CHAPTER 13
How long Revelator had waited to find anybody that might be able to see for him. The tension in the air had him tense. The amount of male testosterone rolling off Eveque and Spook was enough to send anybody running for cover. Both men had enough fear in them to pack a punch, but Eveque’s was of the things he couldn’t see and Spook’s of the things he could. Mostly. If it wasn’t for his gift of empathy, he likely would’ve seen the wrong threats. They didn’t fear him as much as they feared what he’d bring into their lives through seeing.
But the curse of his god-like looks seemed to be rearing its ugly head lately. He never told a soul that the curse was two-fold. Not only did it seem to ensnare women, but it also tempted him to consider things he couldn’t. Like having a family one day. Anytime he considered it, the shadow would come, reminding him he had a job to do. Locate it. Learn it. And then something else, that was another unseen. What was he supposed to do once he found it? He wore out the Lord’s ear with that prayer for revelation. All he ever got was the urge to keep looking. It was there. He’d find it. And until he did, there was no considering a normal life, no matter how bitterly alone he got. The holidays were the hardest. Just last Christmas he’d come awfully close to the fire of a woman with Miss Olivette. He’d behaved like a drunk and hadn’t touched a drop. Dancing and carrying on like an ordinary fool.
Revelator sat on the single couch, looking at everything but the two couples in the small kitchen. It had never been more difficult not to look, much less stare. The light in both was alluring. It didn’t just soothe the looker, it called.
Where did they get it? Who passed this to them? That’s what he needed to learn in addition to this darkness it seemed to hide. But he was convinced that the darkness it hid in them was somehow an answer to the darkness he searched for. Was he searching for them? Were they the answer? He prayed so.
When their mirth was more than he could deny, he allowed himself to enter the peripheral zone. He spent most of his looking time there, it’s where answers usually hid when they were hiding.
But with them, there was nothing but light in that zone and just like before, it took command of him, pulling his gaze to it. He managed to find a space between the women to avoid direct staring. Wow. He”d never experienced anything like it. As he studied it, he began to pick up patterns. It got brighter when they laughed making him squint. He searched for that thread of darkness he”d seen in both.
The familiar shadow that haunted his steps suddenly beckoned. He resisted, beyond tired of giving it his attention. It became relentless until he turned his head. Revelator sat frozen as he stared into a wall of black web. It pulsated and moved, drawing his eyes up. He followed it across the ceiling where it stopped at the edge of the wall of light.
Father of Mercy. The shadow moved along the light, seeking an entrance in the shifting bubble that surrounded them.
A part of the web stretched toward the light like a single finger, probing at a particular spot.
Revelator listened now, focusing on what was being said.
“It popped in my head at the last second. Although I was angry enough to murder.”
It was Eveque’s woman, he realized. What was she talking about. Was it the murder she was remembering that was calling the shadow?
“So you’re going to fight this woman?” Maggie asked as the dark finger moved along the wall near her.
“I’m kind of stuck having to.”
“Why?” Maggie wondered. “Why would you allow that?”
The black finger poked harder along the light and Revelator froze as it found a hole in the dense shield and began wiggling with a frenzy to get in.
He realized she was addressing Eveque when he answered. “It’s tradition to—”
“Isn’t it tradition to protect the people you love?” she interrupted.
Revelator slowly moved to the edge of the couch, watching this darkness. It was using her anger and fear.
“It is and I also thought I should stop the fight. But your sister doesn’t agree.”
“Maggie,” Eveque”s woman said gently. “I know you mean well but I know what I”m doing.”
The dark finger got pushed out at her words, letting Revelator breathe again while still marveling and wondering. Had Beth”s power just pushed the dark out?
Suddenly Maggie turned to him, and her eyes sucked him in like a magnet he couldn’t resist or escape. He stared, knowing she was seeing him like she had before.
Help me, he mentally said, wondering if she could hear. I need your help. What did you see?
“Excuse me,” she said to everybody, making her way slowly to her feet. She was hurting he realized. Spook was at her side, helping her.
“She overdid it in training.”
Overdid training? Odd that a man of his skill wouldn’t know a woman’s God-given limits.
Revelator watched as Maggie went into a door and Spook followed her. Eveque suddenly sat next to him, his back toward his woman. “Anything?” he barely muttered.
He tried to understand what he was implying.
“Did you see more?”
“I did,” he said, trying to remember what he’d needed to see. “The darkness that follows me tried to get to them. But the light seems to be a shield.”
“What about…the darkness in them?”
He shook his head. “I haven’t seen it again. I was still looking, then Maggie…” He pointed at the door.
“Maggie what?”
“She looked at me then got up from the table. I think she’s…I think she wants to help but…” At seeing Eveque’s waning patience, he blurted quietly, “ I think she’s worried how Spook feels about helping me.”
Sudden confusion crimped his face. “What?”
“Earlier, when she went to touch me, she drew back at the last second. She was obviously…concerned,” he said, not wanting to say terrified even though it was more accurate. “Spook tried to tell her it was okay in this case. She’s immensely in tune to him and apparently pleasing him is her number one priority.”
Eveque scrubbed his face. “Maybe she’ll tell him whatever it is you need to know.”
“I hope.” Although that’s not what she went in the room for. She went for something else, and he’d followed.
Eveque’s woman came over and Revelator made room for her to sit next to him.
“You doing okay?” she whispered to him like she knew their secret mission.
“I’m doing good, ma’am,” he said, since he wasn’t sure what she really wanted to know.
“Are you able to see anything?” she wondered.
He wondered what all to tell her. “You and your sister share a bond and a light that’s very powerful. I was hoping to find out where it came from.”
She nodded. “You mean like…what happened to cause it?”
“More like who may have gifted you.”
She nodded slowly, but he saw she didn”t understand. “So you think it’s like…the kind of gift you would get from somebody? I don’t… really understand how it works.” She looked at Eveque. “Gifts like that. I mean.”
She didn’t believe him. She couldn’t see what he did. “I don’t know why you can’t see,” he said, curious. “And why Maggie can.”
“Well, she’s older,” Eveque said.
“And I don’t understand how the bond remained so strong if you were separated.”
“Uncle Wigs said he showed her pictures of me as I grew so she’d remember.”
Interesting. “Is there a way for us to talk to Uncle Wigs?”
She eyed Eveque then him. “I can text or call him.”
“I’d like to know more about the extended family.”
“Like who might be responsible for the gift?”
“Possibly. Something.”
“Why…is this so important?” she asked, glancing at Eveque. “I feel like I’m missing a part of this puzzle or problem.”
Eveque took her hand in his and the simple act begged for Revelator’s attention. Both couples were difficult to be around. He couldn’t get away from them fast enough when their passion flared. If he didn’t know Eveque like he did, the sounds coming from the prayer room back at the Basilique resembled sexual assault. But there she was, happy and sound as could be. The phenomenon puzzled him as much as it beckoned to be studied, much like he wanted to sit and study the light.
“Revelator sees…something that concerns us,” Eveque began, seeming to realize he’d just said too much. “He sees something in you and Maggie that resembles what he…senses in Luseah and Lucas.”
She eyed him then glanced at Revelator. “Sorry, I’m not following.”
“Eveque, permission to explain,” he begged quietly.
Eveque leaned back on the couch in defeat. “Whatever, do it,” he muttered.
“Luseah and Lucas were part of a Satanic coven,” Revelator said. “They were rescued by The Bishops. And the darkness attached to them, I saw in you and Maggie. It resembles the same shadows that have followed me for as long as I can remember. Luseah and Lucas were saved by the Bishops, you were saved by the Bishops. Maggie, was saved by the Bishops,” he said.
She nodded. “And you? Were you saved by the Bishops?”
He paused, her question throwing him off track.
“You said the shadows that follow you resemble the darkness,” she whispered, appearing unsure now. “I thought maybe…that was the pattern you were creating. Sorry.”
He stared at her, shaking his head. “Don’t be sorry. I was raised by Mah Lucette after Miss Claudette told her where to find me.”
“Wait...” Eveque said. “My Aunt Claudette?”
He nodded.
“Mah-Mah told me Lucette found you, she never mentioned Aunt Claudette.”
“According to Lucette, Miss Claudette told her there was a delivery for her at the main swamp tree near the little store where she got herbs.”
“Claudette told her that?”
“Said it was a dream and she felt like it meant something important. Took some time finding her, but she did according to Mah Lucette.”
“Claudette is my father’s great aunt,” Eveque whispered.
Revelator sat forward at that. “So she’s a Bishop.”
“She’s in the lineage.”
“Is she still alive?”
“No, she passed about seven years ago I think.”
Revelator considered that. “Maybe this is all linked to the Bishops and not the swamp as I had always thought.”
“Or maybe both,” Eveque said.
The door opened and Maggie hurried forward and handed Revelator a paper.”
“She said you needed to have it now,” Spook said behind her.
He looked at the image, glancing up at her. “Who is this?” he asked.
She stared at him, wiping tears from her face. She looked at Spook.
“The man who brought you to the swamps,” he said for her.
He stared, unable to tear his eyes from hers. “Why...are you sad about it?” he wondered, his heart pounding.
“Because...” Spook began, stopping when she put her hand on his arm.
“Because he was a very good man and...loved you very much,” she whispered. “It broke his heart to leave you.” She looked at him. “He did it to protect you. From the darkness that now follows you. But it can”t ever reach you because of him and who he is.”
His heart beat furiously now. “Who is he?”
She gave him a pained look of regret. “I don”t know that. Just that the dark can”t touch him. No matter how hard they try, and they are always trying.” She looked at Spook and he nodded.
Maggie moved and sat on the couch next to Revelator. “I need to touch you again.”
“Are you sure?” he asked, suddenly feeling like he needed a moment to pray first.
She nodded barely and he turned on the couch to face her.
“Your face,” she whispered with a small nod.
Revelator decided to put his hands on his knees, giving himself something to hold. “Go ahead,” he said, closing his eyes.
She started at his forehead, just her fingers, carefully moving lightly at first. She kept her touch soft this way for a full minute, roaming his face. Every time she encountered the scar, she’d back her fingers away from it. He used the touch of her fingers as a point of seeing her too. She wasn’t repulsed by what he’d done to his face, but somehow afraid of it.
When she’d surely touched every inch of his face, she began again, this time her touch pressing, like she was going deeper. It was as if her first round was simply to unlock everything so she could now feel and see.
“You’re so tired,” she whispered. “Of the dark following you.”
He fought not to speak, feeling like she was taking notes.
“It will always follow you.”
His chest filled with a dense ache at hearing that. Her fingers paused near his scar and carefully ventured right onto it, almost nervous.
“I don’t want it to follow me anymore.” The confession burned from deep in his soul, but he had to get it out.
“Because you don’t understand why it follows you,” she said, moving very carefully along his scar now.
“Why does it follow me?” he gasped around the power she poured into him with her fingers.
“Because you have it on a leash. You are its master.”
This news startled him, bringing a shake to his breaths.
“You”re not enslaved to it. It is enslaved to you. It can’t harm you. Your father is a powerful man, and his power is in you.”
“Tell me…” he gasped, swallowing. “About my father.”
Her fingers were on his temples then moving into his hairline. He’d never felt anything more divine. She slid her hands down the sides of his face and placed her thumbs on his eyelids. Why was she crying? What was she seeing?
“He gave everything up,” she strained. “So that you could live safely. Freely. Happily.” She placed a single finger into the groove of his scar and moved along it, this time pulling up the agony of his life with every inch. When she reached the end of it, she whispered, “And you should not waste that gift a moment longer.”
Her touch left him and the vacancy in his spirit made him realize she’d somehow merged with him, and the sudden absence made him more aware of how alone he was.
He needed to pray.
He stood and turned to Eveque. “I need to be alone.”
“I”ll take you back to the Basilique.”
“Thank you.” He made himself look at Maggie because walking out and not saying another word wasn’t fitting a man of God. But neither was letting her see how affected he was by her. “Thank you for helping me, Maggie. God bless you.”
Revelator headed for the door. “I”ll be waiting at the boat. No need to hurry.”
****
Spook felt Maggie’s eyes on him but couldn’t bring himself to look yet. After watching her do what she’d done to Revelator he needed to be alone too. His brain kept seeing it like some form of cheating and he knew that was stupid. But to see her touch him that way felt like she gave what he’d never want to share. It being some form of gift that helped others would make that impossible to keep for himself. A logical brain, or even a dumb one would be happy to share but his brain, it was on fire with all the wrong things and not a one of them made sense.
“Gonna head out,” Eveque said quietly to him, giving him a distraction.
Then he realized what he said, and a panic hit him. “You can stay here for the night, let Beth and Maggie have some time. Revelator can take my boat.”
Eveque eyed him then signaled they go on the porch.
“What’s up?” he said once they were alone.
Spook shoved his hands in his pockets. “Nothing I’m proud to talk about.”
“Yeah,” he muttered lowly. “I know what you mean.”
He eyed Eveque facing the swamp, wondering if he really did.
“Love is a volatile thing,” he said. “And illogical as fuck at times.”
So he did get it. His guts loosened a little. “Watching her do that was the hardest thing I’ve done in a while.”
“If it makes you feel better, I didn’t like it either and she ain’t even mine.”
“No she’s not,” he muttered. “Not sure whose she is, really.”
He felt his gaze on him. “What’s that mean?”
He put his hands in his pockets. “Means I don’t know her, really. I know she’s got demons lurking. According to Revelator. And…I never saw anybody that could do stuff like that, you know? This is way more than a drawing talent.”
“No shit. You not wanting to be alone, or what?” Eveque asked.
He took in a deep breath and let it out. “Not sure what the fuck I need. My brain keeps telling me she shared something intimate that should only belong to me, and I know that’s stupid.”
“Like I said, love can be illogical. Especially when you’re just diving into it.”
“Then she behaved like an abused girlfriend around him. No telling what he’s thinking and seeing.”
“Well, that’s the thing, he cansee what’s going on,” Eveque reminded. “He’s the one who gave you divine pointers to win her.”
“I know what you’re saying. It all makes sense to a logical mind. And what if I can’t handle her demons? What if those demons are bigger than me? You know what I mean?” he asked, staring at Eveque.
“I get you’re scared shitless,” Eveque muttered, meeting his gaze. “I do. But… you’re in it or you’re not. Once you’re in so far, you can’t just pull out, you have to plow through.”
He nodded. “You’re right. I’m scared shitless. Never had a challenge that demanded what this one does. Everything. I keep wondering what’ll be left if I fail?”
“I wouldn’t think about it,” Eveque said. “It won’t give you any pointers that are useful, that I know.”
“We’re supposed to go sign a contract in the morning.”
“Yeah?”
“A commitment to each other.”
He felt Eveque eying him while Spook wondered what the fuck he was doing. “Am I moving too fast?”
“Don’t think there’s a speed limit in this but I understand the instinct to control it. I told you to figure out if she’s the exception and I meant that. And I know figuring that out requires time. What I don’t know is how that mess works between those two points.”
“No sex.”
“Everything but.”
“Which is killing me.”
“Don’t I fucking know about that.”
He looked at Eveque. “How long before you…”
“Felt like a year but was only two weeks if that.”
He nodded absently before taking in a huge breath. “Think I need to do the same. She’s already pushing, though. Not sure how I’ll get out of it.”
“Tell her they’re my orders, simple as that.”
“Are they?” he asked.
“They are if you need them to be.”
“She’ll hate you. Maybe me for choosing you over her.”
“She might do both, yes. In which case you’d prove she was wrong and choose her. Then she’d just still hate me.”
“I don’t want to cause that.”
“Well, I’m still The Eveque.
“A more legitimate reason that avoided both of those would be awesome.”
Eveque eyed him. “Like your parents have a sudden need to have you back home?”
“I can’t fucking be away from her right now.”
“Then go check on them and come back, only keep your distance.”
“How will I learn who she is while being away from her?”
“Look,” Eveque said quietly. “When it comes to this, the rules can get fucked up. It requires likewise solutions.”
He eyed him. “What are you saying?”
“You need to see her in the real world without her knowing you are. You’re the Spook. Stalking is your forte. You follow her, you watch her, you call her, you talk to her, you question her? Com-sah?”
He got it. “To see if she’s honest.”
“This solution also helps me with Mah Belle Eveque.”
“How?”
“Well, she’s plowing through every obstacle I put in front of her. I need to slow her roll. I’ve talked to Lazure about amending the code.”
“Which one?”
“The right-fucking-hand one,” he whispered. “You know what Lazure told me when I brought it up? That Mah-Mah had just mentioned to him about amending another code. Wanna guess which one?”
“Not really,” Spook said, waiting.
“The celibacy code.”
Spook didn’t know how to respond as Eveque continued eyeing him with only raised brows. “Why that, I wonder?”
“Because the men are only half men without a woman. Do you know who would agree one hundred percent with this?”
“You?” he checked grinning.
“Very not fucking funny. Mah Belle Eveque, that’s who. She’d be all over that.”
“Maybe she already is. As you say she’s plowing through obstacles.”
“How the fuck is the celibacy rule an obstacle though?” Eveque hissed, glancing briefly over his shoulder.
Spook considered the question. “Maybe…”
“It’s her fucking angelic disease is what it is,” Eveque helped. “She’s the swamps love wand now and she’s about to gain power to wave it all over the fucking place.”
“To be clear,” Spook said. “You’re against removing the celibacy rule?”
“What?” he said, seeming annoyed with the question. “It’s not about that, it’s about the beginning of a battle.”
“Between….?”
“Between The Twelve and the women getting what they wantor think they need to have. Like a say in things they really should have no say in.”
“The war stuff.”
“Exactly.”
“Not trying to piss you off, but how do you feel about the celibacy thing, I’m just curious?”
“I’m fucking fine with it if we can remove that one particular code first.”
He nodded. “Last week I may not have agreed.”
He gave a low, almost evil chuckle. “Welcome to the dark side, brother.”
Spook shook his head as he realized. “Wouldn’t it be something if Maggie could see all our schemes with a touch?” Spook watched the oh fuck fill Eveque’s face making him stifle laughter. Then that formidable warrior gradually returned with a hard fire in his dark gaze.
“Then I’d say we need to test that theory before we begin that shit show.”
Spook’s brows rose. “Test?”
Eveque tossed his head in the direction behind him. “We have plenty to hide from them but not a damn thing to be sorry for. We’re doing our job. Protecting what’s good and pure.”
“The women we love.”
“Yes,” he nodded with that cocky noble Bishop attitude Spook admired.
“So what’s your plan?”
“I don’t have one.”
“Ah geeze,” Spook muttered, feeling like they were back at square one.
“One step at a time,” Eveque barely scolded.
“So we came up with a brilliant theory with no plan to execute it.”
“It’s part of the creative process,” Eveque whispered, like it was a trade secret. “Somebody has to imagine it then create it.”
“So we definitely need to know if either one of them are able to tell what we’re up to.”
“Before we step foot on that field,” he agreed.
“And how do we learn that?” Spook muttered to himself, thinking.
“Well…technically we just go in there and let them know we’ll be staying the night and we’ll let the minutes that follow show us.”
“So we’re winging it.”
Eveque raised his brows with a smack on his back. “You still understand English.”
He grinned. “I still understand smartass.” He remembered then. “You need to let Revelator know. He seemed ready to duck out.”
“Fuck, right.” Eveque pulled his phone out and texted quickly.
“So, we’re having a slumber party?” Spook double checked.
“We’re having a slumber, for sure,” Eveque looked down at the phone. “I’m wiped. Revelator says thank you and he’ll catch us on the sunny side of tomorrow.” Eveque gave a one-sided grin as he pocketed his phone. “I kinda like that strange bastard.”
****
Beth eyed Maggie, bracing with the need to just ask. “How did you do that?” she whispered. “I mean…what did you see?”
Maggie again looked at the porch window where Spook and Sahvrin talked again. Was she still seeing things? She turned to Beth finally. “More than I told him. He wasn’t ready for all of it.”
“How…exactly do you know?”
She lowered her gaze. “Maybe I wasn’t ready for him to have all of it.”
Beth was confused more now. “What does that mean?”
She glanced at the window again then eyed Beth. “I’ve never had that happen before,” she whispered. “I’m scared.”
She swallowed and Beth grabbed her hands. “What is it?”
“Spook…he thinks I’m…” She lowered her head as tears fell and she wiped them.
“He thinks you’re what?”
“That I don’t…love him.”
“What? Wait…you love him?”
She nodded, wiping both cheeks now.
“When did this happen? I leave for two days, and you learn how to talk and fall in love? Oh Maggie, I’m so happy for you!”
The look of surprise on her face made Beth’s tears fall. “You’re happy?”
“Of course I am!” She leaned and hugged her then sat back, giddy. “But what are you going on about now?”
“He didn’t like me touching Revelator.”
“Well…it’s probably because he’s so in love he can’t see straight. Sahvrin is like that with me.” The fear and worry in her eyes stole Beth’s smile. “Hey, hey, Spook is a good man.”
She nodded. “I know he is. I can see it. But…what about the darkness? The Revelator sees? In us? What if Spook sees it?”
“We’ll figure it out. Maybe the Revelator isn’t seeing it quite right?”
She shook her head a lot. “He is. He’s so very good. And strong. And…” tears poured as she covered her mouth. “Lonely. His loneliness…steals my breath,” she gasped. “I don’t understand how he…lives this way. And is still so good.”
“But you told him,” Beth said, nodding, stroking her hands with her thumbs. “You told him the truth about the darkness following him? And that he can live.”
She nodded with shuddering breaths. “I did.”
She suddenly got up and went to the door and opened it. “What about Revelator? You realize I just told him his father left him in the swamp as a baby? Are you just going to stand here while he is out there having a silent funeral?”
She slammed the door shut and made her way back and sat.
“Maggie?”
“What?” she whispered. “They’re just standing there going on and on like a man didn’t lose a father he never had,” she wept, putting her head on the table and sobbing. “I can’t help that I feel it! I didn’t mean to feel it,” she strained. “I didn’t want this, I didn’t ask for this. Is it the dark in me? Was that the dark in me that made me see?”
“Stop that,” Beth said, eyeing Sahvrin and Spook who walked in. She gave him wide eyes letting him know she was stuck.
“We had texted Revelator to take the boat home. Figured you might want Maggie to stay the night with you.”
Maggie stood, looking at Spook. “Is that what you want? Is that okay?”
“I want…whatever you do.”
Beth didn’t like the fear she saw in Maggie. Was almost like she was afraid of Spook. She reminded herself that Maggie was still adjusting and now she was in love. Dear God let her be okay. Let them help her.