'No offense, but that's weird for a nun to say.'
'Really? I don't think it's so weird when you remember I'm married to what is in essence a spirit.' She hesitated, then continued, 'And I have felt the stirrings of these powers—'
'Elements,' I interrupted. 'They're the five elements.'
'I stand corrected. I have felt the stirrings of these elements often before at our abbey. Legend has it the abbey is built on an ancient place of power. You see, Zoey Redbird, fledging Priestess, what you have shown me tonight is more validation than shock.'
'Huh, well, that's good to hear.'
'So, you were explaining how the Ghigua Women created a maiden from clay who entrapped the fallen angel, and the Raven Mockers sang a song about his return, and then turned into spirit? Then what happened?'
I grinned at her matter-of-fact tone before my expression got serious again. 'Apparently nothing much happened for a bunch of years—like a thousand or so. Then, just a few days ago, I started hearing what I thought were crows cawing obnoxiously at night.'
'You don't think they're crows?'
'I know they're not. First of all, cawing is not really what they did—they croaked.'
She nodded. 'Ravens croak. Crows caw.'
I nodded. 'So I've recently learned. Second, not only have I been attacked by two of them, but I saw one last night. It was listening in at my window when Grandma was saying where she'd be driving to today while I was asleep. It was while she was driving that she had her weird, and almost fatal, 'accident.'' I made air quotes around
'Mother of God! Why were the Raven Mockers after your grandmother?'
'I think they were after her to get to me and to be sure she didn't help us any more than she already has.'
'Help you and who else with what?'
'Help me and my fledgling friends. Most of them have single affinities for the elements, and one of my friends sees visions that warn about bad things that are going to happen—usually death and destruction, you know, the standard vision stuff.'
'Would that be Aphrodite, the lovely young woman who—thankfully—adopted Maleficent yesterday?'
I grinned. 'Yeah, that's Vision Girl. And no, none of us are thrilled about the Maleficent adoption.' Sister Mary Angela laughed, and I went on. 'Anyway, Aphrodite saw what we think is the Raven Mockers' prophecy in her last vision, and she wrote it down.'
Sister Mary Angela's face paled. 'And the prophecy foretells the return of Kalona?'
'Yes, which appears to be happening now.'
'Oh, Mary!' she breathed, crossing herself.
'That's why we need your help,' I said.
'How can I help keep the prophecy from coming true? I do know a few things about the Nephilim, but nothing specific to this Cherokee legend.'
'No, I think we have most of it figured out, and tonight we're setting into motion some stuff that's seriously going to mess with his ability to fulfill the prophecy. What I need your help with is Grandma. See, the Raven Mockers were right. By messing with her, they messed with me. I won't leave her alone so that they can torment her. The folks at St. John won't call in a Medicine Man because they don't like the whole Pagan thing. So I need someone who is spiritually powerful, and who believes me.'
'So that is where I come in,' she said.
'Yes. Will you help me? Will you stay with Grandma and protect her from the Raven Mockers while I try to set the prophecy back another thousand years or so?'
'I would love to.' She stood up and started walking resolutely to the crosswalk. She glanced back at me. 'What? You thought you'd have to conjure wind again to blow me back up there?'
I laughed and crossed the street with her. This time when she paused before the statue of Mary in the foyer, bowing her head and whispering a quick prayer, I didn't wait impatiently. This time I took a good long look at the statue of the Virgin, noticing for the first time the kindness of her face and the wisdom in her eyes. And as Sister Mary Angela genuflected, I whispered, 'Fire, I need you.' When I felt the heat begin to build around me, I cupped it into my hand and then flicked my fingers at one of the votive candles that sat, unlit, at the statue's feet. Instantly it, along with half a dozen others, burst into happy flame. 'Thank you, fire. You can go play now,' I said.
Sister Mary Angela didn't say anything; she just picked up one of the lit votives and looked at me expectantly. When I didn't say anything, she prompted, 'Do you have a quarter?'
'Yeah, I think so.' I dug into the pocket of my jeans and pulled out the change I'd gotten from the Coke machine earlier that day. There were two quarters, two dimes, and a nickel in my hand. Not sure what she wanted me to do with any of it, I held the change out to her.
She just smiled and said, 'Good, put all of it in place of this candle, and let's go upstairs.'
I did as she told me and then we walked back to Grandma's room while she shielded the flickering flame of the votive with her hand.
The flutter of wings did not greet us as we entered Grandma's room. And there weren't any dark shadows that flitted suddenly at the edge of my vision. Sister Mary Angela went to the statue of Mary and placed the votive in front of it; then she took a seat in the chair I'd been sitting in all day and took her rosary from around her neck. Without looking at me, she said, 'Hadn't you better be going, child? You have your own evil to battle.'
'Yeah, I do.' I hurried to the side of Grandma's bed. She hadn't moved, but I tried to believe that her color looked a little healthier and that her breathing was a little stronger. I kissed her on the forehead and whispered, 'I love you, Grandma. I'll be back soon. Until then, Sister Mary Angela will stay with you. She won't let the Raven Mockers take you away.'
Then I turned to the nun who looked so serene and otherworldly sitting in the hospital chair, fingering her rosary in the small flickering light of the votive that danced shadows on her and on her goddess. I was just opening my mouth to thank her when she spoke first.
'You don't need to thank me, child. This is my job.'
'Sitting with the sick is your job?'
'Helping good keep evil at bay is my job.'
'I'm glad you're good at it,' I said.
'As am I.'
I bent and kissed her soft cheek, and she smiled. But there was one more thing I had to say before I left. 'Sister, if I don't do it . . . If my friends and I don't get Kalona stopped and he does rise, it's going to be bad for people around here, especially female people. You'll need to get somewhere underground. Do you know someplace, like a basement or a cellar or even a cave, that you can get to quickly and stay for a while?'
She nodded. 'Under our abbey there is a large cellar that was once used for many things. Including hiding illegal liquor during the twenties, if old stories are to be believed.'
'Well, that's where you should go. Take the other nuns—hell, take all the Street Cats, too. Just get underground. Kalona hates the earth, and he won't follow you there.'
'I understand, but I am going to believe you will be victorious.'
'I hope you're right, but promise me that you'll go underground if I'm not, and that you'll take Grandma with you.' I looked into her eyes, expecting her to remind me that getting a wounded old woman out of intensive care and into the cellar or a nunnery wouldn't be particularly easy.
Instead she just smiled serenely. 'You have my word on it.'
I blinked at her in surprise.
'Did you think that you were the only one who could wield magic?' The nun raised gray brows at me. 'People rarely question the actions of a nun.'
'Huh. Well, good. Okay, then, I have your cell phone number. Keep it close. I'll call you as soon as I can.'
'Don't worry about your grandmother or me. Old women know how to take care of ourselves.'
I kissed her cheek again. 'Sister, you're just like Grandma. You two will never be old.'
