J.L. nodded and glanced at Jose.
"Stay where you are," Damali said. "We're about two miles away from Dan. We'll pick him up then head back to the compound."
Marlene reached for the console and put the telephone on mute. Determination blazed in her eyes. She was not afraid to die, a part of her already had when she took this mission. Traffic sounds could be heard coming over the radio. The guardians and Damali were all talking at the same time. She blocked out their strained voices, ignored their entreaties. Marlene glanced around at Shabazz and J.L., ignoring Damali's instructions. It was now or never. Her gaze went to Jose's face, and she spread her hands over his damp forehead and closed her eyes. Shabazz and J.L. stood back as a thin red glow outlined Marlene's hands. Her eyelids fluttered and her lips moved.
Soon every orifice on Jose's body slithered as nightmarish maggots, small black snakes, and tiny beetles fled his ears, nose, and mouth, leaving a sulfuric stench in their wake. Marlene had not moved. Her attention was unwavering. Jose convulsed, but she would not remove her hands.
The boy would not be doomed. She would not allow it! Not another young person in her charge would be lost - or she would die trying. Shabazz was at her side with his arm around her waist as an anchor, giving her his energy to siphon to add to their collective cause. His sensor's touch rippled through her body. Tears of exertion ran down her face, mingling with trickles of sweat. Her clothes stuck to her damp body. She was working. Knew how to do this. Had been anointed. This was her calling - a seer, a guardian, a keeper of the sacred sight. She was the team's elder. J.L.'s hands alighted her shoulders, both men prayed in a steady chant to protect her as she went inside Jose's mind.
She had to bring Jose back! She saw past her own fears, past her own instinct to survive... she harnessed her love for Jose to the light as her mind dove deep into the dark trying to claim him... and then she began to spiral, connected to his mind, which was locked to his besieged spirit that exited his body - leaving both his and hers vacant as she chased his soul to free it. She repented her own transgressions and wrapped love around the young man as her fingernails dug into his face until her mind opened to see where a fragment of his soul had been captured... trapped inside a dead fetus, trapped within Dee Dee's trapped soul, trapped in the realm of pure jealousy, envy, coveting Damali's fame. Secrets and lies, Dee Dee had envied Damali, it was all so very clear, and that insidious emotion had made her soul sink when Big Mike had staked her using his crossbow.
"Release the fetus, it is an innocent and does not belong to you," Marlene murmured. "Jose is a part of that only," she said more loudly. "It is now dead flesh, but the soul is not there. You have no claim! Release him!" She spit out vile slime as it crept up her esophagus, trying to take root in her, but she gave it no harbor. Jose moaned and writhed while Marlene worked. Then Marlene saw her own worst nightmare - Raven.
Marlene's spirit snapped back into her body, jerking her, depositing Jose's spirit with a twitch. She drew back her hands and clutched her stomach. Jose's color had improved and he stirred but was still weak.
"I'm going after her," Marlene said flatly, the conviction in her tone clear. The maternal pang inside her fused with guilt, worry, and a host of other emotions she could not define. Hot tears rose in her eyes as she set her jaw hard with determination. "It's time."
"I won't allow it," Shabazz said. "The last time Raven almost killed you!" He stared at the woman whose mind had been made up, defeat claiming him as he fought against a lost cause. The thought of possibly losing Marlene again was nearly unbearable.
"This is non-negotiable, Shabazz." Marlene's voice was firm, yet tender as she prepared to leave. She briefly glanced at Shabazz with understanding, then looked away as she spoke. "Escort J.L. to the hospital to cover him and Jose. The vamps are focused on Damali. While they're distracted, I'll join the rest of the team and be safe."
"Mar, no!"
"Oh, shit, D!" Dan yelled, breaking through the argument occurring in the compound. His shout momentarily stilled the calls for a response from Marlene by the mobile Neteru-guardians who were panicked by the compound's silence.
"Something's just landed on the hood of my car!" Dan hollered. "Help me, help me, oh, Goddamn..."
"Start praying out loud, Dan!" Damali ordered. "Now! Anything you remember from Hebrew classes, whatever. Just start saying it."
Shabazz hit the console to take it off mute. "Dan, pray, brother. Hard, like your momma taught you how!"
"I don't remember!" Dan screamed. "I can't remember Hebrew classes... shit, something's rocking my car!"
"Then just start an old-fashioned f**king conversation with the man upstairs, dude," Rider yelled. "Like, 'Save my ass, Father. Help! Yo, get this shit up off me!' Don't stand on ceremony - call down spiritual backup!"
"Something's messing with the generators, D," J.L. shouted. "Power's dipping!"
"Give us ten minutes to get to Dan, then we're coming back for you guys."
"You don't have time to turn back, Damali," Marlene hollered. "Jose is bad, we've gotta get him outta here while we still have generator lights! Meet Shabazz, J.L., and Jose at the hospital. I'm going to draw it to me, then you draw it to you, Damali... keep it confused."
"Dan, Dan - speak to us," Damali, yelled. "Marlene, he's not answering."
They could hear Dan hollering and sputtering disjointed prayers and his car making screeching sounds as metal sounded like it was being grated. Marlene closed her eyes and brought the face she knew too well into her head, drawing it, taunting it, trying to create a diversion.
"We move," Shabazz ordered, hoisting Jose's limp body over his shoulder and snatching up his gun, then thrusting it into his waistband. "Weapons. Start pulling it to you, Damali. Marlene is on her way and has a lock on it."
"Done," Damali confirmed. "Mar, Godspeed. I don't wanna lose you."
Marlene nodded as Dan's remote screams could be heard through the radio. She picked up her stick and a battle-ax as Shabazz also grabbed a pump shotgun, and J.L. took several light wands and a crossbow.
All they had to do was make it to both remaining Jeeps.
"From what I'm hearing," Rider said in a quiet, urgent voice, "we might as well turn back and get up with our team."
Big Mike nodded from the backseat, placing a hand on Damali's shoulder. "Baby, you don't want to find him. We're too late."
"No," she said, her voice cracking. "We go get him, and back up whatever's feeding off of him. At least let his mother be able to bury him in one piece!"