Chapter 21
Dean
My first impulse was to grab the bottle of Jameson from the kitchen counter and just start chugging, but because my kids were involved, I withstood the temptation. I glanced at Billy, wishing only for about thirty seconds that he was Bobby, and smiled weakly.
"Sounds like you've got a lead," Bill muttered, holding out a glass of amber liquid.
I took the glass and hesitated, "I just talked myself out of drinking," I stated, glancing at the older man. "And yeah, looks like Glory's got her own set of talents."
"Had she not shown any abilities before?" Bill asked, pouring his own glass and getting comfortable.
I shrugged and set the glass on the table on top of the map that Grace had laid out earlier. "She can communicate telepathically and she's perpetually happy, but those aren't exactly cosmic-level, new to us abilities, you know?" Leaning over the map of Wisconsin, I followed Donna's gaze as she searched for Strum, the town that Glory had relayed from Everett. "She's just always been my happy, middle kid."
Bill stood and smiled as Donna pointed victoriously. "Here," she said. "Found it. Strum, Wisconsin."
All three of us stared at the tiny dot on the map. "Okay," I sighed. "Let's get packed."
…
"This is Paul, come in Santiago," Paul clicked the CB radio on the dash of his Ford dually. "Santi, come back?"
"Hello, Paul," Santiago answered. "I thought we agreed on radio silence?"
Paul sighed, trying to decide how to continue. "I know, I know," he replied. "But we're heading to Eleva, per Grace's request. You joining us there or are you heading to Eau Claire?"
Santiago nodded to the CB mic even though Paul couldn't see him. "We'll going to Eleva too. Carlo found us a warehouse outside of town that's abandoned. We can take who we need to take there, without being noticed."
Paul nodded once, "Sounds good." He was about to sign out, but hesitated, holding the mic to his face for longer than he needed to. "Look, Santi," he began. "You were right."
"About Grace?" Santiago answered smugly. "I know."
"I had no idea that she was half angel."
Santiago shrugged his shoulders. "When you see someone fight the way she does, you know she can't be completely human," he commented. "It's just a shame that you have shared her bed, but still didn't notice. I'm not sure that confirms your skills as a hunter."
Paul chuckled to himself and shook his head, "Well, Santi," he sighed, "I'm still not sure I should even be a hunter. Grace has told me that from the beginning. Saved my ass more times than I can count." He glanced to his passenger, lifting his eyebrows. "Even Pete wonders how I'm still alive."
Santiago laughed over the CB, "Peter Hillenbrand is not one to talk."
"Alright, alright," Paul answered, shaking his head. "See you in Eleva. Over and out."
…
Dean
Liberty and Glory accompanied me out to the barn, running way ahead of me and scaring the crows from the field into flight. Grace was in, taking a nap before we headed for the great unknown, trying to salvage what energy she had so she wouldn't be caught with her guard down when it came to a fight. I was hoping that Serra's blood training was going well…she seemed to be the only arsenal we had at our disposal lately.
Approaching the barn, Lib called for Serra before she pushed the doors open, "Auntie?" she shouted. "Don't throw anything at me okay? It's me!"
Sammy's voice answered as he pushed open the door, "Hey, Lib," he greeted, glancing up at me. "What's going on?"
"We're here to tell you that Glory talked for Everett!" she bounded inside, her blonde curls bouncing behind her. "He told us where he is!"
Sam's hazel eyes flicked to mine immediately, his eyebrows knitting together in the middle of his forehead. "Are you serious?" he asked, really talking to me. "We have a location?"
I shrugged, following Lib and Glory inside the barn. "If we can take what a Nephilim/Mark of Cain hybrid's twins say as truth, yeah," I sighed. "Glory was sleeping," I explained, gesturing to my daughter. "The next thing you know, she was talking as if she was Everett and Lib recorded the whole thing." I smiled at my brother, lifting my eyebrows. "Good call on giving her the recorder, by the way."
"Nicely done, Liberty," Sam complimented, holding up his hand to give her a high-five. "You think he's right? We have a town?"
"Strum, Wisconsin," I answered, looking around for Serra. "Grace and I started mapping it out, trying to figure out a battle plan, but she's so exhausted." I licked my lips and leaned against the table and folded my arms across my chest. "She's just not meant to be completely human. She needs her abilities back." I took a breath and glanced around the barn again as the girls began tossing handfuls of hay at each other. "Where's Serra?"
Sammy nodded towards the Little House, "She's storing the blood I gave her. We're gonna see if it's a good way to load her up."
"Is the blood thing working so far?"
Nodding, Sam agreed. "Yeah, I mean, she reminds me of Grace when she was first starting out. Kinda unpredictable, but overall, pretty powerful. She can't really do stuff on command yet, but if I push her and she gets a little pissy at me, she's more successful." He hesitated and stared at the ground long enough to take a deep breath. "Who knew that both of them would have abilities?"
Shrugging, "It's a good thing they do." I smiled then, and nodded, feeling more confident than I had in the last few days. "That's a good start. How long does it take her to load up?"
"The transfusion took about twenty minutes, and then she started to notice a difference after about ten."
"So thirty minutes to get up and running," I commented, nodding. "We'll have to anticipate that, or at least keep her primed on the drive."
Sam leaned against Grace's old, red Toyota, still half covered with a tarp. "I wish we had more time to train," he whispered. "It just seems dangerous, going in with someone who's never actually used her abilities in a life or death situation."
"I'm gonna be honest with you, Sam," I muttered, turning toward my brother. "And don't ever repeat this to Serra, but if anyone's gonna improvise a life-or-death fight with newfound abilities and come out on top, it's gonna be Sere." I tilted my head and shrugged. "Little Miss Warrior of Heaven."
"Warrior of Fucking Heaven," came Serra's voice from behind me.
I rolled my eyes. Of course she heard me.
"Don't let that go to your head. Our asses are all on the line, here," I muttered, holding up my finger towards her face. "Don't let your guard down."
"Wouldn't dream of it," she answered, smiling sweetly at me. "Lookie what I can do."
We all turned to where Serra was pointing and watched as she slid the ammo boxes that were lined up on the table from one side to the other. They stopped neatly in a line just as they reached the end of the table. I had to admit, I was impressed.
"How are you picking it up so quickly?" I asked, nodding towards the table. "It took Grace awhile to get the idea of moving things incrementally."
Serra shrugged and leaned on the table, taking a deep breath before she answered. "I think it's all a matter of confidence. I watched her struggle for so many years, holding her abilities back that I knew what muscle to flex right away. I just did the opposite. As soon as I found something that worked," she took a breath and flicked her head towards the side, closing all the barn doors at once, "I concentrated on doubling that effort and reproducing that one feeling. It's all the stuff I've been watching Grace suffer through, crammed into an hour or so."
"Do you feel spent yet?" I asked, shaking my head at Liberty as she got a little too rough with her sister, rolling around in the hay.
"I did when I moved the tables and chairs," she answered, but as long as I go slow and steady, I don't burn out as fast.
"Still," Sammy added, "we're gonna have to have blood with us at any given time, just to make sure we can reload."
Serra nodded. "Agreed. I have vials in the fridge, about twelve so far. I'll let him rest and harvest another twelve or so tonight."
"Have you tested straight injecting it?" I asked.
"That's next on the list."