Ru drew her phone out of her pocket and snapped a few pictures, hoping she got enough of the details that Lyric would be able to use them to do some more research. “Thank you,” she said, reaching over and lightly touching her mom’s arm with one hand as she slid her phone back into her pocket with the other.
“Certainly. I hope that it helps you find the portals, Ru.”
“I wish we had time to sit and chat,” Ru replied as her mother took her hand between hers. “But I think we should go. I know you feel confident that Nat means you no harm, but I don’t see the reason in bringing him here to find out if we can avoid it.”
“I understand,” Maggie replied. “Besides, you’ll want to make sure you don’t miss the tide. If you get stuck on the island, there likely won’t be any place for all of you to sleep.”
Laughing, Ru said, “You don’t think we’ll fit
The view from Ru’s hotel room wasn’t too shabby. While she didn’t have a direct view of anything too important, that she knew of anyway, off in the distance she could see the London Bridge and some tall buildings, which looked breathtaking all lit up at night. She could’ve sat and stared out the window all night if a knock at the door hadn’t interrupted her.She had a feeling it was Cutter before she even went to open it. It had been evident all the way back from Holy Island that he wanted to speak with her, but it had been too much for Ru. She’d laid down in the back seat the best she could with her seatbelt on and fallen asleep pretty quickly after they’d made it across the causeway. When they’d reached the hotel, she had gone to her room, saying she’d order something from room service for dinner. The night before, she’d thought it might be possible her mother could be returning back to this rented room with her. T
Ru had seen Cutter shocked before, but nothing like this. She thought if his eyebrows raised any higher, they would end up on the back of his head. “How is that possible?”“Whoever thought Larkin had told her was mistaken.”“No, but… she…. We knew that…. Everyone said….”“I know what we thought, Cutter, but she really doesn’t know. She said she’d do some searching, but for now, my mom is not the key to the portals.”“Shit….” The word was whispered so quietly, she almost didn’t make it out.“The good news is, there’s no reason to tell Sky that we even found her.”“I guess so.” Clearly, that was not consolation enough. “I just can’t believe it. Damn. I really thought she’d know.”“I’m sure she didn’t. I think she would’ve told me if she knew and jus
The sand beneath her feet felt soft and squishy. The water was warm as it lapped against her ankles and then retreated only to come and kiss her calves before darting back into the sea. The sun was high but it wasn’t particularly hot, and she knew immediately this must be a dream of some sort, though she wasn’t sure if she’d left her body. It couldn’t have been a memory, though, because Ru’d never walked along a beach like this before. The sea was a tranquil turquoise and the white sand led off into a mountain range covered in emerald green. Bouquets of flowers bloomed from the plants both in front of her and to her right, though they were a far distance from the string of footprints she was laying down, letting the pristine beach fill up most of her field of vision. The scent of the ocean, mingled with coconut and pineapple, was a sure sign she was either fast asleep or had just knocked over a display in a Bath and Body Works store. It smelled divi
It was almost impossible to avoid his eyes, or the sincerity in his voice. He sounded as if he was genuinely scared for her safety, though there was a nagging in the back of her brain reminding her that he was the enemy. He could’ve been making this argument to avoid his own destruction. “I’m sorry, Nat. I don’t really have a lot of control over what the team decides to do.” It wasn’t true, and she could see in the way that he arched his eyebrows that he wasn’t buying it. She wanted to say more, to attempt to justify her reasoning, but she knew for certain now that someone was approaching. She turned her head to look behind them and saw a speck of a silhouette in the distance, gaining quickly. “You need to go.”Nat could see it, too. He stared for a long moment before he returned his attention to her. “Just think about it, Ru. Think about your father. He may never be able to get out of his predicament if
“Mitto ego te ad vidisse igneos puteos horrendam daemonium de inferno!” Ru Roberts repeated the phrase over and over again under her breath as she paced back and forth across the floor of her bedroom in Angel Grove, the ancient wooden floorboards squeaking in protest at each step. She’d been practicing that phrase, along with the other two Rider Michaels had taught her on the long flight from London to La Guardia Airport the night before. She alternated between them, making sure she had all of them down before they left for their mission later that evening. She knew this particular incantation meant a captured Reaper would be sent to Hell but not destroyed. There was another incantation for that, which went, “Infernus et perdere faciam te in nomine Domini,” and she was told this is the one they usually used, unless of course they had a particular reason why they would want to question the Reaper. Cutter Michaels, another Keeper, and Ri
Angel Grove was well over two hundred years old. The house had been constructed just before the Revolutionary War when Keepers realized there was a portal in the area and that they needed to be nearby so as to control the flow of Reapers from one world to the next. They had thought for many years that the portal lay dormant, yet about the time that Sky, Lyric’s sister and their lifeline to the realm where an entirely different group of Keepers operated sort of behind the scenes, instructing teams of Keepers on Earth, found out that there was a possibility Ru was in New York, activity around Reaper’s Hollow began to increase. That was one of the reasons Cutter had determined it was worth it to look at Reaper’s Hollow more closely, which had led him to Ruin Roberts, fourth grade teacher at Thomas Elementary School, Keeper of the Light, lost to the Keepers as a small child when her mother fell in love with a Reaper and was nearly destroyed by the Archangel Raphael. It
Ru had only seen manifestation once, when Rider had shown up in her bedroom in Los Angeles after she’d had a run-in with Nat. She’d never even tried herself. “You think Sky will go to my mom in person so that she can physically take her out—but we can get there first if we manifest and warn her—and what else?” “Ward Sky off, hopefully,” Lyric explained. “Maybe if I get there before they take your mom, I can talk some sense into my sister. Although, she’s never been that sensible.” The last part was a mumble, barely audible, and it didn’t make Ru feel better. “So… we need to get over there as soon as we can,” Cutter said, his tone even and soothing. “That way, your mom will have a fighting chance.” “But I have no idea how to do that,” Ru reminded them. “I know,” Cutter nodded. “And hopefully, I can show you. But if you can’t do it, Ru, we won’t have any choice but to go without you.” “Go without me?” she repeated. “No, I need to be there. My mo
A wave of confusion washed over Ru as she realized what she was looking at. She was standing in an unfamiliar church nave, looking at the backs of rows of pews. Only she wasn’t exactly standing there. Looking down, she could see her feet weren’t quite touching the floor. It wasn’t as if she was hovering, exactly, but she couldn’t make contact with the wooden beams either. A quick glance around told her no one else was in the room, which she was happy for; she may have somehow figured out how to get her spirit to manifest thousands of miles across the ocean on a remote island, but she had no idea how to prevent people from seeing her either.There was also the problem that she still had no idea where her mother was. Before she could decide what to do, she heard footsteps behind her and turned around. Luckily, she didn’t have much of a chance to think about how to do that and it had naturally happened. Pretty good for someone who wasn’t actua
One year later… “All right, boys and girls. That is enough for today. We will pick up with Ramona’s story tomorrow afternoon. For now, go ahead and get your backpacks on, and let’s line up at the door.” Groans filled the air as twenty-two fourth graders followed their teacher’s directions despite wanting to hear what happened next in the story. They stood and walked to the cubbies where their backpacks were hung and politely took turns getting their belongings before making an orderly line at the door. Ru took a deep breath and looked lovingly at her students. Even though she’d made the same prediction every year since she started teaching, she had had a feeling about this group of kids from the very beginning. And she was right. They were the best group of fourth graders she’d ever taught. The bell rang and she wished them all a good weekend, gathering up the four students who went to daycare and walking with th
“I need to face him,” Cutter said. “And you need to get to the portal.” Ru craned her neck around the tree. While there were still some Reapers near the entryway, for the most part, the Keepers were able to set up a perimeter around the portal. If she was going to go, now was the time. “Okay. Be careful,” she said. Realizing that Cutter was about to take on one of her assignments made Ru feel uncomfortable, particularly since she knew what the end result would be, and despite the bargain she’d almost just made with the devil, she still didn’t want to see Nat destroyed. But she had to push those thoughts out of her head. She quickly kissed Cutter’s cheek and scurried off to the next tree closest to the portal. Nat saw her now, and he began to move in her direction, using his scythe to cut down an attacking Keeper as if he were nothing. Ru swallowed hard and steeled herself, looking for the next place to hide. If she used her powers on Nat, there was a chance she would
A Reaper stepped through the portal opening. Tall, with ebony hair, he wore the long black cloak she expected to see, a scythe in his hand. The man quickly ran to the left of the portal, and then another Reaper appeared on his heels. Dressed identically, with the same weapon, he ran to the right. Then, another sprang forth, and another. Ru watched, her eyes wide as the Reapers continued to pour out of the portal, as if Hell had spilled an inkwell and the thick, black substance was covering the entire earth. “Holy Hell.” It was hard to pull her eyes off of the sight, but she turned to see Cutter standing next to her. “We’ll never be able to take all of them.” It was Ivy, and Ru glimpsed a look of defeat on her face as she came to a stop behind Cutter. “We have to try,” he said. Ru could see the resolve in his face and noticed his hands clenched into fists at his sides. “Ivy and I will hold them off while you concentrate on the portal.” There ha
The demons were up again, too, and the battles picked up where they had left off. Everyone else was engaged, which left Ru to face this Goliath all by herself. “Kill it! Kill it!” Rider shouted at her as streaks of blue wrapped around the snake’s midsection. He seemed to be closing in on his prey, and Ru tried not to let the sight distract her. He was right. It would be best to take out the giant before he was fully formed. With a deep breath, Ru drew upon all of the strength she had inside of her and aimed her blue light at the giant. It was difficult to figure out where to aim since he was only out of the portal up to his shins. Still, she hoped it would be enough. Perhaps it was because of his size, but she felt the need to shout even louder this time as she recited the incantation almost word for word along with Rider who was also sending the snake into oblivion. “Infernus et perdere faciam te in nomine Domini!” This time, Ru didn’t feel as confi
There it was, right in front of her, the portal. The final one. And all she had to do was raise her hands and say the incantation. All of this would be over. If Thanatos wasn’t here, she couldn’t kill him. Surely, Raphael would understand that. She’d just close the portal and sneak away, leaving that confrontation for another day. Except she knew it wasn’t that easy. Just because she didn’t see him didn’t mean he wasn’t there. And even before she could raise her hands, the pull from inside of her became overwhelming, causing Ru to double over. The air between the edges of the portal continued to ripple and wave, and Ru recognized the sensation from both of the previous portals. Something was coming. She looked at Cutter and for the first time she could remember, she saw fear in his eyes. “They’re coming,” she whispered. He opened his mouth to say something, but before anything came out, a rush of heat shot out of the portal opening. Both of them instinctively
“Well, that doesn’t even make sense.” Lyric rolled her eyes. “If you’re in charge, then why do you have to do what someone else told you?” Flint launched into a defense of his decision, but Ru shouted over him. “Flint! Look, the reason their numbers were so low at the beginning of the battle is obvious, isn’t it? It’s not because this portal doesn’t mean anything to them—it’s because it means everything to them. They’re not on the battlefield yet. They will come through the portal!” She had him by the shoulders, which caused him to jump backward, shaking himself free, and once Ru finished her statement she took a step back as well. “What? No,” Flint argued. “They’re not going to send them through the portal. That would be suicide. They’d have to come through a small opening into enemy controlled territory.” “Yeah, into a stream of five whole enemy fighters who cannot possibly hold them all off,” Rider reminded him. “You have to close in behind us.” Ru
Aokigahara sprawled in front of her like the untamed wild it was, trees encroaching into the neighboring farmlands and open spaces as if the forest insisted on reclaiming what used to be hers. From this direction, it was difficult to tell where the forest began and civilization ended, though Ru thought for certain she’d know when she crossed the line. She stifled a yawn and kept moving forward, one boot at a time, toward what might be her very last mission, if she had her way. Though she had fallen asleep for a few hours, for the most part, she’d gotten her wish and was able to stay up most of the night, with Cutter’s help, and the activity he’d chosen to occupy her certainly didn’t make her feel less worn out. The few hours she had spent in oblivion had been dreamless, as far as she knew. At least, if there had been dreams, they had been unmemorable. Her friends surrounded her as they made their way into the forest. Cutter was in front of her, Rider b
Navigating airports was hard enough for Ru when she was in countries where most everyone spoke English. Flying to Japan would’ve been completely overwhelming if Ivy wasn’t fluent in Japanese and Mandarin, especially when they had to switch planes in Shanghai. Luckily, the gentle-natured Keeper had managed to keep all of them in line and they’d made their way to Shizuoka Airport with little incident, though Rider complained about the lack of legroom on the commuter jet nearly the whole flight. Thank goodness for headphones, Ru had thought to herself. The entire van ride from the airport to their hotel, a place Ru hadn’t even attempted to try to pronounce for fear she’d embarrass herself, her eyes were glued out the window. From the buildings, to the natural surroundings off in the distance, to the smiling faces of those they passed along the streets, Ru was fascinated. By the looks she was getting, so were the people staring back at her. Five tall blondes with blue e
Cutter squeezed her leg, and Ru realized it must be apparent she wasn’t paying attention. She tuned back in to hear Sky say, “Now, the team we are meant to protect so that they can get in and close the portal will be given the code name Alfred. This will allow us to be briefer in our communications about the team.” Sky continued to talk, and she knew it was important that she listen, since Ru would be involved in whatever the blue-haired Keeper was discussing presently, but curiosity got the better of her. “Why Alfred?” she whispered to Cutter. Without turning his head, he replied, “Alfred Nobel.” “Huh?” Ru was still confused. “The inventor of dynamite.” “Oh.” Shaking her head, she turned her attention back to Sky, who was giving her the same look Ru might give a student who wasn’t paying attention. Ru swallowed hard and made herself concentrate. “Alfred will be dispatched from here, a break in the forest away from the typical entrance