A Little Piece Of Heaven

“How is he ?”
“Fucking pissed off. If we can keep him sedated for a few days he should heal up ok but we will need a whole lot more morphine and magic for that.”
Claire threw the blood stained towels into the sink and looked down at where Zacky was now staring back at her with something approaching hope. They had thought for a while that even Syn wouldn’t be able to survive being impaled on a beam and laying there for an hour until they had found him. Matt and Jimmy had arrived an hour later with Dani and Raven, Johnny arriving shortly after and it had taken Claire all of that time to patch Syn up to the point where he would recover after a week or so of rest. Accomplishing that minor detail would be the hard part.
Jimmy came in from the rain, content that Dani had worked enough magic around the abandoned manor for them to be unobserved and safe. He didn’t like not knowing what he was fighting, furious beyond anything he had ever felt before that someone had gone to this much trouble to fuck with them. Well no more and they would pay.
“Anyone prepared to take him and Lilith head on is either very brave or spectacularly stupid.”
Matt passed Jimmy the brandy bottle and leant back, one hand running through his hair as he continued to ponder the same point. Taking Stefanie was a gamble but a reasonable one, very few from their world knew how important she was to the reapers and just how much of a genius she was. He glanced at Johnny, seeing the strain and anger evident in his eyes. There had to be a reason behind it and he badly needed to make the connection.
“Stupid doesn’t add up. This was very well planned.”
Claire leant back against the sink and considered the consequences of trying to keep Lilith a prisoner anywhere. That would be a task in itself and even more so if she knew that Syn had been badly hurt. She tried to remember the fragments of delirious conversation that she had managed with him as she fought to stop him bleeding out. The memory was painful, Zacky’s anguish even more so and now she wondered how he was staying so calm. She touched Johnny’s shoulder, his pain radiating just as badly as she looked at Jimmy.
“Syn said something about a plan, they took the girls as part of a plan and he mentioned Arin.”
Zacky glanced up.
“Arin ? That kid from China ? That was forty bloody years ago.”
“Weren’t he and Lilith….y’know….with him ?”
Raven chuckled at the shrug and roll of eyes around the table at that particular question.
“Who the fuck knows ? Hard to keep up. What do we know about him ?”
Zacky closed his eyes, the Boxer Rebellion had nearly ended badly for them all and they had only just escaped with their lives after fucking with a powerful Chinese magician. The boy had been young, bitten by a Unarge demon while still a child and possessing power that had been hardly tapped. Syn had liked him, taken him under his wing and they had been used to seeing the young man with their friends for a few months. The night they had fled China, he had disappeared.
“Not much, neither of them have mentioned him or said if there was a reason for him to come after us.
“Could be anything.”
Claire paced, another thought flickering in her head.
“He mentioned German soldiers too.”
Jimmy looked up sharply, some of the pieces clicking together in his head.
“They took Stef and Lilith. A very skilled technical genius and a witch. If you’re an invading army already looking to magic to help you it makes perfect sense. Someone is trying to harness the girls to build a mystical weapon. Could be fucking bad for everyone.”
Matt pulled Dani closer, rage building again and coursing through his body.
“No more splitting up the team. We’re gonna find Arin, he will be the one to lead us to the girls. Can we risk waking Syn to get more information ?”
Dani stroked his hair, sending calming thoughts into the room. Zacky and Raven both had blades drawn, Claire was angrier than she had ever seen her and Johnny was fuelled by an almost insane determination to get his Stefanie back. Only Jimmy remained surreally calm, still working the options through his head. Claire sighed and shook her head.
“He may be part demon but he’s really weak at the moment, not to mention he nearly broke Zacky in half when we pulled him off that beam. Let him have tonight. Dani and I can work some magic, see if we can find Arin or where he has been.”
There were nods of agreement, Matt taking Dani to walk the perimeter for something to do rather than any purpose. He hated sitting around even when he knew that charging into the unknown wouldn’t help him. The thought of someone even now waiting to take out more of his friends was getting to him and only Dani’s presence would keep it down to a manageable level. Johnny went to watch over Syn, convinced that there had to be a way to find the girls by practical means and determined to find it. The rest gathered back together around the table, Claire huddled close to Zacky as they pored over a map of the area. Jimmy watched them for a minute before drawing Raven to one side, his face still pale and focused.
“When we go in I need you to stay here, watch over Syn.”
Raven looked at him critically, sensing the ulterior motive.
“No more splitting up the team remember ?”
“You’re not ready for combat, not sure we are considering what’s happened.”
Fire flashed through her eyes, nobody had ever tried to protect her like he did but in this moment it wasn’t the sweet loving gesture but stung like a criticism. Raven disliked being thought of as weak in any situation and although she could see the logic it annoyed her and she stared back at him with a level of resentment that Jimmy couldn’t miss.
“I can fight, I’m not letting you go up against half the German army without me. Not when Syn and I will be next if something happens to you.”
His eyes flashed, anger flaring briefly before he pulled her into his arms. For a moment Raven resisted, still angry but his touch ignited more in her than just that and she couldn’t resist snaking arms around his waist and resting her head against his chest. Jimmy kissed her hair, not about to admit how much the thought of losing her scared him.
“We won’t just go barrelling in. We don’t know what and who we’re dealing with. You will have the harder battle making Gates stay in bed. Might need that knife of yours.”
Raven chuckled, both of them knew that she wouldn’t stop him if Syn decided a rampage was in order. The prospect of his tantrum if left behind was worse than any war. For a moment it was good just to rest briefly and try to think. Zacky appearing to lean on the door jamb with something approaching a smile caused Jimmy to raise an eyebrow.
“Claire had a thought. Arin could well be shielded by whoever did this but those soldiers won’t be. If we go back to the farmhouse where we found Syn we may be able to track them down from there. Half an hour with me and we could get a lead.”
There was something blankly terrifying about the calm tone of Zacky’s voice and Jimmy knew that he would rather attempt to escape hell again than be left alone with Zack when he was in this mood. He took Raven’s hand and followed Zacky back into the kitchen where Claire and Dani were now laying out a map of the area. Already the air was full of ozone and sparks of light as they called upon spirits from various realms to attempt to locate their sisters.
“Damn, someone is hiding him. Look at that whole area.”
Claire pointed to the area around the village and farm where the explosion had happened. Tiny roiling clouds moved across like fog and obscured everything. Dani frowned, attempting to lift it or at least pinpoint where it was coming from. Red lights flickered over a châteaux several miles north and this time a grim smile crossed Claire’s face.
“Garrison is stationed there, several people were at the farmhouse when it blew. You can see the residual magic. Targets….”
Zacky caught her eye, the hunger to spill blood passing between them with a vicious clarity. He needed to hurt something, the blade demanded retribution and he wanted to feed it. The more blood, the more powerful it would get and he now had its twin to add more rage to the mix. His eyes flicked to Raven and Zacky wondered what he could unleash there. The girl had hidden talents that would prove extremely useful. Matt knew where this was going.
“We go in and take them. Break them in half if we have to.”
Jimmy nodded, only now realising that Johnny was standing in the doorway.
“I can also see about defusing that shield. They would expect magic but it’s all just energy. If I can get through it we can go right for the source.”
“Do what you have to. Do you need anything ?”
Johnny looked at his friends, his face set in determined anger. Raven could see that it unsettled the others and wondered why. The short man had seemed the most cheery of the three in the time that she had known him and she didn’t want to think about what any of them would do if they didn’t find Stefanie and Lilith. It would only be later that Jimmy would explain about Johnny, the sweet nature hiding depths of fury that could only be compared to unleashing a demon as powerful as Syn. Matt had seen his friend pull a man to pieces with his bare hands the last time one of them had been badly hurt and Jimmy had warned her…
“Never back Johnny into a corner. Once he’s set on a course of action you won’t stop in and you don’t want to be in the way. Short shit has one hell of a temper.”
Johnny shook his head and went back out leaving Jimmy to point out various things on the map and Raven left them to work. She felt like a fifth wheel, still unsure of her position among them and how involved in this she could be. Her feet took her back upstairs, unconsciously knowing that she would stay with Syn despite her protests as they went to work. It wouldn’t be that way for long, she was determined Jimmy wasn’t going to war without her but for now this would do.
Syn was still out cold to Raven’s relief and she took the seat next to the bed, watching his face. Bandages swathed his torso, burns and bruises marking his arms and face and somehoew he looked so much younger that her breath caught in her throat. Jimmy was right that she wasn’t ready and yet Raven knew that if it was him lying there she would break the planet in half to find out who did it. Claire laid a hand on her shoulder, always knowing when one of her friends was troubled.
“He will recover, it will just take time. Tough bastard this one.”
“Do you think Lilith and Stefanie are ok ?”
Claire paused, Syn had babbled that Lilith was hurt but she could understand nothing more about her sister’s condition. That too bothered her, only Lilith could normally break the connection between them and it suggested again that they were going up against something powerful.
“I think so, for now at least unless Lilith’s temper gets the better of her. Whoever took them wants something, this isn’t about killing us.”
Raven nodded, attempting a smile.
“What do I do if he wakes ?”
Claire pointed at two full syringes on the table by the bed.
“Knock him out with those and let me know. I will be able to hear you, we don’t need to go that far from here to get what we need.”
Raven nodded, hearing Zacky calling Claire from downstairs. The two women locked eyes, understanding passing between them. Johnny would find what he needed, the others would bring back human cargo and set about finding out what they needed. They had been caught by surprise for the first time in fifty years and none of them liked it. Claire kissed Raven’s cheek and paused once to look at Syn before disappearing downstairs, the door slamming behind her.
Raven watched over Syn and waited.

Notes