Sentinel Lost (Mind Sweeper Series Book 5) (37 page)

“When the Key finally opened up to me, everything made sense. But looking back on it now, it was scary too. That much power should not be in one person for any length of time. The Key doesn’t have a sense of time or space. It just
is
. Katya said the Key was created by God to right the wrongs the angels had done.”

Father nodded. “You told me Katya also said an angel was the one who closed the portal to begin with. Maybe she was right. The Key was created to reopen the portal.”

I blinked at him. “It was created thousands of years ago.”

“You just said the Key has no sense of time.” He patted my hand. “I’m happy you’ve been freed from it. With the help of the tablet photo, I was able to translate the first two stanzas of the knowledge prophecy correctly. I have also finished the last stanza.”

“May I hear it?”

He closed his eyes and started from the beginning.

“‘Evil thrives among us

Angel descendants, preparing for battle

With Key of Knowledge in hand

The tides will turn

And light triumphs.

“‘The war will be long

And fraught with treachery

Lives will be lost

And the Key will change hands

Only the true Sentinel will

Save us from annihilation.’”

I held my breath as he continued to the last stanza.

“‘The lost Sentinel will be found.

Knowledge will be embraced

And Faith will erase

The sins of the past so

The worlds become one again.’”

We sat in silence until I had to say something. “That’s heady stuff, Father.”

He opened his eyes and smiled at me. “Powerful.”

“But the prophecy didn’t happen.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Well, Dalton was the Sentinel, and he was lost, so to speak. But he didn’t get the Key back to save the day.”

Father Brown shook his head. “Kyle. Prophecies are tricky. They can mean numerous things. Yes, Joe was the Key. And then you were, which represents the changing of hands. But I’m not convinced Joe was the lost Sentinel. I think you were.”

“No way. I’m not a descendent of the angels. I’m part demon!”

“Based on what you’ve described, you stopped a demon invasion from coming to earth, did you not?”

“Kind of.”

“And you were willing to sacrifice yourself to do it?”

“Yes, but—”

“No buts, Kyle. You almost died to protect us. Don’t downplay what you accomplished.”

I studied my hands as my face heated. “I stopped the demons from coming to earth, but it could and probably will come up again. I didn’t help solve the problem. If the worlds in the prophecy are the demon realm and earth, I didn’t bring them together.”

“So what are you going to do about it?”

I looked up at him.

“Who’s to say the prophecy is complete?”

“I don’t have the Key in me anymore.”

“Maybe you don’t need the Key. The prophecy mentioned faith. Maybe you just need faith.”

I sighed. “Faith is not something I’ve ever had in abundance, Father. I’m not religious.”

The twinkle in his eyes and grin on his face told me he knew something I didn’t.

“Okay, spill it.”

“Kyle, faith comes in many forms. Faith in God, faith in man, faith in your family and friends. Your loyalty and faithfulness are what make you so special.”

I squirmed. “You make me sound like a Saint Bernard.”

He laughed. “And there’s that wit you use to cover up your emotions.”

I opened my mouth and then closed it again. I was being psychoanalyzed by a priest.

“So I’ll ask you again. What are you going to do about it?”

He waited quietly for my answer, not rushing me. After only a minute, I knew what I was supposed to do.

“I’m going to rally the troops, Father. I have an idea. I think it’s time to shake things up a bit.”

Chapter 48

The Shamat community room was packed. The crowd had been filing in for several minutes, and they were finally taking their seats. Boris had worked a minor miracle convincing the leaders to come on such short notice, and now demon leaders from the twelve clans sat at the front of the room.

Irina sat in the front row, along with Aleksei, Jean Luc, Misha, and Talia, while Jason stood to the side watching everyone take their seats. Even Kevin Doyle was tucked in the back row.

I had shared the translated prophecy with a select group of people, and they had rallied around my plan to make it come true. Now it was time to get the rest of the supernatural community on board. Piece of cake.

Sylvia walked up. “You ready for this, Kyle?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“You might have to drag them kicking and screaming over to your way of thinking.”

I smiled. “I think I’m up for the challenge.”

She patted me on the back and took her seat next to Irina, who gave me a thumbs-up. Moments later, Boris strode to the front of the room and the excited, speculative babble petered out.

He smiled his showman’s smile and straightened his silk tie. Boris had dressed to impress tonight, in a black suit with an ice blue tie to match his eyes. “May I have everyone’s attention, please? We’re going to get started as soon as the new portal guard leader arrives.”

As if in answer to a summons, the right wall behind the podium undulated, and Naya emerged through the portal, her purple skin vivid against the beige walls. When she glanced my way, I gave her a surreptitious wave.

Boris continued. “Let’s get started with this meeting. We’ve invited you here tonight to discuss a recent event concerning a thwarted breach from the demon realm.”

Gasps and murmurs filled the room.

Boris held up his hands. “Please. If you would quiet down so we can continue. I’ve asked one of the members of the BSR to brief you on what happened.”

Boris beckoned to me, and I stepped up beside him. I glanced around the room at the faces staring back at me. Faces that revealed various emotions—concern, distrust, curiosity. Before I began speaking, the back door of the hall opened, and Nicholas walked in. He nodded to me before sitting in the back next to Doyle.

I looked over at Jean Luc, who smiled at me, and then I glanced at Misha. I had expected a smile or wink from him, but instead, he sat slack-jawed, staring at something behind me. I turned slightly to see what had caught his attention. Naya.

Hmm.
An interesting turn of events to be explored at a later date. Right now, it was time to get this show started. I took a deep breath.

“Thank you for coming tonight. For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Kyle McKinley from the Bureau of Supernatural Relations. Our team recently worked a case that began when a demon broke into the Cleveland Museum of Art and killed a security guard. We learned that the demon was from the demon realm. More specifically, he was from the in-between.”

There were gasps from the crowd, but I plowed ahead, telling them about the case and what we had learned about the demons trapped in the realm.

“For now, the mass exodus has been stopped, but this will not stop the demons from banding together and trying again, and potentially succeeding the next time. Tonight, we’ve brought you here to discuss how we can assist the border patrol and the demons still stuck in the realm.”

One of the council leaders spoke up from the front table. “Why would we want to help the realm demons?”

“Because most of the realm demons were born there and are not responsible for what their ancestors did before they were born. The border patrol members have devoted their entire lives to protect earth, and yet they are not allowed to come here. It’s time we stopped burying our heads in the sand and expecting things to remain the same.

“We’ve been working on an idea. Realm demons have been crossing over for a while now, acclimating themselves to earth and living normal lives. If we band together, we can start bringing the demons here on a larger scale. If we work to make living conditions better for the realm demons in general, and then help those who also wish to live here on earth to immigrate, it is a win-win situation.”

Voices erupted, and I looked out once again at the arguing crowd. My gaze landed on a lone figure standing at the back of the room. At some point during my speech, Dalton had arrived. For the first time tonight, my stomach did a little jig.

I placed my fingers between my lips and whistled, loudly. “Okay. I know we have a lot to discuss. First, Naya is going to talk to you about the state of the realm. Then we’ll follow up with an overview from someone who has been helping the crossover demons acclimate to our world. She has some insights as well.”

I moved away from the podium, and Naya took my place. During the next sixty minutes, the crowd heard the truth about the realm and the demons that now lived here on earth. Several members of the council asked questions.

One of the demons spoke up. “I would like to hear what Nicholas thinks of this idea.”

I swallowed hard when Nicholas got up from his seat in the back row. The crowd turned toward him.

“I think it’s the right thing to do. We can’t hide our sins and hope they’ll go away on their own. We have to make this right. If we don’t, we’ll have a war on our hands, and then we won’t be able to protect supernaturals from humans.”

Finally, after a few more questions, the meeting adjourned so the Council of Twelve could meet independently to discuss the matter. As the Council filed out, the crowd surged forward in a makeshift line to talk to me, like I was the Queen of England or something. Most patted me on the back for calling the meeting. I looked for Dalton, but couldn’t find him. Had he already left?

Doyle ambled up with a big grin on his face. “I never thought I would see the day. Kyle McKinley, the concerned citizen.”

I chuckled. “How’s the used car business, Doyle?”

“Okay. Why do you ask?”

“Because if the clans agree to my proposal, they’re going to need someone to oversee the setup. Since you know all the movers and shakers, I thought you would be the perfect choice to help pull together the resources.”

Doyle gaped at me for a minute. “You would trust me to do that?”

“Absolutely.”

“Yes.”

Now it was my turn to gape at him. “Yes? You don’t have to think about it?”

“Nope. I hate the used car business.”

I laughed. “Your mother-in-law isn’t going to give you a hard time about quitting?”

“Nope. She’s ecstatic with me right now. Coleen is expecting.”

“Holy crap, Doyle! You’re going to be a dad!”

He turned a little green, and after a few more seconds, I pushed him toward the door and told him I’d be in touch.

Nicholas was next in line. “You did a good job, Kyle.”

“Thanks. And thanks for backing me up earlier.”

He nodded. “I’ll help the Council any way I can.”

“It’s time to bring the worlds together again.”

Naya walked over when I finally had a lull in the line and gripped my forearm in an old-fashioned handshake. “It is good to see you, Kyle.”

“So you’re the head honcho now?”

She frowned. “After we spoke last, and you mentioned that the realm demon numbers were being underreported, I realized someone at the top had to be involved. It’s still hard to believe.”

“I’m sorry your friends were involved.”

She frowned. “The others are currently incarcerated. The in-between and the demon realm are headed for more turmoil if something is not done quickly. I hope the Council paid attention to what was said here tonight.” She smiled at me. “I must go.”

“Hold on for a sec.” I jogged over to the side of the room and picked up a duffle bag and handed it to her. “Here.”

She opened the bag, and beamed when she pulled out a book. “Thank you.”

“I think you’ll find these interesting. Romance, mysteries, modern fiction. Thought it might help to read something written more recently than the 1800’s.”

“I’ll let you know what I think.”

A small hand tucked into mine, and I turned to find a smiling Irina.

“We have our work cut out for us, don’t we?” she said.

I squeezed her hand. “Yep. Helping the demons cross over legitimately will be a challenge.”

She batted away the notion. “Oh, yes that, too. But I was talking about something else.” She pointed at Misha, who gazed after Naya while she disappeared through the portal. He looked gobsmacked.

“So I wasn’t imagining things earlier.”

Irina clapped. “Oh, no! I’ve never seen him look at a female that way. Not even his past wives. Do you know if she’s involved with anyone?”

I shook my head, and Irina pursed her lips at me.

“Hey. I met her while I was stuck in the demon realm. The topic wasn’t high on my priority list at the time.”