Part 10 (1/2)

”He's the only one among us who has not been fully compromised. Therefore, his judgment is sound. He is seasoned, his many issues are resolved. There is not much within him for the darkness to dredge from his soul to turn his mind. His code is to serve; his life is one of selfless commitment to humankind. There is nowhere to hide from this, nowhere to run. He will accompany you to wherever you must go.”

”What do you suggest, Father? Beyond the obvious,” Carlos said calmly, not opening his eyes. ”We can't stay here quarantined if we have to move around the world to find the Chairman and Lilith. We're all walking biohazards. Every hotel we check into, restaurant we eat at, plane we fly on, limo we take, we're potentially b.u.mping people in airports, train stations... How do we move without spreading this s.h.i.+t?”

”Live your lives as normally as you can and find the antidote... close the portals. Every human being may potentially be already infected; it could be dormant and resident everywhere worldwide. That's the issue; we don't know, because they have been moving about as you indicated.”

”Then why don't we do this all together, Father, one last time, like old times?” Carlos asked, beginning to pace. ”If it doesn't matter now that this s.h.i.+t spread, then, what difference will it make if we're all strapped and go out in a blaze as one?”

”Because,” the elderly cleric said, his voice a shaky murmur, ”those of us affected earlier are already beginning to show deteriorating signs of change.”

Damali and Carlos stared at each other as the mute team pa.s.sed terror-stricken glances.

”We're sending you an unaffected spiritual warrior... who, by the time he reaches you, may have been b.u.mped or touched just handing his plane ticket to someone. It doesn't matter. But for the moment, he's the one that is strongest.”

”How much time we talking, Father?” Rider asked, looking at Damali.

”Your team has maybe thirty days until it begins to implode like all the others. We aren't concerned any longer about the spread-that's imminent, whether your team does it, or it happens organically from others. What has to happen is you all must work quickly while you have time and your minds are still functioning correctly. Stay steeped in prayer; if you can find the book, all the better. That way, if any of us must be put down... then at least we'll know we'll see each other one day in Heaven.”

”My baby girl,” Inez said through a hard swallow. ”My momma...” Her voice trailed off with a thick, stifled sob.

”Oh, G.o.d, 'Nez,” Mike whispered, holding her tighter and rubbing her back. ”I didn't know I was a carrier, I was just trying to-”

”It wasn't your fault, man,” Rider said, and stood. ”Wasn't n.o.body's fault.”

”Listen to Rider,” Father Patrick replied in a gentle voice.

”We'll find the book and the antidote. We'll take Lilith's head off her shoulders, trust me,” Damali said, her hardened gaze roving the team. ”My people ain't going out like this.”

Carlos nodded. ”Not on our watch.”

As soon as her defeated team waved good-bye, Damali flipped open her cell phone. She had walked out of the house so upset that she hadn't even spoken to Carlos. Motion had jettisoned her through the door. The need for head s.p.a.ce to think, develop a strategy, and get in touch with her Neteru Queens had put rigid purpose into every footfall. She had blindly gotten into the car, fired up the engine, and had driven off, heading back to her house. The blackened spot in her yard had been her destination. She had to get more info. Carlos's mind was still murky and polluted with alcohol residue. A mind lock was impossible. Her fingers. .h.i.t speed dial.The first time she placed the call, it went right to Carlos's voice mail. She tried again, even though the family house was right down the road, but that was the last place she wanted to be. She knew what would happen. Going there was like getting trapped in quicksand. She couldn't stand around consoling people or wringing her hands. This man's system needed to be purged, he had to be clear-they had work to do. On the third attempt, he answered.

”Be ready in twenty minutes and pack a bag. I'll meet you by the side of the road.”

”I know this sounds crazy, but I don't feel so good, D, no bulls.h.i.+t. But give me a half hour, and I'll be ready.”

”Peace.” She flipped her cell phone closed and leaned back against the seat, gripping the wheel.

Carlos stood on the side of the road away from the house, wearing a faded blue s.h.i.+rt, old jeans, scuffed-up Tims, and dark shades, looking like a bewildered hitchhiker. All Damali did was lean over and open the pa.s.senger side door. He jumped into her Hummer, dropped his duffel bag at his feet, and closed his eyes.

”We need to be one team, gotta lead this with authority,” Damali announced in a sharp tone. ”There's too much at stake for you not to be straight. Your system has to be righteous and on fire. So, you're coming with me so we can do this by the book. Mar is gonna be holding down the fort at the house, as soon as she and 'Bazz get back.”

”I think I'm gonna throw up,” he said, s.h.i.+elding the sun from his eyes beyond his dark gla.s.ses.

She surveyed his color. The man was practically gray. Served his dumb a.s.s right. Damali pulled away from the side of the road and drove back to her house. ”Did you eat anything today?”

Carlos shook his head no. ”Don't mention food.”

She was beyond through.

Damali turned off her motor with att.i.tude and jumped out of the car. She rounded it, flung open the pa.s.senger-side door, and stepped back, arms folded. ”If you're gonna barf, do it in the dirt, not on my leather interior.”

Carlos nodded, leaned over, and obliged her.

”I've got mouthwash, toothpaste, hot water, and towels inside. Some roadie. d.a.m.n.” She strode ahead of him, swinging open the screen and inside steel door so hard that both slammed.

This was why she wasn't trying to get married. At a time like this, and he was sick from overindulging with his boy? For better or for worse-yeah, she could tolerate vampire status as worse, more so than general-purpose man-stupid. Being a vampire was a condition, like a disease, but this mess didn't make no sense! For richer or poorer-h.e.l.l, she'd gone out with this fool when he was scuffling in East L.A. and she didn't have a dime, and was happier. Forsaking all others-s.h.i.+t, she'd only been with him. Till death do you part-shooot, she stayed with his behind even after he'd died, and even slept with him, so whateva. He had some nerve challenging her commitment. And this yang wasn't how he needed to be handling his business.

Damali yanked down fresh towels, an unopened toothbrush, and a bottle of mouthwash from the linen closet and thrust it at Carlos as he slowly came down the hall.

”Thanks, baby. I really appreciate this.”

She didn't say a word as she watched him meander to the bathroom and begin stripping off his clothes. No, no, no, see, this was another reason why she wasn't even trying to get married. Yeah, when it was all romantic in the castle, it sounded good. But the old dolls were right. Once everyday reality hit, and all the magic was gone, the wife would be the one picking up funky-drunk clothes and whatnot, when there were serious matters at hand. Uh-uh. And, yeah, they had money, but maid service wasn't an option. It wasn't like they could just hire some innocent lady to come in daily to sweep up, pick up, dust and polish around weapons, and do toilets with the undercover lifestyle they lived. She hadn't been able to do that in L.A. when they did have a compound.

All this bulls.h.i.+t, when they had really tough situations to attend to? And he had been whining about not liking his fate? She'd give her blade arm to go back to the old compound days of just fighting regular demons, and being able to quell a night-crawler disturbance by the easy swing of a sword.

He didn't like the old mundane arrangement? Everybody had a round of ch.o.r.es-but as a wife, she knew how the thing would go! Just like all of a sudden, Big Mike had been acting like his legs were broken now that Inez was putting plates in front of him and doing his dishes. The new terror at hand would change all that, she bet. Like how Shabazz took liberties with Marlene, and Berkfield was the worst offender of them all. Yeah, everybody just got a wake-up call.

Before this recent serious turn of events, all Jose had to do was look toward the fridge, and Juanita had a beer in hand, das.h.i.+ng in his direction... and poor Krissy had been spoiling J.L. rotten. That's why she had to get the h.e.l.l out of that house. The dynamic had changed. It was like s.e.x made people stooopid! All bulls.h.i.+t aside, when it came down to a firefight, and it got real, wasn't no gender in the game-so why in the h.e.l.l should it be all rosy-cozy during so-called normal hours of operation? The only ones who had sense were the brothers who weren't getting any. Maybe the clerics in the cloister had the right idea.

Damali cringed as she heard Carlos upchuck again. For a minute she wished he could still wave his hand, snap his fingers, and change his environment. Cleaning the toilet behind some man was not her role as the Neteru, and the wife gig wasn't all that it was cracked up to be. No, why trade in a perfectly reasonable t.i.tle to be a babysitter, nursemaid, chambermaid, and cook?

There were no words. She'd hand his a.s.s a mop, bucket, sponge, and some Lysol and be done with it.

Damali went outside and leaned against the deck rail. Some first weekend alone. All because she'd held her ground, and was sick of his tight jaws, bad vibes, and att.i.tudes for the past several months, he gone and gotten himself totaled? Right now he was useless.

She'd been very understanding, allowing him to grieve, go through all the changes necessary, readjust to the group situation.

She'd practically kissed his behind to keep the peace. But did that matter? No. He'd allowed Yonnie to take him out and get him wasted like that, with so much pending? Oh, so how was he gonna act when they had a really big fight? The Armageddon was about to kick off any day now; in fact, it might have already started. Carlos had to be razor sharp, and ready to rumble when the going got tough. That was what was panfrying her brain.

What he'd been sulking about had been relatively minor, truth be told. But was this how it was gonna be? What had possessed her to go get that man? She could have handled this as team leader herself. The next time, if there was a next time for her to feel compa.s.sion toward a dumb b.a.s.t.a.r.d, she'd kick herself first.

”You okay?” she yelled back into the house.

”Yeah,” she heard him yell back.

”Whateva,” she muttered and stared out at the canyon.

The late afternoon sun had begun to color the horizon burnt orange and deep, pastel rose. Thick c.u.mulus cloud formations soaked in the hues within a shocking blue sky.

”What am I doing out here on Indian reservation lands?” she whispered, briefly closing her eyes. ”I should be staking Lilith right now in whatever hole she slid into.”

Damali opened her eyes, expecting to see the same landscape before her, but instead, she was looking at herself earlier that morning.

It was disorienting and fascinating as she stared back up to the deck from a bird's-eye vantage point. She saw herself holding a mug of tea, nursing it slowly, Jose's blanket around her shoulders, the fragrant steam curling up from the mug under her nose. The surreal blended with the real as she remained still and watched. Then the steam turned dark and angry, became billowing black smoke that entered her nostrils, violating them, knocking her head back... and when her head lowered again to take another sip, her eyes were not her own.

”D, you got a bucket?”

Damali snapped out of the vision and placed her hand over her heart. ”Yeah, I got it,” she yelled back, and began to run toward the door.

Something definitely wasn't right. These bouts of rage, weird energy, even the feelings she'd had while Jose was with her... and his very sensual dance down the line of propriety. No. Something wasn't right. She knew she'd been affected. Maybe Carlos had been, too. She had to lay off the rage at him, become centered as one. Father Patrick tried to warn her, warn them all, but it was such a very subtle change that it was hard to know what was justified and real, and what was not.