Chapter 26: Chapter 26

Nana seemed a little stuck on the notion God had sent a divine prophecy on her back. She decided to let that go. At least the idea that her mother had said she ruined everything was cleared up once and for all, or so she hoped. “Do you know why Sera assumed she couldn’t come back here?” Thanatos’s words from the night before, his belief that the Keepers wanted to hurt her mom were fresh in her mind.

“I have no idea. I told her both times she called that we just wanted the two of you home. The first time, she said she couldn’t come back. She was still in love with Larkin, still thinking he could be saved, that the world would be saved through their love or some such rubbish.” Ru couldn’t help but think the statement was a little harsh considering her mother likely was sincere with her emotions, even if they were misguided. “I always told her to come home. She wouldn’t. Brighton was out searching for her, you know, when he ran into the demon that killed him.”

Ru’s eyebrows raised. “No, I didn’t realize that.” It made sense, though.

“He never rested after Sera left. Even when he was home, he couldn’t sleep. He’d search for her all night, trying to locate her mentally if he couldn’t be out in physical form. We knew she was likely using some sort of a cloaking device, but we didn’t go into her room to disturb her things, thinking it would do us no good anyhow. And it wouldn’t have helped us find her, I found out when I finally did go in there. But he died attempting to track her down.” Her eyes were teary, and Ru’s heart felt heavy for her poor grandmother. How must it have been to lose her lifelong love as he was searching for their daughter? “After that, I gave up the search. I thought, if Sera was meant to be found, she would turn up eventually. Perhaps I should’ve acted differently, but I knew the other Keepers were still searching for you two, best they could, with everything else going on.”

Ru had no idea what to say. Eventually, she went with what weighed heaviest on her heart. “I’m so sorry about Grandpa.”

Nana managed a painful half-smile. “At least they got the demon that did it. And he won’t be coming back from where he was sent anytime soon.”

“That’s good,” Ru replied, relieved to hear it. “Who got him?”

“Leaf.”

The name hung in the air between them, and Ru wasn’t sure what to ask. She was startled. Afraid to inquire more, she only stared at her grandmother, half hoping she’d elaborate, half wanting her to leave off there so she could be true to her conversation with Cutter and wait for him to tell her his version of his brother’s story.

“Demon was named Balam, and he was something else. Shot fire from his eyes. Had a long tail like a serpent. It wasn’t the first time your grandfather had encountered him. He was alone, so no one knows for sure what happened. A team went out the next night and hunted Balam down. Leaf led it, and he was the one who sent him to the darkest pits of Hell. I always appreciated that kid, but after that day, well, he was one of my favorites—for the short time he had left with us.”

Ru was having trouble absorbing so much information so quickly. “I thought that Keepers mostly fought Reapers, not actual demons.”

“Demons’ll come out when they feel the Reapers have been wronged. Balam was seeking vengeance on behalf of Xahrex, Larkin’s father.”

“And who is Xahrex?” She realized she’d never asked Cutter anything about her Reaper side, other than about her father.

“Xahrex had answered directly to Azrael. Ronobe was his grandfather. He was banished when Larkin was younger, and Azrael had stepped in, bringing Larkin up almost as his own.”

Ru nodded. “So… that’s why Thanatos said my father was one of his father’s greatest soldiers before he was banished.”

“You’ve spoken to Thanatos?”

Nana’s face was pale almost to the point that it could rival Ru’s own coloring. Slowly, Ru tipped her head up and down. She assumed that Nana knew that information. She had no idea why Cutter would keep it from her.

“Rune, you be careful. That one cannot be trusted. He’s tricky in ways you can’t even imagine.”

“I know, Nana….”

“No, I don’t think you do. Stay away from him.”

Ru nodded again, the warning in her grandmother’s eyes nearly cutting through her soul. She did her best to keep her eyes steady, but Nana’s gaze didn’t lessen or waver until the timer on the stovetop started chirping, drawing her attention. She turned to pull the cookies out of the oven, and Ru wished she hadn’t even mentioned Thanatos’s name.

Nana went about taking the cookies off of the sheet and placing them onto the cooling racks set up next to her on the table. Ru was still amazed at how much she could accomplish from her armchair.

A glance at the clock had her thinking she should probably head back to Cutter’s house soon. She wanted to talk to him about Leaf, and she still hadn’t told him anything about her conversation with Thanatos, though she knew that Lyric had to have told him that they ran into each other the night before. She was honestly shocked he hadn’t asked, though she realized he was still trying to figure out how to act around her since her insensitive comment the day before.

“These should be cool in about ten minutes,” Nana said, the smile returning to her face. “You can stay long enough to eat a few, can’t you?”

“Sure,” Ru replied, a polite smile making its way to her face as well. She almost hated to say anything at all for fear that the grin would disappear completely, but there was one more question she felt compelled to ask. Even though her grandmother had already alluded to her opinion, if Ru left without asking and something happened, missing the opportunity would haunt her forever. “Nana?” she asked.

The woman looked up from the cookie sheet, the plumes of white over her eyes raised, “Yes, dear?”

“Are you certain that there are no Keepers—or angels—or anyone—who would want to hurt Sera? I mean, if we find her, when we find her, if we bring her back here, no one wants to punish her for what she did, do they?”

“Why would you ask that?” Nana asked, setting her spatula aside.

“I just want to make sure.”

“No, dear.” Nana’s voice was confident. “No one here blames Seraphina for what happened. She was a child. Larkin was to blame. While it might be difficult for her to adjust to being back home again, she will be welcomed with open arms.”

Ru’s head bobbed up and down, and she realized that the answer didn’t really help her much. Of course, Nana would say that. Sera was her daughter. She had to believe everyone else would be just as forgiving as she was. But then, if there were any threat of danger, Nana wouldn’t want her to go, so maybe Thanatos’s words really were a lie, as she’d suspected all along.

“He said something to you, didn’t he?”

Looking up in surprise, Ru’s first instinct was to deny the accusation, but she could see in Nana Sue’s eyes that she would look right through it. “Yes.”

“He’s a liar.” Her words were definitive. “He’ll say whatever he can to try to persuade you to abandon your mission, Ru. You can’t do that. You were sent here to find the portals and destroy them. I know that is your purpose. Only you can do it.”

Once again, Ru found herself nodding, but she didn’t have nearly the confidence that Nana had. When her grandmother extended a chocolate chip cookie in her direction, she took it and stuck it in her mouth. The warm, ooey-gooey texture was lost on her, though. It may as well have been a piece of cardboard. Why was it everyone else was so certain Thanatos was a lying snake, but she was so apt to at least give his words a small amount of consideration? Even before she’d met Kyle, she’d felt that way about him. Was it the demon blood in her, or something else? She could add those questions to the plethora swarming her brain. Hopefully, once they got to Holy Island, they’d find Sera and then she’d have more answers. For now, she decided she may as well get used to feeling like a ship in a storm, unsure of which direction to go and not knowing which side was up.