Chapter 7

“What if he just wants her to try to find Larkin?” Ru asked, a bit of panic rising up. “If he’s going to threaten to harm her so that Larkin returns, my mom could end up getting hurt.”

“He’s not going to harm her,” Sky reiterated. “But if the five of you don’t get out of my way, you’re going to leave us no choice but to harm you.” Her words seemed to invigorate the other seven who had not broken their perfect formation the entire duration of the conversation. At her words, somehow they shifted so that they were even more-so at attention. Shoulders were back and chins were up. “Let’s face it. There’s no way that you four—and a half—can hold us back.” She eyed Ru as if she was the one that didn’t count. “You’re basically outnumbered two to one. And, we can call in legions of Keepers and angels. No one else in any of the realms would dare come to your defense. Come on, Cutter, do the right thing. Step aside.”

“That’s not true,” Ru began. “Clearly, you’re not familiar with the extent of my power. I can take you all out by myself if I want to.”

“Hmmm,” Sky said, tilting her head. “You are Larkin’s daughter.”

“Okay, that’s enough,” Cutter said, the friendly tone gone. “Sky, come on. Let’s be rational. Can you just go consult with Raphael before anyone does anything rash? See if he understands why Sera wants to stay?”

“Maggie,” Ru cut in. “Her name is Maggie now. Call her Maggie.”

“Fine. See if he will consider letting Maggie stay,” Cutter corrected

“And would you like me to also mention to him that you are disobeying direct orders?”

Cutter hesitated, and once again, Ru wondered whose side he was on. “Sky, let’s see if we can find some middle ground. We are all on the same side here, aren’t we?”

“I thought so,” she replied, her hands on her hips now, “until I wasn’t informed that you’d found Sera.”

“Look, Sky, I don’t want anyone else on my team to take the blame for any of this. It was my call, and it’s my call now. I’ve told them not to tell you. So, yeah, tell Raphael that I won’t cooperate; that’s fine. But tell him that Maggie doesn’t want to be found. Just… give it a shot.”

Sky opened her mouth again, like she was about to say something snide in response, but then a smile crossed over her face. “Not necessary. Come on, team. She’s at the church. In the basement. Cowering in a cabinet.” With a victorious smirk on her face, Sky began to walk, and her small army of Keepers followed suit, stepping right through their adversaries. Ru braced herself as Sky passed directly through her. She felt nothing except the sting of defeat and admiration for her friend; Cutter had been willing to take the fall for her—for all of them. She stared at him for a moment, not sure what to say. And then it occurred to her; the only people who knew where her mother was were standing on the beach alongside her. One of them must have just told Sky exactly where her mom was hiding.

“Who told?” Ru exclaimed, spinning around, looking at all of them. “What the hell? You guys! You’re supposed to be my friends!”

Looking at their faces, there was a mixture of shock and sadness, and Ru didn’t know who the guilty party was at first glance, and then Cutter’s voice interrupted her scrutiny. “Ru, you’ve got to get to your mom. Warn her.”

“Right,” she said, trying to gather her thoughts. “I’ll figure it out later. And kick your ass then!” She made sure they were all on warning and then concentrated on getting to her mother before Sky did. It would take the Keepers in their human forms longer to get there since Ru could just materialize. She closed her eyes and, in an instant, found herself standing in the dark basement.

“Mom!” she said in a hushed whisper as she began to move the junk out from in front of the door. “You’ve got to go! Sky knows where you are. Hurry!” She flung the door open expecting to see a panicked expression on her mother’s face. Instead, she looked nothing but cool and calm. She slid the top portion of her body out of the cupboard, and Ru stooped to help her as she unfolded her long legs. With Ru’s assistance she stood, stretching, with several pops and cracks.

“It’s all right, Ru,” Maggie said, her voice serene. “I’ll go with her.”

“What?” Ru asked, not believing her ears. “No, Mom, you can’t. What if they plan to punish you? She said Larkin’s gone—he’s escaped. They don’t know where he is. It could be a trap to get him back.”

“Larkin’s gone?” she repeated, a shocked expression on her pretty face. “He is? From Hell? Since when?”

“I don’t know,” Ru replied. “Cutter didn’t tell me. Sky just said…. Anyway, it doesn’t matter. Seriously, you need to run.”

“Ru, honey,” Maggie began, stepping closer and resting her hands on her daughter’s shoulders, “I’ve been running and hiding over half of my life. I’m done with all of that. What you and your friends did for me tonight was amazing. I’ve never had anyone stand up for me like you did just then, except for maybe Ribbon. Sweetheart, you were willing to sacrifice everything for me. And I love you even more for that. But it’s time for me to go now.”

The feeling of defeat Ru had felt on the beach came back tenfold and tears began to fill her eyes. “But Mom, we promised you we wouldn’t let anything happen to you.”

“And I promised I wouldn’t let anything happen to you, Ru. I could hear most of your conversation. I know how hard you tried. If I had known that was what you were intending to do, I never would’ve let you face her. She could’ve banished all of you. Ru, honey, there’s no use making enemies now, especially not when you’re just starting out. I love you too much to let that happen. Come on, let’s go. I don’t want Sky dragging me out of here like a coward.”

There were no words to say in protest, so Ru let her mom loop her arm through her own translucent one and walked with her toward the stairs in silence. Once they reached the door at the top, her mom pushed it open. All four of Ru’s friends stood there, somber expressions on their faces.

“It’s okay,” Maggie said, smiling at each of them. “You all did your best. And whoever gave up my location, you did the right thing.” She looked at each of their faces and then at Ru, holding her gaze, as if she was telling her daughter not to hold it against whichever friend had taken matters into his or her own hands. “Come on, Ru.”

They met Sky outside of the church. Standing in the moonlight, her expression confident but not haughty, she nodded. “Sera.”

“You must be Sky,” she said. “You look formidable, just like the Keeper who had your job when I was young, though Windy wasn’t quite as… nontraditional as you.” Maggie reached up and touched a lock of Sky’s blue hair.

Sky didn’t jerk back, standing resolute as Maggie dropped her hand. “Are you planning to come with us peacefully or are you going to be uncooperative—like your daughter.”

Ru took a step forward, still not ready to back down from the fight. Cutter put his hand on her shoulder. The pain inside of her began to fester again.

“My daughter wasn’t being uncooperative, Sky. She was being loyal. That should be celebrated.”

“And what would you know of being loyal?” It was the first time any of the others had spoken. One of the men, the tallest one, who had a jagged scar on his face near his left ear, cutting through his skin to his jawline, took a step forward as he spoke.

“More than you might think, Flint,” Sera said with a shrug. “I was loyal to those who loved me. It just so happened the numbers weren’t on my side.”

Ru assumed she meant Larkin and herself, possibly her friend Ribbon, but she wasn’t sure. And now, there was no way for her to ask. They might take her mom away from her forever. She fought back her tears, not wanting Sky to see them. “Mom!” she called. Maggie turned and looked at her. “If they so much as lay a finger on you, you call me. I will hear, no matter where I am, and I will come for you. You make sure they know that.”

Before Maggie could respond, Sky said, “Rune, you really should bite your tongue. It’s going to get you into trouble one of these days.”

“And you should learn not to underestimate my daughter,” Maggie replied. “Now come on. Let’s get on with it already.”

Ru didn’t stay on the beach and watch the Keepers lead her mother away. Instead, she exploded back into her body with enough ferocity to knock both herself and Cutter onto the floor. Considering he wasn’t back yet, moving him wasn’t too difficult, and once she’d untangled her limbs from his empty ones, she stormed out of the dark room, slamming the door behind her.

The lights in the hallway flickered as she made her way downstairs and through the front door, slamming that one as well.

Once she was standing out in the yard in front of Angel Grove, her stomach burning with the pain of her Reaper power, Ru let out a growl loud enough to startle the birds which scattered out of the trees all around her, sending them off through the dimly lit evening sky. Raising both hands, Ru chose a tree in the distance and unleashed the fury that had been accumulating deep within her soul for the last hour or so. A streak of black sprang forth, streaming through the sky and crashing into a large branch at the top of the ancient tree. With a loud cracking noise, the branch tumbled to the ground, bursting into flames as it fell. Black smoke lingered, filling Ru’s lungs with the scent of anger, the scent of power, the scent of hate. “If anyone touches a hair on my mother’s head, I swear to God, I will destroy them.” She looked up at the sky and shouted, “Do you hear me, Raphael? Do you hear me?”

If the Archangel had a response, he didn’t reveal it—not right then anyway. Ru watched the flames she’d created continued to flicker and dance their way down the tree branch, licking the bark and consuming it, leaving nothing but char in its wake.