On my way down the night-clad pass, my mind was a mess. Even though I was on my way to see Ashmodai, both him and the possibility of him murdering me were the furthest things from my mind.
Bane was real.
Just like he said he was.
And he was here, in Sleepy Hallow, with me.
I just could not wrap my heart around this. It was too hard to believe that my one and only dream had come true.
I killed the engine and coasted into the trees behind Mawd's Grocers, where I had predetermined would be the best place to stash my bike. The bubbling stream nearby glistened in the bright moonlight. I took a moment to watch her, hoping that she would generously lend me some of her soothing energy. Now that I was actually here in Sleepy Hallow, I was starting to feel a little nervous about meeting with Ashmodai, especially know that I remembered coming across something in my studies about Ashmodai being some sort of bad-to-the-bone vengeance seeker. That was all I could remember, though. I had meant to look him up in one of my books of witchcraft, but with all that was going on, I seemed to have forgotten. Until now. And of course now was a little too late.
A really big part of me didn't mind if I died tonight. If Ashmodai took my life he'd be doing me a favor. But the smaller part of me felt I actually had something to live for. And that was Bane.
I took a deep breath and left the stream for the rumpled, old cobblestone. A few old light posts spilled faded, yellow puddles of light onto the sidewalks in front of the stores. I stayed clear of them, even though the moon was so bright that I would have been seen anyway, if someone happened to be out and about at this hour.
I moved through the park, staying in the shadows the best I could. The gentle breeze inspired the Aspens and the Pines to slow dance around me. I wanted to dance with them, but now was not the time. When I reached the gravel road, I was soaked in moonlight. I jogged through the open area, feeling uneasy about the odd stillness of the town. The gentle breathing motion of the lake emphasized this stillness.
A single street lamp illuminated part of the church's parking lot. One bare bulb burned bright beside the church doors. I took the steps to the doors two at a time. In the movies, churches were left unlocked, so when I turned the knob and found that it was locked, I was surprised.
"Freak!" I grumbled at the door. "Add another breaking and entering charge to my criminal record," I muttered. I moved, quickly, down the steps and around the front corner of the building. There was no way I was going to break in under a flood of light. There had to be a window in the back, where it was darker. I didn't feel comfortable going anywhere near the yellow police tape. It was kind of creepy, especially at night.
At the rear corner of the church, I stopped. I really didn't want to pass the place where Isis' body was lying this morning. I didn't even want to raise my head and look up. I knew it was silly to be afraid, but I was. Having one of those anything-can-happen lives made me leery of what could happen. Not that it mattered, really. I was here. In the dark. Next to where Isis was brutally murdered, standing above catacombs, no doubt, seeking a ghost who might kill me. Not to mention, The Daughters of Hallows wanted my blood, and Sean was going to be coming for me.
Oh, how I ached so miserably in his absence!
My mind felt like a cage filled with birds waiting for the lid to open. For now, though, all of that stuff would have to wait. Right now, all that was important was getting past the crime scene.
There was a different kind of stillness here than the one in town. Here, it felt more like impending doom, like the silence before the scream in one of those scary movies. The trees swayed softly, but it was nothing like dancing. It was more like an eerie gesture to lure me into their awaiting arms.
Maybe the trees murdered Isis, my perfectly sane mind offered. The image of Isis' bloodied body flashed before my eyes, and I snapped my head in that direction. For a brief moment, Isis was still lying there, mangled and broken, her bleeding eyes blinking wildly, silently pleading for me to help her.
I quickly turned and ran, like a scaredy-cat, to the back of the church. I forced myself to gather my wits by concentrating on finding a window I could climb through. But, dugh, there were no windows in the basement. If there were, it wouldn't have been so darn dark down there when I found Ashmodai.
My eyes rose up the exterior wall and found a long, stained-glass window directly above me. It looked old. Different colors of glass were pieced together like a puzzle to create a picture of an angel in white robes who looked identical to Ashmodai. He had giant, white wings that were spread high above his head. They stretched down and swept the ground at the heels of his feet. There was something almighty and powerful about this angel. The artist did a superb job at depicting a feeling that this angel was ready for war. It truly was a shame that I had to shatter this image in order to break into the church.
I squatted down and found a fist-sized rock near my feet. I grabbed it up and stood. Just as I was about to throw the rock at the window, I had a strong sense of a presence behind me, and every muscle in my body went stiff and still.
It was her! Isis was standing right behind me.
"Fear not, Luna," came a voice that at first sounded like Isis'.
I spun around, expecting to leap into action, but instead I found someone who wasn't Isis. It was the man from the stained glass window, except without wings. It was Ashmodai. He was standing at the edge of the tree line.
"You scared the heck out of me!" I said. Relief washed through me. For some reason, a ghost was better than an angry corpse, but I was still nowhere near comfortable being in Ashmodai's presence. In the dark. Alone. Where Isis had been brutally slaughtered.
Ashmodai had a faint aura of light around him that made it seem like he was glowing. But I couldn't see it when I looked directly at him. It was only there in my peripheral vision. It sort of reminded me of that green gas that emanated from the dragman's scales.
"I apologize," Ashmodai said. "You came here seeking assurance. No, Luna, I did not murder Isis."
"And I'm just supposed to believe you?" I said, but I did believe him. There was something very good and pure about him, and it had nothing to do with the fact that he looked just like the angel in the window above and behind me. Actually, I felt very stupid for even believing for a second that Ashmodai had been the one to murder Isis. Especially when in my heart I felt I knew that Bane was the one who did it.
"I find it very interesting that I would be a suspect to you, when in your heart beats a desire for one I would find more worthy of suspicion than I," Ashmodai said.
"Now you are a heart reader, too? Boy, this town just keeps getting weirder and weirder. Where else in the world can you find mind reading, air walking men, church ghosts, demon angels and bloodsucker coven girls?" I rolled my eyes. "So, are you and Bane brothers or something? The two of you seem a lot alike."
"Bane and I are from two separate ends of the earth, Luna," Ashmodai said. His expression was unreadable. I couldn't tell if he loathed Bane or liked him. He seemed neutral, balanced, like the swirling together of yin and yang.
"How do you know him?" I asked him.
"You came here seeking answers to Isis' death. I will not tell you what I know."
"Then I guess this was a huge waist of time. It would have sucked breaking the window for nothing," I said. I made a start to leave, but Ashmodai took a sudden step out of the tree line and into the silver-blue light of the moon.
"Wait," he said, urgently. In only my peripheral vision, I saw something dragging the ground at his heels. I dropped my eyes to see what it was, but Ashmodai stepped back into the trees where the shadows gobbled up this mysterious object.
"There are some things you need to be aware of, Luna Lanchester," he said. "You are in need of my protection."
"I have a protector," I blurted. "And why would I need a protector? And why would I need it from you? Cuz, no offence or anything, but my protector is like three times the size of you. Not that you don't look capable of---
" I stopped myself from saying anymore. Why bother? This was crazy. Why would a ghost think I needed his protection? For crying out loud, what would Ashmodai do to protect me, scare someone to death? Throw sparkly stuff in the eyes? How much more bazaar and mysterious could my life become?
Never mind! I really didn't want to know the answer to that question.
"I will not answer your questions, Luna. You are in danger. I can help you. But I am bound here until you ask for my protection," Ashmodai said.
"Is this some kind of ghost joke? A trick to help set yourself free from the bonds of this property or something?" I giggled. "You're crazy, Ashmodai. Have a good life. Or, un-life, or whatever it is you wanna call it." I left him in a hurry, before he could say any more to me. As I moved quickly across the parking lot I could feel his eyes on my back, watching me as I left.
The entire way back to my Harley, I couldn't help but wonder why there was a stained glass window with a picture of Ashmodai puzzled into it or what was dragging at his heels when he moved out into the light of the moon, and why Ashmodai believed I need his protection. And what it was I couldn't remember reading about an entity named Ashmodai.
And why the heck this ache for Sean was getting worse and worse!
Nope, I was not going to think about all those things.
All I wanted to do was go home, fall asleep and pretend that I would wake up the next morning having a normal life.
Underneath the veil of denial, underneath everything I chose to ignore or didn't understand, there was a feeling nagging at me. It wasn't a gut feeling. No, it went deeper than that. The feeling wasn't concentrating only in my gut. It was wider spread. Through my veins, my blood pulsed a warning of impending doom.
Much in the same way as my desire for Bane coursed through my blood.
Like poison.
And I knew Ashmodai was right.
I was in grave danger. I was in need of protection.
I just had no idea as to why yet.
****
Chapter Forty-Two
Bane