John Ringo - Queen of wands

“You hold to the doctrine of the Fall?” Barb asked.

“Not…exactly,” the young witch said. “But we have some similar understandings.”

“I’m getting a lecture on angels from a Wiccan,” Barb said, shaking her head. “What, exactly, happened to my life? So…Janea?”

“They were able to extract her from the place of torment. Other than that, no change.”

“Any idea what is happening in there?” Barb asked.

“Not so far.”

Lazarus jumped up on Janea’s bed and sat down in a perfect Egyptian cat pose, looking around the room. Barb realized that he was tracking on the Cherubim.

“He can see them,” Barb said. “Is that some effect from him being bonded to me?”

“You’re serious?” the young witch asked. “ All cats can see spirits. So can babies. At least light spirits. The only place I’ve ever seen more packed than this place with light spirits is a neonatal ward.”

“Nice to know.”

Lazarus licked his shoulder, swatted at an angel that got too close, then climbed up on Janea and lay down with his head between her breasts.

“That cat is definitely a tom,” the witch said with a chuckle.

“Oh, yeah,” Barb said, putting her hand on Janea’s forehead. The Asatru was so still, Barb worried that she’d feel the same complete lack of soul that she’d felt in the victims of the Madness. But Janea was still alive.

“Lord, bless and keep this warrior,” Barb prayed. “Though she walks a different path, she walks a path of righteousness. I beg of You, give unto her Your aid in this battle. In Jesus’ name we pray.”

“Amen,” the young witch said. “Hope that doesn’t bother you.”

“Nope,” Barb said. “Every little bit helps.”

She wasn’t sure it had helped at all, but Janea seemed to be resting more comfortably.

“I guess it’s time to get back to work,” Barb said, holding out the bag. “Come on, Laz.”

The cat just looked at her. He looked comfortable where he was.

“I need to go,” Barb said, gesturing to the bag.

“Cats have minds of their own,” the young witch said.

“Well, this one has to keep with me,” Barb replied.

“I’m familiar with your…” She paused and frowned, “companion.”

“Come on, Laz,” Barb said, reaching for him.

Laz didn’t even get up, just swatted at her hand, claws retracted. Then he held up one of them with the claws extended. The meaning was clear.

“I can’t get far from you, dummy,” Barb said.

Laz plunked his head down between Janea’s breasts and looked at Barb out of one eye, balefully.

“Seriously,” Barb said. “You’re staying?”

“I think he’s staying,” the witch said, frowning. “Generally the familiar bond is not something to be stretched. But yours is…unusual. And at least you can be assured he will be safe in this house.”

“Hmmm…” Barb muttered. “Okay, I’ll try it. If it doesn’t work, though, you are definitely coming with me.”

Laz got up, turned around, kneaded Janea’s breasts for a moment, then plunked back down and closed his eyes.

“I have never been sure that cats can walk the Moon Paths,” the witch said. “But it looks as if that is his intent.”

“A year ago I was a housewife,” Barb said. “I had, still have, a husband that couldn’t cook. I was president of the PTO. Chairman of the bake sale. Now I see angels and demons and have got a familiar wandering around the astral plane.”

“It does take some getting used to.”

“I’ve got some interesting information,” Kurt said, looking up then frowning. “Where’s the cat?”

“He seems to prefer Janea’s company to mine,” Barb said, shrugging. “I was warned that I shouldn’t get too far from him and always make sure he was safe. But it seems I’m going to extend the distance. We’ll see how far I can go. What’s the info?”

“You’re going to love it,” Kurt said, gesturing to one of the seats in the empty waiting room. “I ran a search in the ‘mundane’ files on that symbol of Vartouhi’s you didn’t like.”

Barb clicked on the link and blanched. The link led to the website of a corporation that used the same symbol. And, again, it gave her what her daughter would call “major creep factor.”

“Trilobular,” Barb said, flipping through the pages. “Pretty widely invested…Defense contracts. Biotech. Coca-Cola bottling stock?” She paused and blinked rapidly.

“You hit the part on ‘psychological research,’ didn’t you,” Kurt said, grinning. “Skip the rest of the brochure and take a look at their grant list.”

“Dr. Stewart Downing,” Barb said, musingly. “First we infect them, then we cure them. How interesting.”

“Still doesn’t tell us what’s going on,” Kurt said. “But I think I’m starting to get an interesting smell. You think this is some sort of bio research gone wrong?”

“No,” Barb said. “Or not in any normal way. This is paranormal. Those patients are D-E-D dead. It’s possible they’re combining scientific neurological research with paranormal, but you’d be surprised how hard that is to do. The various powers that be seem to have an aversion to mixing the two. And since they have all sorts of earthly controls, they can make sure that paranormal activities don’t conform to clinical results. That seems to be the case for both sides of the street. God prefers Believers, thank you. Trying to derive some philosophical rationale for God? All well and good. Trying to prove His existence empirically? He is going to make sure you cannot. The Adversary seems to agree on that subject if nothing else. If they are combining paranormal with standard biological research…it’s going to require a power supporting them that is at odds with both the Lord and the Great Adversary.”

“Which are?” Kurt asked.

“Don’t know,” Barb said. “As much reading as I’ve been doing since I started this job, I’m still playing catch-up. But there are experts I can call and ask. That’s still only a possible, anyway. There is a Power here, and a group of supporters, and five gets you ten it’s connected to Trilobular or the Art District. Somehow. What did you get on Vartouhi?”

“High school graduate,” Kurt said. “A local private school called Girls’ Preparatory Academy. Scholarship; she’s not from money by any stretch. Community college. Address is listed in a house near the Art District. High-end housing for a high school grad but no indications why. About all I can get without a court order.”

“So what now?” Kurt asked.

“It’s late,” Barb said. “Let’s go find out what the Art District is like after everyone’s gone.”

At night, with everyone gone, the Art District was definitely spookier. The pleasant paths reflected the surrounding lights oddly, as if they were going through thick glass. The wind from the river whistled between the buildings with the moan of a dying man.

Barb ignored that, walking along the sidewalk with her thermals on. Some demons had been reported to produce an image of heat higher than the ambient. If there was something stalking the grounds, she wanted to see if it would turn up on thermal imagery.

“Anything?” Kurt asked.

“The feel from underneath is stronger,” Barb said. “But I don’t see anything under thermals.”

She took the goggles off and looked around. There didn’t seem to be anything abnormal-then she caught a flicker in one of the upper windows. It wasn’t hot, it didn’t even have the feel of a demon. But something was up there.

“There’s something there, but not the target,” she said. “I wonder how long the demons, if they’re here, have been on this hill? They don’t have the feel of American Indian spirits.”