Although no one agreed, the squad followed Mehki through the double doors that led out to the open-air courtyard. Despite all his assurances of security measures, the battle-fatigued Neteru squad went on instant alert, entering the yard like a Delta Force on two-by-two detail, hugging the perimeter, weapons raised, and hand signals the only form of communication. By the time they got the short hundred yards across to the other building, Mehki's former mirth had dissipated.
"What have you guys just been through?" he asked quietly, his expression completely sobered.
"The darkside raised Dracula, blew up half of Detroit, and had us under heavy fire, holed up in a cathedral . . . and that was just this afternoon," Jose said, wiping adrenalinesweat off his brow with his forearm.
"Uhm . . . listen, the vibe is really not good for the children," Mehki said apologetically. "Wait in the entranceway and let me get the elders."
"That's cool; we'll wait," Damali said, rubbing the tension away from her neck. She gazed up at the huge, city block, square footprint of the school and the Guardian-student dormitory that was created out of an old abandoned textile warehouse. Chalk hopscotch grids and a small jungle gym graced the yard along with a basketball hoop. This was a home where babies lived.
"No offense," Mehki said in a quiet voice."I . . . just have to check."
"No offense taken," Damali said softly as she absorbed images from Mehki's mind. Brightly colored classrooms filled with green plants, life, laughter . . . children learning. Khepera School of Transformation was a lighthouse, the future-while her squad was like a group of commandos bringing the energy of destruction near the tender shoots of new, growing life. To come here was wrong; she just didn't know where else they could have gone. The fact that there were children here had been thoroughly masked and all she'd had to go on was old team information.
"Let us wait outside, good brother, and maybe just let Inez go in and see her baby girl, then come out. We're used to the night and being in it. We've made it this far, so, hey," Damali finally said, gaining nods from her team, which was apparently on the same page. "Nothing, not even us, should jeopardize what you've got inside those walls. Our job is to protect you, your job is to be sure that everything here stays harmonious . . . and trouble, unfortunately, always seems to have a way of finding us."
When Carlos finally looked up, Ausar sat beside him to his right, Adam at his left.
"Go to your wife, young brother," Ausar said quietly. "She is navigating in the dark with a whole team in her arms."
Carlos nodded."Yeah. I know. I just needed a minute."
"But she needs to build a lighthouse for the children," Adam said quietly. "She's being guided to see how."
"The world is blowing up all around us," Carlos said in a gravelly voice. "Every house we build gets torched. I'm done building . . . we're just trying to survive, man."
Ausar nodded and stood, his ancient Kemetian robes flowed as he offered Carlos his hand to hoist him up off the floor. Clasping it like a man drowning, Carlos felt the strength ripple through Ausar's arm into his.
"Your father-seer did not die in vain. The darkside did not prevail," Adam murmured and then held his hands in the Kemetian telepathic pose-left palm up, right palm down, both hands extended toward the receiver. "Let us tell you a glorious secret."
"I'm sorry," Mehki said,his gaze pained as he slipped back out into the courtyard.
Damali landed a supportive hand on his shoulder. "No, brother, don't be. This is how it should be. Seeing this gave me hope. Thank you for that."
Mehki smiled sadly. "It's just because of the children . . . you understand?"
"We do," Marlene said, bowing to him, and then the entire team followed suit. "You are a living womb and must be protected."
"I have put you all on our altars . . . especially your three Guardian sisters," Mehki said softly, indicating Jasmine, Valkyrie, and Tara. The seer's eyes glazed over for a moment and then he came back to the group. "They need to be a part of the Hetheru women's healing circle ceremony so that the true desire of their hearts comes true." He stared at them and spoke in a far-off tone. "You will be filled with the spirit, if it is the will of Neter-we will pray extra prayers for you in that regard."
"Thank you," Tara said quietly. "But I've already experienced my quota of miracles . . . just the fact that I'm here, alive, and still humanis enough."
The cardinal spoke in quavering jags and hushed tones as Carlos stood in the foyer of the seminary surrounded by priests. The service for Father Patrick would be swift as the man had no living relatives other than those who loved him on the Neteru team. His squad plus the last remaining Covenant brothers would stand shoulder-to-shoulder and remember a life well-lived.
Despite all that Adam had told him, it still hurt his soul that his father-seer had been IDed through his dental records, and barely at that. When the cardinal had shared that bit of information he'd wished he hadn't heard, Carlos had simply closed his eyes and nodded.
It was important to focus on the larger picture-that the man's life had not been in vain, nor had his death, and that his last act of living had been to christen Carlos's unborn child with a chance to make it into the world. He would not let any more tears stain his face. It was time to go meet his wife and team at the safe house on Germantown Avenue. The service would be in three days, and there would be bagpipes there . . . courtesy of Philadelphia's finest.
"Thank you, Fathers," Carlos said and bowed, then turned, prepared to leave.
But the cardinal glanced around nervously in a way that made the other priests withdraw.
"Son . . . did Father Patrick speak to you before his unfortunate demise?"
Carlos shook his head, staring at the clearly terrified man before him. "No. That was probably one of the worst parts of all of this."
The cardinal nodded quickly and then looked around as though he was being chased. "I don't claim to know about seers and Neterus and many of the things our good brother, Father Patrick, knew . . . but he loved you-said you were his secret weapon . . . in all the reports . . ." He wrung his hands and then dabbed at the sweat on his brow. "All is lost now, all is lost," he whispered in a frightened burst. "What shall we do?"
"What happened?" Carlos said quietly, also glancing around as he stepped closer to the cardinal.