“What happens when Trent is a no-show?” Ty asked.
Key looked at Zee. “Can you send a text and make it look like it came from Ron Trent?”
Zee nodded.
“Send Trent’s assistant a text that says he’s been held up, but he’ll be here soon.”
“Won’t the president think it’s bizarre that his best friend isn’t with him right now? He’ll want to know where he’s held up, and it’ll mean a back-and-forth we can’t sustain.”
“Good point. Okay, skip the text. This is just going to be one of those times when a guy disappears for a while and no one knows where he is. It’ll work itself out when his body is found in the afternoon.”
Phoenix looked a little less fatalistic. “Then, after Eryx gets Jordan to Bucharest—”
“I’ll be at Erinýes, waiting,” Key interrupted.
They all stared at him. The last time the Mephisto went inside Erinýes was to rescue Jane, over a hundred years ago. They had been too late. Eryx waited for them to arrive, then slit her throat while Phoenix ran for her, screaming like a madman.
A cold, empty pall fell across his brothers, everyone dropping their eyes to the floor.
Except Sasha. In her usual way of innocently blundering in where no one else would go, she said, “Eryx won’t be expecting the Mephisto this time, so we have a good chance of rescuing Jordan.”
Phoenix swayed a little but said nothing, didn’t look up from the rug at their feet.
“I’ll go alone,” Key said. “I can get around the castle undetected, but all of us are bound to be noticed.”
“We’ll be cloaked,” Sasha said.
“Eryx’s staff and assistants are Skia, so a cloak won’t help.”
“Jax? Are you going to let him go alone?”
His brother had no expression on his face. “It’s not a matter of letting him, Sasha. It’s his call. And he’s right. Alone, he has a chance of stealing her. With all of us there, it could mean …” He stopped and shot a quick glance at Phoenix.
“If I’m not back in Colorado by dawn, with Jordan,” Key said into the pregnant silence, “it means she’s dead and I’ve gone to Kyanos.”
He disappeared, but didn’t go to Romania right away. Instead, he popped himself to the Central Hall and looked in the West Bedroom, which was generic, then the East Bedroom, which he knew must be Jordan’s. There was a giant bulletin board on one wall, and a collection of framed photos of her family and friends on the other. He needed something of hers to prove that he’d been here, that he wasn’t aligned with Eryx, just in case she tried to run from him.
He moved around the room quickly, then noticed a pitiful-looking stuffed rabbit slouched against her pillow. As he picked it up, he wondered why she kept something so ragged and old? Surrounded by the scent of bluebells, he held the soft, pathetic thing and looked down at its missing eye, the stitching coming loose around its neck, and wondered: If Jordan Ellis, daughter of a president, child of a wealthy family, would keep something this old and tattered because she felt some strange sense of human affection for it, was it possible she’d overlook what he was and keep him around as well?
Tucking the ragged toy into the breast pocket inside his trench coat, he laughed at himself.
Jordan started when she heard what sounded like an annoying game-show buzzer. Eryx reached into the armrest of his chair, withdrew a cell phone, and bent his head to read the screen. Evidently a text message, and not good news. He scowled, and when he looked up at her, she expected to die immediately. He replaced the phone, then turned toward his minions, whom she’d begun to think of as Smelly and Stinky. “Carla says the Mephisto have altered our plans. She was in the residence living room when they showed up and threw a freeze.”
Carla? Was he talking about übernice Carla, who worked for the press secretary?
“We were so careful,” Stinky said. “How did your brothers find out?”
Eryx had brothers? There were more like him? God in Heaven, humanity was doomed.
“I don’t know, but they interrupted Ellis’s conversion and took down Ron Trent.” He stared at her from those horrible black eyes and said with dull finality, “You’re about to die, so make your peace with God.” He glanced at Stinky. “Tell Bruce to take us down to ten thousand feet, then throw her off the plane.” He stood and turned away. “Keep some of her clothing as proof we had her. I may be able to salvage the situation and convince Ellis myself, and he’ll be more amenable if he’s got nothing left to lose.” He walked to the back of the plane and took a bottle of water from the galley. Smelly and Stinky remained seated.
Do whatever it takes to stay alive. If she could keep him talking, it’d buy time.
“Is Ron Trent dead?” she asked.
“I’m certain he wishes he was,” Eryx replied, “but no, he’s not dead. The Mephisto have taken him to Hell on Earth.”
She didn’t really care, because all she could think about was dying, but she wanted to keep him talking, so she asked, “The Mephisto? Hell on Earth?”
“I have six younger brothers,” he said quietly, staring down at the label on the bottle in his hand, “collectively known as the Mephisto. Hell on Earth is within this physical realm, but not of the world. It lies miles beneath the surface.”
“And that’s where your brothers took Mr. Trent?”
“Yes.”
Maybe he’d let her go to the bathroom. She looked toward the door beyond the galley. Was that the bathroom? Maybe it was a bedroom. Whatever it was, she could lock herself in there. If he or his minions couldn’t get the door open, he’d have to wait her out. The plane would eventually run low on fuel, and they couldn’t fly around forever. Maybe when they landed, she could get away from them, somehow, and scream for help.
He was staring at her. “It’s impossible to escape, Jordan. Even if you could get away from me, I have the ability to move through any obstruction.”
Was she that obvious? She looked down at her hands, gripping her thighs, her mind constantly imagining what it would be like to fall ten thousand feet into the ocean. Would she pass out before she hit the water? She’d die on impact. Wouldn’t she? Oh, God, she hoped so. Drowning would be so much worse because it would take longer. It would be horror like nothing else to be out there in the middle of the ocean, treading water until she was too exhausted to stay afloat.
She began to cry, more afraid than she’d believed possible, close to hyperventilating, her mind filled with a thousand memories, colliding against one another while a frantic voice screamed from deep within, Help me, God! I don’t want to die!
“If you will pledge your soul to me, Jordan, I’ll let you live.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Your choice.” He said to Stinky, “Tell Bruce to change course to London. By the time you land, they’ll have investigated every plane that left Washington since she was taken and figured out this one is owned by one of the Red Out people. They’ll arrest you. Remember, you’re only the stooges in charge of the abduction and murder. You’re to pin the plan on the Texas militia.”
“What will happen to us?”
“You’ll be executed, certainly.”
Instead of arguing, or trying to save himself, Stinky merely nodded before he got up, went to the front of the plane, and opened the door to the cockpit.
Smelly stood and moved close, his rank odor nearly suffocating her. “Take off your sweater.”
Like she was going to go meekly, a lamb to the slaughter? “You take it off.”
He did, with relative ease, despite how hard she fought. Her legs were still hobbled, making the struggle worse. Breathing rapidly, she sat there in just her bra and jeans, crying, and silently asked God for a miracle.
Startling her, Eryx rushed toward her, and she cringed, expecting him to hit her. Instead, he went to one knee and reached for her, his eyes on her breasts. Oh, God, why? She squeezed her eyes shut while he ran his hot hand across her rib cage, beneath her right breast.
/>
“Is this a tattoo?”
She opened her eyes and saw he was staring with total fascination at her birthmark. “No.”
“You’ve had this your entire life?”
She nodded, sucking in deep breaths, for once glad she had a bizarre birthmark. She never wore two-piece bathing suits because it was so weird, a tiny, swirly A, surrounded by what looked like sunbeams.
“Anabo,” he whispered. “You’re Anabo.”
She wasn’t anything but scared to death.
Smelly was there, staring at the A, looking confused. “What does it mean?”
Eryx took the seat across from her again, still staring at her birthmark. “It means you should give her back the sweater.”
Like a robot, Smelly did just that.
Not sure what was happening, or why, Jordan slipped the sweater over her head, pushed her arms into the sleeves, and hugged herself while she watched Eryx.
He appeared to be lost in thought. After several long moments, he met her eyes and said, “You can relax, Jordan. You’re not going to die.”
“I don’t understand. If I’m Anabo, what difference does it make?”
“It’s not just that you’re Anabo. It’s that I found you first, before my brothers.”
“You’re not making any sense.” Frustration and fear made her cry harder. She’d been inches from death at the hands of a guy from Hell. Now he was looking at her like she was a winning lottery ticket.
Eryx went to the galley and returned with a Coke in a can. He held it out to her, but she was shaking too hard to hold it. With an impatient sigh, he set it in the cup holder of her armrest, empty since Smelly had taken the whiskey away.
He took his seat, then said solemnly, “Before I became immortal, I was very close to my brothers, especially the next in line, Kyros, who we called Key. We all knew we were fated to die and come back, but I also knew that when we died, we’d lose whatever light existed in us. I wanted to save my younger brothers from what I was certain would happen to me, but I couldn’t pray for help because neither God nor Lucifer knew we existed. The only one on Kyanos who could get their attention was my mother. I asked her to pray for me, for my brothers, but she said God couldn’t hear her as long as she was behind the mists of Kyanos. I knew then that the only way to make God and Lucifer aware of our existence was to kill her. On my eighteenth birthday, I smothered her in her sleep, went to the cliffs, and jumped.”
An image of her mother floated across her conscience: so still, thin, and pale, every breath painful, every last moment of life a prison of suffering. Every hour, she asked God to take her, to let her die. Dad broke down and had to leave the room. It was Jordan who’d held Mom’s hand while she left this world for the next. She had been fourteen years old, but the enormity of her mother’s death aged her. After that, nothing was the same. That anyone would kill his mother … it didn’t compute. “How could you do that?”
“You could say it was my last act of compassion, sacrificing my mother for my brothers’ immortal souls. It worked. The release of her spirit made God and Lucifer aware of them, of what they faced if something wasn’t done. For me, it was too late. I was lost.”
Tears continued to drip onto her jeans. Through no fault of his own, he was a monster, a freak of Hell without a soul.
“With immortality came the ability to move around the world with just a thought. In the beginning, I didn’t know where I was, but I found people, lots of them, and it didn’t take long to cultivate followers. I had a certain power, a charisma some found irresistible.”
Irresistible? How could anyone see past those horrible, dead eyes?
“Lucifer was aware when I gained another soul, knew what it meant to him in the long run. To prevent me from collecting more, he and God came to an understanding about my brothers. When they turned eighteen and jumped to immortality, God blessed them, allowing them to keep the light of our mother in their souls. In return, Lucifer promised they would spend their days hunting my followers. The mortals die when they’re sent to Hell on Earth, but their souls are trapped there, a loss for me. The immortals live, but their existence is horrific.” He leveled a sober gaze at her. “I granted immortality to Ron Trent six months ago.”
No wonder Mr. Trent seemed so different. He’d been her dad’s friend for as long as Jordan could remember, but lately it seemed like all they did was argue.
“How did you feel about Ron Trent?”
“I was afraid of him.”
“You feel the threat of the lost souls and immortals because you’re not like ordinary humans. I’m guessing you have a gift for making friends. You attract people.”
What had Matthew said? “It’s whatever’s inside you that makes everybody want to hang with you.” She didn’t get it, had no idea why being Anabo set her apart from anyone else.
“You can’t fathom what lies within other humans. They fight temptation, every day, every minute. Your father is a perfect example. He’s a good man with noble intentions, but he’s in way over his head, surrounded by people he doesn’t realize have a different agenda. They’ve helped get him into trouble, and he’s close to seeing no way out, no possible recourse for the United States.”
“And you have all the answers?”
“I have solutions.”
“That work to your advantage.” She was overwhelmed with longing for her father.
“Unfortunately, my brothers somehow discovered my plan and interfered. I may have temporarily lost the president as a follower, but in a weird twist of fate, I now have an Anabo.”
She felt as if her skin would slide from her bones and land in a heap of despair on the carpet beneath her chair.
“In the end, he’ll give in. Every human, except the Anabo, will turn his back on God if the temptation is great enough. Your father prays for help, but in God’s usual way of ignoring humanity, divine intervention won’t be forthcoming.”
“God doesn’t ignore humanity. He just doesn’t interfere.”
“Then of what use is he? Your father will eventually understand this and agree to follow me.”
“He’d never willingly turn his back on God. If he ever agrees, it will be because you coerced him, or tricked him.”
“It’s not within my power to do that, Jordan. If a human isn’t sincere in his desire to follow, it can’t happen.”
“Then why did you kidnap me if it wasn’t to coerce him?”
“To the world, Red Out kidnapped you. Ron Trent was to use them as an example of the resources available to your father. If he’s with me, he can stage events to sway public opinion and eventually lead people to where I want them.”
“Why would you think he’d hand his soul over to the guy who kidnapped his daughter?”
Eryx was smug. “I’m banking on President Ellis instead of your father. He’s painted himself into a corner and sees no way out. I’ll show him a way, and he’ll choose saving his presidency over righteous anger.”
Jordan felt cold all over. Dad was in major trouble, she knew, and everyone had a breaking point. She had hundreds of e-mails from suicidal teens to prove it. “Do you think you can convince me to follow you?”
“No, but you’ll stay with me.”
Everything he’d said was leading to this. She saw that now. Her fear of death was gone, and in its place was the realization that there really might be something worse than dying. Hugging herself more tightly, she asked, “What do you want from me?”
His lifeless eyes moved across her slowly, as if he were checking her out. “I want you to have my children.”
God help her. “Why me?” Her voice came out in a whisper. “Why not one of your followers?”
“Neither I nor my brothers can have offspring with an ordinary human. An Anabo, if she becomes immortal, can bear our sons. We all want extensions of ourselves, the better to fight the enemy, but there are so very few Anabo … You see the problem.”
She swallowed and leaned forward to stare at her boots, not su
re if she was more grossed out or embarrassed. She had to figure out a way to get away from him. She had to escape. There wasn’t anything she could do at the moment, but as soon as they landed, she’d take stock and make a plan.
He was so still, as if he was holding his breath. “A child of ours would have amazing capabilities. He could go my way, or he could go yours. I’ll ensure, from birth, he goes mine.”
“He?”
“Only a son can become what I need.”
She didn’t know why a girl wouldn’t fit what he wanted, but she didn’t care. She would never have his children, boys or girls. “How could you take the soul of a baby? How could he be sincere?”
“He’ll grow up with me, see what I plan for the world, for Heaven and Hell. He’ll become an immortal, but unlike any other. Powerful and influential, he’ll have the light of the Anabo inside of him. People will follow him anywhere.”
Every cell in her body revolted so violently, she was dizzy. Black spots floated across her vision, and the next thing she knew she was lying on the long bench seat, Smelly trying to pour water down her throat. Choking and coughing, she shoved it away. “Get out of my face!”
“So the Anabo has a temper,” Eryx said, his face replacing Smelly’s. “I realize you don’t like the idea of giving me a son, but if your only other choice is death, why not accept it?”
Closing her eyes so she wouldn’t have to look at him, she said, “You killed Matthew and tried to force my dad to turn his back on God. Twenty minutes ago, you planned to drop me into the ocean. You’re evil worse than Satan, but you expect me to have your baby? You may be lost, your soul as dark as midnight, but you’re not stupid. Why would you delude yourself into believing that I’d agree to it?”
“Why would you delude yourself into thinking that I care if you agree?”
Her eyes flew open, and she saw the look of triumph on his incredible face. “You’re a monster.”
“Am I, Jordan? How do you know human beings wouldn’t be happier if they didn’t have to try for Heaven, if they knew Hell was all that waited for them at the end of life? No one could pass judgment. Think of the wars fought in God’s name. Take away the promise of Heaven and nobody’s right, nobody’s wrong. My son will go out in the world and preach a new gospel. People will listen and follow. The world will change, in some ways for the better.”