.
“Murphy stuck his hand into my chest and squeezed my heart. My body jerked and I came back, curled into a ball, and tried to keep warm until Ted came and carried me out of the well.”
“He carried you and Murphy out of the well,” Michael corrected.
“I guess so.”
“Tell me about the second time, Mia,” he asked to keep her mind occupied while he disrobed her.
“We were caught out in the storm, just outside of an old mill, trying to save some elephants. The wanderers had overpowered Murphy, and he was ceasing to be. So, I told him to take my energy. He took too much. Ted carried me inside, hoping the animal doctors could save me. Someone in the light was calling me. ‘Come, sister of the light, come home.’ I heard feathers. I got the impression it was an angel.
