The Gift of Knowledge (The Gifts Book 2) (6 page)

     “Fine, finish your business and be gone, but know that you are closely watched while you are in my city.” Dicydius walked backwards into his dark cloud and disappeared. Grotbod and the other demons fell back as well. Soon, no demons remained in sight.

     “That was too easy. The demons are hiding something and they do not want us to find out what that is,” Liam stated to his host. “We must be extra vigilant in our care of Emily and Ethan. They hold the key to the Lord’s plan.

***

     Emily’s eyes widened with wonder as she took in the market place of Fierre de Hippie. There was a carnival atmosphere to the entire street that was packed with venders hawking their wares of brightly colored tapestries, painted pottery, and all manner of Brazilian knick-knacks. In the background Latino music rose over the din of human voices as Ethan led Emily through the streets teeming with tourist by the hand.

     “This way to the knife shop.” Emily was aware that Ethan was talking, but a chill ran up her spine as she spotted Liam and his Legion in the street in front of her with his sword drawn as if he was ready for battle.  Before she could say anything Ethan pulled her into a dark doorway. In the darkness of the knife shop Emily could only see shadows as her eyes adjusted after coming in from the bright sunlight.  Ethan let go of her hand and stepped up to a counter. As he engaged the shop owner in Latin Emily stepped back into the doorway to look out at the street.

     Liam was gone. There were no angels or demons in sight. She knew without a doubt the angels were following her, but instead of reassuring her it made her even more curious to know just what kind of trouble Ethan was in. He’d told her that he believed Dr. Lazar to be a dangerous man. She shuddered at the thought of Dr. Lazar. Ethan had good reason to be afraid of him. Emily believed him to be possessed. The one time she had seen him was enough to convince her that he harbored a great evil inside of him.

     “Emily, come check this out.” The excitement in Ethan’s voice drew Emily from her thoughts. “I just got a great deal on a machete and a hunting knife for you.”

***

     Armodius pushed his human puppet, Dr. Carmine Lazar, forward. Word from the demonic presence in Rio verified Ethan had been spotted among the tourists shopping in the market district of Fierra de Hippie, so he ordered the cab driver to head in that direction. He planned to find out where Ethan was headed and to follow him. It was imperative that Ethan lead him to the cave of the lost kings. Arranging an ambush for Ethan and his crew would be easy, but being a lazy demon he preferred to let Ethan do all the work. Then Armodius could swoop in, take what he wanted and run.

     If Armodius served his masters well, he would be able to remain inside of Lazar and live a life of ease. He needed Lazar to be wealthy if he was to have that life. Of course, he would have to completely destroy Ethan in the process, but that was the thrill of this whole operation, destruction of the children of God. Lazar sat in the backseat of the cab with a vacant stare in his eyes and an evil smile on his lips, as he waited for Ethan to exit the market place.

    Armodius didn’t have to wait long before spotting Ethan and the red-haired woman hailing a cab.

     “Follow that cab,” Lazar grunted and threw some paper money at the driver to get him moving.

     Armodius pondered as the cab raced down the street. He knew the woman with Ethan could be trouble. Angelic warriors followed and watched her closely. It was rumored Emily was blessed with the ability to see angels and demons. He would bide his time and watch her carefully. He was sure that with patience he would find an opening to strike and take her out of the way. He would just wait and watch for the right opportunity to present itself. The demon had spent centuries in the abyss until the Ba al’ summoned him for this assignment. He could be patient if he needed to be.

***

     The sun was setting on the horizon when the cab dropped Ethan and Emily off at the front entrance to the motel. Ethan walked Emily to her room with a promise to meet her for dinner in the front lobby later then headed to his own room. He was almost frantic to get a look at the images of the Spaniard’s journals. For two whole days he’d put it off and now, finally, he was going to load them from the phone to his laptop for a closer look.

     Ethan slid the key into the door of his room and ‘whoof’ out of nowhere a body slammed into him and knocked him to the ground. A sturdy pair of legs straddled him, as wet lips smacked his face with loud kisses.

     “There you are, Ethan. Where’ve you been all day? We’ve been looking for ya everywhere since we checked in and found out you were already here,” a high pitched female voice pouted as she straddled a prone Ethan.

     “Phoebe, get off me. You’re cutting off my air,” Ethan squeaked out as the leggy blonde woman rolled off him.

     “Well, did you miss me?” Before Ethan could answer Phoebe began plugging him with other questions. “Did you get the maps from the old lady? Can you see where the cave is on them? We’re all hungry, so can we go eat now?”

     “Let’s see, umm, yes, I did miss all of you. Yes, I got the maps. I don’t know yet about the cave, I haven’t had much of a chance to look yet, and yes, food is definitely on the agenda.” Ethan pulled himself up and then offered a hand to Phoebe.

     “Good, Pheebs is right, we’re all starving. Where ya been hiding all day, Ethan?” A deep, masculine voice called out as Ethan turned to find the rest of his team coming down the hallway. Cliff Roland, Russ Jenkins, and Gary Palmer were Ethan’s closest friends and colleagues. Together with Phoebe, they were the only people that had stuck with Ethan through good and bad. He trusted all of them with his life.

     “I have a lot to tell all of you, but we need to wait for most of it because Lazar is onto us. I’m sure he’s already here.”

     “What? Lazar! Did you see him?” Cliff sputtered as the rest of the team looked on in shock. Each of them counted Carmine Lazar as a sworn enemy. He’d betrayed them all one way or another, but the evidence that pointed to him being involved in the death of their friend, Dr. Will Hansen, was enough to make them loath the man entirely. Ethan unlocked the door to his room and ushered the group inside.

     “OK, spill it Ethan. What do you mean Lazar is onto us?” Phoebe blurted out as all five of them crammed into Ethan’s small room.

     “Well... It’s a really long story.” Ethan spent the next hour catching his friends up on getting the copies of the Spaniard’s journals and spotting Lazar. He was just getting to the part about the newest member of their team when a knock sounded on the door.

     Phoebe made it to the door before Ethan. She pulled it open and stared at the gorgeous redhead in front of her.

     “Yeah, whatda ya want?” When Emily only stared back at her Phoebe started to close the door. “I think you got the wrong room, lady.”

     “No, Phoebe, wait. This is Emily Bell. She’ll be joining us on this expedition.” Ethan took Emily by the hand as everyone else in the room gasped.

Chapter Five

Set me as a seal on your heart, as a seal on your arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which has a most vehement flame.

Song of Solomon 8:6

     Emily smiled nervously and did her best to make the others feel comfortable. Cliff, Russ and Gary all jumped up to shake her hand and welcome her. Only Phoebe stood back with her arms crossed over her chest.

     “Just what do you mean when you say joining us, Ethan?” She pointedly asked.

     “I mean she is now a member of our team, Phoebe. Where we go, she goes. Got that?” Ethan gave Phoebe a chastising look while he poked his finger in her direction.

     “I thought we agreed that after we lost Will that we wouldn’t risk adding another to our group.”

     “Look, this is my team and my expedition, and I say Emily is going and that’s that.”

     Emily held up her hand before the argument could continue. “OK, I think you all need some time to talk so I am going down to the lobby to wait for you.”

     Cliff, Russ and Gary all followed Emily out the door with Gary at the tail mumbling, “We’ll meet you two downstairs.”

     In the lobby, the three men introduced themselves to Emily.

     “Hi, Emily, welcome aboard. I’m Dr. Cliff Roland. This is Dr. Russ Jenkins, and Dr. Gary Palmer.” The men each took turns shaking her hand. “So, are you an archeologist or an anthropologist? Russ, Gary and me are archeologist. Phoebe is the anthropologist on our team.”

     “Oh no, I’m neither. I hold a degree in biblical theology with a minor in ancient languages, but that’s not why I’m here. I’m here because…well I... maybe we should let Ethan tell you exactly why I’m here.” Emily suddenly felt she was on a hot seat. She decided to let Ethan disclose to his team the particulars of their arrangement. Surely that would be the best course of action given her cold greeting back in Ethan’s motel room.

     “So, tell me about Phoebe. Are she and Ethan a couple?” She blurted out, hoping to change the subject.

     “Oh No! No, No, No!” All three men answered in unison. Then Cliff, the self-appointed spokesman for the group, held up his hand. “Phoebe is, or should I say was, Will’s cousin. Ethan felt responsible for her after his death and made her a permanent part of our team. She’s very professional and good at what she does, and her addition to the team has proved to be a real asset. It’s just that she’s a little emotionally attached to Ethan, especially with Will gone. Ethan thinks of her as a little sister. We all do really. But she’s been the only woman in our group for a while now, and I guess she’s just a little wary, you know, of you maybe being here to replace her. Don’t worry. I’m sure Ethan will reassure her.”

     “What happened to Will, if you don’t mind my asking?” The three men ducked their eyes. Clearly Emily’s question hit a sore spot.

     “It’s all right. I understand if you don’t want to talk about it.” Emily tried to reassure the men. She thought maybe she’d spoken out of turn.

     “It’s not that.” Finally Russ, the quiet one, spoke up. “It’s just that…well we’d better sit down. I think we all could use a drink while we’re waiting for Ethan and Phoebe to join us.” The four of them found an empty table in the motel’s cantina.

     After the waitress brought their drinks, Cliff started the conversation by asking Emily if she was Myles Perry’s granddaughter. Emily answered, “Yes.”

     “Well, I bet it shocked Ethan to find you weren’t the old maid he thought you were.” The men laughed knowingly at Cliff’s statement. It was genuine laughter that made Emily laugh with them.

     “Oh yeah, he was shocked alright.” Emily smiled at the memory of Ethan stammering on her front porch when he learned who she was. It seemed like ages ago, even though it had only been a few days.

     The laughter died down and the conversation took a more serious turn, as Russ began to share what happened to their friend Will.

     “We’d been here in the Amazon jungle working with a remote tribe for about eighteen months. Will was our anthropologist, and he’d made great strides in getting to know the native customs and language. We’d finally found a tribe familiar with the cliffs and the cave we were looking for.  Reportedly, the Spaniards discovered the cave while raiding the Inca tribes of Peru in the sixteenth century. This tribe has been settled on the outskirts of the Amazon near the Peruvian border for hundreds of years.

     We knew we had the right tribe when they showed us some ancient artifacts the Spaniards left behind,
sixteenth
century artifacts. Then one day soon after that the tribe stopped talking to us. No explanation. The chief finally told Will we would have to leave. Something spooked them when we started asking about the location of the cave. Ethan was about to pack us all up to go home when Will got a call from a friend. He told Will he’d tracked the rumored Spaniard’s journals to New York. Someone brought them into the United States back in the nineteen-fifties, but the trail went cold there. Ethan sent Will to New York to find the journals while we stayed here and moved our base camp away from the tribe. Will sent Ethan daily email reports. Then one day, the reports just stopped coming. After about a week with no word we were all getting a little worried, and Ethan went to New York himself to find Will.”