Page 15 of Not A Ghost

"And they're in Iowa," Laird countered. "The one place our church is mostly powerless. Give me her number. If things go bad, I'll message her a heads-up. Otherwise, negotiate the fuck out of this. Two to three of us in exchange for her new name. If you can get it set up, you might not even have to come back."

Thane blew out a heavy breath and turned away. "I don't like leaving you here."

"You have to," Laird told him. "If they're going to kill me, you won't know until it's over, and then they'll be coming for you. On the flip side, they're offering me a job with them. I'll have access to all of the demon knowledge. I'll get two more books of Words to manage them. Words we can use on normal people, Thane. The kind that wipe minds. That means we can become invisible. If we play this right, we'll have everything we need."

"I have to be seen with her," Thane realized. "Shit. What's the closest Church to Iowa?"

"Nebraska," Laird answered without hesitation. "The problem is whether or not she can even get in. If she can't, turning back at the door is going to be an even bigger problem, so don't mention that to anyone here. Just play it by ear."

"And if she can get in?" Thane asked.

Laird smiled. "Then make sure you talk to the bishop there. Let him meet her. Have her be a very sweet little church girl, but ignorant ofourreligion. She can do it. She played us, so it shouldn't be hard for her to play them." Then Laird stepped closer. "Just make sure they don't eat you."

"That's the plan," Thane agreed. "In truth, I don't know if there's more than her. She said she's lonely. She never told me they have any kind of organization, so maybe it'll take time to set this up."

"We have time," Laird promised. "Right now, the Cardinal seems to think you are an ideal hunter. He thinks I'm a priest with big aspirations. He's convinced that Mom's line tainted Stuart, but we have taken after our father. I may have put that idea in his head, so I'm hoping he's not playing us."

"And they're still searching for something," Thane said. "But what? Brice pointed out that they don't want to kill her. They want to trap her."

"Experiments," Laird said. "Testing weapons, Words, and more. She's the most powerful demon in recorded history. The texts from the Inquisition mention some like her, but that was in the fourteen hundreds, and how embellished are they?"

"I'm not sure they are," Thane countered. "Laird, from the sounds of it, she lived in the Bronze Age. Before Christ. She'sold.There's no way she's the only one."

"Unless she's the only one left," Laird breathed. "Shit. The Inquisition took out the most powerful ones, but more are still being made?"

Thane could only shrug. "She said it's a fluke of nature. Random chance. I can't think of a reason why that would suddenly stop. Something about a magnetic field returning at the time of death."

"The Earth's magnetic field," Laird realized. "With more people..." He pulled in a breath. "Shit. That's why we have so many harmless ones. That boy in Waxahachie! The one you said was in two places? Dead and alive? He was newly created!"

"Great," Thane grumbled. "Doesn't really help us. What I really want to know is how the fuck I'm getting you out of here."

"You are going to marry that woman," Laird told him. "Then you're going to make plans. When your vacation is over, we'll know more. Either I'll rent a car and head up there - so there's no trace of where I'm going - or you will come back here and we simply go to dinner to talk about your girl and never come back."

Thane licked his lips. "What about Brice?"

"I'll figure him out by the time you're back," Laird decided.

"And then?" Thane asked. "What are we going to do if he's serious?"

"First, we have to decide if he's truly wanting out or if he's trying to catch us. Then we make up our minds. Either way, he's off work the same days you are, so he won't be missed for two days. All of this hinges on you getting their help, though. We're going to need new identities. We'll need to vanish the same way these demons do, because the Church can track us. Most importantly, we'll need to be sure we can trust them more than the Church."

Thane nodded. "Yeah. Feels weird to be considering marriage to a woman who's been dead longer than English has been spoken." The insanity of their plan was starting to hit him. "This had better work. Otherwise, she will kill me. If they summon her, she'll tear me apart before she gives in to the pull of it. We both know it."

"Then make sure it works," Laird told him. "It has to be a real wedding. A commitment, Thane. Maybe it's by the rules you two agree to, but this can't be on paper only. If you can't do it, then I will."

"Priests can't marry," Thane reminded him.

Laird just looked at him like he was a fool. "The moment we run from here, I won't be a priest anymore. I am only recognized by the Church of the Holy Inquisition. Catholics, Baptists, and everything else? They don't see our faith as legitimate."

"Because it's not," Thane said.

"Exactly." Laird looked at him for a long moment, then stepped in and hugged him hard. "I love you, little brother. You're the best family I could've asked for. If this is the last time we ever see each other, then know that I've always been on your side, and I always will be."

Thane resisted for only a moment before hugging Laird back. "If they kill me, please make them pay? Because if they kill you, I will slaughter each and every one."

"That is a vow I promise to keep." Laird let go and stepped back. "And congratulations. Assuming she says yes and this works, I just want to be the first to tell you. I hope you can find happiness, Thane. Somehow."

Thane nodded. "Yeah. I should be there by about nine-thirty tomorrow night. If you don't hear from me by midnight, then things went wrong."

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