At The Gates

Chapter Twenty

“You’re doing what?”

“I’m comin’ with ya’ll,” McConnell told me, his hillbilly accent twanging on all the wrong nerves.

My first thought was that he looked like shit. Not a doctor, though I’ve played one on many a closeted adventure, there wasn’t much of a medical legitimacy to my claim, but he didn’t look healthy to me.

Normally close to three hundred pounds of solid muscle, McConnell had lost a good twenty to thirty pounds of his bulk. His cheeks looked gaunt, his usual resemblance to Santa Claus now veering dangerously close to homeless veteran chic. His full white beard was scraggly and seemed as lifeless as he did. He stared at me through sunken blue eyes, no hint of the old fire in them.

Nearly eviscerated by Karra in her quest to resurrect her father, he had barely been patched up from that when Lilith stepped in. Like a puppet, she’d used him to spring a trap on me and her daughter, the ex-wife. It didn’t work out so well for poor Henry. His wound too much for Lilith’s magic to fix up, he popped a stitch or twelve trying to kill Veronica and I. Only a couple of weeks out from that, he couldn’t possibly be ready to use his magic, let alone go slugging it out with supernaturals.

Not that I cared about his well being or anything-the damn redneck could go suck a saddle horn-I just plain didn’t trust him. Given the opportunity, and there would be plenty of them, McConnell wouldn’t hesitate to add me to the body count if he felt he could get away with it. My hands would be full enough without having to worry about not-so-friendly fire.

That aside, even if he wasn’t looking for a chance to kill me before the world went boom, he was too beat up to be much of an asset. He couldn’t be relied on. Those things combined made him more of a liability than anything.

“Look McConnell, I-”

“Forget it, Trigg. You need me.”

Need is a very subjective word. “No one is gonna have time to hold your hand, McConnell.”

“This ain’t personal ‘tween us.” He stuck out a pale finger and poked me in the chest. “If this goes south, I wanna know everything possible was done to prevent it. Even beat to shit like I am, I can turn the tide if it’s there to be turned.”

Rahim leaned over my shoulder and whispered, his grumbled voice vibrating my ear. “He’s right, you know. Let him come along.”

Desperate for support, I looked to Poe. There wasn’t any to be found there. He shrugged and suddenly invested his attention in brushing the invisible lint from his sleeve.

“Fine, cowboy, but you better remember whose side you’re on. One wayward fireball singes so much as a single ball hair and I’m crawling up inside your belly and kicking your ass from the inside. We clear?”

He just laughed and I smiled right back, my thoughts on the magic-dampening manacles in my bag. I’d shut him down with them once, and I’d gladly do it again. This time, there wouldn’t be a reprieve.

The verbal cock fight over, Rahim zipped us off to meet with Scarlett and Katon.

Unannounced, we arrived just a little ways from where Katon and Scarlett were camped out, readying the troops. While I hadn’t expected wild cheers of adulation at our return, as much as they would have been appreciated, I certainly hadn’t expected a standing ovation.

An angry hum filled the air as everyone jumped to their feet and stared at us through narrow eyes. A merciless symphony of chambered rounds followed. Not fond of McConnell myself, I didn’t think he’d warrant that negative a reaction, and then it hit me. It wasn’t The Gray they were freaking out about, but my Care Bear companion.

“Whoa there, folks. It’s Rahim.” I gestured to the wizard turned werebear, stepping in front of him and raising my hands. His giant paws mimicked my motions behind me.

Katon’s disbelieving glare lasted until he looked into Rahim’s eyes and heard his bellowed voice. The snarl dropped from his lips and he waved the men down as he went to Rahim. The wizard slipped past me and met him halfway. Scarlett wiped at her eyes as Michael looked on in awe.

Rahim lowered his head and smiled broad, a gentle giant. “Good to see you, my friend.”

Katon laughed like a pardoned death row inmate, his voice cracking as he wrapped his arms around Rahim’s furry neck. “I–I-”

The wizard wrapped his arms around the enforcer and hefted him up into air like a doll, a rumbling chuckle bubbled from his ursine throat. “I thought so too. It was close, but it all worked out as you can see.” He set Katon down and posed, arching up to his full height.

Katon gave him an approving shake of his head. “It suits you.” The shadow of a thought passed over his face, obscuring his smile. “Can you change forms or are we going to have to widen all of the doors?”

“I believe I can revert to my old self, though I’ve yet to test it. Until then, it’s probably best for me to stay this way until I have the time to become comfortable with the lycanthropy. It’s not a field I’ve studied, certainly not this closely.”

As the two friends chatted, Rachelle slipped from the back ranks of DRAC’s forces and sidled up to Rahim. Her smile lit her face. The wizard, bowed low to her and opened his arms. With a giggle, she fell into them, burying her face in his fur.

“I’m so glad you’re okay. Abraham was heartbroken when you didn’t return, believing his vision had come true. He’ll be so pleased to see you.”

A pang of guilt wormed its way down my spine at her words. Rahim looked to me, his eyes pleading. It was too much. Never much of an actor, Keanu Reeves a master thespian in comparison, I walked away to keep from breaking down. Scarlett saw me and came over.

“You all right?”

I didn’t turn to face her. “Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just getting a little mushy round here.” My voice quavered and I hoped she didn’t notice.

She put her hand on my shoulder and turned me around, her narrowed eyes meeting mine. “What aren’t you telling me?”

What indeed. I got on my bullshit bike and started pedaling. “Azrael is working with the weres to tear down the Tree of Life.”

The suspicion on her face turned to disgust, shades of disappointment mingled in.

“He’s on his way to assault the Nephilim and claim the other key piece. After that, he threatened to come after DRAC; after you and Katon, Rachelle…” I left it at that.

A feral snarl flickered across her lips. “Let him come.”

Off the hook, I took a deep breath and let it out slow. “Don’t worry, cousin, we’re taking the fight to him.” Forcing a smile onto my face, I reached into my bag and drew out Everto Trucido. “I’ve got something that’ll help.”

Her eyes lit up as she snatched the sword from me. “Thank God. Where did you find it?” Like a kid at Christmas, she spun the blade over and over in her hands, examining every inch of it.

“Golden boy picked it up when he saved Rahim’s ass. It seems he’s one of the good guys after all.” For now, at least.

She grinned as she slid the sword into its sheath, her hand remaining on the pommel. “So, what’s the plan?”

“Let’s get everyone over here first.”

She grumbled but called out for the group to come over. Rahim separated from Rachelle, grateful relief etched into his face. Without a doubt, he felt just as guilty as I was about keeping Abraham’s death a secret.

Morbid as it was, I caught myself wishing Azrael would succeed, or maybe even McConnell would man up, and then our betrayal wouldn’t matter anymore. How pathetic is that?

No time for self-flagellation, as fun as it is, I laid out the general plan of attack. “Azrael isn’t gonna be expecting us, so the idea is to lay low until we have a shot to snatch the key pieces. He’s gonna be super pissed when he sees us, so I want everyone to stay out of his way as best you can. I’ll draw him off and let you deal with whoever ends up winning the tug-o-war.”

“You looking to get yourself killed, Frank?” Rahim asked, more than a hint of accusation in his voice. Scarlett stood behind him glaring. McConnell had a glimmer in his eye.

“Not particularly, no. Azrael has it in his head that butchering me goes against an oath he gave a long time back. While I figure he’ll get annoyed with me enough to void that agreement at some point, his possible hesitance might give us the time we need to pull something off.” Besides, I had a little surprise in store for old Grim.

“So in essence, the plan really hasn’t changed from the last one: grab the key and try to be the first into Heaven?” Katon asked as I nodded, passing him his sword to help soften the lack of a cohesive idea.

“With Rahim, Poe, and Santa Claus, we’re packing a little more firepower than we were before. If you guys can hold the gate while Scarlett contacts Uriel to shut it down, we might have a chance. With a little backup, maybe Uriel or Forcalor can spare a moment to try and rouse Metatron.”

Their eyes told me just how little hope they had.

“We all know we’re farting in the wind, but it’s all we’ve got. If something better presents itself, don’t hesitate to take it, but keep your eyes on the ball. If the bad guys get into Heaven, we’re done.” I handed Eve to Scarlett, then turned to Michael and Poe. “I want you two to keep an open channel with me, and keep Rachelle in the loop. If things change, I want to be able to redirect on the fly. Any questions?”

Stone-faced, they all looked at each other, then back to me. No one said anything.

“Okay then. Seats in the upright position, we’re ready for takeoff.” I looked to Rachelle and asked her to open a portal.

Once the shimmering blue settled, we were on our way back to Iran, and to the earth-side entrance to Eden. We were headed to war; a ragtag bunch of wizards, mentalists, mystic, vampires, demons and angels, along with a couple hundred humans with minimal powers but lots of guns.

It was like we were the first soldiers to step off the boat at Normandy. My breath held as we filed through the gate, there was a heaviness that pressed down overtop, weighing on me. Despite all the trials I’d been through, despite all the furious battles I’d managed to scrape through, there’d always been a glimmer of hope off in the distant horizon. I couldn’t see it now.

A tear ran cold down my cheek.