Ordained (22 page)

“The town is still celebrating Mardi Gras. You and your friends gonna go down?” Abby asked.

“Well, after your little stint with the grinloch, all hunters were placed on house arrest. Don’t see why really. We’re no safer here than anywhere else.”

“Sure you are. So long as the Order refreshes the magical boundary charm banning all evil within the manor every year. Only someone superior in the field of magic could overcome the spell and get in.”

“You mean someone like you?” Emily hinted slyly.

“I didn’t have to break the charm. The fools let me in willingly.” Abby tried to look past Emily to see the progress on the lock. “Are you done yet?” she asked impatiently.

“This lock is really old. It must be corroded or something cause it won’t turn.” She grunted as she tried to force the pins.

Abby pushed Emily aside with a little too much force, causing her to tumble sideways. She then waved her hand over the lock. The air whirled with her and the door clicked.

Frustrated, Emily asked, “Why didn’t you just say you could do that?”

Abby shrugged. “You seemed so excited to try.”

Emily gave Abby the evil eye as she pulled her off the floor. They entered the office and immediately began digging through the Chancellor’s belongings.

“If you’re looking for the journal he has on you, it’s locked away in his desk.”

Abby found the locked drawer, waved her hand over it and opened it. She pocketed the journal and continued rummaging through the desk.

Emily pulled a book on demons from the bookcase. “He won’t need this anymore.” She continued to browse the case. “Why doesn’t he leave these books in the library? I for one would like to know how to deal with what I may come across one day.”

“They seem to live in ignorance when it comes to demons. If they don’t see them then they don’t exist.”

Abby opened Valerie’s journal and flipped through it. “Wow. The Chancellor has recorded every vision Valerie has ever shared. Even the ones that don’t mean anything.”

“Am I in there?” There was a hint of anxiety in her voice.

Abby searched the dates prior to Emily’s twenty-fifth birthday. She shook her head yes as she found the entry on September seventeenth, three months before Emily’s birthday.

“What does it say?” she asked, hesitantly.

“Just your name and confirmation that you will fall. He didn’t write any details about the vision.” She flipped through the pages prior. “Seems he hadn’t written any details involving Eraticus for awhile.”

“Guess he got tired of writing the same thing over and over again,” Emily snapped.

“More likely Valerie got tired of saying it over and over again.”

Abby sensed Emily cursing Valerie in her thoughts but as she kept them quietly to herself, she didn’t bother to rebut them. Seeing nothing else interesting, Abby tossed the journal aside and began flipping through a third. This one really caught her attention.

“Seems the Order has more information on Morphus than they’ve been sharing. I think it’s about time I had a talk with them.”

Abby looked up in time to see Emily secretly pocket a book in her clothing.

Chapter Thirty

Noel frantically searched the room, emptying bags, tossing mattresses and banging drawers. His dreams and his thoughts had been haunting him for weeks now and he just couldn’t take it anymore. He was certain Abby had been keeping something secret from him. He finally found the journal written by Abby’s former self underneath the bottom drawer in the chest.
Like mother, like daughter
. He flipped through the pages, confirming the unreadable contents.

Within minutes he was in the media office sitting at the computer searching dead languages for hieroglyphics on the internet. Egyptian Cartouche, Mayan, Persian, Syriac, Qumran - nothing seemed similar to any of the depictions in Abby’s journal. Several frustrating hours later, Noel still hadn’t found one that matched even in the slightest.

Sighing with heavy frustration and weary eyes, he opened his instant messenger and clicked on the name Sergei.

Have time to talk?
he typed. He waited patiently for a few minutes, using the time to rub the pain from his forehead and neck, allowing himself to slip into relaxation.

A musical note pulled him back to reality. Sergei had responded with a simple
yes
.

Noel clicked on the call button. A harmony of tones, then three rings played through the speakers.

“Noel?”

“Sergei, hey. I need some help identifying a really old dead language. I’ve searched every site possible but I can’t find a match.”

“Hello to you, too,” a man with a Latin accent said.

Noel sighed heavily. “Sorry man. Life’s a little stressful right now.”

“Yes, I sensed that. Are you sure you have a dead language? It may very well be an extinct language.”

Noel threw his hands up in the air in frustration. “Is there really a difference?”

“The difference lies in whether or not I can help you. A dead language is no longer used as a main dialect but is still used in science and literature. An extinct language literally has no more speakers around to understand it.”

“I have no idea what I have then.”

“All right. Send me a copy and I’ll see what I can figure out.”

“Hold on. I’ve got a scanner right here.” Noel placed the book on the scanner and ran the image.

“So where are you guys now?” asked Sergei.

“In the belly of the beast,” Noel answered exhaustedly.

“What the hell?” Sergei replied with annoyance. “I thought they agreed it was best for all parties that she not return.”

“Her way or the highway, Serg. They knew that when they inducted her.”

“Yes, and they agreed to it with the hopes that her husband would be able to win a few rounds eventually.”

“I choose my battles a little more wisely these days. Besides, I didn’t completely disagree with coming here. And we did end up finding this journal.”

“Which you can’t read.”

The scan was complete. Noel sat back down at the computer and opened the file. It was blank. “That’s weird,” he said.

“What?” Sergei asked.

“I guess the scanner’s broken.”

“Got your satellite phone on you?”

“Yep, hold on.” Noel activated the camera, zoomed in and snapped a photo of the book. He was confused by the result. The picture showed the book but none of the words.

“Crap,” he whined.

“Bad resolution?”

“Well, if the words were actually there I’d be able to answer that for you.”

“Is your camera broken or will it literally not take a photo of the written words?”

“I see the book, just no words. Should I even bother searching for a copier?”

“No,” replied Sergei. “I don’t know what you’ve found but someone’s gone to a lot of trouble to protect it.”

“Sergei, this book is a thousand years old. How the hell could it be protected from technology that didn’t even exist then?” Noel asked, waving the book about.

“It’s protected from all types of copying. You probably can’t even hand write the information without the ink performing a disappearing act.”

Noel’s forehead creased. His eyes glared heavily. “Did you already know this?” he asked loudly.

Confused, Sergei, responded, “How could I pos–”

“Not you, Sergei,” interrupted Noel. He spun his chair around to face Abby, who was leaning against the doorway. It was difficult to determine who was more annoyed at that point.

“What do you think?” she asked coldly. “And what the hell do you think you’re doing going behind my back and dragging Sergei into this?”

Noel met her in the center of the room. “Trying to figure out what the hell is written in this book!”

“Uh, guys?” Sergei asked uncomfortably.

“I already told you!” yelled Abby.

“Bullcrap. After all these years, you think I can’t tell when you’re lying to me?”

Abby drew in her breath, readying herself for a forceful comeback, but was cut off abruptly by Sergei yelling, “Guys!” They both turned to the computer. “Is it absolutely vital for me to be present for this argument? Quite frankly, I’ve heard some version of it before.”

Abby folded her arms and leered at Noel. “Don’t worry Sergei. I’m sure Noel will call you back the moment my back is turned.”

“Okay,” Sergei whispered.

“I’ll send you a copy. Even if I have to write it by hand.” A steady dial tone filled the air. “I will find out what’s written in this book,” Noel said forcefully.

“Think so? Well, only a few weeks till spring. Better hop to it.”

Noel swiped the pen and paper Abby was waving in the air. As soon as he finished the first sentence the ink disappeared from the paper.

Chapter Thirty-One

Abby watched as Noel tried over and over again to copy the words in the book. He even tried tracing. Finally accepting defeat, he sat down and buried his head in his hands.

He sighed. Abby followed suit and retrieved her book from the table. “Why do you think this book is still in the Order’s possession?” After a moment of silence, she continued. “Protecting it was the only way my past self could ensure it would be returned to me. She knew the Order would never let the book out of their sight once they realized it could never be copied. See the spine here?”

Noel’s eyes emerged from his grasp. He still said nothing.

“It reads, ‘for my eyes only’. Sergei, nor any other dead language specialist, will
ever
be able to decipher this book.”

Noel rubbed his chin repeatedly with his thumb and index finger. He glared. Not at her but at the book in her hand, thinking hard.

“I know you seek the containment spell, but Noel it’s not here. I’m not lying to you.”

He looked to her but with far less fire. “If it’s true that only you can read this, why wouldn’t it be?”

She hesitated. She had been dreading this moment. In truth, she planned to avoid it at all costs, but his perseverance was wearing her down.

“Because she doesn’t want me to use it. That’s what this entire book is about. A million and one reasons to take the risk and fight Morphus to the death and rid him from the loop. If I contain him again, I’ll have to go through this all over again, and again, and again. I really don’t wanna keep damning myself to this life.”

Noel slowly stood before her. He was a clear foot taller and for once seemed to tower over her. “You really think we lead a damned life?”

“Don’t you?” she asked glumly.

“There is no way in hell you are going into that fight without the containment spell.” He pulled on the book but she held on tight. “Do you regret this life?”

For the first time in all their years together she couldn’t read his eyes. She wasn’t sure if he was determined or defeated. She released the book and Noel turned to leave.

“I’ve never regretted you.”

He disappeared into the hallway and didn’t come back.