Thirteen (Otherworld 13)

I hit the gas. The hands grabbed the wheel and yanked, and the car shot up over the sidewalk and crashed into the motel. I turned to launch a knockback--or anything else--but the kid suddenly sailed backward. He landed on the asphalt and lay there, not moving.

I looked over at my mother, but she was helping Jaime fight off the kids. One of them went flying. This time, I saw him hover in the air, thrashing, as if something was holding him up. Then his head shot back and he screamed. The scream died midnote and the boy collapsed to the pavement, unconscious.

"Ah, a little deus ex machina," Mom said as the boy who'd grabbed Jaime's hair also went flying. "Or angel ex machina."

"It's Trsiel," Jaime said. "Or I think so. Can never tell with the full-bloods. All I see is a glowing silhouette."

"It's him," Mom said. "No other full-blood would bother." She leaned out the window and yelled, "Better late than never."

"I think he just gave you the finger," Jaime said.

Mom laughed. "Put it in gear, baby. He can handle this and we don't want to be around when the desk clerk realizes he's got unconscious street kids in his parking lot."

I put the car in reverse--Sara was gone now, running across the lot to escape her fate. We passed her and peeled out of the parking lot.

"So those were Tengu," I said as I drove. "I've heard of them, but not much. Like you said, they don't cross over."

"No," Mom murmured. "Not usually. They can, though, under special circumstances."

"A ritual?"

She shook her head. "War. The Tengu are harbingers of war."

When we were far enough from

the motel to be sure we'd lost the Tengu, Jaime called Lucas and put us on speakerphone. I explained what had happened.

For the second time that day, I rendered Lucas speechless.

"So the Tengu do not appear to be directly connected to the sorcerer who invoked the hell-beast," he finally said.

"Right. They apparently saw Mom cross over and they came for her, but it's a completely separate shit storm. I don't know if you wanted us to do anything with the poor guy in the motel room . . ."

"No. If we have unconscious children in the parking lot, you need to stay away. I've already sent a message to divert part of the security team from the police station, but under the circumstances, I'm not sure they'll make it before someone discovers the operative's body."

Another voice came on. "We can still handle this. Two more teams are on their way to New Orleans, one security detail and one media cleanup team."

"Hey, Benicio," Mom said. "It's been a while."

"It has," he said. "I'd say it's good to hear you, Eve, but . . ."

"I'm back and causing trouble already. I know."

"So what do you guys want us to do?" I asked. "Hole up? Come to Miami?"

"I'm not going to Miami," Mom said before they could answer. "We've identified the sorcerer and we have a list of potential contacts. I've got a contact of my own here who can go through that list and pick out the supernaturals. That's my next stop."

Lucas and Benicio wanted her in Miami. Preferably in an impregnable cell, I think. Mom argued that her contact wouldn't speak to anyone else. Take Jaime to Miami. Take me to Miami. Leave Mom to face any potential kidnappers alone. If she wasn't putting anyone else at risk, that was her choice.

They agreed on the last part. I didn't. Mom needed someone to watch her back.

That didn't sit well with either Mom or Lucas, but they eventually agreed to a compromise. Jaime would leave. I'd stay, but only until they sent in someone with no personal connection to my mother--maybe Clay and Elena--to take over.

I agreed to that, and we headed to the regional airport where the Cortez jet was about to land.

Before Jaime left, I gave her a few minutes alone with Mom. They both said they didn't need it--joked that they "saw" each other too often as it was. But I insisted. In all those years that they'd worked together--that they'd been friends, as I now realized--they'd never actually inhabited the physical plane together. They hadn't met until Mom was long dead.

To say my mother was not the hugging type is an understatement. Growing up, I don't think I ever saw her make affectionate physical contact with anyone except me. But now, when I stepped away to give them that moment alone and they embraced, I saw how much it meant, and not just to Jaime.