Ch. 37: Jack's Last Chance
September 12 | Before Dawn
We seemed to exist in a space outside of time. It felt weird that the worst of the storm had passed. As Mal and I returned to the clearing where the live oaks breached heaven and earth, the Spanish moss dripped rain, and the air was thick with the smell of ozone. Scattered debris showed how bad the weather had been, but that was the only evidence of the elements battled hours prior.
The sky was lightless. However, I had a nose for the woods while the djinn turned her brimstone eyes on a branch wrapped with damp moss. After a minute, her flames dried the wicking and a torch flaired to life.
"There, that's better. Do you recall Haley's incantation?"
"Something about revealing that which has been obscured. River's that way." I pointed.
I couldn't go back. That moment I had awakened on the shore and seen Sunny's body floating face-down in the water was seared into my brain. I wanted to wipe the image. I rubbed my eyes, which had begun to sting. Whether from crying or from being awake for damn near two days straight, I didn't know. But I turned away and pretended to survey the landscape just in case more tears fell.
Mal laid a comforting hand on my shoulder. "We know the map isn't that way. You're new to our Supernatural world, so let me explain how magic works. Focus on the object you're seeking. This is what it looks like."
She dug a mystery bag from her pocket and came out with powdery gold dust. Blowing the granules, the substance hovered on the wind and started to reconfigure into a scroll. I hitched a breath at the beauty of it. The grains of dust coalesced from a scroll shape into a map unfurling.
"Got it. The Map of Destiny. Incidentally, your powers never cease to amaze me, Mal." I did as I was told, re-drawing the map in my mind.
Mal continued quietly, "Allow your thoughts to be empty of preconceived notions of where the map might be, including Yalina's instructions. Don't try to imagine where it is. 'A wise man knows he knows nothing at all,' as per Socrates."
"Alright," I replied.
"When you open your eyes," she said, "take off walking. Your unconscious knows where to go."
"How will I know I'm headed in the right direction? We can't waste time."
"Trust yourself. You'll feel it when you reach the place."
Although I nodded, my heart thumped loud and fast beneath my breast plate. Anxiety coursed through me. We had so much to lose and so few assurances. I opened my eyes with a sigh. "There's also the issue of how long you get to be out here with me. It might sound clingy, but with Sunny gone, I can't bear to be away from you."
"You're in luck because Darcy has given me the night off." She smiled.
I smirked in bittersweet amusement. "Since when did the vampire get that magnanimous?"
"Since he thinks its his wedding night, for which he has to dabble in necromancy and resurrect the dead."
"No point dissecting that bit of madness. Okay, let's go."
Mal grabbed my hand and squeezed it. "For Sunny..."
"For Sunny." I swallowed thickly.
We moved with speed and stealth through the Ravani woods. The Fext soldiers that had lurked in the forest earlier were long gone. All I smelled was the wilderness. We traipsed through overgrown thickets, trying not to worry about snakes. By some feat of resilience, Mal kept up.
But as we traveled, Haley's latest message sank teeth and claws into me. I hadn't understood half of what she'd said. Encouraging me to feed both the darkness and the light within had seemed maybe a bit misguided. I didn't want to feed the parts of myself that were ravenous for more than what life had allotted me. I didn't want to be envious of men like Zyr. I had serious qualms about rampant selfishness, too.
The summer of penthouse parties, rooftop condos, and hypercars had taught me that excess came with a price tag money couldn't cover. The prospect of pursuing a relationship with the people I loved had also come at a cost. Sunny was dead. If Mal and I made it out of this situation alive, was it right to tether her to me? She had spent a lifetime bound.
I didn't want to be like Darcy Cyprian, and yet I was. I had stared into that mirror after the mistake of hiring the hitmen. Trying so desperately to uphold the image of the "good guy" had allowed the darkest aspects of myself to play behind my back. Lack of self-awareness had led me to a seedy bar and a drunken hit on an innocent man.
On the other hand, I had given up the pursuit of financial gain to become the best version of myself and support the people I cared about, and still I suffered losses. It was as if I had taken an accelerated life course in how to balance my needs against the needs of others, and I wasn't sure I had learned anything except that love is complicated.
So, what had Haley been trying to tell me? Was it simply that she wanted me to accept I was neither a saint nor irredeemable? I just wanted to be me.
I shoved a branch from eye level and ducked through a narrow gap between pine trees. Mal followed, breaking the silence with, "I think we'll make better progress if you shapeshift."
"It's not my favorite thing to do," I muttered.
"I know." She stepped in front of me. The torch burnished her skin golden like the time we'd made love. "For what it's worth, I apologize for having taken the choice to be what you were from you, but, Jack, you're a werewolf now. The more you keep the primal side of youreself caged, the more caged you will feel."
"Get out of my thoughts," I said with a laugh.
"Come again?"
I shook my head, rather than explain. Heeding her advice, I shifted. Suddenly, the world around me took on a luminescence that I hadn't seen in man-shape. Whoa, I thought, barking excitedly at Mal. I bound ahead on four legs, splashing through puddles that soaked the pine needles under my paws. The djinn lawyer wasn't dressed for a sprint through the woods, but after gathering my lost clothing, she pressed on gamely.
"That's the spirit," she called out.
I tossed my head and caught a glimpse of the moon. The howl that undulated from my toothy snout would've raised my hackles as a man, but as a wolf, it felt glorious. The weight of grieving lifted ever so slightly as the instincts of the animal within made sense of my lover's death through the eyes of Mother Nature. All things died, and all things returned in a different form, eventually.
Haley's message gained clarification, as well. Indeed, I had to be, but 'being' meant constant shifts, constant change. I was a part of the happening, and I didn't have to try so hard. Sometimes I would be the bad guy to someone; sometimes I would be the hero. Following my heart was the compass to always being on the side of right.
And right now it was leading me to the Map of Destiny.
Despite the easily distracted white wolf chasing glowing blue moths, I sensed I was on the proper track. The smell of fungal spores filled my nostrils. My tongue began to loll past my teeth as I galloped faster. Behind me, Mal's crashing through thickets and climbing over fallen trees sounded loud to my heightened senses.
We reached another clearing in the opposite direction from where Yalina had sent Sunny and me. My wolf came up short as I realized that while everything around this area glowed, the grassy field was steeped in darkness. A single spot illuminated with light-drenched magic, and I moved toward it, digging with my forepaws.
"You've found it!" Mal scrambled to my side. Sweaty and out of breath, she stroked my fur, and I adored the scent of her. It was almost mesmerizing enough to pull me away from my task. I arched my back into her palm as I shook from nose to tail. "Good boy, Jack. You've found it." She giggled.
At her praise, I dug with greater urgency. Maybe there was a chance we would save Yalina and Aurie as well as ourselves. Sunny's death would be avenged when the vampire discovered how sorely he had miscalculated. I pictured Mr. Cyprian's face at the sight of the contract that bartered the map for our freedoms and felt jubilant.
Clods of dirt flew from beneath my paws. An owl took flight because of the ruckus; its lonely hoot rippled through the woods until the bird disappeared. I burrowed into the cratered earth faster. Mal held her torch aloft, and for a second it blinded me. My eyesight as a wolf was better than as a man. Yet, I squinted through the blindness and kept going.
My paws connected with a wooden case, and I jerked away, running in a circle before morphing back into man-shape. "Toss my jeans," I shouted. Gleefully, Mal shook out my pants and tossed them to me before getting on her hands and knees–not caring about her fancy clothes–to peer into the hole with me.
I pulled at the box until it was released from its decades long resting place. When I opened the lid, we both gasped. I couldn't believe it. At last, we had found the Map of Destiny.
***
Mal's luxury car remained at Sunny's apartment. The portal card delivered us to the Ashivant Estate. Once we stepped through, the swirling, black hole-like orifice imploded in a shower of embers. Nothing remained of the card except dissipating wisps of smoke where the opening had been made. Mal hurried me across the backyard. "You'll hang out at the guest house with Ava and Cherie. I need to see what Darcy has been up to."
"Absolutely not. I'm coming with you. You think you can stop the Resurrection by yourself?" I asked. Her lips set in a grim line of determination, but I refused. "I'm not letting you into that house alone. You need me."
"I do need you," she softened.
I caught her hands as I nuzzled her face. "And I need you. I love you, Malice Ashivant. From now on, we do this together, you maverick. Got it?" She blushed as she let me kiss her for the world to see. It was a kiss that defied our rush.
Daylight had preceded us, but so had the storm. While the Ravani forest occupied the north end of Tangipahoa Parish, Ponchatoula was at the southern end, closer to New Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico. Thus, the drizzling rain from the woods was still a deluge at the house. It fell in billowy sheets around us as we held eye contact.
"I love you, too. So, can we check on the twins before we enter the ring, or are we just going to stand here like we haven't got the rest of our lives for this?" she asked.
Chuckling, I offered her my elbow. We resumed our brisk stroll–to the guest house first–where Cherie flew into Mal's arms the minute she saw her. However, no sooner had we entered than a frazzled maid burst through the French doors. "Mamselles," she huffed, "something went wrong with the Resurrection, and Master Darcy is in a frenzy! That gyal ain't dead at all, and Baron says this ain't his jurisdiction or whatever he called it."
"Oh, wow!" Ava intoned.
Mal and I shared a smile. Our luck was changing. To the maid, she said, "Don't worry, Lissette. I'll take care of his moodswings. You go to the kitchen and take a breather." Once the woman had gone back, Mal squeezed both her sisters in a warm hug.
"We found it. We have the map," I announced, "and OASIS has The Book of Tides."
Ava shoved away to gawk at me. "Tell me you're not joking."
"He's not joking, Ava." Mal beamed. "Thanks to Jack and Aurie's sister Haley, we've found it. I don't have to send you two away."
Shrieking with happiness, Cherie danced me around the room. The only thing that could have made the moment better was to have Sunny present for the celebration. I placed a hand over my chest, over the ache. Mal met my gaze again. We were thinking the same thing. A lone tear slid down her face, but she dashed it away.
"I've got the contract." Ava pulled a folded sheef of pages from the bookshelf.
"Perfect," said Mal. "Jack, you enter through the back door and keep out of sight. Ava, Cherie, and I need to be seen at the front door so Darcy believes I've been on the grounds the whole time."
"When do we present him with the map?" Ava wanted to know.
"As soon as possible. I'll be watching that asshole's every move. If it seems like any of you are in danger, I'm joining the fray," I said sternly.
"Yes, darling." Mal rolled her eyes as her sisters snickered. We took off for the main house in different directions. I wove through the maze-like interior to the hallway that opened onto the foyer, making sure to keep out of sight. Under my arm, I held the chest with the map.
"We're back!" I heard Mal's dramatic shout as I got into position near one of the creepy paintings in the corridor. "Are you done, Master Cyprian?"
Darcy stuck his head out of his office. "Something has come up. I'll need another hour."
"What? No, I don't think that can be arranged. We have business."
"Another hour, Mal!" His voice boomed. From where I stood, I clearly heard him arguing with another man and woman. Were they the voodoo loas Mal had mentioned?
"It's your call," she grumbled to Darcy. Moments later, she joined me, whispering, "He fell for it. I can't believe it. He's so agitated, he has no idea anything is amiss. Not even that Aurie and her friend Tegan are trying to make an escape right now, as in, this minute."
I peered from the hallway out the front door in amazement as another car showed up. "Look alive, beautiful. We've got company." I inclined my head.
Mal glowered. "Ugh! They might muck everything up."
"Mm," I hummed skeptically. "I doubt it. See that fiery looking teenager taking the lead? That's Haley Edison. I have a feeling the calvary just arrived."
Only, they did muck everything up. They almost killed the vampire. Almost. That was the rub.
***
"How long do you think Darcy will be gone?" I asked Mal as we stepped through the portal card into Sunny's apartment two days later. We needed to retrieve her car. Plus, she had made arrangements with Ajit to do the messy work of burying him. We were there to say our last goodbyes.
"Until he heals, I imagine," she replied. "I've never seen Darcy that close to obliteration. He'll be livid when he returns."
As we turned away from the conversation at hand, we realized we weren't alone in the studio. Ajit popped his head out of the bathroom. "Oh, hey. We've gotta move him now, but I can't bury him until sundown. Louisiana humidity will have cops knocking at this unit doing a welfare check in no time." He waved a blue-gloved hand.
"Where else can we take him?" My stomach turned. I wasn't ready to let Sunny go.
A tiny frown thinned Mal's lips. "The freezer at the Ashivant estate."
"How good are you at discreetly putting a body into a trunk?" I asked Ajit.
The young man smiled a tad bit too enthusiastically. "You really want to know?"
Within hours, we had the body safely in cold-storage at the big old-fashioned mansion that still had a use for such rooms. I stood outside the door with Mal, neither of us wanting to discuss how hard transporting our lover had been on us. I used a forearm to wipe sweat from my head. Despite my reticence, I had had to help.
At that moment, we heard heavy footsteps approaching. Mal blanched but forced herself to relax. "It's Darcy," she whispered. But it wasn't.
"Hello," said the middle-aged black man who materialized at the door to the kitchen.
I threw out a protective arm to push Mal behind me. "Who are you?"
Without answering me, the man lifted two fingers skyward. "Divine Intervention." The cold storage door suddenly opened, and out strode Sunny, uninjured, unmarred. He looked alive. Except, he wasn't. I couldn't take my eyes off him.
"Sunny?" I moved toward him.
"Rather, the soul of Sunny. I'm sorry to catch you unawares like this. Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Wallace Edison. I've been Sunny's mentor during his training as a Guardian Angel. For right now, Sunny can only answer to me, and he can only speak the truth."
"I suppose you're here to take him from us." Mal stepped from behind me, tapping her fingertips together, a sign of her nerves.
"Not quite yet. I need to know what went wrong. If the two of you are willing to wait to say your goodbyes, have a seat. A kitchen is as good a courtroom as any."
"Courtroom?" Mal crossed her arms.
"For his trial, of course," Sunny's mentor replied. "I'm glad you're here. He'll need witnesses and a good defense."