“If you’re selling something, you’ve rung the wrong house.”
“Actually, I’m looking to see if you have been visited by Mia Cooper. I’m her guardian’s butler, and he’s looking for some kind of update on Mia.”
“Lordy, I was hoping someone still cared for the girl. Hang on, I’ll get her,” Glenda said. She walked out of the kitchen and called up the stairs, “Mia, phone!”
Mia walked quickly out of her room and down the stairs. “Who?” she asked.
“Somebody named Nordin,” Glenda said, handing her the phone.
“Nordin!” Mia answered, forcing a happiness in her voice that she wasn’t feeling.
“Mr. Wayne would like to speak with you.”
“Thank you,” Mia said and waited for Wyatt to pick up.
“Mia, how are you?”
“I’ve been better physically,” she said honestly. “I died last night. What’s with that?”
Wyatt smiled at her casualness. “Died?”
“My heart stopped, and Murphy had to start it. Seems to me that I remember being a pretty healthy teen.”
“You’re under a lot of pressure. I take it you’ve struck out with the Duprees…”
“Yes, and Ted and Cid. We’re going up to find Burt. I’m sure he’s got the candle. He’s been missing for five days now. Glenda’s got a friend up there that she mined for information. We’ve put together that he may have gone to the abandoned Smoky Hill Home for the Criminally Disturbed to do a solo paranormal investigation. I don’t know why he’d go alone.”
“It may be an overwhelming compulsion. Mia, Nordin and I had visitors last night.”
“Go on.”
“Your grandfather, Nicholai, and Angelo,” Wyatt said and proceeded to enlighten her about all but her possible future engagement to Sticks.
Mia was silent.
“Mia, talk to me. Don’t think too much just talk.”
Mia seemed to snap out of the funk caused by the information Wyatt had shared with her. She sighed before she spoke, “Honestly, I’m shocked by my grandmother’s role in all of this. True, there was a hollowness to her hugs, but she seemed to give me good counsel. Even from the grave, I could have sworn she had my best interests at heart. I’m beginning to doubt my own memory of our relationship. Could someone seem so loving but have such bad intentions? No wonder my father doesn’t know how to parent. Maybe he sensed the duplicities of her nature.”
“Even I was shocked about her ordering your extermination,” Wyatt admitted.
“This explains why I’ve been feeling hunted,” Mia said evenly. “My demon senses have been on high alert. So, I’m dealing with Others?”
“Yes.”
“Are they here in Kansas yet?” she asked.
“A matter of time. It’s a good thing you’re leaving the Duprees. I really didn’t want to call. No doubt the call is being traced, but I felt it was important to warn you and to let you know that I’m going to share your location with Orion.”
“No!”
“Yes! He can protect you. Mia, if this goes pear-shaped, I want you to come home to Nordin and I. We will protect you. Orion will want you to go to the aerie. I can’t see you spending your formative years in a nunnery.”
Mia laughed. “Neither can I. But I really must succeed. There is too much at stake.”
“Mia, I sense something else behind those words.”
“Wyatt, I have to make this happen, even if I have to die trying.”
“And if you die…”
“I’m going to Hell to claim my forty legions of demons.”
“Mia…”
“I’m going to go after the council and the Cynosura. There will be balance if I have to kill every last one of the instigators on both sides.”
“Michael will fight you. You’ll start a war with Heaven. You’re not thinking straight. You must survive this and put thoughts of revenge away. I’ve been on this planet since the fall, and the one thing I’ve seen time and time again is that evil doesn’t last. Incensed people using religion as their reason to plunder others, are dealt with harshly. I’m sure not all the members of the council are bad, just like not all of the Cynosura are in on the global domination scenario.”
“If I fail, Wyatt, we’ll wake up to a different world.”
“And we will deal with that world. Mia, you still have friends. You’re loved by the most unusual people and entities. Remember all that they have taught you. Time and time again their words will guide you. Listen and remember.”
Mia whispered into the phone. “When I died, it wasn’t the light that was coming for me,” Mia said. “It was an angel I have never seen before.”
“Raphael?”
“No, I know his green radiance. This was an archangel of such power that my soul burned just being in his presence. I got the idea he was guarding Heaven from me.”
“Azrael,” Wyatt said. “He is the keeper of the light. He has been trying to take you since you were born. His present rejection speaks of the need for you to be with us, to fight for the human herd. Mia, I know you’re angry, bitter, and confused. This is how the council wants you to be. Don’t let them win. Let that big heart of yours open up with love, and understanding will follow. Think of all of whom you have touched. We are very lucky to have met you.”
“Wyatt, tell the birdmen that they are welcome. Warn them of the Others. I’ve dealt with their ilk before. They will not stop until they have achieved their contract.”
“I will. So, Murphy brought you back again. That’s what, three times?” Wyatt said.
“Seems to me, you read more than I thought when you were kicking around in my mind.”
“I’m a fast reader,” Wyatt said. “I know what you’ll do for me, Mia. I don’t take that for granted. I know you’ll succeed, but if fate is
