Geist (16 page)

It was amazing how easy it was to work
together
like that! 

Neither of us said a word, we just knew what to do. Was that the secret? Instead of taking his power from him to heal, we combine them? 

You seem to be both sides. 

"Geist—it worked! Thank you!" 

You are welcome. Who—who is she?

"This is Rhonda Orly." 

What is she?

That seemed like an odd question.
"She's my best friend." 

Odd. 

???

I sensed surprise now, not mine or Dags—
"Geist?" 

This is the one that wielded the Grimoire?

"She's the one that fused it to Dags' soul, yes." 

Such power...she keeps it well hidden
. He paused.
Did you know she loves the Grimoire?

I felt the light around Dags and me dissipating.
"Yeah, she loves books like that. Magic. She's a witch."
 

I mean she loves the
Grimoire
as in the vessel. The Guardian that holds it. 

"Yeah,"
and that was true. I did know how she felt about him. Which I could see was going to make for some really awkward moments. 

She would do anything for him. 

"I think a lot of us would. He's a great person." 

I can see why the Seraphim wants him. 

I was kind of getting a little creeped out by the conversation.
"Geist...did they really keep you this much in the dark?"

Another pause.
Yes
. 

And then I sensed he was gone. 

I was back in the little Mind Theater beside Alice and the only light came from her. "What happened?" 

Alice's light was very dim. When I put my hands on her we ported back to the beach and the fire. I helped her to one of the logs and we sat together. "You...you both work so well together. As if you were made for one another." 

"Yeah I noticed that. Did Dags pass out?" 

"Yes," she stared into the fire. "He's fine though. I can sense he's only tired—but not exhausted as he had been." 

"Did it work?" 

She nodded. "Oh yes. Rhonda is going to be just fine. Better than before. Only—"

I frowned. I hated "only," it was kinda like having a "but" in there too. I waited. 

Alice looked at me. "You used a lot of Abysmal essence when you aided him." 

I shook my head. "Is that bad?" 

"I'm not sure." 

"Dags is a creature of both, right? Me Abysmal, you Ethereal?" 

"Yes, but—" 

Aw man...a "but"
and
an "only." 

"Zoë—the taint of the essence flows with the power." 

I really wanted to understand that sentence so I held out as long as I could before I had to throw my hands up and just say, "I don't get it." 

But instead of explaining it, she put her hand on my hands and smiled. "It's nothing I'm sure. Can you sense Maureen at all?" 

I thought back to my body. "Y-yeah. She's sleeping. That's the best way I can describe it." 

"Good." 

"Good?"

"Yes. She's had so much happen to her over these months I think the rest will do her good." 

This was very true. Maureen Lafferty had been a girlfriend of Dags' if I remembered it right. And they worked together. She'd disappeared and then shown up as a Familiar inside the tattooed portal of his left hand. She'd also been used by Sophia to kill Revenants, capture Dags and take pages from the
Grimiore
. I was pretty sure she felt like a used sock. 

I turned to ask Alice more about Maureen—but to my surprise—she was asleep. 

With a sigh, I watched the flickering fire for a while. 

"Zoë?" 

I jumped up and turned to see Dags standing on the edge of the circle of logs. "Are you okay?" I was beside him instantly. 

And he had his arms around me, kissing me. I tried to feel through him, like I had before. But it didn't work the same way. Not in here. When he was finished he pulled back and moved my hair from my eyes, tucking it behind my ears. "I'm fine. And Rhonda will be fine too." 

"I'm glad," I said and grabbed his hand. "Walk with me. Just...be with me." I pulled him to the shore. It wasn't a real beach. These weren't real waves. And that wasn't a real sunset. But it was enough for me. For now. Until we could touch each other again in the real world and finally be a couple. 

God I wanted that so bad. 

-24-

Deep Thoughts

Dags stayed with me as long as he could. But when his body entered a deep, healing sleep, he vanished as well. 

I sat in the sand on the water's edge next to the
Grimoire
and watched the waves. I could hear them. See the eternal sunset. 

What would happen with all of this? 

And how—how was it going to happen. 

"How do you want it to happen?"

Geist was sitting beside me. I jumped again and gave him a harsh look as the breeze blew my hair. "What does that mean?" 

He shrugged. "Exactly as it is supposed to sound. I have already pointed out the problem. Have you come up with a solution?"

Ah. Yes. The Catch-22. The borders were closed. To open them I had to become the Phantasm. But if I became the big bad I could never get out of the Throne. 

I half turned and looked at Geist's profile. "You knew the first Phantasm?" 

"Yes."

"Samael?" 

"That was his name, yes." 

I pulled hair from my face. "How did he get out of the Throne." 

Geist slowly smiled. "He was never in the Throne, Zoë." 

I thought I heard thunder in the distance. "Wait...what? How? I thought the Thrones were made when the planes were made."

"No. The Thrones were set up to try and prevent the war. When the two forces couldn't sort out who owned what or who could go where. The Ethereals wanted total control and restrictions; and the Abysmals wanted freedom. For all." He looked at me. He was so unlike Joe in so many ways. "The Thrones were agreed on—but Samael was never permitted inside." 

"He wasn't permitted?" 

"The Bulwark happened. The coup that created the second Phantasm—Sophia—prevented the resonance from happening. The spell was created—the one you learned about—to preserve Samael's ghost. But," he shook his head. "It didn't work. It was faulty." 

"So it is possible to be a Phantasm and not sit in the Throne?" 

He smiled at me. "Is it?" 

Uhm... That wasn't the answer I was expecting. "Is it?" I fired back. 

And for the first time I saw the Geist smile with Joe's smile. "Zoë, everything is made up of thought. The basis for the universe is that all thoughts are living things. That all things in being were originally something thought up." 

Yeah, I gave him that face. The one that said "Huh?" 

"Do you think the first chair just manifested itself? Or was it thought of by just one person? No. It was an idea, a thought, that blossomed and grew in many minds at different times, and those thoughts grew until a bunch of someones built a chair. It is the same thing for any other thing on the Physical Plane." He turned a bit more to face me and became more animated as he continued. "The planes themselves exist because of this. It is the essence of universal thought." 

Blink. 

"Zoë—come on. Think of each of the planes as a stage. You have the Abysmal and Ethereal—the group mind. Think of a thought, an idea. That idea passes from there to the Astral plane were it starts to take shape. It then moves to the Mental Plane were the shape of the idea begins to form in the minds of those who will share it and create it. And then," he held out his hands. "It becomes manifest in the Physical Plane." 

I didn't believe it. 

He'd just made this whole crazy thing make sense. 

Kinda. 

"Wait a minute—are you trying to tell me what happens is determined by what we think?"

"Yes. If you're sure and confident you will succeed, then you will. But if you doubt yourself at all," he lowered his shoulders. "Then you will fail. And the key," he paused and touched my forehead.

I had to chuckle a bit at him, causing Geist to look a bit confused.  Using my best gravelly voice I looked at him, "Do..or do not..there is no try"

-Wait...he touched my forehead. 

And I felt it! 

"Do that again." 

"What?"

"Touch me." 

He reached out and poked my arm. 

I felt it! 

"Why—how can I feel you but I can't feel Dags. Or Alice?"

"Oh that's because of what I am, Zoë." He pointed to his own forehead and tapped. "But do you understand? Whatever outcome you want, you will have." 

"By thinking it? And if I doubt?" 

"Doubt will undo the want." 

"And if I can't do it? What if I try and I fail?" 

He shook his head. "Do or do not...there is no try." 

-25-

I Love Her

I was instantly back in the little Mind Theater when Dags awoke. I watched the screen refocus and heard him give off a soft moan. I loved his voice, no matter what sound he was making. 

Except for screaming. I don't think I ever wanted to hear him scream in pain again. 

The images in front of him focused. 

I recognized a ceiling. And a ceiling fan. The fan was spinning at what could have been its slowest cycle. He stared at it a few minutes before a familiar face popped into view. 

"Good morning sleepy head." 

It was Rhonda. And we both jumped when she showed up. 

"Hey..." Dags said and rubbed at his eyes. He blinked a few more times and looked at her. She looked great. Her hair was perfectly cut in a bob around her chin and the sides fell forward toward him, framing her face. Her eyes were lined in kohl, as usual, but her lips were painted a soft pink. I think some of her new decoration designs were rub-offs from when she housed my mom's soul for a while. Rhonda would always be goth all the way. 

He reached up and touched her neck. "Is it okay?" 

"Yep," she pulled her hair back and turned her head from side to side. "See? It's all fine." She released her hair and it fell forward like a shampoo commercial. "I'm alive thanks to you." 

Hrm
. 

He laughed and pushed himself up on his elbows. "Well no, actually it wasn't just me it was—"

But she put a finger to his lips and he stopped talking. I took a step closer to the screen. "Shhh. You don't have to be embarrassed, Dags. It's okay. You've done so much for all of us. We work as a team keeping this group alive and well. We work good together, don't you think?" 

"Zoë, what are you doing?" 

I glanced back at Alice. "I'm watching. Shhh.." 

"Rhonda—" Dags moved her hand from his face and sat up in a bed. I took in the room around them. I didn't recognize it—though it could be one of the rooms in the penthouse. It looked like a hotel room; with stock ocean scenes on the wall and a dresser and mirror and flat screen behind Rhonda. "Yeah we really do work well together. I'm glad we could help you." 

"We?" 

"Me and Zoë. That's what I was gonna say before. She was the one that healed you." 

I'm not sure I liked the look in Rhonda's face at that moment. It sort of looked—predatory. And then it was gone. 

"Oh I see. I thought it was you, and I was talking about you and me working well together."

"It was me but it was mostly her. We sync'd perfectly last night—" and he chuckled. "It's like we were made to be together." 

Aww. 

"But you're
not
together," Rhonda said as she stood. I watched her move to the dresser but I couldn't see her face. "You're in two different planes."

"Well yeah for now. But she's in here," and he touched his chest. "Her spirit's with me. I haven't been this happy in a long time Rhonda. And as soon as we can figure out a way to get those borders between the planes down we can go get her." 

Yay!

"But what if we can't?" 

Boo. 

"Oh we will." He paused. "And then I'm going to marry her." 

Rhonda gave him a sharp look. "Marry?"

"Yeah...I want to be with her." 

"But you can't—" 

"What do you mean can't?" Dags moved himself to the side of the bed. I looked down to see he was wearing jeans and nothing else. "Of course we can. Azrael's pretty sure we can do this. But I'm pretty sure we're going to need to get to the Dioscuri Files." 

We are?

Rhonda turned back to him. "Why do you think that?"

"While I was sort of trapped in here," he put his hand to his chest. "I could still hear people. I could still think and feel. And it wasn't until I spoke to Nona last night that I remembered her talking to Adiran about the Dioscuri files. Domas had a lot of detailed things in there about the Outer Planes. Namely the Abysmal. What if there's something in there that could tell us how to get Zoë out? Or maybe about how to get in? Why rely on just the
Grimoire
?"

Her dark eyebrows knitted in the middle. "You talked to Nona about this last night?"

"Just briefly. I was so tired after we got out of her house," he ran his fingers through his hair. "But she said she needed to talk to the others first." 

"But we think those files were taken when they stormed the compound. Raziel has them." 

"Yeah I know. Which just means we have to get them back." 

"No," she sat beside him. In fact, she sat so close to him that I actually felt her hips on his hips. She grabbed his hand. "Dags look...I wouldn't get my hopes up about getting Zoë out. Even if there is something in the notes it's still a long shot." 

"I have to try Rhonda." He looked to his side at her. "I can't live without her." 

I saw pain in Rhonda's eyes. And I recognized it. I'd felt it many times myself. 

The pain of rejection. "Dags why can't we—" 

He squeezed her hand and pulled his free. "Rhonda—don't. Please don't. I think I've come a long way since March, don't you? I'm starting to trust you again—don't fuck it up."