Monsters (Ashes Trilogy 3)

But Mellie didn’t need to know that. “Best thing for him now is some

rest; then get him back out there with the kids. They’ll anchor him

better than anything.”

“Uh-huh.” Pause. “I wonder how well you and Tom will get along

once we get to Rule.”

His heart skipped a beat. Easy. Don’t let her goad you. He tried relaxing the angry jut of his jaw. “Yeah, what’s the word on that any

way? How much longer we going to sit here?”

“You have a problem with that?”

He stirred, watching as the liquid quickened and grew dark. “Just

asking.”

Another pause. “We’re supposed to wait.”

He turned a look. “For what?”

She favored him with a wintery smile. “Well, let me see. You’re a

little banged up, Tom is a mess, and only a few of these children can

actually fight. I agree that with Tom back, it’s best to put his time to

good use. Instead of running all over creation looking for a girl who’s

dead, a few bombs, some flamethrowers—they’d be nice.” “But that’s not why we’re waiting,” he said. “He has plenty of

firepower to spare. That’s where we got the C4 in the first place. So

what’s the holdup?”

“What do you care? Frankly, I’d think you’d be relieved. Every

second we delay is one more when Tom never knows just how much

you’ve lied.”

Despite himself, he felt a jab of fear. “I don’t recall you being all

that honest yourself.”

“True, but you and Tom being blood brothers all of a sudden . .

. have you ever considered that it might be better all around if Tom

never makes it?”

He gave her a sharp look. “Don’t you even think it.”

“Someone has to.” She spread her hands, which were blunt and

weathered, like the rest of her. “Once Tom discovers the truth, I

wouldn’t be surprised if he can’t decide between throwing you to the

Chuckies or killing you very, very slowly.”

“Why don’t you let me worry about that?”

“Sure. That’s your call . . . until it’s not. As for when we go”—she

hunched a shoulder, then let it fall—“I do what I’m told. He wants us

to wait.”

Wait for what? That was the question. To be honest, the idea of

going back to Rule wasn’t all that appealing, because Mellie was right.

Weller had told a lot of lies to a lot of people. He’d thought that

bringing down Peter, who really was to blame, then destroying the

mine and killing all of Rule’s precious little Chuckies would ease the

old grief that just wouldn’t let go. Or make the face of sweet dead

Mandy finally fade. Yet he had done much worse, not only lying but

turning in Kincaid, a friend, so that little pissant Aidan could do his

devil’s work as Kincaid screamed and screamed, sacrificing himself to

buy Chris time to get clear. And for what? If the cold hadn’t taken

Chris, the Chuckies would’ve. Nathan, too, and the girl, Lena. And now here’s Tom, self-destructing in front of my eyes, and this is on

me, too.

“So.” He looked away from his thoughts to find her steady gray

gaze. “Can you control him?” she said.

“Oh yeah,” he said, not at all sure, and not liking that one bit

either. He reached into the box to rummage for sugar. “Last thing we

need is a martyr.”

Because his back was turned, he missed her expression. He would live to regret that.

37

“Look, unless you have a better idea, keeping him locked up ought to be fine. I mean, he’s not a ghost or a zombie or Lazarus.” Jayden ran a hand through his light brown mop. “The dogs gave him a pass, so we know he isn’t turning. You need to take a breath, Hannah. This kid being alive isn’t a miracle any more than Ellie’s a superhero.”

“She dragged a boy easily twice her body weight.” Hannah sipped anise tea, rolling the steaming drink around her tongue, enjoying the light aroma of sweet licorice. The fact that the drink was still hot, almost a half hour after brewing, was nearly as wonderful. Equipped with its own woodstove, this second-story bedroom was toasty warm, and spacious, with its own sitting area. It was also the only room that could be locked from the outside, unusual in an Amish home. Sometimes Hannah wondered if the previous owners had been forced to keep a lunatic relative under lock and key, like Mr. Rochester squirreling away crazy Bertha.

Now, if we can keep Ellie from camping out in the hall. Reluctant to let Chris out of her sight, the little girl had argued for moving into the sickroom. Thank goodness for Eli: Ellie, he’s not a pet.

“You know that death house,” she said. “There’s no way she could’ve gotten Chris to the ramp, much less hoisted him across the saddle. She doesn’t have the strength.”

“Which doesn’t make it a miracle. In an emergency, more adrenaline means increased blood flow to muscles and, therefore, more strength. You know the science as well as I do.”

“Granted, but science doesn’t explain it all. And what about the crows? Ravens and crows and sparrows are psychopomps.” She’d lugged up books from her collection downstairs and now tapped a text from a sophomore seminar: Encyclopedia of Myth, Magic, and Mysticism. “Guides to help the soul reach the afterlife.”

“And bring a soul to a newborn.” Jayden shrugged. “I read the same entry. Angels performed the same function. You saying that crows brought this kid’s soul back?”

Or were drawn there to take it away. She stared into her mug. “I don’t know what I mean. There are just too many questions for which I have no answers.”

“Which, I repeat, does not make any of this a miracle.” Jayden eyed her askance. “I know you and Isaac do the hexes and charms, but you don’t still believe all that, do you? I mean, you went to college.”

Oh, she could tell him a couple stories. Amish pow-wow and folk magic paled compared to the weird rituals she’d seen from some kids at school who decided they were Wiccans. “But all sympathetic magic has some basis in fact. The brain’s wired to seek the mystical, so . . .”

“Just because we’re hardwired to want to believe doesn’t make it true.”

She could easily point out that there must be some evolutionary advantage to belief or out-of-body experiences. Hard science was a language Jayden would understand. He demurred to Isaac and Hannah about the hex signs, the Brauche bags, and charms because he saw no harm. Besides, she was the botanist and Isaac’s apprentice, with just enough physiology and biology under her belt to understand which folk remedies might actually be helpful.