Chapter Twenty
Thane crashed through the massive wooden doors of the church as the last few people streamed out, panic-stricken and shocked. In the center aisle of the church, he found a body, burned beyond recognition. The pews were ablaze, and suddenly, the fire raced up the carpeted center aisle toward the altar. Flames ignited the wooden cross in the center and two banners that hung on either side. Fire leapt from there to the exposed trusses overhead. In seconds, the entire place was burning.
This was no ordinary fire. This was demonic and driven, almost alive in its hunger to destroy. This was Surt.
Reya ran up next to him. “Is there anyone left in here?”
“I don’t know,” he said, and started coughing. His eyes watered from the smoke. The smoke was getting so thick, he couldn’t see his own hand. The heat didn’t bother him at all.
“Get out,” she yelled to him as she ran into the flames. He wanted to help, but the smoke made seeing impossible. He headed outside and was met with eerie silence. There were no horns blowing, no traffic, and no movement. A crowd of people stood shell-shocked on the sidewalks and in the street. The look of fear and horror on their faces hit him hard.
This was what Surt wanted all along. And the more churches he burned, the more powerful he became. The son of a bitch was winning. All Thane could do was stand there and watch. If it was the last thing he ever did, and it just might be, he’d stop Surt from destroying his city and the people in it.
The honk of fire engines pierced the quiet as Reya exited the church. She said, “I couldn’t find anyone else. Just the one soul.”
“Was his spirit still here?” Thane asked, amazed how natural it sounded.
“No, he’s gone.” She looked at him in concern. “Are you okay?”
His lungs had already cleared and his skin held no residual heat. Apparently, it paid to spend some time in Hell. “Never better.”
* * *
Thane was cleaning up in the bathroom down the hallway in Chu’s place, and Reya was sitting on the bed and flicking through the channels. They all showed burning buildings. The city was in a complete panic. People were avoiding spiritual places like the plague. All the while, Smith was noticeably absent, and speculation was rising that he had become a victim himself. They were going to martyr him for sure.
Surt must be in his f*cking glory.
She and Thane, on the other hand, were getting nowhere fast. There were times in her past when she’d been down. Moments of acute loneliness and utter sorrow. Times when pain and grief overwhelmed her in waves too great to fight. When she’d given up hope. But nothing like this.
If they lost, Surt would win and take over humanity to do with he what wanted. There were other Earths, places were souls played out their roles and learned lessons the hard way. But she loved this stupid planet. It was beautiful and wild. The brave souls who came here understood how difficult it was. One life here was like a thousand lives on a less demanding planet. And yet, one life here wasn’t enough. These bodies, these brains, these emotions were addicting.
“That bad, huh?” Thane said.
She gave a quick smile. “Just great.”
He eyed her. “Now you’re scaring me.”
“How is Surt working in places of worship?” he asked and sat beside her on the bed. “I thought he couldn’t do that.”
“Maybe he’s planting the fire inside the victims before they enter sacred ground.”
Thane’s bare arm brushed hers as he settled in beside her, and her pulse surged at the instant spark between them.
“If he keeps this up, churches are going to be empty,” Thane said. “Will they still hold their power?”
She shook her head. “They’re just places. It’s the people who go there, who collectively pray and provide positive energy, that are the real power.”
“Maybe he’s using the Undecideds to get into the churches and start the fires.” Then he shook his head and looked at the ceiling. “I can’t believe I even said that.”
She laughed. He grinned back, and she was mesmerized by it. Despite her dejection, he managed to bring her back to a reality she could live with. Humor ignited in the silence that stretched between them.
She turned to face him and noticed how still he became. Her body aligned with his, drawn to him. She couldn’t stop if she wanted to. His eyes were dark as she threw her leg over his thighs to straddle him. Steamy need built quickly between them as they wordlessly locked eyes. She could feel him harden; see the way his gaze intensified. When she skimmed his lips with hers, his hands gripped her waist, and fiery anticipation rose swiftly in her core.
His thumbs caressed her nipples through the thin fabric of her shirt, sending anticipation through her nerve endings. She dropped her head back and closed her eyes, concentrating on the marvel of sensations of this body and this physical plane. It was why souls kept coming back. For the joy, for the love. It was worth dying over and over for.
He lifted her shirt up over her head and cast it aside. She wrapped her hands around his shoulders, every touch slow and deliberate. His palms covered her breasts as he kissed her again, deeper this time. She explored the taut muscles in his arms and shoulders. All the while, her body was singing with a sweet vibration that would only get sweeter, if only for a moment in time. Just as it had happened between them before.
Did he know that? She doubted it. He was firmly grounded here.
And yet even as she kissed him, she knew this wasn’t reality. It was only temporary. That’s the way it worked.
But Thane’s powerful body felt real. His lips on hers were firm and tender. The way his soul lit up when he focused on her and her alone, the way their bodies connected and moved together—that was real. No one could take that from her. No one could erase this experience from her record. It belonged to her.
She sank her fingers into his skin, gripping him tightly. He growled and held her closer until they became one—inseparable in spirit. Every movement, every sensation, and every touch she committed to her eternal memory. Thane was hers for this moment and, therefore, for always, no matter where their paths led them.
I want this forever, she thought suddenly. Please.
No one answered. She knew no one would.
She fought back the tears from the raw truth of it all, of a destiny she walked alone.
* * *
Thane’s phone rang at 5:32 a.m. He was tangled up with Reya and the sheets, but managed to find it in the dark on the nightstand.
The light of the screen blinded him as he answered. “Yeah.”
“Is this Thane Driscoll?” a man asked.
He frowned. “Yes, who is this?”
Reya stirred and lifted her head to look at him.
“This is Dr. Bergen at Mount Sinai Hospital. We have your mother here.”
Thane sat up in bed with a rush of adrenaline. “Is she okay?”
“You need to come in immediately. We can talk more then.”
“I’ll be there in ten minutes,” he said, and hung up.
He turned the light on and searched for his clothes.
“It’s your mother?” Reya asked, getting out of bed.
“Yeah, she’s in the hospital,” he said. “We need to get down there.” It sounded serious, but he didn’t tell her that. He didn’t want to admit it to himself.
It took fifteen minutes to get there, and another five before they found her room and located Dr. Bergen. He shook Thane’s hand. “She’s not breathing well on her own, but we aren’t sure why. Her lungs appear fine, there’re no masses, no infection, no obvious problems. We’re still running tests though.”
Thane looked past him into his mother’s room. She was hooked up to a ventilator. “Can she talk?”
“For a few minutes, but we don’t want to stress her lungs,” he said.
“Thanks,” Thane said. Reya nodded for him to go in alone, and stayed with the doctor while Thane entered the room and stood next to his mother.
Her eyes were closed. The mask was wrapped over her mouth and nose, and held tightly around her head with elastic bands.
He touched her hand, and her eyes fluttered open.
She zoned in on him with a smile. “Hello, Thane.” Her voice sounded strained.
“Are you in pain?” he asked.
She shook her head, and he felt a moment of relief. He leaned close to her so she wouldn’t have to speak so loudly. “What happened? Why can’t you breathe?”
“I’m free,” she said.
He inhaled sharply. He didn’t like the sound of that. “Free from what?”
“This life,” she replied with a smile. “I finished what I came here to do.”
A chill came over him. “You don’t know that.”
She raised her hand, took a labored breath, and put her cool palm against his face. “You are my greatest accomplishment. My one reason for coming back.”
The chill turned ice cold. He’d never heard his mother talk like this, and she’d done some crazy talking lately. He put his hand over hers. “No. There’s more living to be done.”
“We aren’t here forever.”
He knew that, but right now, he didn’t care. “I need you.”
She shook her head. “You have all you need. It is your time to do what you came here to do.”
“Which is what?” he asked, realizing that this was one of the longest, most lucid conversations he’d ever had with her.
“To save us.”
And then, maybe not. “I’d be happy just to save you.”
“This is my choice,” she said, her words growing weaker. The ventilator chugged a little faster. “When I go, it will be my choice.”
“Then choose not to,” he said.
She squeezed his hand and wheezed. “I have free will. Promise me you’ll remember that.”
Free will. Christ, it was epidemic. But he didn’t want to deny her one of the few things she’d ever asked from him. “I promise.”
“Now go. Do your duty. Do what we raised you to do.”
He frowned. They raised him for this? “What do you mean?”
She whispered, “There is a plan for each of us.”
He realized then that both his parents came in as part of his plan. It was all predestined, his father being targeted and killed, his mother slowly losing her mind. Why would they do that for him? He wasn’t worth it.
“I will always be with you,” she said, closing her eyes. “Longer than forever. Go. To your duty.”
She looked exhausted, and he couldn’t move, didn’t want to leave her side. He couldn’t shake the feeling that this might be the last time he saw her alive.
She opened one eye. “Thane Michael Driscoll, are you listening to me?”
She was still in there. Her mind sharp, her thoughts her own. She was doing this with the same grace she’d put into her life. He’d remember that grace for all of eternity. With that, he kissed her forehead and walked out.
Reya was waiting for him. “How is she?”
“Completely lucid,” he said, standing in the hospital hallway and wondering what had just happened. “Is Surt making her sick?”
Reya looked into the room at his mother. “I don’t think so. She’s well protected from him. Besides, she can’t give him anything he needs.”
He wanted to believe that. Because if Surt killed his mother, too…He stopped. “She told me that they raised me to do this.”
Reya arched her eyebrows. “Validation is always good.”
“No,” he said, and started walking toward the exit. “Because I don’t know what the f*ck I’m supposed to do.”
* * *
They ran into Martin coming in as they were leaving. He looked out of breath as they stopped in front of the hospital. “I heard your mom was here. Is she okay?”
Reya noticed something different about him almost immediately. His aura was the same, but underneath what had once been mostly pure was now slightly mottled. Was he angry? Hurt? Jealous?
Thane said, “For now. She’s having trouble breathing.”
Martin put his hands on his hips. “Wow, I’m sorry to hear that. Any idea how long she’ll be here?”
“Depends how she does,” Thane said. “How did you know she was here?”
“I was in the office early when the hospital called your work number,” he said. “So what’s the latest news?”
Behind him, Reya noticed a movement and saw the dead man from the bar hovering behind the trees in the park next to the hospital. Thane and Martin were talking, but she wasn’t listening.
He was supposed to stay at the bar and wait for his killer to return. Dead people didn’t usually go far, that’s why they were still here. They couldn’t break free of the spot where they felt unfinished business. Maybe he was just wandering around, and it was nothing.
“I’m going to grab some coffee,” she said.
Martin nodded, but Thane gave her a curious look as she began to walk toward the dead man. She stopped at a nearby vending cart and ordered black coffee and stepped a few paces away from the cart to face the park. A moment later, the man was standing next to her, and her heart sank. There was trouble. Well, more trouble.
“Why are you here?” she asked him softly, staring straight ahead.
“Following him,” he said. He looked the same as he had at the bar and was still wearing the clothes he’d been murdered in.
She blinked. “You mean following us?”
“No,” he said and shook his head. “Him.”
She turned as he pointed to Martin and Thane. Confused, she asked, “Which one?”
“The one in the black jacket,” he said.
That was Martin. Why would he be following Martin? “Why?”
The dead man blinked. “Because he’s the one who killed me.”
Reya froze. That couldn’t be right. Martin was a good soul. You don’t just turn a good soul bad, it’s not that easy. Good will always fight back. “Are you sure? Maybe it was too dark—”
“He’s the one,” the man said with certainty.
He was telling the truth. They always did when they were dead. Uncertainty turned to dread. “Why would he kill you?”
“I told you, I saw them,” he told her. Then he pointed to the sky.
Them. The hellraiders.
“They took him away,” the man said. “They changed him.”
Oh, damn. Correction, you couldn’t turn a good soul bad unless you were Surt. That could mean that Martin was working with Surt. Or for him. Willingly? She didn’t know. Surt was powerful; he could have taken control of Martin’s mind and body. On the other hand, it definitely explained how Surt was keeping tabs on them.
Thane wasn’t going to like this. He loved Martin like a brother.
She turned her attention to the dead man. “Thank you for staying to help me. Where is your body?”
“In the Dumpster behind the bar,” he said simply. “No one’s found it yet. It might go to the dump.”
She’d make sure they discovered it and that he got a proper burial. It might be an empty shell, but it had once been a person and that meant something.
“You’re free to go, you know,” she told him. “I’ll take care of the killer.”
The man nodded absently. “Soon. I won’t miss it here.”
She felt sad for him. “None of it?”
His eyes were tired and weary. “No. This was a wasted life. I didn’t do what I was supposed to.”
She felt his pain and his disappointment. It was an awful feeling to know you had failed not only yourself, but the other people in your soul family who came here with you. It was worse than anything.
She put her hand on his arm. “You didn’t fail. In fact, you helped save the entire planet.”
He looked at her, unconvinced. “Seriously?”
“Yes,” she said with a smile. “You made the ultimate sacrifice—you gave your life. You did well. Your family will be so happy to see you.”
With that, he smiled. And then he walked away.
For a few moments, she sat there trying to decide what to do next. First, get Martin out the picture. Second, check out the next two sites. Third, save the planet.
No pressure there.
Thane watched her as she returned. “Everything okay?”
She wasn’t sure what to say. After all, Martin was right here. “Just needed to wake up a little.”
Martin said, “I’m going to help you search today. I have a car parked over there.”
Reya tried to find a way out, but it would look too suspicious if she refused. So much for step one. She was already in trouble. “Sounds great.”