Chapter 15 Meet the team #2
“Thank you, Noville.” I rolled my eyes at Jackie for her shadow comment before returning my attention to Raymond. “Are you two good to work together? It looked like there may have been some tension out there.”
“Yes. Metice and I had something to discuss, that’s all.” Raymond glanced at the dark man. “We’re all good. For now.”
“As my brother mentioned earlier, it turns out, Metice is the reason the others found Raymond,” Cufio offered. “He was also coming here for a human.”
“You were?” Jackie gawked at him. “Big, fine thing like you can’t find something good in hell?”
“My soulmate,” Metice confirmed. “She lived here on Earth.”
“Maybe I need to find me a human soulmate.” Cufio waggled his brow at Jackie, and I could tell he was having fun messing with her.
“I repeat, not me!” Jackie sucked her teeth. “Men. Ugh. Even the ones from hell can’t catch a hint.”
“Okay, maybe a different one.” Cufio licked his lips and then suddenly became very serious. “All jokes aside, we aren’t in the best position here. They know where you are and how to find you. I don’t think we need to keep things here.”
“You don’t?” Raymond asked. “And where do you suppose we take things?”
“I agree with your brother. We don’t want them to send more demons here. You know how reckless they are. It will only cause more drama and bring unwanted attention,” Metice spoke, and all eyes snapped to him. “We’ve already had a few cause scenes that took a lot to clean up.”
“Did you find out anything useful?” Raymond asked Metice, avoiding my question. “When you were cleaning up their mess?”
“About you? No. But after Cufio reached out, I did some digging.” Metice pulled a small coin from his pocket and rolled it across his fingers as he spoke.
“Nothing’s changed since you left. They gave up on their initial searches when they realized you left the Bane, but you’re still enemy number one.
The orders to bring you in still stand. And if I were still part of the organization, I’d be following those orders now. ”
“So you’re really out? Never thought I’d see the day.” Raymond nodded, almost approvingly. “Had to be something major to get you to walk away.”
“Yeah, he’s been out for a while now.” Cufio nudged Raymond with his elbow. “If you had stuck around, you could have witnessed the explosive events. Almost lost my head helping him, and now, I’m risking it again for you.”
“I can’t believe they haven’t moved on after all this time. Surely there are other things to worry about, people who’ve screwed them over since I left.”
“Maybe, but it wasn’t a low-level demon who lost their life.
This isn’t one they can easily get over.
The organization is still feeling the impact,” Metice continued.
“And you running away like you did only convinced them you were guilty. If not, you would have stuck around and tried to defend yourself.”
“I was just doing my job,” Raymond said. “It wasn’t supposed to go that way.”
“We know that, and they know that, but you know how this works,” Cufio said.
“I don’t know that,” Metice voiced his opinion. “But if that’s what you say, we have no choice but to believe you until it comes out otherwise. Either way, you betrayed the Order, and there is no easy way back from that.”
“The Order?” I asked. It was hard enough following their conversation without them dropping names we didn’t know.
“It’s the organization we all once worked for,” Metice supplied. “One of the strongest in our world.”
“Sounds dark.” Jackie huffed. “But what else would we expect? Dealing with demons and all.”
“Hey, it was actually pretty chill in the Shadow League!” Cufio smiled.
“Shadow League?” I sighed. “Look, if you're going to keep introducing new entities, please accompany them with explanations.”
“It’s the department in the Order made up of shadow walkers,” Raymond offered.
“All different variants working together and using our skills to help the Order succeed,” Cufio spoke with pride, like he would happily join the Shadow League again.
“It was peaceful until Talkeen decided he wanted to run the place,” Raymond muttered.
“He wanted more power, as lots of people do,” Cufio spoke.
Raymond furrowed his brow. “His plans would have destroyed so much. You know that.”
I couldn’t take my eyes off Raymond. He was so different now that the others were there.
The relaxed and easy demeanor I knew had disappeared, replaced by a man who looked like he would need heart meds soon.
His jaw was hard set, his brow scrunched.
He looked miserable. Was this how life was for him in the Bane?
If so, it was no wonder he wanted to get away.
“I do, but again, he doesn’t care.” Cufio walked over to the fridge and pulled out a beer.
He waved it at me, asking permission before he cracked it open.
After a long sip, he continued, “And because of you, they demoted him anyway. He thought if he could take you out, it would put him back in good favor with the boss. When that failed, he ran off on his own. Now, he’s trying to build his own company, one big enough to knock out the Order entirely. ”
“That’s not going to happen,” Metice muttered. “We all know that.”
“Who’s on his side?” Raymond asked. “Talkeen wasn’t that popular before. Who would help him now?”
“Pretty much anyone who hates you.” Metice smirked. “Not a short list.”
“That’s why I think our best bet is to go straight to the top and see if we can make a bargain,” Cufio said. “You’ll have to beg for forgiveness, but it's better than dealing with everyone else. If he agrees, he’ll call them off, and they can’t touch you without pissing him off.”
“Beg?” Raymond shook his head no. “I’m not doing that.”
“Raymond…” Cufio sighed. “Put the pride aside, man.”
“What’s this about variants?” Jackie spoke. “Sorry to back you up in this long-winded discussion, but that sounds like something we should all understand. You know, in case they come here trying to attack us.”
“Shadow walkers are fundamentally the same, but some of us have abilities others do not,” Cufio offered while Raymond sat down at the table.
“We all share the basic skills. Our powers are tied to the shadows. All of us can enter them, but what we do while we’re there is different.
Like my brother and I can cross realms, some shadow walkers can barely cross a city with their abilities.
I can create and leave behind shadow portals for non-walkers to use, but Raymond can’t. ”
Cufio said it like he was bragging.
“Yeah, my brother got that little gift,” Raymond said and then, to add his own show of skill, his body phased into a smokey being before returning to his solid form. “I not only create my own shadows, but I become them. It’s much more intense and takes immense skill and focus.”
“Lucky bastard. I still have to borrow shadows from other things.” Cufio took a swig of beer and sighed. “This stuff is really good.”
“I know, so don’t drink them all,” Jackie said then clapped once again, calling everyone to focus. “Alright, what’s the plan here, boys? I have backup coming, but I need to know what we’re doing so I can start strategizing.”
“Unless your team plans on going with us, I’m not sure what you can do,” Raymond said. “It’s pretty obvious this isn’t a fight we can have here on Earth.”
“Exactly. You’ll be in hell dealing with whatever mess you left behind,” I said. “That means I’ll be here. Jackie is right. We need to know everything we can. You already said your enemies won’t leave me alone.”
“Which is why it’s better we all go together,” Cufio said. “There’s no way they’ll leave you alone if you don’t come. And I’m sorry, but I seriously doubt you have anything here that can properly defend you from beings who use shadows to attack.”
“Now the shadow man is speaking French!” Jackie clapped slowly, each one echoing in the quiet room, punctuated by long, pregnant pauses. “Who the hell is ‘we’? You’re not dragging my friend to hell!”
“It’s the only way any of this is going to work,” Cufio insisted. “We can’t be there and protect her here.”
“Um, I can protect myself. I did just fine earlier.” I said, reminding them of our earlier encounter.
“Yes, with my help,” Raymond added.
“So you think I should go to hell with you? I thought this was just your brother’s idea, but you agree with him?”
“I think that we should stick together. If that means you coming to the Bane, then yes.”
“Alright, you’ve clearly lost your collective minds, and I think it’s time for you all to leave.” Jackie pulled me back from Raymond. “Go put your heads together to come up with another plan.”
“Jericha,” Raymond looked at me, but there was something there. Hesitation? Maybe he wasn’t sure if it was a good idea after all. “Is that what you want?”
“She’s right. You should go. I need time to think about what’s going on.” I nodded.
“I—” Raymond started, but he stopped when a hand touched his shoulder.
“She’s right.” Metice tightened his grip on Raymond’s shoulder. “This is a lot to ask from one woman. Trust me, I know. Jericha you should take your time. We can arrange for protection while you think things over.”
“You’re speaking for all of us now?” Raymond jerked his shoulder away from Metice.
“No. I’m listening to what she wants. Forcing the issue will not make this any easier for anyone,” Metice said confidently. “If she comes, it needs to be on her terms.”
“Wow, you’ve changed.” Raymond laughed. “No more kicking down the door and taking what you want? I can’t count how many times you dragged someone from their home kicking and screaming and took them back to the Bane.”
“It’s called maturing,” Metice grunted. “You should try it.”
“It’s called having a woman wrap you around her little finger.” Cufio pulled a Jackie, injecting humor into a moment that was growing more and more tense. “You know he can’t act out, or his woman will kick his ass.”
“I’m leaving.” Metice rolled his eyes then pointed at Cufio. “I’ll see you in our spot. Don’t take too long. I have other stuff to deal with.”
“Yeah, we’ll be there soon,” Cufio confirmed.
Metice nodded, and then the pressure in the room intensified. Weight pressed against my chest, and when it stopped, Metice was gone.
“Jericha.” Raymond stood from the table. “Is this what you want?”
“I need time to think, Raymond,” I said.
“Okay, yeah. I’ll go,” Raymond spoke.
Cufio opened a shadow and stepped through, followed by Noville, who sighed in relief as he left. Raymond took one last look at me then followed the others.
“They’re out of their minds if they think you’re going there,” Jackie fussed.
“This is too much.” I pointed at the empty sushi containers. “And your greedy ass ate all the sushi!”
“There’s still plenty of beer!” She shrugged. “My bad, girl. I guess I was a lot hungrier than I thought. You want me to run and get you something?”
“No, thank you.” I waved her off. “And you can keep your nasty beer.”
“What do you need right now? I know how you usually are. You want to be alone while you think things through.”
“Yes, I think I need to be by myself.” I peeked out into the backyard once again. “Even if there are things lurking in the shadows, I gotta take time to process.”
“Cool, I’ll go back to the hotel and wait for Miguel and the others. Let me know if you need anything.” Jackie grabbed her bag.
“Thanks,” I said.
She started toward the front door but looked back at me. “I can’t believe you’re going to hell.”
“Seriously?” I held my hand out in disbelief. “I thought you were on my side!”
“Hey, I might protest it, but even I see the obvious outcome here.”
“Goodbye, Jackie!”
“See ya!” She waved, and a minute later, I heard the door shut behind her.
As soon as she was gone, I locked all the doors and shut the windows. None of it mattered, considering the threat, but it made me feel better as I cleaned up my kitchen and made a new cup of tea. I sat down at the table and wished I had those little donuts to pair with my drink.
Then, I felt that familiar chill in the air, the alert that someone was about to pay me a visit.
I was seconds from being irritated; I had just asked the man for some time to think, but Raymond knew me well enough.
In front of me, on the table, appeared a small package of little pink donuts.
And before he could appear to apologize for the intrusion, I’d already forgiven him.