Something Deadly This Way Comes

“What do you mean?” I said, grasping it like it might vanish.

Barnabas shrugged. “What I mean is that Grace has been talking to you for the last five minutes, and you haven’t heard a word she’s said.”

Chapter Nine

“No!” I exclaimed, my grip on my amulet becoming tighter as Josh straightened, concern pinching his brow. “I could hear her before!” Barely, though, and I hadn’t seen her at all. “And I can see the time lines!” I added, bringing them up in my thoughts.

But panic iced through me, and I stared at Barnabas. All I could see in my mindscape was a hazy glow, like the imprint a bright light might leave on your retina. “It’s almost not there!” I yelped. “They cut me off. The seraphs cut me off. No wonder I couldn’t reach either of you earlier. Try to talk to me, Barnabas. Talk to me!”

Barnabas gave me a pained look. “I’ve tried. Been trying. Madison, I don’t think you’ve been cut off.”

“Then my aura has shifted.” I was babbling, but I couldn’t help it. Josh had risen, but I was frantic, and I wouldn’t let him touch me when he tried to put a hand on my shoulder.

“We can see that, and compensate,” Nakita said. She was standing next to Barnabas. I think it was the first time they had ever made a united front.

Demus flopped back against the grass and stared up at the stars, completely uncaring. “Like a light reaper can hear a dark timekeeper,” he scoffed.

“They can,” Josh said belligerently.

“And I’m not light,” Barnabas added, his angry tone shocking me out of my own fear. I stared at him, and his gaze dropped as if he was ashamed. “Not anymore.”

My lips parted, making my fear hesitate. He had admitted it. Barnabas had let go of the last of himself. His eyes were on my amulet, and I took my hands off it, letting it dangle freely. “If they haven’t cut me off, then I broke it when I took my body,” I said. “Damn it, how long do you think before it fixes itself?”

Nakita was waving her hand in front of her face, backing up. “I will!” she was saying to Grace, probably, since I didn’t think Nakita was psychotic. “Just shut up a moment, okay?” Exhaling, she turned to me. “Grace says that your amulet is fine.”

I looked at Josh, almost wishing I’d never taken my body back, and he dropped his eyes. It wasn’t his fault. I made the choice. “Then they cut me off—” I started.

“No,” Nakita insisted. “Madison, will you just listen? They didn’t cut you off, and you didn’t break it by claiming your body. But you’re alive now, and that’s a problem.”

My swirling thoughts slowed. “Why is that a problem?” I asked.

Barnabas, though, was nodding his head. “Remember when you first flashed forward into Ace’s future and it was too much for you?” he said, and I took Josh’s hand, giving it a quick squeeze at the memory of stars so beautiful they almost broke me. “You were dead,” he said. “Halfway to the divine. Ron had to adjust your amulet for you? It’s still toned down, and now that you’re alive, you’re not making a strong enough connection.”

“Oh, ma-a-a-an,” I groaned, dropping back to slump against a tall tombstone. Muffled. Everything was muffled. “You think?” I asked, my voice quavering. If that was all it was, it could be fixed. Not by me, though. Ron had fixed it the last time.

“You should have waited and gotten your body back after we saved Tammy,” Barnabas said.

I gave Barnabas a dark look, relieved that it wasn’t anything that the seraphs did to curtail me. Grace had said something about how my decision to claim my body messed up both fate and chance. I’d just have to deal with it. How am I going to deal with it?

“So we look for her on foot,” Josh said, seeming as relieved as I was. “What’s the big deal? We have enough people. We should hit the bus depots and all-night places first. There isn’t much open. How hard can it be?”

“You’d be surprised,” Demus said to the stars. “Finding someone on foot isn’t as easy as it sounds.”

Nakita nudged him with the toe of her white boot. “Saving a mark isn’t easy, reaper. It’s hard work. Get used to it.”

Scowling, he swung at her foot, and she danced back, laughing at him, enjoying herself.

Barnabas was frowning—as usual. “Finding her visually will take too long. Even if we split up. This would be a lot easier if you hadn’t changed her resonance,” he grumbled.

“Maybe you can ask the seraphs to fix your amulet,” Josh said, sitting back down on his broken grave marker.

“Yeah, like they would do that now?” Demus said with a harsh laugh. “Madison, they are so mad at you.”

“Ron maybe?” Nakita offered, looking like she had swallowed something nasty, and I shook my head.

“He doesn’t know we’re here,” Barnabas said. “I think we should keep it that way.”

He probably suspected we were here, but I wasn’t going to bring it up. Not being able to see the time line was going to be a problem. I knew what Tammy’s resonance looked like now, but I couldn’t show anyone if the time line was a blurred mess to me. I didn’t think reapers could backtrack by themselves into the past to see where her aura shifted unless I was there to guide them. It would take a timekeeper for that. Or perhaps . . . one studying to be a timekeeper?

Elated, I yanked my borrowed pants back up. “Paul,” I said firmly, and everyone stared.

“Paul?” Nakita echoed, disbelief in the slant of her eyes.

“Who’s Paul?” Josh whispered.

Demus had sat back up to better laugh at me. “You mean the rising light timekeeper?” he snorted, and Josh’s expression darkened. Yeah, he remembered him now.

“Paul isn’t skilled enough to tweak your amulet,” was Barnabas’s opinion, but I was waving at them to listen.

“Yeah, I know. But he can help us find Tammy. He can look at the time line back to where I changed her aura. He can show both of you.” I glanced at Demus. “The three of you, I mean. And once you have that. Ba-da- bing! We have her.”

Demus was eyeing me in disbelief. “Uh, we’re talking Ron’s grub, right?”

Grub? I thought. How insulting is that?

Nakita had crossed her arms in front of her, looking immovable. “This is not a good idea. Even for you, Madison.” Josh, too, had turned away and was scuffing the turf with the toe of his boot. He wasn’t jealous, was he? I wondered, feeling a flash of delight.

“Why not?” I asked, not caring that everyone thought it was a bad idea. When had I ever had an idea they thought was good? “Paul helped us before. We never could have saved Ace if it wasn’t for his help.”

The words were out of my mouth before I had a chance to think about them, but it was true. Dark and light working together had done it.

“Oh, come on!” I almost moaned as Nakita rolled her eyes. “You got any better ideas?”

Barnabas gave up with a long exhale. “If she wants to try it, why not?” he said, and Nakita’s lips parted in surprise.

“Great,” Demus said as he stood and stretched. “You go talk to the rising light timekeeper, and I’ll go check in with the seraphs.”

Barnabas spun, his long coat unfurling. His hand was on his amulet, and his threat was obvious. “You show even one feather to leave, and I’ll cut your wings off. You’re Madison’s reaper, and you’ll do as she says, so help me God!”

“Gee, thanks, Barnabas,” I said to try to lighten things up, and Demus slumped. Apparently Barnabas’s swordsmanship was legendary.

“I guess I’m in, then,” the dark reaper said.

I smiled at that. Demus wasn’t really a bad guy. Just focused on old methods. Nakita had been, too, and she had been far more militant in voicing her opinion. Still smiling, I held out my hand to Nakita. “Can I have my phone?” I asked sweetly, and Demus made an odd, strangled sound.